Blood Vitality Pill

Back in his room.

Li Gan plugged his nose, put on gloves, and poured a medicinal pill from the bottle.

Uh.

Just one pill?

He had thought there would be a whole bottle.

There should have been at least ten or eight pills.

This was far too stingy.

Li Gan had originally thought that Steward Zhao, in order to win him over, would be willing to spend some real capital.

Yet unexpectedly, this was all???

Was he being treated like a beggar?

Li Gan looked at the pill in his palm. It was about the size of a peanut, dark yellow all over, round and lustrous.

He did not dare smell it.

He would not dare eat a medicinal pill given by someone with ulterior motives.

"So this is a Blood Vitality Pill?"

After studying it for a while, Li Gan put the Blood Vitality Pill back into the bottle, then tossed the bottle into a drawer.

If he had medicinal pills to assist his cultivation, his progress would certainly be much faster.

Unfortunately, he did not.

Fortunately, the Bell Sound of the Treasure Artifact Chen Bell greatly aided cultivation, making up for the depletion of blood vitality to a certain extent.

"No rush. Take it slow."

Li Gan told himself.

The Treasure Map Elder Song had left behind—before he possessed sufficient strength, he definitely could not go looking for it.

Steward Zhao had suddenly approached him. He might secretly keep watch on him in the future.

Over the following days, Li Gan kept an extremely regular schedule.

Other than descending the mountain once each month to collect his monthly stipend, supplies, and Contribution Points from the Chore Hall, he remained in the Bell Tower for the rest of the time and went nowhere else.

To pass the time, he had Chen Yong buy some vegetable seeds, chicks, ducklings, and the like whenever he went out. He raised them on the mountain, planted crops, and used it all to while away the boredom.

At first, such a life had felt somewhat dull, but as time passed, he came to enjoy it quite a bit.

"Brother Gan, didn't you ask me to look into something last time? I've found a lead."

Chen Yong carried a crossbeam over to the edge of Li Gan's cultivated field. After setting it down, he spoke between gasps.

"Oh?"

Li Gan straightened up, braced himself on his hoe, and looked over. "How is she?"

"Brother Gan, that cousin of yours..."

Chen Yong hesitated before saying, "I heard she's been getting very close to a senior Menial Disciple in the Hundred Herb Garden, a man named Yi Zhong."

"Yi Zhong?"

When Li Gan heard the name, it seemed familiar. Then he suddenly remembered. "The Yi Zhong who ranked second on the Combat Ranking List?"

Chen Yong had previously told him about the Combat Ranking List. Zhang Mingcan was first, while Yi Zhong was second.

"Yes. I heard he's very fickle with women. Quite a few female Menial Disciples have entanglements with him."

Chen Yong said.

"I understand."

Li Gan nodded.

How Song Yingying chose to live her future life was not something he could control.

At most, within the limits of his abilities, he could look after her a little on Elder Song's behalf.

After chatting for a while longer, Chen Yong shouldered the crossbeam and started running again.

Holding his hoe, Li Gan loosened and leveled the remaining soil before leisurely heading toward the Bell Tower.

A quarter of an hour later, several clear, melodious Bell Sounds rang out.

On the Bell Tower platform, Li Gan set down the Striking Pole and began practicing the Sword Piercing Fist.

The Bell Sound echoed all around him, its lingering notes unceasing.

As Li Gan practiced his fist technique, the Internal Force within him moved with unusual liveliness, flowing ceaselessly like a rushing stream. Only upon reaching the final Ren Meridian did it gradually slow.

Hah!

Li Gan drew in his fist stance. His Internal Force settled, and he could not help letting out a long breath of foul air.

"This final Ren Meridian... is far more difficult than I imagined."

Li Gan was deeply moved.

Over the past few months of cultivation, he had successively opened the Chong Meridian and the Du Meridian.

Only the final Ren Meridian remained.

Once he opened the Ren Meridian, the Internal Force in his body would be able to complete a Grand Heavenly Cycle and naturally transform into Internal Qi.

The circulation through the Twelve Standard Meridians was a Small Heavenly Cycle.

If the Eight Extraordinary Meridians were added to that circulation, it became a Grand Heavenly Cycle.

"The main issue is that my Internal Force isn't powerful enough."

Li Gan calculated inwardly.

Every time he tried to break through the Ren Meridian, he felt as though his strength fell short of his ambitions.

