Advancing Two Realms in Succession
Once Ning Xiaochuan returned to his room, he retrieved the ten stalks of Heart-nourishing Herbs and placed them in a row on top of a bronze table.
As he had refined Heart-nourishing Herbs twice before this, Ning Xiaochuan had a greater understanding of how to more accurately grasp the medicinal properties of the Heart-nourishing Herb.
"The ratio of Qi to the essence of the Heart-nourishing Herb should be kept constant at one to ten. That way, the Heart-nourishing Liquid produced will have higher purity. I'll be able to conserve more Qi and the potency of the Heart-nourishing Herb as well."
He had used two hours the first time he refined the Heart-nourishing Herb.
However, he only used one hour to completely refine a single stalk of Heart-nourishing Herb this time around, thus producing three light-green drops of Heart-nourishing Liquid. In addition, the remaining medicinal Qi in his Heart-nourishing Cauldron was enough to produce half a drop of Heart-nourishing Liquid.
Ning Xiaochuan did not stop to rest. He immediately squeezed the second stalk of Heart-nourishing Herb within his hands and broke it down into gas before moving it into the Heart-nourishing Cauldron so that he could continue refining it.
Just as he expected, he managed to produce four drops of Heart-nourishing Liquid this time, and at an even faster speed as well.
Ning Xiaochuan persisted and entered a state of detachment, thus refining four stalks of Heart-nourishing Herbs in a go. Only a single layer of the Combat Qi within him was left and sweat covered his entire body as his face flushed and he started panting like cattle.
However, he did not stop to rest and instead decided to test the limits of his body.
The further a person tested their limits, the faster the human body's potential would be activated.
A large amount of Earthly Martial Qi that the Old Marquis had hidden within his blood was now being squeezed out like water in a sponge. The Earthly Martial Qi within him was continuously being squeezed out and converted into Ning Xiaochuan's own Combat Qi.
In the end, Ning Xiaochuan managed to successfully refine the fifth stalk of Heart-nourishing Herb completely. There was only a small trace of the Combat Qi left in his veins, and it had also severed.
"Haha! Five stalks of Heart-nourishing Herbs can actually produce eighteen drops of Heart-nourishing Liquid. These drops have a value of one hundred eighty thousand copper coins." Ning Xiaochuan was thrilled but he did not remove the eighteen drops of Heart-nourishing Liquid from within him immediately. Instead, he began cultivating Heaven and Earth Qi so that he could recuperate his Cultivation.
Ning Xiaochuan tried to extract his body's potential and had almost exhausted the Combat Qi within himself. He was completely worn out and his sweat had soaked through his clothes entirely.
He followed the explanation on the Heaven and Earth Qi and started absorbing the Qi around him.
The Qi was as fine as silk and it penetrated his pores and seeped into his blood.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, Ning Xiaochuan's body doubled in its absorption rate of Combat Qi.
The Qi around him poured into his body like a rain of silk. His blood, muscle and bones, and all his internal organs trembled gently as they absorbed the Qi frantically.
"I've achieved the second level of Heaven and Earth Qi, so the absorption rate of the Qi in my surroundings has doubled in speed."
Heaven and Earth Qi were in every corner of the Ning Kingdom; it was one of the most basic books that explained Qi. Only the poor who could not afford advanced practice guides used this book to practice cultivation.
Therefore, almost all who cultivated Heaven and Earth Qi were ordinary people with poor qualifications. Those with good qualifications would almost always be recruited by influential powers, so they naturally had access to more advanced guides of cultivation.
Only a handful of people were able to cultivate Heaven and Earth Qi to its second level, and those that could advance to its third level could be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Ning Xiaochuan cultivated Heaven and Earth Qi to its second level, so his Qi absorption rate had doubled in speed.
Ning Xiaochuan did not find this remarkable in any manner. After all, the first level of the Heart Furnace Scripture that belonged to Marquise Jiange's Residence had an absorption rate that was ten times that of the Heaven and Earth Qi.
He was absorbing the Qi of the heaven and earth at a speed that was only twice the normal rate. However, there were at least eight of the fourth-generation descendants in the Marquise Jiange's Residence who had cultivated the first level of the Heart Furnace Scripture.
"Boom!"
A low rumble emitted from within Ning Xiaochuan's body once more and his Combat Atrium trembled slightly before countless Combat Qi gushed forward to form a small lake.
He was truly beyond happy since he had just advanced into Stage Five Qi!
Through the refining of Heart-nourishing Herbs, the extracting of his body's potential, and the activating of the Earthly Martial Qi in his blood this time around, he had finally advanced into Stage Five Qi. The Combat Qi within his body had once again expanded by a whole section.
When he was at Stage Four Qi, the Combat Qi within his body was only enough to support the refining of five stalks of Heart-nourishing Herbs.
However, he could refine ten stalks of Heart-nourishing Herbs in a single sitting, and even then he might not completely exhaust the Combat Qi he possessed!
Since he had just achieved Stage Five Qi, Ning Xiaochuan naturally grew even more excited and he hurriedly refined the remaining five stalks of Heart-nourishing Herbs, not all at drowsy.
His Cultivation had heightened so the control he had over his Qi was even more precise. While he refined the tenth stalk of Heart-nourishing Herb, he managed to produce four drops of Heart-nourishing Liquid using only one stalk of the herb.
