Cultivation Soars

The apothecary manager scanned the prescription list and said in surprise, "Young master, several medicinal ingredients on this list are temporarily out of stock. And the thirty-eight ingredients you want to buy are much more expensive than the previous two batches."

"About eleven hundred taels."

Zhou Cheng frowned. "That much?" After a pause, he asked, "When will the few missing ingredients arrive?"

"They should arrive by noon." The apothecary manager smiled. "Why not come back at noon, young master?"

"That works." Zhou Cheng nodded. He did not have enough money on him right now anyway.

An ordinary commoner's family spent three or four taels a month. Eleven hundred taels was equivalent to thirty years of expenses for such a family.

Sure enough, practicing martial arts burned money like water.

His expenses over the past two days had been too great. Even as the son of a great general, he could barely bear it.

Fortunately, though, he had the Earth Cauldron.

"Do you buy Body-Refining Pills here? What price?" Zhou Cheng asked.

The apothecary manager's eyes lit up. Smiling, he said, "Does young master have Body-Refining Pills? Ordinary ones generally go for a hundred gold. High-grade Body-Refining Pills go for three hundred gold."

"What about supreme-grade ones?" Zhou Cheng suddenly asked.

The Ancient Body Refining Pill should count as supreme-grade, right?

The other man froze, then his smile blossomed. "If it's supreme-grade, it's worth six hundred gold!"

Although high-grade Body-Refining Pills were rare, some could still be found on the market. But supreme-grade pills were truly scarce; even after refining a hundred batches, one might not produce a single supreme-grade pill.

Six hundred gold—based on the exchange rate between gold and silver, that was six thousand taels of silver!

Zhou Cheng's heart gave a violent leap.

This thing was actually worth so much.

Then hadn't he swallowed more than ten thousand taels' worth when he took those two pills earlier?

Zhou Cheng could not help swallowing.

That was more than ten thousand taels of silver. How much would that be in RMB?

In high spirits, Zhou Cheng returned to the General's Mansion. He took out the Body-Refining Medicinal Bath Secret Recipe and the Ancient Body Refining Pill Recipe and began studying them.

The medicinal ingredients he had gathered earlier were precisely the materials needed for the Body-Refining Medicinal Bath Secret Recipe and the Ancient Body Refining Pill Recipe.

After studying them for a while, Zhou Cheng made an estimate. The medicinal ingredients he had bought earlier were just enough to prepare ten portions of Body-Refining Medicinal Bath and refine ten Ancient Body Refining Pills.

Setting aside the Body-Refining Medicinal Bath, ten Ancient Body Refining Pills alone were worth over a hundred thousand taels!

This was simply—

Zhou Cheng's emotions immediately surged like roaring waves, and he began fiercely practicing the Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist at the air! At that moment, a fierce tiger prowled within Zhou Cheng's heart. In a daze, he seemed to transform into a true roaming dragon, weaving endlessly through the air with peerless momentum.

The host has comprehended the true essence of the Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist. The Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist has entered a state of enlightenment, and its cultivation progress is soaring!

Soaring by 5%.

Soaring by 10%.

...

Soaring by 80%.

Progress has reached 100%!

The Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist has broken through, reaching the accomplished realm!

This worked too?

Zhou Cheng hurriedly checked the system panel and discovered that the Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist had indeed broken through from beginner to the accomplished realm.

Others might practice a martial skill for ten years and still fail to enter the accomplished realm, yet after one bout of enlightenment, he had broken through to it?

Zhou Cheng sprang into the air and threw a fierce punch.

"Dragon Soars Tiger Leaps!"

The force of his fist tore through the air, actually causing the air currents to let out a mournful howl. The blast of force swept up sand and dust from the ground.

This punch alone was several times stronger than before his breakthrough.

After the Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist broke through to the accomplished realm, its power was indeed far beyond what it had been at the beginner realm.

Yet no matter how Zhou Cheng continued practicing the Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist afterward, he could no longer enter that state of enlightenment.

Seeing that noon had arrived, Zhou Cheng could only give up. He then followed the pill recipe to prepare the medicinal ingredients and tossed them into the Earth Cauldron.

