Return to Miraculous Garden, the Change at Gao Family Fortress!

Lu Changsheng sped away like the wind, quickly leaving Crow Mountain behind.

But just as he left Crow Mountain, he spotted a familiar figure outside the forest.

"Clip-clop, clip-clop."

The horse Lu Changsheng had released earlier was actually wandering outside the forest. The moment it saw Lu Changsheng, it came racing over as if in delight.

"Hm?"

"Horse, you haven't left? You were waiting for me here?"

The horse affectionately rubbed its head against Lu Changsheng's palm.

They said horses understood human nature. Now it seemed that was indeed true.

Lu Changsheng smiled. "Since you didn't leave and waited for me here, I suppose we were fated to meet."

"When we get back, I'll buy you. From now on, follow Lu—let us ride into the martial world together!"

All at once, Lu Changsheng felt his spirits soar to the heavens.

Though the horse had only been rented by him, he could buy it. Besides, with his current wealth, a horse was hardly expensive.

He immediately swung himself onto its back and gently patted it. "Horse, let's go home!"

At once, the horse drove forward on all four hooves and soon vanished into the dust.

Three days later, Lu Changsheng returned to Miraculous Garden.

"Finally, I'm back."

Having spent two months away, Lu Changsheng had essentially taken a journey through the martial world and broadened his horizons.

After all the fighting and killing outside, he found that returning to Miraculous Garden made home feel all the more comfortable.

After resting for a night, Lu Changsheng went to the medicine shop early the next morning.

His Master, Doctor Wu Jing, had arrived early as well.

"Master, this disciple was delayed by some matters outside for a month."

Lu Changsheng respectfully bowed.

Doctor Wu Jing glanced at Lu Changsheng. "It's good that you're back."

"Now that you've returned, your master can relax a little too."

"Starting today, you should try seeing patients on your own."

Lu Changsheng was somewhat surprised. "Master, this disciple has only studied under you for a few months..."

"No matter. Your talent is exceptional; a few months is enough."

"Besides, now that winter is here, the number of patients has increased considerably. Your master alone cannot handle them all. Try seeing patients first. If you encounter anything you don't understand, have your master take another look."

Lu Changsheng understood. His Master was giving him an opportunity to gain more experience.

There was some risk involved in this, of course.

But with his Master watching over him, no major problems would arise.

With that in mind, Lu Changsheng no longer declined.

"Thank you, Master."

The medicine shop was spacious enough that setting up another table was no problem.

Doctor Wu Jing even assigned Lu Changsheng an apprentice to attend to him.

The apprentice was called Zhang Huan, and he had studied under Doctor Wu Jing far longer than Lu Changsheng had. Originally, he had also been an apprentice assigned to Doctor Wu Jing by Miraculous Garden, but now he could only serve as Lu Changsheng's assistant.

However, Zhang Huan was a clever fellow. He knew Lu Changsheng was about to "rise to prominence," and if he clung to Lu Changsheng's thigh, he might just improve his own circumstances.

Thus, Zhang Huan bustled up and down, handling every task with great diligence.

Before long, thanks to Zhang Huan's efforts, Lu Changsheng's first patient arrived.

He was a middle-aged man who had caught a chill and could not stop coughing.

This was a common winter ailment.

The patients transferred over from Doctor Wu Jing were not suffering from any difficult or complicated conditions. They all basically had common ailments, purely so Lu Changsheng could gain experience.

Lu Changsheng examined the man's tongue coating, asked about his symptoms, then took his pulse before finally writing a prescription and dispensing medicine.

Doctor Wu Jing nodded to himself.

Lu Changsheng had no issues with common illnesses like these.

Soon, the day passed.

Doctor Wu Jing had long since left the medicine shop. After all, he was getting on in years and could not overwork himself every day.

The large number of patients were left to Lu Changsheng.

Lu Changsheng was quite satisfied as well.

With so many patients, he would surely accumulate experience very quickly.

In a few months at most, he would be able to see patients on his own and become a true doctor.

Zhang Huan remained as attentive as ever, pouring Lu Changsheng a cup of hot tea.

Lu Changsheng said with a smile, "Zhang Huan, you've worked hard today."

"Doctor Lu, what are you saying? You're the doctor, and I'm the Apprentice. It's only natural for me to assist you."

Lu Changsheng was very satisfied with Zhang Huan, so he asked in puzzlement, "Have medicinal herbs gone up in price recently? I noticed that some common herbs are a little more expensive."

Zhang Huan nodded. "Doctor Lu, you were away for two months, so you don't know what's been happening."

"You know Gao Family Fortress outside the city, right? More than a month ago, the lord of Gao Family Fortress died under mysterious circumstances. Later, a Blood Fiend Sect appeared and somehow took over Gao Family Fortress."

"Gao Family Fortress has now been renamed the Blood Fiend Sect. The Blood Fiend Sect is quite domineering. Relying on its powerful influence, it levies a certain fee on every merchant and trade caravan."

