Mending Sinews and Restoring Meridians

Su Yan's expression shifted slightly. "Elder Song, are you ready?"

"Seventy or eighty percent, but that's enough."

Song Qi had already requested leave from the head manager. Originally, he would have waited until he was eighty or ninety percent ready before proceeding.

Now, however, the situation had changed somewhat.

"Is it because of the stolen medicinal herbs?"

Song Qi looked surprised, not expecting Su Yan to know about it too. He nodded. "Pang Tianfeng seized a shipment of medicinal herbs. The managers are preparing to send people after him. I'm afraid things may change."

"Elder Song, just what cultivation level is Pang Tianfeng at? Why such a massive operation?"

Su Yan was puzzled. However formidable Pang Tianfeng might be, how could he warrant such a massive operation?

"Pang Tianfeng was originally a renegade disciple of the Nine Peaks Sect. Nobody knows what fortuitous opportunity he found before defecting. He fled all the way from Lingnan Prefecture to our Bailu Commandery in the far south."

Song Qi explained in detail. "Rumor has it he was only in the Blood Shifting Realm at first. After several escapes, his latest attack confirmed that he had reached the Origin Nurturing Realm. With that kind of improvement, he must have something on him."

Su Yan's eyes flickered. "An ordinary man is innocent; possessing a precious jade makes him guilty."

"That's a succinct way of putting it."

Song Qi's deep eyes brightened. "A mere rumor is enough to stir people's greed. Unfortunately, Pang Tianfeng has some skill with poison. People will likely die in those woods."

The Wild Mountains were already extremely dangerous. The various factions competed for resources, fighting openly and scheming in secret, employing every means at their disposal. That alone was chaotic enough.

With the hunt about to begin, that chaos would only intensify. With Pang Tianfeng stirring the pot, it would be chaos piled upon chaos.

Chaos was a stairway upward. There would always be ambitious people who relished disorder and emerged at times like these.

Song Qi's decision to heal his injuries before the chaos began was a wise one.

Besides, who could guarantee that Song Qi had no ambitions of his own?

They set Pang Tianfeng's affairs aside for now. Though trouble had already begun to take shape, it would not immediately affect the three of them.

Their most pressing task was to refine the Sinew-Mending Meridian-Continuing Pill.

Early the next morning, Xu Zhongdao ordered his household servants to shut the courtyard gates tight, while Song Qi stood guard in the Inner Courtyard.

He then took Su Yan into the Pill Room, where medicinal ingredients filled their view, all sorted and packed separately.

Su Yan looked astonished. There were at least thirty or forty kinds of ingredients in the Pill Room, from Savage Beast bones to blood tendon flowers. Most had already been processed, each in a different way.

Elder Xu must have spent all these days processing these things.

The Sinew-Mending Meridian-Continuing Pill was a Second-Tier Low Grade pill, made primarily from Second Tier ingredients. They were exceptionally precious, and quite a few were difficult to process.

The meticulous sorting showed just how much effort Xu Zhongdao had put in. His friendship with Song Qi must have been forged through life and death.

"Boy, my skills aren't quite enough, so refining a second-tier low-grade pill is a stretch. Once I start the furnace, there's no stopping midway—especially with a Sinew-Mending Meridian-Continuing Pill, which I've never refined before."

Xu Zhongdao's expression was solemn as he seated himself before the large pill furnace.

"Whatever ingredient I ask for, you must give me, accurate to the milligram. Some ingredients need to be processed on the spot. If I tell you to process something, you must finish on time. A single mistake can turn the medicinal effects upside down. We don't have enough ingredients for many attempts."

"I'll do my best."

Su Yan looked serious, and Xu Zhongdao softened his tone slightly. "You needn't be too nervous. Over these past few days, I've gotten some idea of your Herb Identification skills. Your understanding and processing of medicinal ingredients are better than those of the Hundred Herbs Hall's apprentices. You're fully capable of this task. As for alchemy, how much you can learn will depend on your own ability."

Alchemy was one of the Hundred Herbs Hall's arts. At the very least, Xu Zhongdao's skills had come from the Hundred Herbs Hall, so he could not teach Su Yan alchemy directly. Those were the rules.

