Chapter 60: Cutting One’s Wrist
The present Gu Zuo enjoyed himself to the fullest. After he finished eating and drinking, he started sizing his surrogate big brother up.
Just then, he was solely preoccupied with showing off his delicacies, and didn’t ask how Tianheng was doing. Did he already break through to half-step Xiantian?
Thinking about this, Gu Zuo was deeply concerned: “Big brother, the Azure Dragon Pool…”
Gongyi Tianheng faintly smiled: “If Ah Zuo’s interested, I’ll give you the rundown.”
Gu Zuo’s eyes shined: “Of course I’m interested!”
Tianheng laughed and pat his head. He sorted out his thoughts to give Gu Zuo an explanation.
“The Azure Dragon Pool exists within a forbidden area of the palace compounds, and it’s sealed during normal times. If one wanted to open it, countless valuable resources need to be thrown into the dragon’s mouth. Once inside, the resources are combined with an astonishing power, which forms cyan pool water. The water glows with a wondrous brilliance. That brilliance is Xiantian Inspiration. After a martial artist enters the Azure Dragon Pool, they can absorb the pool water to temper themselves and upgrade their strength. a.s.sisted by the Xiantian Inspiration, they can upgrade even faster…”
Gu Zuo concentrated on what he heard, and his thoughts wandered far away.
Sure enough, a world of martial artists was more marvelous than the modern era!
It definitely wasn’t the progress of science and technology, but rather, the powers of the human body that captivated people. There was no need to say anything else. By only using his psychic power, he was even stronger [1] and more useful than in modern times.
It was just like…a regular human turning into a superhero.
Tianheng’s words still continued: “Because the Azure Dragon Pool isn’t big, it can only accommodate twenty people to enter and submerge in the water simultaneously. And because the pool water is limited, it can only meet the needs of those twenty people for absorption. This compet.i.tion is also quite intense.”
Gu Zuo curiously asked: “So if someone absorbed more, the others would have less?”
Tianheng nodded his head: “Correct.”
Gu Zuo couldn’t help laughing: “Then, big brother’s definitely the one who got the most!”
Tianheng calmly said: “That’s also correct. I monopolized close to half of the Azure Dragon Pool’s water.”
Gu Zuo was extremely happy.
That his big brother could have such an ability was also to his credit. Thinking about this, everyone else’s bodies had only one set of bone pearls. His big brother’s body had as much as six sets. If the others’ absorption speed was “one,” his big brother’s speed would be “six.” Then, wasn’t that just too difficult to deal with?
However, Gu Zuo was a little worried right away: “Then, the others didn’t take issue with big brother? [2]”
At first, the others wouldn’t mention it. However, how could such a petty person like Helian Xingcheng not take offense? Even if this was originally based on one’s abilities, he wasn’t likely to be so magnanimous.
Gongyi Tianheng’s smile had a deeper meaning: “I naturally kept my movements covert. Moreover, apart from me, the cultivation methods of the royal family are not ordinary. That ninth prince Cang Yu also had considerably great capabilities.”
Gu Zuo understood instantly.
So that was to say, everyone was focused on the ninth prince, right? Anyway, this didn’t matter. Just who was the ninth prince? This time, Helian Xingcheng’s complaints could only be swallowed down into his belly.
Merely, Tianheng continued to speak: “Although the Azure Dragon Pool was indeed pretty good, while I comprehended many things within it, my capabilities were still insufficient. It couldn’t let me reach half-step Xiantian.”
Gu Zuo furrowed his brows, and his enthusiasm waned. Afterwards, he saw that Gongyi Tianheng didn’t have a single flicker of anxiety. He couldn’t help himself as he probingly guessed: “Then, big brother’s bone pearls…”
Tianheng smiled and nodded his head: “Six hundred twelve pearls have been condensed successfully.” [3]
Gu Zuo held his breath.
Such words meant that his big brother had already formed five complete sets of acupoints. This basically meant that only the master set of one hundred eight bone pearls were still incomplete.
