The Great Medicine of the Human Body

When He Heng woke again, he found himself in a dilapidated space. Dust covered the ground, and it was obvious the place had been abandoned for a long time. It was already night, and he could see the Bright moonlight outside. Tonight happened to be the fifteenth, when the moonlight was at its finest. Was this life of his about to end?

The darkness here was dispersed somewhat by several Dim candlelights, making the surroundings seem even murkier and more indistinct, adding a touch of terror from nowhere. He Heng had been sealed at his acupoints and thrown into a corner. He cracked his eyes open slightly and saw that the Black-clothed woman, who should have been from the Crimson Fire Demonic Sect, was sitting cross-legged in the center, regulating her breath. Beside her stood an ancient Medicine cauldron, enormous enough to hold several people.

He Heng noticed that the Black-clothed woman's clothes were somewhat disheveled, with several bandaged wounds. Her face was exceptionally pale as well. Clearly, she was seriously injured.

"Right, Wang San's Big Brother wasn't some lazy good-for-nothing like Wang San. He cultivated very diligently and had decent talent. Though only in his early twenties, he was merely A Glimmer of Hope away from the Three Peng Realm. For this woman to kill him in such a short time, she must have paid a tremendous price herself. Then she tangled with the people from Linjiang Tower for a while afterward, so her injuries must have worsened further. In that case..." Joy rose in He Heng's heart as he slowly gathered Internal Energy, attempting to break open his sealed acupoints.

"Boy, don't waste your strength. I sealed your acupoints with a secret art unique to the Sacred Sect. With your cultivation, you cannot possibly break through it."

Just as He Heng urgently circulated his power to assault his acupoints, a cold voice rang out, making his heart sink. Still unwilling to give up, he circulated his Internal Energy again. Sure enough, every acupoint in his body was as immovable as rock. He could not shake them in the slightest.

As though she had noticed what He Heng was doing, the Black-clothed woman gave a disdainful Cold Smile.

"Big sister, what exactly do you want? I bear you no grudge, so why did you capture me? I am a descendant of the He Family of Beigu. My father, He Jitu, is at the peak of the Dao Embryo Realm, and the He Family steward in Shuangjiang City is a Yin God Realm cultivator. Once he realizes I am missing, he will certainly come save me." He Heng refused to give up. He wanted to talk to this demoness about his backing. Perhaps she would release him for the He Family's sake?

"Hmph, do you think my Crimson Fire Sacred Sect would fear your He Family? Ridiculous!" The woman was utterly unafraid. With a Cold Smile, she looked at He Heng. "Boy, don't delude yourself. No one will come here to save you. I concealed this place with a formation unique to the Sacred Sect. Let alone a mere Yin God Realm cultivator, even Wang Panlong would not be able to discover it. Otherwise, I would not dare stay here."

"So this place should not be far from Shuangjiang City." He Heng judged his location from the demoness's words, though he put on a terrified expression and continuously begged her for mercy.

"Fairy, we have no grudge from the past and no enmity in the present. Why must you kill me? Why not let me go? I will surely repay you generously in the future. Think about it: killing me brings you no benefit whatsoever. Instead, you will make a deadly enemy of the He Family. It simply isn't worth it."

The woman ignored He Heng, but he continued, "Though my He Family cannot compare to the Crimson Fire Sacred Sect, we are still one of the Seventy-two Noble Families of Jiuzhou. Our family has several Old monsters who have condensed Dharma Aspects, as well as the Family's divine weapon, the Mysterious Pearl. Many of our disciples cultivate in Suxian Dao, Huanyuan Dao, and Taiyi Sect. Your sect may be powerful, but with your Three Peng Realm cultivation, you are probably nothing much there. They may not protect you much either. Why not make friends with me and spare me? I guarantee..."

"Hmph, boy, you dare make friends with a wicked demon like me? Aren't you afraid those hypocritical Mystic Sect cultivators will cut you into a thousand pieces when you return?" At last, the demoness could no longer endure He Heng's endless prattle. A wave of Killing Intent pressed directly upon him, frightening him into silence.

The demoness was quite pleased with He Heng's reaction and continued, "Boy, stop entertaining those petty schemes. This old lady captured you precisely because I knew you were from the He Family. As for your He Family's revenge, once I refine you into a great medicine and recover from my injuries, then find that True Man's Hidden Treasure, I will be able to awaken my Yin God and Yang God in one stroke and enter the Sacred Sect's Inner Sect. By then, with the elders of my Sacred Sect protecting me, who could possibly do anything to me?"

"True Man's Hidden Treasure... so Wang Da died because of this." He Heng sucked in a breath. He had lived two lives, nearly a hundred years in total, and his mind was exceptionally meticulous. This demoness had grown somewhat carried away with herself and let him fish the information out of her in one go. But what he had learned was truly astonishing.

Judging by the situation, Wang Da must have obtained something related to a True Man's Hidden Treasure. After this demoness from the Crimson Red Demonic Sect learned of it, she killed him and seized the treasure.

The title True Man was not like in He Heng's Previous Life, where any Daoist could be flattered by being called one. In the Great Heaven World, within the Nine Provinces, only the Sect Leader Supremes of Great Mystic Sects such as the True Martial Sect, Guanghan Dao, and Cangtian Sect possessed cultivation beneath Pure Yang but at the absolute pinnacle, making them qualified to be called True Men. The He Family had been passed down for tens of thousands of years and was one of the Seventy-two Noble Families of Jiuzhou, renowned far and wide. Yet the First Old Ancestor who had truly founded the He Family had only reached the cultivation of a True Man at his peak.

