I Have Medicine

Chapter 628 - (Refining the Qingxue Pills) Slots for the Cultivation Grounds

On their way back, they activated the Star-Fixing Compass as before, and the place they arrived at was indeed that same hidden location from earlier.

Afterward, the group didn’t converse or chat much, simply bidding each other farewell in a perfectly natural manner.

Naturally, there was one detail that could not be forgotten—

Lei Pengfei said, “In the future, our three clans will develop this place together. Once it is up and running, it will open once a month, allowing five people inside each time. Within a year, there will be sixty slots, so our three families should each get twenty. I am willing to take out four of my slots and present them to you two Junior Brothers… I only hope you won’t look down on them.”

Duan Yunbeng said, “I shall do the same.”

Feng Xueqin said, “The Feng family will do the same as well.”

In other words, with a grand total of twelve slots, it was equivalent to receiving one slot every month.

This might seem like a small amount. If calculated per person, the sixty slots split among five people should originally have given each person twelve slots, meaning Gu Zuo and Gongyi Tianheng had received exactly half of that. However, developing this cultivation ground required manpower to oversee it, and after its development, it would also require people to maintain and guard it, which was a massive investment. Being able to set aside twelve slots every year was already the maximum number these three could secure through their best efforts.

Of course, if Gu Zuo and Gongyi Tianheng insisted on joining the development and shamelessly bickered for a share, the three families might not necessarily refuse. But if they truly wanted to secure a foothold, the entire Shijue Sect would have to get involved; the Huaxie Palace alone was not enough to stand on equal footing with the other three families. And once the entire Shijue Sect joined, it would mean four factions equally splitting sixty slots, resulting in fifteen slots per faction. While that was admittedly three slots more, how many of those could actually be allocated to the Huaxie Palace? Not to mention how many would then be passed down to Gongyi Tianheng.

Therefore, it was far better for Gongyi Tianheng and Gu Zuo to simply take these twelve slots directly and give up everything else. This way, they could allocate the slots however they pleased without having to consider anyone else at all.

Gu Zuo smiled at them. “To be able to receive these slots, I already feel I have done nothing to deserve them. How could I possibly look down on them? I ought to thank you Senior Brothers and Senior Sister for your deep generosity instead.”

Hearing him say this, Lei Pengfei and the other two let out a sigh of relief.

In truth, even putting together just these twelve slots would definitely not be easy. However, the potential Gu Zuo had displayed gave them the confidence to convince their clans—after all, they still needed to obtain a certain number of Qingxue Pills to nurture the younger generations of their families.

By now, the entire expedition had concluded successfully.

Gu Zuo and Gongyi Tianheng were both in very good spirits. From this journey, they had gotten a clear look at the character of Lei Pengfei and the others, realizing they were all people worth associating with. Naturally, when the time came in the future, they might truly gain a few more allies.

With that, the group parted ways.

Gu Zuo and Gongyi Tianheng returned to the Longque Academy. Before they could even properly rest, Gu Zuo had to go and teach another class for the students. Only after lecturing on various topics regarding Deceptive Pills, Soul Pills, and Poison Pills did he finally let out a sigh of relief and return to the residence he shared with his Big Brother.

Right now, the first thing Gu Zuo needed to do was refine the Qingxue Pills.

Back when Gu Zuo was still giving his lectures, Gongyi Tianheng had already ordered his subordinates to gather some supplementary herbs for the Qingxue Pills that Gu Zuo didn’t have in stock, making preparations well in advance. Now that Gu Zuo was about to start refining, he didn’t have to worry about a thing and could begin smoothly.

Gu Zuo smiled at Gongyi Tianheng. With a swipe of his left hand, a furnace appeared on the ground. With a wave of his right hand, a pale green fruit hovered above his palm. Its aura was rich and its medicinal properties potent—it was precisely one of those seventeen lowest-grade Qingxue Fruits.

Following that, numerous herbs leaped up one by one, floating in mid-air right by Gu Zuo’s side. He swiftly processed them all properly, then struck the furnace with a palm, causing its lid to fly open. He then allowed his wondrous flame to blaze to life, beginning to warm the furnace and refine the medicine.

Placing the herbs, refining the essence, forming the pills… the entire sequence of motions was smooth as floating clouds and flowing water. Completed in the blink of an eye, it was a magnificent sight to behold, making it nearly impossible for anyone to look away.

Ever since Gu Zuo’s spiritual path realm had reached the Spirit Psyche Realm, his psyche power had become far more acute, naturally granting him stronger control over medicinal properties. Additionally, because his internal energy realm had also advanced to the Peak of the Ascendant Realm, transferring his internal energy had become much more fluid and natural. The speed of his pill formation was a notch faster than before, and the sense of friction or sluggishness he used to experience when refining new pills was significantly reduced.

Consequently, in just over an hour, the Qingxue Pills were successfully refined. A total of three medicinal pills quickly appeared in Gu Zuo’s hand.

In terms of quality, they were all 11th-grade.

Gu Zuo was reasonably satisfied.

Although they weren’t Flawless Pills, this was, after all, his first time refining them, so his integration of the medicinal properties had not yet reached a state of absolute perfection. However, the medicinal properties within each and every Qingxue Pill were incredibly plump and full. This was precisely because the medicinal efficacy of the Qingxue Fruit, serving as the primary ingredient, was simply too potent—and the environment where the Qingxue Fruit grew had exerted a massive influence on why its medicinal properties were so powerful.

That being the case, if he merely wanted to refine Qingxue Pills as they were normally known to the rest of the world, perhaps just half a Qingxue Fruit would be more than enough to serve as the primary ingredient for each batch.

Having made up his mind, Gu Zuo began refining the second batch of pills.

