Chapter Eighty-Eight: Setting Out and Talking (Please Subscribe, Please Vote for the Monthly Pass)

After reaching mastery in the stance method, the power I had forged had become already tenacious, surging, and profoundly forceful.

Once it reached perfection, the force I refined would inevitably become even stronger.

Compared with the moment when the stance method had only just reached mastery, and with this present stage, when my mastery had surpassed the halfway mark, the effect of that force was already entirely different.

Chen Yushu reflected on it in silence.

He understood clearly the gap between them.

And he finally understood why Master Qian had said before that this medicine-king stance method could forge for them an impeccable foundation and temper an incomparably vigorous furnace.

Indeed, the force produced at mastery was simply too strong, too resilient, and too turbulent.

For the tempering of his flesh and blood, it was naturally far more formidable than it had been at the lesser stage.

If the medicine-king stance method were to reach perfection, and its force became fierce to the utmost limit, then the tempering effect would of course reach its best state.

By then, it truly could be called a perfect foundation, a supreme furnace.

It would even stand shoulder to shoulder with, or surpass, those privileged heirs who had grown up bathing in precious tonics and rare elixirs.

“Besides that, my Medicine King Locking Force Art has also been raised to the lesser stage.

“Its effect on tempering skin and flesh has also improved greatly.”

Next, Chen Yushu turned his attention to the Medicine King Locking Force Art.

Medicine King Locking Force Art: Lesser Stage, 235/400

The experience had already passed the halfway point, and full mastery was not far away.

Then he looked at his skin. When he touched it, it was still smooth as before, without becoming rougher.

Yet when he pinched it hard, he immediately felt the toughness within, as though he were pinching hide. It was so resilient that he felt no pain at all.

“So this is the external tempering stage of a martial artist.

“After the skin and flesh are tempered by force, they become incomparably tough, like oxhide.

“If a blade or sword can only leave a white mark, that would count as successful skin training, and one could then enter the next stage: tempering the tendons and bones.”

As Chen Yushu thought of this, he noticed that the kitchen was just beside him. He walked straight in, greeted one of the helpers, took up a cleaver, and drew it across his own arm.

At once, he felt that same tenacity.

It truly left only a white mark. Though blood seeped out soon after, the wound was tiny, and after a quick wipe with his hand, the bleeding stopped.

“I’ve succeeded in training my skin?”

A smile immediately spread across Chen Yushu’s face.

Beyond that, the greatest changes were in his strength and speed.

He casually lifted a three-hundred-pound boulder, yet it was effortless; after raising it above his head, he still had strength to spare.

When he ran at full speed, he was astonishingly fast. Within ten breaths, he could cross a hundred meters.

If he used the Eight-Step Catching Cicada technique—

Chen Yushu exerted himself to the fullest.

One step out, and he covered nine feet. With Eight-Step Catching Cicada, his body became like a phantom.

One exhalation.

One breath.

He crossed eight zhang.

Eight zhang was twenty-four meters.

One inhale and one exhale counted as two seconds.

That meant that with Eight-Step Catching Cicada, he could cover a hundred meters in under ten seconds.

Faster than the swiftest runners of his past life...

“This is the power of martial arts.

“This is only the flesh-tempering realm, and merely the external tempering portion of it.

“If one reaches the internal tempering stage, even the organs will be strengthened, and strength will grow greater still, while speed will become even faster.

“Not to mention the inner-force realm above flesh tempering.

“That is already an entirely different level of evolution.”

Chen Yushu felt delighted, and he truly sensed how powerful the Foundation-Reforging Pellet was.

It had directly increased his strength by more than double.

Not to mention that, at this moment, he had not even completely absorbed and transformed all of the pill’s medicinal power.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

During this time, Chen Yushu had been adjusting to his own strength.

Of course, his daily cultivation had not lessened either.

Though his power had not increased much for the moment, he was now able to use it skillfully and grasp it fully, without any appearance of hollow, floating strength.

Today, Chen Yushu still left home early.

He went directly to the rear courtyard of the apothecary.

By now, quite a few people had already gathered there.

His master Su Ming, Shopkeeper Zhou, the Third Young Miss, Liu Qingyan, the mysterious geomancer Lu Yizhi, and also Liu Hexuan and Liu Yong, the two physicians who had been helping with consultations these past two days.

Besides them were several sturdy martial men, each with a saber at the waist; two of them also had bows on their backs and a thick bundle of arrows at their sides.

These were all the people who had come to Jianghuan Town with the Third Young Miss, Liu Qingyan.

At their head stood a middle-aged man whose blood and energy were as dense as wolf smoke. He was also one who had already cultivated inner force. His name was Jiang Chang'an. The weakest among the others had at least reached the level of external flesh tempering and had begun tempering bones and marrow.

As for the rest, they were all martial artists who had already passed external tempering and reached the internal cultivation stage of tempering the organs.

Their strength and power were by no means trivial.

One thing worth mentioning was that Qian Qian, the head helper of the apothecary and the instructor responsible for teaching the apprentices their stance work, was also present.

