Chapter 13

It all looked fierce, but in truth, his center was wide open, his left ribs completely exposed.

"You're courting death!"

Tie Shan grinned viciously and swept his saber sideways, hacking straight at Lu Ze's left ribs.

In his eyes, this Three-Star Dou Zhe was already an arrow at the end of its flight. This strike would be enough to cleave him in two.

Yet just as the saber was about to touch Lu Ze's ribs, his body suddenly twisted at an extremely bizarre angle, narrowly avoiding the blade.

At the same time, the Emerald Water Sword in his right hand abruptly changed direction, a concentrated white gleam gathering at its tip, draining every last bit of his Dou Qi.

[Grass Character Sword Art]

There was a sharp hiss.

The white gleam pierced precisely into the tear already cut in the Dou Qi Gauze Robe over Tie Shan's chest.

Without the gauze robe blocking it, the sword Qi passed through Tie Shan's throat without resistance, like a hot knife through butter.

Tie Shan's vicious grin froze on his face. His eyes bulged as both hands clamped desperately over his neck, but blood still spurted wildly between his fingers.

His massive body swayed. In the end, he crashed to the ground, throwing up a cloud of dust.

[Killed a One-Star Dou Shi. Plundered Dou Qi Deduction Points +15]

Lu Ze could hold on no longer. He dropped to one knee, gasping for breath.

His left shoulder streamed with blood, the web of his hand had split, and the Dou Qi inside him had long since run dry.

With that last strike, he had smashed the cauldrons and sunk the boats.

Had Tie Shan's blade been half an inch faster, he might have been the one lying on the ground now.

"A Dou Shi really is that terrifying. I can't clash head-on with one as I am now."

Gritting his teeth, Lu Ze took the money pouch and spatial ring from Tie Shan's corpse, then forced himself to walk over to Xiao Yi Xian.

Had he not been a transmigrator who knew Xiao Yi Xian was kind by nature, he naturally could not have let her live after killing Tie Shan just now, either.

"Let's go. Back to Qingyun Mountain Town."

Looking at the blood-soaked Lu Ze, Xiao Yi Xian's eyes instantly reddened.

She hurriedly supported him and channeled the last trace of Dou Qi in her body into his meridians, stabilizing his injuries.

Supporting each other, the two disappeared into the depths of the Magical Beast Mountain Range's dense forest.

At the Myriad Medicine Pavilion in Qingshan Town, morning sunlight spilled through the wooden window onto the blue stone floor of an elegant second-floor room.

Lu Ze leaned against the bed, his left shoulder wrapped in thick bandages. The Hemostatic Powder Xiao Yi Xian had prepared worked extremely well, and the wound had already begun to scab over.

But recovering from the excessive depletion of his Dou Qi would still take several days before he fully recovered.

"My lord, it's time to change your dressing."

Xiao Yi Xian walked in carrying a celadon medicine bowl, filled with emerald-green ointment that gave off a cool, minty scent.

She wore plain white clothes, her sleeves rolled up to her forearms, revealing slender, fair wrists.

Lu Ze nodded and unwound the bandages.

Xiao Yi Xian's movements were gentle. Dipping her fingertips into the ointment, she applied it to the wound little by little.

Her expression was focused and earnest, her eyelashes trembling slightly. Her breath brushed softly over Lu Ze's skin, tickling it.

"You have my thanks, my lord. You saved me twice a few days ago."

Xiao Yi Xian suddenly spoke, her voice very soft.

She kept her head lowered as she wound the fresh bandages around him, layer by layer.

"Back at the Myriad Medicine Pavilion, whenever there was danger, the shopkeeper and the assistants always told me to run first. You're the first... the first person to stand in front of me."

Lu Ze fell silent for a moment, then said mildly:

"If you died, who would refine medicine for me?"

Xiao Yi Xian froze for a moment, then burst into a laugh.

She knew Lu Ze was stubborn in what he said, but in those calm eyes, she saw none of the cold indifference of someone using him.

With the dressing changed, Xiao Yi Xian stood and set the medicine bowl on the table.

"Shopkeeper Lao Li is waiting downstairs. He says he has some accounts to report to you. Also, today's herb-gathering team is heading into the mountains, and you still need to decide their route."

"Understood."

Lu Ze put on his outer robe and went downstairs.

