Grain Avoidance Pill

At those words, Yang Gan slowly withdrew his gaze, turned, and left without a word.

Only after Yang Gan had gone did warmth gradually return to Xu Yunfan's body, his blood and qi surging.

What a savage gaze.

Xu Yunfan stretched his limbs in silence, turmoil churning within his chest.

Being treated like a chick that could be casually slaughtered at any moment did not feel good at all.

And besides...

Xu Yunfan silently glanced at Li Haomiao.

With him at the side of His Highness the Yan King, Yang Gan would definitely find an opportunity to remove him.

He needed to keep raising his proficiency.

"His hard-body training is quite formidable. He has reached Great Accomplishment in Skin Tempering; his skin is tough, and ordinary blades cannot get near him. After reaching Great Accomplishment in Skin Tempering, all hard-body practitioners possess immense strength. They can easily lift great cauldrons, shatter stones, and split steles. He truly is a rare master who has brought hard-body training to completion. If he were in the army, he would certainly become a fierce general.

"Unfortunately, because of this hard-body training, he has long been unable to enter the sinew and bone realms. Once you cultivate the Crimson Flame Copper Body Art to Great Accomplishment, there will naturally be no need to fear him. Do not trouble yourself over it."

Seeing Xu Yunfan's silence, Li Haomiao could not help but speak.

Hard-body training was exceedingly arduous. Few could persevere through it, and even fewer were willing to endure the pain of their sinews and bones constantly being damaged.

Xu Yunfan raised his head, looking somewhat curious.

"Uh, I was wondering whether this Grain Avoidance Pill can really stave off hunger."

Seeing that Xu Yunfan seemed entirely unaffected by Yang Gan's earlier appearance, Li Haomiao was momentarily speechless. He had even worked himself up before offering words of comfort.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "This Grain Avoidance Pill is refined from dozens of precious medicinal ingredients. It resembles an iron pellet. If one's body is not strong enough, swallowing it rashly would instead make it a highly toxic substance."

Hearing this, Xu Yunfan stepped forward and picked up the porcelain bottle, only to feel his hand sink.

So heavy!

He was somewhat astonished. This porcelain bottle was only palm-sized, yet it weighed a full twenty to thirty jin.

After opening the bottle and pouring out one pill, Xu Yunfan looked at the Grain Avoidance Pill in his palm, which resembled an iron pellet. Confused, he held it out before Li Haomiao.

"Is this really a Grain Avoidance Pill?"

Li Haomiao took the Grain Avoidance Pill, sniffed it first, then swallowed it in one gulp.

Xu Yunfan, standing nearby, could even hear the thud of iron and stone dropping into his stomach.

Xu Yunfan asked, "Aren't you afraid it's poison?"

"Now that I am crippled, anyone who wants to kill me need not go to such lengths. If there are people who want me dead, there are naturally people who want me alive. As long as I live, I can naturally bring sufficient benefits to certain people.

"That Bewitching Woman sees me as a thorn in her eye and a nail in her flesh, but others see me as a worthy lord. At the very least, if I die, their own interests will suffer losses they cannot accept. For that reason, I naturally cannot die."

Li Haomiao exhaled. Thunder rumbled in his abdomen, and as his withered blood and qi received nourishment, traces of color rose on his formerly pale, gaunt cheeks.

"It is genuine, and it is even a top-grade Grain Avoidance Pill."

He looked at Xu Yunfan.

"Want to eat one?"

Xu Yunfan fell silent for a moment.

"Didn't you say that if one's body was not strong enough, eating a Grain Avoidance Pill was like swallowing poisonous gold and iron?"

"Top-grade Grain Avoidance Pills are an exception. After entering the stomach, they can be digested slowly rather than poisoning the body. Instead, they provide tremendous nourishment. Consider yourself lucky."

Li Haomiao said leisurely, "There is only this one chance. For Yang Gan to bring this bottle of Grain Avoidance Pills to keep me alive, the people behind him have already gone to their limit. Something major will probably happen next, which is why they took the risk of letting me recover somewhat."

