6: Chapter 6 Qi and Blood Pills

The ideal is full, but reality is harsh.

Xia Shaoxin thought that if the experiment succeeded, he could transform the twenty-five sacrificed Poisonous Insects into two hundred and fifty, send them to the Gu Bureau, and earn hundreds of thousands.

Who would have thought that a problem would arise during the transformation the next day.

This time, he was transforming the second most valuable "White-Bellied Mantis," worth seven thousand coins.

Having learned the lesson from transforming the Golden Earth Dragon, he caught ten ordinary mantises and placed them in a bamboo cage soaked in talisman water.

When a ray of light shot out from between his eyebrows, he fainted before he could even take a look at the White-Bellied Mantis.

After waking up and checking the moon phase, another three days had passed.

Only one live White-Bellied Mantis remained in the cage, along with a pile of severed limbs.

The Poisonous Insects had torn each other apart; the survivor was truly a Poison King, yet the Gu Bureau would not pay an extra copper for it.

Thus, nine were lost, a loss of tens of thousands.

Xia Shaoxin wanted to cry but had no tears; he had no choice but to kill it and grind it into powder.

The Golden Earth Dragon hanging in the next room, because it hadn't been processed in time, showed signs of decay and could no longer be air-dried, so he had to light a fire to roast it dry.

He accidentally glanced at the water in the basin and discovered that his complexion was sallow.

For several days in a row, he had been mentally exhausted and lethargic.

"Transforming these types of Advanced Poisonous Insects seems to consume more qi and blood than those herbs."

"It seems eating chicken isn't enough to replenish it. I might as well find a doctor to prescribe some medicine to take with chicken soup."

He locked the door and, with his head drooping, headed to Li Family Hollow.

The owner of the largest pharmacy in Li Family Hollow, who had sold him the Daqi Sanghuang, was also a doctor who examined his illness.

Upon seeing his complexion, the doctor was greatly shocked.

He then looked at his tongue coating, his brows furrowing tightly.

After gripping his wrist to check his pulse, the doctor said solemnly: "Your complexion is terrible, and your tongue coating is withered. This is a condition of severe qi and blood deficiency. To be honest, you are not far from death."

Xia Shaoxin stared at the doctor in astonishment. Cursing someone to death the moment you open your mouth—it's truly the kindness of the people of Li Family Hollow that your pharmacy has managed to stay open until now!

"I am not joking with you; honest advice is hard to swallow!" The doctor looked him straight in the eyes without fear, making Xia Shaoxin feel a chill and a bit timid.

"Then prescribe me some medicine to replenish my qi and blood."

The doctor picked up a brush, spread out the paper, dipped it in plenty of ink, hesitated for a long time, but didn't write a single word.

"No, no, you are a Bug Catcher, eroded by poisonous miasma all year round; ordinary qi and blood decoctions probably won't work."

Xia Shaoxin was a bit impatient: "Then prescribe something different. I don't mind if it's expensive."

The doctor put down the brush and said very seriously: "Little brother, this pharmacy has always been honest and never exaggerates illnesses. I am not saying this just to get more money out of you."

"Qi Refining practitioners have immortal bodies, while we have Mortal bodies. The bodies of you Bug Catchers are somewhere in between; your resistance to poisonous miasma is stronger than ours, so if you have symptoms of qi and blood deficiency, you must take a qi and blood pill."

Xia Shaoxin's heart skipped a beat. From childhood to now, all the medicines he had heard of that were called "pills" were very expensive.

"Don't misunderstand, Shopkeeper. I have money; just prescribe the medicine."

His tone was a bit stiff, and the doctor misunderstood again, saying angrily: "I don't have any qi and blood pills to sell you, so there is no intention to cheat you. Wait here; I will get you something."

He walked into the inner hall and came out after a long while, holding a small box.

He opened it in front of Xia Shaoxin, and inside was actually a talisman.

"You are using a spiritual talisman to treat my illness? How much would that cost?" Xia Shaoxin was startled.

