Ringing the Bell for a Hundred Years, I Became the Sect’s Ancestor – Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Qi and Blood Pill

Back in his room.

Li Qian plugged his nose, put on gloves, and poured out a pill from the medicine bottle.

Eh.

Just one pill?

He thought there would be a whole bottle.

There should be at least eight or ten pills.

This is too stingy.

Li Qian originally thought that Manager Zhao, in order to bribe him, would be willing to spend a bit more.

But unexpectedly, this is it???

Does he think he’s a beggar?

Li Qian looked at the pill in his palm. It was the size of a peanut, dark yellow throughout, round and glossy.

He didn’t dare to smell it.

He wouldn’t dare to eat a pill given by someone with ulterior motives.

“Is this the Qi and Blood Pill?”

After examining it, Li Qian put the Qi and Blood Pill back into the medicine bottle and tossed the bottle into a drawer.

If he could have pills to aid his cultivation, his progress would definitely be much faster.

Unfortunately, he didn’t.

Fortunately, the sound of the Treasure Instrument Time Bell had a significant auxiliary effect on his cultivation, to a certain extent making up for the consumption of Qi and Blood.

“No rush, take it slow.”

Li Qian said to himself.

He definitely couldn’t go looking for Old Song’s hidden treasure map before he had enough strength.

That Manager Zhao suddenly approached him. He might be secretly monitoring him in the future.

In the days that followed, Li Qian’s daily routine was very regular.

Except for going down the mountain once a month to the Odd-Job Hall to collect his monthly stipend, supplies, and contribution points, he spent the rest of his time in the Bell Tower, not going anywhere.

To pass the time, he had Chen Yong buy some vegetable seeds, chicks, and ducklings when he went out, raising them on the mountain and doing some farming to pass the boring time.

This kind of life felt a bit dull at first, but after a while, he started to enjoy it.

“Brother Qian, there’s news about the matter you asked me to inquire about last time.”

Chen Yong carried a crossbeam to the edge of the field Li Qian was cultivating, put it down, and said breathlessly.

“Oh?”

Li Qian straightened his back, leaned on his hoe, looked over, and asked, “How is she?”

“Brother Qian, your cousin…”

Chen Yong hesitated for a moment and said, “I heard that she’s become very close to a senior Odd-Job Disciple in the Hundred Herbs Garden named Yi Zhong.”

“Yi Zhong?”

Li Qian felt like he had heard the name somewhere. He suddenly remembered, “Is that Yi Zhong who was second on the Combat Power Rankings last time?”

Chen Yong had told him about the Combat Power Rankings before. The first place was Zhang Mingcan, and the second place was this Yi Zhong.

“Yes, I heard this guy is very promiscuous. Many female Odd-Job Disciples are involved with him.”

Chen Yong said.

“Hmm, I understand.”

Li Qian nodded.

He couldn’t control how Song Yingying chose to live her life.

At most, he would take care of her within his capabilities, for Old Song’s sake.

After chatting for a while longer, Chen Yong picked up the crossbeam and continued running.

Li Qian took his hoe, loosened and leveled the rest of the field, and then leisurely headed towards the Bell Tower.

A quarter of an hour later, several clear bell tolls rang out.

On the Bell Tower platform, Li Qian put down the striker and began practicing Sword-Piercing Fist.

The sound of the bell reverberated, the lingering sound endless.

As Li Qian practiced his fist technique, the Internal Strength within his body circulated exceptionally vigorously, like a stream flowing endlessly, until it reached the final Ren Meridian, where it slowed down.

Whew!

Li Qian withdrew his fist momentum, his Internal Strength calming down. He couldn’t help but let out a long breath.

“This last Ren Meridian is much more difficult than I imagined.”

Li Qian felt deeply moved.

In the past few months of cultivation, he had successfully opened up the Chong Meridian and the Du Meridian.

Only the last Ren Meridian remained.

Once the Ren Meridian was opened, the Internal Strength in his body would be able to complete the Great Heavenly Cycle, automatically transforming into Internal Qi.

The circulation of the Twelve Regular Meridians was the Small Heavenly Cycle.

If the Eight Extraordinary Meridians were also included, it would be the Great Heavenly Cycle.

“The main issue is that my Internal Strength isn’t strong enough.”

Li Qian pondered in his heart.

Every time he tried to impact the Ren Meridian, he felt a sense of inadequacy.

