When Wuji opened the box, Yun Qiang couldn't believe his eyes. His drowsiness vanished in an instant as he stared at Wuji in disbelief. Inside the box, there was a Qi Gathering Pill! With it, a mortal would receive half of the necessary Qi to open his dantian and become a cultivator. For people like Brook or Sun, it meant two and a half years of cultivation.
Or a day for my brother...
Still in shock, he couldn't help but mutter,
"Qi Gathering Pill? Where did you get it?"
"Obviously..." Wuji paused while putting on a prideful look. "I refined it myself."
For a second, Yun Qiang thought he had fallen asleep and was now dreaming. A mortal refining a pill that contains Qi was something that, to his knowledge, was impossible. The process of making a pill required the alchemist to control and inject Qi into it, and this was something that only cultivators were capable of.
"But mortals can't refine pills?" Yun Qiang sounded more shocked than before. "How did you do it?"
"I just did. Even the director of the Medicine Hall didn't believe me and had me refine an healing pill in front of him."
"This..." The shock was too much to take, and Yun Qiang was forced to pause mid-sentence to reword his thoughts.
Meanwhile, Wuji continued talking, not caring about his friend's shocked expression.
"You don't know how stressful it was! The director didn't trust me; he even thought that Bai Gui's testimony was false and that I had bribed him. So I had to refine a healing pill in front of him, but you don't know how difficult it is—it's even more difficult than refining a Qi Gathering Pill. First you must —"
Wuji continued to describe the process of creating a healing pill. However, Yun Qiang was both too shocked and too tired, so he could only pick up some important information from the conversation. When he finally reorganized his thoughts, Yun Qiang spoke again, hoping that Wuji wouldn't shock him again.
"Bai Gui was there with you? He is from the Medicine Hall?"
Wuji interrupted his monologue about healing pills to answer him.
"Kinda? Sorta? I don't really know his status. He said he is from the Medicine Hall, but his badge didn't work when we entered, and the guards were very surprised to see him. I guess he is some kind of special recruit or something similar."
"Ah, I almost forgot. The director of the hall wanted to hold a banquet to celebrate me as a new alchemist, and he said I can bring a friend. Are you interested?"
"I'm interested, but I doubt they will welcome me."
Yun Qiang tried to hide the emotions in his voice. He knew that the excuse to invite a friend was just to see what kind of circle Wuji frequented and whether Wuji had already aligned himself with someone important or had a backer. During the week, Sun had already introduced him to some shady games and hidden plots in the sect, so he knew that the elders were constantly fighting among themselves. Besides, someone with no talent like him would only be seen as a leech—a parasite that stays close to powerful people in order to make it big.
"Your brother will be there too!" Wuji smiled, clearly unaware of the banquet's deeper meaning.
Knowing that his brother was there made Yun Qiang even more reluctant to go.
"Even worse. People would spend the entire night comparing us."
"Come on Qiang! If I don't bring you, who am I bringing?"
Wuji made it sound like he had no other option, but Yun Qiang already had two names in mind.
"What about Bai Gui or Fernando?"
"Bai Gui is already invited. As for Fernando," he made an overly helpless face like an actor reciting his part, "I don't even know where he lives! How am I supposed to find him?"
"Just ask around. Nobody would stop you now that you are an alchemist. You are a future big shot now."
"Ah? I'm a future big shot?" Wuji seemed genuinely surprised by this.
Seeing Wuji's confused face, Yun Qiang repeated to him the information that Sun had told him during the week.
"Alchemists are the nobles of the cultivation world. They are always rich. Sects and cultivation families always try to recruit them into their ranks. So wherever they go, they are welcomed. Sometimes they will even receive gifts from people who want to make friends or seek their help with something." He continued, "Our sect has 100 alchemists in the inner court and 20 in the outer court. The best alchemist of our sect is the Second Elder, the head of the Pill Hall."
"Like it or not, you are now someone that the sect cares a lot about."
Wuji took a moment to take it all in before asking the obvious question.
"Where did you learn all of this?"
"The friend that walked me here told me all of this. He had some friends in the inner court in the past." Seeing Wuji's face, he added, "Sun is trustworthy. Don't worry about him."
"Ok."
After this, the two briefly exchanged some pleasantries before entering their houses. However, before Wuji could enter, Yun Qiang thought of something.
"Sun told me that the Second Elder is at odds with the Third Elder that took in my brother. So be careful, don't let them play tricks on you."
"Your friend even knows about the grudges between the elders? He must have some important friend..."
Yun Qiang was briefly stunned before wishing Wuji good night and entering his home. He had never thought about it. How does Sun know all of this?
When he was in his bedroom, he barely managed to meditate until midnight before his exhausted body forced him to sleep. Yun Qiang hoped that he could have a full night of sleep. However, it was in vain because when he fell asleep, he entered another dream.
