Chapter 64: The Third Realm of the Crucible, New Medicinal Treasures in the Kunlun Marsh

After descending from Xiuba Mountain, Chen Zhi'an returned to Fusang Street and did not visit the Abode of Rest again.

It would take Qu Junhui three or four days to refine pills and forge weapons. Chen Zhi'an had frequently brewed medicinal soups himself in the past, so he understood that it was no simple task, especially since refining extremely high-grade pills often required hundreds or thousands of procedures.

He was already quite satisfied that Qu Junhui was able to fuse the acquired qi and forge pills to break through barriers within three or four days.

Thus, he settled down in Xuantian Capital.

Fusang Street was tranquil enough. Aside from a visit from the Imperial Household Department to carefully inquire about the pigments Chen Zhi'an needed for his painting, no one came to disturb him for two or three days straight. Chen Zhi'an spent this time cultivating in his courtyard.

At this moment, Chen Zhi'an's second stage of the White Jade Cicada Shedding Scripture had reached its peak, urgently awaiting a breakthrough. His true qi was like plump fruits swaying and continuously tempering his internal organs, skin, flesh, tendons, and membranes.

Coupled with the Melting Furnace Body Tempering Precious Scripture left behind by Chen Shuijun, Chen Zhi'an's days were quite fulfilling.

In the courtyard, water trickled gently. Amidst the sound of the flowing water, Chen Zhi'an practiced the Tiger Embrace Fist in the yard.

The Tiger Embrace Fist was wide and sweeping, mobilizing almost every inch of skin, flesh, tendons, and membranes across Chen Zhi'an's entire body.

His Tiger Embrace Fist had long since reached major accomplishment. The reason he still focused on practicing it now was to use the fist routine to guide his true qi through his entire body, thereby cultivating the Melting Furnace Body Tempering Precious Scripture even faster.

For this third-grade profound art, reaching the fifth stage was considered a major accomplishment.

Chen Zhi'an had already stepped into the second stage back in Sunan Prefecture. Now, twenty or thirty days later, as he circulated the Melting Furnace Body Tempering Precious Scripture, his whole body felt like a giant blazing furnace.

His true qi seemed to be burning, thoroughly incinerating every trace of impurity within the flesh of his entire body.

Guided by the Tiger Embrace Fist, the thick tendons in his limbs were almost fully stretched, his internal organs constantly expanded and contracted, and his skin and flesh, though looking fair and soft, had already become extremely tough.

Chen Zhi'an practiced for a full half-hour before walking over to a rockery in the courtyard and tapping it lightly with his finger.

Crack...

A corner of the rockery instantly snapped off and flew away.

Chen Zhi'an's gaze flickered slightly.

The third stage of the Melting Furnace Body Tempering Precious Scripture: bones like stone, skin and flesh like seasoned leather.

While not completely impervious to blades and spears, it could already be considered formidable.

"Once the fifth stage perfection of the Melting Furnace Body Tempering Precious Scripture is achieved, that will mean bones like iron and skin and flesh like a shield. Relying solely on physical cultivation without operating true qi, one could beat a pinnacle true qi realm powerhouse to death with bare hands.

If matched with true qi, a single punch would likely unleash a tremendous force of six to seven thousand catties."

Chen Zhi'an could not help but marvel at the profundity of this third-grade profound art.

"It is only a pity that even with the Melting Furnace Quenching Pills, coupled with drinking ginger tea daily, the speed of this melting furnace body tempering is still a bit too slow."

Thinking of this, the Heavenly Jade Capital Scroll slowly unfolded in his mind, and his consciousness sank into the Kunlun Marsh of White Jade Capital.

The Kunlun Marsh still cultivated many medicinal herbs—including the various herbs required for the Melting Furnace Quenching Pills that came with the Melting Furnace Precious Scripture, as well as several herbs needed for the Cicada Shedding Pills.

The Cicada Shedding Pills were excellent pills for breaking through yuan barriers when cultivating the first and second stages of the White Jade Cicada Shedding Scripture.

