~~~

Time passes.

The Eastern Port City Tournament comes and goes. To the surprise of no one, Xiao Nan's dominating performance once again ensures the Xiao Sect’s reputation as the strongest in the city. Many call Xiao Nan the Number One Prodigy of Eastern Port City. After his complete victory in the tournament, no one can disagree with the title.

Xiao Nan makes sure to visit Liu Jin the day after his victory to go out and celebrate. The prodigy finds that getting Liu Jin to relax, let alone drink, is a much harder task than winning a tournament.

As for Liu Jin, his life goes on. He cannot bring himself to seek out Xiao Fang, and Xiao Fang shows no interest in seeking him out. Thus, their relationship does not outwardly change, even though Liu Jin cannot help but feel that it has in some strange, intangible way. It is an annoying feeling, but he does not have time to dwell on it. The young child is frighteningly busy with the Xiao Sect, the clinic, and, of course, his master.

Old Jiang has much to teach, and Liu Jin is eager to soak it all up. From him, Liu Jin learns of poisons and antidotes. He learns of terrible diseases that by far surpass his wildest nightmares and of herbs that sound too miraculous to be real. He learns of every single meridian in the body and all the pressure points associated with them.

More importantly, every day, Liu Jin is poisoned.

In the beginning, Old Jiang gives him minor poisons and tells him to expel them from his body. As Liu Jin’s skill with the process grows so does the lethality of the poisons he is exposed to. Once Liu Jin grows skilled enough to expel poison from his body while doing everyday tasks like treating patients or reading, Old Jiang starts to sneak poison into his food. Liu Jin no longer has the benefit of a warning. It is his duty to realize when he is being poisoned and safely expel the poison from his body without accidentally poisoning the people around him.

Needless to say, every hour of Liu Jin's waking time is spent expelling poisons from his body. In time, Liu Jin has to figure out how to do so even while asleep. That is how frightening the strength of the poisons Old Jiang uses is.

Liu Jin talks about this with his father exactly once. His father merely smiles and tells him Old Jiang must surely be fond of him if he is being so lenient. His own training was much crueler. After hearing those words, Liu Jin loses the will to complain. If anything, he becomes resolved to succeed.

Like that, from day to day, from one poison to the next, a full year goes by.

"The poison I have put in your tea is three grades above the last one," Old Jiang explains as he pours himself a cup of tea. The two are sitting in a room above his father's clinic. "It was first created in the Storm Dragon Empire about four thousand years ago. The antidote is fairly easy to make and common knowledge to any doctor that has the right to call himself such. However, in the case of this poison, that does not matter. Do you know why?"

Liu Jin does not need to think hard about the answer. He can feel the truth burning in his body.

"It is very fast acting, master."

"Correct," Old Jiang says. "This poison is so strong it will kill a person in only seven seconds. In the first second, the body will become paralyzed. By the fourth, all your organs will start failing simultaneously. By the seventh, all three dantian will fade out. Even if you recognize it, most people will not have the time to make, let alone drink, the antidote. In the past, this poison has been used to kill royalty."

More than seven seconds have passed since Liu Jin drank the poison. That he is not dead yet is a testament to his growth. Before the first second was over, he detected the poison in his body and isolated it.

"Since it is so dangerous, I have made sure to seal this room," Old Jiang adds. "Do not hesitate to quickly banish it from your system. You do not have to worry about accidentally poisoning the people below, and it should go without saying someone of my power has little to fear from this poison."

Before Old Jiang finishes speaking, dense purple mist starts to emanate from Liu Jin. However, soon after he begins, a worrying thought occurs to Liu Jin. "Master, won't the poison linger in the air?"

"That will not happen. This poison retains its properties only for a short amount of time when airborne. Even in liquid form, it will lose its properties after a few days. That is why it must be used soon after preparing it. Can you think of a way to circumvent that limitation?"

The question is made not just to test his knowledge. Old Jiang is also testing his skill. By engaging Liu Jin in conversation while he is supposed to be ridding himself of the poison, his master is testing just how good his control over the technique is.

"Storage items like master's spatial pouch can be used to remove an item from the normal flow of time. Items within them will remain in the same condition as when they were stored. It is also possible to use Temporal Talismans to preserve perishable items."

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Old Jiang nods. "Good. However, not all storage items can perfectly preserve what is stored within. The spatial pouch I own is of particularly high quality. Even if you search throughout the Empire, you will not find its like. Make sure to remember that."

"Of course, master."

"You have had that poison inside your body for some time now. Have you managed to discern its makeup yet?"

Liu Jin has not, and Old Jiang knows this. More importantly, Liu Jin knows Old Jiang knows.

"Master," Liu Jin says, frowning. "This disciple is still unable to break down poison to its base components inside his body."