Given his injuries, he should have needed some more time to recover fully, but after hearing about this matter, he had taken the initiative to join them.

With him came two more apothecary assistants, both originally apprentices who had already stayed at the Jianghuan Town apothecary for at least ten years.

“Is everyone here?” Liu Qingyan asked.

“Third Young Miss, everyone is here. We can set off at any time,” Qian Qian hastily replied from behind her.

“Good.

“Uncle Su, then we are leaving.”

Liu Qingyan nodded, then turned her gaze toward Su Ming.

Su Ming nodded and said, “Go on. I have already made the arrangements.

“This time, you will first hurry to Qian Family Village. There is one of our branch shops there, managed by Xu Zhisheng.

“Once you find him, he will naturally make the arrangements for you.”

Having said that, Su Ming glanced at Chen Yushu, gave him an encouraging nod, and said no more.

“Set off!”

At once, Liu Qingyan boarded one carriage, with Lu Yizhi following close behind.

Then came Liu Hexuan and Liu Yong, who took their places in another carriage.

Several of the others rode horses.

However, the apothecary had a limited number of horses, so they brought over an ox, placed a cart bed upon its back, and let it bear the load.

Afterward, Qian Qian called for Chen Yushu to get on.

“Brother Chen, come up into this carriage.”

Just then, a voice came from the frontmost carriage.

Chen Yushu turned to look and saw that it was indeed the mysterious geomancer, Lu Yizhi.

After some thought, he still walked over.

Compared with the jolting ox cart, the carriage was naturally much more comfortable.

More importantly, he was also quite curious about this geomancer, Lu Yizhi, and wanted to know why they had invited him, an apprentice, to take part in this matter.

Only after entering the carriage did he realize that the interior was quite spacious.

The Third Young Miss, Liu Qingyan, sat alone in the center, while on either side there was a bench. Let alone three people, even four or five could have squeezed in.

“I greet Third Young Miss, and Sir Lu,” Chen Yushu said by way of greeting.

“Sit down,” Liu Qingyan said with a nod, while Lu Yizhi beside her smiled kindly.

Just then, with a shout from outside, the carriage began to move.

“Do you know why I brought you, an apprentice, into our medicinal gathering team this time, and why I was willing to offer a Foundation-Reforging Pellet as payment?”

At that moment, Liu Qingyan’s somewhat cool voice sounded.

“My master already told me. It was because he took a fancy to my identity as a yin traveller.

“But I suspect there must be more to it than that. As for the exact reason, I do not know.”

At Chen Yushu’s words, Liu Qingyan paused, then turned her gaze toward Lu Yizhi and said, “I was the one who proposed this.

“Your identity as a yin traveller was indeed only one reason.

“After all, at your age, no matter how great your talent, a yin traveller’s cultivation can hardly amount to much.

“Not to mention that you also practice martial arts. We could just as well have invited one or two stronger yin travellers to come and help.”

Lu Yizhi smiled and first offered an explanation, then frowned slightly and said, “There is nothing wrong with practicing martial arts.

“But that is usually the choice of half-baked yin travellers.

“In truth, accomplished yin travellers all have a method for summoning divine soldiers, and can rely on that to block most enemies. Why should they go to the trouble of training martial skills for self-defense?

“At your age, to have ignited heavenly fire and cultivated to the point of one incense stick’s worth of attainment, you should naturally have decent talent and a complete inheritance, with a teacher to guide and instruct you.

“There would be no need at all to waste time training in some martial art.”

“I really do not know about that.

“But I feel that what belongs to oneself is truly one’s own.

“Only by becoming strong oneself can one ensure nothing goes wrong. Armor and soldiers may be good, but they cannot guard against every danger.”

Chen Yushu thought for a moment and replied in that way.

As for the divine soldiers and armor, he did know a little about them.

For instance, in the second volume of the Morning Sun Talisman Arts that he had obtained, the armor-summoning talisman recorded there was, in essence, a similar inheritance.

It could summon one or two armored guardians to protect the body, which was indeed very convenient.

“That is not wrong either,” Lu Yizhi nodded. He did not dwell on the matter too much, and then said, “As for the second reason, of course it is because we hope Brother Chen can join the Third Branch.”

“Join the Third Branch?

“What does that mean?”

Chen Yushu was startled.

“The Liu Family Apothecary was founded by my grandfather with his own hands.

“When he was still here, everything was naturally peaceful.

“But now he has been bedridden with grave illness for a long time, and has not managed the affairs of the apothecary for quite some time. So chaos has sprung up within it, and little by little it has divided into three branches, headed by my eldest uncle, second uncle, and my father, who are fighting one another...”

Hearing this, Liu Qingyan could not help but explain.

“I am only an apprentice.

“I cannot possibly take part in your struggle.”

Chen Yushu frowned and said.

“That will not do, but your master can,” Liu Qingyan said at once.

“Then you can go find my master,” Chen Yushu said, brushing it off entirely.