The Immortal Seeker: Legend of Bronze Mirror
Chapter 49 - 45: Consolidating Essence

Chapter 49: Chapter 45: Consolidating Essence

"Silver Ring Firming Pill."

Xu Qing studied the prescription carefully. Ingredients like Cynomorium, Coix Seed, lotus root, oysters, and lotus seeds were all common, but the main ingredient—"Silver Ring Snake"—was very difficult to find.

The letter also mentioned that Silver Ring Snakes were a specialty of Qixia Mountain outside the city. Due to their effects in strengthening yang and nourishing the kidneys, they were heavily hunted, which made them very hard to find nowadays.

It was possible to buy processed Silver Ring Snakes in a pharmacy, but their effects would certainly not be as good as those freshly caught, and the taste would be much worse.

And the price was very high.

"Expense is not an issue, let’s see how effective the processed Silver Ring Snakes in the pharmacy are." Xu Qing had already sold the deed to the house left by Xu Family country gentry to a local Scholar from the Zhang Family.

Even the smallest courtyard in the Heavenly Capital is in high demand.

Xu Qing sold it at the market price.

As for the transfer of property, with the deed and the right connections, it can naturally be transferred.

Moreover, that Scholar family was aware that the Xu Family in Songzhou now only had a Scholar, and the Zhang Family also had a Second Rank Scholar currently serving in the Hanlin Academy, so of course, they weren’t afraid of the Xu Family causing trouble later on.

In this way, Xu Qing also avoided any potential pitfalls with the house.

After all, with money in hand, he didn’t need to live there, and if there were any pitfalls, they wouldn’t affect him.

However, Mrs. Zhou felt somewhat pained over Xu Qing’s decision to sell the house. After all, in the country, people were fixated on houses and land.

Many people live for these two things all their lives.

Xu Qing felt that selling them for money was very worthwhile.

He now had to devote all his resources to himself.

This was also the advantage of having achieved the rank of a junior Scholar.

If he did not have this scholarly honor, the Xu Family in Songzhou would have never come to harm or use him.

And naturally, he would not have reaped the benefits he had now.

Most of the world’s wealth lay in South Zhili, and every Zhili city in South Zhili had an economy, in terms of monetary and grain revenue, which was even more than that of some remote provinces.

Xu Qing directly bought processed Silver Ring Snake in the city’s pharmacy. The price was indeed high, costing ten taels of Silver, and the amount was only enough for him to prepare the medicine twice.

As for the other ingredients in Silver Ring Firming Pills, Xu Qing bought those as well.

Making the Medicine Pills was not difficult; it was a test of hand-eye coordination.

Xu Qing had practiced Crane Form for a long time, and he had also learned Eight Diagram Wandering Palm, so this was certainly his strong suit.

Furthermore, making Medicine Pills was also part of the Cultivation of Eight Diagram Wandering Palm.

In the process of rolling Medicine Pills, one must utilize the mindset of Taoist Alchemy to cultivate the palm power of Eight Diagram Wandering Palm. The denser and heavier the Medicine Pills, resembling lead and mercury, the better their efficacy. Moreover, it also indicates a deepening of Eight Diagram Wandering Palm’s power.

Medicine and martial arts are not separate; even the process of making medicine is a part of Martial Arts Cultivation.

Xu Qing looked at his first product, which seemed decent, but he was unsure about the effects.

He first scraped a layer of powder from the Medicine Pill, tasted it cautiously, and simultaneously observed the changes in his Qi Fortune. There was no increase in the lingering trace of black Qi.

It seemed that there was nothing wrong.

A little powder could not show the effect.

Xu Qing tried little by little until, in the end, there was no change in his Qi Fortune.

However, after consuming an entire Medicine Pill, he finally felt a slight burning heat in his stomach.

He knew it was Essence Qi, and he quickly refined it into his spine with "Crane Call," indeed feeling a slight increase in his Qi-Blood.

"Try swallowing a whole one."

Xu Qing continued the experiment.

