Chapter 366: Tenacious Lu Chong
Chapter 366: Tenacious Lu Chong
Panda Novel
Upon hearing the price of the medicinal herbs, Zhang Xuan's heart crumbled.
After spending an entire night of effort to earn three spirit stones, he only managed to earn enough to buy the medicinal herbs...
This is robbery!
Do you think that it is easy for me to earn spirit stones? Do you all need to go that far?
Holding his brush, Zhang Xuan waited for a very long time, but the other party didn't reply at all. Clearly... he had no other questions.
"Stingy! To think that he's still a 4-star apothecary, it's just a small sum of money. Scrooge!"
Tossing the brush aside, Zhang Xuan bellowed.
What the heck is this!
Aren't you a 4-star apothecary? Aren't you a huge figure in the Myriad Kingdom Alliance? To be unwilling to even spare three spirit stones... I've never seen someone as miserly as you...
"Scrooge..."
Mu Yangfeng and Apothecary Hong trembled.
Brother, you're the scrooge, alright?
Since the other party has no questions, he can't possibly give spirit stones to you for free...
To scold a 4-star apothecary stingy and scrooge... You're probably the only one in the entire kingdom...
"Guild Leader Liu, we'll take the spirit stones from the headquarter as the compensation for the medicinal herbs. I'll prepare the rest for you now..."
Afraid that the other party would do extreme things once more, Mu Yangfeng hurriedly said and left.
This Guild Leader Liu was indeed a person of great capabilities, but his guts were too huge for Mu Yangfeng to bear.
Mu Yangfeng had always faced higher tier apothecaries with utmost respect. Yet, the other party didn't seem concerned about the hierarchy at all, spewing criticisms without the slightest hesitation...
Mu Yangfeng was afraid that he would die of shock if he remained here.
"We..."
Just as Apothecary Hong Yun and Jiang Chen were about to leave, the young man turned to look at them with a bright smile. With glowing eyes, he asked, "Those scrooge don't even dare to ask their questions once they heard that they needed to pay... What about you two? Feel free to shoot. As long as you have the spirit stones to pay, I'll solve any problems you have..."
"We don't have any..."
Frightened, their faces turned pale. They quickly shook their hands.
"No questions? Then... Are you all ill? I can treat you as well..." Zhang Xuan continued.
"..."
Apothecary Hong Yun and Jiang Chen.
...
The efficiency of the Apothecary Guild was one to behold. In less than an hour, they had already gathered all of the medicinal herbs required for the forging of the Frigid Yin Pill.
After confirming again and again that the duo didn't require any treatment, Zhang Xuan followed behind Mu Yangfeng with a regretful expression, and before long, they entered one of the Pill Forging Chambers prepared for the apothecaries in the guild.
The best cauldrons were here, and a formation was also set up in the surroundings. Even if a cauldron explosion were to occur, the operations of the guild wouldn't be affected at all.
"Guild Leader Liu, are you sure that... you want me to forge it?"
Looking at the medicinal herbs and cauldron before him, Apothecary Mu hesitated.
Grade-4 pills were also known as Spirit pills. Even if one didn't store it in a jade box, it would absorb spiritual energy from the world automatically, thus preventing its quality from deteriorating with time.
Legend has it that someone had once dug out pills of this level from an ancient tomb, and despite countless years had passed, not only did the pills not lose their effectiveness, they even became more potent. Some of the pill at Formation level reached Satiation and even Perfection!
This kind of pill didn't just have a high demand on one's pill forging skill, it also required one to possess superior cultivation. Otherwise, if something were to crop up and a cauldron explosion occurred, it would very possibly result in one's death.
Even though Guild Leader Liu had asked for his help, Mu Yangfeng didn't have any confidence in himself at all.
"Later on, just strictly forge by my instructions. You mustn't make even the slightest mistake!" At this moment, Zhang Xuan's face was completely grave.
