Chapter 45: Earthly Fiend Medicine

One day later.

There were no further twists and turns along the way; Lu Yuan returned to Fengyang Prefecture smoothly before sunset, ending this short journey.

Having been gone for only a few days, there were no changes in Boxiyuan. He arrived back just in time for a meal, and after paying his respects at Li Junxian's small courtyard, he was kept behind by the latter to eat with Xu Dahu and Xu Erhu.

Li Junxian usually ate from a private kitchen, but because there were three disciples extra, he had the cook go out to buy roast chicken, roast duck, and beef, filling the table completely.

During the meal, he scrutinized Lu Yuan, his gaze slightly strange:

"Strange. It has only been a few days, so why does this master always feel like you, kid, have changed into a different person?"

He could be considered a sharp-minded person; after not seeing him for a few days, he suddenly discovered that his disciple's temperament seemed to have undergone a distinct change, becoming ethereal and vague, with a faint air of purity, untaintedness, and the bearing of an immortal Daoist—it could be called truly bizarre.

Lu Yuan's heart stirred, and he feigned confusion:

"Master, why do you say that?"

Li Junxian shook his head and laughed: "You kid don't look like a martial artist now, but rather like those Daoists who meditate and seek the Dao in the deep mountains and old forests."

This change in temperament was naturally brought about by cultivating the first wisp of Dharma Power. While stuffing his face, Lu Yuan could only mumble vaguely:

"Could it be that Master is mocking this disciple for not being diligent in martial arts practice?"

Immortals and mortals are different.

Ever since he refined the first wisp of True Qi, he could already be considered a proper cultivator of immortality, so his temperament would naturally be completely different from that of ordinary people.

Li Junxian's judgment was truly accurate, but he naturally could not admit it.

"That is not it."

Lu Yuan had a special constitution and too many strange things about him, so Li Junxian did not dwell on it and continued to ask.

"Let's not talk about that. In these few days, have the family matters all been handled?"

Lu Yuan swallowed a piece of beef and replied:

"Master, rest assured, they have all been handled. This disciple's parents left no remains, and other relatives have all met with disaster, so I only set up an empty grave to pay respects; there was no need for a grand ceremony."

"Sigh."

Li Junxian let out a long sigh:

"Natural disasters and man-made calamities are things no human power can resist. You have now been reborn, so I presume they would be comforted if they knew in the afterlife."

Xu Dahu and Xu Erhu had also lost their parents when they were half-grown, so they spoke with empathy:

"Junior Brother, do not be sad. Your senior brothers also lost their parents, and it was all thanks to meeting Master."

"From now on, we and Master are your family!"

Lu Yuan nodded and smiled: "That is only natural."

Just like that, the four master and disciples chatted and laughed, the atmosphere harmonious.

As they spoke, the topic somehow returned to Qingyike.

Xu Dahu clicked his tongue in wonder:

"... Speaking of which, I don't know what happened to this Qingyike. After committing two cases, he suddenly vanished without a trace. No matter how the government or the Jingwu Division investigates, they cannot find him. Now, many victims on the street are crying out for justice, wanting to ask him to uphold it, but for a month, there has still been no sign of this person. Could it be that he is afraid of the government?"

Xu Erhu said: "Perhaps because the government has been searching vigorously for this month, that Qingyike is just temporarily avoiding the sharp edge?"

As the culprit, Lu Yuan's heart stirred, and he asked: "Senior Brother said there are victims who want to ask Qingyike to uphold justice; what does that mean?"

Xu Dahu sighed:

"Who else but those ordinary people who have been oppressed by corrupt officials and local bullies until their families were destroyed and they had nowhere to turn? In this Fengyang Prefecture, there are simply too many such people. Seeing Qingyike openly kill officials and leave behind those blood-written words, they naturally thought they had met a savior and wanted to use this to seek justice. Unfortunately, the other party seems to have been just a flash in the pan."

Lu Yuan fell into deep thought, not knowing what to say.

The current Jin Dynasty is rotten to the core; there is no such thing as law or human rights, and the powerful are above Heaven.

For commoners to seek fairness at the yamen is a joke. If one's land, home, property, or even wife and daughter are targeted by some powerful official or bully, the destruction of the family and death of its members can happen in a single night. Such tragic encounters happen every day.

It is not hard to understand why those with nowhere else to turn view Qingyike as a straw to clutch at.

But he also knows that such a situation can never be thoroughly changed by one Qingyike killing everyone. Only by completely changing the world and clearing the heavens can one possibly reverse such a dark age.

"There is no need to demand that Qingyike act again; he is definitely not afraid."

Li Junxian said indifferently:

"How could the word 'fear' exist in the dictionary of an expert at that level? Let alone corrupt officials, even princes and nobles would be killed if he wanted to kill them. In this master's view, this person was likely just passing through Fengyang Prefecture and may have already left this place, which is why he has not appeared."

Xu Erhu, however, said strangely:

"But I saw the official gazettes issued recently, and they did not say there were traces of Qingyike in other places. So where did this expert go?"

"Who knows?"

Li Junxian sighed:

"Such experts mostly play among the human world, seeing the head but not the tail like a divine dragon. It is enough for us to manage our own small patch of land."

After finishing the meal, Lu Yuan returned to his room.

After more than a month, the identity of Qingyike should take action, but not now.

After a moment of contemplation, he communicated with the Heavenly Book and weighed which Earthly Fiend Art to light up next.

【Pellet Manipulation】, 【Stone Boiling】, 【Medicine】.

Cultivating immortality and longevity is the top priority. These three Earthly Fiend Arts can all be used to refine external elixirs and medicines, thereby providing great assistance to cultivation, making them the first choice.

However, by comparison, the one most suitable for him at the moment seems to be 【Medicine】.

The reason is simple: the former 【Pellet Manipulation】 and 【Stone Boiling】 both require a pill furnace as a basis to carry out the refining of external elixirs.

But Lu Yuan is currently in Boxiyuan and has no such conditions at all.

Medicine, relatively speaking, can not only strengthen the quality and effect of medicinal herbs with the power of harmony, but the medical Dharma Techniques it contains also have the miraculous effect of bringing the dead back to life and regrowing flesh on bones, making its uses much more extensive.

After confirming this, he no longer hesitated and immediately let his mind stir:

"Light up Medicine!"

Hum...

With a thunderous tremor, the Heavenly Book shone with brilliant radiance, and lines of golden characters swam out like spirit snakes, falling into the sea of Lu Yuan's heart.

Subsequently, a vast amount of obscure, profound, and advanced techniques, as well as knowledge of Medicine and pharmacology, surged into his heart.

Rejuvenation Technique, Huantou Technique, Huanxin Technique, Duanzhi Xujie Technique, Duanzhi Zaisheng Technique, and Dayao Tiaohe Technique.

The Earthly Fiend Seventy-Two Arts does not refer to any single technique, but is the collective name for this series of Daoist Arts, and they can be extended into various directions of application.

Like this Medicine, it is all-encompassing, vast, and complex; all sorts of miraculous medical Daoist Arts, which even modern medicine cannot achieve, were thus fully displayed in Lu Yuan's heart!

(End of this chapter)