by Tinalynge
Although when one consumed a plant only thirty percent of the medicinal properties were released instantly, at least twenty percent would stay in the body, and the lucky could later release more and more of this energy. When one took a pill, depending on the refinement process and purity, one could consume from seventy to a hundred percent of the medicinal properties, but when it came to herbal concoctions, only around forty percent of the medicinal properties would be in the water due to dilution, and from that one might lose even more of the medicinal properties if one were not able to absorb it all in a timely manner.
Although it sounded like a lot less, one was capable of adding different medicines together and thus increase the potency of the herbal bath concoctions.
When one ate medicinal herbs directly, one could only take one at a time, but consuming the medicine while bathing was a gentle way of consuming the medicinal properties.
As Xue Wei said not to worry about him, the clerk frowned, but he waited no longer and instead started to find the ingredients that Xue Wei had asked for. Every herb was in small wooden boxes, while the beast cores were in jade boxes. The Primordial Beast Blood was in a jade vial.
"That adds up to ten gold, seventy-seven silver, and four coppers," the clerk said. The price was many times more than last time, mainly because of the Primordial Beast Blood.
Xue Wei nodded his head. He found eleven gold coins and handed them over. Although he had a lot of gold, he was still frugal with how he spent them, so he waited to be given the change before taking his leave.
The money he had all belonged to his uncle, and he did not want to use too much. It was okay to buy things that increased his knowledge or increased his strength, but it was not okay to just give it away for free. Hence he did not tip the clerk.
As Xue Wei left the shop, he walked back towards the mansion to enter yet another and more potent concoction when his eyes landed on the Wayfarer's caravan once more.
Shen Mu and his friends had all left, but Li Jian and his friends had arrived. They were all over the place. Some of them were looking at things, others were flirting with their girls or guys, and some were just looking at the others.
Li Jian's group of henchmen contained a full twenty-three experts not counting Li Jian, and all of them were present.
Xue Wei shook his head and was about to walk past them when some of the henchmen finally noticed him. "Look, it is the piece of trash!" one of them exclaimed, and all of them turned to look at him.
Although Xue Wei's reputation had changed, and they knew that they were no opponent for him, they still looked down on him because of his low cultivation rank. But Xue Wei completely ignored them as he continued to walk towards his mansion. He was long since immune to being called trash.
Seeing that his words had no influence on Xue Wei – and that he did not even frown – the young man felt insulted. He glanced towards the Wayfarers, who had heard his words and looked on with interest. Even Wang Xiaoyun was curious about what was happening.
Li Jian had also heard the voice that called out, and he turned around. His eyes were burning with anger and resentment. He had wished for his father to step into the fight between these two experts to wipe his shame away, but he had declined.
"I don't believe that your movement technique can save you from being overwhelmed by more than twenty people!" Li Jian sneered to himself, and then he lifted his hand. "All of you heed my order, surround the piece of trash and teach him a lesson!"
Everyone was slightly nervous about it since they had seen Xue Wei fight toe to toe with Li Jian before, but they also had faith in their superior numbers.
Since this was the case, they all rushed towards Xue Wei, who just stood there completely casually. He knew that he could not engage in a drawn-out battle with this group, as he could not throw out more than three attacks before his Qi would run out.
Not only this, but he was also carrying all his purchased items, and he had to handle them carefully. If he engaged in a full-scale battle, his things were likely to become broken, and this was the last thing he wanted.
"Little girl, you seem rather worried," one of the elderly women cackled as she saw Wang Xiaoyun stand at the side with her hands twisting and her eyes staring at the battle.
"Worried?" Wang Xiaoyun snorted, "Who would worry about that playboy?"
"Little miss, we have to acknowledge our feelings," the lady laughed at her, but Wang Xiaoyun didn’t listen any longer and instead focused her entire being on what was happening in front of them.
Xue Wei did not notice that the woman he found interesting was looking at him – all he observed were his opponents.
Xue Wei did not waste time and activated Forbidden Rush. "Sorry Young Master Li, I do not have the time to play with you today," he laughed as he vanished into the wind as if he had teleported.
Everyone present was surprised when they saw this. The Ordinary Warriors could not sense his movements; all Earth Warriors and above saw his changes and they sighed in admiration. Xue Wei’s movement technique was truly exquisite.
"He is not a simple one," the old woman laughed again. "If you like him, then make him yours, little miss," she said as she stood up and ruffled Wang Xiaoyun's hair.
Wang Xiaoyun's face reddened, and she stomped her foot on the floor, "Who said I like him? I only spoke with him once. He lives in this weak country, and his rank is low. Even I am above him, and I am a Wayfarer who has not activated my bloodline!"