After browsing through the books in the guild, Zhang Xuan understood the difficulty of forging a grade-4 pill.
Even though he was able to rectify all of the errors in the forging process through the Library of Heaven's Path, it was still an extremely difficult task to have a Zongshi successfully forge a grade-4 pill.
"Alright!"
Despite knowing of the risks that came with forging a grade-4 pill, Apothecary Mu also knew that this was a valuable experience. Even if he were to fail in the forging, it would definitely help bring his pill forging skills to new heights. Thus, he didn't hesitate for long before clenching his jaws and agreeing to it.
The young man before him had created way too many miracles. Deep down, he had already developed a deep trust for the other party's capability. If he were to turn down this opportunity today, he knew that he would regret it for life.
"Let's start then!"
Mu Yangfeng meditated for a moment to reach his tiptop condition before walking forward to the cauldron. With a slight wave of his hands, a flame ignited beneath the cauldron.
Xiong xiong xiong!
Under the intense heat, the cauldron started to turn red.
"Add in the Alfalfa Flower. Two breaths after, add in the Motherwort Grass. Fourteen breaths later, add in the Coldfrost Leaf..."
Zhang Xuan started to issue instructions non-stop.
Mu Yangfeng followed all of Zhang Xuan's instructions strictly, not daring to make the slightest mistake.
Hualala!
Medicinal herbs were thrown into the cauldron one after another, slowly fusing with one another under the heat of the cauldron.
...
Outside the Pill Forging Chamber.
To prevent interrupting the duo, Apothecary Hong Yun and the others remained outside.
"Do you think that... they will succeed?"
After a long moment, Jiang Chen asked.
"I've no idea either... It would be impossible for any other people, but this Guild Leader Liu cannot be understood by common sense..."
Apothecary Hong Yun shook his head.
Until now, he was still unable to gauge the full extent of Liu Cheng's ability.
While requesting for a pill formula on the Wall of Pill Formulae, he was able to solve a question which stumped even the 4-star apothecary on the other side of the wall, leaving the other party tongue-tied...
His capability was way beyond imagination.
"Indeed!"
Jiang Chen felt a sense of defeat.
He was the son of Pavilion Master Jiang, and he was considered as a genius as well. Even though he couldn't compare up to Mo Hongyi and Mo Yu, but he was considered as one of the most talented geniuses among his peers.
He thought that even if he lost out to those two monsters in terms of talent, he could catch up to them through hard work. However, when he met Zhang Xuan and Guild Leader Liu, he realized that...
There was a huge difference among geniuses as well.
Despite being a physician, Guild Leader Liu was actually attempting to instruct a 2-star pinnacle apothecary to forge a grade-4 medicine just through his understanding of medicinal herbs... He felt like if he were to tell anyone about it, the other party would just think that he was a lunatic.
"However, regardless of whether he succeeds or not, Apothecary Mu's pill forging skill would surely rise greatly. In fact, with this experience, it is not entirely impossible for him to become a 4-star apothecary..."
Apothecary Hong Yun felt deep regret.
Even if this pill forging failed, just the experience itself would allow Apothecary Mu's pill forging skills to reach a whole new level. As long as he builds on it, it would just be a matter of time before the other party surpasses him.
He could already see the seat of the guild leader falling to the Apothecary Mu and not him.
If not for his bragging, this opportunity might be his! It's truly a huge pity...
However, opportunities only present themselves once, and time couldn't be turned back!
No matter how heavy the regret weighing down his heart was, it was all too late.
...
In a small room in the Tianwu Academy.
The naked Lu Chong slowly opened his eyes.
Using a towel to wipe off the sweat which dripped off his body, he exhaled a mouthful of turbid air.
"It's already my fourth time..."
Looking at the bottle of medicinal powder, which was still more than half full, Lu Chong hesitated.