Upon reaching the Divine Essence realm, where one could meticulously control true qi to suppress the fierce medicinal potency of the Cicada Shedding Pills, they could be ingested regularly as pills to aid cultivation.

Because of this, Chen Zhi'an had constantly cultivated the medicinal herbs required for the Cicada Shedding Pills in the Kunlun Marsh over these past days.

"Once I break into the Divine Essence realm, if I can consume a Cicada Shedding Pill every day and digest its medicinal power, the speed of my cultivation progress will certainly not be slow."

Chen Zhi'an thought to himself.

He still did not know that achieving the third stage of the Melting Furnace Precious Scripture in a little over a month was already an extraordinarily fast speed, and no one would consider it slow.

Nor did he know that if anyone else were to take a Cicada Shedding Pill daily, their true qi would likely riot within three days, causing their meridians to burst and resulting in death.

However, after more than ten years of root-cleansing and bone-reshaping by Chen Shuijun, Chen Zhi'an's foundational bones were already like jade, exceptionally extraordinary.

With jade-like bones, one could truly do as one pleased.

Chen Zhi'an tallied the various herbs planted in the Kunlun Marsh, and his gaze fell upon the patches of Red-Center Ginger.

Fifty stalks of Red-Center Ginger were thriving amidst the Kunlun spiritual qi of the Kunlun Marsh.

Another Blood-Burning Ginger Fruit was ripening.

The Blood-Burning Ginger Fruit had extraordinary efficacy, but its effects diminished drastically with each successive ingestion. Chen Zhi'an had consumed one on Dongfeng Street in Sunan Prefecture, but he had also prepared a second one.

Even with the severely diminished effect, the second Blood-Burning Ginger Fruit would likely still amplify his true qi by ten or twenty percent, playing a vital role at a critical moment.

In addition, forty stalks out of the fifty Red-Center Ginger plants had their roots linked together into a single patch, mutually supplying nutrients. Above the spiritual qi of the Kunlun Marsh, a flower had blossomed, exuding a pungent fragrance.

"The Blood-Burning Ginger Fruit was formed by the connection of ten stalks of Red-Center Ginger. I wonder what kind of treasure these forty stalks of Red-Center Ginger will grow into?"

Chen Zhi'an looked forward to it quite a bit.

However, over the past dozen days or so, apart from the fragrance, nothing else had grown from this flower.

Even the forty interconnected Red-Center Ginger stalks stopped absorbing the spiritual qi and nutrients from the Kunlun Marsh.

"It seems that with my current level of cultivation, the spiritual qi in the Kunlun Marsh is still insufficient to support the complete maturation of this medicinal herb."

"I wonder if this herb will mature once I break through into the Divine Essence realm."

Thoughts flickered through Chen Zhi'an's mind.

"I obtained this Red-Center Ginger by chance and planted it in the Kunlun Marsh of White Jade Capital.

After that, I planted many medicinal herbs, but none could ever compare to the Red-Center Ginger.

Upon careful thought, this Red-Center Ginger must be extremely precious. Even without refining it into pills, simply steeping it in tea to drink is enough to temper one's foundational bones and is quite beneficial for true qi cultivation."

After this Red-Center Ginger, Chen Zhi'an had never encountered such fine medicinal herbs again.

"Xuantian Capital is vast and prosperous, harboring goodness knows how many capable and extraordinary individuals, and it must also conceal countless heavenly treasures. Living in Xuantian Capital for a long time, I might be able to find better medicinal herbs in the future to plant in the Kunlun Marsh."

For Chen Zhi'an, the Kunlun Marsh played a monumental role in his cultivation path, a role that was virtually irreplaceable.

Without the Kunlun Marsh, Chen Zhi'an would have embarked on the path of cultivation even later, and without the support of those medicinal soups, his cultivation speed could never have been this fast.

"Carefully managing the Kunlun Marsh will allow me to walk further and steadier on the path of cultivation."

