Gou Zai Wudao Shi Lian Shen

Lu Chen's time in the herb garden quickly settled down.

Lu Chen had also arranged his cultivation plan in the medicine garden.

This month, the Chen family gave him another four taels of silver, plus Wang Ji's twenty taels of monthly salary, for a total of twenty-four taels.

For an ordinary family, this would be a huge sum of money. Even in Chixia County, it would be enough for a family to live comfortably for several months.

But for Lu Chen, this silver had only one use.

Replace them with cultivation resources.

Aside from medicinal baths and meat, he spent the rest of his silver on Blood Qi Powder.

In addition to the ten pills supplied by Wang Shouyi each month, he had a full twenty Blood Qi Powder pills available this month.

Other martial artists might not have this much Blood Qi Powder in a year.

It was early morning, before dawn.

The herb garden was still shrouded in a bluish-black chill, while the distant mountains and forests were covered in snow, like a sleeping white behemoth. Icicles hung from the eaves, making a soft clanging sound as the cold wind blew through them.

Lu Chen had already gotten up.

When he pushed open the door, the snow in the yard was above the soles of his shoes, and each step he took made a soft crunching sound.

He first set up the dragon-shaped stakes in the open space in front of the courtyard.

With feet firmly planted on the ground, waist and hips lowered, and spine coiled like a dragon.

The cold wind blew on his face, bringing a biting chill, but Lu Chen's blood and qi flowed like a stream, quickly dispelling the chill.

Once his qi and blood were mobilized and fully circulated through the standing meditation, he took out a blood qi powder from his pocket and put it in his mouth.

The medicine quickly dissipated after entering the stomach.

A scorching heat emanated from my stomach and abdomen, like embers falling into a furnace, instantly igniting the heat within my body.

Lu Chen immediately practiced the Coiling Dragon Stance, layer by layer coiling the dispersed medicinal power, like stream water returning to its channel, slowly integrating it into his blood and qi.

White vapor rose from the top of his head.

Before long, the snow underfoot had melted around the feet with the heat from his body, revealing the wet bluestone ground.

Lu Chen exhaled a breath of hot air, which quickly dissipated in the cold wind.

A light screen quietly appeared before my eyes.

[Panlong Stance Exercise: Mastery]

[Progress: 752/1000]

"You've made some progress again!"

Lu Chen was quite excited.

That's just how martial arts are.

One punch, one stance, one medicine, one food—accumulating day by day, one step at a time.

After finishing his stance training, Lu Chen rushed to the canteen, ate two pounds of stewed, tender meat, and drank a large bowl of hot soup.

The food in the herb garden was coarser than that in the yam shop's backyard, lacking the fine seasoning, but it was more plentiful. Large chunks of meat stewed in an iron pot, the aroma of meat mixed with ginger slices, mountain peppers, and herbs, steaming hot.

Lu Chen's body is currently expending a great deal of energy every day, requiring at least six pounds of meat to be consumed daily. These two pounds of beast meat will only last until noon at most.

Just as he put down his bowl, Wang Zhong came over and said, "Come on, I'll show you around the area around the herb garden today."

Lu Chen got up and followed Wang Zhong out of the herb garden.

The two went out of the gate and walked up the mountain path on the north slope.

The winter forest was silent, snow weighed down the bare branches, and footsteps crunched on the snow. The cold wind swept through the forest, carrying snow from the treetops down in a soft rustling sound.

As Wang Zhong walked, he said, "The north slope is close to the wolf trail. In winter, when snow wolves come down the mountain, they most likely sneak over from there."

He then explained to Lu Chen in detail: "The things in the mountains can be roughly divided into two categories."

"The first category is ordinary wild animals. Wild boars, badgers, black bears, and snow wolves all fall into this category. They may be fierce, but they are still mortals after all, and they are afraid of knives, guns, and fire."

"The second category is exotic beasts."

Lu Chen asked, "A strange beast?"

Wang Zhong nodded: "Strange beasts are stronger than ordinary wild animals. They mostly have some special bloodline or have eaten rare delicacies from the mountains, resulting in some kind of mutation. For example, a white wolf king occasionally appears in a snow wolf pack. Its fur is as white as snow, and it has a silver mark on its forehead. It is very intelligent and can drive the wolf pack to hunt."

"There is also the red-horned deer, which runs extremely fast, but its antlers are a treasure. When ground into powder, they can be used in medicine to replenish qi and blood, strengthen muscles and bones, and have excellent medicinal effects."

"The Ironback Mountain Boar has skin as thick as armor; a single cut won't even leave a mark."

