pertwk Chapter 5: The Essence Looting
Chapter 5: The Essence Looting
School, Logistics Department
The semi-open hall is divided into five sections: medicinal herbs, minerals, elixirs, martial arts techniques, and miscellaneous items. Behind each section is a large LCD screen.
The page displays pictures and names of various redeemable items, with the number of points required for redemption indicated below.
Chen Zheng arrived at the medicinal herbs section. Behind the counter was a gray-haired administrator who was sorting through a stack of receipts. He looked up at Chen Zheng.
"Exchange for Qi and Blood Pills?"
Chen Zheng shook his head: "No, I want to exchange for medicinal herbs." As he spoke, he looked up and glanced at the list on the screen. There were more types of first-grade spiritual herbs than he had imagined.
Fire Orchid, Ground Ginseng, Frostleaf Grass, Blood Moss, Bone Mushroom, Black Leaf Grass... Each plant is labeled with its name, grade, year, place of origin, and point price.
Chen Zheng's gaze lingered on the fire orchid.
【Fire Orchid, First-Grade Elixir】Origin: A secret realm polluted by the abyss (number 0472), Year: Seven years, Price: 22 points, Main ingredient of Qi and Blood Pill.
The elixir was more expensive than Chen Zheng had anticipated.
Chen Zheng's gaze continued downwards, stopping at a fire orchid marked "defective" at the bottom of the list.
Condition: Petal edges are scorched and withered, and about 1/3 of the stem is broken. Price: 12 points.
"How much medicinal potency does this defective plant retain?"
The administrator glanced at the screen: "The assessment is about 70%. The scorched petals are due to improper storage after harvesting, and the broken stems are due to transportation losses."
"It's not very stable in terms of medicinal effects if used for alchemy, but it's fine for experiments."
"I want this one."
Chen Zheng swiped his personal terminal to verify his identity, 12 points were deducted, leaving him with 6 points in his account.
After waiting a few minutes, the staff inside handed Chen Zheng a black stone box. Chen Zheng took it, put it in his backpack, and turned to walk towards the mining area.
The screen in the mineral area also displays various Tier 1 minerals, such as lava crystal fragments, black iron rock, blood-patterned steel, and earth vein stone, with prices ranging from a few points to hundreds of points.
Chen Zheng's gaze fell on a sample labeled "Earth Vein Stone Fragment".
【Earth Vein Stone, Tier 1 Mineral】Origin: High Mountain Vein, Uses: Base for Earth Attribute Rune Array / Refining Auxiliary Material, Specifications: Approximately 200 grams, Price: 5 Points.
"I want to exchange for a ley stone."
"Wait."
In just a short while, Chen Zheng's personal account balance was reduced to only 1 point.
However, this is a necessary investment.
He needs to test the specific effects of the Myriad Spirits Plunder talent, how much medicinal power can be plundered from elixirs, how much element can be plundered from minerals, and how much improvement it will bring to him.
Also, what is the condition of the looted medicinal ore residues, and can they still be circulated?
Only after figuring these things out can he make the most of his points.
It was around 11 a.m., and the sun was a bit scorching. The crowns of the hemlock trees on both sides of the road swayed gently in the wind, and the dark silver leaves reflected dappled light.
Chen Zheng returned to his dormitory and placed the defective fire orchid and earth vein stone on his desk.
Fire Orchid is a red plant that resembles an orchid, while Earth Vein Stone is an irregular grayish-brown crystal with yellowish-brown veins on its surface.
Without hesitation, Chen Zheng picked up the slightly hot Fire Orchid.
hum!
With the activation of the Myriad Spirits Plunder talent, Chen Zheng felt a cool power spreading from his brain, and the whole world instantly became clear before his eyes.
Countless tiny energy particles, as fine as dust, float in the air; these are the free-floating energies of heaven and earth.
The fire orchid in her hand emitted a red halo, with strands of bright red, vein-like energy flowing between the fibers of the petals and stem.
At this moment, the energy structure inside the elixir was fully revealed before his "eyes".
This is not vision, but a perception of an energy state mapped into consciousness.
A complete fire orchid should have its energy flowing evenly, like a calm river. But this defective one is different; the energy flow is completely interrupted in the scorched areas of the petals, like a dried-up riverbed.
At the point where the root broke, tiny, almost imperceptible wisps of energy slowly dissipated from the fracture, like a leaky water pipe.
The energy activity of the entire herb is very low, but the core medicinal essence is still there, concentrated in those red meridians, emitting a warm red "light".
plunder.
With a thought, Chen Zheng instantly unleashed an invisible force through his palm, drawing the essence of the red veins from between the medicinal fibers.
This process is not about violent tearing, but about precise peeling away of layers.
Every strand of pure medicinal power, imbued with the essence of heaven and earth, was completely separated and integrated into Chen Zheng's hand, transforming into a warm sensation that spread from his palm throughout his body.
This feeling is not the "internal growth" experienced when taking Qi and Blood Pills before, but a more direct "infusion," where the medicinal power directly integrates into the muscles, tendons, and blood.
No digestion or transformation is needed; it is absorbed simply by plundering.
