"Master, what kind of herbs are you looking for?" An old man with white hair at the reception smiled. He knew that he could get a lot of money from Ning Xiaochuan just by looking at what the latter was wearing.
Ning Xiaochuan's attire was not something an ordinary man could wear.
Although the Yulan Empire did not require doctors as a profession, they still had quite a number of herb stores around. Naturally, these herbs were no ordinary herbs, they were Mystical Medicine that were infused with Qi.
The price would be based on the rarity, viscosity, and the age of the medicine. Mystical Medicine could be categorized into nine grades.
All of these Mystical Medicine were at least a hundred years old, some were even a few hundred years old in fact. Naturally, their prices were astronomical. The lowest grade of Mystical Medicine would still cost over a thousand copper coins.
Those who bought Mystical Medicine were usually Heart-nourishing Masters as only they could fully utilize and reveal the true worth of these Mystical Medicine. In fact, they could even create Mystical Pills and Miracle Liquid by combining these ingredients. These were all items sought after by martial artists.
Ning Xiaochuan placed a prescription on the reception.
The old man by the reception looked at the prescription and immediately understood Ning Xiaochuan's intentions. Hence, he smiled and said, "Ah, so you're trying to become a Heart-nourishing Master."
In order to become a Heart-nourishing Master, the first step was to cultivate his Combat Atrium into the Heart-nourishing Cauldron. Hence, three Mystical Medicines were needed - Mystical Star Herb, Cow-cauldron Mushroom, Scorching-fire Root.
As such, the old man by the reception immediately understood Ning Xiaochuan's intentions when he saw the three Mystical Medicine written down.
"This Cow-cauldron Mushroom is one of the best Grade Three Mystical Medicine. Its leaf is shaped like a cauldron and its root is shaped like a cow's head. Its stem is clear and its age should be around three hundred and eighty years. It's certainly one of our shop's treasures. It seems like we're fated to meet, I'll sell it to you at a small discount. How about twenty-thousand copper coins?"
The old man by the reception opened up the small medicine box, revealing a fist-sized Cow-cauldron Mushroom. Its leaves slightly resembled a cauldron and its root really did look like a cow's head. It even had the two horns.
Ning Xiaochuan had never seen such a mysterious herb before and he was extremely excited because of it. He picked up the Cow-cauldron Mushroom, closed his eyes, and could vaguely sense the Qi flowing inside the mushroom's leaves.
The old man by the reception was excited as well when he saw Ning Xiaochuan's euphoric expression. It looked like he was about to make a good profit on this day.
"I can't afford it!"
Ning Xiaochuan was not embarrassed at all as he placed the Cow-cauldron Mushroom back into the container.
He only had thirty thousand copper coins on him. Since he had used up five hundred copper coins earlier to rent the Green Deerhorse carriage, he was now left with only twenty-nine thousand five hundred copper coins.
This Grade Three Mystical Medicine, Cow-cauldron Mushroom, cost as much as twenty thousand copper coins. He would not be able to buy the other Mystical Medicine if he were to purchase this Cow-cauldron Mushroom!
He could only sigh. Mystical Medicine was simply too expensive!
It would be impossible for one to be a Heart-nourishing Master even if they had the quality to become one if one's family was not rich enough. The required upfront cost to this profession was simply ridiculous.
The old receptionist had been excited for no reason. He had been in the business for a few decades. He was able to make peace with everything or, by now, he would have said out loud. 'What the f*ck man, why would you touch it for so long if you can't afford it?'
"Give me three of these at Grade One!" Ning Xiaochuan said.
The old receptionist carefully locked up the medicine box before taking out three normal-looking medicine boxes. All of them contained Grade One Mystical Medicine, which was a hundred and twenty-year-old Mystical Star Herb, a hundred and fifty-year-old Cow-cauldron Mushroom, and a hundred and ten-year-old Scorching-fire Root.
The Grade One Mystical Medicine was much cheaper. Three Grade One Mystical Medicine cost only seven thousand two hundred copper coins.
Ning Xiaochuan then spent another twenty thousand copper coins on a low-grade Magnetite. He then used the remaining money to buy another set of Heart-nourishing Herbs before returning to Marquis Jiange's Residence.
The price of a low-grade Magnetite was about thirty thousand copper coins but it could go up to a hundred thousand copper coins. The low-grade Magnetite that Ning Xiaochuan bought was actually a Magnetite shard. However, he still spent twenty thousand copper coins. Spending that much hurt his heart! He would have been reluctant to buy it had it not been necessary to cultivate the Heart-nourishing Cauldron.
"If I'm successful this time, all the wealth will definitely roll to me. Hehe, all I can do is cry if I fail!"
Ning Xiaochuan smiled wryly as he had spent all thirty thousand copper coins in one trip. If Ning Xiner found out, she would have believed that he had gone to a certain brothel to get with some prostitutes.
Back in Marquis Jiange's Residence.
Ning Xiaochuan placed the Mystical Star Herb, Cow-cauldron Mushroom, and Scorching-fire Root on the table. Since they were all Grade One Mystical Medicine, they contained a small amount of Qi and some special attributes.
These Mystical Medicine should not be eaten orally as this would cause the Mystical Medicine to lose ninety percent of its effects. The Qi flowing within these Mystical Medicine would be completely exhausted and not be absorbed into the blood and Combat Atrium.
Hence, an average martial artist could only utilize ten percent of the Mystical Medicine even if they had obtained it. Only a Heart-nourishing Master was able to fully utilize the Mystical Medicine.
