Divine Strength Great Pill, A Surge of a Hundred Tripods of Strength!

Rumble! Towering waves surged toward the heavens and crashed down violently, utterly destroying several hundred zhang of surrounding mountain forest and flattening it in an instant. Seeing this, Lu Changsheng could not help a surge of lingering fear. That had truly been a close call! How had he dared to help a strange martial artist take on such a terrifying spirit turtle just now? Was that something mere martial arts could deal with? Fortunately, the spirit turtle seemed particularly fond of staying in Chishui Pool. That had merely been a single strike to vent its fury. Afterward, it stopped and submerged into Chishui Pool once more. Lu Changsheng watched with his own eyes as the colossal spirit turtle gradually shrank in size before disappearing into Chishui Pool again. Now he finally understood why people had vanished near Chishui Pool. Most likely, they had encountered the spirit turtle. Or rather, they had disturbed it. "Whew, good thing we ran fast." "Kid, it was all thanks to your Nine-Word Mantra Secret Method this time. Otherwise, I really wouldn't have had any way to deal with that old turtle. Drawing its blood would've been damn near impossible!" The strange martial artist looked again at the spirit turtle's blood in the porcelain bottle, seemingly very satisfied. "My ice fruit," Lu Changsheng said coldly. "Here." It was merely an ice fruit; the man did not care about it at all. "Spirit turtle blood can be used to refine pills?" Seeing how much the man cared about the spirit turtle blood, Lu Changsheng immediately thought of alchemy. "Oh? You actually know quite a bit. But let me give you a piece of advice: don't provoke that old turtle. It had blood taken from it this time, so it's holding in a bellyful of rage. "Your Nine-Word Mantra Secret Method may be miraculous, but against it, it only worked because you caught it off guard. If it's on guard, your Nine-Word Mantra Secret Method won't have any effect. "Still, you helped me this time, so consider that I owe you a favor. "I can't repay that favor right now, though—it'll have to wait for later. "If you want to find me in the future, head to the Kunxu Sect. My name is Zhao Kun!" With that, Zhao Kun gave Lu Changsheng no chance to reply; he turned and bolted, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye. "You—" Lu Changsheng truly had a bellyful of questions. Yet Zhao Kun was as slippery as could be, running faster than anyone. "Kunxu Sect..." Lu Changsheng murmured under his breath. Since the man had left behind his name and sect, it certainly was not baseless talk. He could be considered someone who owned up to his actions. Now that he had obtained the ice fruit, Lu Changsheng delayed no further and swiftly returned to Taoyuan City. Back at the Tao residence, Lu Changsheng sought out Yun Haitang and asked, "Heavenly Maiden, do you know Zhao Kun of the Kunxu Sect?" "Zhao Kun of the Kunxu Sect? Of course I've heard of him. He is said to be the foremost genius of the Kunxu Sect, having advanced to the Divine Gang Realm in his mere thirties. Why do you mention him?" As expected, Yun Haitang had heard of Zhao Kun. "It's nothing. I just ran into him at Chishui Pool." Lu Changsheng also recounted the matter of the spirit turtle. It did not seem to be any great secret. At least, Zhao Kun knew about it. "A spirit turtle?" Yun Haitang's face paled slightly. Clearly, just from Lu Changsheng's description, she could fathom how terrifying that spirit turtle was. After all, even Zhao Kun had fled for his life. "Brother Dao, don't dwell on the spirit turtle of Chishui Pool. Such a spirit turtle is not something we can provoke. Even those in the Divine Gang Realm run as far as they can from it. Zhao Kun truly is as fearless as the legends say..." Lu Changsheng nodded. "Now that the ice fruit is in hand, I won't be going back to Chishui Pool." With that, Lu Changsheng refined the ice fruit, advancing the Qiantian Treasure Transformation Secret Method to the fifth layer, while his physical body advanced to one hundred and thirty tripods. A few days later, Yun Haitang sought out Lu Changsheng. "Brother Dao, news came from the Heavenly Maiden Sect. The materials for your Divine Strength Great Pill have all been gathered!" "Good, then let us return to Zhanhai City immediately!" Lu Changsheng did not hesitate in the slightest. And so, the group departed the Tao residence and swiftly journeyed back toward Zhanhai City. Without encountering any danger along the way, Lu Changsheng and the others smoothly returned to the Heavenly Maiden Sect. Looking over the materials for the Divine Strength Great Pill, Lu Changsheng nodded in satisfaction. He rested for a day, and on the next day, he took the materials for the Divine Strength Great Pill to the Shangyuan Daoist Sanctuary to meet Immortal Master Shangyuan. "Immortal Master, the materials for the Divine Strength Great Pill are fully gathered," Lu Changsheng said. "Good. Then let us begin the alchemy in earnest." The Shangyuan Daoist Sanctuary had a pill furnace room. Immortal Master Shangyuan conjured spiritual fire in his hand, scorching each ingredient into liquid form before casting it into the pill furnace. The flames beneath the pill