Pill Emperor's Memory

"Who am I? I am Long Chen."

"Am I the peerless Pill Emperor Long Chen, who scoffs at the world and looks down upon the nine heavens? Am I the good-for-nothing Long Chen, bullied by everyone and unable to cultivate?"

His mind was in chaos, and at the same time, his body was in excruciating pain. Long Chen couldn't help but stop the chaotic thoughts in his mind and let out a pained groan.

"Chen'er, you're finally awake? That's great, your mother was worried to death. You said you were fine, why did you have to duel with someone?"

A gentle voice sounded in Long Chen's ear, filled with joy and comfort. However, as she spoke, her voice trembled with a hint of choked sobs.

Long Chen slowly opened his eyes. His surroundings were blurry. As the image gradually cleared, a woman's face appeared before him.

The woman looked to be in her thirties, very beautiful, but at the corners of her eyes, there were several deep crow's feet that didn't match her age.

At this moment, the woman was looking at Long Chen with tears in her eyes, filled with affection and doting, which warmed Long Chen's heart.

"Child, you scared your mother to death," the woman said, her eyes reddening further as tears streamed down her face.

"Mother?"

Long Chen looked at the familiar yet somewhat strange face and called out the word with some confusion and surprise.

"Child, don't scare your mother. You don't even recognize your mother?" The woman's face immediately showed panic.

At this moment, an old man appeared beside the woman. He looked at Long Chen and said, "Madam Long, the back of Young Master Long Chen's head suffered a heavy blow. His mind might need some time to recover. Please don't be too anxious. We just gave the young master some medicine, and it hasn't fully taken effect yet. Let the young master rest a bit longer."

Madam Long looked at Long Chen with worry, nodded reluctantly, and left the room with the old man, unwilling to part.

Long Chen vaguely heard the old man whispering to the woman, "Madam Long, it's already a miracle that Young Master Long survived this time. You can't force things."

Madam Long trembled and said, "Does the Apothecary mean that my son..."

The old man, referred to as the Apothecary, sighed and said, "The young master's head suffered a severe concussion. To be honest, it's a miracle that he woke up. However, the after-effects are still very serious. Even memory loss is within reason..."

As they spoke, the two grew farther away, and Long Chen could no longer hear clearly. He vaguely heard Madam Long's sobbing.

Long Chen looked at the ceiling, feeling the pain all over his body, especially in the back of his head, which throbbed intermittently.

"What exactly is going on? I am Long Chen, and Madam Long is my mother. Why do I feel a sense of unfamiliarity towards her?

And where did all these chaotic memories come from? I seem to be an incredibly powerful figure, yet I'm also an incredibly pathetic good-for-nothing?

Pill Emperor Long Chen? Waste Long Chen? Which one is the real me? Is it the Pill Emperor reincarnated, or is the waste fused with the Pill Emperor's soul?"

Endless questions churned in Long Chen's mind. Fine, no matter what, I am Long Chen. Whether I'm a waste or a Pill Emperor, the most important thing is that I'm still alive.

Since the two memories have merged into one, indistinguishable, why should I dwell on this idiotic question? What I need to do now is to recover as quickly as possible.

He felt his body. He had multiple fractures all over. Three ribs were broken, one arm was broken in two places, and especially the back of his head, a large part of his skull had caved in. What ruthless methods!

"Huh, although I can't gather Qi, my Soul Force seems to be very powerful. I can actually sense the area within ten zhang around my body."

Long Chen was pleasantly surprised. According to his chaotic memories, he knew that Soul Force was very precious, especially for a Pill Master.

This is a win, a win! Whether it's the rebirth of a Pill God or the fusion of a Pill God's memories, it's a huge profit for me.

The former is a second life, while the latter means possessing the soul of a peerless expert. How awesome is that?

However, after carefully examining his body, Long Chen's expression changed:

"My Spiritual Root has been absorbed, and a piece of my Spiritual Bone in my chest is missing, likely dug out. There's a hole in my heart? Who was so ruthless to steal my Spiritual Root, Spiritual Bone, and Spiritual Blood? No wonder I can't cultivate!" Long Chen was furious.

His Soul Force was now very powerful, allowing him to see internally. He immediately discovered the secret to why he had become a cripple.

The Spiritual Root is a mass of root Qi located within the dantian. It is the root of cultivation. Without a Spiritual Root, one cannot sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, let alone absorb and cultivate it.

Spiritual Blood is a trace of congenital blood that a person carries from birth. Almost everyone has it, but most cultivators are unaware of it.

The Spiritual Bone is located in the chest, a slightly protruding area. Normal people do not have a Spiritual Bone. Even among cultivators, it is extremely rare, a mark of an unparalleled genius.

