Heart Nourishing Cauldron

"What medicinal ingredients would this young master like to buy?" An elderly man with grizzled hair sat beside the counter. He glanced at Ning Xiaochuan's clothes, narrowed his eyes, and immediately knew that a big deal had come knocking.

The silk Ning Xiaochuan wore was not something the children of ordinary households could afford.

Although the Yulan Empire had no profession called doctors, it had quite a few Medicine Shops. These medicinal ingredients were not ordinary mountain herbs, but Mysterious Medicine containing profound qi.

According to their rarity, profound qi concentration, medicinal value, and years of growth, Mysterious Medicine was divided into Nine Grades.

Every stalk of Mysterious Medicine grew for over a century, sometimes several centuries, and their prices were outrageously high. Even a First Grade Profound Medicine, the lowest grade, was worth more than a thousand Small Coin.

Those who generally bought Mysterious Medicine were Heart Nourishers. Only Heart Nourishers could fully make use of its value and, through certain special formulas, refine wondrous pills and spiritual elixirs. These were all things martial artists dreamed of.

Ning Xiaochuan placed a prescription on the counter.

After reading through the prescription, the elderly shopkeeper immediately understood and smiled. "So, Young Master wishes to condense a Heart Nourishing Cauldron."

To become a Heart Nourisher, the first step was to cultivate one's Martial Heart Palace into a "Heart Nourishing Cauldron." This required nourishing it with three kinds of Mysterious Medicine: Mystic Star Grass, Bull Cauldron Ganoderma, and Blazing Fire Root.

The moment the elderly shopkeeper saw the names of those three kinds of Mysterious Medicine on the prescription, he immediately understood Ning Xiaochuan's purpose.

"This Bull Cauldron Ganoderma is a supreme specimen among Third Grade Profound Medicine. Its leaves are shaped like a cauldron, its roots resemble a bull's head, and its veins are clearly defined. I estimate it has nearly three hundred and eighty years of growth. It is one of our shop's treasures. Since I see that it has an affinity with you, Young Master, I'll sell it cheaply—how about twenty thousand Small Coin?"

The elderly shopkeeper opened a medicine case and took out a fist-sized Bull Cauldron Ganoderma. Its ganoderma leaves truly somewhat resembled a cauldron, while its roots looked like a bull's head, complete with two horns.

Ning Xiaochuan had never seen such a miraculous medicinal herb before. Excitement surged in his heart as he held the Bull Cauldron Ganoderma in his hand and closed his eyes. Faintly, he could sense profound qi flowing within its leaves.

Seeing Ning Xiaochuan's enraptured expression, the elderly shopkeeper grew excited as well. It seemed he would make another big sale today.

"Can't afford it!"

Without the slightest embarrassment, Ning Xiaochuan put the Bull Cauldron Ganoderma back into its medicine case.

He had only thirty thousand Small Coin in total. He had spent five hundred Small Coin renting the Azure Deer Carriage earlier, leaving him with just twenty-nine thousand five hundred Small Coin.

This Third Grade Profound Medicine Bull Cauldron Ganoderma cost as much as twenty thousand Small Coin. If he bought it, he would not be able to buy any other Mysterious Medicine!

All he could do was sigh inwardly. Mysterious Medicine was fucking expensive!

Even with the aptitude to become a Heart Nourisher, one could not become one without a fortune of ten thousand strings of cash. This profession burned money like firewood.

The elderly shopkeeper had gotten excited for nothing. Fortunately, after decades in business, he had long learned to keep his composure. Otherwise, he would have started cursing already. Damn it, if you couldn't afford it, why did you fondle it for so long?

"Give me three First Grade Profound Medicines," Ning Xiaochuan said.

The elderly shopkeeper carefully locked the medicine case, then took out three ordinary medicine cases. Inside were all First Grade Profound Medicines: one hundred and twenty-year-old Mystic Star Grass, one hundred and fifty-year-old Bull Cauldron Ganoderma, and one hundred and ten-year-old Blazing Fire Root.

First Grade Profound Medicine was much cheaper. The three stalks together cost only seven thousand two hundred Small Coin.

Ning Xiaochuan then spent twenty thousand Small Coin on a Low-Grade Profound Stone. With the money left over, he bought a stalk of Nourishing Heart Grass before returning to the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion.

A Low-Grade Profound Stone normally cost at least thirty thousand Small Coin, and some could even sell for one hundred thousand Small Coin. The one Ning Xiaochuan bought was actually a broken Profound Stone, yet it still cost him twenty thousand Small Coin. It truly pained his heart to spend it! If condensing a Heart Nourishing Cauldron did not absolutely require a Profound Stone, he would never have been willing to buy it.

"If I succeed in one stroke this time, then wealth and glory will come rolling in like waves. If I fail, heh heh! Then I'll have nothing but tears!"

Ning Xiaochuan smiled bitterly. After one trip outside, his thirty thousand Small Coin had been spent clean. If Ning Xiner found out, she would certainly think he had squandered it on some seductive courtesan again.

He returned to the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion.

Ning Xiaochuan placed the Mystic Star Grass, Bull Cauldron Ganoderma, and Blazing Fire Root on the table in a row. They were all First Grade Profound Medicines, containing small amounts of profound qi and certain special medicinal properties.

Mysterious Medicine could not be swallowed directly. Otherwise, ninety percent of its medicinal properties would be lost in the stomach, while the profound qi contained within would dissipate completely. It could not be absorbed by the blood, much less enter the Martial Heart Palace.

Thus, even if ordinary martial artists obtained precious Mysterious Medicine, they could only use one-tenth of its medicinal properties. Only Heart Nourishers could fully utilize those medicinal properties.

