33: Colorful magic needle, the first bird to stand out

After a night of warmth and intimacy, it was already the next day. Remembering the woman's fair, tender, and delicate hands from last night, Chen Cuo's hard bones felt like they were melting.

From Qingyin Workshop, he arrived at the Fan Residence. After paying his respects to the Old Master, Chen Cuo went to the backyard, loaded the medium-sized stone pillar onto a carriage, and brought it back. Fan Wufeng was quite surprised, thinking that his strength had increased rapidly and his progress was very fast.

He then admonished Chen Cuo not to be too eager in his Cultivation, to avoid Qi Deviation.

The Old Master was very busy these days. Shi Renhsan and others were injured and couldn't manage Gang affairs, so he had Fan Wufeng assist him. The Old Master was in high spirits, showing the same lofty ambitions he had in his youth.

Seeing his excitement, Chen Cuo didn't say much. He also mentioned that Lei Wen and Lei Wu had been entrusted with important responsibilities and were both promoted to Head Chiefs. Lei Wen managed the territory originally belonging to He Shu of the North Dipper Gang, while Lei Wu became Stone Deficiency's deputy, now in charge of all external hall matters.

Lei Wen and Lei Wu had followed Long Jiang to join the fun at the time. They were both alert and did not follow Long Jiang close to the combat zone, so they were not deeply affected.

Instead, because too many high-ranking members of the Gang were lost, they were all promoted. Now, the Vajra Sect is also recruiting Martial Artists externally, with the Old Master helping to keep order.

Returning to his own hall, Chen Cuo immediately took out his tools to boil various medicinal dishes.

He had consumed one of the two Qi Burst Pills he confiscated from Sparrowhawk last time to test its effects. Then, he immediately reverse-engineered and improved it, developing a new model of Qi Burst Pill.

The original Qi Burst Pill's effect was to boost Qi and blood internal strength for a quarter of an hour after use. After the medicinal effect wore off, there was also a side effect of overall weakness for three hours.

However, the new version of the Qi Burst Pill, improved by Chen Cuo, could boost its effect to half an hour, while the side effect was only half of the original. The effect was doubled, which made Chen Cuo realize how Heaven-Defying his talent for basic herbal knowledge truly was!

So, Chen Cuo collected several powerful medical classics to study, making rapid progress. When he had free time, he also researched new medicinal dishes, which not only allowed him to practice his skill proficiency but also aided his Cultivation, and could also be used to earn money, killing multiple birds with one stone.

The improved new version of the Qi Burst Pill was also sold in his pharmacy.

Now, Chen Cuo could easily be called a local magnate; he was no longer the small-time hooligan who lacked food and clothing.

“But practicing Martial Skills is quite expensive. A single set of invigorating medicinal dishes requires a thousand taels of medicinal ingredients, and with supplementary food and decoctions, one Cultivation session costs nearly three thousand taels of silver.” Chen Cuo quietly calculated, secretly feeling that the saying “poor scholars, rich Martial Artists” was truly not an empty phrase.

This was only possible for him. Ordinary people simply couldn't afford to spend so much money on practicing Martial Skills, nor would they do so.

Because of the System, every Cultivation Technique he Cultivated could reach Perfection and attain the Transcendent state. Therefore, Chen Cuo always strived for Perfection, using only the best medicinal ingredients.

For example, one of the nourishing tonics he prepared, the most important ingredient, was a century-old ginseng worth a thousand taels.

However, with his manufactured products as a safety net, Chen Cuo's business income was quite good. Since he took charge of five streets, he completely transformed them. The most prosperous areas and shops on these streets all became outlets for his products.

Moreover, the goods he now offered were no longer the Elementary products from before. For example, perfumes and soaps were re-purified and refined, undergoing product upgrades. Now, he sold high-grade goods.

However, he didn't go to extremes. He also provided the detailed manufacturing methods to the Gang. Even if he hadn't, with the Gang Leader severely injured, Shi Renhsan couldn't have done anything to him.

Ever since the major merchants in Wei City received the various rare products provided by Chen Cuo, they wished they could worship Chen Cuo as their own father, sending him money one after another.

For instance, the Huanxi Tower on Changshun Street, which Ge Feng had put forward to compete against Chen Cuo, had its OP (owner) Huo Xiangsi killed by Chen Cuo, serving as a warning. He then promoted a willing clerk to be the owner to frame the North Dipper Gang. Unexpectedly, before the plan could be implemented, Shi Potian directly destroyed the North Dipper Gang with lightning speed.

Huanxi Tower itself was an asset of the Zhao Family, a noble family from the prefecture. It was said that the Zhao Family originally intended to come down to demand an explanation, but after learning about the goods Chen Cuo provided, they instead eagerly sent people down to seek cooperation and praised Chen Cuo for killing Huo Xiangsi, after all, Huo Xiangsi was just a dog, but Chen Cuo was a God of Wealth!

The soaps, perfumes, medicinal dishes, strong liquor, and other products provided by Chen Cuo were heavily purchased by the forces behind various merchants, selling well in various states and even foreign countries.

