I Have Medicine

Chapter 616 - (Body Tempering) Minor Lightning Realm

While the Qingxue Fruits were important, the Qingxue Tree was even more critical for Gu Zuo.

Within the Medicinal Celestial Grand Hall, there was a specialized medicinal garden. Before Gu Zuo could refine his own innate spiritual weapon, he could transplant and store all his herbs there. However, the Medicinal Celestial Grand Hall had not yet returned to its peak state; the fewer herbs planted, the better the overall effect for each. Therefore, when choosing what to plant, he had to be extremely selective and could not be too casual.

From the perspective of rarity and value, the Qingxue Tree was indeed worthy of being planted inside.

Once all the Qingxue Fruits were harvested, Gu Zuo did a final count: a total of 212 fruits.

Among them, eighteen fruits were almost entirely wrapped in purple markings, with only faint glimmers of deep green peeking through to reveal their original color. The medicinal power within these fruits was incredibly surging, over ten thousand times more potent than those of younger vintages. If used to refine Qingxue Pills, the yield would be astronomical.

However, Gu Zuo did not plan to use these specific fruits for common refining. Their medicinal power likely exceeded even what was needed for Earth-level pills; although he didn’t have the ability to touch that realm yet, it was possible they could even be used for Heaven-level pills. Naturally, Gu Zuo kept these thoughts to himself.

As for the rest: forty-nine fruits had more than half their surface covered in purple markings, each suitable for Earth-level pills. One hundred and twenty-eight had fewer markings; these would yield a high volume of standard Qingxue Pills. Curiously, the fruits with no markings at all—the standard type most commonly found in the outside world—were the fewest, with only seventeen.

After organizing them, Gu Zuo carefully stored the fruits in jade containers within his storage slots. With a single thought, the Qingxue Trees were successfully relocated to the medicinal garden, their roots sinking deep into the fertile soil.

Once everything was settled, Gu Zuo turned back with an apologetic smile. “My apologies for making you all wait so long.”

Lei Pengfei and the others naturally took no offense. In truth, Gu Zuo’s movements were quite fast, and they had been prepared for this slight delay. They replied, “It’s no trouble. It is Pharmacist Gu who has been working hard.”

The group continued forward.

Past the field of cogon grass, their field of vision did not open up as expected. Instead, just as they stepped onto new ground, a streak of white light bolted down from the high sky!

Gu Zuo was startled.

In that same instant, Gongyi Tianheng blurred into motion. He hooked his arm around Gu Zuo’s waist and pulled him away, letting the white light crash into the spot where Gu Zuo had just been standing. With a sharp *thud*, a deep hole was punched into the ground, its edges charred black.

It was a bolt of lightning. And it was incredibly powerful!

There was no time for Gu Zuo to ponder, as several more bolts suddenly rained down from the sky, fiercely striking toward the group.

Lei Pengfei and the others were equally quick to react. When Gongyi Tianheng first moved to save Gu Zuo, they were ready to provide cover, but seeing that Tianheng had it under control, they turned their attention to the surroundings. As the second and third waves of lightning descended, the three of them struck out simultaneously, using their own strength to shatter the bolts mid-air!

They truly lived up to their status as top students of the Longque Academy. Though none had drawn their weapons yet, every strike they threw carried immense power.

Gongyi Tianheng did not “charge” forward to attack. He stayed by Gu Zuo’s side, snuffing out any lightning that came too close with one hand while keeping Gu Zuo partially shielded in his embrace with the other, continuing their forward march step by step.

At this moment, the most impressive performance did not come from Duan Yunbeng with his black-and-white light, nor from Feng Xueqin with her whistling storms—it was Lei Pengfei, who was now flickering with electricity!

His movements were like a thunderbolt, resembling a humanoid dragon. He not only moved freely through the lightning but also showed a look of both pain and ecstasy whenever the shattered remnants of the bolts touched his skin.

Curiously, the lightning here wasn’t particularly dense. Usually, such hazards become more frequent the further in one goes, but here, the density remained constant even as they progressed. The young experts soon noticed this. Having adjusted to the rhythm of the strikes, they had enough energy to discuss it while defending.

“There’s something strange about this place,” Duan Yunbeng noted. Feng Xueqin nodded in agreement.

Lei Pengfei looked thoughtful. After a moment of inner struggle, he suddenly spoke up: “I’m afraid I must separate from you all for a while.”

