Perfection of the Five Viscera

Before a tower carved from gold and built of jade stood a young man.

"Pill Pavilion."

Bai Jing sized up the building.

After leaving Ascension Tower, he had headed straight here.

Come to think of it, this was not his first time here. But he had been rather poor back then; after briefly asking about the prices of the pills, he had never paid the place another visit.

"Welcome!"

The moment he entered, a rough voice reached him.

Bai Jing saw an older Shangqing Mountain disciple reclining in a lounge chair, looking nothing at all like the owner of this shop.

"Take whatever you want yourself, so long as you have Ascension Coins." The shop owner tossed out those words casually and made no further move.

It was not until a child of around ten emerged from the rear hall of the pill shop. Upon seeing Bai Jing, he said with a beaming smile, "Junior Brother, this way please. Several fine pills have just come out of the furnace."

Bai Jing hurriedly shook his head. "Senior Brother, do you have Qi Replenishing Pills?"

"Qi Replenishing Pills?" The child nodded and went behind the counter on the left, taking out several jade bottles of different colors. "Which kind would Junior Brother like?"

"Are these Qi Replenishing Pills different?" Bai Jing looked them over and asked with some confusion.

"Of course. Pills are graded after they come out of the furnace as well. This is low-grade—the kind you Qi and Blood Realm cultivators commonly take." The young senior brother held up a red jade bottle as he spoke.

"These are mid-grade and high-grade. Body Cultivators use these the most." He pointed at the other two bottles.

"How much is a bottle of Mid-grade Qi Replenishing Pills?" Bai Jing looked toward the white jade bottle.

"Thirty Ascension Coins a bottle. How many bottles would Junior Brother like?"

He shook his head repeatedly.

Several bottles.

If he really bought several bottles, he would go bankrupt.

Besides, Qi Replenishing Pills above mid-grade were supplied to those Body Cultivators.

If the price were lower by ten or eight coins, he would not mind getting one bottle.

"I'll take three bottles of low-grade ones," Bai Jing said.

"Coming right up!" The child still wore a smile as he bent down to fetch the medicine.

"Senior Brother!"

Suddenly.

A call came from outside the door.

Bai Jing's brows drew together slightly. The voice sounded familiar.

"Senior Brother, do you still have Qi Replenishing Pills?"

The voice grew clearer, and Bai Jing saw the newcomer: the tall and slender Ling Qinghe.

"Yes, of course!" the young senior brother answered happily.

"Give me five bottles of low-grade Qi Replenishing Pills and one bottle of mid-grade." In the tone of a nouveau riche, she took a pile of jade coins from her sachet and placed them on the counter.

"Gulp." Staring at that pile of Ascension Coins, Bai Jing could not help swallowing.

"Well, if it isn't Fellow Daoist Bai." Only then did Ling Qinghe clearly see the disciple standing before the counter, and she could not help smiling.

"Greetings, Daoist Ling." Bai Jing came back to himself, looked at her, and returned the smile.

Then, each of them took their pills and left the Pill Pavilion, more or less one after the other.

After walking some distance, Bai Jing finally stopped. Turning to Ling Qinghe, he voiced the doubt in his heart.

"Forgive my presumptuousness, Daoist Ling, but don't you know how to refine pills yourself? Why come here to buy them? Isn't that uneconomical?"

"The pills here come from the hands of masters. Their techniques are far more brilliant than mine. If I'm taking them myself, of course I'll buy them here," Ling Qinghe answered casually.

Bai Jing froze at once. He stared at her strangely and asked, "What do you mean? Don't tell me you've never taken pills you refined yourself?"

"No." Ling Qinghe nodded without hesitation, then asked curiously, "How are the effects?"

"..." Bai Jing gazed at her darkly and said in a grave voice, "If you won't even take them yourself, why sell them to people like us?"

"Don't worry, I'm a pill refiner. There's definitely nothing wrong with the pills. I just think the Pill Pavilion's pills are better."

