Life-Pulse Powder

"I'm so full~"

Liu Yun looked at the spices clinging to her slender, jade-like fingers and instinctively glanced around.

Only then did she remember that no one could see her, and she slipped her fingers between her lips and sucked them clean.

After dinner, Liu Yun took the initiative to clear away the bowls and chopsticks.

The night was deep, as thick as ink that would not dissolve.

Li Ping'an sat on the roof, sipping tea as he gazed out.

"What are you looking at?"

Liu Yun came up, gently shaking the lingering droplets of water from her hands.

Only after speaking did she remember that Li Ping'an could not see.

"The moonlight," Li Ping'an answered seriously.

"With what?"

"My heart."

Liu Yun smoothed the ends of her hair.

Even that casual gesture possessed a peerless grace.

"Your eyes... what did the doctor say?"

"They can't be cured," Li Ping'an said.

"There must be skilled doctors somewhere in this world. Perhaps one of them could cure your eyes," Liu Yun said.

"The world is too big. Finding one would probably take a long time. Besides, I'm already used to it."

"That's not a good thing to get used to," Liu Yun said. "Once I get home, I'll find you a doctor."

Li Ping'an smiled without answering and poured each of them a cup of chrysanthemum tea.

Liu Yun drained hers in one gulp.

These past few peaceful days had made her forget the deception and scheming at court.

Scheming?

Heh~

Now even the treasure ship had been blown up, and most of my own people had perished in the explosion.

The situation in the capital was as treacherous and unpredictable as shifting clouds and waves. Who knew whether I would even make it back alive?

"Do you have any wine?"

Li Ping'an took a wine flask from inside his robe.

Liu Yun took a sip and could not help sticking out her tender pink tongue. "It burns."

"It burns at first, then turns sweet. But don't drink too much," Li Ping'an reminded her.

After drinking some wine, Liu Yun's speech grew less clear, but she became more talkative.

"Where did you grow up?"

"A beggars' den."

"What about your parents?"

"I don't remember."

Liu Yun nodded and said with the sympathy of a fellow sufferer, "We're much the same. My father died as soon as I was born.

"I was raised by my wet nurse and some servants. All year round, I barely saw my mother a handful of times.

"My wet nurse said my mother would only notice me if I was good enough.

"So I worked myself to the bone, trying, trying, and trying even harder...

"But in the end, my mother never truly acknowledged me.

"She never thought of me as her daughter. I was merely a means of perpetuating her position."

Before long, Liu Yun's cheeks had turned an alluring red.

They looked so hot that touching them might scald one's fingers.

Li Ping'an poured himself a cup of wine and drank it down.

It was quite an unforgettable night.

The next day.

Li Ping'an arrived at Tong Ren Tang as agreed to collect his payment.

Wang Dali was exceedingly generous, not only paying Li Ping'an twice the promised amount.

He had also procured several large bundles of the ingredients for Life-Pulse Powder that Li Ping'an cared about most.

Li Ping'an hefted them. "Thank you."

"You're too polite, brother."

Wang Dali had avenged his great grievance and avoided wasting over a thousand taels of silver.

He was therefore deeply grateful to Li Ping'an.

Li Ping'an left Tong Ren Tang with the medicinal ingredients.

The two people from Wang Family Manor lurking in the shadows watched Li Ping'an walk into the street and quietly followed him.

Ever since returning yesterday, Zhao Lin had been unable to accept what had happened.

Their eldest brother, Man Guang, had warned them both not to provoke Li Ping'an.

But men died for wealth, just as birds died for food!

It was not a few dozen or a few hundred taels.

It was a full thousand taels!

Zhao Lin could neither swallow this bitter insult nor let go of that fortune.

"He's just a blind man. Pah!"

Zhao Lin spat.

The other person, Yao Guang, gritted his teeth. "We can't let our eldest brother know about this."

"Obviously!"

The two quietly followed Li Ping'an.

Although he was blind, anyone capable of capturing Liu Bo could hardly be ordinary.

Zhao Lin and Yao Guang might have been blinded by greed, but they were no fools.

The two agreed on a plan.

First, Yao Guang would beat a gong to disrupt the blind man's hearing.

Then Zhao Lin would catch him off guard and kill him with a single strike.

Their plan was well laid.

Li Ping'an even gave them their opportunity, turning into a secluded alley.

Yao Guang struck the gong.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

The sound exploded beside his ears.

However formidable this blind man might be, he was still missing a pair of eyes.

He could rely only on his hearing, and once the bronze gong rang out...

His ears would be useless too.

Zhao Lin seized the opportunity to draw her saber and rush toward him.

[Aura Lock]

Within Li Ping'an's field of vision, a figure appeared as clear as day, charging brazenly toward him.

These two really thought I was blind.

Their method was fairly sound. Unfortunately, they had picked the wrong target.

Li Ping'an had no intention of holding back.

He had already sensed that these were the two people from Wang Family Manor yesterday.

Rather than make enemies and sow grudges, he might as well kill them and silence them.

Without anyone being the wiser.

With that thought, Blind Man tightened his grip on his cane.

The instant their figures crossed.

Zhao Lin's waist saber was snatched away, tracing an elegant arc.

Tap, tap, tap~

Leaning on his cane, Blind Man walked out of the alley.

His expression was calm, as though nothing had happened.

Before long, someone discovered two corpses in the alley.

Both had died by the other's blade, making it look as though they had killed each other.

Back home, Li Ping'an carefully prepared the ingredients according to the Life-Pulse Powder prescription.

He ground them into powder, added water, and brought the mixture to a boil three times.

A bowl of Life-Pulse Powder was ready.

Setting the finished medicine aside, Li Ping'an sat down to cultivate.

His mastery of the Turtle Breath Technique had already reached 80%.

The system could only raise a technique to 80%.

There were no shortcuts through the remaining 20%; he could only rely on his own cultivation.

The Turtle Breath Technique emphasized stillness within motion and motion within stillness; with a stirring of the mind, qi arose of its own accord.

Reaching 100% did not mean there was no need to cultivate further.

Bringing this technique to full mastery would not take many years.

But the deeper one cultivated it, the deeper one's internal cultivation became, and the stronger one's qi grew.

Internal energy could keep replenishing itself over long periods, and even the gravest internal injuries could heal in an extremely short time.

Four hours later, Li Ping'an exhaled a breath of stale air.

A layer of sweat had already beaded over his body.

His limbs had not a trace of strength, and his whole body felt weak, as though he had just suffered a serious illness.

This was the weakened state he entered immediately after cultivating.

Whenever this happened, Li Ping'an had no choice but to stop cultivating.

He had to wait at least three days before he could cultivate again.

But now he had Life-Pulse Powder.

Li Ping'an drank the Life-Pulse Powder in one go.

Before long, its effects spread from his chest and abdomen to his dantian, then through his limbs and every meridian, and finally to his Niwan Palace.

He had never felt such ease before.

He felt a stream of true qi slowly rise from his dantian and flow into his sea of qi, growing ever stronger.

Soon, Li Ping'an had fully recovered.

He sat down and continued cultivating.