"Don't be so eager, your bloodline will be activated in another year, and at the same time this kid might be bringing us a surprise later on." The old woman snickered.
"Anyway, we need to deal with a Primordial Beast soon. We came all the way here because they say that the Ice Harpy has been seen in this area and she is a real legendary Primordial Beast. If we can kill her, we will get a great bounty!"
Wang Xiaoyun nodded her head. She knew that they only came to this remote kingdom because their targeted Primordial Beast had been seen here. Although the corpses of Primordial Beasts were worth a lot, the Wayfarers were a large group and needed money to provide for themselves. They needed time to hunt down Primordial Beasts, and thus their expenses were always too high compared to their income.
If they could go for specific Primordial Beasts who had been revealed to the public eye, they could claim a bounty when they delivered the head of the Primordial Beast, though they were allowed to keep the beast core themselves as the heads were only used to verify the dead Primordial Beast.
Xue Wei was unaware of the conversation that had happened between the Wayfarers, as he had used his movement technique to escape the battle this time, and rushed back to the mansion. He felt slightly unsatisfied that he was unable to fight them, but he dared not overestimate his own strength. He too knew that he was not their opponent when they all ganged up on him.
As he returned home, he went straight to his room. He ordered the maid to draw a hot bath for him. While waiting, he sat down and started reading the book about the sects and martial arts families within the rest of the continent.
Xue Wei was entirely focused on reading, and it was not before he finished the first chapter about a Martial Arts Family known as the Ouyang Family. They were famous for using fans, zithers, brushes, and other artistic materials as their weapons, and they had a history of over ten thousand years.
The creator of the Ouyang Family had been one of the experts that were playing a central role in the uprising against the Primordial Beasts from back when the humans had been treated as slaves and livestock. Ouyang Yong was a real hero of humanity.
Once Xue Wei finished reading about the Ouyang family, he closed the book and turned his attention towards the bathtub.
He then unpacked his many things and took small parts of every item. One leaf of Corpse Grass, few drops of blood essence of the Blood Ginseng, one Solar Flower petal, a shard from a beast core, and a tiny bit of the drops of Primordial Beast blood.
Xue Wei was aware that
he could not handle a full drop of Primordial Beast Blood, so he split the drop into four portions, adding a portion to the water.
The water turned from red to black, and the steam started to contain a potent scent of blood. This scent permeated through the entire mansion and even spread out from the estate, alerting everyone in the area as to what was happening.
Manager Su rushed to Xue Wei's room when he smelled the scent of blood. His heart was beating rapidly as he feared that his Young Master had been severely injured, yet when he entered the room he found Xue Wei seated in a bucket of water that was completely black, his eyes closed and his breathing regular.
Xue Wei had learned to deal with the pain he suffered from sitting in the herbal concoction. And although the pain was even more intense now, it was a pleasant sensation because he knew he was increasing his strength with each minute within the painful water.
When Manager Su saw the concoction, he was at first surprised. He knew that it was possible to extract medicinal properties from plants by adding it to the bath, but he also knew it was an incredibly old-fashioned method.
He looked at the table and saw a whole stack of medicines; he also saw Primordial Beast Blood, and his eyebrows shot up in surprise. These items were clearly enough for Earth Warriors to consume, but Xue Wei was only a fifth layered Ordinary Warrior. Was he not worried about his meridians breaking from the overload of medicine?
Manager Su quickly left the room after ensuring that Xue Wei was fine. He did not want to interrupt him, and instead he ordered everyone to make sure that no one entered the estate while Xue Wei was cultivating.
People came to visit and asked what exactly the scent was from, but Manager Su was mysterious and apologized time and time again, but he did never go into details about what exactly had caused the smell, causing many to be curious.
When the rumour about the scent of blood from Xiao Lei Mansion started spreading through the town, the clerk from the apothecary shop could not keep his mouth shut. Soon, everyone knew that Xue Wei had purchased Primordial Beast Blood.
Some wished that he would destroy his body from trying to consume such astonishing materials, while others hoped that he would be able to overcome yet another tribulation.
Chapter 21 - Saving the Ladies
Xue Wei was unaware of whatever the citizens were speaking about. He did not know that they were aware of him consuming Primordial Beast Blood, and even if he knew, he would not pay it any attention.
Xue Wei was in the concoction for a full week this time before the water turned crystal clear again. During this whole week, his entire body seemed purified and strength seemed to multiply.
The Qi within his pearl-like dantian grew denser by the minute, and he felt how his body was strengthened. He could feel that his body contained an explosive strength that it had not had before, and he knew that although some of this power came from the Primordial Beast Blood, some of it also had to come from his own body.
He was aware that his strength was superior to others at the same layer as him, but it was not until now he realized that he could enhance it further by absorbing Primordial Beast Blood.