furnace were likewise spiritual fire. However, there seemed to be a formation that allowed the spiritual fire to burn fiercely, though it still required Immortal Master Shangyuan to sustain it with spiritual power. Throughout the process, he also had to cast seal arts into the furnace one after another. It was obvious that refining the pill was no simple matter, and every step relied entirely on spiritual power. Aside from an Immortal Master, anyone else merely watching from the side could never hope to learn alchemy. Time trickled by. Roughly three shichen later, Immortal Master Shangyuan abruptly extinguished the spiritual fire, then slapped down with his palm, throwing open the pill furnace with a bang. A wondrous fragrance wafted from within. Lu Changsheng looked closely and saw a white pill resting inside the furnace, radiating that strange scent. "The Divine Strength Great Pill is complete!" With a wave of his hand, Immortal Master Shangyuan withdrew the Divine Strength Great Pill, placed it inside a porcelain bottle, and handed it to Lu Changsheng. "Layman, you may consume the Divine Strength Great Pill within this sanctuary. "No one can make a move here before this old Daoist." Immortal Master Shangyuan seemed to speak with implicit meaning. Lu Changsheng's heart stirred, and he instantly understood what the Immortal Master meant. This was a Divine Strength Great Pill, capable of boosting one's strength by a hundred tripods all at once! Such a pill was a coveted treasure for any Hundred Tripods Realm martial artist. If Lu Changsheng left the Shangyuan Daoist Sanctuary carrying the pill, complications might well arise. Within the sanctuary, however, he was completely safe. "Thank you, Immortal Master." Lu Changsheng did not refuse Immortal Master Shangyuan's goodwill. He immediately headed to a guest room arranged by the sanctuary. Inside the guest room, Lu Changsheng took out the Divine Strength Great Pill. Without the slightest hesitation, he swallowed it in a single gulp. The pill dissolved the instant it entered his mouth. A warm current swiftly surged through his entire body, turning increasingly scorching hot. From his blood and muscles to his bones, everything seemed infused with that warm current. At this moment, Lu Changsheng could clearly sense his physical body strengthening at a pace visible to the naked eye. And it was an all-around enhancement. Marrow transformation and blood exchange! Yes, it was still marrow transformation and blood exchange. Even after consuming the Divine Strength Great Pill, it was still marrow transformation and blood exchange—only ten rounds of it all at once! The Divine Strength Great Pill contained an immense amount of energy, more than enough to sustain ten direct rounds of marrow transformation and blood exchange. Ten rounds of marrow transformation and blood exchange meant a full hundred tripods of strength! After staying in the guest room for a day and a night, Lu Changsheng opened his eyes. His physical body had completely assimilated the Divine Strength Great Pill. At this moment, his physical strength had reached a terrifying two hundred and thirty tripods! "Two hundred and thirty tripods!" "Both my body and spirit have reached an unprecedented peak. The Divine Strength Great Pill truly lives up to its name—its tonic effect on the body is immense. "In this peak state, making my fifth leap over the dragon gate should pose no problem." Lu Changsheng would not pass up any opportunity for cultivation. His current state was ideal for leaping the dragon gate. At this thought, Lu Changsheng hesitated no further. "Let us begin!" Thus, Lu Changsheng felt as though he had once again transformed into an enormous dragon carp, gazing up at the towering dragon gate with yearning in his heart before leaping with all his might. Splash! The dragon carp vaulted upward, instantly clearing the fifth tier of the dragon gate. Ninefold Carp Leaping Dragon Gate Art, fifth layer! This time went more smoothly than ever before, followed by yet another round of marrow transformation and blood exchange. His physical strength rose from two hundred and thirty tripods to two hundred and forty tripods! Lu Changsheng's physical body had reached two hundred and forty tripods, but that did not mean his striking power was merely two hundred and forty tripods. The Three Transformations of the Divine Dragon augmented his physical strength twofold, and with Triple Waves integrated into every slash, every thrust, and every punch, his power doubled once more. As such, Lu Changsheng could unleash a terrifying strength of 1,440 tripods! Exceeding a thousand tripods! And that was not all. Lu Changsheng also possessed the Starry Sky Waterfall Conception and the Ocean Wave Conception. Empowered by both martial conceptions, the strength Lu Changsheng could muster was unfathomable. However, Lu Changsheng thought of Zhao Kun. Zhao Kun was a Divine Gang Realm expert. With that layer of Divine Gang covering him, even a thousand tripods of force could merely ripple across it. "Divine Gang..." "Rumor has it that ten thousand tripods can shatter Gang qi. I wonder if that's true?" Lu Changsheng murmured softly. Ten thousand tripods shattering Gang qi was originally just a legend. For Divine Strength Realm