I Have Medicine

Chapter 582 - (False Origin Heaven-Thieving Art) A Past Promise

Gu Zuo was a little dazed.

To become truly integrated, with inner energies intertwining and blending… Normally, only… could achieve such a thing.

No wonder Ling Su had seen through it in a glance and even congratulated him and his big brother.

But more importantly, the fact that the Guardian Contract between the two of them had already reached the fourth tier meant—just as Ling Su had once explained back when she was still the system—that from now on, as long as one of them remained alive, the other would not die either. If anyone wished to harm them, they would have to kill both of them at the exact same time—otherwise, it would be completely impossible.

This was an enormous gain.

Of course, if the two of them ever encountered a truly overpowering expert who could smack them both to death in one blow, then revival would still be impossible. But in other situations—like if they encountered an opponent stronger than either of them but not overwhelmingly so, and Gu Zuo could still escape into the Medicine Hall—then this ability would be extremely valuable.

It was just that the method by which they gained this benefit was… a little embarrassing.

Gongyi Tianheng, hearing this, seemed thoughtful.

Naturally, he too realized the immense advantages hidden in all this, and then said, “This contract is truly marvelous.”

Once Gu Zuo shook off the last of his awkwardness, he smiled toward Gongyi Tianheng.

That smile held great joy and deep affection. He didn’t say anything outright, but anyone with eyes could see just how sincere his emotions were.

This was a powerful contract formed after they had already reached the third tier—willing to sacrifice their lives for each other—and then elevated it even further. Although a contract could never represent everything, its recognition still made him deeply happy.

Off to the side, Ling Su’s expression dimmed slightly as she witnessed this scene.

A flash of something passed through the depths of her eyes—perhaps confusion, perhaps anger—before settling into something far more complicated.

The fourth tier of the contract…

And back then…

That flicker of emotion vanished from her face almost instantly, fast enough that Gu Zuo didn’t notice it at all. But Gongyi Tianheng, glancing back at Gu Zuo just then, happened to catch it. He tucked that moment away in his heart, and turned to Gu Zuo with a gentle smile.

Even though Ah Zuo hadn’t yet held a formal marriage ceremony with him, in his heart, they were already no different from true lovers. If Ling Su’s reaction was merely a memory of the past, he could accept it. But if it was born of any ill intent toward his Ah Zuo—then no matter how powerful a spirit of a divine weapon she was, he would never forgive her.

From the very beginning, Gongyi Tianheng had never fully trusted the so-called “system.” He had always been probing and cautious. Now that Ling Su had taken human form, her behavior made it even easier for him to exclude her from the circle of trust he shared with Ah Zuo.

There were far too many secrets surrounding Ling Su, and she always hid behind “insufficient clearance” as an excuse. Whether that was truly because she believed they lacked the strength to know, or for some other reason, he didn’t care. As long as he hadn’t uncovered all her secrets, his suspicion of her would never fade.

Now that Gu Zuo understood the changes in their dandian were the result of their fourth-tier contract, he had no more questions for Ling Su. As for what those projections inside their dandian were really meant to do—he would explore them together with his big brother and uncover all the details himself.

At this moment, Gu Zuo had one more thing to ask Ling Su:

“Now that my psyche realm path has reached the Spirit Psyche Realm, I should be able to attempt refining Earth-Level Medicine. I already have the recipe for the Jiu Zhuan Hui Shen Pill, but you once said: ‘With the aid of some rare heaven-and-earth treasures, and using Tianyou’s still-active corpse as the foundation,’ he could be brought back to life. Since that’s the case, you should now tell me the specific steps to carry this out.”

Upon hearing this, all of Ling Su’s earlier complicated emotions vanished in an instant. She turned to look at Gu Zuo and said:

“Master has never actually met Qi Tianyou, yet still remembers him.”

Gu Zuo paused, then responded:

“Tianyou and I are blood relatives. When I inherited his memories, I felt quite sympathetic toward him. Now that there’s a chance to bring him back, as his elder brother, of course I have to try.”

That’s right. When he first learned of his blood relation to Qi Tianyou, Gu Zuo had been emotionally stirred and felt a surge of connection. But truthfully, aside from their bloodline, the two had never grown up together and had never even met. Once his emotions settled, it was only natural that he couldn’t claim to have an especially deep bond. At the very least, Qi Tianyou’s place in his heart didn’t compare to that of his big brother or his two adoptive fathers.

Still, since they were family, why wouldn’t he lend a hand now that he had the ability? Even if Qi Tianyou had chosen death himself, at that time he had been young, betrayed by the very clan that raised him—feeling that life had lost its meaning was understandable. But as his elder brother, Gu Zuo had the responsibility to give him a second chance at choice, to guide him anew—if, after maturing, Tianyou still chose death, then Gu Zuo wouldn’t waste any more effort trying to revive him.

Besides, Gu Zuo believed that once this foolish little brother came back to life, and realized he had the potential to go far on the path of pharmacy, he would probably want to keep on living. The Qi Clan had indeed wronged him, but if he gave up on life just because of them, that would be far too wasteful.

