Sacrificial Artifact System: From Bell-ringer to the Ancestral Patriarch of the Sect-Chapter 12 Qi Blood Pill

Back in his room,

Li Qian stuffed his nose, put on gloves, and poured out a pill from the medicine bottle.

Hmm...

Just one pill?

He thought there would be a whole bottle.

There should at least be ten or eight, right?

This seemed too stingy.

Li Qian had originally thought that Manager Zhao, in order to win him over, would be willing to spend quite a bit.

But this??? Just one pill? Is he treating me like a beggar?

Li Qian looked at the pill in his palm, the size of a peanut, a dark yellow color, round and shiny.

He didn't dare to smell it.

A pill given by someone with dubious intentions – he couldn't risk eating it.

"Is this the Qi Blood Pill?"

After studying it for a while, Li Qian put the Qi Blood Pill back into the bottle, then tossed the bottle into a drawer.

If he could have an elixir to aid his cultivation, his progress would definitely be much faster.

Unfortunately, he didn't have one.

Fortunately, the sound of the Chen Bell, a precious artifact, greatly assisted his training and compensated for the consumption of Qi and blood to some extent.

"No rush, take it slow."

Li Qian told himself.

Song old man's treasure map... he definitely shouldn't seek it out before having sufficient strength.

That Manager Zhao who suddenly sought him out... might secretly keep an eye on him in the future.

In the days that followed, Li Qian had a very regular routine.

Apart from going downhill once a month to the Chores Hall to collect his monthly stipend, materials, and contribution points, he stayed in the Bell Tower all other times, going nowhere else.

To pass the time, he had Chen Yong buy some vegetable seeds and little chickens and ducks... raising them on the mountain, cultivating the land, to alleviate the boredom.

He felt a bit dull at the start of such a life, but over time, he came to enjoy it instead.

"Brother Qian, the matter you asked me to inquire about, there's some news."

Chen Yong, carrying a beam of wood, came to the field that Li Qian had planted. After putting it down, he panted and said.

"Oh?"

Li Qian straightened his back, propping himself up with the hoe, and looked over, asking, "How is she?"

"Brother Qian, your cousin girl..."

Chen Yong hesitated before continuing, "I heard she's been getting quite close to a senior servant disciple from the Hundred Herbs Garden named Yi Zhong."

"Yi Zhong?"

Li Qian heard this name and it seemed familiar, he suddenly remembered: "Is it the Yi Zhong who was second in the combat power rankings last time?"

Chen Yong had previously told him about the combat power rankings, with Zhang Mingcan being the first and Yi Zhong the second.

"Yes, I've heard this person is a bit of a playboy... has ties with quite a few female servant disciples."

Chen Yong said.

"Hmm, got it."

Li Qian nodded.

How Song Yingying chooses her future life is not something he can control.

At most, within his capabilities, he could look after some of old man Song's affairs.

After some more chatting, Chen Yong picked up the beam and carried on running.

Li Qian, holding the hoe, loosened and leveled the remaining land. Then, he leisurely headed back to the Bell Tower.

A quarter-hour later, a few clear and melodious bell sounds rang out.

On the Bell Tower Platform, Li Qian put down the striking rod and began practicing Sword Stabbing Fist.

The sound of the bell surrounded him, with echoes lingering.

As Li Qian practiced his boxing technique, the Inner Strength in his body flowed vibrantly, like a stream running tirelessly until it slowly calmed down when it reached the last Ren Meridian.

Huh!

Li Qian concluded his form, his Inner Strength settled, and he couldn't help but exhale a long breath of murky air.

"This last Ren Meridian... is much tougher than I imagined."

Li Qian felt deeply moved.

During the months of cultivation, he had successively cleared the Rushing and Governing Vessels.

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Only the last Ren Meridian remained.

Once the Ren Meridian is cleared, the Inner Strength in his body would be able to complete the Grand Circulation, spontaneously transforming into Inner Qi.

The circulation through the twelve primary meridians is the small circulation.

Add to it the flow through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and that would be the Grand Circulation.

"It's mainly because my Inner Strength is not robust enough..."

Li Qian pondered within his heart.

Every time he tried to break through the Ren Meridian, he felt as if his strength was failing him.