A few minutes later, the last bit of medicinal power from the Fire Orchid was drawn away, and Chen Zheng opened his eyes, feeling a burning sensation all over his body.
The medicinal power within his body felt like boiling steam, making him feel uncomfortable. His skin turned an unnatural red, and the veins on his arms and the backs of his hands bulged out.
Chen Zheng was a little surprised, not expecting that a flawed first-grade spiritual herb would have such a potent medicinal effect.
Unable to sit, Chen Zheng took a deep breath, walked to the middle of the dormitory, and assumed the starting stance of the Thirteen Forms of the Viper Tendons, with his feet shoulder-width apart and his knees slightly bent.
Boom! Chen Zheng's right fist spiraled out from his waist, squeezing the air and making a whistling sound.
The moment the punch was thrown, his waist and hips moved in unison, and the power flowed through Chen Zheng's entire body, stretching the fascia on the right side of his body as he twisted.
Next is the snake coiling around the body. This move trains the lumbar fascia, the area of the human body that is most easily overlooked and most prone to energy accumulation and blockage.
The potent medicinal power cleared a tiny blockage here, like dredging a silted river, bringing a sense of comfort and ease.
In this world, the first ten levels of martial arts all involve physical training.
In the early stages, one trains the body with the Wild Bull Body Refining Fist, forging the nine major muscle groups throughout the body. When one reaches the third level of martial arts, the muscles throughout the body are clearly defined, and the punching power of a single arm can reach 500 kilograms.
Then, he used the Thirteen Forms of the Viper Tendon to train his entire body's fascia. When he reached the sixth level of martial arts, his single-arm punching power reached 800 kilograms, his tendons were like a bowstring, and his explosive power was astonishing.
With the help of the medicine, Chen Zheng practiced the Thirteen Forms of the Viper Tendon five times in one go, each time becoming more fluent than the last.
With practiced moves, the strength and resilience of the fascia have been greatly enhanced under the tempering of the medicine. The waist and hips, which used to feel tight when twisted to thirty degrees, can now be easily twisted to thirty-five degrees.
The shoulder joint, which used to feel a slight stinging pain when stretched to its limit, now has a range of motion that has increased by about a finger's width.
call!
As the internal heat subsided, Chen Zheng stopped his stance and stood still, feeling as if his fascia had been soaked in warm water from the inside out, feeling relaxed and elastic.
Chen Zheng opened his eyes, and a row of prompts appeared in front of him.
"Plunder 4 points of the medicinal power containing spiritual essence"
"Cultivation progress: Level 4 Martial Artist [32%→53%] [Thirteen Forms of the Serpent Tendon, Second Transformation 32%→53%]"
"Basic punching power +20 kg"
"This effect..." Chen Zheng was a little surprised. He didn't expect that the medicinal power of just a first-grade spiritual herb would increase his cultivation progress by 20% across four levels.
On the surface, the improvement may not seem significant, but a different algorithm will reveal the difference.
Taking Chen Zheng's ordinary cultivation talent as an example, normally when he takes a Qi and Blood Pill, the slowly released medicinal power of the pill can increase the tempering progress by five times.
Chen Zheng used the Iron Mountain Stake as a foundation in his first year of high school, and then used the Wild Bull Body Refining Boxing Technique in his second year to break through to the first level in three months.
It took him five months to break through to level two martial artist, and eight months to break through to level three martial artist. In the second semester of his senior year of high school, he learned the Tendon-Refining Fist Technique and practiced for ten months to break through to level four martial artist.
Based on this cultivation progress, it is estimated that it will take him a year to go from level four to level five. If he has enough Qi and Blood Pills to help temper his fascia, it will take about two months.
The reason it took more than two months is that the maximum number of Qi and Blood Pills a normal person can refine per day is one; if more is done, the medicinal power will be lost.
Commonly known as resistance.
If he were to use Qi and Blood Pills, Chen Zheng would need about 70 pills to cultivate from level four to level five martial artist. Each pill costs 20 points, which is equivalent to 2,000 yuan.
In other words, if a family is wealthy, they only need a little over 100,000 yuan to save more than half a year of cultivation time.
So no matter what, it's always the case that the poor are scholars and the rich are warriors. In cultivation, the path of cultivation is about Dharma, wealth, companions, and money in the earth, which comes second... cough cough, I'm getting off-topic here.
Chen Zheng shook his head, opened his personal terminal, and a beam of white light shot out from the watch, forming a virtual webpage.
Chen Zheng said directly, "Help me search on the school's intranet for which auxiliary medicines to use with a Fire Orchid to refine Qi and Blood Pills, and how many pills can be made."
Qi and Blood Pills are the basic resources for cultivation in the early stages of this world. The formula is not a secret; the difficulty lies in the refining method and the person who can make it.
In the blink of an eye, the information Chen Zheng needed was retrieved.
[Qi and Blood Pill, main ingredient: one first-grade spiritual herb, Fire Orchid; common herbs: Black Leaf Grass, Blood Moss, and Bone Mushroom; total cost: 30 points.]
Due to varying refining techniques and experience, the standard yield per batch is between three and seven pills, with a failure rate between 10% and 60%.