14 Concoction of Herbs (2/2)
Another benefit of using plants instead of pills was that there were no pill toxins in using the raw materials. True, when using the plants alone, the medicinal strength could not be fully extracted, but the bit that could be extracted was already enough for an Ordinary Warrior.
Pills were relatively rare, but Tiankong City was one of the biggest cities in the Kingdom of Heping, and thus it was natural for it to have an Alchemist Association.
Pills were graded by low purity, middle purity, high purity, superior purity, and profound purity.
You needed to be strong enough to consume a pill of certain purity.
With Xue Wei's current strength, all he could consume would be a low purity pill. Those kind of pills were filled with pill toxins. Although these pill toxins could be removed by for instance using Corpse Grass or other plants, it was a long and tedious process, and the pill toxins might even hurt his prospects.
Because of this, not many were willing to buy pills of low and middle purity; they were simply too poisonous for the cultivators, and only those who had no other option would consume them.
Sighing and shaking his head, Xue Wei stopped thinking about pills. Although he wished that he could take profound pills and be able to increase his cultivation base just like that, he was fully aware that it was suicide. Since this was the case, he could do nothing but consume the plants the way he did every third day, and spend the rest of the time practicing the Forbidden Rush and the Shattering Mountain Palm.
Xue Wei's life fell into a pattern. He would spend his time training and practicing the Shattering Mountain Palm and the Forbidden Rush. And whenever able, he would take a herbal bath like last time.
He eventually ran out of Corpse Grass, but Manager Su personally went to purchase some for him upon realizing this, and nothing interrupted Xue Wei's training regimen.
Another month went by. While Xue Wei was busy training, everyone in Tiankong City was in deep shock.
The same day as Xue Wei had battled Li Jian, a rumor had started spreading in the city stating that Xue Wei was actually not trash and that he was capable of going head to head with Li Jian because he possessed a movement martial arts skill.
The first information was already enough to stun the entire city. Everyone had hated and loathed Xue Wei because he was useless, yet now, after having secluded himself for four months, he was better than the majority of the population of the city.
This alone had made many feel incapable of understanding what was going on. Some changed their opinions and started to consider whether or not they had been too harsh to him when he was weak, and how to become friendly with him now that he was in the spotlight, while others just hated him even more intensely than before.
Some were of the opinion that since he had always been trash, he should just stay as the trash he was and be bullied forever. The fact that he had learned martial arts was actually enough to insult them on a personal level.
Amongst the commoners, the rumor about Xue Wei possessing a movement martial art was shocking, but they were not completely aware of what it resembled, while many of the nobles were completely aware of what it meant and they were all filled with greed.
Fortunately, none of them dared move rashly because of Xiao Lei and the City Lord's Mansion. The only one who had the strength to move was the Li family, as they too had a Heavenly Warrior. But if he truly made a move, it would be seen as a revolt, and the City Lord's Mansion and all their supporters would love to use this opportunity to get rid of Li Jian's father.
Amongst the commoners, many of the maids and servants who had quit their job at Xiao Lei's mansion were filled with regret. They regretted it so much that their insides turned green, but they could do nothing about it. It was already too late to go back and beg for another position.
But while the city was split amongst those who felt regret for not treating Xue Wei better when he was trash and those who hated him even more intensely, there was especially one young man who was filled with such enmity that he swore that as long as Xue Wei lived in this world, he would never find peace.
This young man was precisely Li Jian, and his eyes were filled with hatred and resentment.
”Father, we ought to kill him!” Li Jian sneered as he was in his father's study. These words were not foreign to Li Jian's father, Li Fang. He had heard them more than hundred times since Li Jian had returned home from the match that had ended in a draw between Xue Wei and him.
”Father, he has a whole lot of superior martial arts. One of them is even a movement technique! Can it really be that we are too scared of Xiao Lei to try to get our hands on such treasures?”
Li Jian had previously looked up to Xiao Lei like everyone else. However, his hatred towards Xue Wei had long since overtaken his reverence for Xiao Lei, and now he wished to kill both of them if possible.
”You can kill Xiao Lei, and I will kill Xue Wei!” Li Jian said with certainty in his voice, but his father still said nothing. The Li Patriarch just sat behind his desk and looked at his son with a calculating gleam in his eyes.
”I cannot go against Xiao Lei,” he finally said with a sigh. ”Even if I wish to do so, I cannot win against him. And do not forget that Xiao Lei is not alone, Shen Bingwen is by his side. If I have to face the two of them, I will die within ten moves.”
”But father, I cannot let things be like this. I am not satisfied!” Li Jian yelled loudly; his voice was so filled with madness and desperation that Li Fang knew that he had to come up with some sort of solution, or else his son would sink into insanity.
”You can deal with Xue Wei, and I will shield you. You are both members of the younger generation and what happens between the younger generation cannot be controlled by us old geezers,” he finally agreed.