Although the difference was but a single drop, this was still a goal that countless Heart-nourishing Masters strived towards. This was a giant hurdle to all Heart-nourishing Masters.
Only Mid-level Heart-nourishing Masters could produce four drops of Heart-nourishing Liquid from a single stalk of Heart-nourishing Herb!
Of course, Ning Xiaochuan's standard at that point was far from that of a Mid-level Heart-nourishing Master.
This was due to the fact that Mid-level Heart-nourishing Masters not only needed to know how to control the pharmacological effects of medicine to an extremely precise level, they also needed to know how to refine Mystical Medicine into Mystical Pills before they earned the right to be called Mid-level Heart-nourishing Masters.
Every single Mystical Pill possessed a value that was beyond the imagination of ordinary folks. These pills could only be found in auction halls of large commerce chambers.
Therefore, it could be said that the Mid-level Heart-nourishing Masters was already an unattainable title. The price of a single Mystical Pill was enough for an ordinary family to live the rest of their lives comfortably.
As a Junior Heart-nourishing Master, Ning Xiaochuan was able to produce four drops of Heart-nourishing Liquid, which meant that he had the talent to become a Mid-level Heart-nourishing Master.
If Yu Qianqian were to find out about this, she would definitely think of him as some genius Heart-nourishing Master and would definitely treat him even more generously so that she would be able to recruit him. If that were to happen, he would not be offered a mere five hundred thousand copper coins!
Ning Xiaochuan had spent the entire night completely refining ten stalks of Heart-nourishing Herbs and had thus produced thirty-seven drops of Heart-nourishing Liquid.
"Thirty-seven drops of Heart-nourishing Liquid will give me three hundred and seventy thousand copper coins." Ning Xiaochuan felt like he had struck gold overnight and was shaking with excitement!
'I'm rich!'
The sun had not risen and the gate of Marquise Jiange's Residence had not opened yet. Otherwise, Ning Xiaochuan would have been desperately eager to sell these thirty-seven drops of Heart-nourishing Liquid so that he could pay Ning Xiner the thirty thousand copper coins he owed her.
Ning Xiaochuan disliked owing others, be it money or a favor.
Of course, he still viewed Ning Xiner as his younger sister somewhat, so he regarded her as his first loved one since he had arrived in this world. Once he became stronger in the future, he would definitely protect her properly instead of always having her shelter him.
"Only an hour left till sunrise. I'll use this time to try and refine a stalk of Blood-increasing Herb."
The Heart-nourishing Liquid was used to nourish the heart and strengthen the Combat Atrium of a martial artist. If a martial artist were to consume one drop of Heart-nourishing Liquid every day, their cultivation rate would be far faster than everyone else.
The Blood-increasing Liquid was used to improve the blood flow of a martial artist, thus improving the grade of their blood and increasing the strength of their Blood Qi. The stronger their Blood Qi, the stronger the physical body, and thus the stronger their explosive force and endurance during battle. The effects of consuming a single drop of Blood-increasing Liquid every day were even more shocking and a martial artist would be leaving their fellow martial artists in the dust.
The price of a single drop of Blood-increasing Liquid was slightly higher than that of the Heart-nourishing Liquid, for it would sell at about ten thousand copper coins.
However, as both the Heart-nourishing Liquid and the Blood-increasing Liquid were equally expensive, not many people can afford to consume a single drop of both daily.
Ning Xiner was Marquise Jiange's Residence's genius, yet she only received ten drops of Heart-nourishing Liquid and ten drops of Blood-increasing Liquid per month, requiring her to fork out her own money to buy more if required.
Even the descendants of Nobles nurtured in focus barely managed to receive a single drop of Heart-nourishing Liquid and a single drop of Blood-increasing Liquid each day. Thus, receiving a single drop of both liquids daily was something that common folk could only dream of.
After all, descendants of poor families were much weaker than descendants of Nobles, so this was nothing surprising.
Ning Xiaochuan was completely skilled at refining Mystical Medicine, so despite the fact that it was his first time refining Blood-increasing Liquid, he easily produced four drops of Blood-increasing Liquid within his Combat Atrium like a walk in the park!
Just as a smile appeared on Ning Xiaochuan's face, the small blood-red dagger within his blood orifice suddenly started shining brightly before it rushed into the heart orifice in an attempt to snatch away the four drops of Blood-increasing Liquid.
"Boom!"
Ning Xiaochuan's heart started trembling violently.
His blood orifice and heart orifice were actually in a violent fight and were revolving around his heart.
The dagger in the blood orifice wanted to seize the Blood-increasing Liquid in his heart orifice. However, the heart orifice moved about rapidly to evade the blood orifice's attacks.
The pair chased after each other, getting faster and faster. Soon, they became two rays of light, one red and one white. A divine
Of course, once his heart orifice and blood orifice finally calmed down and returned to his left and right ventricles respectively, Ning Xiaochuan finally heaved a sigh of relief.
The Heart-nourishing Cauldron within his heart orifice had calmed down as well, as has the dagger in his blood orifice.
"That's not right, the four drops of Blood-nourishing Liquid within my Heart-nourishing Cauldron have disappeared. Have they been absorbed by the dagger? D*mn it! I've lost forty thousand copper coins.
"That's not right, the Combat Qi within my Combat Atrium has increased again. I… I've advanced into the realm of Stage Six Qi."
Ning Xiaochuan squeezed his head with both hands, shock filling him.