Chapter 76: Blissful Dealings

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Powdered Lonefire Blossom.

Thrice-Burned Lotus.

Thundering Leaf extract.

600-Year Spirit Root

Many-Colored Lizard Scales.

The ingredients are all laid out before Liu Jin. He sits on the carpet, cross-legged, shifting around to make himself comfortable. For some reason, he is somewhat nervous. It is silly, of course. The complexity may be slightly higher than usual, but this is hardly the first time he prepares a pill.

How long has it been since he has done it, though?

Not that long, his mind instantly replies. Even while working to decode Doctor Wu’s notes, Liu Jin managed to find some time to help his father out. Making a few pills was the least he could do for the clinic. That can’t have been so long ago. Perhaps, a little over two weeks at most? While Liu Jin has not been keeping track of time, it is not as if a month has gone by. That’s just not possible.

And yet, it almost feels like a year has gone by.

It is not that Liu Jin feels sadness or melancholy. Such feelings have little hold on him as he is right now. It is just…

He’s tired.

Beaten.

His fingers clench around his knees. A candle starts flickering irregularly as if about to burn out.

No, that won’t do.

Breathe.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

In.

Out.

Liu Jin’s breath goes back under control, and as it does, so does the flame. It responds to his Qi and beats in tune with it, growing bigger and smaller with every breath he takes. Lazy wisps of energy rise from within Liu Jin and reach out, enveloping the ingredients gathered before him, tapping into their essence with practiced ease.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Essence into Vitality. Vitality into Spirit. Spirit into Emptiness.

Small flame. Big flame.

These are the basics of the basics. There is no way for him to get it wrong.

The Powdered Lonefire Blossom and Thrice-Burned Lotus go first. Liu Jin’s Qi mixes and harmonizes with the ingredients, refining them further and bringing out their essence. The Thrice Burned Lotus will serve as the core. It floats up, willed by his Qi, and is enveloped by the Lonefire Blossom. A breath goes by as Liu Jin waits for any sort of adverse reaction.

None happens.

Good.

His Qi plays the part of the furnace. Liu Jin could have requested one, and he’d surely have received it, but it is better this way.

Two hundred breaths go by.

It takes time to properly refine the 600-Year Spirit Root. It is a very high-quality ingredient and thus needs to be treated carefully. Liu Jin is surprised that Branch Manager Bianfu parted from something so valuable without even charging Liu Jin. Though considering the man was willing to waive his fees on the sale of the Earth Realm Dragon Core, perhaps something like this is only to be expected.

A pulse from the 600-Year Spirit Root tells Liu Jin it is almost ready. Good. The Thundering Leaf extract and the Many-Colored Lizard Scales have been waiting. Carefully, Liu Jin mixes the Thundering Leaf extract with the Powdered Lonefire Blossom and Thrice Burned Lotus. It doesn’t take long for the mix to spark and whistle, the Lonefire Blossom acquiring new life.

Come to think of it, wasn’t he having this conversation with his father the night everything went wrong?

Lonefire Blossom has a unique effect when powdered and mixed with Thundering Leaf extract.

The Lonefire Blossom is a potent plant with strong fire attributes, yet it loses most of them once harvested. By using Thundering Leaf extract, it becomes possible not just to awaken those attributes but also to drive them to greater heights. The intense heat and fire thus become a source of purification.

That makes it possible for the Thrice-Burned Lotus to be further refined.

The moment it hits the highest possible purity, Liu Jin adds the 600-Year Spirit Root and the Many-Colored Lizard Scales. He has to do it quickly before the Lonefire Blossom is consumed by its own heat. The resulting mix beats and pulses as if about to explode. Liu Jin tightly wraps his Qi around it to control those energies, suppressing and smothering them with every breath he takes.

After twenty breaths go by, Liu Jin’s Qi fizzes out. His palm rises up just in time to catch the finished product, a small reddish thing.

The Pill of Bliss is done.

“Amazing.”

Liu Jin looks to the side as he wipes some sweat from his forehead. Lei Kong is staring at him with wide eyes.

“I had never seen anyone prepare a pill like that.”

“I learned from my father.” Something like sadness flickers across Liu Jin’s face. “My father learned from his master. This?” Liu Jin holds up the pill. Making it had been slightly harder than he had been expecting. “This is nothing compared to what they could do.”

“They sound like great men.”

“They were.”

Red eyes meet brown, something passing between. A feeling. An understanding. Perhaps even a connection.

Lei Kong looks down.

“I am sorry.”

It is as if a spell has been cast upon the room. No one says anything. No one does anything. Only the flame flickering above the candle dares to move.

“Are you loyal to me?”

Liu Jin’s words break the spell. Although his question is blunt, his tone lacks any harshness to it. It is perhaps the softest his words to Lei Kong have been.

“My lord, you know that I am.”

No, Liu Jin doesn’t know that. If he did, this wouldn’t be so troublesome.

“You say you are loyal. How loyal?”

Lei Kong’s forehead touches the ground.

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“Until I draw my last breath, I shall follow your commands, my lord.”

Liu Jin tilts his head to the side. “So, if I told you to die, you’d do so?”

“Without question, my lord.”

“Is that so?”

Liu Jin stands up. His soft steps are barely heard as he makes his way to Lei Kong and kneels next to him.

“So, if I told you to remain still while I killed you, you’d do so?”

“Yes, my lord.”

In a flash, Liu Jin’s knife is out and held at Lei Kong’s neck. Between it and Lei Kong’s skin, there is not enough space to even slide in a single sheet of paper.

“This knife is made from the claws of a Ravenous Silver Wolf. You might be in the True Realm, but it has the potential to hurt you. Lower your Qi.”

Lei Kong does.

“Now, it has the potential to kill you. One strike. That is all it would take. Do you realize this?”

“I do, my lord.”

“Even so, you won’t move?”

“If you seek to end my life, that is only fitting recompense for my actions.”

Liu Jin’s Qi rises around him, crackling with menacing intent. His grip around the knife tightens.

Lei Kong bleeds.