Chapter 73: Level-Seven of Qi-gathering

This was the second time in Wu Jingtao’s life that he had been to the Chu royal city. On his first visit, he had felt a sense of curiosity and yearning.

But this time, he felt a sense of release.

“Young Master Donghuang, we’ve reached the Chu royal city… I, am I allowed to return to Guangling prefecture?” Wu Jingtao asked uneasily, stopping the carriage outside the gates of the Chu royal city and looking back over his shoulder at the cabin.

In the cabin, Fu glanced at the youth in white who was completely absorbed in practicing, and seeing no response, he pulled aside the curtain and walked out. “My Young Master is still practicing, if you want to go, then go. From now on, just leave the carriage to me.”

Fu sat beside Wu Jingtao, taking the reins from his hand as he spoke casually to him.

Wu Jingtao breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Fu’s reply. He got out of the carriage immediately and leaped onto the ferghana horse following the carriage, turning it around and galloping off without a backward glance.

Just as though he were fleeing.

Wu Jingtao had brought along the ferghana horse that he was riding, intending all along to use it for the return journey.

After Wu Jingtao left, Fu drove the carriage leisurely to the gates of the Chu royal city.

The Chu royal city was the largest city in the Western Ridge of the Chu King, sprawling across the vast land like a giant beast, giving one a sense of majesty and vastness.

And this was also something special that other cities in the Western Ridge of the Chu King did not have.

Young Master has not yet awoken from his practice, I’ll enter the Chu royal city first and find an inn to rest… When Young Master has awoken, we’ll see his plans are.

Fu was now no longer the ignorant young man from a small town that he had been in the past, and after following Zhou Donghuang for such a long time, he had matured and became much steadier under his influence.

A carriage drawn by the three ferghana horses was not an uncommon sight even in the capital of an intermediate-level prefecture. Naturally, it did not attract any attention in the Chu royal city.

Within an hour, Fu saw many carriages similarly drawn by three ferghana horses in the unceasing flow of traffic in the Chu royal city.

…

Night was falling by the time Zhou Donghuang, who had been sitting cross-legged in the cabin of the carriage, woke from his practice.

The carriage had stopped in the parking area of an inn, and although Fu had already readied the guest room, he nevertheless stood guard outside the carriage, deeply afraid that someone would inadvertently disturb his young master’s practice.

“Fu, where’s Wu Jingtao?”

Zhou Donghuang saw only Fu when he stopped practicing and walked out of the carriage. There was no trace of Wu Jingtao.

“Young Master, when we were outside the Chu royal city, that Wu Jingtao stopped the carriage and asked you if he was allowed to return to Guangling prefecture… You were practicing at that moment, so I took over the carriage and let him go back,” Fu said.

“What’s the hurry to go back?”

Zhou Donghuang squinted as the corners of his mouth curled up in a mocking smile. “I originally planned to give him a third-grade sword technique for the four months he spent as our driver before I let him go back… looks like I won’t have to anymore.”

Fu was momentarily stunned and could not help shaking his head with a smile. “If that Wu Jingtao knew Young Master’s intentions, he would turn green with regret!”

“Young Master, I’ve already prepared your guest room, let me show you in,” Fu said to Zhou Donghuang as he led the way in, showing Zhou Donghuang to the guest room he had already prepared.

“Fu, rest early tonight, we’ll be going out tomorrow morning,” Zhou Donghuang told Fu as he stood outside the door.

“Yes, Young Master,” Fu replied respectfully.

He waited until his young master had shut the door before returning to the adjacent room.

After shutting the door, Zhou Donghuang did not continue practicing. Instead, he lay on his bed staring at the ceiling, lost in his thoughts.

As I guessed, even practicing The Lord of the Four Supremes without distraction, the rate of practice cannot be increased without limit.

Continuously practicing The Lord of the Four Supremes without distraction for two months has increased the rate of practice almost to its limit.

However, over the last two months, on account of the maximum rate of practice that I achieved… my level of practice has increased, and I have smoothly attained level-seven of Qi-gathering, just as I had guessed.

Seven days earlier, Zhou Donghuang had smoothly attained level-seven of Qi-gathering and became a level-seven adept with the strength of seven bulls.

Four months earlier when he was in the capital of Guangling prefecture, he had still been a level-five adept.

In four short months, he had two consecutive breakthroughs and become a level-seven adept.

After attaining level-seven of Qi-gathering, I can freely demonstrate second-grade techniques, and with some difficulty, I might even manage to demonstrate some of the powerful first-grade techniques.

To Zhou Donghuang, advancing to level-seven of Qi-gathering was not simply about increasing his qi.

He could only demonstrate even more powerful martial art techniques if he had enough qi.

In the thousand years of memories from his previous life, there were countless martial art techniques demonstrated by adepts at the stage of Qi-gathering. Therefore, he had no lack of techniques.

