"Junior brother Ninth, let me know if you need any help!" the eldest and also their first senior brother came to his side and express his gratitude. Being the oldest and strongest among the nine of them, he has the responsibility to take care of them and mediates their misunderstanding whenever it happens. It wasn't too difficult at all, based on each of their attitudes, but sometimes, the argument still happens.
And since it was an opportunity to do so, except stating his position as their big brother, he also tried to pull both eighth and ninth together to forget about their previous misunderstanding, because no matter what, they were still brothers and sisters in the same faction under their teacher.
Especially when he used the quote "The fingers can only bend inwards but not outwards. We're all the fingers and flesh of the headmaster, thus no matter what happened, the finger will only bend together to form a fist". Holding no grudge in him at the first place, Zhang Wu Ji agreed. Politely, he bowed to his eighth senior brother and greets him before they give each other a hug.
"We're brothers." eighth says. But after that, a call from their fifth sister and sixth sister summoned the seventh and eighth brother away, as the four of them does have a prior plan to visit the Southern Bamboo Forest for a short few days expedition.
This time, the four of them will stay in the forest for a total of four days before they left with whatever treasure they able to harvest. Zhang Wu Ji interest to join heightened when he heard their plans, but without any preparations, it was impossible for him to join their party. Left with no choice, he can only promise to join the other four senior's expedition next time.
Since there was nothing else for him to do, he returned to his courtyard to monitor the progress of his small farm. It seems that after a great effort, the farm is now carrying an appearance closer to how it supposed to look like. With only 75 Qi Sensing in his hand, Zhang Wu Ji left another new batch of 25 Qi Sensing Pill to Tang Yuan before he left to complete his own task.
Looking at the salary paid upfront without any words, this action caused Tang Yuan to feel more appreciation towards Zhang Wu Ji. "Is this what they call magnanimous?" he thought and continued with his farm works once again. With his amount of experience, Tang Yuan help Zhang Wu Ji to decide the three other kinds of plants to be planted.
Taixia Condensing Plant, a medicinal ingredient that produces a Taixia Condensed Dew that can attract Natural Qi in the surrounding air. If it was taken prior to meditation, it will increase the strands of Inner Qi creation speed. If the Taixia Condensed Dew is used to concoct the difficult to succeed Taixia Qi Pill, it's worth will be increased by at least a hundredfold, because the Taixia Qi Pill is said to have the ability to create an additional Strand of Inner Qi in a cultivator's body.
Yantai County's Mandrake Plant, a medicinal root that possesses the medicinal worthiness stronger by the hundred year ginseng by ten folds. Used to concoct the Yantai Pill, they were a much more difficult situation, such as during a deadly fight in a war, or during the clash between two strong cultivators. The Yantai Pill can effectively remove all injuries and increase the strength of a cultivator by 50% strength, allowing him to have the second chance to fight before he falls.
Although the Yantai County is no longer exist in this Ping An Continent due to the Beast Infestation attack, a few of their products still managed to remain through the passage of time, and still in use until now. This was the one of the three product in the world still carrying the Yantai County's name on them, with another one martial art and one fighting weapon.
As for the third plants, it was actually the Kind Heart Grass, which Tang Yuan use in an attempt to fertilize and revitalized the last plot of the soil in the farm. Although it was unknown why this part of the soil is lack of nutrients, based on his experience in Botanist and Gardening, he has enough confidence to turn this plot of land into a useful one.
Just like this, another three days pass very quickly, his effort was slow, but with 36 strands of Inner Qi with him now, the 32 pages of Bone Strengthening Art was one fifth completed, with 6 pages were rewritten, and another 26 pages remained.
10.1%, 9.7%, 9.1%, 9.4%, 9.6%, and 9.9%. This was the accuracy of his rewrites, but still, he dares not to compile the six pages together in afraid of it end up as an incomplete copy of Bone Strengthening Art. With only almost two pages were completed every single day, Zhang Wu Ji expects that he will need another 13 days more before he can complete the rewrites of the whole manual.