The dream began at the entrance of a cave, where Dream Yun Qiang stood with three other disciples. All of them wore blue robes adorned with cloud patterns, just like in the previous dream. Even though they appeared to be of the same rank, their positions behind Dream Yun Qiang made it clear that he was the leader of the group.
"The target is well-versed in frontal fighting and is known for his brutal way of fighting. Liu and I will take the front." He looked at the blonde girls at the back of the group. "Xue, Rou, use your water and ice techniques to paralyze him and impede his movements."
Everyone nodded, and after eating a pill, they entered the cavern.
The cave was gloomy and silent; it looked like nobody lived there. However, the deeper they progressed, the clearer it became that an evil cultivator lived here. As they advanced, stains of red started appearing on the walls, while bones and dead bodies in various stages of decomposition could be seen on the floor. Eventually, a strange aura of blood and death started enveloping them, trying to poison and corrupt their bodies.
However, once the aura touched them, it silently disappeared—likely cleansed by the pill they had eaten before.
Even though the environment of the cave was horrifying, Yun Qiang could feel that his counterpart was calm and collected. There was no hate, no disgust, no anxiety—only the calm and readiness of an experienced fighter.
After ten minutes, they arrived at the end of the cave. It ended in a large circular room with a small blood pool at its center. No dead bodies were present. The only person there was a huge man, about two meters tall, calmly sleeping in the blood pool.
When the man felt the presence of the group, he opened his eyes and attacked them without hesitation.
The man charged at them with no weapon in hand, his eyes blood red—a clear sign of madness. While Xue and Rou started to channel their Qi, Dream Yun Qiang charged forward with his spear, trying to slow the man's advance.
When the madman saw an obstacle in his path, he didn't stop but instead sped up, completely disregarding Dream Yun Qiang's weapon. Only when the spear completely pierced his foot did he consider Yun Qiang a threat and started attacking him. Even with a foot completely destroyed, the man's speed was enough to put Dream Yun Qiang in difficulty. Moreover, his reckless fighting style and the brutality of his attacks forced Yun Qiang into a defensive position. However, Yun Qiang wasn't alone, and when Liu joined the fight, the man was forced back, effectively turning the fight into a stalemate.
Suddenly, Xue and Rou stopped channeling their Qi, and a series of water tentacles appeared and entangled the man, slowing him down. Taking this opportunity to strike, Liu attacked the man, gravely injuring him. But this only enraged the man, who launched a relentless series of attacks. However, before the attack could injure Liu, the water tentacles turned into ice, immobilizing the man. At that point, Dream Yun Qiang pierced the man's head, killing him on the spot.
When the team was sure that their enemy had died they burned his body and started rummaging through his personal beloging.
While they were searching, Liu started complaining.
"What a chore. Why do we have to search for his techniques when we can just burn everything and leave?"
"I don't know, just follow the orders or you won't be rewarded by the sect," Ruo said, her voice sounding resigned. Then, her gaze shifted to Yun Qiang. "But I have to admit that it's strange. This guy is just a random blood cultivator. Why does the sect care about his techniques?"
"This mission came directly from Master," Yun Qiang said in a low voice. "He wants to know who's spreading blood techniques across the plains. He's hoping the books have some clues about the supplier."He paused, considering whether to say more. "Haven't you noticed? All the blood cultivators we've fought had advanced techniques and solid foundations. Doesn't that seem... too organized?"
Liu interjected, his voice clearly filled with disgust.
"It doesn't matter. They are just wandering cultivators; they will never achieve anything. Besides, everyone knows blood cultivation leads to madness. If they practice it and die, they deserve it."
"I agree," Yun Qiang nodded. "Blood cultivation can't lead to anything good."
"Not every technique related to blood cultivation will lead to madness. Some of them are just offensive-type techniques," Xue said, pointed at the book in her hand.
"I found it in his space ring with some pills. It's just an innocuous technique that creates a spike made out of blood by channeling the Qi inside it."
She threw the book at Dream Yun Qiang, then pointed at the blood pool while silently channeling Qi. A few moments later, a huge spike burst out of the blood pool, and directly pierced the ceiling.
Dream Yun Qiang started reading the book. Even though he despised blood cultivation, he needed in-depth knowledge about their techniques. During a fight, one moment of hesitation could lead him to his death, so he needed to know how his enemies would fight him.
When he finished reading, he announced:
"Xue is right. This technique won't lead to madness. However, it consumes too much Qi. Unless you have a pool like this to sustain it, it's impractical for one-on-one fights. At best, it can be used for surprise attacks or desperate comebacks."
"What if it wasn't made for single fights..."
The group fell into silence. Everybody understood the hidden meaning behind Xue's words: a technique made for group fights that required large amounts of blood to sustain itself had only one use. War.
The dream ended, finally letting Yun Qiang sleep.