Still, through their interactions over the past few days, his questions during the breaks, and his observations of how Su Yan brewed and used Poison-Skin Powder and the Three-Origin Decoction, he had gotten a measure of the young man.

This boy was truly peculiar. He was a genius when it came to advancing in martial cultivation, and even when learning to identify and distinguish medicinal ingredients, he could infer three things from one and improve at astonishing speed.

"Light the fire!"

Once the fire was lit, the pill furnace began to heat up. Fully focused, Xu Zhongdao added the primary ingredients—Savage Beast bones and blood tendon flowers—one after the other.

The aura within his body surged, and faint wisps of white mist, like incense smoke, flowed continuously into the pill furnace.

So this is the True Essence cultivated in the Origin Nurturing Realm.

He refined the ingredients with True Essence and used the furnace fire to regulate their medicinal properties. Without sufficient cultivation, this method of refinement would be impossible.

"Two taels of Sinew-Growing Grass..."

The instant Xu Zhongdao spoke, Su Yan moved, swiftly fetching the prepared ingredient and adding it to the furnace.

"One tael of Blood Ginseng, three mace of Black Tiger Root juice..."

Xu Zhongdao kept directing Su Yan to fetch ingredients and add them to the furnace. Beads of sweat the size of beans gradually appeared on his deeply wrinkled face.

Not only was the furnace fire scorching, but refining pills with True Essence was also tremendously draining.

The medicinal properties are activated, but they must remain constantly balanced. This allows them to accumulate and be preserved within the pill, so that when it's taken, they can all be converted into energy.

While assisting with the refinement, Su Yan observed Xu Zhongdao's methods, principles, and techniques.

Xu Zhongdao already intended to teach him, and at this point, he made no attempt to conceal certain techniques.

Time passed steadily. Of the dozens of ingredients before Su Yan, very few remained. Almost all had been used once.

Xu Zhongdao's face was pale, his True Essence severely depleted. Had he not prepared some pills to replenish his vital energy and convert it into True Essence, he would have collapsed long ago.

"Add all the blood tendon flowers and Savage Beast bones! Quickly!"

At Xu Zhongdao's sharp shout, Su Yan immediately added the prepared primary ingredients to the furnace for the second time.

The fire gradually died out. With a rumble, the pill furnace was moved to one side.

The residual heat continued to bake the pills inside. Xu Zhongdao no longer paid it much attention, merely shaking the furnace continuously with carefully controlled force.

After some seventeen or eighteen minutes, the furnace's temperature dropped.

Xu Zhongdao lifted the lid, and a medicinal fragrance immediately wafted out.

Ecstasy instantly spread across his face. He sprang to his feet to look inside the furnace, where three dark red pills lay, giving off a medicinal fragrance.

"It worked! Hahahahaha!"

Xu Zhongdao let out a long breath. "Boy, hurry and call Old Song in. His salvation is here. Don't stand there in a daze."

He noticed that Su Yan still had not moved, but failed to see the delight in his eyes.

[Herb Identification 19/400 (Major accomplishment)]

[Basic Alchemy 1/100 (Beginner)]

After observing for so long, with Xu Zhongdao offering hints along the way, those subtle influences had culminated in a transformation at the moment the pills were completed.

Su Yan strode out the door and immediately spotted Song Qi pacing anxiously in the courtyard.

"Old sir, the Sinew-Mending Meridian-Continuing Pill is ready."

Su Yan had barely gotten halfway through his words when a figure swept past him like the wind.

So fast!

His pupils contracted. Before he could get a clear look, Song Qi was already inside the Pill Room.

The Sinew-Mending Meridian-Continuing Pill is complete. Once Elder Song recovers, he'll be my most reliable backer. The Little Mountain Society is still a threat, but I won't have to worry about them launching an unprovoked, lethal ambush.

He strode out of the courtyard, glanced at the moonlight, and smiled. "I've learned alchemy. Next, it's time for the Bound Insect to break through. The Outer Mountain and Inner Mountain have the most poisonous substances—just right for the Poison Pills I'll refine."

Su Yan was about to leave when Song Qi suddenly called him back.

He tossed something dark red toward Su Yan.

Su Yan caught it instinctively. Looking down for a closer inspection, he suddenly realized it was one of the Sinew-Mending Meridian-Continuing Pills.

"This is your share."