Qi and Blood Pill

"I heard a few guests who came from Kaoshan Village chatting over the past couple of days, mentioning that a young man in their village forked out two taels of silver to pay the mountain tax for a troubled neighbor, and managed to protect the other's daughter from Wang Kun of the Black Tiger Gang."

Pausing for a moment, Zhao Xuanhe added, "I wonder..."

Lu Chuan did not hide it. "That's right, the person Brother Zhao heard about is me."

A trace of admiration flashed in Zhao Xuanhe's eyes, and he immediately cupped his fists.

"Brother Lu has great righteousness! To step forward for a neighbor and spend money without hesitation, that kind of courage and benevolence is truly rare!"

In this era, looking out for oneself was the norm, and an righteous act like Lu Chuan's was genuinely unusual.

Lu Chuan shook his head. "I wouldn't call it great righteousness, Uncle Zhao has helped my family before, too."

Zhao Xuanhe smiled instead. "A drop of water's grace should be repaid with a gushing spring, that alone is already extremely rare."

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Zhao Xuanhe remembered the main business.

"Right, Brother Lu, since you graced my humble shop today, did you acquire some other good medicinal materials to sell?"

Lu Chuan shook his head and got straight to the point. "Not to sell, I want to buy."

"Oh? What are you buying?"

"Qi and Blood Pills."

Zhao Xuanhe nodded and turned to walk into the back pharmacy.

A moment later, he came out carrying a porcelain bottle, taking out a dark red pill the size of a longan.

"This is the Qi and Blood Pill sold at my Renhetang Pharmacy."

He handed it before Lu Chuan's eyes.

"It is selected from dozens of nourishing medicinal materials and brewed according to ancient methods. Brother Lu probably knows its medicinal power; it provides quite a bit of assistance to you martial arts practitioners. Two taels of silver per pill."

Lu Chuan took the pill, smelled it, and after confirming there were no issues, he spoke up, "I want three."

He actually still had over thirty taels of windfall money from Wang Kun's place on him.

However, buying too much at once easily drew attention, especially during the current sensitive period.

A trace of surprise flashed in Zhao Xuanhe's eyes as he nodded. "Good."

He retrieved the pills, handed them to Lu Chuan, and warned him at the same time.

"Right, Brother Lu hasn't broken through the pass yet and your qi and blood bearing capacity is limited, so remember to take each pill divided over three days. If you swallow it all in one breath, your body won't have time to refine it, and most of the medicinal power will be wasted."

"Thanks for the reminder, Brother Zhao, I've noted it down."

He paid six taels of silver before taking his leave and departing Renhetang Pharmacy.

Returning to the doorway of his own courtyard, Lu Chuan felt that the atmosphere at home was somewhat strange.

His parents both wore somewhat forced smiles when they saw Lu Chuan return, and their eyes even dodged his gaze.

"What's wrong?" Lu Chuan put his things down, his gaze sweeping across his parents' faces.

"N... Nothing." Lu Danian covered for it. "Chuanzi is back. Hungry? Dinner is almost ready."

Mother Lu also hurried to take over the conversation. "Right, right, today we cooked millet rice, plus the rabbit meat you hunted yesterday..."

Lu Chuan didn't move, only looking at them. "You think you can hide it from me? Tell me, what happened?"

Lu Danian opened his mouth, looked at his wife, and lowered his head again. Mother Lu sighed.

"Actually... actually there's no big deal either, it's just... just over at the old residence, your cousin Lu Tao... he... he became a martial artist."

Hearing this news, Lu Chuan's fluttering, restless heart finally settled.

Originally, he had even thought that people from the Black Tiger Gang had come by today, but it turned out to be such a minor matter.

Cousin Lu Tao was a year younger than him and was Old Master Lu's most doted-on grandson.

To let him practice martial arts, Old Master Lu not only emptied his coffin-board savings, he even snatched a snow fox from their family.

All in all, he spent no less than fifty taels of silver on his cousin.

Now becoming a martial artist was only a matter of course.

Lu Chuan also understood why his parents wore this expression.