Spiritual talismans are truly expensive things. My qi and blood are just a little deficient; resting for a few more days should be enough. It's not worth paying such a high price to treat an illness that won't kill me.

"In your condition, you really will die!" The doctor said with a look of disdain: "I am not using a spiritual talisman to treat you; this is the prescription for the qi and blood pill!"

Xia Shaoxin was even more confused: "This is clearly a talisman; how is it a prescription?"

"Hehe, ordinary prescriptions are written directly on paper, while immortal prescriptions are written on talismans."

The doctor picked up the talisman paper. There wasn't a single word on it, just a few strange strokes.

"To learn an immortal prescription, you have to see if you have the Aptitude."

"For decades, I have never succeeded."

The doctor put the talisman paper back into the small box.

"If you pay ten thousand coins, this talisman paper is yours. I will teach you the incantation to learn it. If you can learn it yourself, that would be best. If not, find someone with the Aptitude, ask them to learn it, and then make the qi and blood pill to save your life."

Xia Shaoxin stared wide-eyed at the pharmacy owner.

How is this script any different from a scam?

And it belongs to the most clumsy kind of trickery.

However, he didn't want to expose him and asked very seriously: "Do you dare to teach me the incantation for learning it first?"

The doctor laughed: "The incantation for learning prescriptions is universal and not a secret."

Uh...

Xia Shaoxin suddenly felt that he really was a country bumpkin, hearing many things for the first time.

"Besides, even if I teach it to you, it's useless; you can't learn it yourself."

Openly looked down upon, the anger in Xia Shaoxin's heart flared up, and he blurted out: "Just teach me and let me try! What if I can learn it?"

The doctor looked Xia Shaoxin up and down and closed the box: "Why don't you go ask at the Gu Bureau? You should be able to buy qi and blood pills there. I remember they cost one thousand coins each."

Slap!

Xia Shaoxin reached out and pressed down on the box.

He took out a ten-thousand-coin note from his pocket and threw it on the table.

"I'm buying this prescription! Hurry up and teach me the learning method!"

The doctor was startled, his eyes fixed on the large denomination note. He hesitated for a second, then swooshed the note away, opened the box with a smile, and took out the talisman paper again.

"Come, bring your left index and middle fingers together, curl your little finger, and press this end of the talisman paper between your middle and ring fingers."

Xia Shaoxin was stunned. Using a talisman paper requires strict hand gestures?

He didn't understand why, but he was very shocked and followed the instructions seriously.

"Right thumb underneath, middle finger on top, pinch this corner, and curl the other fingers up."

"Hold the talisman paper horizontally in front of your chest, keep it taut, listen to me recite the incantation, and then you recite it."

The doctor recited it word by word; it was all strange sounds, and he had no idea what it meant.

The incantation was not long, actually just one sentence.

Xia Shaoxin recited it silently in his heart, then opened his mouth and recited it softly, trembling slightly.

The talisman paper in his hand suddenly ignited without fire, emitting a ray of light that shot toward Xia Shaoxin and vanished into the space between his eyebrows.

His body felt as if it had been electrocuted, tingling and numb.

Strange knowledge surged in like a tide. Xia Shaoxin couldn't believe it; the Advanced prescription was learned in such a way!

The doctor's mouth hung open, his eyes bulging as if they were about to pop out.

"Impossible! You actually have the Aptitude to learn immortal prescriptions!"

"I have treasured this prescription for decades and have tried countless times, but I could never succeed..."

The doctor's eyes became moist; it was clearly envy and jealousy.

Xia Shaoxin turned a deaf ear and closed his eyes; the knowledge of the prescription was engraved in his Sea of Consciousness.

The qi and blood pill requires thirty kinds of medicinal ingredients, several of which are the very Poisonous Insects from Dawu Mountain that he had just sacrificed.

Hehe, isn't that a coincidence?

It's like using the original broth to digest the original food.

Eh, the Yue Kingdom buys the Poisonous Insects I collect and sells them to the Sect; is it to make these things?

Interesting. I must get my hands on those prescriptions in the future.