This time, however, he retrieved a second furnace. There was no other reason for this save for the fact that once a Qingxue Fruit was cut open, its medicinal properties would rapidly bleed off. If he wanted to store it, the required procedures were rather complex. Since that was the case, he might as well refine two batches of Qingxue Pills simultaneously. By doing so, he would save himself the time of constantly putting the ingredient into storage and taking it back out.

With a flick of Gu Zuo’s finger, two wisps of Eartheart Fire appeared at the same time, settling simultaneously beneath the two different furnaces to warm them rapidly. Afterward, the entire process was identical to his refinement of the very first batch of Qingxue Pills, except he was now dividing his mind between two tasks, manipulating both at once.

Before long, the two batches of pills were also complete.

Exactly as Gu Zuo had anticipated, when refining two batches at once, the medicinal strength of a single Qingxue Fruit was perfectly sufficient. Thus, the furnaces still yielded a maximum batch of pills, netting him three Qingxue Pills from each side.

Perhaps due to dividing his attention, this second yield of Qingxue Pills consisted entirely of 11th-grade pills as well, falling short of the Flawless level—yet compared to the pills refined by the vast majority of other pharmacists, they were already excellent.

Storing the Qingxue Pills from these first two consecutive runs into the same jade vial, Gu Zuo began his third refinement session, still launching two furnaces simultaneously.

Armed with the experience of the first two rounds, the flaws in Gu Zuo’s refining process gradually dwindled this time. The resulting yield produced two Flawless Pills and four 11th-grade pills.

Then came the fourth refining session…

It yielded three Flawless Pills and three 11th-grade pills.

The fifth refining session…

It yielded five Flawless Pills and one 11th-grade pill…

The sixth session…

Every single one was a Flawless Pill.

Refining in this manner, Gu Zuo did not pause for a single breath, completely exhausting all seventeen of those lowest-grade Qingxue Fruits!

In the end, the pills he obtained consisted of seventeen 11th-grade pills and eighty-two Flawless Pills!

The grand total came to ninety-nine Qingxue Pills!

With a pill-yielding rate like this, it could be said that not a single shred of the Qingxue Fruits’ medicinal power had been wasted. Even though those 11th-grade pills were merely short of making Gu Zuo fully satisfied, they could absolutely never be considered a waste.

Having finished his refining, Gu Zuo wiped away a handful of sweat and stood up.

The Qingxue Pill was also a Profound-Level Pill. Its medicinal efficacy was immense, yet its nature was relatively mild, allowing any martial artist at or above the Immortal Realm to swallow it to upgrade their bloodline—whereas if a martial artist’s realm were any lower, their physical body and meridians would likely be unable to withstand the scouring force of the medicinal power. The reason it was categorized as a Profound-Level Pill was precisely because martial artists up to the Royal Realm could swallow it; in reality, however, it was a single pill recipe that spanned across two distinct pill grades.

That said, while its medicinal nature was gentle, the difficulty of refining it was by no means small. Don’t be fooled by how effortlessly Gu Zuo seemed to handle it; in truth, after refining seventeen consecutive times, he was practically on the verge of collapsing. The consumption of both his psyche power and internal energy was incredibly terrifying—he had even been forced to replenish his internal energy several times right in the middle of refining just to barely pull through.

Now that Gu Zuo had separated and stored the two types of pills, he stood up, only to immediately sway on his feet.

Gongyi Tianheng had been meditating by his side the entire time, nurturing his natal spiritual weapon within his body while keeping a close eye on Gu Zuo’s reactions. Seeing him so exhausted now, Tianheng naturally flashed behind him in an instant, reaching out an arm to draw him into his embrace.

“Ah Zuo, are you alright?”

Gu Zuo shook his head. “I’m fine.”

To be honest, this wasn’t the first or second time he had refused to stop until he completely drained himself. Refining medicine was both his passion and his path of cultivation; while it was a bit exhausting to do this, his psyche power actually recovered faster and grew stronger after every full depletion. Besides, he was refining pills in his own territory. Even if he collapsed from exhaustion, he could just lie there for a while and get right back up without any ill effects. In fact, during his past secluded cultivation sessions, he had achieved the heroic feat of exhausting himself to the point of collapse, recovering, and then continuing the cycle over and over. Compared to that, almost collapsing just this once was practically nothing.

Gongyi Tianheng cared deeply for Gu Zuo’s body, but as a martial artist himself, he understood that any man possessed his own drive and ambition, so he wouldn’t force his own demands on Gu Zuo here. Therefore, he didn’t try to dissuade him. He merely stroked Gu Zuo’s face and said softly, “No matter how hard you push yourself in the future, you must always remember that your elder brother is still waiting for you.”

A wave of warmth rushed through Gu Zuo’s heart. He tilted his head and nuzzled against Tianheng’s chest. “Rest easy, Big Brother. I know my limits; I will never truly harm myself.”

Tianheng added softly, “Your elder brother believes in you implicitly.”

The two held each other tenderly for a quiet moment.

Gu Zuo twirled the jade vial in his hand—the one holding the seventeen 11th-grade Qingxue Pills—feeling a little conflicted. “Big Brother, these aren’t Flawless Qingxue Pills… how do you think we should handle them?”

Whether he was giving pills to his fellow disciples, offering them to his Master, or rewarding his direct subordinates, Gu Zuo always used Flawless Pills. In the past, any non-flawless pills that came from his hands were typically placed in the medicine shops under their name to be sold.

But the Qingxue Pill was different. Its effect was a bit terrifying—it could actually elevate bloodline concentration!

It felt a bit like a waste to just sell them off casually…

Hearing Gu Zuo’s dilemma, Gongyi Tianheng pondered for a brief moment.

Then, he spoke softly, “Ah Zuo, have you ever considered hosting a private medicinal pill auction?”