And once this was accomplished…
Tianheng saw through Gu Zuo’s thoughts and slightly muttered: “Ah Zuo, after the five sets of acupoints were completed, I felt that once I reach Xiantian stage nine and link up the six sets of acupoints, I would undergo a very special transformation…”
At this time, Gu Zuo had a flash of inspiration from this good fortune, and looked towards his surrogate big brother’s secret concern. He said straightforwardly: “Big brother, what do you have to be worried about? Although it hasn’t been too long since I first stepped onto the path of medicine refinement, I still have a bit of confidence in myself. I will still be like this in the future, paying attention to big brother’s health situation at all times. In case something goes wrong, can’t we still look it up in my texts? Big brother, you’ve also known that the Tiandu Body’s treatments wouldn’t stop till you’ve reached the Immortal realm. As for that treatment plan, I’ve already memorized everything.”
Gongyi Tianheng was slightly astonished. Contrary to what one might expect, he didn’t antic.i.p.ate that his little pharmacist would be so confident. However…his gaze still softened: “I naturally have faith in Ah Zuo. When that day comes, I’ll leave everything to Ah Zuo.”
Gu Zuo nodded briskly: “Rest a.s.sured, big brother. I’ll certainly do my best! When there’s a will, there’s a way. In addition, maybe at that time that special transformation can let big brother take one step further along the martial path into the unknown. I feel that big brother will surely walk along a path unlike anyone else’s!”
Tianheng saw Gu Zuo’s confidence and also smiled.
It was only natural that he wasn’t confident in himself. It was inevitable to hesitate while walking along a road based on his own comprehension. However, since his little pharmacist believed in him, Tianheng also couldn’t let him down.
After Gu Zuo, who frequently received encouragement, encouraged Gongyi Tianheng, they started discussing something with one another: “Big brother, returning to our main topic… I’m very familiar with refining the Qi Generating Pill and the Rejuvenation Pill. Now it’s purely about me gathering medicinal qi. However, I feel that I can’t limit myself to just meeting the needs of this process. I have lots of pill prescriptions on hand, but they all can’t be used, right? Afterwards, I thought it over and just as I gathered the medicinal herbs for the Five Essence Pill, I was able to refine it. I’ll give this top grade pill to big brother to use. As for the ones with lower grades, how would big brother like to handle them?”
Tianheng was very pleased with Gu Zuo’s initiative. First, he praised him: “Ah Zuo did well.”
After that, he pondered for a bit and said: “The Five Essence Pill strengthens the circulation of the qi and blood and broadens the meridians by promoting the body’s vital energy. In actuality, it imperceptibly raises a martial artist’s apt.i.tudes. In the Cangyun Empire, it can be counted as an exquisite medicinal pill. I don’t know if Ah Zuo has already tested it?”
Gu Zuo looked down distractedly before nodding: “I had Dragon Two try the low grade, mid grade, and high grade pills.”
After that, he turned his head, “Dragon Two, why don’t you come over and tell big brother.”
Dragon Two obeyed, and stepped forward to report: “To answer the young master, the desired effects of the low grade pill are extremely slow. I’m afraid that it would take a month of continuous use before the meridians broadened a little bit. If it’s the mid grade pills, it’d take half a month. And for the high grade pills, it’d take ten days to widen by a thread.”
Don’t think that this “widening by a thread” as something insignificant. Just how thick were all the meridians in a martial artist’s body? The acc.u.mulation of thread by thread wasn’t a small amount.
Moreover, the medicinal herbs used for the Five Essence Pill were fairly precious. That they had this kind of usefulness was truly great.
Gongyi Tianheng looked pensive: “If it’s like this, then it’s actually well worth doing.”
First he had Dragon One and Dragon Two cover their ears before asking Gu Zuo, “Ah Zuo refining the low and mid grade pills won’t affect the collection of medicinal qi, right?”
Gu Zuo nodded: “If the craftsmanship wasn’t perfect, then there wouldn’t be any medicinal qi. It was only after I could refine top grade pills that I could control the grade of the pills. Then, no matter what grade the pills were, medicinal qi would always form.”
Gu Zuo also made an a.n.a.lysis at this time. In any case, regardless of which kind of human-level medicine, when a pharmacist perfectly utilized a medicinal ingredient, medicinal qi would instantly form. To speak frankly, it was an indication if a pharmacist’s technique was perfected or not. There was no need to discuss the product of a perfected technique. The products of imperfect techniques were already an official standard.
Gongyi Tianheng waved his hand to lift the restrictions on Dragon One and Dragon Two, and leaned back: “Since it’s like this, in the future, besides the necessary Qi Generating Pills and Rejuvenation Pills, Ah Zuo can also refine some mid and low grade Five Essence Pills. The prescription of the Five Essence Pill only exists in Ah Zuo’s hands, and no one has ever discovered it in the past. Even if my Gongyi Clan were to launch this medicine, onlookers wouldn’t be able to say anything about it.
