Testing

Donghu City's long streets, paved with bluestone, teemed with people, carriages, and horses amid a clamor of noise.

At a street corner stood an especially eye-catching three-story pavilion. The three gilded characters, "Wu Dan Fang," gleamed beneath the sunlight.

This was Donghu City's foremost shop for pills and medicinal herbs, backed by the Lu Family, who controlled the Heart Calming Lotus resources.

A rich, mingled fragrance of medicine drifted from the open doors, drawing frequent glances from passersby.

Yun Hu had sword-like brows and bright eyes, his black hair tied high. A longsword hung across his back, and a small bundle rested against his chest as he strode into the shop like the wind.

This was already his third visit.

The shop interior was spacious and bright. Rows of ebony medicine cabinets stood against the walls, each marked with labels for different medicinal ingredients.

Several attendants in matching uniforms bustled about serving customers. The crisp clatter of abacus beads intermingled with hushed bargaining.

Yun Hu walked straight to the inner hall counter.

A slightly plump, shrewd-faced middle-aged steward was bent over checking the accounts.

"Steward." Yun Hu's voice was calm as he gently set a bundle on the counter.

The steward looked up, a trace of his habitual scrutiny flashing through his eyes. When he recognized Yun Hu, his expression eased slightly.

He reached out and untied the bundle, revealing ten small jade bottles.

The steward opened one bottle and poured out two thumb-sized pills of clear jade-green color. A crisp medicinal fragrance immediately spread through the air.

"Same as before. They're all Qi Nourishing Pills." Yun Hu was brief and to the point. "The quality is as good as ever."

"Good, excellent pills!" The steward's face broke into a broad smile as he praised them repeatedly.

The effects of these pills were astonishingly good. The martial artists in the shop scrambled to buy them, and the profits were rich enough to set his heart aflame.

"Buying some medicinal ingredients as before?" the steward asked.

Yun Hu nodded slightly and handed over a list filled with names of herbs.

"Prepare them according to the list."

The steward accepted the list, his attitude becoming even more respectful. He personally called out for the attendants to gather all the ingredients.

Before long, a large bundle of medicinal ingredients had been prepared.

Even after the cost of the herbs was deducted, more than half the silver earned from selling the pills remained.

The pill trade was truly outrageously profitable.

As its name suggested, the Qi Nourishing Pill was used to help martial artists strengthen their true qi.

Its efficacy was purer than that of ordinary True Essence Pills, and its effects were superior as well.

After Yun He advanced to the peak of the Xiantian realm, aside from cultivating without pause, she devoted much of her attention to the Lineage's copy of the Compendium of Materia Medica.

This Qi Nourishing Pill was the result of her repeated adjustments and refinements based on medicinal principles.

Though the medicinal ingredients used were not particularly precious or rare, they were cheap, abundant, and easy to acquire.

After two sales, the Yun Clan had already made a substantial profit from these pills.

Choosing to sell the pills at the Lu Family's Wu Dan Fang, then purchase the needed ingredients from the same place, had been Yun Long's deliberate arrangement.

The Lu Family was far more composed than Yun Long had expected. After two consecutive probes, they had shown no reaction at all.

Yun Long guessed that either the Lu Family feared the Yun Clan was someone's bait, or they did not wish to stir up further trouble at such a critical time.

Yun Hu stepped out of Wu Dan Fang. The longsword on his back swayed lightly with his steps, while the small bundle against his chest held the newly purchased medicinal ingredients.

He was tall and straight, with sword-like brows, bright eyes, and black hair tied high with a simple cloth band. As he walked through Donghu City's streets, many passing women repeatedly turned back to look at him, while some bolder ones whispered among themselves, their cheeks reddening.

Under the rule of the Great Xia Dynasty, nearly every city had a Martial Dao arena in its central district, where martial artists could spar and make a name for themselves.

The arena at Wanfang Lake was currently roaring with noise.

A burly man stood bare-chested in the center of the arena, his bronze skin gleaming with oil beneath the sun. He held a mountain-splitting axe and swaggered arrogantly.

On a wooden board beside the arena, the challenge requirements were written in ink: under twenty years old.

Yun Hu merely glanced at it before withdrawing his gaze.

