Cultivation: Starting from a Fighting Cock

Chapter 8 Blood Exchange
Zhao Qian stayed at home for two days, and began a blood transfusion on the third day.

That day, everyone in the Zhao household was busy. Servants got up early to boil several pots of hot water and carried the specially made bath tub to Zhao Qian's room.

Then, various precious medicinal herbs were added to the bath tub. After the water boiled, it was poured in, and soon the medicinal properties were extracted, causing the water's color to change rapidly.

The herbs prepared according to this formula produce a dark red, blood-like infusion that causes a noticeable burning sensation when applied to the skin.

With everything prepared, Zhao Qian stripped naked, entered the bucket, and began his cultivation.

Outside the room, Master Zhao, Zhao Yan, Zhao Kun, and others waited anxiously, but the room was filled with the fragrance of medicine, and then white steam drifted out of the window. They didn't know what was going on.

Ji Cheng noticed that the big yellow dog was also paying attention to Zhao Qian's blood transfusion.

It's clear that this dog is quite wary of Zhao Qian. Ever since Zhao Qian came home, it has kept its aura under control and hasn't dared to sneak out to eat chicken at night. It's truly keeping its tail between its legs and behaving like a dog.

"Father, I..."

It wasn't until noon that Zhao Qian finally pushed open the door and came out.

He looked exhausted and weak; it was obvious that the blood transfusion had failed.

"Hey!"

Master Zhao stamped his foot and sighed, but he couldn't say anything nonsense at this moment.

Master Zhao then helped Zhao Qian up and asked him if he was alright.
Zhao Kun also asked Zhao Yan what the impact of a failed blood transfusion would be on a martial artist.
Zhao Qian shook his head: "Father, I'm just a little tired."

“You don’t need to worry. The failure of the blood transfusion will not affect me much. On the contrary, my cultivation has improved. I will return to Zishui City today. Father, please prepare another batch of medicine for me according to this prescription. I want to try it again.”

Martial artists rarely succeed in blood transfusions on the first try, but Zhao Qian was not discouraged. He believed that the success rate would be slightly higher on the second attempt.

Madam Zhao hesitated, then prepared another dose of medicine. This was going to drain the Zhao family's coffers.

Second Master Zhao glanced at his elder brother, and then Master Zhao said, "Alright, my son, don't worry, leave it to your father. I will prepare the medicine for you as soon as possible."

Zhao Qian nodded. The blood transfusion had failed, and he was no longer in the mood to stay at home. He immediately packed his bags and returned to Zishui City.

Before leaving, he pulled Mr. Zhao aside for a private chat.

"Father, were there any immortals among our Zhao family ancestors?"

"You... Gan'er, why would you ask this?"

"Father, please tell me the truth."

"Alas, these are all rumors from many years ago. In fact, there is no way to verify them."

Mr. Zhao revealed that there is indeed a saying that their Zhao family in Wuzhen is a small branch of the descendants of a certain immortal.

However, there is no way to verify this, and the Zhao family has been in Wuzhen for hundreds of years, but they have never had a descendant with spiritual roots, nor have they seen any immortals descend.

Therefore, everyone thought this claim was false, and it hasn't been passed around for many years.

"Then, Father, did our ancestors pass down any treasures, magical artifacts, or miraculous elixirs?"

"You silly child, I've already told you our ancestors weren't immortals, so where would we get magic treasures and elixirs?"

Master Zhao suspected that his eldest son might have suffered a brain injury due to a failed blood transfusion.

"Didn't our ancestors leave anything behind?" Zhao Qian frowned.

After thinking for a while, Master Zhao said, "Our ancestors only passed down one prescription, which is the foundation of our Zhao family's existence."

"What prescription? Father, let me see it!"

"You wait."

Before long, Master Zhao came in carrying a very old wooden box. Inside the box was a prescription called the Longevity Formula.

Zhao Family Pharmacy sells a unique longevity pill; long-term use can add about ten years to one's life on average.

Zhao Qian picked up the yellowed prescription and looked at it, but couldn't figure out what it was.

"Father, do you think it's possible that what our ancestors passed down was a prescription for an elixir, but later generations couldn't refine it, so they simplified it into a prescription for ordinary people?"

