Transforming the External into the Internal

The medicinal potency of the Blood Antler Velvet transformed into a warm current. The moment it dispersed from his stomach, it was completely used up, unable to spread at all to his organs, limbs, and body.

During the first half hour, Duan Rong had not noticed because medicinal potency and vital essence still remained in the meridians throughout his body.

But now, with those remnants fully absorbed, the insufficiency of the Blood Antler Velvet's medicinal potency immediately became apparent.

Duan Rong promptly dispersed his cultivation. He felt he could not continue training. Though his Mental Strength could barely hold on, his body had already begun to feel depleted.

If he kept training, he feared it would cause his body to suffer a deficit.

A deep confusion flashed through Duan Rong's somewhat listless eyes.

If he could only hold the stance for an hour and a half each day, then when would he ever reach the Second Level of Inner Breath—by the Year of the Monkey?

One had to know that the Second Level of Inner Breath was fundamentally different from the first.

The first level of Inner Breath mainly involved gathering the residual Innate True Essence in the meridians and converting it into Inner Breath. It was more a gradual excavation of the body's potential. The hurdle lay in grasping the method; with the right method, it could be achieved rather quickly.

But the Second Level of Inner Breath was a further strengthening of the Inner Breath within the Dantian and meridians. By then, the body's potential had already been fully excavated. One had to rely entirely on breathing exercises and on converting medicinal potency taken into the body, gradually transforming the external into the internal and strengthening one's Inner Breath. Naturally, progress was much slower.

Duan Rong felt that there had to be solutions to the problems he had encountered while cultivating the second level.

As long as he found the solution, he could likewise complete the cultivation of the Second Level of Inner Breath at a monstrous pace.

"The key is, how do I find that solution?"

Duan Rong's right thumb rubbed back and forth over the first joint of his index finger...

This had been his habitual gesture whenever he thought in his previous life. Though his soul had crossed into another world, this little movement ingrained into his soul had followed him here.

Actually, the best course now was to ask Xiao Zongting.

After all, Xiao Zongting was the Chief Instructor of the Yuan Shun Escort Agency. Teaching apprentices was precisely his duty.

Moreover, although Xiao Zongting had now lost all his Martial Arts, he had once been the Chief Escort of the Yuan Shun Escort Agency. With the cultivation realm he had once possessed, guiding Duan Rong would naturally be more than easy.

But the moment Duan Rong thought of Xiao Zongting's face, black as the soot on the bottom of a pot, he immediately dismissed the idea.

"Xiao Baijiao isn't well right now. If I go disturb him at a time like this, that old man might hold a grudge against me and make things difficult for me later."

Duan Rong's survival experience from his previous life taught him that it was better to judge a gentleman with the heart of a petty man than to think too well of people.

Duan Rong sighed. Yet apart from Xiao Zongting, he truly could not think of anyone else to ask.

Then a gleam suddenly flashed through Duan Rong's originally gloomy eyes.

"I can look up information!" Duan Rong suddenly remembered the year he had written his graduation thesis as a senior in university in his previous life.

The professor assigned to guide them had been a vice principal, constantly in meetings and busy with projects. He had no time for them at all and could only offer the occasional bit of guidance.

Most of their problems had been resolved by looking up materials in the library themselves.

Duan Rong had experience with that.

There was a bundle of books in the dormitory. He would search through those first. If he could not find anything, he would go search the bookstalls on Antique Street.

Having thought of a method, Duan Rong immediately got to work.

He returned to the dormitory and began flipping through the books one by one.

Half an incense stick later, one of the books in that bundle really did mention the problem he had encountered.

It was a yellowed old volume titled "Ancient Rhymes Miscellany."

This was a book introducing the history of phonological changes in the Nine Provinces World.

The author's real name was unknown. His pen name was Guan Yun, and he was an enthusiast of phonology.

But at the end of the book was a personal account.

Guan Yun described his life in considerable detail.

Guan Yun had been born into a wealthy family and practiced Martial Arts in his youth, but after an unexpected calamity, someone destroyed his Dantian.

Unable to practice Martial Arts, he became despondent and turned to the study of phonology to give vent to his feelings and ease his heart. That was how this book came to be.

Perhaps Guan Yun greatly missed his brief Martial Arts career, so he described that portion of his life in extreme detail.

In his account, he mentioned a prescription he had used while cultivating the Second Level of Inner Breath, and listed several ingredients in the prescription along with their respective quantities in detail.

Duan Rong had never heard of most of the herbs, but he vaguely recognized two of them.

Bear Bile Powder, and Blood Ginseng Slice!

From those two ingredients alone, he could tell how expensive this prescription was. Although the quantities used were not large, from what Duan Rong knew, these two medicines were far more costly than Blood Antler Velvet.

"Should I get two doses and give them a try?"

Holding the yellowed volume, hesitation appeared in Duan Rong's eyes.

"It can't be poison, can it? Guan Yun wouldn't be so bored that he deliberately left behind a flawed prescription in his personal account to harm people, would he?"

"Probably not. I should go ask at the Crude Drug Store first!"

Having made up his mind, Duan Rong copied down the prescription onto a sheet of Xuan Paper, folded it, tucked it into the inner pocket of his robe, then left the dormitory and headed for the Crude Drug Store on the street.

Duan Rong had visited this Crude Drug Store twice already, so the staff recognized him by sight.

The thin middle-aged clerk behind the counter took the slip Duan Rong handed over, and a strange look appeared on his face.

"What is it, shopkeeper? Is there a problem with this prescription?" Duan Rong keenly caught the change in the clerk's expression and immediately asked.

"Th-that's not it..." The thin clerk gave Duan Rong an odd look and said, "Every ingredient in this prescription is a precious medicinal material. There is certainly nothing wrong with any individual ingredient. As for whether there is a problem when these medicines are combined, you will have to ask the person who gave you the prescription. Our establishment is merely a Crude Drug Store. We can only guarantee that the medicinal materials we give you are genuine and fairly priced. As for what you intend to use them for, we have no right to ask."

Seeing how watertight the clerk's reply was, Duan Rong could not help giving him an appreciative glance.

Crude Drug Stores in this world differed from those in his previous life. Many martial artists frequented them. It could be said that this was a highly profitable industry serving an upscale clientele, so naturally the quality of the shop assistants was first-rate as well.

"Since there's nothing wrong with any of the ingredients, then there probably isn't much of a problem," Duan Rong thought inwardly.

Duan Rong hesitated briefly, then seemed to finally make up his mind. Looking at the thin clerk, he asked, "How much silver for one dose?"

"Please wait a moment, sir."

The thin clerk brought over an abacus. As he looked at the prescription, he flicked the beads back and forth.

A few breaths later, the clattering of the abacus beads stopped.

The thin clerk raised his head and said gently, "One dose costs eighty-two taels and two qian of silver. We'll round it down for you—eighty-two taels of silver per dose."

The muscles on Duan Rong's face twitched. Like someone whose tail had been stepped on, he snarled with a ferocious expression, "Eighty-two taels?"

Duan Rong left the Crude Drug Store with a dark face, the prescription still in his hand. He gritted his teeth before managing to stop himself from tearing it to pieces.

His total assets did not even amount to eight hundred taels, yet a single dose would cost eighty-two taels.

"This isn't spending money—it's plainly burning money!"

Unless he had a steady stream of income, he truly could not afford this medicinal prescription.

"Even a landlord's family wouldn't dare spend like this!"

Duan Rong's right thumb and index finger began rubbing together again unconsciously...

"I still need to find a way!"