Gu Zuo had already suspected as much and shared a glance with Gongyi Tianheng.

Tianheng said, “This must be a cultivation site specifically for lightning-attribute martial artists. Every bolt that falls can be absorbed to temper the physical body and increase one’s own lightning power… Is that why, Brother Lei?”

Lei Pengfei didn’t hide it. “Exactly.” He sighed. “While we martial artists require vast resources to grow, and I could likely gain much more by continuing with you, resources are ultimately meant to increase one’s strength. If one’s strength is lacking, what use are ten thousand treasures? This place is perfectly suited for me. Even if I only cultivate here and gain nothing else for the rest of the trip, it would still be my best choice.”

The others acknowledged his reasoning. Indeed, wasn’t the point of gathering resources to improve oneself? If the path to improvement was right in front of you, chasing more resources would be putting the cart before the horse.

Lei Pengfei would rather stay here, and that was only natural—ancient cultivation sites are bizarre; who knew if he could find his way back here later? This was a scenario they had discussed before entering: if anyone found a site uniquely suited to them, the others would let them go. They were traveling companions, not bound to stay together at all costs. No one would sacrifice their own path to the Martial Dao for the sake of others.

Duan Yunbeng and Feng Xueqin looked toward Gu Zuo.

Gu Zuo said, “Congratulations to Brother Lei for finding a way to advance. We shall take our leave. Please be careful here and do not overstrain yourself.”

Lei Pengfei felt a weight lift from his heart. “Junior Brother Gu, you don’t need to leave in such a hurry. I have a feeling that useful herbs might grow in this area as well. Furthermore, since this lightning has body-tempering properties, you all should use this chance to temper your physiques. Only leave when the intensity becomes unbearable.”

The others agreed. “Brother Lei makes sense.”

Separating was inevitable, but not quite yet. Following Lei Pengfei, the group headed left. With his affinity for electricity, Lei Pengfei could feel that the deeper they went in that direction, the stronger the lightning became; the core must be located there.

Now, Lei Pengfei took the lead. More and more lightning struck his body, giving off wisps of purple light that slowly crawled into his skin. He eventually shed his outer protective clothing, leaving only his inner trousers, exposing his torso to receive the lightning strikes head-on!

Gu Zuo and the others followed closely behind. Of course, while the other martial artists, including Gongyi Tianheng, could use this to temper their bodies, Gu Zuo—being a pharmacist—had no need for such harsh physical tempering.

To prevent his Big Brother from focusing too much energy on him and missing out on his own tempering, Gu Zuo took out his black robe and draped it over himself from head to toe.

In an instant, he transformed from a bright and spirited youth into the somewhat eerie Pill Slaughterer Profound Shadow.

Seeing this, Gongyi Tianheng’s gaze softened. His Ah Zuo was always so considerate of him.

Gu Zuo tentatively allowed a bolt of lightning to strike him. As expected, the moment the lightning hit the black robe, it was neutralized into nothingness without causing him the slightest harm. For the rest of the journey, he truly didn’t need to trouble his Big Brother to constantly destroy the lightning for him.

The others also took note of Gu Zuo’s “costume change.”

It had to be said that this version of Gu Zuo was the one Lei Pengfei and Feng Xueqin were familiar with. Back when they were trading heads for medicinal pills, Gu Zuo had appeared before them with this exact appearance and aura. Duan Yunbeng, on the other hand, gave Gu Zuo a few extra looks. Having first met the boyish version of Gu Zuo, seeing such a drastic change in temperament was truly surprising to him.

However, it was merely surprise. Duan Yunbeng now felt that the title “Pill Slaughterer Profound Shadow,” when applied to the current Gu Zuo, was… quite fitting.

The group continued their advance.

Due to the differences in their constitutions, the others were not as comfortable in the lightning as Lei Pengfei. Gradually, scorched black marks appeared on their bodies where the lightning had struck. The martial artists constantly circulated their inner energy to promote the growth of new skin.

After a moment’s thought, Gu Zuo tossed a bottle of pills to each of them. These pills were specially suited for body tempering—specifically, their miraculous effect lay in regenerating muscle and stanching blood.

With this medicine in hand, their internal circulation accelerated and their bodies were replenished with “nutrients,” ensuring that the physical tempering wouldn’t damage their underlying foundations.