Chapter 209: The Large Stone Coffin

Duan Rong returned to Liu Lu, took paper and a brush, and sat in the pavilion.

He began to conceive and set about solving the problem of drug permeability.

Duan Rong first used the Inner Breath Realm Fourth Layer medicinal supplement prescription given to him by Xiao Zongting as a foundation to make additions and adjustments!

He would write something on the paper from time to time, but after a slight thought, he would cross it out again.

Duan Rong pondered, occasionally picking up the bright yellow rose by the stone table to sniff it at the tip of his nose; the midsummer rose had a fragrance that seeped into the lungs, quite capable of relieving the monotony of deep thought.

Duan Rong, in the pavilion, deliberated repeatedly until near dusk before finally finalizing the plan.

Looking at the prescription on the paper, smeared everywhere and filled with various notes at the bottom, Duan Rong could not help but smile lightly; he was eighty percent sure this prescription would work!

Duan Rong folded the paper and put it into the inner pocket of his robe; he glanced at the sky, dusk was approaching, and Huaying Pavilion should be opening.

When Shen Ping left, he had left behind three bottles of medicine, and there was one more bottle for Hu Huanhuan.

When Duan Rong arrived at Huaying Pavilion, it had only been open for a short while.

Duan Rong handed the bottle of medicine to Hu Huanhuan and told her of Shen Ping's plans and the last words he had left behind.

Upon hearing this, Hu Huanhuan remained silent for a long time, and the light in her eyes vanished in an instant.

Duan Rong knew that the relationship between Shen Ping and Hu Huanhuan was far more complex than that of ordinary lovers; not knowing how to comfort her, he hurriedly took his leave after finishing his message.

After exiting Huaying Pavilion, Duan Rong first went to the Raw Medicine Shop, bought some medicinal herbs needed for decocting the medicinal soup, carried more than ten bags, and returned to Liu Lu.

Duan Rong returned to Liu Lu but did not immediately set about decocting the medicine, because the items were not yet complete; he still had to wait for the morning market at the slaughterhouse tomorrow.

Duan Rong put the bags of herbs into the house and began Standing Stake in the courtyard, standing until the midnight hour before going to bed.

Early the next morning, just as the sky was beginning to brighten, Duan Rong climbed out of bed. After washing up in the courtyard, he went to the street to buy a few steamed buns and walked toward the slaughterhouse market in South City while eating.

At the slaughterhouse market, Duan Rong bought fresh ox blood, a bloody dog skin that had just been peeled, and some animal offal.

Carrying these bloody things, Duan Rong returned to West Street and bought a large earthenware pot at the porcelain shop on the corner.

Duan Rong then hugged the earthenware pot, placed those things inside it, and walked back to Liu Lu.

Upon returning to Liu Lu, Duan Rong began the task of decocting the medicine.

He first cleaned those bloody things, then decocted the herbs that needed processing, and afterward lit a fire in the stove built in the courtyard and placed the large earthenware pot on it.

When the water in the large earthenware pot boiled, Duan Rong first put the cleaned dog skin in and boiled it over a high flame...

Until the herbs on the side were decocted, Duan Rong poured the decocted herbs, along with the soup and the herbs themselves, into the earthenware pot boiling the dog skin.

It was boiled for another hour, during which Duan Rong added water several times.

Seeing that the medicinal soup had changed color, Duan Rong then put in the ox blood and animal offal.

Afterward, he decocted a few more herbs, and when the contents of the earthenware pot were boiled enough, he added the decocted herbal soup.

Thus, after another two hours, the medicinal soup in the large earthenware pot had become quite thick, but the soup was a faint green color and was slowly bubbling... the appearance was truly somewhat eerie...

"Can this stuff really be drunk?"

Duan Rong knitted his brows, looking at the soup before him, somewhat hesitant.

Although it was a plan he had deduced according to the Medical Path insights and complex knowledge from Shen Ping after he had consumed the Artifact Spirit in his mind.

And the operation was also carried out strictly according to the deduced steps, so logically there should be no problem.

However, looking at this pot of soup with its somewhat creepy appearance, Duan Rong really did not dare to take a sip for a moment.

Duan Rong hesitated for a long time; he felt that since he had gone to such trouble to create it, he couldn't just pour it out without trying it.