"These things are more difficult to deal with than ordinary wild beasts, but they are also more valuable. If you can hunt a rare and exotic beast, you can even sell it for a sky-high price of thousands of taels."

Lu Chen's heart skipped a beat: "Over a thousand taels?"

That's truly an astronomical price.

Wang Zhong added, "In early spring, large families often organize hunting teams to go into the mountains to search for traces of strange beasts and hunt and capture them."

"Every part of a mythical beast is a treasure, and its essence and blood are excellent nourishment for martial artists. A single piece of precious mythical beast essence and blood can often drive even martial artists at the peak of the Blood Transformation stage to madness!"

"Oh?" Lu Chen raised an eyebrow, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Even a peak Blood Transformation Realm martial artist is going crazy for it?"

Wang Zhong nodded: "Of course."

As he spoke, he seemed to recall something and added, "Years ago, I heard that a five-colored divine deer appeared on Chixia Mountain."

"It is said that the divine deer is covered with five-colored light, and when it runs, it is as if it is treading on clouds. Wherever it passes, tender grass will grow in the snow."

"The Five-Colored Divine Deer?" Lu Chen asked, as if listening to some myth or legend.

Wang Zhong continued, "Back then, many powerful local figures in the county town made a move."

"The Huang family in the east of the city, the Wu family in the south of the city, the Wangyuan Escort Agency, and several major martial arts schools have all gone into the mountains."

"They laid a trap to hunt down the Five-Colored Divine Deer."

Wang Zhong paused for a moment, his tone slightly amused, and then continued, "These powerful figures in the county mobilized their entire forces and went to great lengths, but in the end, no one expected that the Five-Colored Divine Deer would be snatched up by an outsider who was at the peak of the Blood Transfer Realm."

"The divine deer had already fallen into the trap set by several powerful forces, but at the crucial moment, they started arguing about how to divide the spoils, and even fought each other. An outsider took the opportunity to steal the five-colored divine deer."

"Later, through a joint investigation by several major forces, that person was found."

"But that person was already at the peak of the Blood Refining Realm. After obtaining the essence blood of the divine deer, he soon broke through to an even higher realm. He killed a peak Blood Refining Realm martial artist that the Huang family had painstakingly cultivated with a single palm strike."

"In this way, even if the local tyrants in the county are unwilling, they can only swallow their anger."

After taking a stroll through the mountains and forests near the herb garden, Wang Zhong led Lu Chen back to the herb garden.

Upon reaching the entrance of the small courtyard on the east side, Wang Zhong patted Lu Chen on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Lu Chen, take good care of your cultivation. Nothing major happens here in the herb garden during the day. If anything does happen, I'll have someone come and call you."

He paused, then added, "If you need anything, just let me know. Since Manager Wang has assigned you to the herb garden, I will naturally take good care of you."

Lu Chen clasped his hands in thanks and said, "Thank you, Chief Wang."

Wang Zhong waved his hand and turned to leave.

Lu Chen did not enter the house.

Instead, he took off his outer robe, hung it by the door, and walked into the open space in the courtyard wearing only a tight-fitting outfit to begin practicing the Azure Dragon Tongbei Fist.

He thrust out a fist, his shoulder leading the elbow, his elbow leading the wrist, his five fingers like hooks, the force flowing down his spine like a long-dormant green dragon suddenly extending its claws.

It was a green dragon reaching out its claws.

Then the azure dragon coiled its body, pierced through the clouds and entered the sea, its roar piercing the sun... one move after another.

Before I knew it, it started snowing again in the mountains and forests.

At first, only a few flakes drifted down and landed on his shoulders. Soon, the snow fell thicker, and the fine snowflakes were swept up by the mountain wind, landing on the bluestone ground, on the pine trees, and on Lu Chen.

Lu Chen became more and more engrossed in his practice.

Sometimes it crouches to gather its strength, sometimes it extends its claws to pierce the clouds, sometimes it coils and circles, and sometimes it suddenly emerges from the abyss...

It resembles a soaring dragon roaming through the wind and snow.

Countless snowflakes were whipped up by the force of the punch, swirling around Lu Chen like white waves.

When he first reached the Blood Transformation Realm, he used the Azure Dragon Through-Arm Fist. Although the punches were powerful, there were always times when his blood and qi could not be replenished. It is impossible for a set of punches to maintain explosive power from beginning to end.

Now that I have advanced to the minor stage, my Qi and blood flow like a stream, never ceasing.

With each punch, blood and energy flow naturally through the meridians to the fist tip. After the punch lands, the blood and energy immediately follow, flowing continuously, like a stream constantly flowing into a river.

After a fierce and violent fight, each punch carried at least a thousand pounds of force.