Tumor Sword Immortal

Chapter 349 The Essence of Head Refining

Pei Xia wanted "personal belongings".

The woman replied with "nutritional supplements and medicinal pills".

Pei Xia had also learned a bit about the concept of dietary supplements from Jiang Shu. He knew that Zhao Beishi and the others carried food in their brocade pouches, which should be enough to satisfy their hunger, but it was just a drop in the ocean for cultivation.

In other words, this is not a dietary supplement or elixir, but rather an elixir intended as a dietary supplement.

Pei Xia had a sudden flash of inspiration; he felt as if he had grasped something.

The silence that followed seemed to have caused a slight misunderstanding on the other end.

The woman exposed her arm and, in front of Pei Xia, picked up a stone and deliberately crushed it into small pieces.

This is clearly not something someone like Jiang Shu, with her copper skin, could do; she must be someone with an even higher level of "iron bones."

Pei Xia was silent for a moment, then nodded: "Okay, let's go."

The situation in Sishui, especially the strange behavior of the villagers, cannot be explained by the "simple and honest" folk customs of Qinzhou and a cultivator with iron will.

After sitting for a while, the more than one hundred villagers quickly finished the meat soup in the iron pot. Seeing that the wedding banquet was about to end, Pei Xia got up to say goodbye.

Feng Yao and his nominal junior brother Jiang Shu also stood up.

Qi Erlang, sitting in the corner, had been silently watching Pei Xia and the others. His hands, tucked into his sleeves, were clenched tightly, and he was torn between his inner thoughts and his inner demons.

Feng Yao has been eating all along, that's a fact.

But it's also true that the two men didn't eat anything.

Perhaps... no, there is no perhaps. It's been many years, and this is the only chance.

He glanced at his sister and saw her asking some elderly people in town about wedding arrangements. He then carefully pushed his wheelchair closer to the direction where Pei Xia and the others were leaving.

As he got closer, he tossed something small out of his sleeve, which landed right at Pei Xia's feet.

Pei Xia paused, glancing sideways at Qi Jia Erlang with some surprise.

Qi Er lowered his head and remained silent, as if nothing had happened.

Pei Xia understood immediately, and naturally bent down to pick up the item. Then, she continued to lead Jiang Shu and Feng Yao away from the warm wedding banquet square.

Turning into the alley, the firelight behind him disappeared, but Jiang Shu still urged him to continue forward until he was back on the main road of the town, at which point the boy finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Pei Xia turned to look at him: "Are you nervous?"

Jiang Shu looked back, his eyes full of meaning: "That woman is a tough nut to crack. Do you know what that means?"

Qinzhou is an ancient place, and Pei Xia has only been here a short time, so naturally he can only shake his head at this moment.

Jiang Shu carefully considered his words: "My master's surname is Feng, and his name is Lao Qi. He has six older brothers. He only entered the business after eating all of them. After arriving at Tianbao Mountain, he was able to collect rent and had some food subsidies. Over the years, he also carefully trained several ingredients. When he died, he was only a top-grade copper coin."

Pei Xia immediately understood what he meant.

But at the same time, he couldn't help but think of what the woman had told him about "food supplements and elixirs being offered as tribute," and so he asked Jiang Shu, "What if they have a different background?"

Jiang Shu blinked at Pei Xia: "You don't know?"

"Should I know?"

"After you killed those two elders on the mountain, didn't you take that item?"

Did you retrieve the item?

Pei Xia was taken aback: "You mean, the Spirit Nourishing Pill?"

“That’s right. Cultivators with powerful backgrounds mostly rely on various pills for dietary supplements. One pill can be equivalent to a month of full-feed cultivation.”

Oh, no wonder.

Qinzhou is devoid of spiritual energy; spiritual plants cannot grow there, and even skilled practitioners cannot refine pills. Even low-grade spiritual energy pills like the Nourishing Spirit Pill have become rare items. No wonder that woman claimed she was offering it as tribute.

This also serves as a reminder to Pei Xia that what Zhao Beishi and the others relied on might not be complicated at all; it was simply drug use.

The Nourishing Spirit Pill dissolves upon entering the body, but if it is a higher-level Yangchun Pill, more spiritual energy is restored upon entering the body, which may allow one to briefly engage in combat.

If that's true, no wonder those Guo Han always charge a hefty price when they travel to and from Qin Prefecture; the cost is considerable.

However, while food can replenish qi and blood, how can pills that restore spiritual energy help these cultivators fundamentally improve their cultivation? It doesn't make sense.

A certain insight that had flashed through Pei Xia's mind before once again flashed through her mind.

He reached into his robes and pulled out a small bottle.

That was taken from the jade pendant when he briefly recovered his spiritual power at Tianbao Mountain last time.

It also contained pills, but there were no Nourishing Spirit Pills or Spring Yang Pills, only Foundation Strengthening Pills for stabilizing one's foundation and Yellow Qi Pills for healing injuries.

He poured out two pills and handed them to Jiang Shu: "Then do you think we can use these as a dietary supplement?"

When Jiang Shu first saw him take out two round pills, his eyes widened in surprise.

But after getting closer and sniffing it, his expression became hesitant: "It seems... the smell is off."

"Why don't you try some?"

"...What if it's poisonous?"

Without saying a word, Pei Xia picked up a piece, broke it in half, and ate it herself first.

Then she handed him the remaining half.

Jiang Shu swallowed it with some skepticism.

This was a Qi-Nourishing Pill. After entering the mouth, it quickly transformed into a warm medicinal power that penetrated deep into the lungs and internal organs, causing Jiang Shu to groan comfortably.

But after stretching his arms and legs, he shook his head regretfully: "It may have other benefits for the body, but it can't be considered a nutritional supplement, and it won't improve one's cultivation."

Peiyuan Dan won't work.

According to the martial arts cultivation methods of the modern world, physical strength is considered one of the foundations, and the Qi-Nourishing Pill should have a miraculous effect when starting cultivation.

This shows that the logic of head-refining cultivation is different from that of martial arts in the modern world.

If only pills like the Nourishing Spirit Pill and the Spring Yang Pill are effective, then wouldn't that mean that the essence of head-refining and dietary supplementation is... spiritual power?
The complete infusion of spiritual power into the body is somewhat similar to the Transformation Realm in martial arts. However, as a foundation-building method, Transformation Realm is essentially designed to enable cultivators to better utilize spiritual power at higher levels.

The head-refining process, on the other hand, is much simpler and more thorough. It consumes all available spiritual energy to strengthen the body.

Yes, that's right, that makes sense. That's why the flesh and blood of a head refiner are excellent nourishment for a head refiner, because the flesh and blood already contain spiritual power.

Pei Xia's eyebrows gradually rose. The deeper he understood, the more he felt a subtle sense of familiarity.

Infusing spiritual energy into flesh and blood to gain a powerful physique—this method of head refinement…isn't this an ancient technique?!
Ancient cultivation methods separated martial arts from physical training, and physical training was thus primitive and brutal.

Back then, in the underground palace, the ancient remains controlled by the spider monster still possessed astonishing skeletal strength even after a thousand years, which was a testament to the success of ancient techniques.

Pei Xia was certain that she had grasped the key to the problem—Qinzhou was not truly a place devoid of spirits!

Although it is not yet clear how else spiritual power can exist in Qinzhou besides head refinement.

But the discovery itself was enough to excite Pei Xia.

"It seems we still need to look for opportunities."

He took a deep breath and looked at his palm, where the second son of the Qi family had just thrown him.

A bunch of keys.

(End of this chapter)