Medicine Slave

Gurgling water flowed, trees provided shade, and an Earth Dragon drank by a clear stream, its body laden with large and small bundles.

Beside the Earth Dragon, over a dozen burly Martial Artists were feasting heartily, enjoying themselves immensely while discussing inappropriate topics. Behind the Earth Dragon, a similar number of emaciated individuals squatted on the ground, their hands and feet bound by heavy shackles. They lowered their heads blankly, eating nutritionally poor food.

Inside a palanquin on the Earth Dragon, a cold-eyed old man, clad in a dark gray robe embroidered with five delicate white medicine bottles on the chest, surveyed the shackled people from above. The old man was thin, wore a crown, and looked down at them as if selecting pigs for slaughter.

The old man's gaze flickered, sometimes landing on the feasting Martial Artists with a sinister, meaningful look. Any Martial Artist who met his gaze would turn pale and become as silent as cicadas in winter, clearly terrified of him.

"Are you done eating? If so, we move on," Mo Yan Yu said, carrying Shi Yan as she emerged from the bushes with a frosty expression.

The Martial Artists chuckled dryly, putting away their unfinished food and repeatedly saying, "We're done, we're done."

Mo Yan Yu's face was stern and impatient. As she approached the old man, she forced a smile and asked, "Master Kalu, have you finished eating as well?"

The old man nodded indifferently and grunted, "Miss Mo, we still have three months' journey to the Merchant Alliance, yet only sixteen Medicine Slaves are left. I fear we won't make it to the Merchant Alliance..."

"Don't worry, Master. We will continue to replenish your Medicine Slaves along the way," Mo Yan Yu replied with a serious expression. She casually threw Shi Yan to the ground and smiled, "Look, isn't this one more Medicine Slave?"

"Mm," Kalu nodded coolly. His gaze, like a viper's, swept over Shi Yan. He frowned, "This kid is so skinny, he probably won't last a few days, right?"

"His body is indeed frail, but he has Essence within him..." Mo Yan Yu explained.

"A Martial Artist?" Kalu's eyes brightened slightly, showing a flicker of interest.

"Indeed, a Martial Artist!" Mo Yan Yu confirmed.

"That's more like it," Kalu chuckled sinisterly and began to examine Shi Yan more closely. After a long moment, he slowly nodded. "Very well, Miss Mo, feed him well. I want him to get stronger first. A severely injured Martial Artist can't withstand my methods. It would be a waste if he died too early from being too weak."

"Rest assured, Master." Mo Yan Yu's eyebrows knitted with ferocity. She chided, "Qiang Sen, what are you standing around for! Hurry and put shackles on this fellow's hands and feet!"

"Coming!" A bald man nearly two meters tall with a face full of coarse flesh responded. He quickly retrieved a new pair of shackles from the Earth Dragon and roughly clamped them onto Shi Yan's hands and feet, paying no mind to Shi Yan's pain.

The man wore heavy armor, but his exposed muscles bulged with incredible explosive power. The dark heavy armor on him seemed as light as nothing, not hindering his speed at all.

"Qiang Sen, take good care of him. Don't let him fall behind the group," Mo Yan Yu said, casting a hateful glance at Shi Yan before striding towards the front of the procession, seemingly unwilling to spend another second near him.

"Don't worry, Miss. I'm best at this sort of thing," the bald man, Qiang Sen, grinned savagely and thumped his chest in assurance.

Shi Yan's body was numb, and he watched the unfolding events with cold eyes, remaining silent.

He knew that in this situation, words were useless. In this world of the strong preying on the weak, no one would reason with him. He understood that if he didn't adapt to this world, he would soon become a forgotten pile of bones, with no one to pity him.

The faint Essence within him flowed slowly. The numbness in his limbs had improved considerably after resting for a while. However, the newly added shackles on his hands and feet weighed him down, making his unrecovered body feel as if it were carrying an iron mountain, making every step difficult.

"Slap!"

His back was suddenly struck hard by a whip. The whip came swiftly and with great force, tearing his skin and flesh, causing a burning pain. Turning his head, he saw the man named Qiang Sen holding a whip, looking at him with a savage grin.

"Damn Medicine Slave! Hurry up! Want another whip?" Qiang Sen grinned and laughed heartily.

Shi Yan didn't reply. Instead, he calmly looked at Qiang Sen for a few seconds. Before Qiang Sen could raise the whip again, he slowly followed the Medicine Slaves ahead with difficulty, feeling as if every step weighed over a thousand pounds and required immense effort.

After Shi Yan turned away, Qiang Sen's wild laughter gradually subsided, replaced by a strange expression.

Along the way, many unruly Medicine Slaves had been "taken care of" by him initially. Because his methods were brutal and vicious, two Medicine Slaves had been beaten to death under his "care" before Kalu could even test them. All the Medicine Slaves looked at him with only two expressions in their eyes.

Either fear, or deep-seated hatred.

Only this person, when looking at him just now, showed neither fear nor the expected hatred. Instead, he was exceptionally calm, a calmness tinged with a hint of chill.

This person seemed to have no awareness of being a prisoner, whether due to not understanding the situation or for some other reason.

