Gou Zai Xianwu Chaos World, Physical Sainthood

Chapter 50 Thoughts

In the darkness, the torch fell to the ground.

The flickering firelight illuminated five distinct faces.

"Let her go."

The shadowy figure paused for only a moment, then quickly resumed its movements, shook its head, and laughed heartily.

"You two can't even stand up, yet you're still acting tough? Kneel down and kowtow obediently, and maybe I'll..."

Before the words were even finished, the dark figure suddenly rolled on the ground, quickly creating a three-step distance between them.

He then knelt down and cautiously looked in the direction he had just come from.

In the dim light, Lu Cheng took off his coat and draped it over Liu Wan'er.

Only then did Liu Wan'er finally break down in tears and choke back sobs.

"Lu Cheng! That's great!"

"Why are you here?"

The chubby boy and Liu Chang'an were both surprised and relieved.

The shadowy figure slowly rose warily, looking solemnly at Lu Cheng.

He quickly assessed the strength of both sides in his mind.

Although he was overcome with lust just now, he did not completely let his guard down.

Even so, they still didn't know when Lu Cheng had appeared.

This only proves that Lu Cheng's strength is in no way inferior to his.

Therefore, he pretended not to have noticed, first using words to lower Lu Cheng's guard, and then suddenly flashed away to create distance.

It seems that although the newcomer is quite capable, he probably doesn't have much experience.

Thinking of this, the shadowy figure finally relaxed his tension:

"Kid, I advise you not to meddle in other people's business."

As he spoke, he drew a short knife with a "whoosh" and twirled it in his hand.

Lu Cheng didn't even look at the man, but helped Liu Wan'er up and sat her against the wall.

Then he frowned and looked at her right arm.

The seeping blood had completely stained the entire sleeve red.

The dark figure had intended to retreat at the opportune moment, but seeing that Lu Cheng did not warn him first, but instead went to help Liu Wan'er, his contempt for him grew even stronger.

The extinguished desire reignited.

It seems he really is just a young man with some talent; upon seeing his beloved injured, his first thought was to help her up.

A bunch of clueless noobs, I'm just supposed to have some good fortune tonight!

Thinking this, he leaped forward and pounced on Lu Cheng, silently thrusting his short knife toward Lu Cheng's back.

"Lu Cheng, watch out!"

"Shameless sneak attack!"

Liu Chang'an and the chubby boy urgently reminded him.

The three-step distance was covered in an instant, and the cold light in the shadowy figure's hand had already enveloped Lu Cheng's back.

Lu Cheng didn't even turn his head. He twisted his waist and back, exerted force with his feet, and suddenly appeared beside the dark figure.

With a palm strike, he first struck the shadowy figure's arm.

With a burst of force, the short sword was knocked away.

Then the palm turned into a claw, moving upwards along the shadowy figure's wrist, through the forearm, elbow, and upper arm, until it reached the shoulder socket.

Accompanied by the shadowy figure's screams, every place Lu Cheng's hand touched produced a clear sound of bones cracking.

Finally, it stopped on the neck of the shadowy figure.

The shadowy figure, terrified, disregarded the pain and immediately pleaded for mercy:

"Don't kill me, I am the Azure Dragon..."

Upon hearing the words "Azure Dragon," Lu Cheng's gaze sharpened, and before the shadowy figure could finish speaking, he exerted force with his claws.

With a burst of force, a "crack" was heard, and the dark figure's head tilted to the side, never to speak again.

The two chubby boys were stunned.

"Kill...killed?"

This was the first time they had seen Lu Cheng kill someone so decisively and efficiently.

Although his sparring with Chen Qing at the escort agency was quite intimidating, he ultimately failed to land the fatal blow.

Although he was about the same age as the two of them, Lu Cheng's temperament had far surpassed theirs.

"These villains have taken many lives; killing them would be cleaner."

As he spoke, he reached out and began to grope the shadowy figure.

First, there was a bundle on his back, which contained a large number of gold and silver utensils.

Needless to say, this must be stolen goods that this person just stole.

Lu Cheng then reached out and touched the shadowy figure's chest and abdomen, pulling out a bag of silver coins and a wooden plaque.

The silver coins were heavy, weighing roughly six or seven taels.

Ok?

"That thief actually stole my money during the fight."

"Hmph, he almost succeeded."

After repacking the stolen silver, Lu Cheng looked at the wooden plaque.

By the dim firelight, one could vaguely see a coiled dragon carved on it.

"Dragon... Azure Dragon Martial Arts School? As expected."

Looking at the dead thief at his feet, Lu Cheng seemed to have confirmed his previous guess.

The prizes that Shen Yi requested amounted to approximately 50,000 taels of silver.

For the seventeen families of the Vermilion Bird Martial Arts School, fifty thousand taels of silver was an astronomical sum.

Paying for this money yourself would be a huge financial burden.

But if it's about snatching, it's much simpler.

The group that robbed Liujia Village was truly terrifying in strength.