Ning Xiaochuan held onto the Mystical Star Herb tightly as he channeled the Combat Qi inside him out of his pores, engulfing his entire palm.
"Boom!"
The Mystical Star Herb was crushed into dust by the Combat Qi and turned into a cloud of green mist.
Ning Xiaochuan immediately pulled back his Combat Qi into his body. The cloud of green mist was absorbed into his pores as well, entering into his blood vessels and finally arriving at his heart.
"Quickly, quickly…"
Mystical Star Herb had the effect of covering the Combat Atrium with a layer of Steel Qi. Naturally, it was not real Steel Qi but Mystical Star Herb Qi.
What surprised Ning Xiaochuan was that the Mystical Star Herb Qi did not enter into his Combat Atrium. Instead, it had flowed into the bottom right ventricle.
According to the record, that ventricle was also known as the heart orifice in the Seven-orifices Devil Heart. It was the counterpart of the blood orifice.
Since the blood orifice was nurturing that blood-red shortsword, perhaps the heart orifice was trying to nurture into the Heart-nourishing Cauldron?
A typical Heart-nourishing Master would convert his Combat Atrium to into the Heart-nourishing Cauldron. It was also this reason that a Heart-nourishing Master's combat capability would be much weaker than a pure martial artist when they were in the same realm.
It was a profit and loss situation.
A Heart-nourishing Master might have the respected hierarchy, but their combat capabilities were not high.
However, Ning Xiaochuan was different as he possessed the Seven-orifices Devil Heart where he had two orifices more than a typical person. The blood orifice and heart orifice. If he were able to nurture his heart orifice into the Heart-nourishing Cauldron, his Combat Atrium would not be affected. In other words, his combat capability would not be affected in any way.
Ning Xiaochuan did not have much time to ponder on as he quickly clenched tightly onto the Cow-cauldron Mushroom.
"Boom!'
The Cow-cauldron Mushroom trembled and turned into powder. It was then absorbed into his bloodstream and carried into his heart orifice, merging together with the Qi inside.
"Boom!"
The Scorching-fire Root burst into red powder. Its temperature was very high as it kept trembling within Ning Xiaochuan's blood vessels before flowing into his heart orifice.
The Mystical Star Herb Qi and Cow-cauldron Mushroom residing in the heart orifice were cooked into the shape of a cauldron under the intense heat.
Ning Xiaochuan held onto his body tightly as he was sweating bullets. A huge amount of Combat Qi was exhausted as his heart orifice changed shape slowly, forming paths around it for Qi to flow about.
Out of one thousand martial artists, it was possible not even one would be able to turn into a Heart-nourishing Master. The only thing stopping anyone from becoming a Heart-nourishing Master was obtaining the Heart-nourishing Cauldron and there were simply too many factors in disrupting the process of forming it.
One's physique.
Blood attributes.
Qi Strength!
The rate of rejection from the Combat Atrium.
One would not be able to nurture the Heart-nourishing Cauldron if one of these did not meet the requirements. Hence, Ning Xiaochuan had no confidence, but all he could do now was to press on.
'Keep it up, it's almost done!'
'It's almost there!'
"Whoosh!"
Ning Xiaochuan was sweating bullets, veins bulging up underneath his skin. The word "condensation" appeared as a huge amount of blood gathered at his heart orifice.
The only way for the Heart-nourishing Master and the Heart-nourishing Cauldron to synchronize perfectly was to use his own blood to nourish the Heart-nourishing Cauldron. This was the only way to make sure the grade of the pills would be the best as well.
'It's a success! A success!'
A small red cauldron was levitating in heart orifice. It had three legs and two ears. It even had a cow's head carved onto it.
This was the Heart-nourishing Cauldron!
Ning Xiaochuan was incredibly pale as he had lost too much blood. However, he was smiling excitedly. "I've done the first step. Now, it's time to build the bridge. Let's try if I can nurture any Mystical Medicine in the Heart-nourishing Cauldron. I really hope it can succeed."
Nurturing the Heart-nourishing Cauldron was merely the first step. In order to become an actual Heart-nourishing Master, he still had to see if he was able to create any Mystical Medicine with his Heart-nourishing Cauldron.
Many people were able to nurture the Heart-nourishing Cauldron but it was a dead one. This meant that they were unable to make any Mystical Medicine at all. This type of people were not suitable to become a Heart-nourishing Master.
Ning Xiaochuan did not try to make any Mystical Medicine immediately. Instead, he spent the next hour recovering his Combat Qi. After all, this was his first time making Mystical Medicine. He had to be cautious no matter what.
He waited until the Combat Qi in his body was fully restored before he took out the broken low-grade Magnetite and the Heart-nourishing Herb.
The Heart-nourishing Herb was also a Grade One Mystical Medicine which cost two thousand copper coins. A martial artist could only absorb ten percent of its nutrients by consuming it orally. Naturally, the Qi inside the Heart-nourishing Herb would disappear as well and its effect would be just average.
However, it was different under the Heart-nourishing Master's hand. He could use his Heart-nourishing Cauldron to turn the Heart-nourishing Herb into liquid before injecting a higher concentration of Qi into it to create Heart-nourishing Liquid.
A single drop of Heart-nourishing Liquid cost multiple times more than the Heart-nourishing Herb.
On average, a bouquet of Heart-nourishing Herb could produce five drops of Heart-nourishing Liquid!
Ning Xiaochuan was anxious as the next moment would decide if he could become a Heart-nourishing Master. This was the moment that would determine if he would be a rich man or not!
…