He had to try it to see the medicinal effect.

Duan Rong scooped a little with a wooden spoon from the faint green soup, encouraged himself, and after doing some psychological preparation for a good while, he finally brought the medicinal soup to his mouth.

Duan Rong had already made up his mind: if it were poisonous, he would first take one pill from the bottle Shen Ping had left behind to stabilize the toxicity, and then set about detoxifying himself.

With his current attainments in the Poison Path, unless it was the 'One-Bloom Red', even the Corpse Rot Poison, which was originally claimed to have no cure, was something he could now treat.

Although he comforted himself this way, when Duan Rong brought the faint green soup to his lips, for some reason, the scene of Pan Jinlian feeding arsenic to Wu Dalang surfaced in his mind.

With the medicinal soup down his throat, Duan Rong immediately began the Hunyuan Stance in the courtyard, and subsequently projected his Divine Sense to penetrate his own body, wanting to carefully investigate whether this soup could solve the problem of drug permeability during the circulation of Internal Breath.

A quarter of an hour later, Duan Rong suddenly opened his eyes, his face showing joy.

"One cannot judge a soup by its appearance!"

Duan Rong walked to the large earthenware pot and drank three large spoonfuls in a row before starting the Hunyuan Stance again.

While Duan Rong stood in the Hunyuan Stance, his projected Divine Sense simultaneously penetrated his body, continuing to observe the circulation of Internal Breath between his meridians.

The problem of drug permeability had been completely solved.

Even in some slender meridians, the medicinal power could densely permeate and continuously flow into the Internal Breath.

An hour later, Duan Rong dispersed his power and stood up; according to his comparative estimation, this faint green soup had increased the cultivation speed of his Internal Breath by nearly one-third!

It was even more terrifying than he had expected!

In one hour, the three spoonfuls of soup had basically been consumed in his body; Duan Rong walked into the kitchen and took out a rather large black pottery bowl.

Duan Rong lifted the large earthenware pot, filled a bowl for himself, and then drank it in one gulp.

Following that, Duan Rong continued to stand in the Hunyuan Stance frantically in the courtyard, standing until the midnight hour.

Duan Rong was covered in sweat, but his heart was very refreshed; he stripped off his clothes, specifically drew cool well water from the well, poured it over his head, and immediately began to rub his whole body with soap locust.

Duan Rong took a cold shower, the summer heat dissipated, and he lay on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

For three consecutive days, Duan Rong stood in the Hunyuan Stance frantically until he had finished the pot of faint green soup; Duan Rong inspected his Internal Breath and felt that his Internal Breath was indeed a thread stronger.

Duan Rong decocted another large pot of soup again...

One day, at the Chen hour. The sky was cloudless and the breeze was gentle.

Xiangu County, thirteen miles north of the city, at Lone Mountain, under a certain steep cliff.

Lone Mountain, the mountain was as its name suggested, a lone peak standing alone; it was a single peak, unlike Wild Boar Mountain, which was a continuous mountain range!

The east, north, and west sides of Lone Mountain were steep, with only the southern slope being gentle.

Except for the southern slope where people would occasionally come to play, there were no traces of people on the other three sides.

Especially the northern cliff face here, which is extremely steep; one could say it is a place where birds grieve and apes lament!

Duan Rong was on this cliff at this very moment, looking up to gaze; the Lone Peak was a sheer precipice, cutting off the sight of flying birds!

Duan Rong suddenly drew his Ox-Tail Saber, leaped into the air, and with Internal Breath infused, he cut away an entire protruding section of rock at the base of the cliff.

The Ox-Tail Saber was sharp, and the fierce Internal Breath moved with the blade; although this mountain was of granite geology, a rather large piece of rock was still separated from the mountain body by Duan Rong with a smooth cut surface.

Afterwards, Duan Rong moved with the swiftness of a rabbit and the agility of a falcon, his figure drifting and flying, his Internal Breath infused into the Ox-Tail Saber in his hand, leaping back and forth around the large rock he had cut from the mountain.

Before long, Duan Rong had whittled that large stone into a rectangular shape like a coffin.

Looking at the rock coffin before him, Duan Rong returned the saber to its sheath, his eyes flickering.

(End of chapter)