Azureflower Foundation Elixir

Back home, Jiang Yuan was watching TV as usual.

The difference was that the sounds of Lin Wanqiu chopping vegetables and humming came from the kitchen. It was clear she was in a great mood now that she did not have to work overtime.

"Welcome back, Brother!"

Jiang Yuan sweetly glanced back at him before turning back to the TV.

A five-hundred-yuan red packet had bought him only that one sentence.

Jiang Ding pursed his lips, set down his backpack, and went into the kitchen to help.

"Dingding, you're back."

Humming a tune, Lin Wanqiu said, "The Azureflower Foundation Elixir Yuanwang mailed over has arrived. I put it in your room. Remember to take a look later."

"Got it, Mom."

Jiang Ding's heart leaped with joy. This was one of the rare pills capable of improving one's aptitude. If not for Qianling University's School of Dao Cultivation connections, even ordinary cultivators would find it difficult to obtain.

He washed a potato clean, placed it on the chopping board, then wiped down his sword blade with a cloth.

Jiang Ding gripped the hilt, internal force circulating through several meridians that had already been preliminarily opened.

Clang!

Sword Unfurling Form!

A bright flash of sword light swept past. The sword returned to its sheath as though it had never moved, while the potato remained an oval, utterly unscathed.

Jiang Ding lightly touched the potato with his index finger. Matchstick-sized potato shreds spread apart, uniform in size and thickness—except for two layers in the middle, where the shreds were as thick as chopsticks and uneven in size.

"My control over internal force is still inadequate."

Jiang Ding frowned, placed another washed potato on the chopping board, and gripped his sword hilt.

Lin Wanqiu secretly clicked her tongue in amazement.

She had reached the perfection of Inner Qi, and had worked for more than a decade as an Optical Array Etching Machine operator at Rongcheng Steel Factory, a job requiring extreme precision. Yet even she could not achieve such a level.

Was the gap between Young Eagle Inner Qi and ordinary inner qi really so immense?

Flash after flash of sword light streaked out. Potato after potato became shreds, and the kitchen seemed to turn into a battlefield of flashing blades and dancing shadows.

"Enough, enough!"

Seeing that Jiang Ding had sliced four potatoes and still looked unsatisfied, Lin Wanqiu hurriedly said, "If you keep cutting, we won't be able to finish eating it all."

Jiang Ding could only place the chopped scallions on the board, draw his sword, and slice them into countless segments. Then came celery, beef, and more.

Once they had finished together, he washed the sword blade with dish soap and carefully dried it with a cloth.

Jiang Ding sheathed his sword, sat on the sofa with his eyes closed to rest, and circulated his internal force to nourish the ten main meridians of the fourth primary meridian, the Hand Yangming Large Intestine Meridian.

After dinner, the family finally went downstairs for a walk to aid digestion. Jiang Yuan seized the chance to play with her little friends, while Lin Wanqiu chatted with the neighbors.

Nearby, Jiang Ding practiced his sword forms gently to help his digestion.

"Dingding, why don't you go play basketball with them?"

Lin Wanqiu pointed at the basketball court in the distance, somewhat worried about her son's social skills.

Come to think of it, she had never seen her son playing with any friends.

"No."

Jiang Ding shook his head and continued practicing his sword.

Half an hour later,

Seeing Lin Wanqiu engrossed in conversation with the neighboring women and Jiang Yuan happily playing with her friends, Jiang Ding called out a greeting, then returned home alone and entered his room.

The first thing that caught his eye was a palm-sized, jet-black box bearing Qianling University's "Qian" school emblem.

Slightly excited, Jiang Ding tore open the sealing paper. Inside were an emerald-green pill bottle and a white instruction sheet.

[Azureflower Foundation Elixir]

[Produced by the Alchemy Workshop affiliated with Qianling University's School of Dao Cultivation. Suitable for martial artists below the Innate Realm. Has the effect of improving a martial artist's aptitude. Forbidden for pregnant women and children under seven. Drug Administration approval certificate number...]

After carefully checking that there were no signs it had been opened beforehand, Jiang Ding sat cross-legged on his bed and swallowed the spirit pill in one gulp.