The main reason was that the Qi and blood in his body were not abundant enough, which made the Inner Strength transformed during the practice of martial arts insufficient. There was no helping it, as just relying on medicinal meals every day simply could not meet his needs.

Even the amplifying effect of the Chen Bell's chime was not sufficient.

"Let's wait a bit longer."

Li Qian remembered the Qi Blood Pill in the drawer.

He felt that he needed to use the Qi Blood Pill to break through the Ren Meridian in one fell swoop.

One Qi Blood Pill was probably not enough.

Moreover, he did not dare to use the Qi Blood Pill given by Manager Zhao.

He planned to find a way to get some Qi Blood Pills.

The old method—he intended to ask Chen Yong to find out where he could buy Qi Blood Pills.

Soon, Chen Yong had news.

"The black market?"

Li Qian was quite surprised, "There is a black market within our Divine Sword Sect?"

"Yeah, I was also curious at first, but it turned out to be true.... I heard that there are many good things in the black market, all sourced from Official Disciples. However... to buy things in the black market, one mostly needs to use contribution points, and it's rare for someone to accept ordinary gold and silver."

Chen Yong explained.

Contribution points were also very important for Official Disciples.

Some Official Disciples, in order to exchange for important items within the sect but finding themselves short on contribution points, would find ways to buy contribution points from servant disciples.

Similarly, servant disciples, in need of certain items but lacking the status of Official Disciples, were ineligible for exchange, or even if they could exchange, the price was too high without the discount of an Official Disciple, so they could only opt to buy from the black market.

Li Qian had more than a dozen contribution points and wondered how many Qi Blood Pills he could purchase with them?

A few days later.

After striking the bell at the hour of You, Li Qian hurriedly went down the mountain after dinner.

"Brother Qian, you're here."

As soon as he approached the Chores Hall, Chen Yong came over to greet him.

Li Qian seldom left the mountain, so his opportunities to interact with others were even rarer.

Chen Yong was the only person he was most familiar with.

This time, he planned to go to the black market with Chen Yong accompanying him.

Chen Yong was a straightforward person and readily agreed.

After several twists and turns, the two arrived at another hilltop with some low buildings.

"This place used to be where forging and armament manufacturing was done, but it moved out and has since been abandoned."

Chen Yong introduced.

It was already evening, and it was getting dark, but lights were lit inside these buildings, and there were figures standing around, with various items scattered on stone platforms.

Apart from Li Qian and Chen Yong, many other servant disciples were also entering the black market.

The black market was not open every day; it was only held three or four times a month.

Li Qian stopped in front of a stall.

"How much for these Qi Blood Pills?"

He asked the stall owner.

The stall owner was shrouded in darkness, with the light failing to reach him; his face was almost impossible to make out. Only a pair of eyes were visible, hiding a palpable, intangible pressure.

Li Qian felt that this stall owner might very well be a rank-entry Martial Artist.

"One contribution point for one pill, but... I don't sell individually. A bottle of twelve, for ten contribution points."

The stall owner replied indifferently.

"What's the quality like?"

Li Qian asked.

"Sect mass-produced.... The quality is as such."

The stall owner shrugged.

"Can I take a look?"

Li Qian asked.

"Feel free."

The stall owner did not move.

Li Qian then picked up a bottle, opened the lid, and first sniffed it. It smelled no different from the Qi Blood Pill given by Manager Zhao.

Initially, he did not dare to smell the Qi Blood Pill from Manager Zhao, but later he scraped off a bit of the powder and fed it to chickens and ducks, and there was nothing abnormal. Instead, the chickens and ducks that ate it seemed particularly lively; even those that had been languishing seemed to instantly become vigorous.

He poured out one Qi Blood Pill, which was exactly the same as the one given by Manager Zhao.

Despite the dim light, he still recognized that there was no difference in color.

He counted them, and there were indeed twelve Qi Blood Pills.

Ten contribution points weren't cheap.

After all, he only received one contribution point a month.

You can imagine the preciousness of contribution points.

Under normal circumstances, unless breaking through a bottleneck, servant disciples would not spend contribution points on Qi Blood Pills on a whim.

For servant disciples, contribution points were extremely hard to come by, and had to be used to purchase even more precious items.

...