One person is in the late stage of Qi Refining, four are in the middle stage, and more than ten are in the early stage.

Which bandit stronghold near Yangcheng could muster such strength?

If they existed, Shen Yi would have wiped them out long ago.

He was eager to accumulate merits and get promoted, so how could he allow bandits to be so arrogant?

Therefore, only those martial arts sects that usually pretend to be respectable would be able to easily deploy such strength.

The current chaos in the south of the city is probably due to the pressure exerted by the few families behind those gangs.

Thinking about this, Lu Cheng felt that he had grasped something.

But for a moment, I couldn't figure it out.

We had no choice but to give up for now.

He put away the wooden plaque, without removing the man's mask, picked up the torch, and returned to Liu Wan'er's side.

He didn't have any wound medicine on him, so he couldn't get bandaged and treated immediately.

Fortunately, by this time, some nearby residents had already heard the commotion and started to act.

Even though the medicines in the homes of wealthy families are ordinary, they are better than nothing.

Although Lu Cheng was the one who took care of the person, the credit was still given to the three chubby guys.

The items stolen from this person belonged to five or six different families and were worth at least fifty taels of silver.

Moreover, he was a martial artist; ordinary street patrollers would never be able to subdue him.

Given Liu Wan'er's bloodied and disheveled state, the person in charge immediately gave her one tael of silver as medicine and a reward.

……

"Damn it, that's fifty taels worth of goods, and they're only giving us one tael as payment?"

"That old bastard definitely pocketed a lot!"

When the thief appeared, each household not only reported it to the authorities but also took action.

With such a lively atmosphere, there's no need for street patrols anymore.

The four of them naturally had to hurry back to treat Liu Wan'er.

The chubby boy complained as he walked.

That last scare really frightened him.

If anything were to happen to Liu Wan'er, neither of them would know how to explain it.

Lu Cheng and Liu Chang'an, supporting Liu Wan'er, shook their heads upon hearing this:

"Why are you still concerned about how much money you have?"

"Luckily I arrived quickly, otherwise you would have been in danger."

As he spoke, he turned to look at Liu Wan'er:

"Only one hundred coins a night is a drop in the bucket compared to the compensation of more than four thousand taels."

"You practice martial arts during the day and then patrol the streets at night. How can your bodies handle it?"

"Besides, the south of the city is so dangerous, it's really not worth it."

The chubby boy shook his head:

"Well, we know that all too well."

"But what can we do? The village is already preparing to sell the land."

Lu Cheng was slightly surprised:

"How did it get so serious?"

"Four thousand taels of silver is a lot, but surely we can borrow it?"

"If all else fails, we can try to speak to the Right Vice Minister and ask the Zhang family for some more time. They can't possibly sell the land."

Herb fields are valuable; no matter how much you sell them for, you'll lose money.

Liu Chang'an shook his head:

"Zhou Yunxiang was invited by that accountant from the Lin Family Martial Arts School."

"After the incident, the clan chief filed a complaint against him, and he has been transferred away."

"It would be inappropriate to ask that person for help now."

"Moreover, it's not as serious as Liu Guicai described."

"Selling the land was just an angry outburst from a few clan elders."

"The Zhang family said that out of respect for that important person, they are willing to send an alchemist to help with the alchemy."

"As long as the quantity of the refined medicine matches the normal amount of the ten cartloads of medicinal materials, then we'll call it even."

"What are the requirements?" Lu Cheng asked in a deep voice.

The Zhang family is also a martial arts family, and their strength is no weaker than that of sects like Cuiyun Temple.

That Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel certainly wielded considerable power, but he was not capable of making the Zhang family submit to such humiliation.

Liu Chang'an said:

"We will provide all the medicinal herbs ourselves. If it's not enough, the Zhang family can cover the difference, but they will have to repay five times the amount, with the future output of the medicinal fields in Liujia Village as collateral."

The chubby boy said indignantly:

"This is clearly an attempt to kill us!"

"The Zhang family said that their alchemists have a 60% success rate in making pills. Ten carts of three thousand medicinal herbs should yield 1,800 doses of the Blood-Activating Powder."

"But in reality, it's at most 50%."

"We'll be lucky if we can refine three hundred doses of medicine from the two cartloads of herbs we have left."

"With this increase and decrease, the amount of medicinal herbs that needs to be compensated has ballooned to ten thousand doses!"

"In the end, not only did we lose a lot of money, it's like we wasted a whole year cultivating the medicinal herb field!"

Lu Cheng finally understood:

"So, you want to earn more money now to buy medicinal herbs, so you can lose less money later?"

Liu Chang'an nodded:

"The most cost-effective method is of course to directly compensate the Zhang family with four thousand five hundred taels of silver."

"But we simply can't raise that much money without selling land."

"The Zhang family is certain of this, which is why they made such demanding requests."

After saying that, he kept shaking his head and sighing.

As Lu Cheng listened to the three people's stories, he suddenly remembered something and asked:

"If that's the case, why don't you train or hire alchemists to concoct the Blood-Activating Powder yourself?"