But from the positive changes he did see in each of the pages he completed, their differences are pretty significant. Even if the completed result were only a quarter better than before, this was still a proper experience for him and allowed him to redo the same thing all over again, only in the next time, he will strive for results, and not only the answer of his test to understand his [Upgrade].
With a mind full of rewriting the Bone Strengthening Art manual again, he returned to the writing table, but a heavy knock came into his courtyard door, shocking the two only people staying within this courtyard.
"What happened? That knock is too hard, correct?" Zhang Wu Ji was stunned by the sudden knock that sounds so hard but still came to the entrance to see what happened. Without any delay, he took away the plank blocking the Main Door to see what was waiting for him outside.
"Shit!" he was greeted with his eighth senior brother that covered with blood all over his body.
"Junior brother, quickly, come to Reflecting Pagoda now! The seventh brother is heavily injured! We have materials in hand, but even our Pill Masters and Physician failed to help!" his eighth brother pull him over quickly, without letting him have the opportunity to grab some of his belonging.
The two of them ran in a hurry and entered the Reflecting Pagoda without any obstruction. Inside the room, their seventh brother was surrounded by two physicians, two pill masters, which was continuously inspecting his condition while their master, Liang Tian is using his Inner Qi that went through the Sheng Tian Process to keep his life intact with the body.
A coagulated blood was extracted by one physician with a special container tool before he left that by the side, and return to remove all the coagulated blood.
When Zhang Wu Ji looked at his seventh brother's situation, he was speechless. No matter how it looks, his brother should be poisoned right? What is wrong with the two physician and pill masters? But when he looks at their method of medication, it was understandable. Coagulating Blood is a rare occasion, only seen sometimes when it came in contact with the toxin that can take life in a matter of hours.
Sneakily, he moves his hand over to the small container of blood, and inspect the item.
Coagulate Blood of Wen Yue
-Usage: a temporary antibody created by the body itself to reject the poison attack of Jade Toothed Bat
-Durability: 2/3
"Jade Toothed Bat?"
"Senior, did you people met with a Jade Toothed Bat before all this happened?" Zhang Wu Ji immediately noticed the origin of the issue, but before he can rashly act, he will need to know more information about this before they continue.
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"Yes, we were attacked by a couple of Jade Toothed Bat when explores a cave, but as I know, Jade Toothed Bat does not possess any poison and weren't a deadly Wild Beast at all..." the fifth sister answered the question, but based on her experience, it was not something to be worried about.
"This is why! We are all not paying attention to the main reason why his situation become like this! The Jade Toothed Bat is not a poisonous creature, but it doesn't mean that their teeth are completely free from poison too! I suspect that the Jade Toothed Bat's cave is filled with poisonous Wild Beast, am I correct?" Zhang Wu Ji immediately shares his hypothesis in this matter and stops the physician from taking out the coagulated blood too much.
Sneakily, he upgraded the bottle of coagulated blood before he slaps a Wound Mending Pill into powder and mixed them together.
Wound Mending Pill with Coagulated Blood
-Usage: increase the poison resistance of Wen Yue
-Durability: 1/1
-Special: removes the Jade Toothed Bad Poison by 7%
"Please, senior, allowed my senior brother to consume this mixture, it will give him more time to struggles while we were looking for a cure." he delivered the cube formed after mixing the Wound Mending Pill and Coagulated blood to the physician and turn his attention at the fifth and sixth sister.
"Senior sister, let me see the corpses, if they were still inside the Southern Bamboo Forest, we have to go there quickly before the item to removes the poison is gone!" Zhang Wu Ji hurried the two senior sisters to help him, but their eighth brother took five dead bodies of the Jade Toothed Bat and placing them on another table.
"This one should be the bat that bitten the seventh brother earlier! Help me to drain the blood and fill them into a container, I will return to prepare some medicine that can helps seventh brother recovery. Two physicians, I beg you to maintain my senior brother's heartbeat and stops the blood coagulating on his chest from entering his liver and heart." Zhang Wu Ji did not wait for their answer but left in a hurry.
His quick response received a nod from all the elders inside the room, and while the fifth senior sister is still in confusion, their eldest brother came to urge her to hurry up. Immediately, they look for the container to fill the blood from the Jade Toothed Bat and bring the container to his courtyard.
