Chapter 8 Practicing (1/2)

Zhou Donghuang woke up early the next day.

After tonight, the seal within his body would be removed completely, and he would be able to start afresh on the path of the Martial Way.

Although the Spirit on Ziyun was dense, probably as dense as it previously was on Earth, he would still need some time to attain level-one of Qi-gathering stage.

Practicing the conventional way step-by-step is too slow… I still prefer a shortcut.

Previously, when Zhou Donghuang was at the peak of his powers, aside from being extremely accomplished in the Martial Way, he was also at a very high level in the Alchemy.

The Alchemy referred to the practice of producing and refining powerful elixir or pills. Alchemy could only be done by those at the level of Primal Core and above.

The reason was that only those of the level of Primal Core and above possessed ”true core”, and the three concealed fires required to produce elixir or pills could only be drawn out by the true core.

Those below the level of Primal Core could not be considered ”alchemist.” No matter how deeply they may have delved into the medical use of essence, they would only be considered ”medicine masters.”

Medicine masters were ranked in order of basic-level, intermediate-level, superior-level, earth-level, with the culmination at heaven-level.

Within the borders of the country of Yunyang, a superior-level medicine master would be much sought after— even in the Imperial Court— and treated with reverence and waited upon.

As for earth-level medicine masters, there were none within the country of Yunyang, and if any existed, they would not remain in a backwater country like Yunyang for long.

Heaven-level medicine masters were unheard of in the history of Yunyang.

There is no hope of producing 'Qi-gathering Pill' before attaining Primal Core… however, even if that's the case, I can still use some combination of herbs to produce a 'qi-gathering elixir.'

A qi-gathering elixir was a medical elixir used by adepts to aid their practice; it made them more sensitive to qi and allowed their practice to progress more quickly. Qi-gathering elixirs were extremely valuable and usually only those whose families were well-off could afford to use them.

There are also qi-gathering elixirs in the country of Yunyang… but the ordinary ones available and widely used can only increase sensitivity to qi by 50% and correspondingly increase the rate of practice by 50%.

Even the best qi-gathering elixir in the country of Yunyang, which comes from the Imperial Court and is formulated by a superior-level medicine master, can only double the sensitivity to qi and the rate of practice… In addition, it costs ten times more than an ordinary qi-gathering elixir.

As far as I can remember, the best formulated qi-gathering elixirs could produce an increase in sensitivity to qi and the rate of practice by ten times.

Two days later, Zhou Donghuang went once again to the Magnolia Guild's medicine storehouse and gathered all the herbs he needed before going to see Granny Lian.

”Granny Lian… does the guild have these herbs?”

Zhou Donghuang had already written out all the ingredients he needed on a piece of paper, which he now passed to Granny Lian.

”Rainbow snake flower, purple caltrop leaf, earth lingzhi that is at least fifty years old…”

The ingredients on the list were precious and costly herbs, and Granny Lian felt her scalp tingle. The value of these herbs greatly exceeded the value of the two fifty-year-old sticks of blood ginseng.

”Young Master, at most, only half of these herbs can be found in the guild's treasure vault.”

Granny Lian smiled bitterly.

Having witnessed Zhou Donghuang's many startling actions, she dared not doubt the Young Master's decisions.

Every decision the Young Master made had to have a rationale behind it.

Had they been on Earth, Granny Lian would be the equivalent of Zhou Donghuang's most ardent fan girl.

”Only half?”

Zhou Donghuang furrowed his brows. The herbs he had listed could all conceivably be found in Qingshan Town.

He had not even listed those more precious herbs that could not be found in Qingshan Town.

”Which ones?” Zhou Donghuang asked. If only half the ingredients could be found, he would just have to settle and make do with a lower quality qi-gathering elixir.

After Granny Lian had named those herbs which could be found, Zhou Donghuang sighed.

These herbs, together with what I took from the medicine storehouse… I can produce a qi-gathering elixir that can only triple my sensitivity to qi, which will only triple the rate of practice.

It's too slow, but that's the best I can do for now.

Just as well that no one knew what Zhou Donghuang was thinking. If anyone had known, they would surely have vomited blood in exasperation.

In the country of Yunyang, the best qi-gathering elixir produced by the superior-level medicine master of the Imperial Court could only double the user's sensitivity to qi.

It was not difficult to imagine that if the news got out that Zhou Donghuang succeeded in producing a qi-gathering elixir that tripled the user's sensitivity to qi using only the few herbs available in humble Qingshan Town, it would make waves.

Done at last.

With Granny Lian's cooperation and help to gather all the valuable herbs that he needed, Zhou Donghuang took only an hour to produce a qi-gathering elixir that tripled his sensitivity to qi.

Everything is ready! Now for the final piece of the puzzle!

After taking care of the qi-gathering elixir, Zhou Donghuang waited patiently for nightfall. Once night had fallen, he could administer the last soak in the medicinal bath.