A treasure left behind by such an existence would be enough to stir up a Bloody Storm. Even figures of the Dao Embryo Realm could perish from a single misstep if they became involved. Those great experts who had condensed Dharma Aspects would all be tempted by greed.

He Heng truly had not expected this matter to involve something of such magnitude. It was shocking. He pondered how, knowing this secret with his little body, it looked like a Great Calamity was bearing down on him.

But there was no use thinking about that now. This demoness clearly had no intention of letting him go. He had heard that the Crimson Demonic Palace was the Demon Sect's finest alchemy sect, especially skilled at refining pills from human flesh and blood. Was she planning to refine him into a pill?

At this point, He Heng understood why she had captured him. That was quite a story in itself.

The reason was that he was a member of the He Family. Among the many noble families, the He Family was quite famous. Yet this fame did not come from great strength—quite the opposite. He Family cultivators were famously weak among cultivators of the same realm in the Nine Provinces, and the gap became especially pronounced at higher realms. A He Family descendant like He Heng, with his current cultivation, did not show much difference yet. But once they generally reached the Dao Embryo Realm, He Family experts could not compare to cultivators from any ancient noble family at the same realm. They were even weaker than many Dao Embryo Realm cultivators who came from humble, unorthodox backgrounds. At higher realms, this was even more so.

The root cause of this phenomenon began with the He Family's clan-defending divine art, the Myriad Longevity Technique. This was the He Family's foremost divine art and the only True Man-level cultivation method within the clan. It had been created by the First Old Ancestor of the He Family. As its name suggested, it was said that once cultivated to the pinnacle, one could attain boundless longevity, with a Lifespan far surpassing those of the same realm.

Generally speaking, a cultivator's Lifespan increased along with their cultivation. Certain divine pills and miraculous medicines could also extend a cultivator's life. But before a cultivator Attained Pure Yang, there was a great limit... one that could not exceed ten thousand years!

Thus, in theory, a True Man-level expert could live for over nine thousand years. But that was only theory. In truth, most True Men did not live that long. Moreover, the path of cultivation was like countless boats vying to cross a river. What expert who could become a True Man had not endured endless trials before reaching the end? Who among them had no hidden injuries? In their youth, when their vitality flourished, those injuries might not matter. But in their final years, when their aura declined, they could greatly affect their Lifespan.

Therefore, most True Men would be fortunate to live six thousand years. True Men from the Demon Sect and sword cultivators, for instance, had an average Lifespan of around four thousand years. Those who truly lived beyond nine thousand years were exceedingly rare, generally born into great sects and supported by powerful divine medicines.

Yet the He Family's ancestor, a rogue cultivator by birth with no foundation or backing whatsoever, had stubbornly lived to nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine years old. Only then did he perish beneath heavenly tribulation at the ten-thousand-year limit. Otherwise, he likely could have continued living.

The reason he had lived so long was the Myriad Longevity Technique. It was said that in his youth, he had obtained a fragment of a mysterious scripture through a chance encounter. After modifying it several times himself, he created this technique. With it, he achieved the Undying Longevity Dao Embryo and the Azure Emperor Undying Dharma Aspect. He encountered countless enemies throughout his life, yet relied on his formidable Life Force to survive them all, eventually becoming a True Man.

By all rights, with the Myriad Longevity Technique's formidable Life Force and tremendous Lifespan, it could have been called a Pure Yang-level divine art. The reason it remained a True Man-level secret manual was because it possessed one infuriating trait: while granting powerful Life Force, it caused the combat strength of its practitioners to plummet. They were far inferior to experts of the same realm and could at most bully those beneath their own realm.

He Heng had once maliciously speculated that the reason his family's First Old Ancestor had managed to survive until the ten-thousand-year limit, aside from possessing enough Lifespan, was also because his combat strength was too poor. He had not dared go out and contend with experts of the same realm, thereby avoiding many calamities and stubbornly surviving to the very end.

It was precisely because of the infuriating nature of the He Family's Myriad Longevity Technique that, although it truly excelled in Lifespan, not many coveted it. The experts capable of seizing this technique would certainly be long-established Top Experts. Otherwise, though the He Family's experts were weak in combat against those of the same realm, they could still handle a few second- or third-rate foes. But what expert powerful enough to disregard the He Family would not have several enemies? How could such people dare weaken their own strength and give others an opening?

Thus, throughout the He Family's tens of thousands of years of inheritance, no major problems had arisen.

Returning to the matter at hand, it was precisely due to the powerful Life Force of the He Family's Myriad Longevity Technique that the other He Family cultivation methods derived from it shared the same quality. Their Life Force was extraordinarily vigorous, and their flesh and blood were the finest choice for refining pills. That was why this demoness had set her sights on He Heng.

And when refining medicine from humans, the effects were generally best when the subject was alive. That was why He Heng was still alive now.

"Fine, no wonder she didn't kill me outright." He Heng tried hard to force himself to calm down. He could not panic. He had to find A Glimmer of Hope.

"Boy, are your eyes darting around because you're thinking of how to escape? Don't waste your effort. Soon, you'll become a medicinal pill." The demoness lit a fire beneath the Medicine cauldron and looked coldly toward He Heng. Then she suddenly struck the back of his head.

"Haha, once I've knocked you out, I won't need to worry about whatever schemes you're thinking up." Those were the last words He Heng heard before losing consciousness. His awareness sank into darkness. In his haze, he saw an ancient book interwoven with countless Daos, radiating nine-colored light as though it connected endless worlds. It seemed to contain infinitely many pages. Upon its cover, where nine colors intertwined, were written four ancient Seal Script characters: Myriad Heavens Treasure Mirror!

Beneath its faint glow, it opened, revealing a pale red page that emitted boundless radiance. Four words were written upon it... Dragon-Snake Romance!