Kirin Bloodline

Chapter 21: Kirin Bloodline

Zhang He froze. "What?"

Little Brother Lian explained, "I've never seen my sister get close to a man before. You're the first man she's ever brought home from outside."

Zhang He couldn't help laughing. "You little rascal, your sister brought me here to treat you. Don't go making things up and ruining her reputation."

"Not at all. I can tell you're a good person. It'd be great if you really became my brother-in-law. You don't know how many people say they like my sister, but I don't like any of them. They're obviously only after her beauty and my family's wealth." Little Brother Lian spoke in a low voice.

Zhang He laughed. The kid really was wise beyond his years—he was already worrying about things like this. Zhang He called in the people outside and told them to bring in a bathtub so Little Brother Lian could take a bath.

Mother Lian hesitated. Her son was covered in wounds; how could he take a bath? But when she saw Zhang He toss a packet of medicine into the tub, she understood why. Sure enough, after Little Brother Lian finished bathing, the bloody claw marks on his body had quickly scabbed over. Some of his older wounds had healed completely, without leaving a trace.

Mother Lian and Father Lian immediately regarded Zhang He as a miracle doctor, filled with admiration.

"The power in his body is quite unique. It'll let him get twice the result with half the effort when he cultivates, and it'll definitely do him good. I've cleared the heat toxin from his body now, so he shouldn't suffer from that unbearable itching anymore. His body will still feel a little overheated, but as his cultivation improves, that heat will gradually ease." Zhang He explained this to Lian Yunbi.

Since he had come to treat the boy, now that the treatment was done, he needed to explain the situation to the patient's family.

Seeing Zhang He being so amiable, Mother Lian recalled how she had behaved earlier and felt a little ashamed. She was also very curious about his identity. Anyone who could refine medicine and treat illnesses so skillfully was certainly no ordinary person. And judging by her daughter, the two seemed to get along well. Mother Lian took note of it; it looked like she would have to question her daughter properly.

If Zhang He was an apothecary, then her family would truly have struck it rich!

Once Zhang He had finished, he immediately took his leave. Father Lian tried to keep him at the manor and host a banquet to thank him properly, but Zhang He politely declined. He had things of his own to attend to, and in truth, he had come away from this visit with something to gain. The heat toxin he had absorbed from Little Brother Lian had greatly benefited his Rejuvenation True Qi.

Just as he was leaving the Lian family's gates in the carriage they had prepared for him, Lian Yunbi's voice suddenly came from behind. "Zhang He, wait a moment. There's something I want to tell you."

The carriage stopped. Zhang He leaned out and looked at Lian Yunbi in confusion.

"My birthday is in two months. Will you come?" Lian Yunbi asked, her face faintly flushed.

"Are you inviting me to your birthday banquet just to thank me?" Zhang He joked. Lian Yunbi faltered. After a moment's hesitation, she answered honestly, "I do want to thank you, but I also hope you'll do me the honor of coming. It'll be my eighteenth birthday."

What an honest girl! Seeing the hope in Lian Yunbi's eyes, Zhang He smiled and nodded. "All right, but I should warn you—I don't have any money to prepare a decent gift."

Lian Yunbi tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and smiled brightly. "As long as you come, you'll be the best gift I could ask for." The moment she said it, she realized how suggestive it sounded, and her face turned red. Seeing Zhang He grinning from ear to ear, she remembered what had happened on horseback earlier and felt mortified. She turned and hurried back into the manor.

Watching her go, Zhang He rubbed his nose and smiled faintly before telling the driver to set off.

In the carriage, Zhang He silently circulated his Rejuvenation True Qi, refining and absorbing all the heat toxin from the Kirin Bloodline. His true qi had grown noticeably stronger. As the Rejuvenation True Explanation circulated in reverse, the scalding heat of the Kirin Bloodline's toxin immediately turned into an icy force. That chill felt as if it would freeze Zhang He's blood solid.

"The heat toxin of the Kirin Bloodline is actually a kind of precious medicine. It's a pity ordinary people are too frail to withstand such a domineering force, so it becomes a poison that harms them."

Zhang He had figured it out: the heat toxin was actually a force that benefited the body. When he reversed the Rejuvenation True Explanation, the Kirin Bloodline's heat toxin could only be reversed into an icy force; it had no other special effects. But when circulated normally, it could work the miraculous effect of tempering the body.

Zhang He once again circulated his Rejuvenation True Qi normally. The heat toxin of the Kirin Bloodline coursed through his body, and wherever it passed, its scorching aura enveloped his muscles and bones, as if they were being forged in blazing fire.

Zhang He's body was tougher than Little Brother Lian's, so he could endure the heat. After circulating it through one full cycle, he clearly felt his physical constitution improve under the effect of the Kirin Bloodline's heat toxin. This only confirmed his theory all the more.

"Whew. The Kirin Bloodline is so miraculous. The world is vast, full of wonders. There must be other powerful things that can help people improve their cultivation quickly." Zhang He suddenly felt a sense of pressure. "I've already reached the peak of the Force Martial Realm. To break through into the True Martial Realm, I need a Void Insight Pill."