“However, the effects of the high grade Five Essence Pill are too outstanding. It isn’t necessary… Right, the rarer something is, the greater its value. It’s not necessary to produce too many low and mid grade pills.”
Gu Zuo said that he’d certainly complete this mission. After that, he mentioned the Ageless Pill and the Xiantian Pill: “I don’t know if it’s okay, but I feel that the Ageless Pill can make lots of money. As for the Xiantian Pill, it’d also be very useful. These two medicinal pills aren’t so easy. In fact, they’re quite troublesome.”
Gongyi Tianheng recollected his thoughts. He once read Gu Zuo’s >, but he didn’t study it meticulously at that time. However, he had a highly retentive memory, so he slowly recalled the information.
He said: “Ah Zuo, get me a jade bowl.”
Gu Zuo didn’t understand why, but he still took one out from his storage s.p.a.ce and pa.s.sed it over.
Tianheng’s expression was unhurried as he extended a finger and slashed it across his wrist — In a split second, a strand of qi energy burst forth and his skin was cut.
Dark red blood immediately gushed out and fell directly into the bowl. Not a moment later was the bowl filled.
Losing this much blood caused Tianheng’s face to pale slightly, but he seemed nonplussed as he handed the bowl back: “Take this, Ah Zuo.”
Gu Zuo stared blankly, then his eyes widened: “Big brother, what are you doing!?”
Did he make a mistake? Don’t say that he simply didn’t think about using his big brother’s blood to refine the pill. Even if he did, his big brother had yet to reach Xiantian. Wasn’t this blood flow wasted for nothing?
Gongyi Tianheng saw him acting like this, and placated him with a smile: “Don’t worry, Ah Zuo.”
Gu Zuo: “…How can I not worry? Big brother is simply causing trouble.”
Tianheng couldn’t help laughing: “I’m really not. It’s only because my Tiandu Body is somewhat peculiar and that I have six sets of bone pearls that my qi and blood should be a little different from other people. Previously, when I listened to Ah Zuo mentioning that the Xiantian Pill could use blood for refining, I got a little curious if my blood had any special properties. Besides, although the Xiantian Pill uses the blood of a Xiantian martial artist, the flesh of the Tiandu Body is Xiantian. Perhaps it has its usefulness.”
It had to be said that after Gongyi Tianheng became aware of the Xiantian Pill, the first thing he thought about was using the Tianlong Guard to create the Xiantian Dragonguard. They would become even more reliable as his helpers.
Finding other Xiantian martial artists to take their blood was basically unrealistic, but this arrangement shouldn’t have been too late to settle. It wasn’t like he shouldn’t give his special const.i.tution a try. If it was successful, then it’d be an absolutely huge advantage.
Although Gongyi Tianheng was born into the Gongyi Clan, everything he gained from childhood to now was nowhere near as much as what he contributed to the Clan. While living in this world, he liked to generate wealth by his own means to support himself and those around him.
In other words, he defended the Clan, but he didn’t intend on entrusting everything to the Clan. Gu Zuo’s appearance gave him even more confidence and let him save a lot of time.
This was the blessings of fate.
Moreover, he liked Gu Zuo’s temperament. Otherwise, Tianheng wouldn’t have watched over him like this.
As for Gu Zuo, he listened to Tianheng’s words and felt that they were reasonable. Nevertheless, what he thought about even more was…whether or not he could find a prescription for a medicinal pill that could quickly replenish one’s blood?
He felt that, in the future, the situation of his big brother cutting his wrist would appear much more often.
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[1] My computer cannot read the Chinese characters here, so it’s just a guess.
[2] The author uses 晦气 to describe Tianheng, which means to bring bad luck (to others).
[3] Tianheng only needs to condense the final thirty six bone pearls in his sixth set of Heavenly Spirit Fatal Acupoints.
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T/N: I’m making a few retroactive translation changes.
Human-Level Medical Catalog -> Human-Level Medicinal Pill Catalog
Human-Level Prescriptions -> Human-Level Medicinal Decoction Formulas
Human-Level Recipe Collection -> Human-Level Medicinal Cuisine Recipes
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