Something's wrong with this demon.

Chapter 21

"Click!"

Muscles tense, bones cracking.

In the dimly lit room, Luo Qingchen endured the pain in her bones and practiced her boxing over and over again.

The pain of tempering bones is far greater than that of tempering muscles.

They practiced from morning until noon; and from noon until nightfall.

There were two breaks during that period.

However, in order to achieve a better tempering effect, each rest period is very short.

As night fell outside the window, he finished his last set of boxing techniques.

After pulling his fist back, he endured the fatigue and pain, moved around a bit, and then relaxed his whole body, slumping down in the corner of the wall.

The pain was like being pricked by needles, rising and falling throughout the bones of the body.

At this moment, his clothes were completely soaked, and a thick layer of dirt had accumulated in every pore.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, followed by a maid's clear voice: "Is Guard Luo here? Your dinner is here."

Luo Qingchen immediately endured the pain, got up, and went to open the door.

I only ate a steamed bun this morning, and now I'm starving. When I heard about dinner, my stomach started growling, and I felt even worse.

"After you finish eating, take your own bowl and chopsticks to the kitchen."

The maid seemed very frightened by the place; after handing him the food, she hurriedly left.

Dinner was simple.

Two steamed buns, a bowl of porridge, a dish of pickled vegetables with a small piece of meat in the pickled vegetables.

Such a dinner is a rare treat in this Medicine Man Town.

However, for cultivators who need to strengthen their flesh and bones, it is naturally far from enough.

No wonder only one or two cultivators ascend from here each year.

With insufficient food and difficulty obtaining fresh blood for medicinal baths, breaking through to the Blood Exchange Realm is naturally extremely difficult.

Luo Qingchen quickly finished her meal, leaving not a drop, and then took the bowl and chopsticks to the kitchen.

It gets dark very quickly.

At this moment, apart from a few windows in the front building where a faint light was still on, the rest of Baixianglou was pitch black.

After leaving the kitchen, he came to a stone house on the right side of the backyard.

The stone house was very simple, with only a stove, a large pot, and some firewood.

This is where the medicine is prepared.

Luo Qingchen stood at the door of the stone house, hesitated for a moment, then turned around and went back to the second house, took out the medicinal herbs and wooden buckets, and put them into the stone house.

He first fetched a bucket of water and poured it into the pot.

Then I started to boil water.

"Hey, Brother Luo, are you boiling water? Are you taking a bath, or...?"

Just as Luo Qingchen was adding firewood to the stove, Chen Ju suddenly appeared at the door, glanced at the pot, and then looked intently at him.

Luo Qingchen continued adding firewood, saying, "Prepare to brew the medicine."

"To prepare the medicine?"

Chen Ju's eyes flashed, and he smiled, "Is it a medicinal bath? Brother Luo, you've had some blood?"

Luo Qingchen looked up at him and said, "There's no blood. I just had a whole day of cultivation and my whole body aches. I just wanted to soak it in other medicinal herbs first."

"Brother Chen, is there something you need?"

He asked again.

Chen Ju smiled broadly: "It's nothing, I just saw a fire being lit here and came to take a look. Brother Luo, you go ahead with your work, I'm going back inside."

After saying that, he left with a smile.

As the footsteps faded into the distance, Luo Qingchen's expression grew increasingly serious.

He also knew that taking a medicinal bath here was dangerous.

However, to achieve the best results from his cultivation, he must take a medicinal bath as soon as possible after practicing his boxing.

Within the body, behind the first health bar, the cultivation progress is: [Strengthening Bones: 2/1000]

After a whole day of practice, I only gained two points.

Therefore, to reach 1000 as soon as possible, it is necessary to combine it with medicinal baths.

"While strolling around the streets today, I saw quite a few abandoned houses. Perhaps next time I take a medicinal bath, I can sneak outside..."

He was adding firewood while pondering something in his mind.

This Hundred Flowers Pavilion is fraught with danger.

The surrounding cultivators were watching with predatory eyes, so he had to be extra careful while taking the blood-infused medicinal bath.

Crimson flames roared in the stove.

The water in the pot quickly came to a boil.

Luo Qingchen got up and put some medicinal herbs into the water.

The water quickly turned murky, and a strong herbal scent, along with the rising steam, spread out and soon filled the entire stone house.

Luo Qingchen closed the wooden door and windows in advance.

But the strong smell of medicine still wafted out through the cracks in the wooden doors and windows, spreading far into the darkness.

In the darkness outside, there seemed to be the sound of light footsteps.

Luo Qingchen ignored him, boiled the medicine over a high flame for a while longer, and then poured all the boiling hot liquid into a wooden bucket.

After cooling for a moment, he took off his clothes and entered the tub.

