A leisurely life in the world of cultivation

Chapter 13 Absurdity (Please recommend and add to your favorites)

"interesting."

Qi Zhenkun looked Li Weizhou up and down again with great interest, and said with a wicked smile, "That's right, without something, it's hard to catch the eye of this Yaksha..." He paused, then clicked his tongue in annoyance and said, "You've put me in a difficult position..." His fat hand even touched his bald head.

Li Weizhou smirked. This guy looked to be only twenty-four or twenty-five, but he was quite the show-off.

Qi Erniang was quite happy and chuckled to herself, seemingly enjoying the show.

Li Weizhou didn't quite understand, but she did understand that, given the fat man's status, why would he accept favors from others for nothing?
The more unintentionally a favor is given, the less likely a fat person is to accept it for free.

Prestigious families are often the most hypocritical and obsessed with saving face.

Besides, she could also tell that the fat man had started to look at Li Weizhou properly.

Both men were seasoned veterans who had seen countless people, but it was truly rare to find someone like Li Weizhou, who, despite being physically weak and holding no official position, could treat others as equals with such composure.

His speech and behavior were also quite remarkable, and he was always impeccably polite.

How to describe it?
It's like a white lotus blooming in a remote place at the foot of a mountain; though it lacks extravagance, its purity is captivating.

They all consider themselves people of status, so naturally they wouldn't take advantage of someone like that for no reason.

After a moment's hesitation, Qi Zhenkun pulled a booklet from his pocket. Even with his status, a look of hesitation appeared on his chubby face, perhaps because he was truly reluctant to part with it...

Qi Erniang said with a smile, "If Yuanjian Shanren is reluctant to part with it, then forget it. My younger brother is not a petty person. If he says he will give it to you, then he will. He is not stingy."

These words were too hurtful. Qi Zhenkun's chubby face trembled. He gritted his teeth and said to Li Weizhou, "This stance training has some history... I won't tell you the specifics, knowing too much won't do you any good. But it can help you open your acupoints. The premise is that you can endure the pain, not just ordinary pain. Maintain each stance unchanged for at least the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the longer the better, to forcefully open the acupoints. If you can master these twenty-four stances, you'll be reborn. Of course, the stance training needs to be combined with precious medicine, you can ask your Yaksha sister about that. Hey, goodbye!"

Without waiting for Li Weizhou to thank Qi Erniang or for her to start cursing, she vanished in a flash.

It seems that if we delay even a little, we will feel regret.

After he left, Qi Erniang actually let out a soft breath, which showed how much pressure she was under.

He then unceremoniously took the manual from Li Weizhou, flipped through a few pages, and his face grew increasingly grim. Finally, he cursed, "That fat bastard is a real scoundrel, using something like this to cheat people. No wonder he ran away so fast."

Li Weizhou asked in surprise, "Is this fake?"

That can't be right, how could there be anyone more shameless than him...

MSG may not be very valuable, but it doesn't exist in this world.

Things are rare.

But if that grandson really sent a fake book, then Li Weizhou would remember it and do the math.

Qi Erniang shook her head and said, "It's not that bad... It looks very fake. If he hadn't taken it out on the spot, I would have suspected that he just drew it randomly to fool the ghost! Don't practice it blindly... Never mind, I'm not worried. You can't practice it at all. Nobody can practice it."

After saying that, she tossed it to Li Weizhou. Seeing him take it cautiously with a hopeful look on his face, Qi Erniang chuckled and said, "You really want to learn martial arts?"

Li Weizhou nodded, gently smoothing the book, then opened the cover page and glanced at it. He was also startled by the portrait, raising an eyebrow slightly as he said, "My parents were kind and peaceful, yet they were caught in the crossfire of a martial arts battle and were never found. I don't want that tragedy to happen again." He then looked up at Qi Erniang earnestly and asked, "Sister Qi, what is the precious medicine that Qi Zhenkun mentioned earlier?"

Qi Erniang glanced again at the book that Li Weizhou had spread out in his hand. The little figures drawn on it looked like twisted and folded ghosts, which was shocking to behold. She said in annoyance, "Precious medicine is medicine to help people practice martial arts... The so-called poor scholar, rich martial arts lies in this. If you only rely on eating to practice martial arts, you can't keep up with the consumption of your essence and blood."

