Heart Nurturing Pill

The Heart Nurturing Pill is a spirit elixir for nourishing the heart meridian, a common type of spirit elixir that many rogue cultivator alchemists refine. Liu Xiaolou had also seen this spirit elixir two years ago, when his master returned injured and asked him to purchase it from the market town. He had indeed managed to buy it, at the cost of two spirit stones per Heart Nurturing Pill.

At this price, it was also the cheapest among all spirit elixirs.

Of course, even the cheapest spirit elixir was not easily affordable. Liu Xiaolou wouldn't bear to buy it with his own spirit stones, but Lord Xingde had them; two spirit stones were lying in the saddlebag.

He then spoke indignantly to Lord Xingde, "You told me to leave, didn't you? Do you want the Heart Nurturing Pill or do you want me to leave? If you really let me go, you can just wait to die!"

After venting his frustration, Liu Xiaolou quickly descended the mountain and rushed to the market town of Tianmen Mountain, a hundred miles away. He found a shop called "Chunhua Workshop" and went inside to inquire. The shop indeed had Heart Nurturing Pills, but they were priced at three spirit stones each!

Liu Xiaolou found the price too high. He visited five shops in a row. Three of them had Heart Nurturing Pills in stock, while the other two would take three to five days to procure them, with the price remaining three spirit stones for both.

Liu Xiaolou couldn't negotiate the price, and the shopkeepers and clerks didn't seem to have any intention of bargaining with him. After leaving the sixth shop, he felt a sense of confusion: did he really have to pay an extra spirit stone out of his own pocket? Or should he let Lord Xingde compensate him later? But given Lord Xingde's unpredictable nature, it would be difficult to get him to repay. At most, he would just add the debt to the cost of refining the formation disk? But that would mean he would suffer a huge loss! He had saved his life, so refining the formation disk shouldn't have cost him any spirit stones in the first place.

While he was hesitating, someone suddenly whispered behind him, "Brother, are you buying a Heart Nurturing Pill?"

Liu Xiaolou turned around and saw a shifty-looking man wearing a bamboo hat talking to him. The man's gaze, however, was unfocused, drifting between the people coming and going on the street.

Liu Xiaolou was very familiar with this way of conducting business; it was the same trick the heroes of Wulong Mountain used to play.

So, he shook his head, unwilling to engage, and intended to walk away.

The shifty man, however, followed closely behind him and continued, "One spirit stone each."

Seeing the man sticking to him like a piece of flypaper, Liu Xiaolou became impatient and directly exposed him, "Brother, if you're trying to trick me with fake goods, you've come to the wrong person..."

The other party immediately replied, "Inspect the goods first, then pay the spirit stones."

Liu Xiaolou sneered, "Are you looking for a secluded spot to mug me?"

The other party responded again, "We can inspect the goods right here."

Liu Xiaolou sighed, "Brother, who knows what the heck you're going to let me inspect? What's this scent, or medicine? What kind of poison is yours?"

The other party paused for a moment, a smile appearing on his face, "Your Excellency is knowledgeable... Rest assured..." With that, he stepped back three large paces, creating a safe distance, and tossed a small bottle over: "Your Excellency can take your time to look. Oh, and you might want to hold your breath."

Liu Xiaolou subconsciously took the bottle and looked around. This was a bustling and lively area of the market town, with crowds flowing endlessly. Occasionally, cultivators sent by some major sect or another would patrol, warily eyeing every passerby.

Unable to think of any other way to check, Liu Xiaolou's mind raced. He held his breath and carefully opened the bottle.

Inside the bottle lay a round, dark red spirit elixir that glowed faintly.

His heart stirred. He poured the spirit elixir into his palm and gently shook it, noticing that its color was exactly the same as the Heart Nurturing Pill he had bought years ago.

He slightly released his breath, and a scent, both delicate and pungent, entered his nose, almost making him sneeze.