When the sixth sister entered his courtyard, she finally realized the reason this youngest brother of theirs returns to his own courtyard. With the Furnace is fired at their full force, Zhang Wu Ji took the one and only ingots of Crystal Iron to be cut into eight pieces before he proceeds with the hammering.
It was a complete bet for the sake to creates a proper Crystal Iron made surgeon knife, that soon was tempered together with the blood taken from the Jade Toothed Bat. The creation process took him close to one hour to get everything done, and at the end of his heavy works, a beautiful and translucent crystal-like hand knife is standing nicely between his two fingertips.
Because the Crystal Iron carries a hue of brown, the handmade surgeon knife looks brown translucent as it was held in his hand. While the sixth sister was impressed by what she was seeing, Zhang Wu Ji is busy upgrading the surgeon knife instead.
Crystal Surgeon Knife +5
-Usage 1: when used on the patient suffering from poison, the blade will extracts all the toxins from the patient body through the wound this blade cut opened.
-Usage 2: face no restrictions in cutting open beast's flesh when used on a wild beast.
-Durability: 21/21
-Special: When the surgical knife is in use it will release a brilliant color to brighten its surrounding.
"Erm... The other usage of this surgeon knife is good, but aren't the special ability is a little too useless?" Zhang Wu Ji is speechless as he reads the special ability descriptions. No wonder the sixth sister is impressed with the weapon that shines in their brown hue. It was not because the tool was made out of material in their higher quality, but it was because of the Crystal Surgeon Knife's special ability!
If she knows that she was impressed by a mere lighting effect, she will be embarrassed for her whole life!
"Ninth brother, we should hurry, it's been one hour pass after you went out from the Reflecting Pagoda!" she reminds her junior brother on the time they spent, and in a rush, the two left the courtyard without the blood from the Jade Toothed Bat.
When the two left, Tang Yuan just came back from his farm works and was shocked when he saw a bottle of Beast Blood was placed on a table just outside the blacksmithing Room and his own. Happily, he keeps the blood into his room and withdraws a seed from a pouch he always put on his waist, before he submerges it inside.
While he wasn't paying any attention and begin to cultivate, the seed absorbs the nutrient from the blood before it begins to germinate. But the sprouts do not carry a leaf, but it looks more like a newly grown tuber that continuously sucked the blood dry.
"Master, we're back!" the sixth sister finally returned together with the youngest disciple which they all was now placing their hope on him. When he left the pagoda earlier, both of his hand is empty, but when they return, there was an additional weird looking knife in his hand. It brings out a brown hue while held in his hand, where all the elders are expecting the tool should have some helping effect in their situation.
"Master, please let me treat the seventh senior brother." Zhang Wu Ji walked towards his master, and without explaining the usage of his Crystal Surgeon Knife, he requested to be left alone with his senior brother while he's conducting his treatment.
For the two physicians and Pill Masters, they have experienced elder in the field of medicines, thus they know it was a polite gesture to leave when asked. Due to the secrecy of their medical methods and practices of each physician, namely only the teacher of the physician is allowed to stay during his treatment.
With only the seventh disciple, their master and Zhang Wu Ji in the room, he took a seat just beside his senior brother, and inspect the location where the poison has spread. Since he was bitten on his right underarm, that location will be the best section for him to give it a cut.
The blade gently cut open his flesh, and when it was pointed downwards in a very convenient angle, the poison that spreads throughout his body is now beginning to converge together to meet at the point where he opened a small wound. Following from that, blood in their jade green color begins to drips from the wound, until the blood started to return to their maroon color.
The final drop of his seventh brother's blood was kept in a container similar to the earlier one with coagulated blood and allows him to inspect them.
Clean blood of Wen Yue
Usage: increase the blood flow and transference of oxygen within the body of Wen Yue
Durability: 1/1
"The seventh brother is saved, but I need the most miraculous pill that can help the seventh brother in his recovery!" Zhang Wu Ji shouted as the four elders walk pass the curtain again. When they look at the seventh disciple's expression, it seems that the dangerous situation has been reverted, and this concern had been put aside.
