933 Everflowing Qi and Blood, Immortal and Ever Young

“I’m flattered,” Miao Xihe said.

“Now that you have already reached this point, what else do you want this Blood Orchid for?” Wu San asked.

As if suddenly enlightened, he asked, “Could it be that you wish to return to boyhood from old age and live forever?”

“I feel that I have reached the top,” Miao Xihe said. “I can’t move or breakthrough anymore. This state has lasted for six years. I have tried many times in the past six years, but I have never succeeded. I’m still standing in the same place. Now that the Blood Orchid has appeared, it presented me with an opportunity. I want to see if I can take it a step further.”

“What is your definition of a step further?” Wu San asked.

“To have ever flowing Qi and blood, and to be immortal and ever young,” Miao Xihe said.

Ha-ha-ha! Wu San laughed three hearty times.

“Isn’t that just immortality and everlasting youth, Miao Xihe? You’ve got enough guts to dream about it!”

“If I can’t even dream about it, what’s the point of living?” Miao Xihe replied after taking a sip of clear tea.

“Refining your body with medicine has always been the secret of the Valley of Thousands of Medicine,” Wu San said. “It can refine your skin externally and boil your internal organs internally. It has been more than 20 years since I last saw you. Your appearance hasn’t changed much. You are also researching it yourself, right?”

“I had the honor to listen to Master’s advice in the Valley of Thousands of Medicine back then. After I came back, I had to study it. I tried it through the years as well. It really worked, but it’s far from your level. The power of medicine has been absorbed into your soul and marrow. The first person to do this in the Valley of Thousands of Medicine probably didn’t reach this step, right?”

“How can I, as a person of a younger generation, imagine the means of my predecessors?” Miao Xihe asked.

“Let me think about it.” Wu San was silent a moment before saying, “You’ve refined your body with medicine. The medicine has entered your soul and marrow. It’s half medicine and half poison. The Blood Orchid is a holy medicine. It’s extremely pure. Does it clash with the blood in your body?”

“Awesome!” Miao Xihe exclaimed.

His words had hit the mark.

“When I was instructed by Master back then, he said that all the medicines used for refining one’s body were relatively moderate and neutral to minimize the adverse stimulation to the human body,” Wu San said. “According to this principle, your body should not clash much with the Blood Orchids. The poison you have in your blood is a result of you straying from the right path, right?”

“I walked that path, but I came to the end,” Miao Xihe said. “If I want to go further, I have to find another way. Poison is also a medicine, and the same applies to poisonous insects.”

“You are a poisonous person now. Does the Blood Orchid have the effect of detoxification?”

“Yes, I’ve tried. It can detoxify almost all poisons,” Miao Xihe replied.

“It’s tough to integrate the power of Blood Orchid with the blood in your body,” Wu San remarked.

Were there herbs that could neutralize all kinds of medicinal power? There were, such as licorice, but the so-called neutralization effect only slightly harmonized the Yin and Yang so that the medicinal power of certain medicines would not be too strong. It was impossible to use it to reconcile a strong poison, such as the Gelsemium Elegans.

“So, I came to find you,” Miao Xihe said.

“Did you try it?” Wu San asked.

“Yes, but I didn’t succeed.”

“Let me think about it,” Wu San replied.

He stared at the small bowl of blood. After a while, he looked up at Miao Xihe.

“Actually, this is a two-sided question. It depends on which option you want to choose.”

“Why do you say that?” Miao Xihe asked.

“The choices are either to discard the power in your body and blood and take the Blood Orchid or to simply give up on the Blood Orchid,” Wu San said.

“How can I discard the medicinal powers in my body, which have gone deep and fused into my bone marrow?”

“Blood-letting and blood production supplemented by antidotes,” Wu San suggested.

Miao Xihe was silent for a long time. If Wu San could think of that method, then he could think of it as well. However, the risk was too great. It was not as simple as it sounded. Even considering the state his body was currently in, one careless mistake could lead to serious injuries or death.

“Shall we think of another method?”

“Yes, let’s think of another way,” Wu San said.

It was easy to suggest thinking of another method, but it was quite difficult to do. Miao Xihe knew the efforts he had made and the pain he had endured. Only after he had tiptoed on the edge of life and death several times, could he have the current harvest. At this time, he had to find another method or give up all he had. He couldn’t make that decision.

