Chapter 452: Growing Bigger and Bigger (6/10, Autumn Subscription)

Medicine Human?

Fang Yue paused for a moment — that term felt like it belonged to a distant past.

It was back when he had first entered the game, when Niu Niu had nearly been turned into a Medicine Human, that he had first come across the word.

But Medicine Humans were a shady, back-alley method; no village would openly support such a thing, so Fang Yue had never come into contact with any knowledge about it since.

He hadn't expected Lord Han to suddenly bring it up again today.

"Lord Han, what does this have to do with Medicine Humans?"

Lord Han glanced at Fang Yue: "Xiao Ye, you may not know this, but actually Medicine Humans and these kinds of pills that overdraft one's potential are quite similar — only the direction differs. So occasionally, the two methods will mix and cross-use certain medicinal ingredients, and even grind up finished pills to use as part of the materials.

But at their core, both completely overdraft one's own potential, essence, aptitude, lifespan, fate, fortune… everything, and then unleash it all in a burst.

The only difference is that the final purpose of a Medicine Human is to turn all that burst-out stuff into nourishment for someone else. It can truly be called an abomination against heaven, something that cannot be tolerated — it's a vile method banned by Qing Guo and all the other nations alike.

Whereas a pill like the Haijiao Pill, which bursts out potential, has the ultimate goal of briefly strengthening oneself — willing to sacrifice one's future growth as the price, to unleash a burst of explosive power far beyond the norm. As for whether one survives in the end or perishes together with the enemy, that's not something these pills need to worry about.

The more extreme the potential-bursting pill, the more terrifying and irreversible the after-effects — damaging one's very foundation, and at the moment the drug's effect wears off, dying on the spot.

Of course, the Haijiao Pill is far from that level. Even so, it's still the highest-quality potential-bursting pill you can get your hands on within Heiqing Shanmai. Keep it safe — you never know when you might need it in a life-or-death fight."

What?

There's such a thing?!

Fang Yue froze for a moment, lost in thought.

To be honest, he felt he was a person who still had his bottom line; toward something like Medicine Humans, he had rejected it from the bottom of his heart, unable to accept it.

But he couldn't speak for others. If some player learned about Medicine Humans and mastered the method of making them…

Given the moral bottom line of players, Fang Yue had a feeling a great demon would emerge.

Fortunately, the method of making Medicine Humans was extremely secretive — ordinary people simply couldn't know about it.

And the difficulty of production, as well as the strict requirements for choosing a suitable vessel, were also quite high, so large-scale operation was still very difficult.

Surely no one would be bold enough to set up a 【Medicine Human】 production chain in Qing Guo, right?

Carefully pocketing the 【Haijiao Pill】, Fang Yue chatted a bit more with Lord Han about the current situation, and about what he should pay attention to when he officially took up his post after the Qing Si finished investigating Gu Yue Cun.

After chatting for a while, Fang Yue slowly rose and prepared to head back to cultivate.

But the moment he stood up, he looked through the window and saw black smoke rising from a street in the distance — something seemed to have happened.

Looks like Qingsi County isn't all that peaceful either!

Fang Yue shook his head slightly and didn't bother with it.

With the Qing Si around, it wasn't his place — an outsider — to meddle in Qingsi County's public security.

Back in his own room, Fang Yue entered meditation and began cultivating the Blazing Fire Heart Method.

Fang Yue could feel it — he was getting closer and closer to breaking through to the seventh layer of the Heart Method realm. That surging internal energy flowing within his body constantly nourished his frame.

……

Heiqing Shanmai, at the symbolic entrance-exit point of Heiqing Xiagu.

A caravan of carriages and horses slowly made its way down the main road.

Among the caravan was a prison cart, caging a young girl covered in wounds who still glared furiously at the others.

"Let… me out!"

Her voice was hoarse, as if she hadn't had water in a long time.

The leader wore a black robe and a fully enclosed bull-head helmet on his head.

"Stop."

Apparently hearing the girl's voice, he suddenly raised his right hand and clenched it into a gesture; the others stopped one after another.

"Feed her 【Secret Blood】."

A subordinate immediately and carefully took out a blood-colored bottle, pried open the already-limp girl's mouth with his hand, and — like the old oil-seller — gently and slowly poured the blood-colored liquid from the blood-colored bottle into her mouth, not spilling a single drop.

He sealed the girl's mouth shut to make her swallow it all down, then — slap! — delivered a vicious slap to the girl who had been struggling and refusing to cooperate.

"Behave!"

He greedily glanced at the one or two drops of blood-colored liquid that had stained the bottle in his hand, stuck out his tongue and licked them clean, then came to the bull-head masked man's side.

"Lord Niu, the 【Human Medicine】 has been fed to her."

Slap!

The bull-head masked man suddenly slapped the man right on the head, smashing his brains open on the spot — red and white fluids splattered out.

The man collapsed to the ground with half a ruined skull, and was silent.

The bull-head masked man turned and swept his gaze over the others, saying coldly: "Out here, the words 【Human Medicine】 are not to be spoken! This is Phoenix's rule — understood?"

"Ye-yes!"

The crowd went silent as cicadas in winter, trembling, not daring to defy him.

Only the girl trapped in the prison cart glared at them, spat a glob of saliva, and retched desperately.

But what she had drunk had already merged into her body.

Her blood seemed to catch fire — intense pain wracked her from head to toe, and the girl let out a piercing scream.

And along with the pain, the meridians within her body were battered open one after another by a torrential flood! Aptitude, potential, strength — like a sponge soaking up water, they skyrocketed wildly!

But she still couldn't break free of the cage, still had no strength in her body, still suffered terribly.

The piercing screams echoed through the canyon, lingering for a long time without fading.

The bull-head masked man glanced at her, tossed off a single line flatly, then led the caravan onward.

"Remember your name is An Dong'er. Behave, and when we reach the place, you'll be let out on your own."

……

Outside Qingsi County, among the peaks of Heiqing Shanmai closest to Qingsi County.

A voice suddenly rang out in the darkness.

"Target... not found."

"Searching..."

"Searching..."

"Zigui has been eliminated, search obstructed."

"Searching... more Zigui... searching."

"Target found! Target found!"

In the darkness, a massive blood-colored eye slowly opened, listening to the report.

"Not yet... ripe..."

"Obstructed! Obstructed! Obstructed!"

"Lying low! Zigui, lie low, gather your strength, wait for the moment... bring the target back."

The blood-colored eye slowly closed.

……

Qingsi County, an inn.

"Roar!!"

Xiao Xuedou, who had been gnawing on a table leg, suddenly let out a violent roar, his voice extremely irritable and furious.

Everyone turned to look and got a fright.

They saw Xiao Xuedou's body had suddenly grown much larger.

Originally just the size of an ordinary small dog, while no one was paying attention, after that great roar, he had directly grown to a full two or three meters tall!

This was also different from the adult Giant-Head Blood Hound they knew.

(End of this chapter)