Liu Jin does not consider himself a proud person. However, as long as it is in the field of medicine, he absolutely hates admitting there is something he cannot do. He has been taught by his father and is being taught by his father's master. If there is something he is unable to do yet, it is not due to his master, for the root of his father's knowledge cannot possibly be wrong. Thus, it is simply the result of his incompetence as a student.

His master had once explained to him that the technique he uses to purge unwanted substances from his body has different levels to it. At the early stages, it is indeed just forcefully removing the poison. However, as one gains greater mastery, it becomes possible to completely control the poison to the point of breaking it down to the basic components used to make it.

Liu Jin has not yet reached that level of mastery. He has not even gotten close to it.

"True, but you have a brain between your ears, disciple. I expect you to use it."

To that, Liu Jin cannot say a thing. He knows the properties of the poison. His master just told him all about it. No doubt, Old Jiang expects him to use that knowledge to deduce the ingredients used to make it. Liu Jin closes his eyes and thinks carefully. The most salient property of the poison has to be its extreme speed. When Liu Jin ingested it, it felt a raging fire inside of him. Then there is its short shelf life to consider. The sheer volatility... it has to be... yes, that's probably the answer.

"There is definitely dragon blood in it."

Even among Spirit Beasts, dragons are powerful and proud creatures. That pride permeates down to every part of their being. If you powder its bones, the powder will seek to merge back and harden for dragon bones cannot stand to be anything other than dragon bones. If you eat its meat, your stomach will be hard pressed to digest it for dragon meat cannot stand to be anything other than dragon meat. If you mix its blood with another liquid, it will soon split for dragon blood cannot stand to be anything other than dragon blood.

The quick and violent effect of the poison must be due to the voracious energy of dragon blood. The short shelf life is because dragon blood can never stay mixed for long. Only the truly strong can fully absorb the power of a dragon.

"It would have been better if you had been able to deduce all the ingredients instead of just one. However, you are right. Dragon blood is a key ingredient to this poison. Preferably, the blood of the dragon used to prepare this poison should come from a dragon whose power matches the desired target. It is one of the reasons why this poison is so impractical."

If you have enough power to kill a dragon belonging to the same Realm as the cultivator you want to murder, then you are probably strong enough to kill that person without using poison. That is what Old Jiang is saying. Furthermore, having the power to slay a dragon and having the knowledge and skill to make the poison are two different things.

Well, Liu Jin muses, if you have enough money you can probably buy dragon blood. Not that dragon blood is remotely common or cheap. Since it can be used for cultivation, Sects and Clans are rarely willing to give away dragon-based ingredients, not even for exorbitant amounts of money.

"By the way,” Old Jiang says, stroking his beard. “The blood I used for this poison belonged to the Earth Realm dragon I killed a year ago. It goes without saying if you had actually been capable of separating the poison into its base components, you would have been killed by the power of the dragon."

To that, Liu Jin frowns. It is true. Although in the past year he has been able to break past the Foundational Realm and into the Inner Realm, that's still nothing to be impressed by. Above the Inner Realm, there is the Nascent Realm and above that, the Spirit Realm. The Earth Realm is still a long way above that.

Simply put, the difference in power between Liu Jin who is in the Inner Realm and a dragon in the Earth Realm is too big. If Liu Jin had been able to break down the poison, his body would have naturally recognized the dragon blood as a source of power and foolishly tried to absorb it. Without a doubt, he would have died.

It means he was never expected to succeed in breaking down the poison.

The knowledge leaves a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Not bad," Old Jiang says once Liu Jin has finished expelling all the poison from his body. "Overall, not as good as it could have been, but I guess I can give you a passing grade."

The judgement is heavy, much heavier than Liu Jin knows. With his current knowledge and skill, Liu Jin could go to any town or small city in the Empire and quickly become one of the best doctors there, if not the best doctor. Of course, knowing that would not change the unreasonable standards Liu Jin sets for himself. He is not interested in comparing himself with the number one doctor of a small city or town. The only metrics that matter are those related to his father.

"Regardless, you are ready for the next step in your training. I have prepared a gift for the occasion." Old Jiang brings out a red piece of cloth and unfurls it in front of Liu Jin. Over the cloth, there are scalpels and needles of different shapes and sizes. They are pure white and seem to shine with their sharpness.

"I made them from the claws of the dragon. They will serve you well in the future. Remember to never keep them too close to each other or else the dragon bone will seek to merge."

Liu Jin bows, for what else can he do after receiving such an exquisite gift?

"Thank you, master. I will make sure I am worthy of this gift."

People would pay immense amounts of money for a weapon made out of a dragon's body, yet his master has deemed it fit to use the claws of a dragon to create medical tools for him. For a moment, Liu Jin feels immense gratitude towards Old Jiang.

"Master?" Liu says as something occurs to him. "By next phase, do you mean...?"

"Correct." The old master stands up. "By purging your body of this poison, you have cleared the minimum requirements. Tomorrow, we leave for Poison Fang Canyon. You will find the experience quite different this time."

~~~