The area of Long Chen's Spiritual Bone in his chest was clearly missing a piece, with clear signs of it being dug out.

Long Chen's face was extremely grim. If he hadn't merged with the memories, he wouldn't have known that his body had been tampered with.

Logically speaking, although these three things are precious, they are useless once they leave the body. Why go to such great lengths to harm him? Such methods made him wish he were dead.

However, anger is anger, but since these three things are gone now, anger is meaningless.

"I'd better not find out who did it."

Long Chen gritted his teeth. It was too insidious. Possessing a Spiritual Bone meant he was undoubtedly a genius, even if he thought about it with his backside.

Yet, because of this despicable bastard, he had become a cripple who couldn't cultivate, bullied and scorned by everyone.

Just as Long Chen was seething with rage, the door was gently pushed open, and a pretty girl of thirteen or fourteen years old walked in. She was Long Chen's personal maid, named Bao'er.

"Young master, it's time to take your medicine."

"Medicine? What is that you're holding?" Long Chen's nose twitched slightly as he asked.

"This is the Tiger Bone Pill that Madam spent a great deal of money to obtain. It can quickly heal your external injuries," Bao'er replied.

She then opened the exquisite small box in her hand, revealing the pill inside. "It is said that this pill came from the hands of the Pill Master Yun Qi. Its medicinal power is very strong, young master. Let Bao'er serve you."

Long Chen looked at the object in his hand with a strange expression. Could this thing be called a pill? It was flat and lumpy, like a meatball.

The shape aside, the damn thing was pitch black, without any luster. If it weren't for the faint medicinal fragrance it emitted, Long Chen would have suspected it was a sheep dropping.

After looking for a while, Long Chen sighed. To waste more than eighty percent of a pill's medicinal properties, this "master" was truly something. Long Chen wondered how he managed it. It could be so rotten.

Pills were divided into five grades: low, medium, high, top, and supreme. The pill in his hand clearly didn't belong to any of these five grades. Long Chen suddenly realized it was a flawed product, a waste pill. Pill Masters would usually never sell such pills because it would be too embarrassing. They would typically dissolve them into liquid medicine or discard them directly.

"Young Master, don't just stand there in a daze. Madam sold her jewelry for this precious pill. Please take it quickly," Bao'er urged.

Long Chen's heart ached. In his memory, his mother doted on him immensely, to the point of spoiling him. She rarely refused him anything he wanted.

His mother had worried herself sick over him. Madam Long was a great beauty in her youth. Though she was only in her thirties now, the deep crow's feet at the corners of her eyes were proof of how much she had sacrificed for Long Chen.

Looking at the pill in his hand, although it was a flawed product, the medicinal ingredients were good. Even if impurities made up eighty percent of it, it would still be sufficient to heal his injuries.

After taking the pill, Long Chen instructed Bao'er not to reveal his whereabouts to anyone, including his mother.

Although Bao'er was a bit confused, she nodded obediently out of trust in Long Chen.

After taking the pill, Long Chen couldn't refine its medicinal properties using his cultivation. However, he used his powerful Soul Force to guide the medicinal energy to his injuries, and the recovery was extremely rapid.

The next day, Long Chen slowly opened his eyes, a smile appearing on his lips as he stretched his limbs.

"Good. Although the pill itself wasn't much, the quality of the medicinal ingredients was excellent. Aside from the back of my head, most of my injuries have healed. It's more than enough to treat external wounds." He slowly walked to the mirror.

Looking at the handsome young man with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes in the mirror, Long Chen said solemnly, "From today onwards, I, Long Chen, will no longer be the Long Chen of the past. I will rise!"

Although his body was still a bit weak, walking was no problem. Long Chen left his room. The sun was already rising outside.

Long Chen pondered for half an hour before calling Bao'er over. He wrote down a list of medicinal ingredients for her to gather.

However, Bao'er looked troubled. Long Chen's heart stirred, and he immediately understood. The Long family was in dire straits, and Bao'er couldn't get money from the accounting office.

Otherwise, his mother wouldn't have had to sell her jewelry, which was her dowry and extremely precious. The Long family had truly fallen on hard times.

He patted his pocket. There were still over eighty silver coins. It wasn't much, but it was enough to buy these herbs.

Bao'er was diligent. In less than an hour, she had bought all the medicinal ingredients. Long Chen immediately got to work, preparing and mixing the herbs in different proportions before putting them into a clay pot to boil.

Three hours later, a rich medicinal aroma wafted from the potent liquid. Long Chen looked at the bowl of inexpensive medicine, a smile playing on his lips.

"My rise, Long Chen, will begin with this bowl of medicinal soup!"