The Powerful Black Snake Secret Medicine

"Young Master, you're finally back." Knight Fred opened the city gate for Levi, welcoming his arrival.

"Nothing happened in the territory while I was gone these past few days, right?" Levi asked.

"Everything in the territory is normal. Did your trip go smoothly?"

"Well enough."

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Knight Fred, Levi returned to his room.

On this trip, he had spent every last gold coin at the bottom of that iron chest. Overnight, Levi had become a pauper again.

"But the gains this time were huge."

Two bottles of ambergris, two Bloodline Breathing Techniques, a stable sales channel for weapons and armor, and a handful of miscellaneous books.

Levi had basically achieved every purpose of this trip.

Now everything was ready; all that remained was to mix the secret medicine.

The next day, Levi slept beautifully until the sky brightened.

Preparing the Black Snake Secret Medicine was not some technical craft. It was unlike alchemy and pill refining from his previous life, and required no fire refinement.

He only needed to mix everything according to fixed proportions, then knead it into little pills.

So Levi successfully prepared a full two hundred secret medicine pills.

If too much secret medicine was made, the potency of the ambergris would be diluted too much, preventing it from taking effect.

According to the formula, these two bottles of ambergris were just about enough to make two hundred pills.

At one pill a day, it was enough for Levi to cultivate for the next half year.

Once the secret medicine was prepared, Levi swallowed a pill, prepared food, and then impatiently began practicing the Black Snake Breathing Technique.

These past two days outside had delayed his breathing technique practice.

About an hour later, Levi completed one cycle of the breathing technique.

[Black Snake Breathing Technique Proficiency +10] "Taking secret medicine really is different. Under normal circumstances, one cycle of the breathing technique only increases proficiency by 1 or 2 points. With secret medicine supporting it, the increase goes up several times over. Unfortunately, at the Pre-Knight stage, secret medicine can only be taken once a day. Taking more is no good; too much is as bad as too little."

After taking the Black Snake Secret Medicine, he could clearly feel that when he circulated the Black Snake Breathing Technique, a cold current wandered through his body. This cold current seemed to be the effect of the Black Snake Secret Medicine. With this cold current supporting him, Levi's entire person maintained an extremely focused state of mind, entering a highly efficient state of cultivation.

After finishing one cycle of the breathing technique, wisps of white vapor began to spread from the pores all over Levi's body. After the white vapor came some black filth being expelled from within him.

"This... this Black Snake Secret Medicine actually has this kind of effect too, expelling some impurities from my body."

After expelling the toxins and taking a bath, he felt light and refreshed.

While he was still in that state, Levi practiced the Golden Cross Slash once.

[Golden Cross Slash Proficiency +3] "Not bad. The Black Snake Secret Medicine seems able to keep a person highly focused, thereby improving efficiency and putting them into a state similar to a low-end enlightenment. So it's not only the breathing technique; even the effect on sword technique training is far better than usual. Good stuff."

Not only that, though he did not know if it was his imagination, Levi kept feeling that after taking the Black Snake Secret Medicine, his physical qualities had all received a slight improvement. He guessed that it might be a special effect brought by taking it for the first time.

He practiced the breathing technique and Golden Cross Slash a few more times, completing today's cultivation tasks.

Then Levi took out the Frost Wolf Breathing Technique and Giant Bear Breathing Technique he had bought at the auction.

Both of these breathing techniques were shallow-level breathing techniques, and they were also Bloodline Breathing Techniques. Among all breathing techniques, they were the least valuable.

Levi first opened the Inheritance Scroll of the Giant Bear Breathing Technique.

On the parchment were little human figures similar to those of his family's Black Snake Breathing Technique. The little figures were doing all kinds of different postures. If the Black Snake Breathing Technique mainly emphasized strangeness, then the postures of the little figures in the Giant Bear Breathing Technique emphasized broad, sweeping movements, more like some fierce and forceful fist techniques from his previous life.

And in the center of these little figures was a majestic giant bear like a small mountain. The giant bear roared up at the sky, giving off a wild, ancient aura.

This was the clan emblem of the Rock Bear Family, the [Rock Giant Bear].

"Clearly, the Giant Bear Breathing Technique is a breathing technique focused on strength. This just happens to complement my Black Snake Breathing Technique."

Levi then looked at the other Frost Wolf Breathing Technique. The contents of the Inheritance Scroll were much the same as the Giant Bear Breathing Technique, nothing more than little human figures in different postures, gathered around a silver-white giant wolf in the center. This was the clan emblem of the Frost Wolf Family, the [Silver Frost Wolf].

Levi noticed that this giant wolf's appearance was actually somewhat similar to the Mountain Sitting Wolf King he had killed. It was not just the appearance, but that kind of expression and presence.

But in any case, that Mountain Sitting Wolf King was already dead and had turned to ash, so it did not matter even if there was a connection.

"The Frost Wolf Breathing Technique is focused on reaction speed and agility. Not bad. If I can learn these two breathing techniques, with Black Snake focusing on defense, Rock Bear focusing on strength, and Frost Wolf focusing on speed, wouldn't I be a Polygon Warrior?" Levi laughed.

"I'll start with the Frost Wolf Breathing Technique first. My strength is fine right now, and for defense I have armor and the Black Snake Breathing Technique, so I'm not lacking for the moment. What I lack most right now is speed and flexibility. In all martial arts under heaven, nothing is unbreakable, only speed is unbeatable!"

"First, I'll try to see whether I can put the Frost Wolf Breathing Technique into the Proficiency Panel. As long as it can enter the panel, forget breathing techniques—even if it's a forbidden art of the gods, as long as I'm given time, I'll find a way to grind it to max level."

The Proficiency Panel was Levi's greatest reliance.

On the surface, this Golden Finger seemed perfectly ordinary, only able to display proficiency.

But that was precisely the most amazing part of this Golden Finger. It meant that certain extremely difficult things were all represented through quantified proficiency data.

And Levi only needed to grind proficiency like playing a game to improve his skills.

All labor would bring gains, and all gains would bring feedback.

Cultivation was no longer a blind, rough perception based on experience, but had a clear reference, a constantly advancing, refined target.

Getting started with a breathing technique was not something that could be completed in a day or two.

For the Black Snake Breathing Technique, Levi had spent a full half month before he entered the beginner stage.

Although the Frost Wolf Breathing Technique was shallow-level, if Levi wanted to fully comprehend and understand those diagrammed postures, it would also take some time.

In addition to practicing breathing techniques, Levi did not idle around. It was as though he had inexhaustible energy throughout his body. Whenever he had free time, he would go smithing. He needed to start studying the blueprints that knight had given him, preparing to try forging armor. In three months, he had to deliver a batch of goods.

Day after day passed. Levi's life was incredibly fulfilling. In the castle courtyard, the Three Brothers also grew happily. As massive amounts of food entered their bellies, their bodies almost swelled at a speed visible to the naked eye. Each time he did not see them for a while, they would be a small size bigger.

Jadeite Calendar 1006, Third Day of the Month of Flowers.

Levi also learned from Knight Fred that his two neighbors, the heirs of Frostwind Territory and Rock Territory, had successively sold off their ancestral fiefs. Their entire clans had moved to Icewind City, becoming the lowest class of landless nobles. As for the buyer of the fiefs, it was the Holy Radiance Church.

It was said that the church wanted to build a new church in Silvermoon Territory, so the Holy Light of the Heavenly Father could warm the people of this Extremely Cold Land.

Levi cursed inwardly.

He had a premonition that this peaceful life of his would be broken by the arrival of the church.