One major reason was that the blood vitality in his body was not robust enough, so the Internal Force converted while practicing his fist technique was insufficient. There was no helping it—if he only ate Medicinal Meals each day, it simply could not meet his needs.

Even though the Chen Bell's Bell Sound had a certain amplifying effect, it was still not enough.

"Wait a little longer."

Li Gan thought of the Blood Vitality Pill in his drawer.

He felt that if he wanted to open the Ren Meridian in one stroke, he would probably need to use Blood Vitality Pills.

One Blood Vitality Pill would likely not be enough.

Moreover, he did not dare use the Blood Vitality Pill Steward Zhao had given him.

He planned to find a way to get some Blood Vitality Pills.

The old method—he planned to have Chen Yong inquire about where Blood Vitality Pills could be bought.

Before long, Chen Yong brought back news.

"A Black Market?"

Li Gan was greatly surprised. "There's a Black Market inside our Divine Sword Sect?"

"Exactly. I was curious too, and I never expected it to be true. I heard there are quite a few good things in the Black Market, all of them circulating out from Official Disciples. But... to buy things in the Black Market, you mostly have to use Contribution Points. Few people accept ordinary gold and silver."

Chen Yong said.

Contribution Points were also extremely important to Official Disciples.

Some Official Disciples needed to exchange for some important item within the sect, but lacked sufficient Contribution Points, so they would find ways to purchase Contribution Points from Menial Disciples.

Likewise, because Menial Disciples lacked Official Disciple status, they were not qualified to exchange for certain things they needed. Or even if they could exchange for them, the prices were too high and they lacked the discounts given to Official Disciples, so they could only turn to the Black Market.

Li Gan had more than ten Contribution Points. How many Blood Vitality Pills could he buy with them?

Several days later.

After striking the bell at the You Hour and eating dinner, Li Gan hurried down the mountain.

"Brother Gan, you're here."

The moment he arrived near the Chore Hall, Chen Yong came over to greet him.

Li Gan rarely descended the mountain, and he had even fewer opportunities to interact with others.

Chen Yong was the only person he knew well.

For this trip to the Black Market, he intended to have Chen Yong accompany him.

Chen Yong was an honest fellow, so he naturally agreed at once.

After twisting and turning through several paths, the two arrived at another hilltop, where several low buildings stood scattered about.

"I heard this used to be a place for forging weapons. It was moved elsewhere later, and this place was abandoned."

Chen Yong explained.

It was already evening and darkness was fast approaching, yet lights were lit inside these buildings. Figures stood about, while scattered items were displayed atop stone tables.

Besides Li Gan and Chen Yong, quite a few Menial Disciples had also entered this Black Market.

This Black Market did not open every day. It only opened three or four times a month.

Li Gan stopped before a stall.

"How much are these Blood Vitality Pills?"

He asked the stall owner.

The stall owner was entirely hidden in the darkness, beyond the reach of the lamplight. His face was nearly impossible to make out, yet his eyes remained concealed but sharp, carrying an invisible pressure.

Li Gan felt that this stall owner was very likely a Ranked Martial Artist.

"One Contribution Point per pill. But I don't sell them individually here. One bottle has twelve pills, for ten Contribution Points."

The stall owner answered indifferently.

"What's the quality like?"

Li Gan asked.

"Mass-produced by the sect. The quality is nothing special."

The stall owner shrugged.

"Can I take a look?"

Li Gan asked.

"Go ahead."

The stall owner did not move.

Only then did Li Gan pick up the bottle and remove the cap. He first sniffed it, and it smelled no different from the Blood Vitality Pill Steward Zhao had given him.

Originally, he had not dared smell Steward Zhao's Blood Vitality Pill. But afterward, he had scraped off a little powder and fed it to the chickens and ducks. There had been no abnormalities. On the contrary, the chickens and ducks that ate it seemed especially energetic; even those that had been listless and sickly immediately became as lively as dragons and as fierce as tigers.

He poured out one Blood Vitality Pill. It was exactly the same as the one Steward Zhao had given him.

Though the light was dim, he could still tell that there was no difference in color.

He counted again. There were indeed twelve Blood Vitality Pills.

Ten Contribution Points was not cheap.

After all, he only received one Contribution Point each month.

One could well imagine how precious Contribution Points were.

Under normal circumstances, Menial Disciples would not casually spend Contribution Points on Blood Vitality Pills unless they were breaking through a bottleneck.

To Menial Disciples, Contribution Points were exceedingly hard to come by and had to be used to purchase even more precious things.