Daoist Bones, Benevolent Heart
Rejuvenation Technique: minor mastery.
Zhou Wuji looked at the notation in the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment and felt very pleased.
By investing two people's life fates, he had raised the Rejuvenation Technique from beginner to minor mastery.
Clearly, the Rejuvenation Technique was far, far inferior to Xiaoxiang Swordsmanship.
Even so, without the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment's support, he might not have reached minor mastery in the Rejuvenation Technique even after a lifetime of cultivation.
After all, a person's time and strength were limited. Even if he practiced the Rejuvenation Technique for two hours a day, his actual cultivation time over a year would amount to only a month.
The Origin Profound Spirit bestowed by the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment, however, allowed him to cultivate for long periods without distraction.
This method of cultivation was also extraordinarily wondrous. Despite the long stretches of time, it never tired him, and he could always maintain an intensely focused state of cultivation.
Every time Zhou Wuji used the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment, he marveled at its wonders. It truly deserved its reputation as the foremost divine artifact of slaughter in the Daoist tradition!
The Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment was powerful and wondrous, but its precepts were strict. His master had been constrained by those precepts and had never achieved much.
He could progress so quickly precisely because he could avoid the constraints of those precepts.
Otherwise, merely setting up an altar, praying, and making offerings would have cost an untold amount of time and money.
There were also numerous requirements for setting up an altar. It was not something one could do whenever one pleased.
Zhou Wuji felt that he and the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment were simply a match made in heaven. He enjoyed all its benefits while avoiding all its drawbacks.
The thought made him all the more pleased with himself, and the more he looked at the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment, the more he liked it.
Eight people's life fates remained on the page, all lowly fates weighing less than two taels...
Even investing all of them in the Rejuvenation Technique would not be enough to upgrade it.
Using them to upgrade the Golden Light Technique would be something of a waste.
Zhou Wuji decided to keep them for now. Even lowly fates were fates, and he could not waste them.
After keeping busy for half the night, Zhou Wuji was a little tired.
He wanted to wash up and rest, but could find no hot water aboard the boat. He had been about to make do when he saw Li Xin hurrying over.
"Daoist, Li Qiang is in very bad shape. Please take a look at him." As Li Xin spoke, he repeatedly bowed with his hands clasped, his manner exceptionally sincere and humble.
Li Xin had just spent a long while helping clear away the mutinous soldiers' bodies.
There had been fourteen fully armored mutinous soldiers in all, each killed by a sword thrust to the throat. Although he knew no martial techniques, he had enough experience to recognize how terrifying and powerful such swordsmanship was.
Previously, his courtesy toward Zhou Wuji had merely been politeness out of respect for Daoist Yiyuan. Besides, he was smooth in his dealings and did not want to offend anyone.
After this battle, however, Li Xin's view of Zhou Wuji had changed completely.
This young Daoist, whom everyone regarded as incompetent, possessed terrifyingly formidable abilities. More frightening still, he kept his thoughts deeply hidden, never revealing his abilities.
After killing all those mutinous soldiers, he had neither gloated nor shown off, nor had he displayed any fear or unease. From beginning to end, he had remained as calm as still water.
Li Xin had met quite a few important figures, but in terms of keeping one's thoughts concealed, this young man truly ranked among the very best.
Faced with such a terrifying expert, Li Xin felt not only respect, but fear from the bottom of his heart.
"Oh, let me have a look."
Zhou Wuji had just mastered the Rejuvenation Technique and was looking for someone to try it on.
Hearing that Zhou Wuji was willing to help, Li Xin's face immediately lit up with joy, and he bowed repeatedly. Not daring to say much more, he led Zhou Wuji ashore.
The brawny Li Qiang lay beneath a tree sheltered from the wind, with a bamboo mat beneath him and a thin quilt covering him.
The fire lit beside him flickered. Li Qiang's eyes were tightly shut, his face deathly pale, and his whole body trembled and twitched slightly. His condition looked very bad.
Several workers stood around him, their faces full of anxiety.
Earlier, they had abandoned Li Qiang in their panic, but that was because they had been frightened out of their wits. In truth, they all got along well with him.
Seeing his condition deteriorate, they were all anxious for him.
Even if someone had not usually gotten along with him, they would not have shown it on their face at a time like this.
Zhou Wuji drew close and saw that even Li Qiang's lips had turned dark blue, and his breathing was weak.
When he lifted the quilt, he saw that the arrow in Li Qiang's shoulder had already been removed and the wound medicated and bandaged, but dark blood had seeped through the bandage.