Without precious elixirs, one will quickly suffer from severe blood and qi deficiency. Therefore, stories of poor people falling off cliffs, finding secret manuals, mastering them, and emerging as unparalleled masters are all fabricated tales. Even if someone truly found a manual and practiced it haphazardly, they would either die or be crippled; there would be no third possibility. Besides stance training, various schools of martial arts often require special precious elixirs to assist their techniques…

Leaving those aside, they're too far removed from your current situation. Let's just talk about stance training. What you need is the Peiyuan Pill, used to strengthen your Qi and blood. The Peiyuan Pill is actually quite simple, with two main ingredients. One is ginseng, mostly from the Black Dragon Snow Mountain controlled by the Donghu. The other is dendrobium, also known as the Immortal Grass. This Immortal Grass isn't found in either the Donghu or the western snow mountains; it's only produced in the heart of our Great Qian region, and you can find it in pharmacies. But anyone who dares to sell even a single plant to the Hu people is committing a heinous crime punishable by the extermination of their entire family, without any leniency. It can only be traded, exchanging the Immortal Grass for ginseng…”

He didn't care about any of that. Li Weizhou pressed on, "Sister Qi, where can I buy Peiyuan Pills? Do you have the recipe? I can buy them, any price is fine."

Qi Erniang teased, "Arrogant! You're willing to pay any amount of silver... You're still a novice, yet you have such a big mouth. Have you even seen the Peiyuan Pill? You've already set your sights on the formula. However, the Peiyuan Pill formula isn't exactly a top secret. Although it was confiscated by the court during the reign of Emperor Taizu and forbidden from circulating among the people, it gradually became more lenient a hundred or two hundred years after Taizu's death."

The formula itself isn't difficult; it uses ginseng and *Immortal Grass* as the main ingredients, supplemented with honeysuckle as an adjuvant. The difficulty lies not in preparing the elixir, but in acquiring good ginseng. It's not that the Central Plains lack ginseng; it grows in the Dayuan Mountains to the south. However, production is extremely limited, and ginseng gatherers are mostly controlled by powerful clans and nobles. Ordinary people rarely have the opportunity to consistently harvest good ginseng. Ginseng can be traded at the horse markets of the Donghu, but the imperial court tightly controls this trade, forbidding any outside interference.

In short, ginseng is hard-won.

The imperial court did sell ginseng at the Ji'an Hall in various prefectures, but a single top-grade ginseng could cost hundreds of taels of silver, and a better one could even cost thousands of taels.

They buy ginseng, and for the same type of ginseng, they're lucky if they only pay half the price.

So don't talk big, kid. How much money do you have?

If someone with poor aptitude and natural talent tries to practice martial arts, they'll squander a mountain of gold.

Besides, if you really had that much silver, why would you need a medicinal formula? Just buy ginseng, dendrobium, and honeysuckle, boil them in an iron pot for an hour to extract their medicinal properties, then pour the decoction into a wooden tub. You can then stand in the tub and soak in the medicinal bath directly. It's much better than the stingy Qi-nourishing pills!

However, even among the noble families of the capital and the major sects of the martial arts world, only a handful of their direct descendants with exceptional talent can enjoy such extravagant methods when breaking through their cultivation barriers. So don't even dream about it!
"Work hard with me in business, and when you get married and have kids, your son can enjoy medicinal baths."

"Hey hey hey!"

For some reason, Li Weizhou's smile grew brighter and brighter until his eyes narrowed, and he said, "I understand, Sister Qi. But I still want to buy a copy of the pill formula, just in case."

"..."

Qi Erniang was a little curious as to why her younger brother's eyes had been so bright and sparkling all night.

With such stringent requirements for learning martial arts, how can he still be so confident?

She couldn't bear to continue discouraging Li Weizhou, because even if he did achieve a miracle and unlock his acupoints, it would only be the first step on a long journey.

Opening even one acupoint is incredibly difficult, let alone opening so many acupoints.

The lower three gates require opening three, six, and twelve orifices respectively.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth levels are the middle three levels. The fourth level requires opening twenty-four orifices, the fifth level requires opening forty-eight orifices, and the sixth level requires opening ninety-six orifices.

She glanced at the cultivation technique Qi Zhenkun gave her and found it to be quite extraordinary, as it used extreme conditions to force open the body's major acupoints.

It's easier said than done.

Besides enduring unbearable pain, the resources consumed have more than doubled.

Moreover, after breaking through the three middle barriers, not only do you need top-quality ginseng to make medicine, but you also need bone-tempering pills made from rare treasures such as tiger bone and bear bile, which makes the cost even higher.

It's as difficult as climbing to heaven.

But seeing how happy Li Weizhou was, Qi Erniang didn't say anything more.

She'll comfort her when things go wrong in the future.

Furthermore, this young man, whom I've only known for a short time, has indeed shown remarkable or even extraordinary behavior recently.

Life is unpredictable, and she wanted to see if this young man could really create a miracle.

Qi Erniang secretly hoped that Li Weizhou might one day rise from the ashes and reverse the course of history.

Even though she found the idea somewhat absurd...

……

(End of this chapter)