Cultivating in Different Professions

Chapter 170: Chapter 124: Shennong Hundred Herbs Sect

”The Nine-Turn Blood Transformation Technique from our Taiping Bureau Headquarters is the only one you have any hope of obtaining.”

”Then how can I get it?”

Su Mu asked.

”In our Taiping Bureau, nothing comes from thin air. If you want something, you have to get it with your own two hands.

In other words, through merit.”

The old master, Wan, said, ”Even if you are at the Body Tempering Limit, the Headquarters won’t just give you the Nine-Turn Blood Transformation Technique for free. You need enough merit to exchange for it.”

”Such a precious Blood Exchange Technique must require a lot of merit to redeem, right?”

Su Mu said.

”A great deal.”

The old master, Wan, nodded. ”However, there happens to be an opportunity right now. If you can seize it, obtaining the Nine-Turn Blood Transformation Technique won’t be impossible.”

”What opportunity?”

Su Mu asked.

”I just told you that for all Blood Exchange Techniques in the world, a ninefold effect is the limit. But in this world, there are methods to break that limit.”

The old master, Wan, said with a serious expression, ”Let me give you an example. You are at the Body Tempering Limit, so the effect of any Blood Exchange Technique you cultivate will be better than for other Martial Artists. An ordinary Cultivation Technique with a sixfold effect, if you practice it, could reach sevenfold for you.

If you had the chance to cultivate the Xuanhuang Blood Exchange Technique, you could very likely achieve the legendary tenfold effect. That is breaking the limit.”

”So you have to be at the Body Tempering Limit to break the limit in the Blood Transformation Realm?”

Su Mu mused aloud.

”Of course not. The Body Tempering Limit is incredibly difficult. Only those with heaven-defying talent can reach it, and even then, they still need the right resources and opportunities.”

The old master, Wan, shook his head. ”That’s why someone created a method to break the limit. Simply put, it uses an external force to increase the weight of one’s true blood by another fold!”

”But what does this have to do with me getting the Nine-Turn Blood Transformation Technique?”

Su Mu asked, confused.

”You’ll understand once I’m finished. This limit-breaking method is actually very simple: you take a pill.”

The old master, Wan, said, ”This method was devised by the Shennong Hundred Herbs Sect. They developed a type of Elixir with a rather crude name: the Blood Strengthening Pill.

As long as you’ve fully completed the Blood Transformation, taking a Blood Strengthening Pill can increase the weight of your true blood by another fold.”

A look of shock appeared on Su Mu’s face.

He understood what Master Wan meant. ”Increasing the weight by another fold” didn’t mean doubling the true blood’s current weight; it meant adding another multiple of mortal blood’s weight as the baseline.

”This young lady here—her Blood Exchange Technique has an eightfold effect, which is already considered a top-tier technique. But if she could take a Blood Strengthening Pill, she would reach a ninefold effect, making her comparable to Martial Artists who’ve cultivated the absolute best Blood Exchange Techniques.

And what if you cultivate the Nine-Turn Blood Transformation Technique? That would be a tenfold effect!

A realm that can only be reached by achieving the Body Tempering Limit and then cultivating the most supreme Blood Exchange Technique in the Blood Transformation Realm... a single Blood Strengthening Pill can accomplish that. Impressive, isn’t it?”

The old master, Wan, was not a talkative person. He was only making an exception and saying this much because he had met Su Mu.

The purpose of saying all this was to make Su Mu understand the importance of the Blood Strengthening Pill.

”You should know that with a blood transformation effect below sixfold, it’s practically impossible to break through to the Rebirth Realm. If a Martial Artist with a fivefold effect could get a Blood Strengthening Pill, they would have a chance to glimpse the Rebirth Realm. It could be called defying fate and changing one’s destiny.”

”Amazing!”

Su Mu praised.

”Only the Shennong Hundred Herbs Sect has mastered the refining method for the Blood Strengthening Pill. It’s almost impossible for outsiders to obtain even one. Our Taiping Bureau once went to them to request the elixir, and they were agreeable about other medicines. But for the Blood Strengthening Pill alone, in the words of the Shennong Hundred Herbs Sect, ’It is not easy to refine.’ Even they have only ever successfully refined a single batch, which was used up long ago.”

The old master, Wan, continued, ”However, not long ago, the Shennong Hundred Herbs Sect approached the Taiping Bureau, saying they wanted to light the furnaces again to refine the Blood Strengthening Pill.

Because the implications of the Blood Strengthening Pill are too great, even the Shennong Hundred Herbs Sect cannot bear the cost of refining it alone.

So they need the Taiping Bureau’s help to find the medicinal ingredients, and at the same time, help intimidate the rest of the world. Otherwise, even if they managed to refine it, they wouldn’t be able to keep it.”