What he now lacked was only the ability to demonstrate these martial arts.

…

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Early the next morning, Zhou Donghuang left the inn with Fu and joined the traffic thronging the streets of the Chu royal city.

Whenever they spotted a medicine shop, Zhou Donghuang would enter it with Fu.

In one morning, they had already visited more than ten medicine shops, and Fu was carrying bags of all sizes filled with herbs that Zhou Donghuang urgently needed.

These herbs were all to be used to increase the quality of the qi-gathering elixir.

This is really worthy of being the most prosperous city in the Western Ridge of the Chu King. After visiting ten medicine shops, I have already managed to gather the herbs I need to formulate a qi-gathering elixir that increases the sensitivity to qi by 90 percent.

Walking along the main street of the Chu royal city, Zhou Donghuang said to himself, “Now, I only lack two more kinds of herbs, and I will be able to formulate a qi-gathering elixir that increases the sensitivity to qi by 100 percent!”

A qi-gathering elixir that increased the sensitivity to qi by 100 percent was the maximum effectiveness of a qi-gathering elixir.

Of course, such qi-gathering elixir was not the best medicine for helping the practice of an adept at the stage of Qi-gathering, and if Zhou Donghuang was at the stage of Primal Core and above, he could use the Samadhi fires condensed from his essential core to forge a qi-gathering elixir that was even more effective than a qi-gathering elixir.

Even a poor quality qi-gathering elixir would be able to increase the sensitivity to qi by 20 percent and a good one by 30 percent!

Now, Zhou Donghuang’s level of practice was limited, and the best he could do was to produce a qi-gathering elixir of maximum efficiency to aid his practice.

“Of the two million liang of silver in notes that we brought along, we have already spent close to half.”

The herbs that Zhou Donghuang had bought earlier were all extremely rare and valuable, and because of this, they were extremely expensive.

As they continued walking the streets and alleys of the Chu royal city, Zhou Donghuang kept looking around.

The wide streets and the close press of people in the alleys all gave Zhou Donghuang a sense of how busy this city was, and it could not be compared to the prefecture capitals.

Even a superior-level prefecture could not compete with the Chu royal city.

Of course, Zhou Donghuang also felt that the Chu royal city was more prosperous that the prefecture capitals, and this was no surprise to him.

In his previous life, he had traveled across the universe, visiting countless planets, and had seen cities that were a thousand or even ten thousand times bigger than the Chu royal city.

Compared to those cities, which could be considered big even when comparing cities across the whole universe, a city like the Chu royal city could only be considered a tiny city.

“A hundred-year sea lotus flowers!”

After visiting several more medicine shops, Zhou Donghuang finally found one of the two remaining ingredients he needed to formulate a qi-gathering elixir that increased the sensitivity to qi by 100 percent.

“Sir, do you need this?”

Seeing Zhou Donghuang staring at the hundred-year sea lotus flowers, the manager of the shop standing behind the counter directed the question to him with a smile.

The manager of the shop was a thin middle-aged man with a forked beard, and his eyes sparkled with intelligence.

“Yes.”

Zhou Donghuang nodded without hesitation, getting Fu to make the payment right away.

A hundred-year sea lotus flowers cost two hundred thousand liang of silver.

However, just this much hundred-year sea lotus flowers were enough to formulate a hundred bottles of qi-gathering elixir, if used sparingly.

“Sir, do you still require anything else?”

The manager became very enthusiastic upon seeing Zhou Donghuang so relaxed, dearly wishing that Zhou Donghuang would buy up his whole stock.

“Nothing else for the moment.”

Zhou Donghuang was shopping for herbs with focus, and the only thing he needed from this shop were the hundred-year sea lotus flowers.

Although the manager of the medicine shop was somewhat disappointed at this, his enthusiasm did not lessen.

“Sir, if there is anything you need, you can always let me know… if I don’t have it in stock, I will find a way to obtain it from elsewhere.”

“Oh?”

Zhou Donghuang’s eyes gleamed, and he went straight to the point. “There is actually one other kind of herb that I want, but I didn’t see it in your shop.”

“Sir, may I ask what herb that is?” the manager asked.

“Ten-year survival weed,” Zhou Donghuang replied.

Ten-year survival weed was even more expensive than hundred-year sea lotus flowers, even though it was only aged for ten years. This was because it was even rarer than the hundred-year sea lotus flowers.

“Ten-year survival weed?”

The manager frowned and gave a bitter smile. “Sir, I received a bunch of ten-year survival weed yesterday, but I did not display it because it had already been reserved by someone else. Not just here, but all the ten-year survival weeds in the Chu royal city have been reserved since half a year ago.

“Unless any shop is willing to take the risk of being closed down permanently and sell it to you… Otherwise, you will not be able to buy ten-year survival weeds in the Chu royal city.

The manager shook his head as he finished.

“Who has reserved the ten-year survival weeds?” Zhou Donghuang asked.