TBIP: Chapter 19

After getting the answer they wanted, the two of them left the black market without any delay.

The process of leaving the black market was more troublesome than coming here. Wen Hanshan took Lou Xingyao to change locations several times, and even changed his disguise several times before completely getting rid of the tail behind them.

After returning home, Lou Xingyao, who didn’t dare to breathe the entire way, was relieved and couldn’t help sighing in a low voice. “Fortunately, you have foresight.”

The diagnosis given by the alchemist in the black market at the beginning was no different from the diagnosis of the family after Lou Xiaowu was tested to have double spiritual roots. Both said that the meridians were weak and couldn’t withstand the impact of spiritual power.

Lou Xingyao could even hear his own helplessness in the tone of the alchemist, as if he couldn’t understand why the two of them spent so much money to find him on the black market.

It wasn’t until he heard about the meridians reconnection pill that the alchemist’s tone changed subtly.

First, he said that the continuation could be used. Then he started to ask the two people if they had it. The two of them didn’t respond to it, but from the tone of the alchemist, it was clear that he had already made a judgment in his heart.

Wen Hanshan had taken him away as quickly as possible, but he still couldn’t stop the alchemist from wanting to explore.

The unspoken rules of the black market didn’t allow the identities of both parties in the transaction to be questioned, but it couldn’t stop the alchemist from wanting to kill people to steal treasures.

If the existence of the meridians reconnection pill was exposed outside the black market, the type of consequences that would be caused were self-evident.

“It is better to be careful.” Wen Hanshan obviously expected this and his expression didn’t change.

“Brother Wen spent a lot of money today.” Now that he was out of danger, Lou Xingyao inevitably thought of the consultation fee of ten spirit beads again.

He couldn’t stop his heartache. These were ten spirit beads, which could be exchanged for 10,000 taels of gold. It could buy three of their current courtyard!

“It is just some personal belongings.” Wen Hanshan didn’t care about this, and his tone was indifferent.

“I wonder how much personal belongings Brother Wen has left?” This was the first time Lou Xingyao talked about money with Wen Hanshan.

Before this, Lou Xingyao always felt that even brothers needed to settle accounts clearly. Talking about money would inevitably hurt feelings.

However, during today’s consultation, Wen Hanshan hadn’t raised any objections to the medical fee but Lou Xingyao could tell a lot of information from the almost inaudible pause when he gave the money.

In addition, the expenditure was incurred due to him. Lou Xingyao finally couldn’t help touching on this slightly sensitive topic.

“It is enough to support you.” Wen Hanshan didn’t answer the question directly.

But it was also this answer that made Lou Xingyao understand that there might not be much left.

It wasn’t difficult to understand when thinking about it. Wen Hanshan hadn’t taken too many things with him when he left the Zhou family. The two of them hadn’t been extravagant on the way here, but they weren’t frugal either.

Both the wildebeest and the current courtyard cost a lot. Now there was an additional medical fee. No matter how big the family, it couldn’t keep up with such expenses, let alone the two of them who weren’t very well-off.

Lou Xingyao didn’t directly expose this matter, but only said tactfully, “I just thought that since we have settled down, I also want to find something to do so I can have some income. It isn’t good to rely on Brother Wen for support all the time.”

Wen Hanshan subconsciously wanted to refute it. Then when he heard Lou Xingyao’s last sentence, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

He didn’t want Lou Xingyao to be distracted by money, but Lou Xingyao obviously felt guilty about spending a lot of his money. It would be bad if he refused forcefully.

In the end, he could only nod and make a concession. “Wait for you to take the meridians reconnection pill first and successfully draw qi into your body. Then we will talk about other things.”

Lou Xingyao nodded. Then at Wen Hanshan’s signal, he took out the meridians reconnection pill. “Brother Wen, please protect me.”

According to the alchemist’s meaning, the meridians reconnection pill was indeed suitable for Lou Xingyao, but it was better to have someone to watch over him when taking it so as to respond flexibly.

This candidate was naturally none other than Wen Hanshan.

“Take the medicine.” Wen Hanshan sat cross-legged beside Lou Xingyao. His intention to take care of her was particularly obvious.

Seeing this, Lou Xingyao stopped procrastinating. He sat cross-legged, raised his hand, and took out a pill from the small jade bottle.

Unlike the reddish-brown color of the fasting pill, the meridians reconnection pill was light yellow overall, and there were some mysterious patterns on the pill that made people indulge in it. Lou Xingyao knew that this was the difference between a fourth-grade pill and a first-grade pill.

He raised his hand and swallowed the pill. Just like the fasting pill, it melted in his mouth. The next morning, it turned into a warm current that spread to Lou Xingyao’s limbs.

This feeling was a bit like taking a hot spring bath or returning to his mother’s body. The extreme comfort made Lou Xingyao’s originally nervous expression relax a lot.

However, before Lou Xingyao’s face could completely relax, a powerful force with unstoppable momentum rushed into Lou Xingyao’s body.

In an instant, Lou Xingyao felt a great pain in his body. It felt like he was thrown into a meat grinder, and everything in his perception was crushed to pieces.

It hurt!

For a moment, this was the only thought left in Lou Xingyao’s consciousness.

This was the first time he had experienced such a huge pain, which made Lou Xingyao wish he could understand himself on the spot in order to withstand this torture that was unbearable for ordinary people.

Just when Lou Xingyao was about to lose consciousness due to the torture, he suddenly heard Wen Hanshan’s stern warning. “If you want to give up on all your previous efforts, just let yourself go.”