Now, only the recoveries from his injuries are the most important matter they need to handle. While the elders are working on his physical recovery, Headmaster Liang Tian took the youngest disciple out from the curtained area and meet up with the remaining disciples.
Each of them was worried at each another, and when the news of his safety came out, the fifth sister, sixth sister, and eighth brother released a mouthful of air, knowing that their seventh brother's safety is assured. It was a big mistake for the four of them to went into the Southern Bamboo Forest without a preparation in the terms of antidote.
Although he cannot reprimand them from being too reckless, it wasn't proper for him to reprimand them too much over the limit as well, because even as a master himself, Liang Tian failed to notice the fact his seventh disciple was poisoned, and not heavily injured. If this incident was not because of Zhang Wu Ji's expertise, perhaps his seventh disciple will become a memory by now.
"Ninth, you did a great deed today by saving your seventh brother. As your master, and also a helpless old man that cannot protect the life of his beloved disciple, I am thankful to you for your effort to save your senior brother. Tell me, what do you wish, if the master wants to rewards you with something?" this was the biggest reward he ever gives to his disciple. It was practically a favor to a beloved child, that even if he wishes to kill the others, Liang Tian will not hesitate.
"Master, Wu Ji have no request for now, but he does have a little urge to enter the Southern Bamboo Forest as well. Wu Ji wonder can he be granted with the approval to enter the forest?" Zhang Wu Ji thought about what he wanted, but before he waits for the reply, Liang Tian replied came.
"NO! Unless you reach the 2nd Stage of Inner Qi Fighter, you will not be allowed to enter the Southern Bamboo Forest. Take this book back and read them. You will know why master stops you from entering the forest before you're a full fledge cultivator. This will not be a negotiation at all. Think about what you want, and I will grant you other wishes, but except this one."
"Wu Ji understood." he bowed, knowing he did piss his master with an immature request before he obtained a proper strength to defend himself. After excusing themselves, all the disciples left, with only the four elders still beyond the curtain.
"Tell the Shadow Faction and Knowledge Faction to not disturb my disciple further." headmaster Liang Tian whispers, but to the ears of people he wanted them to deliver the messages, the word was as clear as shouting. In a quick movement, the silhouette hiding at the two only windows in the room left, leaving the decoration as how it was when they vanish.
While all the others are going back to their own courtyard after such an experience, Zhang Wu Ji did not return but went to the Pill Concoction Building instead. Knowing that his day might not go as smooth as now, he knows that he will need to update his knowledge, and not randomly upgrading what he has!
As for him now, the knowledge in Pill Concocting and Blacksmithing is the most precious profession that will allow him to protect himself. With the position he holds now, entering the library to browse their books will not be an issue at all!
"I will need to obtain the recipe to concoct pills that could increase my strength and recover my Inner Qi when I'm at exhaustion. It will not be positive for me to continue like this, because the moment I lost all my strands of Inner Qi, I will become a sitting duck waiting for others to decide my fate!"
He steels himself and begins to went through their collection of books when he entered their building. With the Seven Star Order Plate in hand, he was allowed to enter anywhere without obstruction, except any personal places such as the disciple's own room and elders office.
Although they weren't comparable to the collections available in the Knowledge Pagoda, the books stored in this small recording vault is still nevertheless amazing in his eyes. Not only they contained ten times more books compared to his Zhang's Family Library, they were also various of recordings related to the other elders and pill master's finding from their thorough research throughout their years.
It took him three days inside the Recording Vault to scan through their books and scrolls. During the three days, Zhang Wu Ji almost behaved like a librarian he was before, and begin to rearrange all their books according to their usage, and the topic they focused on. Medical, Inner Qi Branching Tier, and beast related.
The unusually messy Recording Vault was cleaned by Zhang Wu Ji while he was reading, and from that moment, he becomes the Pill Concoction Building's most honorable guest. Who doesn't like a person that can tidy and clean their vault while reading? It reduces their workloads and what's more, tidying the recording vault is the most challenging task, where the Pill Concoction Building was treating the job to tidy the vault as a form of penalty.
When the time marks his 49th day, Zhang Wu Ji returned to his courtyard.