Nanshan Village

To earn three hundred million coins within three months, Ning Xiaochuan actually had no confidence at all.

However, since he had already made the promise, he naturally had to work hard to fulfill it.

Ning Xiaochuan had already visited the Begonia Manor's storeroom. Most of the coins inside had been transferred away by the Marquis's Mansion, leaving only one million three hundred thousand small coins.

The autumn harvest had just passed, and he would have to wait until next year to collect the annual tribute for the following year.

This meant that Ning Xiaochuan had to raise three hundred million small coins on his own.

"At my current speed of refining Profound Medicine, I can refine at most twenty stalks of Nourishing Heart Grass a day. One stalk of Nourishing Heart Grass can refine four drops of Heart Nourishing Elixir. One drop of Heart Nourishing Elixir can be sold for ten thousand small coins, so I can earn eight hundred thousand small coins a day. In three months, I can earn seventy-two million small coins. No... no... Even if I refine Nourishing Heart Grass overloaded every day, it's impossible to earn three hundred million small coins within three months."

Ning Xiaochuan frowned tightly and said, "It seems there's only one way. If I can become an Intermediate Heart Nourisher, then I can refine Intermediate Pills. The value of one Intermediate Pill can be auctioned for at least one million small coins. Only by becoming an Intermediate Heart Nourisher can I possibly raise three hundred million small coins, or even more, within three months."

Ning Xiaochuan could now refine four drops of Heart Nourishing Elixir from one stalk of Nourishing Heart Grass, which had already reached the level of an Intermediate Heart Nourisher. Now, he only needed to raise his cultivation to the Divine Body Realm! Only with the cultivation of the Divine Body Realm could a Heart Nourisher refine "Intermediate Pills."

Other Heart Nourishers, even if they cultivated to the Divine Body Realm, might not necessarily become Intermediate Heart Nourishers.

Becoming an Intermediate Heart Nourisher was many times more difficult than a Martial Practitioner cultivating to the Divine Body Realm. This also involved the Heart Nourisher's control over Profound Medicine, the Heart Nourisher's own aptitude, the Heart Nourisher's refining techniques, and whether the Heart Nourisher's Martial Heart Palace was strong enough.

Only when all these factors reached a very high level could one become an Intermediate Heart Nourisher.

For many people, cultivating to the Divine Body Realm was just the first step to becoming an Intermediate Heart Nourisher.

However, for Ning Xiaochuan, as long as he cultivated to the Divine Body Realm, he could immediately become an Intermediate Heart Nourisher.

"I must reach the Divine Body Realm within three months!"

Ning Xiaochuan took out the Gold Thread Purple Wood Box from his bag, placed his hands on the box full of gold thread patterns, and a massive Earth Martial Essence Qi flowed into his body through his palms.

"Boom!"

The speed of blood flow in Ning Xiaochuan's body rapidly increased, flowing with a "whooshing" sound. Originally, he could achieve three Celestial Orbits per minute.

At this moment, stimulated by the Earth Martial Essence Qi, he actually reached the level of four Celestial Orbits per minute.

It was as if a Martial Venerable was performing a baptism on him, and his cultivation speed was rapidly increasing.

For ten consecutive days, Ning Xiaochuan was in seclusion cultivating.

He rarely interacted with the managers and servants in Begonia Manor. Yu Yan delivered his meals to his room.

Among the servants in Begonia Manor, there were definitely spies arranged by Ning Qianwu. Ning Xiaochuan did not want anyone to know that he could already cultivate Martial Dao Profound Qi.

During these ten days of secluded cultivation, the Profound Qi in Ning Xiaochuan's body rapidly expanded. Countless crimson streams of air rotated around his body, forming a sphere with a diameter of two meters, enveloping his body.

"Condense for me!"

All the Martial Dao Profound Qi gathered on his palm, transforming into a crimson Profound Qi Sword, three feet long, crystal clear, like a sword forged from rubies.