As a disciple of the Three Xuan Sect, Liu Xiaolou was an expert in discerning scents. The cultivation techniques of the Three Xuan Sect made one's sense of smell extremely sensitive and highly discriminative. He wouldn't dare say it was the best in the world, or even the best in the Jingxiang region, but it was certainly comparable in Xiangxi. With a slight circulation of his cultivation technique at the tip of his nose, he immediately identified the characteristics of the scent – it was the Heart Nurturing Pill he had bought before!

The pill was correct, but why was the price so low?

"Where did you get this pill...?" Liu Xiaolou worried it might be stolen goods, or even a spirit elixir from one of the major sect shops in this market town. If its origin was improper, accepting it rashly might cause trouble.

The other party smiled and walked closer, whispering, "Your Excellency is indeed a fellow practitioner. To be honest, this pill comes from Miaofeng Mountain. It was refined by a Grand Alchemist of the Miaofeng Pill Sect, and its efficacy is no less than those from the major sects."

"Miaofeng Pill Sect?" Liu Xiaolou was very puzzled. He didn't recall such a sect among those occupying blessed lands.

The other party chuckled, "The alchemist's cultivation is profound, and his path of alchemy is superb, but his reputation is not widely known. If Your Excellency needs anything in the future, you can find me again. I am a regular at the Tianmen Mountain market town, easy to find."

Liu Xiaolou nodded, "What is your esteemed surname, brother?"

The other party cupped his hands in a salute, "I am Yan Sanfei. And your honorable surname?"

Liu Xiaolou replied vaguely, "My surname is Liu."

Thus, the transaction was completed. Lord Xingde's injuries were quite severe, and it was uncertain if one Heart Nurturing Pill would be enough. Therefore, Liu Xiaolou bought two, using up all of Lord Xingde's spirit stones from the saddlebag.

Having bought the Heart Nurturing Pills, Liu Xiaolou didn't linger. He rushed another hundred miles and returned to Xingde Temple before deep night.

As soon as he entered the room, he saw Lord Xingde lying on the floor beneath the bed, his face as pale as paper, completely unconscious. He didn't know when he had fallen.

He quickly helped him onto the bed and re-examined his pulse. He felt that the pulse was extremely weak. The true essence that had previously blocked his examination was now scattered and sealed in various acupoints and essence pools, unable to converge. The situation was extremely perilous.

He took out a Heart Nurturing Pill and forced it into Lord Xingde's mouth, using a technique to help him swallow it. Then, he channeled a stream of true essence into him, guiding the medicinal power of the Heart Nurturing Pill, bit by bit, to his heart meridian.

One Heart Nurturing Pill was indeed not enough. In the latter half of the night, Liu Xiaolou had to give him the other one. By dawn, Lord Xingde's complexion finally improved, showing some signs of life, and he opened his eyes.

After he woke up, he sat cross-legged and began circulating his energy. Only then did Liu Xiaolou cease his efforts and stop channeling his true essence to help heal him. However, he himself was already quite exhausted.

After this night, Liu Xiaolou had a good understanding of Lord Xingde's cultivation. He knew that Lord Xingde had unblocked ten meridians: the three hand yang meridians, the three hand yin meridians, the three foot yang meridians, and the foot taiyin meridian. The Foot Jueyin Meridian, which he was currently cultivating, was also more than half unblocked, with only seven acupoints remaining.

Although he hadn't reached the Qi Refining tenth layer, he was at the Qi Refining ninth layer, a true expert!

He wondered what kind of disadvantage such an expert could have suffered to be so heavily injured. He guessed it must have been the work of a Foundation Establishment expert, right?

However, it was hard to say. Combat strength wasn't always directly related to cultivation level. If he had offended a disciple from a prestigious sect, even if that disciple's cultivation wasn't above the ninth layer, as long as they had high-grade magical artifacts and spirit elixirs, Lord Xingde would have been at a disadvantage – Liu Xiaolou hadn't seen him possess any remarkable treasures.

That day, Lord Xingde finally got out of bed and looked at Liu Xiaolou, saying, "I want to eat meat, fresh meat."