Inside Zhenwei Martial Arts School.
Han Zheng sat cross-legged in a corner of the training ground, silently meditating and cultivating.
His arm was injured, making it unsuitable for practicing the White Ape Through-Arm Fist for the time being, and it would also be easy for Li Jingzhong to notice.
So after arriving at the Martial Arts Academy today, he told Li Jingzhong that he wanted to cultivate his internal strength and consolidate his cultivation.
The realms of internal arts and martial combat complemented one another; neither could be lacking. It was perfectly normal for Han Zheng to say so.
At that moment, the academy's disciples had gathered in groups of two and three, heatedly discussing the murder of Feng Yuan, the Punishment Hall Master of the Three Harmonies Gang.
Black Stone County was only so large. Feng Yuan had absolutely counted as a notable figure within the county town.
Yet he had been brutally hammered to death with a single punch on the street, his head smashed apart. It was nothing short of explosive news.
Most people, however, suspected the Black Tiger Gang or the Sky Eagle Gang. They believed the three gangs were about to start another great war.
At this moment, Li Feng entered the Martial Arts Academy carrying two large bundles.
Seeing Han Zheng cultivating in the corner, Li Feng walked over with a smile. "Now I know why you can come out on top in this academy.
Everyone else in the academy is chatting, while you alone are cultivating.
The medicinal bath has been prepared. I happened to bring it over for you today, and I'll also tell you how to use it."
"Thank you for the trouble, Pharmacist Li."
Han Zheng's eyes lit up as he hurriedly accepted the two bundles from Li Feng.
"Eh? They're this heavy?"
Han Zheng was slightly surprised.
These two large bundles must have weighed over ten jin. Were they all Spiritual Medicine?
Li Feng lowered his voice. "Shopkeeper Chen said he would give you one dose of medicinal bath ingredients, but as long as the proportions are right, it does not matter much whether there is a little more or less of each Spiritual Medicine.
I added a little extra of every ingredient. You could say this is a dose and a half of medicinal bath ingredients."
"Many thanks."
Han Zheng clasped his hands and led Li Feng into the academy's inner hall, having one of the servants brew him a cup of tea.
He was now considered Li Jingzhong's personal disciple, so the academy servants were also very courteous toward Han Zheng.
After taking a sip of tea, Li Feng said, "There are quite a few troublesome steps if you want this medicinal bath to take effect.
Once you return home, first buy a large bath barrel. Soak the Spiritual Medicine in boiling water for one hour. Once the medicinal power has dispersed into the water, you can enter it and cultivate.
Remember, you cannot cultivate in the medicinal bath for more than one hour at a time. Otherwise, if your body absorbs too much medicinal power, not only will you fail to absorb it all, it may even clog your Acupoints and meridians.
Normally, one dose of Spiritual Medicine can be used for around three days before the medicinal effects dissipate. Since I added extra ingredients for you, it should last about four to five days."
Han Zheng nodded, then suddenly asked, "If it were pills, would it not be so troublesome?"
"Of course. You can simply swallow pills and refine them directly. Even if you cannot digest them all at once, you can just digest them over a longer period. There will be no side effect of clogging your Acupoints and meridians.
It is just that pill formulas are incomparably precious. Pharmacists like us in these small county towns can only admire them from afar. We have never dared hope that one day we might become alchemists."
Though Li Feng said that, a trace of longing still showed in his eyes.
Alchemists and pharmacists held completely different statuses. Even within great aristocratic families and major sects, the former held extremely high standing.
"By the way, Pharmacist Li, have you heard that Feng Yuan, the Punishment Hall Master of the Three Harmonies Gang, was killed today?"
Although killing Feng Yuan had counted as silencing him forever, Han Zheng was certain that Gao Kaiyuan would not let the matter rest. He was still at risk of being exposed; he had merely bought himself a few days.
Thus, Han Zheng also wanted to inquire into the movements outside and see how he should take his next step.
The news heard by the academy disciples was all a chaotic jumble of rumors, useless to Han Zheng.
As one of the few Senior Pharmacists in Black Stone County, Li Feng had extensive connections, and his sources of information were far more reliable.
"Of course I heard. The matter is being spread everywhere outside.
But no one knows who did it for now. I heard that during the Three Harmonies Gang's meeting afterward, Gao Kaiyuan and First Gang Leader Cao Bin had another argument."
Han Zheng asked in surprise, "Wasn't it said that the Three Harmonies Gang's three gang leaders were sworn brothers who founded the gang together? Do they often clash?"
"Sharing hardship is easy; sharing prosperity is hard."
Li Feng sighed. "Back then, the three of them truly were sworn brothers, the kind who would live and die together. That was why they could develop the Three Harmonies Gang into one of Black Stone County's three great gangs in only a few short years.
But once the Three Harmonies Gang grew powerful, with wealth, rank, and authority before them, who could truly claim they had no selfish desires?
Cao Bin was the oldest, nearly sixty already. Because he suffered injuries in his early years, his qi and blood had now begun to decline, no longer as strong as before.
The chief shopkeeper had prescribed medicine for him before, but it could only delay the deterioration of his body.
Among the Three Harmonies Gang's three gang leaders, only Cao Bin had a sole son named Cao Rui. Thus, Cao Bin had always wanted to pass the position of gang leader to his son.
But Gao Kaiyuan naturally refused to accept that. He was only in his forties and in the prime of life. Of course, he wanted control of the Three Harmonies Gang, so he and Cao Bin had practically torn off all pretense of civility over this matter.
As for Third Gang Leader Jiang Tai, he was the youngest and the weakest. Not many people in the gang supported him, so he sided with neither.