That calm gaze gave Qiang Sen a strange illusion that he had become the prey, which made him uncomfortable. However, since Shi Yan was already walking forward obediently, he couldn't find an excuse to act. He could only let it go, but he secretly vowed to make this kid show fear towards him later.

He enjoyed the fearful gazes directed at him, which gave him the wonderful sensation of being the arbiter of others' lives.

In the following days, Shi Yan remained taciturn but extremely cooperative. He walked when told to walk, stopped when told to stop, offered no resistance, and showed no emotion, seemingly indifferent to his surroundings. Among the uncooperative Medicine Slaves, Shi Yan was a stark contrast.

Even Qiang Sen, who wanted to teach Shi Yan a lesson, found it difficult to find an excuse to deal with him. Shi Yan was too cooperative, so cooperative that it made Qiang Sen feel it was unnatural, yet he couldn't figure out why.

Shi Yan only spoke during rest and meal times, and each time he asked for food. Under Master Kalu's orders, his request was always granted.

Soon, the Martial Artists noticed that Shi Yan could eat a lot. He ate even the low-quality food meant for Medicine Slaves with relish. The first meal he ate was equivalent to the total of seven Medicine Slaves, and his appetite increased by a portion each day, with a tendency to continue growing.

This baffled many Martial Artists. They couldn't understand how Shi Yan's skinny body could hold so much food. Initially, they worried Shi Yan wouldn't be able to digest it all, but they soon realized they were wrong.

Shi Yan's emaciated body had actually strengthened slightly in just a few days. Although the change wasn't particularly obvious, observant Martial Artists noticed the phenomenon.

Clearly, Shi Yan had not only digested the low-quality food but also used it to nourish his strengthening body.

Shi Yan's physical changes pleased Master Kalu. The old man with the sinister gaze permitted Shi Yan to eat as much as he wanted, stating that he must be given all he could eat, not a bit less.

Seeing Shi Yan grow stronger day by day, Qiang Sen felt a sense of unease. Every time he saw Shi Yan's calm gaze, tinged with a hint of chill, Qiang Sen felt this kid would be a troublemaker. However, he dared not disobey Kalu's orders and could only provide Shi Yan with sufficient food without any deductions.

Fortunately, Qiang Sen knew Master Kalu's methods, which somewhat reassured him. He secretly hoped Kalu would act sooner.

After eating the food equivalent to twelve people, Shi Yan finally stopped, rolled the last grain of rice from the corner of his mouth into his mouth, and swallowed. Ignoring the astonished gazes of the surrounding Medicine Slaves, Shi Yan slowly closed his eyes.

The food for twelve people was rapidly digested in his stomach. His body was like a bottomless pit, or perhaps the most precise instrument, grinding and breaking down the food, converting it into nourishment for his blood, meridians, bones, internal organs, and muscle cells, causing his originally frail body to strengthen silently.

The wound on his chest had healed long ago. Such a long wound had healed in just a day and a half, leaving no scar. It was miraculous, making him realize he was indeed different from before.

Only he himself knew how much his body had changed in these short few days, a change he could clearly feel and experience every moment!

The food he consumed transformed into nourishment for his body, gradually making him stronger. The faint trace of Essence within him, circulating day and night for these past few days, had actually doubled in size!

He clearly sensed a considerable amount of strength growing within him. The shackles that once felt as heavy as a mountain were no longer a significant burden.

Focusing his mind, he clearly felt the Essence within his body naturally begin from his lower Dantian, travel up the Governing Meridian, flow down the Conception Meridian, pass through the three passes to connect the Governing and Conception Meridians, allowing the heart and kidneys to interact, and water and fire to harmonize. After one minor cycle concluded, the Essence within his body grew stronger by another fraction.

Shi Yan, who had some understanding of Qigong, knew the difference between minor and major cycles. A minor cycle only circulated the Conception and Governing Meridians, not the twelve regular meridians or the other six extraordinary meridians. However, a major cycle required circulating the twelve regular meridians and the other six major extraordinary meridians, which was extremely difficult.

His twelve regular meridians and eight extraordinary meridians only had the Conception and Governing Meridians open, allowing him to perform only minor cycles. Major cycles were difficult to achieve. From the memories of another Shi Yan, he also knew that only Martial Artists in the Innate Realm could achieve unobstructed circulation through all twelve regular meridians and eight extraordinary meridians, thus performing major cycles.

Shi Yan was not discouraged. He knew that as long as the Essence within his body grew strong enough, he would eventually be able to open all these blocked meridians.

"Another one died. In six days, two people have already died from testing the medicine."

"I saw it. Before that person died, his body had already started to rot. It was a horrific sight!"

"Rather than dying like this, it would be better to commit suicide. There's no hope in living; we're destined to be like them."

"We can't commit suicide! If we commit suicide, our families won't even get a single Blue Crystal Coin! Sigh... Let's just endure it. If we survive for half a year without dying, we'll be free and even get some money. For our wives and children, we have to keep enduring!"

As soon as this Medicine Slave spoke, the other Medicine Slaves fell silent. The thought of suicide seemed to be dispelled. They all suppressed their fear and secretly told themselves they had to persevere.