His sense of smell was now very keen, and at such close range, he could faintly smell a foul, fishy odor from the wound.
"The arrow was poisoned."
Zhou Wuji understood at once. The arrow wound alone was not fatal; the main problem was that the arrow had been unclean, most likely soaked in sewage or something similar.
His face full of worry, Li Xin asked, "Daoist, is there anything you can do?"
"I'll give it a try."
Zhou Wuji had someone undo the bandage to expose the wound, then wash away the wound medicine with clean water.
There was no time now to boil water for disinfection.
Looking at the swollen, purple-black wound, he drew his sword and cut away the surface layers of rotten flesh at the front and back with a rotating motion.
Li Qiang had suffered a through-and-through wound. Only because Zhou Wuji's swordsmanship had reached minor mastery could he control the blade well enough to rotate it inside the wound and scrape away the rotten flesh without damaging the man's tendons or bones.
This was excruciatingly painful. The unconscious Li Qiang opened his eyes from the pain and screamed.
Zhou Wuji was not deliberately tormenting Li Qiang. The rotten flesh had to be removed.
A little suffering was better than death!
He silently recited an incantation, and a ball of green light emerged from his fingertip and fell directly onto the wound in Li Qiang's shoulder.
The cool, soothing spiritual light swiftly suppressed the agony, and Li Qiang's contorted face gradually relaxed.
When Zhou Wuji had been injured practicing martial arts in the past, his master would use the Rejuvenation Technique to treat his external injuries.
He could be said to be very familiar with the Rejuvenation Technique. In his judgment, his master's attainment in it had only been at the proficient level.
At minor mastery, his Rejuvenation Technique was far stronger than his master's.
Although Li Qiang's injury was severe, two applications of the Rejuvenation Technique would be enough to stop the bleeding and purge the poison.
Sure enough, the bleeding stopped immediately. Li Qiang's complexion also improved noticeably.
Zhou Wuji then gave Li Qiang a Grain Avoidance Pill, which he swallowed with warm water.
Grain Avoidance Pills were compounded from various spirit medicines. Although they had no healing properties, they could quickly restore a person's strength.
Finally, Zhou Wuji had someone apply fresh medicine and bandage Li Qiang's wound again.
By then, Li Qiang's complexion had improved considerably. He also knew that Zhou Wuji had saved him once again.
Despite Zhou Wuji's attempts to stop him, Li Qiang knelt with everyone's support and kowtowed to thank Zhou Wuji for saving his life.
"We're all neighbors. There's no need for this." Zhou Wuji offered a few polite words and extended a hand in a gesture of helping him up, looking every bit an approachable Daoist with immortal bones and a benevolent heart.
Li Qiang still kowtowed several times, thanking him repeatedly. Li Xin and the others also gathered around Zhou Wuji and showered him with praise.
They called him things like "a healer with wondrous hands and a benevolent heart" and "a living immortal who saves the world and its people." None of them had much education, so they kept repeating the same few phrases.
Zhou Wuji responded modestly. Although they had no fresh words of praise, their sincerity more than made up for it, and he found it very gratifying.
Knowing that Zhou Wuji wanted to wash up and rest, Li Xin hurriedly arranged for someone to heat water for him. He also had someone wash Zhou Wuji's Daoist robe and hang it on a tree branch.
Zhou Wuji slept soundly until dawn. When Li Xin saw him rise, he hurried over with the Daoist robe.
The wind had been strong that night, and the robe had dried overnight. Some faint bloodstains remained, but they were not noticeable unless one looked closely.
Zhou Wuji was quite satisfied. Wearing his inner garments aboard the boat was all right, but going ashore in them would have been far too inconvenient.
Standing beside him, Li Xin asked cautiously, "Daoist, what do you intend to do with the mutinous soldiers' armor and weapons?"
Hateful as the mutinous soldiers had been, their armor, bows, arrows, and weapons were worth a great deal.
The all-iron lamellar armor in particular even bore demon-breaking runes. A suit of heavy armor like that had a market price of nearly a hundred taels.
Buying and selling heavy armor was a serious crime. Nor could such heavy armor be bought on the open market.
Li Xin was very tempted by the armor and weapons, but he dared not act recklessly. Zhou Wuji had to decide how to dispose of them.
One look at Li Xin's expression told Zhou Wuji that the merchant wanted this batch of goods. He said, "Dispose of them as you see fit, as long as the price is right..."
When Li Xin heard Zhou Wuji mention money, he was delighted rather than alarmed. What merchants feared was a refusal to discuss money. As long as money was on the table, there was room to negotiate...