As these thoughts crossed his mind, seeing that neither Old Huangliang nor Jiaonu were present in the Kaiyang Gate, his consciousness left White Jade Capital.

He rose from the small pavilion and was about to return to his room to rest when he heard someone knocking on the door.

Chen Zhi'an went to open the door and saw that the person knocking was the gatekeeper stationed at the very front of Fusang Street.

Though called a gatekeeper, this person was tall and robust, dressed in black martial attire with a sharp gaze. The aura he exuded was even more vigorous than those iron-clad guards in Sunan Prefecture.

"Master Chen, a guest has arrived at the head of the street, stating they wish to pay you a visit," the gatekeeper saluted and said.

Chen Zhi'an poked his head out and looked far down toward the entrance of Fusang Street, where he saw a sedan chair parked there.

"Who is the visitor?" Chen Zhi'an asked.

"It is a sedan chair from the Ministry of War's Grand Secretary's estate. The visitor is Fifth Miss Si, daughter of the Heaven-Melting General," the gatekeeper replied.

Hearing the answer, Chen Zhi'an could not help but frown slightly.

The young lady of the Si family—what business did she have seeing him?

However, he did not dwell on it much. He simply shook his head and said to the gatekeeper, "Trouble you to reply that I am currently painting and it is inconvenient to receive guests."

With that, he closed the door, and the gatekeeper went forward to deliver the response.

Inside the sedan chair, Si Yao could not help frowning upon hearing the gatekeeper's reply.

The maid Qingxue, who was sitting beside her peeling lychees, was even more surprised. She wiped her hands, stepped out of the sedan chair, and asked the gatekeeper in a low voice, "Did you inform that Master Chen of my young lady's identity? And where the sedan chair came from?"

The gatekeeper respectfully replied, "This lowly person naturally stated it carefully, but Master Chen said he was currently painting and could not be disturbed, making it inconvenient to receive guests.

We are merely gatekeepers guarding the street; we simply pass along the words however the lords living on the street instruct us."

Qingxue could not help drawing a sharp breath. She got back into the sedan chair and said indignantly, "This painter surnamed Chen really thinks quite highly of himself. He even dares to turn the Si family away from his door."

Si Yao was also quite baffled.

Logically speaking, if a painter wanted to build a reputation, they had to rely on genuine influential noble households.

Only when aristocratic families treated you courteously and begged for your paintings could a painter accumulate fame and truly become a name that could command a high price.

Yet now, this painter surnamed Chen refused to see even someone from the Ministry of War Grand Secretary's estate. What kind of person did he actually want to see?

Outside the sedan chair, the middle-aged scholar who had earlier watched Chen Zhi'an poke his head out from afar, fearing that his young lady would become angry and upset, took the initiative to speak: "Young Lady need not take it to heart.

Since the gatekeeper addressed Master Chen as 'Young Master Chen,' it seems the person who poked his head out just now was indeed the painter Chen. This person... is surprisingly quite young, which catches me off guard."

"A young man newly arrived in Xuantian Capital, having gained the favor of Princess Linglong and Princess Shangqiu, naturally harbors a bit of arrogance.

Coupled with the impending Morning Audience Festival, the status of painters has also risen with the tide over these past two or three months, receiving courteous treatment everywhere, which only makes that arrogance even more profound."

The maid Qingxue also nodded, scolding, "Having never seen the great world, such arrogance only grows stronger. So much for what the elders say, but it's a pity that the Old Dowry insists on having this stubborn greenhorn paint; it is truly exasperating."

"After the Morning Audience Festival, he will come to realize that while Xuantian Capital treats painters with courtesy, there are ultimately limits. With such arrogance, should he anger some overbearing noble young master or lady one day and end up dead in a suburban ditch, it would not be entirely impossible."

"Never mind," Si Yao shook her head. "Send someone to keep an eye on him. There will come a time when he leaves these Eight Streets of the Imperial City, and we will go invite him then."

"What painters seek is nothing more than a few taels of loose silver. Give it to him; there is always a price he cannot refuse."