Indeed, the efficacy of the entire pill was almost doubled. It accounted for the accumulation of the past two days.

But his progress was already very slow now, and the accumulation over two days wasn’t particularly noticeable.

There are still about ten medicine pills’ worth of ingredients left.

Due to his strong Divine Soul and hand-eye coordination, Xu Qing truly possesses a remarkable talent for pill-making. He could succeed on his first attempt, although initially, the quality was admittedly poor.

It was not until the tenth pill that he produced one that Xu Qing was somewhat satisfied with.

The medicine pill was dark and gleamed with a subtle, deep metallic luster.

This pill was at least twice as effective as the previous ones.

This was also about the limit that Xu Qing could refine for today.

Now, he felt his body warming up.

Fortunately, it was now nighttime, and the old Wutong tree absorbed the moonlight.

Xu Qing stood on top of a large water vat, practicing the Eight Diagram Wandering Palm, expelling surplus energy, and using the "Crane Call" to neutralize the internal heat with the moonlight from the old Wutong tree. After a long time, Xu Qing jumped into the water vat.

The inside was filled with ice-cold well water, that sent chills through his body, thoroughly cooling it down.

Of course, if his physical foundation weren’t strong, this could easily result in him catching a cold.

Xu Qing returned to his room, quickly dried himself, changed clothes, and also washed his original clothes clean with soapberries.

Feeling the effect of the medicine pills, Xu Qing went to the pharmacy the next day to buy Silver snakes.

"Xu Sanyuan, this is all that our shop has left."

Xu Qing looked at the processed Silver snakes that remained, feeling somewhat disappointed.

These were only enough to make twenty pills.

Moreover, the quality was worse than yesterday’s.

He visited other pharmacies and found three that had some in stock, totaling enough for sixty pills. However, considering that as Eight Diagram Wandering Palm improved, the pill effect would also weaken. This quantity would certainly not be enough to bring his Eight Diagram Wandering Palm to Great Success.

"If Xu Sanyuan wants to buy more processed Silver snakes, you might want to check out Heavenly Capital. They have a more abundant supply there." The shopkeeper of the pharmacy suggested.

At the same time, he marveled at how strong a young body can be, able to withstand the potency of Silver snakes.

But he hadn’t heard of Xu Sanyuan frequenting pleasure districts; he wondered who Xu Sanyuan’s lover might be.

Xu Qing definitely couldn’t leave his base at this time; who knows what dangers awaited him outside.

A wise man does not stand under a shaky wall.

He asked the pharmacy shopkeeper to keep an eye out for Silver snakes for him, and if any new stock arrived, to deliver it directly to the Li Mansion, where he was willing to pay a higher price.

Then Xu Qing went home. On the way, he became alert and saw a robust man in a grey robe staring at him. When Xu Qing’s gaze shifted towards him, the man quickly disappeared into the crowd.

In that brief moment, Xu Qing had noticed the man’s bulging temples.

"He is a martial artist."

Xu Qing’s body was still developing, so the bulging of the temples was not very apparent.

Moreover, his spine had just developed to the level of an adult man’s.

There was no help for it; martial arts practice also follows the laws of nature.

His body was not fully grown yet, and much of the vital energy had to be reserved for his development. Otherwise, he would risk breaking his body and depleting his potential.

At this moment, Guo Zhuang and Mi Qiang hurriedly found Xu Qing.

"Young Master, the Xu Family has hired an expert from the underworld to rescue Old Master Xu. This person is currently staying with the Zhao family," Guo Zhuang reported the news he had just found out.

This was also information Mi Qiang had obtained as the current ruler over the fish market’s salt sellers.

These guys often have a wide network of information.

"It looks like it was that guy just now," Xu Qing nodded, thinking to himself.

He hadn’t sparred with a real expert of the worldly society, and so he didn’t know just how powerful this so-called underworld expert was.

"Tonight, I will take a night excursion to investigate the Zhao family," Xu Qing secretly made up his mind.