"A dose of medicinal herbs only costs five qian of silver, but the blood-activating powder can be made into three liang."

"Even if the success rate is only 20%, it's still worthwhile, right?"

Moreover, five qian is the selling price; the cost of growing it yourself would definitely be lower.

More importantly, you won't encounter uncontrollable situations like your medicinal herbs being stolen.

Liu Chang'an shook his head:

"Alchemists can't be trained, and Liu Family Village can't retain any alchemists either."

Lu Cheng asked in confusion:

"Why is that? Could it be that, like martial artists, special aptitude is required?"

"Even if that's the case, it shouldn't be difficult to hire an alchemist. I don't think Clan Chief Liu is a stingy person."

Liu Chang'an shook his head:

"No, Uncle Xun is a fairly fair man. Over the years, apart from sending a portion of the income to that important person, the rest has been distributed among various families. He himself has never taken more than his share."

"But alchemists can't be hired just because you have money."

"Let me ask you this: if you were an alchemist, would you spend your entire life only making Blood-Activating Powder?"

Lu Chengdao:

"Of course not, the Blood-Activating Powder is only a medicine used by martial artists who cultivate internal energy."

"In the Body Refinement Realm, there are various elixirs such as the Hundred Essence Pill and Bone Strengthening Powder. Not to mention the Qi Condensation Pill for even higher realms; if possible, of course..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lu Cheng understood.

Liu Chang'an nodded and continued:

"Yes, alchemists are just like martial artists. Which martial artist doesn't want to pursue a higher realm?"

"But Liu Family Village only grows herbs for Blood-Activating Powder. Even if there is an alchemist, do we have to buy other herbs? Those herbs can't be bought for five coins of silver, and some are not even sold outside the village."

"Those more precious medicinal herbs not only have high cultivation requirements, but also extremely low survival rates. The two thousand acres of medicinal herb fields in Liujia Village simply cannot withstand such damage."

At this point, Liu Wan'er added:

"Lu Cheng, you may not know this, but among the three major alchemy families in Yunshan County, the Zhang family is actually the smallest."

"Even so, they still have over 10,000 mu of medicinal herb fields and more than 30,000 medicinal herb farmers!"

"The Blood-Activating Powder only accounts for a small part of it; the rest are mostly medicinal materials needed for Body Refinement and Qi Refining."

"I've heard that the Zhang family's most prized twenty acres of high-grade medicinal herb fields are planted with the herbs needed for the Qi Condensation Pill!"

"With these medicinal herbs, these three families carry considerable weight even in the county town."

Qi Condensation Pill!

Lu Chengke was very familiar with this thing.

Yun Huizi came to Yangcheng to escort a Qi Condensation Pill!

That's a martial artist at the mid-stage of the Qi Refining Realm, a figure who can roam freely throughout the entire Dongyang County!

This demonstrates the importance of the Qi Condensation Pill.

Since those three families planted the medicinal herbs for the Qi Condensation Pill, it means they have the ability to refine it!

Even without a Qi Refining Realm expert, such a family would still wield considerable influence.

In comparison, neither Yangcheng County nor Liujia Village is anything special.

Liu Chang'an nodded:

"So if it weren't for that lord, the Zhang family wouldn't have bothered with our few medicinal herbs."

"But in Yangcheng County, no one can take this batch of medicine, so the Zhang family isn't afraid of us having any objections."

Lu Cheng nodded in agreement; it was indeed the case that the Zhang family was completely fearless.

"As for training alchemists on your own, that's even more difficult."

Even ordinary medicines require consideration of the "principal, assistant, and adjuvant" principle, taking into account the conflict and complementarity of their effects. Martial arts elixirs are even more extraordinary, with requirements a hundred times higher than ordinary medicines.

"Even medicinal herbs growing in the same field have different medicinal properties. A prescription may contain eighteen ingredients, and each herb is different."

"An alchemist must be able to quickly identify this difference during the alchemy process and adjust the dosage of other medicinal materials according to the properties of the medicine."

"However, this process is extremely difficult to control. If there is any slight mistake or delay, not only will the medicine be ruined, but it may also produce toxic pills."

"Only those with a high wood element can more keenly perceive changes in the properties of medicine, and only then will they have the opportunity to become alchemists. Liu Family Village has nearly a thousand people, but none of them possess such aptitude."

Is the wood element too high?

Detecting changes in the drug's properties?

This requirement is indeed quite demanding.

But suddenly, something else came to Lu Cheng's mind.

My heart immediately began to pound violently.

One dose of Huoxue San costs five qian (approximately 15 grams).

The market price, however, is three taels.

The profits were astonishing.

However, what truly moved Lu Cheng was not the profit, but another idea.

That's the top-grade pill Zhao Cheng was talking about!

With the "Destiny" in hand, one can deduce the most perfect practice steps for any skill or technique after only learning it once.

This is how it is used for 【fishing】 and 【swimming】.