Although the Profound Qi Sword was not as terrifying as the Demon Sword in Ning Xiaochuan's body, it was still extremely sharp and contained immense energy.

"Bang!"

Ning Xiaochuan swung his arm, and the Sword Qi slashed out, splitting a two-meter-high bronze cauldron not far away into two halves. Dust from the cauldron splashed out, and the two halves of the cauldron fell to the ground, smashing the stone slabs on the ground.

Splitting a bronze cauldron with one sword! This was the power of the Profound Qi Sword, enough to make Ning Xiaochuan invincible at the same realm, and even dare to face experts at the Profound Qi Eighth Level.

"After cultivating with Earth Martial Essence Qi for ten days, my cultivation has only reached the peak of the Profound Qi Seventh Level. The cultivation speed is still too slow."

For others, such a cultivation speed was already quite terrifying.

However, Ning Xiaochuan was quite dissatisfied.

Yu Yan heard the sound and quickly pushed the door open. Seeing the messy furnishings in the room and the bronze cauldron in the center that had been split in half, she was immediately stunned, her eyes blinking twice. She said, "Young Master Ning, you... you had a cultivation breakthrough?"

Ning Xiaochuan shook his head and said, "No. Yu Yan, do you know where around here sells Profound Medicine?"

"Naturally, it's the market in Nanshan Village. Young Master, why are you buying Profound Medicine? Only noble Heart Nourishers can fully utilize the medicinal properties of Profound Medicine." Yu Yan thought Ning Xiaochuan wanted to improve his cultivation by taking Profound Medicine, so she reminded him.

After all, if a Martial Practitioner directly consumed Profound Medicine, they could only utilize one-tenth of its medicinal properties, which would be too wasteful.

She didn't know that Ning Xiaochuan was also a Heart Nourisher.

Nanshan Village was one of the border districts outside the Imperial City.

Although it was just a border district, it had tall city walls, and even beacon towers, arrow towers, and catapults built on the walls.

The entire Nanshan Village was clearly a bustling small city. Martial Practitioners traveling from the Tian Nan Region, Jiang Nu Region, and Mo Ling Region to the Imperial City would pass through here, making Nanshan Village one of the most mixed border districts outside the Imperial City.

It's worth mentioning that the Yulan Empire had a vast territory and was divided into sixty-three regions.

Below the "region," it was further divided into "plain," "prefecture," "province," "county," and "town."

In Nanshan Village, there was an ancient street specifically for buying and selling Profound Medicine. You could see all sorts of people here, a motley crew, a gathering of the strange and the bizarre.

On both sides of the ancient street, there were luxuriously decorated shops, and also people who had spread out straw mats and were displaying various Profound Medicines on them, starting to hawk their wares.

"Young Master, you're here to buy Profound Medicine, right!"

An elder grabbed a purplish-brown tree root from a straw mat. This root was as thick as an arm and had many textures resembling human blood vessels. He said, "This is a 'Blood Ancestor Root' I just dug from Nanyue Mountain. It's definitely three hundred years old. The old shopkeeper of Profound Leaf Abode offered me fifteen thousand Small Coins, but I didn't sell it. This thing is worth at least twenty thousand Small Coins."

Ning Xiaochuan looked at the "Blood Ancestor Root" in the elder's hand, smiled and shook his head, and walked forward.

The elder chased after him and said, "How about eighteen thousand Small Coins, sixteen thousand Small Coins is also fine. Even if you don't buy the Blood Ancestor Root, I have other Profound Medicines here, Gastrodia Elata Gall, Devil's Comb Grass..."

Ning Xiaochuan didn't turn back and continued walking.

Yu Yan said curiously, "Young Master, the Profound Medicines of these mountain people are all dug from Nanyue Mountain. Because they don't want to be cheaply acquired by the Heart Nourishing Hall, they set up stalls to sell them themselves. Although Yu Yan doesn't understand Profound Medicine, she knows that spending sixteen thousand Small Coins to buy a Third Grade Profound Medicine is quite a bargain."