As Zhou Cheng watched nervously, the Earth Cauldron erupted with light, then soon fell still. The lid opened on its own, and a Body-Refining Pill slowly rose out.

Zhou Cheng, who had been somewhat worried, smiled when he saw that the Body-Refining Pill had successfully formed.

Afterward, he followed the same method, combining the remaining medicinal ingredients one by one into Body-Refining Pills and Body-Refining Medicinal Bath.

After finishing everything, Zhou Cheng left the General's Mansion and arrived at the Four Seasons Apothecary.

The apothecary manager had long been waiting at the entrance. Seeing Zhou Cheng from afar, he hurried over with a smile. "Young master, you've finally come! I've been waiting for you like I was waiting for the stars and moon, for more than half an hour."

Zhou Cheng glanced at him and laughed in high spirits. "It's broad daylight. Where would there be stars or the moon?"

The apothecary manager chuckled. "A figure of speech, just a figure of speech." Then he invited Zhou Cheng into the main hall. "Young master, those few missing medicinal ingredients have all arrived. We've prepared all thirty-eight kinds for you. Please take a look."

He led Zhou Cheng over to the thirty-eight kinds of medicinal ingredients that had already been arranged.

Zhou Cheng nodded. After thinking for a moment, he took out an Ancient Body Refining Pill.

Immediately, the fragrance of the pill filled the entire hall.

The apothecary manager stared blankly at the Body-Refining Pill in Zhou Cheng's hand, its captivating sheen flickering as though it had been plated with a layer of golden light.

"Manager Chen, please appraise this Body-Refining Pill for me," Zhou Cheng said.

Only then did the apothecary manager, Chen Zhiqu, come back to his senses. Both hands trembling slightly, he received the pill Zhou Cheng handed over. Chen Zhiqu had managed the Four Seasons Apothecary for decades and was also a senior medicinal ingredient appraiser. The more he examined the pill in his hand, the more excited he became.

After quite a while, he finally withdrew his gaze and said excitedly to Zhou Cheng, "Young master, this Body-Refining Pill of yours is absolutely supreme-grade." Then he carefully asked, "How about we offer you six hundred gold?"

"Fine." Zhou Cheng did not care much about it.

As for the other nine Body-Refining Pills, he did not sell them either. As far as he was concerned, money only needed to be enough to spend.

After deducting the cost of the thirty-eight medicinal ingredients, the apothecary gave Zhou Cheng forty-nine hundred taels in change. Zhou Cheng had all of it exchanged for silver notes, making it easier to carry.

Escorted out with Chen Zhiqu's smiling farewell, Zhou Cheng returned to the General's Mansion.

The moment he returned to his courtyard, a notification sounded.

Congratulations, host. You have completed the mission and obtained one Marrow-Cleansing Pill.

Would the host like to consume it now?

Zhou Cheng immediately said, "Consume it."

At once, the Marrow-Cleansing Pill transformed into surging medicinal power.

In an instant, a series of popping sounds rang out from Zhou Cheng's entire body as astonishing changes began to occur. His internal organs seemed to be plated with five-colored light, while his blood actually glimmered with a faint radiance. Even his originally dark Soul Sea gave off a pale glow.

Congratulations, host. Your aptitude has evolved from ordinary aptitude to medium aptitude.

In the Immortal Martial World, aptitudes from low to high were: ordinary aptitude, medium aptitude, high aptitude, a once-in-a-century genius, a peerless prodigy, an eternal monster, and Wushuang throughout the ages!

Previously, Zhou Cheng's aptitude had been ordinary. Now, it had evolved into medium aptitude!

Due to the medicinal power of the Marrow-Cleansing Pill, the cultivation progress of the Black Tortoise Divine Technique and the Indestructible Vajra Divine Technique is soaring.

Soaring by 5%.

Soaring by 10%.

...

Soaring by 45%.

Ding! Congratulations, host. The progress of your Indestructible Vajra Divine Technique has reached 100%, breaking through to the third level.

After a while, ```