Chapter 171 - 167: Blood Coagulation Pill
After gathering everything on the desk, Li Yuan’s gaze fell back on the bottle of dark-gold pills.
There were five pills, and their sizes weren’t perfectly uniform.
Four of them were roughly the size of a thumb tip, with fine cracks and impurity spots on their surfaces. Their quality was average.
The fifth was noticeably larger, its color more uniform. Its dark-gold luster was deep and reserved, and its surface was smooth and flawless.
Li Yuan took out the highest-quality pill and examined it in his palm.
The moment his finger touched it, translucent text materialized before his eyes.
[Detected equippable item: Blood Coagulation Pill (Complete)]
[Equipment Entry Preview: Spirit-Blood Dual Cultivation (Green) — When cultivating Spiritual Power, Qi Blood can be circulated simultaneously. When cultivating Qi Blood, Spiritual Power can be circulated simultaneously.]
[Permanence Condition Preview: Achieve Perfection in one immortal Cultivation Technique and one immortal Body Refining Technique.]
[Equip?]
’A green entry.’
Li Yuan stared at the entry’s effect, reading it over twice.
’When I cultivate Spiritual Power, my Qi Blood runs with it. When I cultivate Qi Blood, my Spiritual Power runs with it. It means that no matter which one I’m training, the other won’t stop.’
’The condition for permanence isn’t outrageous, but it’s not close either. My Spirit-Introducing Skill has already reached Perfection, so that counts as an immortal Cultivation Technique.’
’But my Iron Wall Body Refining Skill is currently only at the Proficient level, still far from Perfection.’
Li Yuan put the Blood Coagulation Pill back into the bottle and didn’t equip it right away.
’My five equipment slots are all full right now. To equip this, I’d have to unequip something else. There’s no rush.’
’First, I need to figure out what this pill is actually used for.’
He put the bottle away, got up, and went next door.
Old Sun was squatting in front of the Pill Furnace, monitoring the heat. He didn’t even look up when he heard the door.
"Old Sun, ever heard of the Blood Coagulation Pill?"
Old Sun’s hand paused on the furnace lid. He looked up and glanced at Li Yuan.
"Why are you asking about that?"
"I overheard someone mention it on the road but didn’t catch the details. I was thinking about it on my way back, and the name sounded familiar."
Old Sun closed the furnace lid, dusted off his hands, and stood up, stretching his knees.
"The Blood Coagulation Pill. It’s used to help with breakthroughs."
Old Sun rubbed his lower back as he spoke.
"It’s not rare, but it’s not cheap either. It’s mainly for older Cultivators whose Qi Blood is in decline. When you get old, your Qi Blood weakens, and your body can’t withstand the impact of a breakthrough. A Blood Coagulation Pill can temporarily boost your Qi Blood, helping your body endure the process."
"So it’s not very useful for younger Cultivators?"
"Not very useful on its own," Old Sun said, shaking his head.
"But if you take it along with a realm-breaking pill, it can increase the chances of a successful breakthrough."
Li Yuan nodded.
"Alright, I get it."
Returning to his own room, Li Yuan closed the door.
Li Yuan sat on his bed and circulated the Spirit-Introducing Skill to recover his Spiritual Power.
The battle during the day hadn’t consumed much of his energy, but he had fully activated his Divine Movement Step for nearly an hour while escaping, depleting both his Spiritual Power and stamina.
The Spiritual Essence-gathering effect of the Spirit Absorption Pill made his cultivation speed very fast, and his Spiritual Power was fully restored in about an hour.
The sky had already grown dark.
The settlement outside had quieted down. Most of the Loose Cultivators in the stall area had returned to their dwellings.
Occasionally, someone would walk past on the dirt road, their footsteps CRUNCHING on the gravel.
Li Yuan took the bamboo scroll from the bandit cultivator’s storage bag, unrolled it, and laid it across his knees.
The Earth Escape Technique.
The principle behind this Magic was in the same vein as the Fire Escape Skill. Both involved converting Spiritual Power into its corresponding attribute to resonate with the surrounding environment, borrowing the environment’s power to move quickly. The Fire Escape Skill involved transforming into flames to race across the ground, while the Earth Escape Technique involved converting Spiritual Power to the Earth Attribute to travel underground.
With his foundation in the Fire Escape Skill, it wasn’t hard to understand. The difficult part was the Spiritual Power Attribute conversion—Li Yuan’s Spiritual Power was primarily Fire Element, so converting it to the Earth Element required an extra step and consumed far more power than the Fire Escape Skill.
Fortunately, he had an accelerated comprehension ability, which increased the speed at which he learned new Magic by fifty percent.
Li Yuan followed the Spell on the bamboo scroll to guide his Spiritual Power, attempting to convert a small stream of it from the Fire Element to the Earth Element.
The conversion process was smoother than he had expected.
The harmonizing effect of his Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill on different Spiritual Power attributes within his meridians became apparent here.
When the Spiritual Power switched attributes within his meridians, there was no rejection. The conversion was just a little slow.
After a dozen or so repeated attempts, Li Yuan managed to condense a ball of dark yellow Spiritual Power in his palm. Its density wasn’t high, but its attribute purity was just barely sufficient.
He guided the ball of Spiritual Power toward the ground, following the instructions of the Spell.
The Spiritual Power seeped into the ground, creating a faint resonance with the earth beneath his feet.
He felt it. It was as if the earth beneath his feet had turned to water, giving him the sensation that he could sink into it. The feeling was vague and unstable, breaking the moment his concentration wavered, but it was definitely there.
Translucent text materialized.
[Earth Escape Technique — Novice (12/200)]
’I’ve made a start.’