Ning Xiaochuan held the Mystic Star Grass in his palm and activated the Martial Dao Profound Qi within his body. The profound qi burst from his pores and enveloped his hand.

Bang!

The Mystic Star Grass was shattered into powder by the Martial Dao Profound Qi, like a cloud of green mist.

Ning Xiaochuan hurriedly drew the Martial Dao Profound Qi back into his body. The cloud of green mist followed it into his pores, entered his bloodstream, and then flowed into his heart.

"Quick, quick..."

The purpose of Mystic Star Grass was to cover the Martial Dao Star Palace with a layer of skin like black iron. Of course, it was not real black iron, but Mystic Star Grass Qi.

Yet, contrary to Ning Xiaochuan's expectations, the Mystic Star Grass Qi did not flow into the Martial Heart Palace. Instead, it flowed into the chamber at the lower right of his heart.

According to the records in the books, this chamber was called the "Heart Aperture" in the Seven Aperture God Demon Heart, forming a symmetry with the "Blood Aperture."

The Blood-Colored Small Sword was nourished within the Blood Aperture. Could it be that he was meant to refine the Heart Aperture into a "Heart Nourishing Cauldron"? Ordinary Heart Nourishers refined their Martial Heart Palace into a Heart Nourishing Cauldron, and for that very reason, at the same cultivation realm, a Heart Nourisher's combat strength was far inferior to that of a pure martial artist.

This was what it meant to gain one thing and lose another.

Heart Nourishers held lofty status, but their combat strength was not high.

But Ning Xiaochuan was different. He possessed the Seven Aperture God Demon Heart, with two more apertures in his heart than ordinary people—the Heart Aperture and the Blood Aperture. If he refined the Heart Aperture into a Heart Nourishing Cauldron, it would not affect the Martial Heart Palace, and his combat strength would not be affected either.

Ning Xiaochuan had no time to think further. He hurriedly grasped the Bull Cauldron Ganoderma in his palm.

Bang!

The Bull Cauldron Ganoderma was shattered as well, melting into his bloodstream and flowing into the Heart Aperture, where it fused with the Mystic Star Grass Qi.

Bang!

The Blazing Fire Root shattered, turning into a red current of qi. Its temperature was extremely high as it darted ceaselessly through Ning Xiaochuan's bloodstream before flowing into the Heart Aperture.

Under the roasting of the fire qi, the Mystic Star Grass Qi and Bull Cauldron Ganoderma formed the shape of a cauldron within the Heart Aperture.

Ning Xiaochuan tensed his body, sweat covering him from head to toe. His Martial Dao Profound Qi was rapidly depleting, while the medicine cauldron within the Heart Aperture slowly took shape, patterns interweaving across it as profound qi flowed through it.

Among a thousand martial artists, there might not be even one who could become a Heart Nourisher. The key was whether they could refine a Heart Nourishing Cauldron, and there were simply too many factors that could interfere with it.

One's physique.

The attributes of one's blood.

The strength of one's blood qi! The Martial Heart Palace's own repulsive force.

If any single factor failed to meet the standard, it would be impossible to condense a Heart Nourishing Cauldron. Ning Xiaochuan had no confidence either. All he could do now was persist with all his strength.

Hold on a little longer. I'm almost there!

Almost there!

"Condense!"

Sweat dripped from Ning Xiaochuan like beans, and blue veins bulged across his body. With that word, "condense," a great amount of blood surged toward the Heart Aperture.

One had to use one's own vital blood to refine a Heart Nourishing Cauldron. Only then could the Heart Nourishing Cauldron achieve the highest compatibility with the Heart Nourisher, allowing the refined pills to reach higher grades.

Success! He had succeeded!

Within the Heart Aperture floated a small blood-colored cauldron. It had three legs and two handles, with inscriptions of bull heads condensed upon its surface.

This was the Heart Nourishing Cauldron!

Ning Xiaochuan's face was pale from excessive blood loss, but an excited smile still hung on his face. "The first step is complete. Then the rest will be as natural as water flowing into a channel. Let me see whether I can temper Mysterious Medicine in the Heart Nourishing Cauldron. I hope it succeeds."

Refining a Heart Nourishing Cauldron was merely the first step. Whether one could become a Heart Nourisher depended on whether one could temper Mysterious Medicine within it.

Many people could refine a Heart Nourishing Cauldron within their bodies, but theirs were dead cauldrons, utterly incapable of tempering Mysterious Medicine. Such people could not become Heart Nourishers either.

Ning Xiaochuan did not immediately begin tempering Mysterious Medicine. Instead, he first spent half an hour restoring the Martial Dao Profound Qi in his body. This was his first time tempering Mysterious Medicine, so he had to be cautious.

Only after the Martial Dao Profound Qi in his body had recovered to its peak did he take out the broken Low-Grade Profound Stone and the stalk of Nourishing Heart Grass.

This Nourishing Heart Grass was also a First Grade Profound Medicine, worth two thousand Small Coin. If a martial artist swallowed it directly, they could only absorb one-tenth of its medicinal power, while the profound qi within it would dissipate completely, making its effect rather ordinary.

But Heart Nourishers were different. They could use a Heart Nourishing Cauldron to temper Nourishing Heart Grass into medicinal liquid, then merge even denser profound qi into that liquid to form "Heart Nourishing Elixir."

A single drop of Heart Nourishing Elixir was worth several times the price of a stalk of Nourishing Heart Grass.

A stalk of Nourishing Heart Grass could generally be tempered into one to five drops of Heart Nourishing Elixir! Ning Xiaochuan began to grow nervous. Whether he could become a Heart Nourisher would be decided in this one stroke. Whether he could become immensely wealthy and honored depended on this attempt!