That gave him a little peace of mind.

Still, he made up his mind that he would never touch any pills this woman sold again, no matter how favorable the price.

"See you around!" After leaving the inner district, Ling Qinghe said her farewell and headed down the path to the left.

Bai Jing, meanwhile, continued straight ahead.

Before long, he returned to his thatched hut.

He sat cross-legged on his bed, took out the red jade bottle from his robes, immediately removed its cap, took out a Qi Replenishing Pill, and placed it in his mouth.

Bang!

The pill seemed to explode in his mouth, transforming into surging streams of warm energy that entered his body.

"The medicinal force really is much fiercer than Ling Qinghe's." Bai Jing praised it.

Then he hurriedly closed his eyes and circulated the Minor Formless Technique.

Guided by the supreme art, the immense energy of the Qi Replenishing Pill flowed into his heart viscera.

This was the last of the five viscera. Once the heart viscera reached perfection, it would completely trigger the transformation of the five viscera.

Thump, thump, thump!

His heart pounded violently like rolling thunder, and the entire house began to shake.

At the same time, dense strands of Qi and blood surged forth. His chest became wrapped in crimson runes.

Moreover, as if resonating with them, the runes of the other four viscera began to flicker in and out of sight, showing signs of awakening.

Bai Jing focused completely, immersing himself in the growth of his cultivation until it reached full perfection.

Time trickled by, and in the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.

Boom!

A violent fluctuation inside the thatched hut jolted Bai Jing awake.

"Perfected?" He lowered his head and murmured, sensing the Qi and blood within his body and discovering that it had increased by a great deal.

Moreover, countless blood-red runes covered his entire body, like tiny figures dancing—ancient and mysterious.

Buzz!

As he continued circulating the Minor Formless Technique, all the runes began flowing in one direction.

Before long, they all converged at his abdomen.

Buzz, buzz!

The runes flashed with dazzling radiance. Then, guided by the Minor Formless Technique, they began arranging and combining themselves in some mysterious manner.

The runes churned, and dense strands of Qi and blood gathered as well.

Qi and blood wrapped around the runes. The red light never ceased spilling forth—they were materializing!

"The opening passage of the Minor Formless Technique once said: 'The five viscera condense a blood cauldron, the six bowels forge a Dao foundation; open the Heaven and Earth Dao Platform, and behold the road to immortality!'"

"This must be the blood cauldron condensed after the five viscera reached perfection." Bai Jing sensed a material object within his body constantly becoming more complete and solid.

"The blood cauldron is like the Heaven and Earth Dao Platform of a Dao Platform Realm cultivator. It is a reservoir capable of holding more Qi and blood, allowing one to wield Qi and blood in an endless stream and erupt with even more terrifying power."

"Or rather, this is the embryonic form of a Heaven and Earth Dao Platform."

He muttered to himself.

Boom!

As time passed, before long, a complete blood cauldron condensed within Bai Jing's abdomen.

It was ancient and mysterious, engraved all over with countless crimson runes.

Buzz, buzz!

Dense strands of Qi and blood were drawn into the cauldron, transforming into drops of crimson blood.

"Looks like I'll need to buy more Blood Pills to fill the blood cauldron." He murmured.

Once the blood cauldron was filled with Qi and blood, his strength would rise another level.

That was the difference between the five gates being perfected and not perfected.

Buzz!

Suddenly—

Bai Jing felt a flash of inspiration.

That was right. His consciousness sank into his sea of awareness, where he discovered that the Talent Tree, which had not changed for a long time, was stirring.

The branch engraved with the Minor Formless Technique swayed violently.

Then, that branch extended without limit, emerging from the Scorched Earth and bursting out of his sea of awareness.

While Bai Jing was still confused and shocked, the branch had already extended before the blood cauldron.

Buzz!

All the runes on the blood cauldron shone in response, casting forth scarlet light.

In an instant, a passage of text and a line of information appeared in Bai Jing's mind.

Crimson Blood Cauldron (10/100)