“When the medicinal power is no longer effective, my life will be uncertain,” Miao Xihe said.

“Heh, actually, you don’t have to rush it,” Wu San said. “After refining your soul and bone marrow, living 100 more years in this body of yours would not be a huge problem. What can’t be done in such a long time?”

Miao Xihe gazed down at the clear tea in his cup. He poured a cup for Wu San.

“I was too anxious.”

“It’s the temptation of the Blood Orchid,” Wu San said.

“Well, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

His focus on the important matters had been overshadowed by the trivial ones.

“Alright, I’m leaving.”

“Whey are you leaving in such a hurry? Won’t you stay for dinner?”

“No thank you, there’s something else to settle in the stockade.” Miao Xihe rose and left.

Wu San walked with him to the main road of the stockade.

“If you have had enough one day, come back to the stockade,” Miao Xihe said. “I’ll welcome you.”

“I’m fine here,” Wu San replied.

Miao Xihe nodded but didn’t say anything else. He turned and walked away. In a short time, he had traveled quite a distance. Wu San watched him disappear at the end of the road before turning back to go inside his bamboo house.

“Who was that man who requires the King Pharmacist to come out and see him off personally?”

“Who knows? Maybe it was a relative.”

“Tss, look at that man. He looks like a country bumpkin. He doesn’t look like he’s from the city.”

“You can’t judge a book by its cover. What do you think the King Pharmacist usually looks like? Doesn’t he usually wear local clothing too?”

“That’s right.”

“Ah, is the King Pharmacist treating patients today?”

“He’s probably accepting patients today.”

Soon after Wu San entered the bamboo tower, his apprentice came out. He told the people, who had been waiting outside for a long time, some bad news. “He’s not accepting patients today!”

“Ah, why not?”

“It must be your first time here. The King Pharmacist is very willful when accepting patients. If he doesn’t want to treat you, he won’t treat you.”

“Have I been waiting all these days in vain?”

“If you’re in a hurry, go somewhere else. If you’re not, just keep waiting here.”

In the bamboo building, there was a box and a teacup on a wooden table. Frozen Blood Orchids were inside the box. The cup had dark red blood in it.

Wu San went to the table and stared at the two things. After a while, he reached out and dipped his finger into the blood and brought it to his mouth again.

Bah! He instantly spat it out and repeatedly gargled with tea.

He sighed and thought, What poisonous blood! Impressive work Miao Xihe!

His gaze fell on the Blood Orchids in the box. He picked one up, put it beside his nose, and sniffed it. It had a very unique fragrance that put people at ease.

The smell is soothing!

He put the Blood Orchid into his mouth and carefully chewed it. He felt his mouth fill with the unique fragrance. It was refreshing.

What a great Blood Orchid!

He slowly chewed, delicately tasting the branches and leaves in the petals. He finally swallowed the flower. He sat still and felt the power of the flower after it entered his abdomen.

The medicinal power is pure. It warms and nourishes the organs.

Huu… After a long time, he heavily breathed out.

It’s a pity.

He opened his eyes and looked out the window.

If Miao Xihe had found the Blood Orchid earlier, maybe he would have gone one step further.

“Master.”

“What is it?”

“Someone’s making trouble outside.”

“Let them be. Tell them I won’t see any patients for the next week.”

“Yes, Master.”

“What? He changed it to a week! What’s the matter with him?”

The people waiting immediately went into a frenzy when they heard the news.

“Ah, I’m happy!” Wu San laughed inside the bamboo building. He seemed to be elated.

The day seemed to fly by quickly. It seemed to be only a blink of the eye before it was the afternoon.

“It’s already after the winter solstice, so why is the weather still like this? It hasn’t changed at all!”

“It’s only been a few days!”

Inside a clinic in Lianshan County…

“Xiao Mei.”

“Uncle, what can I do for you?”

“Ah, I’ve almost run out of the Primordial Spirit Soup that I bought two days ago. Please give me another two bottles,” the old man in his 60s requested.

“Alright, please wait for a moment, Uncle,” Pei Mei said. “How have the effects been after drinking it?”

“It’s very good. I feel more comfortable. The medicine produced in our county has quite a good effect.”

“That’s right,” Pan Mei said.

The old man had just left when another person entered. He had come to inquire about the medicine.

“Is there any left?”

“Yes, are you not feeling well?” Pan Mei asked.