A martial artist at the peak of the Body Tempering Realm had yet to condense true qi. In his eyes, such a person was little different from an ordinary strongman and could not stir even the slightest interest in fighting.

His gaze swept over the notices posted on the other side of the arena. One of them stood out in particular, its ink still fresh.

"The Mo Family sincerely seeks a son-in-law with a Spiritual Root. Any man under twenty-five, of clean family background, upright character, and cultivation aptitude may visit the Mo residence for discussion. Should he marry into the family, the Mo Family will devote all their resources to nurturing him and treat him as one of their own."

The Mo Family?

Yun Hu's heart stirred.

The jade slip Ning Yongrui had given him mentioned that the Mo Family controlled the Earth's Core Ice Crystal and was one of Wanfang Lake's three great families.

Yet now they were openly seeking a son-in-law, specifically requiring a Spiritual Root. Could it be that the Mo Family truly had no successors for the past two generations, leaving their immortal cultivation inheritance on the brink of extinction?

As he pondered this, an even louder uproar suddenly erupted from the direction of East Street, accompanied by women's startled cries and men's jeering.

Yun Hu looked toward the sound.

He saw a nearby restaurant with its second-floor windows flung wide open. Many people crowded around the railing, craning their necks to look down.

Below, the streets were packed three layers deep and three layers wide with townsfolk watching the excitement.

At the center of the crowd stood a girl in a pink gauze dress, around sixteen or seventeen years old. She was delicately pretty and held a bright red embroidered ball. Her cheeks carried a trace of anxiety and shyness as her watery eyes searched through the crowd below.

"It's been three days! Miss Cheng still hasn't thrown out her embroidered ball!"

"Exactly. Master Cheng is so anxious that he insisted on this embroidered-ball toss to choose a son-in-law."

"Shh! Keep your voice down. The Cheng Family has some standing in Donghu City..."

The fragments of discussion reached Yun Hu's ears.

The girl named Cheng Ningcui swept her gaze over one man after another in the crowd, her delicate brows knitting tighter and tighter. None seemed to suit her heart.

For three days, she had come here every day to throw the embroidered ball, yet she had never found a man who made her eyes light up.

Just as she was about to lose heart and give up, the corner of her eye caught sight of Yun Hu approaching from the edge of the crowd.

In an instant, Cheng Ningcui's eyes lit up like stars suddenly kindled in the night.

It was him!

It had to be him!

His tall, straight figure and handsome face made her heart race like a startled deer.

Cheng Ningcui's cheeks instantly flushed scarlet. No longer caring for modesty, she flicked her wrist with force. The embroidered ball carrying her eager hopes traced a cheerful arc, flying straight and true toward Yun Hu.

Her heart pounded wildly, both nervous and excited. Her beautiful eyes remained fixed on Yun Hu, afraid that he might miss it.

Yun Hu's gaze met Cheng Ningcui's in midair.

The girl was indeed lovely, with bright eyes, white teeth, skin fairer than snow, and a pink dress that further emphasized her graceful figure.

But Yun Hu's mind was nowhere near this.

His thoughts held only the Lineage's cultivation techniques—how to condense true qi faster, and how to break through into the Qi Refining Stage as soon as possible.

In his eyes, that vivid red embroidered ball was no different from an ordinary stone by the roadside.

He could not even be bothered to reach out and catch it, allowing the ball to arc through the air and nearly fall away.

Just as the embroidered ball was about to brush past the corner of his robe and hit the ground.

A sudden change erupted!

From both the front and rear of the crowd, five figures burst forth as though a hornet's nest had exploded.

All five wore fitted martial attire. Their temples bulged high, their gazes were fierce, and powerful waves of Xiantian True Qi radiated from their bodies.

Every one of them was an expert at the middle stage of the Xiantian realm or above!

The instant they appeared, they locked onto Yun Hu.

Without the slightest hesitation, all five attacked at once. Palm winds, fist force, and leg shadows intertwined into an impenetrable net of death that descended upon Yun Hu's head.

Their moves were vicious to the extreme, aimed directly at his vital points!

The fierce gale tore through the air with a piercing howl.

"Kid, get out of the embroidered ball's way!"