Lu Changsheng rode swiftly, quickly leaving Wushan behind.
However, as soon as he left Wushan, he spotted a familiar figure outside the woods.
"Clippity-clop, clippity-clop."
The horse he had released earlier was actually wandering outside the forest, and upon seeing Lu Changsheng, it happily ran over.
"Huh?"
"Horse, you haven't left yet? You're still waiting here for me?"
The horse affectionately nuzzled Lu Changsheng's hand.
They say horses understand humans, and it seemed to be true.
Lu Changsheng smiled and said, "Since you haven't left and are waiting for me here, we must be destined."
"After we return, I'll buy you, and you can accompany me on my journey through the martial world!"
Suddenly, Lu Changsheng felt a surge of heroism.
Although the horse was initially rented, he could now purchase it, and with his current wealth, it wasn't expensive at all.
He immediately mounted the horse and gently patted its back, saying, "Horse, let's go home!"
In an instant, the horse galloped away, leaving a trail of dust behind.
Three days later, Lu Changsheng returned to Miaoshou Garden.
"Finally, I'm back."
After spending two months outside, Lu Changsheng had essentially traveled through the martial world, gaining valuable experiences.
While there was a lot of fighting and killing outside, returning to Miaoshou Garden felt like coming home.
After resting for a night, the next morning, Lu Changsheng went to the pharmacy.
His master, Master Wu Jing, had already arrived early.
"Master, I was delayed by some matters outside for a month," Lu Changsheng respectfully greeted.
Wu Jing glanced at Lu Changsheng and said, "It's good that you're back. Since you're back, it will make things easier for me."
"Starting from today, you should also try seeing patients."
Lu Changsheng was surprised, "Master, I've only been studying with you for a few months..."
"No worries, your talent is outstanding, and a few months are enough," Wu Jing interrupted.
"Moreover, it's now winter, and the number of patients has increased significantly. I can't handle it all by myself. You can start seeing patients, and if you encounter anything you don't understand, I'll take a look."
Lu Changsheng understood that his master was giving him an opportunity to gain more experience. It was a bit risky, but with his master's guidance, there shouldn't be any major problems.
"Thank you, Master."
The pharmacy was spacious, and adding another table would not be a problem.
Even so, Wu Jing also assigned an apprentice to Lu Changsheng.
The apprentice was named Zhang Huan and had been with Wu Jing for much longer than Lu Changsheng. Originally, he was arranged by Miaoshou Garden to serve Wu Jing, but now he could only assist Lu Changsheng.
Zhang Huan was very clever and knew that Lu Changsheng was about to "prosper." By helping Lu Changsheng, he might be able to improve his own situation.
Therefore, Zhang Huan worked diligently and took his tasks seriously.
Soon, under Zhang Huan's busy work, Lu Changsheng's first patient arrived.
It was a middle-aged man who had caught a cold and was coughing incessantly.
This was a common illness in the winter.
The patients referred from Wu Jing's side usually didn't have any complex conditions; they were mostly common illnesses, meant to help Lu Changsheng accumulate experience.
Lu Changsheng examined the patient's tongue coating, inquired about his symptoms, and then took his pulse before finally prescribing medicine.
Wu Jing nodded in approval.
For common illnesses, Lu Changsheng had no problems.
Soon, a day passed.
Wu Jing had already left the pharmacy; after all, young people shouldn't overexert themselves every day.
Many patients came to consult Lu Changsheng.
Lu Changsheng was quite satisfied.
With so many patients, he would definitely accumulate experience quickly.
He estimated that in just a few months, he would be able to practice independently and become a real physician.
Zhang Huan remained diligent and poured a cup of hot tea for Lu Changsheng.
Lu Changsheng smiled and said, "Zhang Huan, you've worked hard today."
"Dr. Lu, don't mention it. You are the doctor, and I'm the apprentice, so it's only natural for me to assist you," replied Zhang Huan modestly.
Lu Changsheng was quite pleased with Zhang Huan and asked curiously, "Has the price of medicinal herbs gone up recently? I noticed that some common medicinal herbs have become more expensive."
Zhang Huan nodded and said, "Dr. Lu, you've been away for two months, so you might not be aware of the situation."
"Outside the city, there's a place called Gao Family Castle. A little over a month ago, the head of the Gao Family Castle died mysteriously, and later, a Blood Sect appeared. I don't know how, but they took over Gao Family Castle."
