The Herbalist Returns

Yang Heng never expected this outcome. It had only been twenty days since the Marrow Cleansing Pearl's energy was depleted, yet it was already refilling. It was truly unbelievable.

The first time the Marrow Cleansing Pearl filled with energy, it took nearly two months. The second time, the difficulty of accumulating energy was five times greater, yet it refilled faster.

This... was truly beyond words.

After a moment of thought, Yang Heng understood the reason.

One word: money!

Previously, as an apothecary apprentice, he ate coarse rice and steamed buns daily, with no meat for half a month. He got no nutrition, barely enough to fill his stomach. Naturally, the Marrow Cleansing Pearl couldn't accumulate much energy.

But since he began practicing martial arts and "borrowed" a few hundred taels of silver from the landlord, he ate delicious and spicy food every day, with meat at every meal. The Marrow Cleansing Pearl's energy accumulation naturally sped up like lightning.

With abundant wealth and hearty meals every day, not only did his cultivation improve rapidly, but the Marrow Cleansing Pearl's energy accumulation progress and speed also advanced by leaps and bounds, changing daily.

In two more days, the Marrow Cleansing Pearl would be full again.

However, Yang Heng did not plan to immediately undergo Marrow Cleansing and Bone Scouring to improve his cultivation talent.

The Marrow Cleansing Pearl released mysterious energy to transform his body, and he could control the timing of this process.

Yang Heng decided to wait until he broke through to the Blood Strengthening Realm and then release this mysterious energy to help him overcome that bottleneck.

Breaking through to the Blood Strengthening Realm carried a certain risk; failure could lead to depleted Blood Essence, requiring a period of recovery before another attempt could be made.

Generally speaking, the success rate of the first breakthrough attempt was the highest, but no one could be absolutely certain of success.

If the first breakthrough failed, the chances of subsequent breakthroughs would decrease.

Unless there was assistance from pills like the Breaking Mirror Pill, the hope of breaking through would be extremely slim.

Yang Heng naturally wanted to break through to the Blood Strengthening Realm in one go. Although he had a high degree of confidence – he was strong, young, possessed higher-than-average martial arts talent, and practiced an Intermediate Martial Art that he had already brought to Minor Accomplishment –

With all these buffs, Yang Heng had a ninety percent chance of breaking through and becoming a Martial Artist in the Blood Strengthening Realm.

But with the enhancement of the Marrow Cleansing Pearl's mysterious energy, he had a hundred percent chance!

Whether he underwent Marrow Cleansing and Bone Scouring a few days earlier or later made little difference to Yang Heng; there was no rush.

Good steel should be used on the blade's edge.

After thinking it through, Yang Heng picked up the large stone and continued practicing the Levitation Technique.

Time passed quickly, and night fell in the blink of an eye.

Seeing that it was getting late, Yang Heng put down the large stone and returned to Qingyang Town.

When Yang Heng was still three hundred meters away from the town gate of Qingyang Town, a rumbling sound of cartwheels suddenly reached his ears from a distance, attracting his attention.

Yang Heng turned his head and looked in the direction of the sound.

About two hundred meters down the road, dust was flying as a caravan slowly approached. Thirty-four people were accompanying the caravan, and a flag was planted on an ox cart with the words "Hundred Herbs Pharmacy" written on it.

Yang Heng's eyesight was extraordinary; he could roughly discern objects two hundred meters away.

He immediately recognized the caravan as the group returning from gathering herbs on the mountain. Except for the eight people he had killed, Zhao Er, who was poisoned by a Silver Ring Snake, and an apprentice who was driven out of the group by the apothecary due to severe injuries, everyone else had returned safely.

Whether they had completed their mission, Yang Heng did not know.

Even if they hadn't completed the mission, they would still be whipped upon returning to the apothecary. Now, they all looked lively and unharmed.

As they approached, Yang Heng noticed that seven or eight new apprentices had worried expressions and furrowed brows. They must not have completed their mission and were concerned about being whipped.

Yang Heng paid no mind to their feelings. Since the apothecary's people had returned safely, according to the apothecary's process for handling medicinal herbs, processing this batch of freshly picked herbs would take at least half a month to a month.

This meant that the apothecary would transport the herbs to Qinghe City at least half a month later.

During this time, he didn't need to spend too much time at the apothecary; focusing on cultivating and improving his cultivation was the right path.

Perhaps by the day the apothecary transported the herbs, he would have already broken through to the Blood Strengthening Realm, and he might be able to get a share then.

He could also take the opportunity to "reap some benefits" when the Black Wind Stronghold robbed the herbs.

After all, the herbs transported from the Hundred Herbs Pharmacy to Qinghe City were always valuable tonics that were very useful for martial arts cultivation.

These herbs were refined into pills by the alchemists of the Medicine King Gang, some of which were sold to the public, and others were rewarded to the gang's disciples.

Even if he only obtained a small portion of these herbs, the wealth he gained from selling them would be enough for him to cultivate in the Blood Strengthening Realm for some time, alleviating his worries about cultivation resources.

Of the four hundred and fifty taels of silver he had "borrowed," Yang Heng had already spent one hundred taels by today.

By the time he broke through to the Blood Strengthening Realm, he feared there wouldn't be much left.

His daily expenses for silver were like flowing water, but Yang Heng couldn't be stingy for the sake of improving his martial arts cultivation.

Since he couldn't cut expenses, he had to increase income.

He had also considered returning to his old ways and "borrowing" some silver from the landlord.

Unexpectedly, after his last visit to a few landlords, news of a strong individual breaking in to rob them spread rapidly throughout Qingyang Town.

Those with a little wealth slowly packed their belongings and left their homes, or hired martial artists to guard their homes.

Within a few days, ninety percent of the rich people in Qingyang Town had fled. The remaining few either hired guards for protection, had martial artists in their families, or had deep connections with martial artists, so they were not afraid of robbers.

Seeing this situation, Yang Heng had no idea where to start.

His plan to "borrow" money from the landlord had fallen through, and he had to find another way to get money.

Fortunately, he currently had ample funds, so there was no need to worry about delaying his cultivation progress due to a lack of money to purchase resources.

Yang Heng believed that as long as his strength grew, wealth would naturally come his way sooner or later.

The deeper his cultivation, the stronger his power, and the more avenues he would have for making money.

There was no need to worry about hypothetical problems right now, fretting over things that hadn't happened yet.

Moreover, a big deal was waiting for him to act on.

Right now, the most important thing was to improve his cultivation and break through to the Blood Strengthening Realm.

He couldn't miss out on this major deal of transporting medicinal materials for the apothecary shop.

As the saying goes, "half for meeting," he wouldn't take too much, just a third would be enough as compensation for his hard work at the apothecary shop over the past half year.

Seeing the apothecary shop's caravan enter Qingyang Town and gradually disappear in the distance.

Yang Heng also entered the town, had a good meal at a restaurant, and then returned to his residence.

After a quick wash, Yang Heng sat cross-legged on his bed as usual, circulated his cultivation technique, and began to move his Blood Essence. After being converted once by the Marrow Cleansing Pearl, the food became even easier to transform into Blood Essence.

As his cultivation deepened, Yang Heng's complexion gradually became more ruddy, and his body began to feel warm. Externally, a red airflow could be seen circulating throughout his body, which was quite peculiar.