The first floor of the Myriad Medicine Pavilion was already bustling. A dozen or so assistants sorted the herbs collected yesterday, and the mingled scents of medicinal plants filled the air.

Behind the counter, Lao Li was rattling away at his abacus. Seeing Lu Ze come downstairs, he hurriedly set it down and went to meet him.

A few days earlier, Lu Ze had returned to the Myriad Medicine Pavilion with Xiao Yi Xian and waited until he had recovered halfway.

After checking that the Myriad Medicine Pavilion had no Dou Shi-level experts, he had taken over part of it and become its proprietor.

Of course, if Lu Ze died tomorrow, the proprietor would naturally change as well.

"Proprietor, your injuries haven't healed yet. Why have you come downstairs?" Lao Li's face was full of concern.

"It's fine."

Lu Ze sat in a chair beside the counter. "Tell me how things stand."

Lao Li opened the ledger and began his report. This month, the three herb-gathering routes along the outskirts had brought in a total of 420 gold coins.

After deducting the assistants' wages, medicinal ingredient losses, and the protection money previously paid to the Blue Head Mercenary Group, the net remainder was 180 coins.

"We won't be paying protection money anymore."

Lu Ze spoke mildly. Lao Li trembled all over, hesitating to speak.

Of course he knew Lu Ze had killed members of the Blue Head Mercenary Group a few days ago, but the Wolf Head Mercenary Group was deeply rooted in Qingshan Town, and its leader was a Da Dou Shi-level expert.

He feared Lu Ze was too young and hot-blooded and might bring utter disaster upon them.

"Proprietor, I'm afraid the Wolf Head Mercenary Group won't let this rest."

Lao Li lowered his voice.

"Although Deputy Leader Mu She has disappeared, Leader Mu Li is still here. If he finds out, if he finds out..."

"So what?" Lu Ze interrupted him, his tone calm, as though he were discussing today's weather.

"Starting today, expand the sampling routes to five, extending toward the Dark Forest to the north and Cliffside Valley to the east.

"There are more second-tier medicinal ingredients there, so the profits will be higher.

"But remember to stay safe."

Lao Li opened his mouth, but ultimately swallowed his words of dissuasion and bowed in acknowledgment.

"Yes, Proprietor."

Over the next half month, life at the Myriad Medicine Pavilion was surprisingly peaceful.

Every morning, Lu Ze led the herb-gathering team into the mountains and returned at dusk.

Repeating this day after day, he used it to recover from his injuries and consolidate his cultivation realm.

During the day, he used the Grass Character Sword Art to slay first-tier magical beasts on the outskirts of the mountain range, honing his sword intent and striving to kill with the least possible Dou Qi in every strike.

After returning to the Myriad Medicine Pavilion at dusk, he sat in meditation in the elegant room, cultivating and refining his Dou Qi.

Although the Grass Character Sword Art and the Great Wilderness Imprisoning Heaven Finger were Dou Techniques of a higher dimension, they could also feed back into his cultivation technique. Thus, although Lu Ze used the Jia Lie Family's Yellow Tier Cultivation Technique, his cultivation speed was not slow at all.

I wonder whether this cultivation technique can be deduced. I might as well try it later.

Lu Ze thought to himself. However powerful a Dou Technique was, it could not overcome the suppression of a higher cultivation realm.

He checked the panel and discovered that cultivation techniques could indeed be deduced as well. It required only thirty Deduction Points and a wood-attribute Magic Core.

Xiao Yi Xian, meanwhile, plunged into the medicinal storehouse. She sorted the roots and stems of the Purple-Leaf Companion Demon Grass brought back from the cliffside, along with the various poisonous beast materials Lu Ze had hunted down, into their respective categories.

She began preparing various antidote powders and supplementary pills. Her talent for refining medicine was exceptional, and in just half a month, she successfully prepared special medicinal ointments unavailable on the market.

"My lord, look at this."

One evening, Xiao Yi Xian excitedly ran into the elegant room, holding an emerald-green pill.

"I used the roots and stems of the Purple-Leaf Companion Demon Grass and the Frost Poison Python's venom to prepare a pill called the Cold Poison Pill.

"After you take it, it can form a temporary barrier against poison inside your body that lasts an hour.

"Next time you go into the mountains to hunt poisonous beasts, you won't have to worry about miasma anymore."