Zhao Qian is more inclined to believe that his family's ancestor was an alchemist. "This... Qian'er, why do you think that?"

Master Zhao looked at his son with worry in his eyes. He wanted to know what was wrong with his son and why he was thinking such strange things.

"Never mind, it's alright, Dad, I'm leaving."

Zhao Qian was clearly hiding something. He immediately bid farewell to his father, mounted his horse, and galloped away.

After he left, the entire Zhao residence was shrouded in gloom.

The Zhao family has spent a fortune supporting Zhao Qian's martial arts training; it's fair to say that the entire family's fate is tied to him, and yet this is the result.

"Is this blood or water?"

Several servants entered the young master's room and were startled by the color of the water in the bathtub. Blood transfusion, blood transfusion, could there be the young master's blood in it?
"The aroma of the medicine is strong. It seems there's still a lot of medicinal power in here. It would be a real waste to throw it away. Brother Fugui, why don't you keep it and drink it slowly?"

"Get lost! I'm not a martial artist, what good are these medicines to me? Besides, this is the young master's bathwater, you can drink it yourself if you like!"

"Hahaha, Fugui, that brat, doesn't know how to enjoy his good fortune!"

Several servants were joking and laughing as they were ordered to pour out the young master's bathwater and clean the room.

The group first tried to lift the bathtub together, but found they couldn't manage it. So they decided to just scoop the water into the tub with ladles and pour it out one tub at a time.

"Wang! Wang! Wang!"

As a servant was emptying a bucket of bathwater in the backyard, the big yellow dog suddenly barked loudly and wagged its tail vigorously at him.

"What's wrong, Big Yellow? Do you like drinking the young master's bathwater?"

The servant smiled, carried the bucket over, and gestured for the big yellow dog to stick its head into the bucket to drink.

The big yellow dog barked twice and kept pawing at the ground with its front paws, looking obedient and not daring to overstep its bounds.

The servant understood and, smiling, poured the bathwater into the big yellow dog's broken bowl.

The big yellow dog happily licked the blood-red bathwater with its tongue, while wagging its tail vigorously at the servant.

In no time, the big yellow dog had drunk all the water in the broken bowl. It looked at the servant with expectant eyes and wagged its tail happily.

"Hey, Big Yellow really likes to drink the young master's bathwater, sir, sir!"

After the servant poured another bowl, he got up and went to tell Master Zhao about the matter.

Master Zhao instructed that since Dahuang likes to drink, then don't pour it out; keep it all so that Dahuang can drink his fill.

He knew that the tub of medicinal bath contained a lot of medicinal power, and it would be a waste to throw it away, but no one would use it if he kept it. It would be better to give it to Dahuang to drink, so that it could help him recover.

Dog Brother's actions truly stunned Ji Cheng.

No wonder they became demons; they made use of every available cultivation resource, and the strong never complained about their environment.

"Master, it's not that I'm biased, but we just finished preparing the betrothal gifts for Kun'er, which cost a lot. Where would we get the money to buy another set of blood-changing medicine for Qian'er?"

Madam Zhao felt that Kun'er's marriage was more important.

There was something she didn't say: what if her godfather's second blood transfusion failed again?
Master Zhao sat in his chair and pondered for a long time before saying, "Return the betrothal gifts tomorrow, and I'll personally go to the Cui family to explain..."

Before he could finish speaking, Madam Zhao started making a scene, asking him what he meant by not proposing marriage for Kun'er.
She had been longing to have a grandson for a long time, and she wouldn't agree to marry Kun'er unless he was proposed to.

"Oh, Madam, that's not what I meant. Of course, we should propose marriage, but we'll postpone it for now and first solve the problem of the medicine needed for the blood transfusion for our godchild."

"Hmph, one person practicing martial arts has already emptied our family's coffers. And there's still Yan'er to come. Let's see what you'll do then!"

"Don't worry, Madam. Things will work out in the end. Besides, once the blood transfusion is successful, our business can expand significantly, and there will be plenty of opportunities to make money."

"That sounds nice."

……

(End of this chapter)