martial artists, the highest physical realm was the Thousand Tripods Realm. How difficult would it be to possess ten thousand tripods of strength? Knock, knock, knock. Just then, knocking sounded at the door. Creak. Lu Changsheng opened the door. Outside stood a Daoist acolyte, who said respectfully, "Layman, your time is up. It is time to depart the sanctuary." Lu Changsheng glanced toward where Immortal Master Shangyuan resided. He knew that the Immortal Master realized he had finished consuming the Divine Strength Great Pill and was now seeing him off. "Very well, I shall depart at once." Lu Changsheng did not dawdle. He stepped out of the room, strode forward, and quickly left the Shangyuan Daoist Sanctuary. Lu Changsheng did not return to the Heavenly Maiden Sect, but went back to the Four Seas Gang instead. He would not return to the Heavenly Maiden Sect for now. After all, between him and Heavenly Maiden Yun Haitang, it had ultimately been a transaction. Now the transaction was essentially concluded. If she wanted him to do anything more, that would be another transaction entirely. "Physician Lu, you're finally back!" The next day, when Zhang Xuan saw Lu Changsheng, delight showed on his face. Even Lu Yang, who was usually a man of few words, scratched his head, unable to hold back a grin. With Lu Changsheng back, the two of them had their pillar of support once more. Nothing untoward had occurred in the Four Seas Gang; everything was proceeding in good order. Days passed one after another. Relying on his merits, Lu Changsheng virtually swept clean all the second-tier and third-tier martial skills of the Four Seas Gang. For the current Lu Changsheng, these second- and third-tier martial skills took little time to learn yet added large amounts of comprehension points, so why wouldn't he? Only Lu Changsheng, with his speed of earning merits, could exchange for so many second- and third-tier martial skills. In the blink of an eye, a month passed. Lu Changsheng summoned his attribute panel to inspect his status: Host: Lu Changsheng Comprehension: 1,750 (Praised in All Directions) Qi and Blood Sword Casting Secret Method: sword casting for 12 months and 15 days Starry Sky Waterfall Conception: 1% progress Ocean Wave Conception: 25% progress Qiantian Treasure Transformation Secret Method: fifth layer Ninefold Carp Leaping Dragon Gate Art: fifth layer Lu Changsheng's comprehension had reached 1,750 points. This was truly terrifying. Yet Lu Changsheng had a feeling that his comprehension was still quite far from another transformation. As for the other aspects, there was little advancement. At Lu Changsheng's current realm, he had entered a plateau. While it was not quite a bottleneck, rapid improvement and breakthroughs were practically impossible. On this day, news from the north reached Zhanhai City. The northern barbarians were massing troops in the Northern Region, showing signs of preparing to march south. The northern barbarians had always been aggressive, locked in a virtually ancestral feud with the Great Fish Dynasty. The two sides had fought for hundreds of years, accumulating boundless hatred. Now that the Great Fish Dynasty was plagued by internal turmoil and external threats, the northern barbarians naturally seized this opportunity. Originally, this matter had nothing to do with the martial world. However, the Martial Demonstration Tower of the Great Fish Dynasty issued a Martial Demonstration Token, calling upon martial artists across the martial world to head north and resist the northern barbarians together! The Martial Demonstration Tower was a very peculiar martial force. It specialized in gathering intelligence and martial arts. It had an intimate grasp of matters great and small across the martial world. Yet it rarely interfered in martial world affairs, holding a very special status. Some suspected that the Martial Demonstration Tower was inextricably linked to the Great Fish Dynasty, or perhaps even established by the Great Fish Dynasty to monitor the martial world. Now that even the Martial Demonstration Tower had taken action, issuing the Martial Demonstration Token to rally the power of martial artists against the northern barbarians, it was clear that the Great Fish Dynasty had truly reached the end of its rope. With rebellions erupting everywhere, the Great Fish Dynasty was powerless to resist the northern barbarians on its own. Mobilizing the strength of martial artists—whom the dynasty had always viewed with wariness—was effectively an act of compromise. Furthermore, it was said that the Martial Demonstration Tower had joined hands with numerous merchants to offer those heading north to fight the barbarians a path to wealth. As long as one slew northern barbarians, each head could be exchanged for a set amount of silver. If one did not want silver, barbarian heads could also be taken to the Martial Demonstration Tower to exchange for various martial arts. In short, as soon as this news spread, it swept through the entire martial world. Countless martial artists were enticed. Independent vagabonds in the martial world were especially tempted. After all, anything produced by the Martial Demonstration Tower was bound to be of the highest quality! The Martial Demonstration Tower