One main reason was that the Qi and Blood in his body wasn’t strong enough, resulting in insufficient Internal Strength converted when practicing fist techniques. There was no way around it. If he only ate medicinal cuisine every day, it wouldn’t meet his needs at all.

Even if the sound of the Time Bell had a certain amplifying effect, it still wasn’t enough.

◈◈◈

“Let’s wait a little longer.”

Li Qian thought of the Qi and Blood Pill in the drawer.

He felt that he would probably need to use the Qi and Blood Pill to open up the Ren Meridian in one go.

One Qi and Blood Pill might not be enough.

Moreover, he didn’t dare to use the Qi and Blood Pill given by Manager Zhao.

He planned to find a way to get some Qi and Blood Pills.

Same old method. He planned to have Chen Yong inquire about where he could buy Qi and Blood Pills.

Soon, Chen Yong had news.

“Black market?”

Li Qian was quite surprised. “There’s a black market within our Divine Sword Sect?”

“Yes, I was curious too, but I didn’t expect it to be real. I heard there are a lot of good things in the black market, all flowing out from Formal Disciples. However… to buy things in the black market, you mostly have to use contribution points. Very few people accept ordinary gold and silver.”

Chen Yong said.

Contribution points were also very important to Formal Disciples.

Some Formal Disciples, in order to exchange for some important item within the sect, but lacking enough contribution points, would try to acquire them from Odd-Job Disciples.

Similarly, some things that Odd-Job Disciples needed, because they didn’t have Formal Disciple status, they weren’t qualified to exchange for them. Or even if they could, the price was too high, without the Formal Disciple discount, so they could only choose to buy them on the black market…

Li Qian had over ten contribution points on hand. He wondered how many Qi and Blood Pills he could buy?

A few days later.

After striking the You Hour bell and having dinner, Li Qian hurriedly went down the mountain.

“Brother Qian, you’re here.”

As soon as he arrived near the Odd-Job Hall, Chen Yong came over to greet him.

Li Qian rarely went down the mountain, so the chances of interacting with others were even rarer.

Only Chen Yong was the most familiar to him.

This time, he planned to have Chen Yong accompany him to the black market.

Chen Yong was an honest guy and naturally agreed readily.

After taking many twists and turns, the two arrived at another mountaintop with some low-rise buildings scattered around.

“I heard this used to be a place for forging and casting weapons. Later, it was moved out, and this place became deserted.”

Chen Yong explained.

It was already evening, and it was getting dark, but lights were lit in these buildings, with some figures standing around. On stone tables were placed various scattered items.

Besides Li Qian and Chen Yong, there were also quite a few Odd-Job Disciples who entered this black market.

This black market wasn’t open every day, only three or four times a month.

Li Qian stopped in front of a stall.

“How much is this Qi and Blood Pill?”

He asked the stall owner.

The stall owner was hidden in the darkness, the light unable to reach him. His face was almost invisible, only his eyes were hidden but not concealed, containing an invisible sense of pressure.

Li Qian felt that this stall owner was very likely a Ranked Martial Artist.

“One contribution point per pill, but I don’t sell them individually here. A bottle of twelve pills for ten contribution points.”

The stall owner replied indifferently.

“How’s the quality?”

Li Qian asked.

“Mass-produced by the sect. The quality is just average.”

The stall owner shrugged.

“Can I take a look?”

Li Qian asked.

“As you wish.”

The stall owner didn’t move.

Only then did Li Qian pick up the medicine bottle, unscrew the lid, and first smelled it. The scent was no different from the Qi and Blood Pill given by Manager Zhao.

Originally, he didn’t dare to smell the Qi and Blood Pill given by Manager Zhao, but later he scraped off a bit of powder and fed it to the chickens and ducks. There were no abnormalities. On the contrary, the chickens and ducks that ate it seemed particularly energetic. Those that were originally sickly would immediately become lively and vigorous.

He poured out a Qi and Blood Pill. It was exactly the same as the one given by Manager Zhao.

Although the light wasn’t very bright, he could still discern that there was no difference in color.

He counted again, and there were indeed twelve Qi and Blood Pills.

Ten contribution points, not cheap.

After all, he only got one contribution point per month.

One could imagine how precious contribution points were.

Under normal circumstances, Odd-Job Disciples wouldn’t casually spend contribution points to buy Qi and Blood Pills unless they were breaking through a bottleneck.

For Odd-Job Disciples, contribution points were extremely hard to come by and had to be used to buy more valuable things.