"I heard that Sect Disciples often lose qi and blood when Cultivating their Cultivation Technique, so I want to learn to make qi and blood pills to sell to Sect Disciples."

"This is fate. I didn't expect little brother to have this talent. I admire you!"

The pharmacy doctor chattered on, interrupting Xia Shaoxin's contemplation.

He opened his eyes and saw the doctor's moist eyes, feeling incredibly melancholy.

"Sorry, I learned it."

"Sigh... Congratulations."

The doctor was dispirited, and Xia Shaoxin couldn't bear to see him suffer.

He wanted to leave, but then he thought that some of the ingredients were not commonly heard of, so he might as well ask. He recited the names of several ingredients and decided to buy them here if they had them.

The doctor said pleasantly surprised: "Is this the prescription for the qi and blood pill?"

Xia Shaoxin didn't lie to him and nodded.

"Then doesn't that mean I also..." The doctor's eyes lit up.

"You are overthinking it. Even if I copy the prescription for you, you can't make it, because making it requires special techniques. Without the Aptitude, you can't do it."

The doctor's eyes dimmed instantly.

Xia Shaoxin's words were cruel, and what was even crueler was that he actually still had to buy the medicinal ingredients from the doctor.

"Do you have those ingredients I asked you about just now?"

"Yes."

"Is it expensive?"

"Not expensive."

"Then weigh me a jin."

The doctor was shocked. Who buys medicine by the jin at a pharmacy?

In fact, Xia Shaoxin was preparing for thirty qi and blood pills.

"Doesn't your place have that much?"

"Yes, yes, sigh, I'll weigh it for you."

The doctor held back his unwillingness and reluctance, grabbed a few herbs for Xia Shaoxin, and weighed out the full amount.

The old man had a good mindset; he could pick things up and put them down. In this Li Family Hollow, he could be considered a man of talent.

Xia Shaoxin went to other pharmacies, bought the rest of the medicine, and hurried home.

As for the remaining expensive Poisonous Insects, there was no choice; he had to risk his life and transform them first.

It took ten days to transform three types of Poisonous Insects. His lips were pale, his vision blurry, and he had chest tightness and shortness of breath; he was no different from a dying person.

Fortunately, the medicinal ingredients were collected, so he hurried to start refining the medicine.

Xia Shaoxin did not lie to the pharmacy owner; the production of the qi and blood pill is not something an ordinary person can do.

During the refining and production process, one even has to add an incantation.

When making the miasma-repelling pill last time, he witnessed the strange discharge phenomenon of the medicinal ingredients, as well as the phenomenon of mutual attraction and repulsion. This time, he came into contact with an incantation for the first time.

The incantation is a means of the immortals, capable of drawing upon the power of heaven and earth; not everyone can recite it.

It was probably just as the pharmacy doctor said: the Physique of a Bug Catcher is different from that of a Mortal, so he could recite low-level incantations.

Following the step-by-step sequence, he poured the medicinal ingredients into a medicine mortar and stirred.

Just like with the miasma-repelling pill, fine electrical sparks appeared in the medicinal powder.

He was in no mood to marvel at it now. Gritting his teeth and enduring extreme weakness, he finally rolled it into a pill.

The moment the pill took shape, there seemed to be an invisible force inside it, wrapping around the qi and blood pill, making its surface as hard as iron.

He brought it to his nose and smelled it; there was a faint fragrance.

He couldn't wait and threw it into his mouth.

As soon as it entered his throat, the taste changed.

The pill seemed to have intelligence and didn't want to roll into his stomach. Bitterness, sourness, and a foul, fishy smell kept rising from his stomach, and he almost spat it out.

He tightly closed his mouth and reached up to squeeze his throat, strictly forbidding the qi and blood pill from coming back up.

Gradually, the qi and blood pill became obedient and quiet, falling into his stomach. A cool stream of air surged throughout his whole body, and his spirits were greatly lifted. He took out a mirror and looked at himself; even if he didn't look ethereal, he already looked like a human being again.

"Hehe, I am saved!"

As he opened his mouth, a sweet fragrance overflowed, filling the room with scent.