"Now Gao Family Castle has become the Blood Sect. This Blood Sect has become quite domineering and charges a fee for every caravan or merchant passing through. However, the fee they charge is relatively low, and some powerful factions in the city may not want to confront the Blood Sect directly, so they've tacitly accepted it."
"Our Miaoshou Garden's caravan was also charged a fee, which is why the prices of medicinal herbs have gone up."
Lu Changsheng's eyes gleamed with interest at the mention of the Blood Sect.
The Blood Sect had stirred trouble in Gao Family Castle.
He immediately thought of the five mysterious martial artists he had killed.
Perhaps those five were members of the Blood Sect.
What concerned Lu Changsheng was whether anyone in the Blood Sect knew that he had gone to exchange the Blood Bead and had killed five Blood Sect martial artists.
Back in his own courtyard, Lu Changsheng continued to ponder the matter of the Blood Sect.
"No matter if the Blood Sect knows about me taking the Blood Bead or not, I should try to avoid leaving Miaoshou Garden for now."
Currently, Lu Changsheng had money and martial skills, so he could comfortably practice martial arts within Miaoshou Garden.
So, Lu Changsheng's daily life resumed its routine.
He saw patients and accumulated medical experience during the day and practiced martial arts in his spare time.
His life was peaceful and steady.
In the blink of an eye, over a month had passed.
The people from the Blood Sect had never found Lu Changsheng.
This gave him some relief.
On this day, Lu Changsheng was still refining the inner wall of an iron hammer, when suddenly, a line of small text appeared before his eyes.
"Silk Organ Refining Technique perfected, Comprehension +5."
Lu Changsheng hadn't sensed it.
Calculating the time, the Silk Organ Refining Technique had also been perfected.
Lu Changsheng immediately accessed the attribute panel.
Information: Lu Changsheng
Comprehension: 536 (Dragon's Hidden Abyss)
Silk Organ Refining Technique: Fifth level perfected
Nine-Character Thunderous Chant: Perfected (Incomplete)
"The Silk Organ Refining Technique has been perfected, and I can continue to practice the second level of Organ Refining Technique."
"With the perfect state of the Nine-Character Thunderous Chant, practicing deeper martial techniques will consume too much energy."
Lu Changsheng had two more levels of Organ Refining Techniques to practice.
Lu Changsheng was not lacking in Infernal Martial Techniques, but the number of martial skills was decreasing rapidly.
During this time, Lu Changsheng had mastered forty martial skills.
Most of them were third-tier martial skills, with only a few fourth-tier martial skills.
As a result, Lu Changsheng's comprehension had now exceeded 500 points.
Five hundred points of comprehension were approximately five times that of an ordinary person.
On the surface, it didn't sound like much, but the difference in abilities between someone with five times the comprehension and an ordinary person was like night and day.
Lu Changsheng had purchased a total of sixteen martial skills before.
Now, he only had three martial skills left to practice.
Most likely, in a few days, he would have mastered all the remaining martial skills.
When that happened, there would be no more martial skills to practice, and the rate of his comprehension improvement would decrease rapidly.
Lu Changsheng had considered whether he could create his own martial skills with such a high level of comprehension. Then, by practicing them to perfection, he could increase his comprehension further and create a perfect cycle.
But Lu Changsheng had tried, and it simply didn't work.
Creating martial skills required inspiration.
When he initially created the Instant Kill Technique, it was due to a burst of inspiration, which allowed him to create it.
However, inspiration was elusive and couldn't be summoned at will.
If he didn't rely on inspiration and instead accumulated knowledge, he could still create martial skills, but it would take time.
It could take several years, a decade, or even longer.
Creating a martial skill over several years or longer didn't hold much significance.
As for low-level martial skills, they were even more difficult.
The simpler a martial skill, the closer it was to perfection.
For example, basic sword techniques, basic knife techniques, basic boxing techniques, and so on.
These simplest martial skills, even with a high comprehension, couldn't be surpassed because they had reached a state of perfection after thousands of years of development.
So, Lu Changsheng needed to find other ways to acquire martial skills.
"It seems like I need to pay a visit to the black market again."
"Without Li Hongzhuang, there might be others selling martial skills."
Lu Changsheng decided to visit the black market again.
The black market was a place where all sorts of people gathered, offering various goods and services.
Furthermore, it had been several months since the incident with Li Hongzhuang.
Without her, someone else might have stepped in to fill the void.