Li Yuan withdrew his Spiritual Power, rolled up the bamboo scroll, and set it aside.
’I can’t use the Earth Escape Technique yet. The Novice stage just establishes an initial connection with Earth Element Spiritual Power. To actually travel underground, I’d need to reach at least the Proficient stage. Still, it’s always good to have another escape route.’
He closed his eyes, preparing to continue his cultivation, when his Aura Imprint suddenly reacted.
A familiar aura was rapidly approaching from the east.
Wang Lu.
’He’s moving fast. Much faster than someone just traveling normally. It’s like he’s rushing here.’
Li Yuan opened his eyes, got up, and walked to the door.
A moment later, the courtyard gate was pushed open.
Wang Lu stood in the doorway, his expression grim. The lantern light illuminated a face with tightly pressed lips and a panic in his eyes that he couldn’t suppress.
"There’s been trouble."
Wang Lu entered the room and closed the door behind him.
Old Sun heard the commotion and poked his head out from next door. Wang Lu waved him over.
The three of them stood in Li Yuan’s room.
Wang Lu took a deep breath, his voice low. "Uncle Qu’s Soul Token shattered."
The color drained from Old Sun’s face.
A Soul Token was a life-pendant the Wang family created for its core members. Refined from a person’s essence blood, it followed a simple principle: as long as the person lived, the token remained intact; if the person died, the token shattered. A shattered Soul Token meant the person was dead.
"When did it happen?" Old Sun asked.
"This afternoon. The news came from the family," Wang Lu said, looking at Li Yuan.
"Where did Uncle Qu go today? Did he tell either of you anything?"
"Uncle Qu took me out today," Li Yuan said after a moment’s thought.
"We set up an Array on a hillside, intending to lure some bandit cultivators over."
"After the Array was set up, Uncle Qu put me in charge of channeling Spiritual Power into it to keep it running."
Wang Lu didn’t interrupt, motioning for him to continue.
"I was channeling for nearly an hour when someone appeared from the northwest."
"Uncle Qu recognized the person’s aura and said it was one of his targets, so he went after them. He told me to stay put and maintain the Array."
"And then?"
"After Uncle Qu gave chase, he never came back."
Li Yuan paused. "I waited on the hillside for a while. Later, a few people came from the northeast, wearing the Li family’s clothes. I didn’t dare to stay, so I left."
"Did Uncle Qu say anything before he gave chase?"
"No. He left in a hurry, as if he was afraid the person would get away."
Wang Lu was silent for a few breaths.
"Luring the tiger from its mountain," he said in a low voice.
"First, they send one person to lure Uncle Qu away, then they attack from another direction—no, that’s not right. Uncle Qu’s strength isn’t something an ordinary person could handle... unless they had more than one person."
Wang Lu paced back and forth in the room, his steps hurried.
"The Li family. Those people in Li family clothes—they only appeared after Uncle Qu gave chase?"
"Yes. They arrived about fifteen minutes after Uncle Qu left."
"How many?"
"Four. I didn’t get a good look at their Cultivation, but the aura of the one in the lead was strong."
Wang Lu gritted his teeth and didn’t press for more details.
"The two of you stay here for now. Don’t go out, and especially don’t go north." Wang Lu looked at Li Yuan, then at Old Sun. "I have to go back and report the situation here. Wait for my news."
With that, Wang Lu pushed the door open and left.
The sound of his footsteps faded quickly down the dirt road, soon disappearing into the night.
Old Sun stood in place, silent for a long moment, then sighed. "With Uncle Qu’s strength... for him to fall, the other side must have paid a steep price."
Li Yuan didn’t reply.
Old Sun shook his head, turned, and went back next door to continue watching his Pill Furnace.
Li Yuan closed the door and sat back down on his bed.
’From beginning to end, Wang Lu never mentioned the Spirit Essence Fruit.’
’He didn’t ask where the Spirit Essence Fruit was, didn’t ask if Uncle Qu had taken it with him, and didn’t even utter the words "Spirit Essence Fruit."’
Li Yuan began circulating his Spirit-Introducing Skill again, sinking into his cultivation.
The next morning, Li Yuan opened his shop as usual.
Making talismans, receiving Loose Cultivators, selling talismans—it was no different from any other day.
When he went out to buy materials at noon, Li Yuan noticed two new people by the dirt road on the east side of the settlement.
They wore plain, grey-brown robes, appearing to be Loose Cultivators, and were sitting on a rock by the roadside, drinking water and resting. But while the Tokens at their waists were mostly wrapped in cloth, a corner peeked out, revealing a faint emblem.
’The Li family’s emblem.’
Li Yuan walked past without a sideways glance, bought his materials, and returned.
He went out again in the afternoon, taking a different route. Near a fork in the road north of the settlement, he saw another one. This person was squatting alone, leaning against a dead tree with the brim of his hat pulled down low.
’At least three Li family Cultivators are scattered around the outskirts of the settlement.’
’Surveillance or setting up a perimeter? I can’t be sure. But they won’t make any big moves in the short term.’
’The Primordial Yang Sect’s rule against fighting within thirty li of the Secret Realm is still in effect. They wouldn’t dare cause trouble here.’
Li Yuan returned to his shop, closed the door, and continued his cultivation.
Late that night, after cultivating for some time, Li Yuan switched to practicing the Earth Escape Technique.
The conversion to Earth Element Spiritual Power was a little smoother than it had been during the day, and he could now stably condense a dark yellow ball of Spiritual Power in his palm. Each time he pressed the Spiritual Power into the ground, the sense of resonance with the earth became a little clearer.
His proficiency in the Earth Escape Technique was climbing slowly but steadily.