The only reason those two had not come to blows was because the Black Tiger Gang and Sky Eagle Gang stood outside. They did not dare fight, afraid outsiders would reap the benefits."
Han Zheng nodded thoughtfully.
After chatting with Han Zheng a little longer, Li Feng took his leave and returned to Shenghe Hall.
After morning class, Han Zheng immediately bought a large bath barrel and went home to prepare his medicinal bath.
He first threw a large pile of Spiritual Medicine into the bath barrel, then boiled pot after pot of water to soak them.
The Spiritual Medicines came in all varieties, with different colors and scents. Once soaked in boiling water, the liquid looked like a basin of murky yellow soup and gave off an intense medicinal odor.
Han Zheng frowned slightly.
No wonder disciples of those great sects did not use medicinal baths and instead took pills.
Medicinal baths truly were troublesome and not particularly dignified.
Once an hour had passed and the medicinal power had dispersed, Han Zheng stripped off his clothes and jumped in. In an instant, a surging tide of spiritual energy wrapped around him.
As he circulated the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill, the vast medicinal power was madly drawn into Han Zheng's body, while his internal strength roared and surged through him with near-madness.
One Acupoint after another was forced open. He did not even need to accumulate internal strength anew. Bolstered by the medicinal bath, he broke through the Acupoints in his body like wind sweeping away clouds.
At Han Zheng's previous pace, he could open roughly two or three Acupoints per day.
That had already been the limit with the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill's enhancement.
But now, only half an hour had passed, and Han Zheng had already opened more than ten Acupoints. Everything flowed like drifting clouds and running water, without the slightest obstruction.
Li Feng had told Han Zheng that he could not remain in the medicinal bath for more than one hour because the body could not absorb that much medicinal power.
But that was because Li Feng did not know Han Zheng possessed the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill.
A dragon swallowed, an elephant drank.
The Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill, driven at full power, was terrifying beyond measure. The medicinal power was frantically absorbed by Han Zheng, then raced wildly through his body, battering through and opening Acupoints.
Three hours later, a dose of medicinal bath ingredients that should have lasted four or five days had actually been completely consumed by Han Zheng in a single night, its medicinal power utterly exhausted.
At this moment, a faint sheen of flowing light surged across Han Zheng's entire body, barely visible only in the darkness of night.
It was a sign that his Acupoints had reached perfection and his inner force spread throughout his body.
He still had two meridians that had not been opened, but to the current Han Zheng, they could no longer be considered obstacles.
With a thought, the surging internal strength instantly pierced through both meridians completely.
Three hundred and sixty-five Acupoints corresponded to the stars of the heavenly circuit, while twelve meridians ran through the entire body. Han Zheng had reached the Peak Acquired Stage!
Glancing at the bath barrel, whose water had evaporated considerably, Han Zheng gently shook his head.
No wonder so many martial artists flocked after external resources like medicinal baths and pills. These things were simply too useful.
This one medicinal bath had even been enough to equal a month of Han Zheng's bitter cultivation.
Of course, that was only because Han Zheng's foundation was deep and he possessed an innate cultivation method like the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill that he dared use it this way.
Other martial artists of the same realm could only do as Li Feng had said, soaking for one hour a day. Any longer would instead clog their Acupoints and meridians.
He glanced at his arm. Under the nourishment of the medicinal bath, even the minor fracture from before had been repaired and healed by the medicinal power.
When he pushed open the courtyard gate, the sky outside had already begun to brighten.
Han Zheng suppressed part of the aura around him before heading to the Martial Arts Academy to cultivate.
Li Jingzhong knew Li Feng had delivered medicinal bath ingredients to him.
But if he used all of the medicinal bath in one night and his cultivation soared to the Peak Acquired Stage, it would be too shocking. He needed to keep it hidden.
Today was a full-day class at the academy. After class that evening, Han Zheng went to a small shop Li Sancheng had recommended that sold braised pork intestines.
Li Sancheng did not have many hobbies. His sole passion was eating.
After earning quite a bit of silver from escorting the caravan last time, Li Sancheng gave part of it to his father, while nearly all the rest was spent on food.
Still, he had uncovered quite a few inexpensive, delicious little shops.
This small shop selling braised pork intestines was in South City, an inconspicuous roadside stall.
In these times, poor families could not even fill their stomachs, much less eat meat, so even pig offal was valuable.
But intestines had a strong foul smell, and the spices needed to remove it were expensive beyond what poor commoners could afford.
Thus, even among all kinds of offal, pig intestines were something few people wished to eat.
Only the owner of this stall possessed a jar of family-inherited braising stock, supposedly passed down for generations, that could remove the foul smell of pig intestines. That was why it was so popular with the common people.
Han Zheng bought a bowl of braised pork intestines, then bought two sesame flatbreads next door to eat with them.
He turned over the fragrant, richly braised intestines and found no lingering original intestine flavor within before taking a bite with ease.
Sure enough, they were fragrant, rich, soft, and glutinous, thoroughly infused with flavor.
At that moment, a figure wearing a black-and-red official uniform suddenly carried a bowl of braised pork intestines over and sat opposite Han Zheng.
"I didn't expect this braised intestine stall to still be open.
I remember the stall was run by his father back then. Later, there was a gang battle.
But his father still clutched that jar of braising stock and ran slowly away. In the end, a blade flying from who knew where sliced off half his head. Even as he died, he was still hugging that jar of braising stock."
Zhang Tianyang chewed on a piece of braised intestine while narrowing his eyes at Han Zheng.
"People are most afraid of greed. Tell me, if his father had been willing to put down that jar of braising stock and flee for his life, would he not have died?"