My whole body was immediately enveloped in the rich medicinal liquid, and a hot and refreshing sensation instantly spread throughout my body.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

Luo Qingchen held the dagger in her hand, looked towards the door, and said nothing.

At that moment, the latch snapped.

The wooden door was suddenly pushed open.

The Wang brothers, Long and Hu, appeared at the doorway, their eyes greedily fixed on the room.

Wang Long said with a forced smile, "I thought no one was in the room. So Brother Luo is taking a medicinal bath here."

As they spoke, the two brothers barged in, their eyes fixed on the bucket, sniffing it.

Wang Hu said coldly, "Brother Luo, did you add fresh blood to this medicine? If so, let us two soak in it too. We're all brothers who work together, it shouldn't be a problem, right?"

His expression, his tone, his behavior—it was as if he had threats and robbery written all over his face.

Luo Qingchen said calmly, "Of course, no problem. If you two brothers want to soak, feel free to do so later. As for blood, I don't have the money to buy it."

"Wasn't fresh blood added?"

Wang Long approached the wooden tub, dipped his hand into the water, sniffed it, and sneered, "Brother Luo, without fresh blood, it's useless. Fresh blood outside is indeed expensive, but Brother Luo can use his own."

Luo Qingchen stretched out her arm, revealing the wound on her wrist, and said, "I would like to use it, but in a few days, someone from above will be coming to collect my blood. If they find out I've already used it, the consequences will probably be severe."

"By the way, that person's name is Tian Feng. He seems to have broken through again a few days ago. I guess his status and position in the sect are about to rise another step."

He added casually.

Wang Long and Wang Hu's expressions changed slightly. They exchanged a glance and said nothing more.

"Then I won't disturb Brother Luo's bath."

Wang Long said something with a forced smile, then left with his brothers.

As the footsteps faded into the distance, Luo Qingchen remained vigilant.

About an incense stick's time later, Wang Long suddenly returned and reappeared at the door, smiling, "Brother Luo, would you like me to get you some water?"

As he spoke, he went into the house, walked to the wooden tub, and twitched his nose.

"Thank you, but it's not necessary."

Luo Qingchen looked at him calmly and asked, "I'm about to get up. Would you like to take a bath for a while, Brother Wang?"

Wang Long didn't smell any blood, and a hint of disappointment flashed in his eyes. He coldly smiled and said, "No need."

After saying that, he turned and left the stone house, leaving with Wang Hu, who was guarding outside, with gloomy faces.

Luo continued taking a bath in the early morning.

The medicinal liquid in the bucket had cooled down, but the magic stone at the bottom of the bucket didn't seem to have decreased at all.

"The medicinal soak made me feel a little better, but unfortunately, there was no fresh blood..."

He muttered to himself, stood up, and prepared to get out of the bucket.

Just then, a dark figure outside the window silently disappeared.

Luo Qingchen glanced at the window, and her two hands, which were immersed in water, suddenly moved.

The sharp dagger quickly cut open the wound on her wrist.

Under his pressure, the blood in the veins flowed out of the wound at an extremely fast speed and quickly mixed into the medicinal liquid in the bucket.

The magic stone at the bottom of the bucket, upon touching the blood, immediately shattered its black surface layer, turning into thick black water.

Luo Qingchen instantly felt a familiar energy enter her body through every pore!

The pain in my entire body was immediately relieved.

Inside the body, the blood in the first health bar quickly dropped from 100% to 70%.

He loosened his wound, immediately replenished his first health bar, and then, while rapidly absorbing the surging energy from the medicine, he kept a wary eye on the doorway.

Thankfully, no one came this time.

Before long, he had absorbed all the energy from the medicine.

After soaking for a while longer, when the color of the medicinal liquid in the wooden tub began to turn into clear water, he reluctantly got out of the tub.

At this moment, the cultivation progress behind the first health bar in the body has become [Strengthening Bones: 12/1000]!

After just a short medicinal bath, and before even starting to refine it, the cultivation progress jumped from 2 to 12, demonstrating the importance of this blood medicinal bath!

After carefully tidying up the house, he carried the wooden bucket and the remaining medicinal herbs back to the second room.

He felt no sleepiness at the moment and prepared to refine the medicinal effects within his body overnight.

The faint light that had been lit inside the room quickly went out.

Outside the window, the darkness of night grew ever deeper.

All around, there was complete silence.

Suddenly, a dark shadow appeared outside the window of the second house.

He took out a thin tube and silently inserted it through the crack in the window.

After blowing out the poisonous smoke, he didn't rush to climb through the window. Instead, he took out two more thin tubes and went to the windows of the first and third houses, blowing the poisonous smoke into each one.

"All three rooms have been poisoned. Let's see where you run tonight!"

The shadowy figure waited outside for a while before cautiously pushing open the window of the second house.