After saying so much, the old master, Wan, finally got to the point.

”The price for the Taiping Bureau’s help is that after the Blood Strengthening Pills are refined, half will go to the Shennong Hundred Herbs Sect, and half will go to the Taiping Bureau.

Right now, disciples from the Shennong Hundred Herbs Sect are searching all over the world for the ingredients needed to refine the Blood Strengthening Pill. One of their teams will be coming to Wuling City.

When the time comes, our Wuling City Taiping Bureau will send people to protect them as they enter Daxing Mountain and help them search for ingredients.”

”I understand. Master Wan, you’re saying that this protection mission involves the Blood Strengthening Pill, so it’s very important. If I can participate in this mission, I’ll have a chance to earn enough merit to exchange for the Nine-Turn Blood Transformation Technique?”

Su Mu said thoughtfully.

The old master, Wan, smiled and nodded, wearing an expression that said, ’This child is teachable.’

”I’m getting old and a bit long-winded, but that’s the gist of it.”

The old master, Wan, said.

”Can I participate in such an important mission?”

Su Mu asked. He was just a rookie Taiping Captain. ’A mission that’s clearly not very dangerous but offers a lot of merit... would it really fall to me?’

”If I say you can, you can.”

The old master, Wan, said with a smile, radiating a powerful confidence.

Su Mu chuckled. ’That’s true,’ he thought. ’Master Wan has said so much to me; it can’t all have been nonsense.’

”Thank you, Master Wan.”

Su Mu bowed sincerely.

This was the first time he had met Master Wan. The master was helping him purely to support a junior, with no expectation of getting anything in return.

”You don’t need to thank me.”

The old master, Wan, said softly, ”Have you not heard the saying? ’Great Peace is built by the Taiping Bureau, but its members are never allowed to see that Great Peace.’

In the Taiping Bureau, with great power comes great responsibility. Learning the Nine-Turn Blood Transformation Technique might not necessarily be a good thing for you.

One day, when you are forced to face even more powerful demons, just don’t blame me.”

The old master, Wan, didn’t mention that among the people who had entered the Taiping Bureau with him back then, many had talent and comprehension far surpassing his own. But now, he was the only one left alive.

And he himself was now riddled with hidden injuries, just barely hanging on.

The Taiping Bureau was indeed a path to the heavens, but ’heaven’ could also mean the one you ascend to upon death.

While enjoying special privileges, the Taiping Bureau also bore special risks.

There were internal statistics in the Taiping Bureau: only thirty percent of its members managed to die peacefully of old age. And the highest death rate was not among the lower-ranking Taiping Captains, but rather among the Governors and above.

Because they were often the ones who faced the most powerful demons.

”When a demon is about to eat you, it doesn’t care if your Cultivation is high or low.”

Su Mu smiled nonchalantly. ”If you really run into a demon, it’s obviously better to be as strong as possible.”

Just as they were speaking, Luo Anning’s tightly closed eyes suddenly snapped open.

It was as if a wave rippled through her pupils. Immediately after, a visible mist appeared around her body.

A wave of damp air washed over them. Luo Anning slowly raised her head, the white mist swirling and dancing around her as if it were alive, before finally turning into water vapor.

The vapor condensed into droplets of water that fell to the ground with a crisp, tinkling sound.

Luo Anning’s face was alight with joy.

”Su Mu, Master Wan, I’ve comprehended the Kan Water Realm!”

Luo Anning walked out of the mist, her movements as graceful as the Wave-Riding Micro Step, like a celestial fairy whose feet barely seemed to touch the ground.

”Congratulations, Junior Sister Luo.”

Su Mu said with a smile, ”However, you should be calling me... Senior Brother.”

The smile on Luo Anning’s face instantly froze. She went from a celestial fairy in the clouds to a pouting little girl.

”But my Cultivation is higher than yours...”

she whispered, her voice lacking confidence.

”I became a full member before you.”

Su Mu said, dangling the token from his waist.

”My Cultivation is higher than yours...”

Miss Luo mumbled under her breath.

”Master Wan said my strength is comparable to someone at thirty percent of the Blood Transformation Realm.”

Su Mu said.

”Stop bickering.”

Seeing the young man and woman squabbling, the old master, Wan, couldn’t help but show an expression that said ’it’s good to be young’. ”I’ll decide. Su Mu is the Senior Brother, and Luo Girl is the Junior Sister. Unless, one day, you can surpass him.”

Luo Anning’s face fell. ’Surpassing Su Mu... that’s going to be so hard.’

”The two of you, don’t take any other missions for now. Wait for Feng Zhengqian of the Shennong Hundred Herbs Sect to arrive. You two will be responsible for protecting him as he leaves the city to search for herbs.”