"Teacher said that my strength will reach my limit after five times. If so, the medicinal powder will become useless... In the past few trainings, I can sense that the effectiveness is getting worse and worse. Most probably, after the fifth time, my strength will only reach the level of Tongxuan realm pinnacle. It'll still be difficult for me to exact vengeance!"
Lu Chong gritted his teeth.
Liu laoshi had once told him that it would take around five times before he would successfully cultivate the Poison Body.
Thus, he had been cultivating doggedly in the last few days. As soon as he recovered, he would immediately continue with his training. Through his determination, his strength grew swiftly.
However, a problem also soon became apparent to him.
That was... the effects of the poison powder was slowly weakening. The previous time, his improvement was already less than half of his first session.
He could foresee that it wouldn't take long before the poison powder became completely ineffective.
"Since it comes down to this... I should just use all of the poison powder at once!"
Tenacity flashed across his eyes.
Strictly following his teacher's instructions, the bottle should still be around half full by the time he completed the five sessions.
Since the effects of the fifth session were going to be minimal, what would happen if he tried increasing the dosage?
"To exact my vengeance, I'll have to go all out!"
Lu Chong gritted his teeth, and without using the silver needle, he poured all of the poison powder directly at his acupoint.
Dabbing a little bit of poison on his acupoints through a silver needle and smearing it directly on his skin were two very different concepts. Even if Zhang Xuan was here, he would definitely think that the other party had gone mad.
Boom!
A heart-piercing pain suddenly struck him, and intense vertigo caused Lu Chong's body to sway vigorously.
"I can't die yet, I need to exact my vengeance first. Father, mother, and big sister, I will avenge all of you..."
Familiar faces flashed across his mind, and Lu Chong howled furiously.
Of his entire clan consisting of 137 members, he was the only one left. How could he die before revenging them?
Gugugugugu!
The lethal poison seeped into his blood vessels and flowed through his entire body. Excruciating pain tore his entire body. If there was such a thing as hell, this must be it.
Compared to the pain he felt during the first time he came into contact with the poison powder, the suffering he was undergoing now was ten times worse!
If not for his increased tolerance to pain after the past few days of suffering, he might not have even persevered past a single breath!
Even so, he felt a strong sense of dizziness clouding his head, and it seemed as though death was looming right on top of him.
"Teacher has high expectations of me, father, mother, big sister, and the others are still waiting for me to avenge them. Hang on..."
Bellowing tenaciously, Lu Chong bit on his tongue tightly. Blood slowly trickled down the corner of his mouth.
For the past two years, he had been keeping completely silent while cultivating as though his life was on the line. What was that for?
Despite the pain and the risk of death, he chose to cultivate the Poison Body. What was that for?
As long as my enemies aren't dead, I, Lu Chong, cannot die!
Boom!
After what seemed like an eternity, the pain finally started to fade. Only then did Lu Chong's mental state loosen, and his vision immediately turned dark and he fainted.
Before he fainted, the poison powder dissolved in a surge of incredibly pure zhenqi and slowly fused with his body, causing his strength to rise.
This zhenqi was the one which Zhang Xuan left in Lu Chong's body when the latter made the vow to not divulge the techniques to others.
If it wasn't for it protecting his heart, no matter how strong Lu Chong's will was, it was impossible for him to survive the onslaught of the lethal poison.
For some reason, under the onslaught of the lethal poison, the zhenqi seeped into his body and augmented the flexibility and strength of his muscles.
Just like that, his strength exceeded that of the foreseen limit of Tongxuan realm pinnacle.
...
Apothecary Hong Yun and Jiang Chen waited for nearly two hours before the Pill Forging Chamber opened and two figures walked out.
They were Apothecary Mu and Guild Leader Liu.
At this moment, the duo's faces were white and they looked exhausted. Sweat soaked their clothes, and their appearance was nothing short of unkempt.
"Could it be that..."
Gedeng, upon seeing the appearance of the duo, an ominous premonition appeared in their heads as they hurried up to the duo.
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