Hearing this, Xu Yunfan no longer hesitated. He poured out one pill and swallowed it beneath Li Haomiao's faintly approving gaze.

Gulp.

He only felt his stomach sink, and even his body swayed twice.

Li Haomiao asked eagerly, "How is it?"

"I feel like my stomach has prolapsed a little."

"Stomach prolapse?"

Li Haomiao understood, and a trace of bewildered amusement appeared on his face.

"Interesting."

After lying on the ground for a long while, Xu Yunfan gradually adjusted. A Grain Avoidance Pill the size of a thumb actually condensed more than two jin of weight into such a tiny pellet. The sinking sensation in his stomach made him unable to help moving with extra care.

Gradually, as his stomach began digesting it, threads of warmth spread from his stomach, gently permeating his limbs and bones. His stomach, which had been somewhat hungry all along, was rapidly filled, and then a sense of fullness rose within him.

Xu Yunfan was astonished. It felt as though his body were a sponge that had been dry for a long time and was now tossed into the sea, constantly soaking up nourishment. His somewhat malnourished body seemed to have received complete replenishment.

If he trained martial arts in this state, his efficiency and the rate at which his proficiency increased would definitely rise by a great deal.

If he only ate those rock-hard flatbreads, how many points of proficiency could he gain in a day?

He immediately sat up and asked Li Haomiao.

"This pill works pretty well. Are there any other Pills?"

It seemed that, beyond martial arts, there were many other things in this world worth uncovering.

Li Haomiao said, "What do you think? Obtaining even one bottle of Grain Avoidance Pills is already no easy matter."

Xu Yunfan sighed helplessly and could only rise, picking up the Iron Pickaxe. Yet he suddenly found that what had once felt suitably weighted now seemed a little lighter.

He flicked his wrist, and the Iron Pickaxe seemed weightless in his hand, actually producing a whooshing sound as it cut through the air.

Seeing how much Xu Yunfan had changed in such a short time, Li Haomiao had already formed some guesses. He said regretfully, "If you joined the Dao Sect, you might have accomplished something. What a pity..."

"A genius like me will shine like gold wherever I go."

Hearing Xu Yunfan's shameless words, Li Haomiao's eye twitched, and he could not say a thing.

After slightly adjusting to the long-lost feeling of fullness, Xu Yunfan cleared away the stones piled against the jade wall. Looking at the wall, which emitted a faint green gleam beneath the torchlight, he felt that if he stared at it for too long, even his mind would be drawn inside.

He withdrew his gaze and continued swinging the Iron Pickaxe.

'You continued mining. You seemed able to distinguish the quality of ores; your Mining proficiency increased.'

'In a flash of inspiration, you applied the force exerted in mining to the Scarlet Refinement Copper Body; your Scarlet Refinement Copper Body proficiency increased.'

'...'

'You swung your legs around and seemed to have grasped the exertion method of Fleet Foot, but upon closer consideration, gained nothing.'

'...'

Over the next several days, aside from necessary rest, Xu Yunfan ate, drank, relieved himself, and trained entirely within the mine. He threw himself wholeheartedly into mining, tempering his body, and practicing Fleet Foot. Notifications concerning his Mining and Crimson Flame Copper Body Art proficiencies continuously rose across his vision, almost flooding the screen.

A single Grain Avoidance Pill was enough to keep him from feeling even the slightest hunger for five full days.

Zhou Feng never appeared again. The last time Xu Yunfan saw him was while iron ore was being transported. Zhou Feng had been whispering with several miners, and upon seeing him, merely swept him with an indifferent glance before quickly leaving with a sigh on his face.

Xu Yunfan did not take the initiative to speak with him either. After learning of the strength of Yang Gan, the overseer chief, he naturally understood that Zhou Feng and his group were likely only beating their heads against a wall.

Not many people had died in the mines these past days, but neither had there been few. Every day, people died underground and were carried out.

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