"However, the fees charged by the Blood Fiend Sect are very low. The several factions within the city perhaps don't want to tear all pretense of civility apart with them, so they've tacitly accepted it."

"Our Miraculous Garden caravans have also been charged certain fees, which is why herb prices have risen a little."

At this, a sharp glint flashed through Lu Changsheng's eyes.

The Blood Fiend Sect had occupied Gao Family Fortress.

He immediately thought of the five mysterious martial artists he had killed.

Perhaps those five mysterious martial artists had been members of the Blood Fiend Sect.

However, what concerned Lu Changsheng was whether the Blood Fiend Sect knew that he had taken the Blood Exchange Bead and killed five of their martial artists.

Lu Changsheng returned to his courtyard, still mulling over the Blood Fiend Sect.

"Whether or not the Blood Fiend Sect knows that I took the Blood Exchange Bead, I should avoid leaving Miraculous Garden as much as possible for the time being."

In any case, Lu Changsheng now had silver and martial skills. He could train in peace within Miraculous Garden.

Thus, Lu Changsheng's daily life became regular once more.

Every day, he saw patients and accumulated medical experience. In his spare time, he practiced martial arts.

Such days were plain yet fulfilling.

In the blink of an eye, more than a month passed.

The Blood Fiend Sect never came looking for Lu Changsheng.

That put Lu Changsheng somewhat at ease.

On this day, Lu Changsheng was tempering his internal organs as usual.

Suddenly, a line of small text appeared before his eyes.

"Silkworm Silk Organ Refining Technique perfected. Comprehension +5."

Lu Changsheng was not surprised.

Judging by the time, the Silkworm Silk Organ Refining Technique was indeed due to reach perfection.

Lu Changsheng immediately brought up the Attribute Panel.

Host: Lu Changsheng

Comprehension: 536 (Potential Dragon in the Abyss)

Silkworm Silk Organ Refining Technique: Fifth Layer, perfected

Nine-Character Thunder Sound Secret Method: Perfected (Incomplete)

"The Silkworm Silk Organ Refining Technique has reached perfection. I can continue practicing a second Organ Refining Martial Art."

"With the help of the perfected Nine-Character Thunder Sound Secret Method, the Organ Refining Martial Art doesn't need to be too profound."

Lu Changsheng still had two Organ Refining Martial Arts. He could begin cultivating either one at any time.

Lu Changsheng did not lack Organ Refining Martial Arts, but his stock of martial skills was being used up very quickly.

During this period, Lu Changsheng had practiced another forty martial skills.

On average, he could bring ten martial skills to perfection in roughly ten days.

Most of them were Third Rank Martial Skills, with only a very small number being fourth-rank martial skills.

As a result, Lu Changsheng's Comprehension had now surpassed 500 points.

Five hundred points of Comprehension was roughly five times that of an ordinary person.

It might not sound like much, but the traits displayed by fivefold Comprehension were as far apart from those of an ordinary person as heaven and earth.

Lu Changsheng had only purchased a total of eighty-six martial skills before.

Now, only three martial skills remained.

Most likely, it would take only a few more days to cultivate the last few martial skills to perfection.

By then, he would have no more martial skills to practice, and the speed at which his Comprehension increased would plummet.

Lu Changsheng had actually considered whether, with such high Comprehension, he could create martial skills himself. Then he could cultivate them to perfection, increase his Comprehension, create more martial skills, and form a perfect cycle.

But Lu Changsheng had tried it. It simply would not work.

Creating one's own Martial Skills required inspiration.

Back then, he had only been able to create the Instant Kill Technique because inspiration had suddenly burst forth.

And inspiration was elusive and unpredictable; it was not something one could have simply by wanting it.

Without relying on inspiration, one could still create Martial Skills through one's own accumulation, but it would take time.

Perhaps several years, perhaps ten years, perhaps even decades.

What was the point of spending years or decades creating a single Martial Skill?

As for low-level Martial Skills, they were even more difficult.

Because the simpler a Martial Skill was, the more perfected it actually was.

For instance, the Basic Sword Technique, Basic Saber Technique, Basic Fist Techniques, and so on.

Even with the highest Comprehension, it was impossible to create foundational Martial Skills better than these simplest ones.

They had evolved over hundreds and thousands of years and had already reached their most perfected state.

Therefore, if Lu Changsheng wanted to obtain Martial Skills, he still had to think of another way.

"Looks like I'll have to make another trip to the Black Market."

"Without Li Hongzhuang, perhaps there are still others selling Martial Skills."

Lu Changsheng ultimately decided to visit the Black Market again.

The Black Market was a chaotic mix of fish and dragons, with people from every walk of life.

Besides, several months had already passed since Li Hongzhuang's affair.

Without Li Hongzhuang, perhaps someone else had filled the void she left behind.