"What an impressive movement art!"
Shao Rong's eyes brightened. Before he could say more, Lu Zhiyuan was already racing toward the alley's exit. Shao Rong gave a cold laugh and was about to pursue and kill him when a noise suddenly came from the courtyard.
Frowning slightly, he hesitated, then turned and rushed back inside.
A moment later, he stood on the courtyard wall again. Blood now stained the cuff of his sleeve. Looking around, he could see no trace of Lu Zhiyuan.
His face was expressionless. The man seemed familiar. But if Shao Rong had seen that movement art before, it should have left an unforgettable impression.
He frowned slightly. A night breeze blew, and he was gone.
Five hundred meters away, Lu Zhiyuan hid in a corner. Only after confirming that no one was following did he relax a little.
What terrible luck, encountering those bandits inside the city. The household back there was probably doomed. Against the bandits, he could barely protect himself, let alone save anyone else.
"I let myself get carried away."
He murmured to himself. Had his movement art not reached Perfected proficiency and become almost instinctive, he could never have evaded Shao Rong's throwing knife.
"My cultivation is still too low." He raised his head and looked toward the courtyard. "But I must also keep improving my movement art through fusion. The two don't conflict; they complement each other!"
He did not go straight to the black market. Tonight probably would not be peaceful. He would wait until the following evening to find the stallholder.
Early the next morning, he arrived at the clinic to find it in an uproar.
"What happened?" he asked in puzzlement.
"Several wealthy households in the county were wiped out last night. I hear there was blood everywhere." Gu Tingche came up and spoke quietly.
Lu Zhiyuan frowned slightly. He had thought the bandits had chosen only one household. Apparently, they had come into the city to plunder it.
"The county office is furious and has offered a large bounty. Useful information will earn a hundred silver taels."
Gu Tingche continued, looking eager. A hundred silver taels was a fortune to people like them. They might never see so much in their entire lives.
Lu Zhiyuan was tempted as well, but immediately suppressed the impulse.
Those bandits were beyond his ability to provoke. And although the county office promised a hundred silver taels, who knew how much it would actually pay? Worse, claiming it might put him in danger. You are reading on NovelPing, the official source.
Still, simply letting them go was too easy on them.
Without anyone to check them, they might return to raid the city, putting him in danger again.
After a few encouraging words to Gu Tingche, he entered the alchemy room and began brewing Blood Vitality Pills.
A few more batches today would bring his proficiency in brewing Herbal Restoration Pills to Proficient. Then he could begin brewing them for real.
Fifteen minutes later, he opened the alchemical furnace. Five Blood Vitality Pills lay inside. On his panel, his proficiency in brewing Herbal Restoration Pills rose by five.
The gain was calculated from the number of Blood Vitality Pills produced. Otherwise, he could not have advanced his Herbal Restoration Pill proficiency so far in only a few days.
He put the pills into a vial, briefly cleaned the furnace, and concentrated on the second batch.
The third. The fourth. The fifth.
After brewing five full batches of Blood Vitality Pills, he let out a long breath.
Even with Perfected proficiency in brewing Blood Vitality Pills, working continuously like this taxed his mental focus. He glanced at the panel and smiled.
[Alchemy: Herbal Restoration Pill (Proficient 2/1000)]
"I can brew Herbal Restoration Pills now!"
Because the clinic valued his alchemy skill and wanted to support his practice, it supplied one free set of ingredients for Herbal Restoration Pills each day.
Five sets now lay beside his feet. If everything went smoothly, he should produce several pills from them.
He rested and regulated his breathing for the time it took an incense stick to burn. Then he carefully cleaned the alchemical furnace and added the ingredients one by one, following the formula.
This was his first actual attempt at brewing Herbal Restoration Pills. He focused fully on every change in medicinal properties inside the furnace and adjusted accordingly.
After fifteen minutes, a medicinal fragrance spread through the room, immediately overwhelming the lingering scent of Blood Vitality Pills.
After thirty minutes, he opened the lid. One pill lay inside.
He carefully took out the Herbal Restoration Pill and examined it closely.
It was not quite round. Close inspection revealed small bits of ingredients that had not fully blended. Those flaws would weaken its final effect and slightly reduce its sale price.
None of them could diminish the smile on his face. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Even with a somewhat weaker effect, it was still far better than a Blood Vitality Pill. Taking one daily would sharply shorten the time to his breakthrough into the Flesh Tempering stage.
The appearance of those bandits had made him feel increasingly unsafe.
He swallowed the pill, sat cross-legged, and began performing the Windborne Breathing Method. His expression soon calmed, and he became completely absorbed in cultivation.
After an unknown length of time, he came out of it. The fatigue from brewing pills had vanished, leaving him refreshed and energetic. He looked at his panel and smiled.
[Realm: Skin Tempering (593/1000)]
The Herbal Restoration Pill had added a full fifteen points of realm progress. With the Perfected Windborne Breathing Method and Blood Vitality Pills, he would previously have needed nearly a month to break through to the Flesh Tempering stage.
With Herbal Restoration Pills, even though he could take only one a day, he needed just half a month. Half the time.
Other martial artists might not consider that saving worthwhile. An Herbal Restoration Pill cost dozens of times as much as a Blood Vitality Pill, after all.
One Herbal Restoration Pill cost ten silver taels. The same price for everyone, with no bargaining!
Saving that half month meant spending a mountain of silver. It was an extravagant expense.
As an alchemist, however, he knew that the ingredients for Herbal Restoration Pills cost at most twice as much as those for Blood Vitality Pills. The rest of the price reflected the skill involved.
And now, he possessed that skill.
"To save enough silver quickly, it looks like I'll need to sell some Herbal Restoration Pills at the black market."
As he considered it, his hands kept working, brewing more Herbal Restoration Pills.
Night fell. The county office was brightly lit. Suddenly, a small stone flew inside and struck the wall with a dull thud.
Court runners hurried over at the sound and found an envelope beneath the stone. Inside was a portrait. A closer look revealed Shao Rong's face, drawn with lifelike precision.
Roughly a few kilometers away, Lu Zhiyuan had entered the black market and arrived at a bookstall. He had learned sketching in his previous life.
An hour later, he left the black market. His pack now held ten manuals for basic movement arts, one for an advanced movement art, and one for a miscellaneous art.
The miscellaneous manual taught Disguise Art. It could alter facial appearance. According to the manual, advanced proficiency would even allow changes to body shape.