Over these past two months, he hunted golden pheasants, shot a five-hundred-jin Wild Boar King, and generously paid silver for the Zhao family.

In his parents' hearts, he was already long considered the most promising one among the younger generation in the village.

Though the old couple didn't say it out loud, they likely harbored hopes that he could make a stunning debut in the Martial Way as well.

As a result, he ended up lagging behind someone else in the Martial Way, and the expectations of the two fell short by quite a bit.

Lu Chuan was in a hurry to break through the Blood Pass now and had no time to comfort the two; he just casually asked a question:

"A breakthrough is a breakthrough... Right, when Wang Kun came to collect money the second time yesterday, did Grandpa's family give money?"

Old Master Lu's family had over ten mu of fine fields and two head of cattle with a solid family estate, and Lu Chuan figured Wang Kun wouldn't let go of such a fat pig.

"Naturally they paid it as well. Lu Tao only broke through to become a martial artist today."

Hearing this, Lu Chuan's face was completely expressionless while his heart was endlessly joyful.

"The people of the Black Tiger Gang just died, and my good cousin here broke through to become a martial artist. Isn't this a scapegoat delivered right to the door..."

As long as the Black Tiger Gang investigated Wang Kun's death, cousin Lu Tao, who happened to become a martial artist at the time of the conflict, would naturally attract most of the attention.

"I know."

Lu Chuan made up his mind in the bottom of his heart that even if he broke through the Blood Pass this time, he would still hide it for two months before releasing the news.

Inside the house, Lu Chuan came to the side of the bed, sat cross-legged, and took that small porcelain bottle out from his bosom.

Pulling out the cork, he poured out a dark red Qi and Blood Pill.

The pill faintly exuded medicinal fragrance.

He split the Qi and Blood Pill into three portions, putting one portion into his mouth.

The pill transformed into a warm current, sliding down his throat before bursting open with a boom in his chest and abdomen.

Lu Chuan collected his focus, following the foundation qi and blood circulation technique of the Mountain Splitting Saber to guide this external medicinal power into his meridians.

Wherever the medicinal power passed, his qi and blood immediately became active.

He could clearly feel his muscles and bones swelling slightly under the scouring of the medicinal power, and his total amount of qi and blood steadily increasing!

This feeling of strength visibly improving caused an unsuppressable joy to well up in Lu Chuan's heart.

Ever since his strength increased, the Qi and Blood Soup and ordinary flesh and blood ceased to play much of a role, and the growth of his qi and blood had become extremely slow.

This two taels of silver... was truly worth spending! Lu Chuan thought to himself.

No wonder martial arts cultivation consumed so much wealth; without the assistance of these external forces, relying solely on one's own bitter training and ordinary diet to break through was as difficult as ascending to the heavens.

He no longer wasted time, sinking his mind completely into his body.

The Lu Family Old Residence.

At this moment, the courtyard was bustling with excitement, with several tables laid out, completely filled with village neighbors and relatives who had come to offer congratulations.

Old Master Lu sat in the main seat, his face beaming with radiance.

"This old man said it from the start, the child Tao has been clever since he was little, and he's a good piece of material for practicing martial arts!"

"Look, it's not even four months, and he has already broken the Blood Pass, becoming a true martial artist!"

Second Old Lu, sitting off to the side, echoed, "Dad is right! Our Tao Tao is a true dragon!"

"Some people, well, they hunt a few wild animals and lose all sense of how vast heaven and earth are. How can they compare to a proper martial artist like our Tao Tao?"

Relatives and friends successively raised their cups in flattery, and for a time words like "youthful talent" and "flourishing Lu family" were endless to the ear.

Lu Tao was crowded in the center by the throng, a smug expression on his face.

Just as this atmosphere reached its hottest point, the courtyard gate was suddenly kicked open fiercely!

A dozen cold-faced, tough-looking men filed in, and the banquet atmosphere instantly froze.

The leader was around forty years old, with a thin face, prominent cheekbones, and eyes that swept across the crowd in the courtyard, finally locking onto Lu Tao, whose qi and blood were exposed on the outside.

"You're Lu Tao?"