possessed centuries of reputation; regardless of whether it had ties to the Great Fish Dynasty, its repute was sterling. Any martial art from the Martial Demonstration Tower was guaranteed to be superior and exquisite, far beyond ordinary arts. Now, as long as one killed northern barbarians, one had the chance to obtain martial arts from the Martial Demonstration Tower. Such an opportunity did not come along every day. Lu Changsheng noticeably found that the number of martial artists in Zhanhai City had diminished by a great margin. Even within the Four Seas Gang, many martial artists had quietly slipped away without a trace. Even Lu Yang and Zhang Xuan no longer discussed matters of Zhanhai City every day; instead, they talked about the tales told by storytellers of martial artists slaying northern barbarians in the Northern Region. "The world, the nation, the martial world, martial artists..." Lu Changsheng murmured softly. At this moment, several matters that originally seemed entirely unrelated were now intertwined. Furthermore, as time went on, it was said that the northern barbarians had also recruited experts from their own martial circles to fight in the Northern Region. The Northern Region had now become a hunting ground. Everyone in it was a hunter, yet everyone could just as easily become prey. Lu Changsheng pondered for three days. Finally, he made his decision. Zhanhai City was the martial world, and the Northern Region was the martial world all the same. He wanted to go to where the martial world was at its most thrilling! After all, no martial artist had ever reached the peak of the martial path through bitter cultivation alone. Lu Changsheng gave a few simple instructions to Zhang Xuan and Lu Yang, and asked Xu Ling to look after them a bit. Xu Ling could not help asking, "Physician Lu, the Northern Region is chaotic and dangerous. Are you truly going north?" In Xu Ling's eyes, a physician like Lu Changsheng heading north was nothing short of madness. "Hall Master Xu, my mind is made up. There is no need to dissuade me." Lu Changsheng set off. Alone with a single horse, he departed Zhanhai City. Outside the city, Lu Changsheng spotted a familiar figure. "Hm? Miss Yun." Lu Changsheng's eyes narrowed slightly. He had not expected it to be Yun Haitang. However, Yun Haitang had brought no one with her; she waited quietly outside the city alone. Yun Haitang smiled faintly. "Physician Lu... Forget it, I'm still used to calling you Brother Dao. "Brother Dao, take good care on your journey! "Whenever you grow weary or tired of it, you can return to the Heavenly Maiden Sect at any time." Lu Changsheng smiled. It seemed Yun Haitang had learned his true identity. In truth, it was no great matter. That Dao Twelve was Lu Changsheng was not much of a secret. Given enough time, someone was bound to uncover it. "Miss Yun, farewell." Lu Changsheng did not say much. Cupping his hands, he urged his steed into a gallop and rode off into the dust. Only Yun Haitang remained, gazing after Lu Changsheng's vanishing silhouette, lost in thought. In the Northern Region, under boundless gray skies stretched vast wild plains, an expansive grassland extending as far as the eye could see. Carrying a medicine chest slung over his shoulder, Lu Changsheng leisurely made his way to Beiling City. This was a border city of the Great Fish Dynasty. Further north lay the territory of the northern barbarians. In fact, it could not strictly be called the barbarians' domain either. Outside Beiling City was an expanse of open grassland where stationing an army was simply impossible. As a result, it had become a lawless no-man's-land. Now, it had turned into a ground of frantic slaughter between northern barbarians and the martial artists of the Great Fish Dynasty. Moreover, the grasslands along the border were battlegrounds where countless martial artists and northern barbarians clashed, the air thick with the stench of blood at every waking moment. Snap. Lu Changsheng set down his medicine chest right on the street and set up a stall. However, he raised a banner: Only Nine Treated Each Day. At first, hardly anyone came. Yet as the days went by, some martial artists discovered that this man possessed genuine skill. Whether saber cuts, sword wounds, internal damage, or external trauma, as long as Physician Lu stepped in, the ailment was guaranteed to be cured the moment medicine was applied. Because of this, people dubbed him the "Nine Cure Divine Hand." Of course, "Divine Hand" was an exaggeration. Yet in the martial world, far more absurd nicknames than "Divine Hand" abounded everywhere. Calling him the Nine Cure Divine Hand was hardly unusual. Yet even though Lu Changsheng was a physician, he still encountered trouble. For instance, right now, trouble had found him. Having already treated nine patients, he was just about to pack up his stall. However, seven or eight martial artists crowded around. "Hurry and treat my leg wound!" Lu Changsheng said indifferently, "The stall is closed. The rule here is nine patients only." "Rules? I am the rule! I told you to treat it—if you don't, I'll slaughter you!" the martial artist snarled viciously. Lu Changsheng stopped. Slowly lifting his head, he turned his gaze upon these martial artists.