Return to Miaoshou Garden, Upheaval at Gao Family Fort!

Lu Changsheng galloped swiftly like the wind and soon left Mount Wu behind. Yet just as he emerged from Mount Wu, he spotted a familiar figure outside the mountain forest. *Clip-clop, clip-clop.* The horse Lu Changsheng had set free earlier was actually lingering outside the woods; upon seeing Lu Changsheng, it trotted happily toward him. "Huh?" "Horse, you haven't left yet? You've still been waiting here for me?" The horse nuzzled Lu Changsheng's palm affectionately with its head. People often said horses understood human nature, and seeing this, it was truly so. Lu Changsheng smiled and said, "Since you didn't leave and stayed here waiting for me, it seems we share a bond of fate." "Once we return, I'll buy you outright. From now on, follow me and ride the jianghu together!" A surge of heroic pride suddenly welled up within Lu Changsheng. Although he had only rented the horse, he could easily purchase it. Given his current wealth, a single horse was hardly expensive. He swung into the saddle at once and gently patted the horse's back. "Horse, let's go home!" Immediately, all four hooves pounded the ground, kicking up a trail of dust as it sped away. Three days later, Lu Changsheng returned to Miaoshou Garden. "Finally back." Having been away for two whole months, it was equivalent to Lu Changsheng's first real venture into the jianghu, which broadened his horizons immensely. After all the fighting and killing out there, returning to Miaoshou Garden made him feel that home was still the most comfortable place. After resting for a night, Lu Changsheng arrived at the pharmacy early the next morning. His master, Wu Jing, had also arrived early. "Master, this disciple was delayed by some matters outside for a month." Lu Changsheng bowed respectfully. Wu Jing looked at Lu Changsheng and replied, "It's good that you're back." "Now that you've returned, I can take things a bit easier." "Starting today, try holding consultations yourself." Lu Changsheng was somewhat surprised. "Master, your disciple has only studied under you for a few months..." "No matter. You are remarkably gifted; a few months of study are quite enough." "Besides, winter has arrived, and the number of patients has surged. I can't manage them all by myself. Try attending to patients first. If you run into anything you don't understand, you can always ask me to take a look." Lu Changsheng understood—his master was giving him an opportunity to accumulate more experience. While this carried a certain degree of risk, with his master watching over him, nothing could go seriously awry. With that thought, Lu Changsheng no longer declined. "Thank you, Master." The pharmacy was quite spacious, so setting up an extra table posed no problem. Wu Jing even assigned Lu Changsheng an apprentice to assist him. The apprentice was named Zhang Huan, who had been studying under Wu Jing far longer than Lu Changsheng. He had originally been assigned by Miaoshou Garden to serve Wu Jing, but now he could only work as Lu Changsheng's assistant. However, Zhang Huan was clever. Knowing Lu Changsheng was on the rise, he realized that latching onto Lu Changsheng's coattails might improve his own circumstances. Thus, Zhang Huan bustled about diligently, carrying out every task with earnest dedication. Soon, under Zhang Huan's diligent ushering, Lu Changsheng's first patient arrived. It was a middle-aged man suffering from a bout of wind-cold and coughing incessantly. This was a common winter ailment. None of the patients redirected from Wu Jing suffered from complex or intractable conditions; almost all had common illnesses, purely intended to help Lu Changsheng build up experience. Lu Changsheng examined his tongue coating, inquired about his symptoms, felt his pulse, and finally wrote a prescription to dispense the medicine. Wu Jing nodded secretly. When it came to common illnesses, Lu Changsheng truly handled them without issue. Before long, a day went by. Wu Jing had long since departed the pharmacy; being advanced in age, he could not exert himself too heavily each day. A large influx of patients was left entirely to Lu Changsheng. Lu Changsheng was thoroughly pleased as well. With so many patients, his experience would accumulate rapidly. He estimated that within a few months, he would be able to hold consultations independently and become a true physician. Zhang Huan remained attentive as ever, pouring Lu Changsheng a cup of hot tea. Lu Changsheng smiled and said, "Zhang Huan, you worked hard today." "Doctor Lu, what are you saying? You're the physician, and I'm an apprentice. Assisting you is only natural." Lu Changsheng was quite pleased with Zhang Huan, so he asked out of curiosity, "Have medicinal herbs gotten more expensive recently? I noticed that some common herbs have gone up slightly in price." Zhang Huan nodded and explained, "Doctor Lu, you've been away for two months, so you wouldn't know." "You should know of Gao Family Fort outside the city, right? More than a month ago, the fort lord of Gao Family Fort died under mysterious circumstances. Afterward, a group called the Blood Fiend Sect appeared and somehow seized Gao Family Fort." "Now Gao Family Fort has even been renamed the Blood Fiend Sect. This Blood Fiend Sect acts quite domineeringly. Relying on their great strength, they levy