Portrait

"Such handsome footwork!"

Jian Liang's eyes lit up slightly. Just as he was about to continue speaking, he saw Chen Fei desperately sprinting out of the alley. Jian Liang gave a cold smile and was just about to pursue him and finish killing him when a sound suddenly came from the courtyard.

Jian Liang frowned slightly. After hesitating for a moment, he turned and rushed back into the courtyard.

A moment later, Jian Liang stood atop the courtyard wall again, the cuffs of his clothes now stained with blood. He looked around, but Chen Fei was nowhere to be seen.

Expressionless, Jian Liang felt that he seemed to have seen that person somewhere before. Yet if he had truly seen such footwork before, it should have left a deep impression—he should not have forgotten it.

Jian Liang frowned slightly. As the night wind swept past, he vanished from where he stood.

A li away, Chen Fei hid in a corner. Only after confirming that no one had followed him did he let out a small breath of relief.

His luck was far too outrageous. He had actually run into that band of mountain bandits within the city. That household from earlier was likely doomed. Facing those mountain bandits, Chen Fei could barely protect himself; saving anyone was utterly impossible.

"I got a little too carried away."

Chen Fei muttered to himself. If his footwork had not reached Great Perfection and nearly become instinct, there was no way he could have dodged Jian Liang's slash.

"My cultivation is still far too low." Chen Fei raised his head and looked toward the courtyard from earlier. "I still need to keep stacking footwork. The two do not conflict; they can even complement each other!"

He did not immediately head to the Dark market. Tonight would likely be anything but peaceful, so Chen Fei planned to find that stall owner tomorrow night instead.

Early the next morning, Chen Fei arrived at the Medical Hall and found it buzzing with noise.

"What happened?" Chen Fei asked in confusion.

"Last night, several wealthy households in the county were wiped out. I heard blood flowed all over the ground." Liu Jun came before Chen Fei and spoke in a low voice.

Chen Fei frowned slightly. He had thought last night that the mountain bandits had targeted only one household. Now it seemed they had come directly to sweep through the entire county.

"The County yamen is enraged and has issued a hefty reward. Anyone who provides useful information will receive one hundred taels of silver."

Liu Jun continued, his gaze stirring with eagerness. After all, one hundred taels of silver was undoubtedly an enormous fortune to people like them. Whether they would ever see that much money in their lives was a question in itself.

Chen Fei was tempted as well, but he immediately suppressed the thought.

He could not afford to provoke those mountain bandits yet. And though the County yamen claimed it would pay one hundred taels, how much it would truly give in the end was unknown. More likely, it would drag him into danger.

But simply letting the matter pass would be letting those mountain bandits off far too easily.

And if no one suppressed those mountain bandits, they would likely come to commit crimes in the county again after some time. Then Chen Fei could still encounter danger.

After offering Liu Jun a few words of encouragement, Chen Fei went to the Pill Chamber and began refining Blood Qi Pills.

After refining a few more batches today, Chen Fei could raise the Revival Pill's experience to the Proficient Level. Then he could officially begin refining Revival Pills.

A quarter of an hour later, the pill furnace opened. Exactly five Blood Qi Pills lay within, and the Revival Pill's experience on the panel increased by 5.

Experience was calculated according to the number of Blood Qi Pills produced. Otherwise, Chen Fei could not have raised the Revival Pill's experience to its current point within only a few days.

After placing the Blood Qi Pills into medicine bottles and briefly cleaning the pill furnace, Chen Fei focused wholeheartedly on refining the second batch of Blood Qi Pills.

The third batch, the fourth batch, the fifth batch.

After refining five full batches of Blood Qi Pills, Chen Fei could not help but exhale a breath of Stale Air.

Though his Blood Qi Pill technique had reached Great Perfection, such continuous refining still drained his concentration somewhat. Chen Fei glanced at the panel, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

Alchemy: Revival Pill (Proficient 2/1000)

"I can refine Revival Pills now!"

Because it valued Chen Fei's alchemy skills, and also as support for his pill refining, the Medical Hall specially provided Chen Fei with one set of Revival Pill ingredients for free each day.

Five sets of Revival Pill ingredients had already piled up by Chen Fei's feet. If all went smoothly, he could obtain at least several Revival Pills shortly.

Chen Fei regulated his breathing for the time it took an incense stick to burn. Then he carefully cleaned the pill furnace and placed the ingredients inside one by one according to the pill formula.

He concentrated completely. After all, this was his first time personally refining Revival Pills. Chen Fei treated every change in medicinal properties within the pill furnace with utmost care and adjusted accordingly.

A quarter of an hour later, the fragrance of medicine began to spread through the Pill Chamber, instantly overwhelming the lingering scent of Blood Qi Pills.

Two quarters of an hour later, Chen Fei opened the furnace lid. A single pill lay quietly within the pill furnace.

Chen Fei carefully took it out and scrutinized the Revival Pill.

The pill's outer layer was not round enough. Looking closely, there were also tiny traces of medicinal ingredients that had not completely fused in. These would affect the Revival Pill's final efficacy, and if it were sold, its price would be slightly lower as well.

But none of those flaws could conceal the smile on Chen Fei's face.

Even if its medicinal effect was somewhat inferior, it was still far better than a Blood Qi Pill. If Chen Fei could take one Revival Pill each day, the time needed to break through to the Muscle Tempering Realm would shrink drastically.

The appearance of those mountain bandits had already left Chen Fei feeling increasingly unsafe.

He opened his mouth and swallowed the Revival Pill. Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Chen Fei began circulating the Wind Suspension Breathing Method. His expression soon became as still as an ancient well, completely immersed in cultivation.

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Fei awoke. The exhaustion from refining pills had long since been swept away, leaving him radiant with vigor. When he looked at the panel, a smile could not help appearing on his face.

Realm: Skin Tempering (593/1000)

The Revival Pill had increased his cultivation value by a full 15 points. Previously, with the Wind Suspension Breathing Method at Great Perfection and Blood Qi Pills, Chen Fei would still need nearly a month to break through to the Muscle Tempering Realm.

Now that he had switched to Revival Pills, although he could only take one per day, he would need merely half a month—cutting the time in half.

Perhaps to other martial artists, reducing the time by this amount did not mean much. After all, Revival Pills cost dozens of times more than Blood Qi Pills.

One Revival Pill cost ten taels of silver, fair to young and old alike, no bargaining!

That half-month reduction was entirely piled up with silver. It was far too extravagant.

But as an alchemist, Chen Fei understood that the ingredients used in the two pills differed in value by at most a factor of two. Everything else was simply the value of skills.

And now, Chen Fei had mastered those skills.

"If I want to save up enough silver quickly, it looks like I'll have to sell some Revival Pills in the Dark market."

Chen Fei pondered inwardly, but his hands did not stop moving as he continued refining Revival Pills.

Night fell, and the County yamen was brightly lit. Suddenly, a pebble flew in and struck the wall with a dull thud.

The yamen runners moved at the sound and discovered an envelope beneath the pebble. Inside was a portrait. Upon close inspection, it was precisely Jian Liang's likeness—lifelike and remarkably vivid.

Several li away, Chen Fei, who had learned sketching in his previous life, had already entered the Dark market and arrived before a book stall.

Half an hour later, Chen Fei left the Dark market. His bundle now contained ten manuals of basic footwork, as well as one advanced footwork manual and one miscellaneous technique.

That miscellaneous technique was a Disguise Technique. Not only could it alter one's appearance, but according to the manual, once practiced to profound mastery, it could even alter one's physique.