Having finished the concoction in the bath, Xue Wei could feel how his body was revolving with energy. It was as if he was a rocket ready to explode, and he knew that he needed an outlet for some of this energy or else he really would damage his meridians.
As a result, he quickly got dressed and went to the back of the mansion to the training field where he started training.
He felt as if he was an overflowing fountain of energy, and he could continuously release one Azure Light Finger after another. He then tried the Shattering Mountain Palm, and the result was the same.
One attack after another flew around Xue Wei as he attacked the dummies time and time again.
The dummies were broken but restored themselves in a continuous cycle, and it was not before the night turned to morning that Xue Wei felt how the energy finally started to ebb out of his body.
Although some of the energy was vanishing, a lot stayed within him, and he felt a power unlike any he had ever felt before. He had broken through to the sixth layer of the Ordinary Warrior rank just by absorbing a fourth of a drop of Primordial Beast Blood!
It was going to take a bit of time before Xue Wei could once more consume the concoction, or his body would not be able to handle the sheer amount of medicinal properties that he would be taking in. So, instead, he returned to his old schedule of fighting the dummies and training his Qi the same steady way.
After spending another week doing nothing but training, Xue Wei decided to go to town. He had no actual purpose for going, but he wished to see the Wayfarers. He had a hard time forgetting about the young miss Wang Xiaoyun that he had seen there.
As he left the mansion, he saw that a lot of people were looking at him strangely. As soon as they saw him, they started whispering together, and some even tried to stretch their necks further to get a better glimpse of Xue Wei.
Some looked depressed, while others seemed excited, but everyone was looking at him as if he was a maniac.
Although Xue Wei did not care about what others thought of him, he noticed the glances, and only after a bit of time did their whispers enter his ears.
"So he consumed Primordial Beast Blood, but why is it that he seems perfectly fine?"
"Do you think that his meridians are broken now? Do you think he has gained some severe injuries that cannot be cured?"
"I hope he will be okay even though it is rather reckless to consume Primordial Beast Blood at such a low cultivation level."
From these whispers, Xue Wei quickly understood that the city had found out about him buying Primordial Beast Blood, but he just shook his head and continued forward. It was not like he had ever planned for his purchase to be a secret.
As he reached the Wayfarer's camp, Xue Wei's eyes roamed across all of them, and he found the group of seniors he had purchased the book from previously.
Seeing them, Xue Wei instantly walked towards them and cupped his hands and once more bowed deeply. "Greetings Seniors," he said sincerely.
Xue Wei had always had great respect towards the seniors that had been hunting Primordial Beasts most of their lives, and these Wayfarers were no exception.
"If you are looking for the little miss, then she is out looking at the city with a few of her friends," one of the old ladies cackled with a high-pitched voice that rung with undertones of laughter.
Hearing her, Xue Wei was slightly stunned, but then he gave a wry smile. It was apparent that these experts could see through most of what others were hiding. They were great experts after all, and thus he just bowed again. "Thank you for your help," he said before he turned around to leave.
"He is a good boy," the old woman said after he had left.
Xue Wei had come to town for the sake of seeing Wang Xiaoyun. He was not sure of what he wanted to say to her, but he wished to see her again. There was something about her that had made him unable to forget her, but at the same time, he also knew that they would have to part soon.
Wang Xiaoyun was a Wayfarer. It was in her blood quite literally. She was the same age as Xue Wei, which meant that when she turned sixteen, she would not be joining the army, but she would have her bloodline activated and become a fierce cultivator that lived for the sake of hunting Fierce and Primordial Beasts.
Xue Wei, on the other hand, had no other option than to enter the army. He was a regular human being, and although he was a young master, it was his responsibility to join the military and fight for humanity.
Being painfully aware that the two of them had no future together, Xue Wei felt depressed, but he still could not help but want to see her.
Xue Wei was wandering around the marketplaces, the restaurants, and the different sightseeing places in town aimlessly, trying to figure out where perhaps Wang Xiaoyun could have gone to when he heard a familiar voice.
A commotion was going on in one of the edges of
the marketplace, and Xue Wei was drawn over by the commoners who were looking anxious and the voice that was so familiar to him.
"Listen up, girls, it is your honor that I have taken a liking to you," Li Jian sneered as he and his group of henchmen were standing in a half circle around three girls.
Xue Wei had never seen the three girls before, but he could see the fear in their eyes, and he could easily guess what exactly was going on.
Although Xue Wei was no hero, he was not capable of just walking away when he saw Li Jian treat these girls as he were. Although he knew that he was not the opponent of all of these henchmen and Li Jian at the same time, he knew that he could at least escape unscathed.