However, Chen Cuo couldn't know about these things. It was just that because of him, some people's original destinies were altered, causing his destiny points to slowly increase.

“It's finally done. This medicinal pill is used to accumulate internal Qi. Why don't I call it the Jin Gathering Pill?” Chen Cuo boiled a pot of medicinal soup in a ceramic pot, drained it with a sieve, and rolled it into pills by hand.

He casually popped one into his mouth like a candy, and instantly, a large amount of energy was generated within his body. Strands of internal Qi wildly spread and grew.

Chen Cuo immediately took out a silver needle and pricked the Acupoints on his chest, above and below. The internal Qi gathered inside, forming an inverted Treasure Bottle, thick at the top and thin at the bottom.

The internal Qi flowed within the bottle, transforming into a Seven-Colored hue. Then, Chen Cuo grabbed a handful of pills and swallowed them all. The internal Qi in his body surged, supporting the equivalent transformation.

The internal Qi within his body continuously fused and collided, finally flowing throughout his entire body. Eventually, all the internal Qi generated from Chen Cuo's consumption of the pills transformed into a Seven-Colored hue, dazzling and incredibly pure in quality.

And the Treasure Bottle formed by the internal strength seemed even more real. Within the bottle, a Seven-Colored flowing light needle continuously condensed.

Through his perception, Chen Cuo discovered that within his Dantian, the very bottom was like an ocean tide, with a majestic giant mountain suppressing the waves. Above it, a Treasure Bottle hung upside down, like a whale devouring immeasurable internal Qi, transforming it into Seven-Colored Treasure Bottle True Force.

Around the Treasure Bottle, black and white internal Qi swirled, tangled in Chaos, like the unseparated Yin and Yang of heaven and earth.

This was the strange phenomenon resulting from his simultaneous Cultivation of several Cultivation Techniques. If others were to witness it, even Innate Martial Artists would likely fall into madness. Any one of the Cultivation Techniques he Cultivated was top-tier, yet no one could simultaneously Cultivate multiple Cultivation Techniques without their internal Qi becoming chaotic.

Especially since several of the Cultivation Techniques had different attributes.

If others were to do this, Qi Deviation would be considered minor; more likely, they would explode and die due to conflicting internal strength.

But Chen Cuo was different. With the System's blessing, his body was like a miniature world, capable of accommodating various different types of internal Qi. He had no fear of Qi Deviation; instead, he achieved a peculiar balance, harmonious, stable, and perfectly integrated.

However, this also meant that when Chen Cuo Cultivated, he needed a large amount of medicinal dishes to supplement his body's energy, which was only natural.

“Seven-Colored Treasure Bottle True Force proficiency +47.”

Chen Cuo consumed a large amount of Jin Gathering Pills, using the abundant internal strength to compress and smelt it into an internal Qi Treasure Bottle, and nurtured a Seven-Colored light needle. This was precisely the Martial Skill “Seven-Colored Divine Needle” that came with the Cultivation Technique.

Chen Cuo raised his hand and fired it. The Seven-Colored light needle shot out from his fingertip, and a phantom immediately appeared. Before anyone could get a good look, it vanished into the air.

Only the rustling sound of piercing could be heard. Chen Cuo quickly walked to the side of the rockery's bluestone, reached out and gently touched it. The stone skin peeled off, revealing countless tiny needle holes.

“This... no wonder only Martial Artists at the Viscera Refining stage can master this Martial Skill. It's truly powerful.”

Only Viscera Refining stage Martial Artists can initially project their internal Qi and use various incredible secret methods like Martial Dao voice transmission.

This Seven-Colored Divine Needle is formed by the endless compression and refinement of internal strength. It is usually nurtured within the Dantian Treasure Bottle and can be used to harm enemies when facing a strong opponent. It is incredibly concealed, making it impossible to guard against.

Moreover, this internal Qi specializes in breaking defenses and has a miraculous effect against hard external Martial Skills, which made Chen Cuo's expression turn strange.

...

At the Vajra Sect headquarters, outside Shi Potian's Immortal Cave, Shi Renhsan stood, gently knocking on the door, waiting quietly, coughing occasionally.

After waiting for a while, Shi Potian finally emerged from the Immortal Cave, looking at Shi Renhsan with a calm expression.

Shi Renhsan showed respect and said, “Father, the Chang Family's letter has arrived. They will be here this afternoon.”

“Good, I will personally host them then,” Shi Potian's words were brief, simply acknowledging.

Shi Renhsan looked up at Shi Potian, noticing his unchanging expression, and couldn't help but feel secretly pleased. However, he didn't show it, instead saying, “Then, Father, how do you plan to handle the matter of that old servant's death here, and the search for the Mountain Spirit? Your injury probably makes it unsuitable for you to go out.”

“An old servant is just a dog. Will the Chang Family care about the life or death of a dog? We are also just their dogs. As long as we are more valuable than dead people, there will be no problem. As for the matter of searching for the Mountain Spirit, let Chen Cuo go. The Chang Family merely wants someone to lead the way.”