The Void Insight Pill was specifically used when breaking through from the Force Martial Realm into the True Martial Realm. A natural chasm lay between the two realms, making a breakthrough extremely difficult. But with a Void Insight Pill, the odds of reaching the True Martial Realm would rise to at least seventy percent!

After getting off the carriage, Zhang He returned to the courtyard.

Fatty Tang and Wang Dachui were still training hard. As soon as Zhang He returned, Fatty Tang waggled his eyebrows. "Well? Was the Goddess's home a paradise on earth? Did you get into her boudoir? Ow, Dachui, you idiot! Can't you see I'm talking to Zhang He? Why are you still hitting me?"

Zhang He couldn't help laughing and crying. "Just focus on your training. By the way, I'm going up the mountain to gather some herbs. I won't be able to come by for the next few days, so train here on your own. Don't slack off."

"Got it, got it. We're planning to make a big splash at the Martial Child Test. How could we slack off?" Fatty Tang said with a laugh.

Zhang He smiled, went to his room to collect a few things he needed, then left the courtyard. Absorbing the heat toxin from the Kirin Bloodline had strengthened his true qi, but it had also suddenly made him aware of the danger around him. The Kirin Bloodline had taught him not to underestimate the heroes of the world.

Zhang He was determined to take first place in the Martial Child Test. Wen Liang was his greatest rival! If he couldn't cultivate eight acupoints and use a powerful move like the Half-Step Blast Fist, he had no confidence that he could win first place. So he couldn't wait to go up the mountain and look for the herbs needed to refine a Void Insight Pill, which would help him break through his cultivation bottleneck.

The Martial Child Test was only a month away. Time was short; he had to hurry.

After climbing the mountain, Zhang He walked along, hunting poisonous insects to refine into Five Poison Beads. The beads were selling like hotcakes, so he couldn't let his stock run out. Fortunately, they were only the size of soybeans and took up little room. Before long, several medicine jars in his large herb basket were filled with a full thousand of them.

Along the way, Zhang He ran into a few wild wolves. They had chosen the wrong prey, and he killed them all. He also came across a few small demon beasts, but they were cunning. The moment they spotted Zhang He and sensed his presence, they took to their heels and vanished. Zhang He had come up the mountain mainly to search for the herbs needed to refine a Void Insight Pill, so he didn't chase after them.

On a hillside, Zhang He rummaged through his herb basket.

"To refine a Void Insight Pill, I need thirteen kinds of herbs. Aside from the two main ingredients, the Blood-Draining Vine and the Ghost Thunder Needle Grass, the rest can be replaced with other herbs. I've already found the Ghost Thunder Needle Grass. Now the most important thing is finding the Blood-Draining Vine!"

There were already eight kinds of herbs in his basket. Aside from the Ghost Thunder Needle Grass he had found by chance, the other seven were auxiliary ingredients and could easily be replaced with other herbs. In other words, they weren't important at all. But he had no clue where to find the crucial Blood-Draining Vine, which left Zhang He feeling helpless.

He had searched the whole way without finding any trace of the Blood-Draining Vine! Zhang He hefted his herb basket with a frustrated huff and continued looking for the five remaining herbs.

He had just crossed a hill when a rumbling suddenly came from the other side. Zhang He paused and turned toward the sound, his expression turning strange. "Isn't that the Cold Pool?"

Zhang He saw clearly: on the far side of the Cold Pool, a huge, blue-black serpent-like creature suddenly shot into the air. Several flashes of light streaked past and plunged into its body. A shrill roar rang out, and the creature crashed back down.

"Is that a Cold Flood Dragon? Is someone hunting it?" Zhang He's heart stirred. The Cold Flood Dragon was a fourth-level demon beast. If someone there could hunt it, they had to be at least at the fourth level of the True Martial Realm. He had been considering going over to see if he could scavenge anything, but stopped at once. "Anyone capable of hunting a Cold Flood Dragon is no ordinary person. If I barge in, I might provoke them. If I end up getting myself killed, that'd be rotten luck. Forget it. I'll keep looking for my Blood-Draining Vine."

Zhang He had already taken an interest in the Cold Flood Dragon. It was a fourth-level demon beast, so its demon toxin had to be incredibly potent. If he could absorb it, his cultivation would improve by leaps and bounds. However, Zhang He knew—

"Sun Shaochuan, I was blind to trust a lowlife like you! If I survive today, I'll make sure everyone knows what a despicable person you are!" A furious roar suddenly rang out from the forest ahead.

The voice drew nearer. Zhang He's pupils contracted. He immediately crouched down, held his breath, and hid behind a patch of bushes without moving. He peered through the foliage toward the direction the voice had come from.

"Senior Brother Wang Jian, there's no point struggling anymore. With a Cold Flood Dragon around here, no one dares come near. Even if you scream your lungs out, no one will hear you! Go in peace. You've made a great contribution to this Cold Flood Dragon hunt. Once I've collected the sect's reward, I'll even petition the sect for a Heroic Memorial Tablet in your name, so you can die with honor. I'll also take care of Shao Ying and the unborn child for you."

The speaker sounded smug. Zhang He frowned slightly as well. Three figures came into view before him.