A cool sensation slid smoothly from his throat into his stomach. Then that warm-cool feeling abruptly spread, flowing from his stomach through his flesh, blood, tendons, and bones—especially the meridians throughout his body.

It felt as though he were soaking in a hot spring. Every inch of his body was incomparably comfortable, as if he had returned to the moment of his birth, utterly clear and transparent.

Jiang Ding closed his eyes and silently sensed every minute change within his body.

A full hour later, the pill's effects had finished unfolding. His stomach suddenly twisted in pain, and he rushed madly for the bathroom.

After a long while, Jiang Ding returned to his bed, sat cross-legged, and circulated internal force to nourish the fourth primary meridian.

A moment later, delight appeared on his face.

"Onefold... my cultivation speed has doubled!"

Jiang Ding was greatly shaken. "The Hand Yangming Large Intestine Meridian, which originally required two days to fully nourish, can now be nourished and tempered in just one day!"

"My aptitude now would not rank among the poor even among the common people of the Immortal Sect. At the very least, I count as a minor genius. Add to that the Young Eagle Takes Flight Sword Art at minor mastery, and an endless daily supply of Hundred Essences Transform Qi Pills..."

"I should have reached the cultivation speed of a genius."

At that thought, Jiang Ding could not help feeling intense gratitude toward his uncle and Lin Yuanwang.

Even within Qianling University's School of Dao Cultivation, such a precious pill likely could not be exchanged for easily. His cousin Lin Yuanwang must have spent considerable time and effort; it was not as simple and casual as his uncle had made it sound.

Two days later,

In the small courtyard.

Under the morning sunlight, Jiang Ding laid his sword across his knees and slightly closed his eyes. Internal force circulated through and nourished the ten main meridians of the sixth primary meridian, the Hand Taiyang Small Intestine Meridian, more than half of which had already been nourished.

Just two short days!

The ten main meridians of the fourth primary meridian, the Hand Yangming Large Intestine Meridian, and the fifth primary meridian, the Hand Shaoyang Triple Burner Meridian, had already been fully nourished!

Knock, knock, knock!

"Come in!"

Jiang Ding opened his eyes and teased, "Manager Huang, I thought you wouldn't be coming back."

Huang Deyou had always been timid and afraid of trouble. After offending the Wild Wolf Gang, ordinary people would not dare work here anymore. That was why Jiang Ding had deliberately given them time off and offered a hefty reward of twenty taels—partly as severance pay.

"What are you saying, Boss?"

Huang Deyou said solemnly, "I, Old Huang, am a man of this shop in life and a ghost of this shop in death. My heart has never changed!"

In truth, more than once, he had considered not coming back.

But when he felt the twenty taels of silver he had only just warmed in his arms, he simply could not bear to part with it. When the time came, his legs carried him to the shop on their own, impossible to hold back.

It had only been a little over half a month!

How much was an ordinary person's life worth, anyway?

If he missed this opportunity, he would regret it every time he thought back on it for the rest of his life.

It was not only him. Of the four shop assistants, every last one had stayed.

Jiang Ding smiled. This was a good thing. It meant the so-called great figure behind Long Shi had given up and would not continue causing trouble.

"Boss, Shopkeeper Long San of the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce has come to visit."

Huang Deyou approached Jiang Ding and lowered his voice. "Han Lin said Shopkeeper Long came by two days ago as well. Seeing that you were not here, he left. He came again the next day, and this is now the third day."

Suspicion filled his eyes.

What kind of background did his boss possess, for Long San to humble himself so greatly?

The Four Seas Chamber of Commerce was no small household. Though it acted rather meekly toward its honored guests, it was a major trading house renowned throughout the entire Yue Kingdom.

The Dragon clan's descendants possessed an innate pride. Even when facing the Eastern Pacifying Marquis's Estate, they remained neither servile nor overbearing.

Just as Huang Deyou expected that he would once again be told to announce that Long San could enter, he saw Jiang Ding rise, straighten his clothes slightly, and strap on his sword.

"Come with me to welcome Shopkeeper Long."

.