a fee on every passing merchant and caravan." "However, the fee extracted by the Blood Fiend Sect is rather small. The factions within the city probably didn't want to fall out with the Blood Fiend Sect, so they tacitly accepted it." "Even our Miaoshou Garden's caravans were subjected to this fee, which is why herb prices rose a bit." Hearing this, a glint flashed across Lu Changsheng's eyes. The Blood Fiend Sect had occupied Gao Family Fort. He immediately thought of the five mysterious martial artists he had killed. Perhaps those five mysterious martial artists had been members of the Blood Fiend Sect. However, what Lu Changsheng cared about was whether the Blood Fiend Sect knew that he was the one who took the Blood Exchange Bead and killed those five martial artists. Lu Changsheng returned to his courtyard, still mulling over the matter of the Blood Fiend Sect. "Regardless of whether the Blood Fiend Sect knows I took the Blood Exchange Bead, I had better avoid leaving Miaoshou Garden for now." In any case, he now had silver and martial skills, allowing him to practice his martial arts inside Miaoshou Garden with peace of mind. And so, Lu Changsheng's daily life settled into a steady routine once more. Each day, he held consultations, examined patients, and built up medical experience, using his spare time to practice martial arts. Such days were peaceful and fulfilling. In the blink of an eye, more than a month slipped by. The people of the Blood Fiend Sect never came looking for Lu Changsheng. This brought him a measure of relief. On this day, Lu Changsheng was tempering his internal organs as usual. Suddenly, a line of small text appeared before his eyes: "Silkworm Silk Organ Refining Technique perfected. Comprehension +5." Lu Changsheng was not surprised. Calculating the time, it was indeed about time for the Silkworm Silk Organ Refining Technique to reach perfection. Lu Changsheng immediately called up the attribute panel. Host: Lu Changsheng Comprehension: 536 (Hidden Dragon in the Depths) Silkworm Silk Organ Refining Technique: Layer Five Perfected Nine-Word Thunder Sound Secret Method: Perfected (Incomplete) "The Silkworm Silk Organ Refining Technique has reached perfection. I can move on to practicing my second organ-refining technique." "With the aid of the perfected Nine-Word Thunder Sound Secret Method, the organ-refining martial arts don't need to be exceptionally profound." Lu Changsheng still had two organ-refining martial arts, ready for him to practice at any time. He was not lacking in organ-refining arts, but his store of martial skills was depleting rapidly. During this past period, Lu Changsheng had practiced another forty martial skills. On average, he could bring ten martial skills to perfection in about ten days. Most were third-tier martial skills, with only a small number being fourth-tier. Consequently, Lu Changsheng's comprehension had now surpassed 500 points. A comprehension of 500 points was roughly five times that of an ordinary person. It might not sound like much, but the capabilities manifested by five times ordinary comprehension put him leagues apart from a regular person—truly a difference like heaven and earth. Previously, Lu Changsheng had bought only eighty-six martial skills in total. Now, merely three remained. In all likelihood, it wouldn't take more than a few days to practice these final few skills to perfection. Once that happened, he would have no more martial skills to practice, and the growth rate of his comprehension would plummet. Lu Changsheng had actually wondered whether, with his comprehension so high, he could create martial skills of his own. He could then practice them to perfection to boost his comprehension, create more martial skills, and form a perfect virtuous cycle. Yet Lu Changsheng had tried, and it simply did not work. Creating martial skills required inspiration. Back then, he had only managed to create the Instant Kill Technique because a sudden flash of inspiration had struck him. And inspiration was elusive; one could not simply summon it at will. Without inspiration, relying solely on accumulated knowledge might eventually yield a martial skill, but it took time. It might take years, a decade, or even decades. What was the point of spending years or decades just to create a single martial skill? As for low-tier martial skills, that was even harder. The simpler a martial skill was, the more perfected it actually had become. For example, Basic Sword Technique, Basic Saber Technique, Basic Fist Technique, and the like. With these simplest martial arts, no matter how high one's comprehension was, it was practically impossible to create better foundational techniques than them. After undergoing thousands of years of evolution, they had already reached the pinnacle of refinement. Therefore, if Lu Changsheng wanted to obtain martial skills, he would have to find other means. "It seems I'll have to make another trip to the black market." "Even without Li Hongzhuang, there might be others selling martial skills." Lu Changsheng decided to visit the black market after all. The black market was a gathering place of dragons and serpents, welcoming people from all walks of life. Moreover, months had passed since Li Hongzhuang's incident. Without Li Hongzhuang, someone else would likely have stepped in to fill the void she left behind.