"Sure." The pharmacist took the bank card and tapped at the tablet a few times, then handed over a small facial-recognition scanner. "Look at the camera for verification. Then fill in your basic information here: name, ID number, and school. For the purchase purpose, check 'Daily Training Supplement for Martial Arts Students.' Then sign to confirm."
Chen Mo did as instructed. The scanner gave a soft beep, and "Verification passed" appeared on the screen. He picked up the pen and neatly wrote his information in the register. The scratch of the pen across the paper sounded especially clear in the quiet pharmacy. As he wrote the two characters of his name, Chen Mo suddenly felt a heavy sense of responsibility. This wasn't just a purchase; it was the starting point of his rise.
The system quickly approved the transaction. The pharmacist turned and took a palm-sized, white, sealed medicine box from the temperature-controlled cabinet behind her. The box was made of sturdy material, with "Qi and Blood Capsules" printed across the front in black Song-style characters. Beneath that were the words "For Martial Arts Students Only" and "500 mg per capsule," along with an anti-counterfeiting QR code and the manufacture date. Inside were two individually packaged foil blister sheets, each containing a single Deep Blue capsule. The capsules had a smooth surface and a faint sheen. A neatly folded instruction leaflet was included as well.
"Let me go over the precautions again." As the pharmacist handed him the box, she deliberately slowed down, her tone more serious than before. "Take one capsule with warm water. It's best to take it half an hour before training or within an hour afterward, when your stomach absorbs it most effectively. No more than one a day. Do not exceed the recommended dose. Taking too much may cause adverse reactions such as Qi and Blood Fluctuation, dizziness, and nausea. If you experience severe discomfort after taking it, stop immediately and seek medical attention. Also, try to avoid cold or spicy foods while taking it, as they can affect absorption."
"Okay, thank you, ma'am." Chen Mo listened carefully, committing every word to memory. Then he took the medicine box and his bank card and carefully tucked them into the inner zippered pocket of his schoolbag. He zipped it shut and pressed a hand against the pocket to make sure nothing would fall out. The weight of that thousand yuan seemed to be concentrated in the little box, weighing on his shoulder and staying on his mind.
After leaving the pharmacy, Chen Mo didn't head straight to school. He rode his bike to a quiet little park nearby. There weren't many elderly people exercising yet; only a few figures practicing tai chi moved slowly beneath the trees. He found a bench and sat down. All around him was silence, broken only by birdsong and the rustling of leaves in the breeze. Chen Mo took the medicine box from his schoolbag, then pulled out his thermos and unscrewed the lid. Warm steam rose into the air.
Following the instructions, he carefully popped a capsule from the foil blister sheet. The Deep Blue capsule gleamed softly in the sunlight. It felt featherlight in his hand, yet somehow weighed a thousand pounds. Chen Mo tipped his head back, placed the capsule in his mouth, and took a large sip of warm water. His throat bobbed as the capsule slid down his esophagus. It had no unusual taste, leaving only a faint medicinal flavor in his mouth.
At first, Chen Mo didn't notice anything special. He sat quietly on the bench, calm as still water, his eyes fixed on the distance. He remained motionless, like a statue.
The seconds ticked by, and Chen Mo held his original pose without the slightest movement. At last, after a long wait, he lowered his head slightly and looked at the fine watch on his wrist. The second hand crept forward, one tick at a time, steady and slow. Each movement seemed so heavy, as if time itself had stretched without end.
Another five or six minutes passed. Then, all at once, a warm current, gentle as the spring sun, quietly rose from Chen Mo's lower abdomen. It was like holding a steaming cup of brown sugar and ginger tea in the depths of winter. The warmth wasn't overwhelming, but it was perfectly comfortable, spreading steadily throughout his body and reaching every corner.
As the warmth surged, Chen Mo could clearly feel it coursing along the meridians inside him. Wherever it passed, the fatigue and weakness left by waking early to exercise and riding his bike began to fade at an astonishing pace. The slight emptiness caused by Qi and Blood Fluctuation vanished too, replaced by a soothing sense of fullness. Even the soreness in his arm muscles from yesterday's fierce sparring during Body Tempering Fist practice had eased considerably.
At that moment, Chen Mo felt as if he were standing in an immense field that had endured a long drought before finally receiving a much-needed rain. The warm current was like a gentle downpour from the heavens, nourishing every inch of his skin, every pore, and every joint. The pleasant feeling of being "filled up" made his breathing steadier and smoother.
More subtly, he tried practicing the mental method of Black Tiger Stance. At a thought, the faint Qi and Blood within him began circulating along its established route. This time, he could clearly feel less resistance and a slight increase in speed. The warmth from the Qi and Blood Capsule blended smoothly with his own Qi and Blood, meeting no resistance at all, as if they had always been one.
"What a great product!" Chen Mo's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help cheering inwardly. The capsule, at five hundred yuan each, worked even better than he'd expected. It might not directly increase his Qi and Blood limit like the legendary Basic Qi and Blood Pill, but it was remarkably effective at restoring him to training condition and improving his "stamina" and "comfort" during practice. That meant he could handle more intense and longer training sessions in the same amount of time, indirectly increasing how quickly he gained proficiency and shortening the time it would take to break through!
In this unprecedentedly energized state, Chen Mo rode to school. He felt full of strength the whole way, and his legs moved especially lightly as he pedaled. The trip usually took twenty minutes, but today he made it in fifteen.
Chen Mo felt unbelievably good throughout his Cultural Classes that day. He didn't zone out or get drowsy during math, as he sometimes did. He understood the difficult function problems the teacher explained on the board as soon as he heard them. When he worked them out, his thinking was remarkably clear, and he solved problems that normally took him ages in one smooth run. He memorized the Ancient Poetry and Prose for Chinese class after only a few readings and didn't make a single mistake when writing it from memory. Even the English cloze tests he dreaded most were easy to handle with his clear logic and intuition; he chose the right answers with confidence. His classmates all noticed the change. His deskmate, Li Yang, leaned over and whispered, "Chen Mo, what did you eat today? You're on fire!"
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