Ning Xiaochuan smiled and shook his head, saying, "Do you really think they are all simple mountain people? Take the 'Blood Ancestor Root' that elder just took out, it is indeed three hundred years old, but it's not a 'Blood Ancestor Root,' it's a 'Blood Tree Root.' There isn't a bit of Profound Qi in it."

Blood Ancestor Root is a spiritual root nurtured by the earth, belonging to Profound Medicine, and its value is extraordinary.

Blood Tree Root is just the root of a blood tree. If Ning Xiaochuan wanted it, he could buy a large basket anytime.

After hearing Ning Xiaochuan say this, Yu Yan's mood immediately soured, and she turned to expose the true face of that old swindler.

Ning Xiaochuan stopped her and smiled, "Look at their worn-out clothes, their hands full of calluses, and their rough skin. It shows that they are poor people who are constantly struggling for a living. Many of them resort to deception out of desperation. If you expose them, their wives and children will probably go hungry for a few days. Let them off this time!"

Although there were many fake medicines on the stalls on both sides of this ancient street, there were still quite a few genuine Profound Medicines. As long as one had a sharp eye, they could distinguish between fake and real medicine.

Ning Xiaochuan came to the border district to buy "Blood Accumulation Grass" or "Blood Toad Wood." Only by using Blood Accumulation Elixir and Blood Toad Elixir could he activate the Demon Sword planted in his Blood Aperture and rapidly increase his cultivation.

Of course, Ning Xiaochuan could also use the power of the Demon Sword to absorb human blood, which would increase his cultivation speed even faster.

But this move was too evil and could only be used as a last resort. If he used absorbing human blood to increase his cultivation for a long time, he would definitely walk the Demonic Path.

Ning Xiaochuan's eyelids twitched slightly, as if he had seen something good. He walked to the side of a stall, squatted down, and picked up a crimson leaf.

"Don't touch that! This leaf is the most precious treasure I have here. You can only look, not touch." The stall owner was a bit exasperated, as if Ning Xiaochuan had touched his wife.

Ning Xiaochuan looked up and saw that the stall owner was a young man about his age, thin, with messy hair, holding a tattered book in his hand, glaring angrily at Ning Xiaochuan.

On the worn pages of the book were the words "Heaven and Earth Profound Qi".

It turned out he was practicing Martial Dao Profound Qi while running his stall.

Given his family background, he could only afford a low-level cultivation manual like "Heaven and Earth Profound Qi".

Ning Xiaochuan placed the crimson leaf back on the straw mat and smiled, "Stall owner, I'm very curious where you got this leaf?"

The young man placed the book he was holding on the stone stool, then his face lit up with excitement, saying, "This young master is a discerning person. This leaf has quite a history and extremely high medicinal value. I was reluctant to sell it, but seeing that you and I are fated, how about I sell it to you for fifty thousand small coins?"

His expression changed quickly. Just a moment ago he was furious, and now he was all smiles.

"Fifty thousand small coins? Why don't you just rob someone? I think this broken leaf isn't a Profound Medicine at all. You must be another swindler." Yu Yan's pretty face showed anger, looking playful and cute. She couldn't stand people who cheated young masters out of their money.

Fifty thousand small coins for a leaf? Unless this leaf was from a "Gold Thread Purple Wood" or a "Ten Thousand Year Divine Mulberry", that would be more reasonable!

The young man naturally knew that the true value of this leaf was less than five hundred small coins. He just saw that Ning Xiaochuan was dressed richly and luxuriously, and had taken the initiative to pick up the leaf, thinking Ning Xiaochuan was a naive person who didn't understand Profound Medicine.

Therefore, he suddenly had a whim and wanted to fleece Ning Xiaochuan.

However, seeing that the other party didn't seem to be someone who didn't know the value of things, he immediately wanted to change his price. He was about to speak, but Ning Xiaochuan spoke first.

"Fifty thousand small coins!"

Ning Xiaochuan paused, then nodded, saying, "That's a very fair price!"