The alchemist might’ve asked for a high consultation fee and even had the idea of killing people to steal treasures, but he fortunately hadn’t missed any details.

Before this, it was made clear to the two of them that if Lou Xingyao took the meridians reconnection pill, the medicinal power would first break all the meridians in the body and then reshape them. The pain would be unbearable for ordinary people.

The most important thing is that once the person who takes the medicine loses consciousness during the process, the effect of the medicine will immediately dissipate. At that time, either the meridians that weren’t reshaped would be abandoned or he would need to use a second meridians reconnection pill to start all over again.

Lou Xingyao, whose consciousness was blurred, heard this and immediately thought of the alchemist’s reminder.

He also thought of Wen Hanshan’s warning before leaving the room. If he didn’t have the determination to move forward, he might as well be an ordinary mortal and Wen Hanshan would be able to support him until he died of old age.

If he couldn’t bear the effect of the meridians reconnection pill at this moment, how could he say that he had the determination to move forward?

Thinking of this, Lou Xingyao gritted his teeth and forced his somewhat scattered consciousness to gather back together again. He started to focus on the medicinal power in his body that had the power to destroy the world.

Lou Xingyao, who was concentrating all the energy in his body, didn’t know how terrifying he looked at this moment.

The originally intact skin gradually cracked, and a large amount of blood started to seep out of torn wounds. In the blink of an eye, Lou Xingyao became a bloody man.

The next moment, the powerful effect of the meridians reconnection pill healed his wounds again. If it weren’t for the remaining bloodstains, perhaps no one would’ve been able to tell that he had been covered with wounds just a moment ago.

However, before the bloodstains completely dried, Lou Xingyao’s skin cracked again…

In this way, Lou Xingyao’s skin was torn again and again, and was healed again and again by the medicinal power of the meridians reconnection pill.

This cycle repeated until a thick layer of bloody scabs formed on his body. Then this seemingly endless cycle gradually stopped.

Corresponding to the wounds on his skin, the meridians in his body also experienced such a cycle.

Since Lou Xingyao focused his attention on the medicinal effect in his body, he found that the originally rampant and disorderly medicinal power in his body seemed to have a guide and started to flow regularly.

The medicinal effect traveled through the meridians again and again, but Lou Xingyao found that every time the medicinal power passed through, the meridians would become much stronger, and there were even signs of widening.

He hadn’t entered the Dao yet, but he also knew that the wider the meridians, the smoother the path would be in the future.

After discovering this, Lou Xingyao no longer avoided this power.

Instead, he started to observe the rules of its movements in his body. Later, he endured the great pain and actively stimulated the medicinal effect, so that it would tear and reorganize his originally reshaped meridians again.

As Lou Xingyao’s movements became more unbridled, the star power that was entrenched in his dantian also emerged at some point and started to join in the fun. Along with the medicinal effect, it started to wander in Lou Xingyao’s meridians.

Later, the last trace of the meridians reconnection pill effect disappeared in Lou Xingyao’s body while the star power showed no signs of stopping.

Seeing that the speed of this star power moving in the body was getting faster and faster, and even had the tendency to get out of control, the opening of the Myriad Celestial Stars Method suddenly appeared in Lou Xingyao’s mind.

It had been some time since Lou Xingyao had obtained this cultivation method and wasn’t unfamiliar with the content of its opening. Almost without waiting for him to think carefully, he involuntarily drove the star power in his body and ran the opening of the cultivation method.

As the cultivation method was running, the world started to become concrete in Lou Xingyao’s mind. The sky above his head became pitch black at some point, leaving only the stars in the sky emitting soft light.

In the originally empty air, colorful small light spots gradually started to float all around Lou Xingyao, jumping up and down in an irregular manner.

Lou Xingyao knew that these light spots were the embodiment of spiritual energy. He carefully approached the red and green light spots representing the attributes of fire and wood.

The next moment, the small light spots of the two colors followed his guidance and sank into his body. The quiet starry sky above his head also started to flick regularly the moment the spiritual energy entered Lou Xingyao’s body.

As Lou Xingyao absorbed more and more spiritual energy into his body, the originally out of control star power started to slowly merge with the spiritual energy. Finally, the two forces gradually merged and the star power became docile again.

The taming of the star power made Lou Xingyao feel relieved. At the same time, he also had a bit more understanding in his heart. The sudden rise of star power wasn’t accidental, but an expression of dissatisfaction with his failure to draw qi into his body.

Now that Lou Xingyao was finally willing to ‘make progress’, the star power naturally stopped making trouble and became docile again.

It was obviously just a subconscious power, but it still hadn’t forgotten its supervisory responsibilities. In contrast, Lou Xingyao couldn’t help feeling ashamed of his previous laziness again.

Once all the power returned to his dantian, Lou Xingyao slowly exhaled and opened his eyes again.

Lou Xingyao realized that the sky had darkened at some point. In the pitch-black sky, the picture of the starry sky was exactly the same as the scene he saw when he entered meditation.

Before Lou Xingyao could think carefully, he heard Wen Hanshan’s pleased voice.

“Very good, you drew qi into your body right after you have recovered and maintained your meditation for ten days. You should be humble and keep up the good work in the future.”

rainbowmushroom

Any support on Patreon will be appreciated and you will also get access to advance chapters.
https://www.patreon.com/rainbowturtle

If you just want to support or buy me a coffee, you can consider Ko-fi:
https://ko-fi.com/rainbowturtle