Seeing Gu Zuo speak this way, Ling Su gently nodded her jade-like head:

“Master, in seeking to refine Earth-Level Medicine, your inner energy realm is likely still a bit lacking.”

Gu Zuo smiled:

“We pharmacists must pay the closest attention to our psyche realm. As for inner energy, that can naturally be improved through ingesting qi-enhancing pills. Although my inner energy realm is low for now, that doesn’t mean there’s no solution.”

Currently, Gu Zuo’s inner energy realm was only at mid-stage Atomic Realm—compared to Gongyi Tianheng, it hadn’t advanced for quite some time. However, as a pharmacist, the speed of his psyche realm advancement was already rare and impressive.

If it weren’t for that, no matter how skilled his pill-refining techniques were, it would’ve been impossible for someone of his age to already refine so many Profound-level Medicines, and even earn the title “Pill Slaughterer Profound Shadow.”

Unfortunately, to refine Earth-Level Medicine, the quality of inner energy required was different—it had to be primordial energy, something only attainable after a martial artist stepped into the Celestial Realm.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, even if a pharmacist’s psyche realm meets the required standard, if the quality of their inner energy isn’t up to par, they still won’t be able to refine Earth-Level Medicine.

However, that’s only under normal circumstances.

As the master of the Medicine Hall, and inheritor of its previous master’s vast collection of treasured manuals, Gu Zuo was clearly not a “normal” case.

One manual recorded a secret technique for such situations: if a pharmacist had exceptional talent and their psyche realm progressed rapidly while their inner energy lagged behind, they could use a secret method called the False Origin Heaven-Thieving Art

As the name suggests, “false origin” refers to fake inner energy, and “stealing heaven” comes from the fact that upon advancing to the Celestial Realm, one’s inner energy begins to touch upon the rules of heaven and earth. Earth-Level Medicines are created on top of these rules, often possessing the power to break convention—they carry a trace of heaven’s will, obtained by going against the natural order. A martial artist’s true inner energy contains such a power, and thus, false origin energy is a simulation of this force, essentially a stolen fragment of heaven’s will.

This method is not exactly easy—but neither is it impossible.

It’s difficult because, in order to create the effect of false origin, one must use beast cores from primordial beasts.

Essentially, a third-level primordial beast is on par with a Celestial Realm martial artist, and the power contained in its beast core is likewise not inferior to real inner energy. As such, the base requirement for the main ingredient of a Wei Yuan Pill is the beast core of a third-level primordial beast. The higher the core level, the better the resulting pill’s effect. However, if the pharmacist’s skills are lacking and they cannot control the immense power inside the beast core during refinement, the process will fail. Also, the beast core must be level 3 to 5—anything beyond that, such as level 6, would contain energy equivalent to a Cosmic Realm cultivator. At that level, the energy quality increases again, and pills refined from it would no longer be “false”—they’d be something entirely different.

And yet, it’s also not difficult—because if a pharmacist is so talented that, even with a relatively low inner energy level, they’ve already reached the Spirit Psyche Realm (sufficient to refine Earth-Level Medicine), then they are unquestionably a top-tier Profound-Level Pharmacist. With skills like that, they wouldn’t need to personally go out and hunt for primordial beast cores. All it would take is a single gesture, and numerous Celestial Realm, Noble Realm, or even Royal Realm warriors would gladly rush to serve them.

Once the beast core is secured, and combined with three special medicinal herbs, the pharmacist can proceed to refine a top-grade Profound-Level Medicine known as the Wei Yuan Pill. If successfully refined and consumed, it temporarily elevates the inner energy in the pharmacist’s qi sea to the quality of true primordial energy. From there, they simply need to complete the Earth-Level pill refinement within the duration of this effect.

However, the duration of a Wei Yuan Pill’s effect depends on its quality.

For example, if a third-level primordial beast core is used as the main ingredient and the result is a top-grade pill, it will only last twenty-four hours (one full day). A fourth-level top-grade pill will last five days, and a fifth-level top-grade pill will last twelve days.

If the pill isn’t top-grade, then the lower the grade, the shorter the duration. For instance, a low-grade pill made with a third-level beast core would only last one hour.

Pharmacists capable of refining top-grade Wei Yuan Pills are extremely rare. Therefore, whenever these monstrously talented pharmacists prepare to refine Earth-Level pills, they usually begin preparations for the Wei Yuan Pill well in advance.

Because Earth-Level pill refinement takes a long time, these pharmacists will arrange for trusted martial artists to feed them Wei Yuan Pills at regular intervals during the process, ensuring that their bodies continuously receive energy and the refinement is not interrupted. This timing must be absolutely precise—any deviation can result in an imbalance in the energy input and lead to a failed refinement.

As the spirit of a divine weapon who had followed her previous master for countless years, Ling Su was naturally very familiar with these procedures. However, she couldn’t be certain how thoroughly Gu Zuo had internalized the ancient manuals he’d inherited, so she felt compelled to give him a gentle reminder. But after Gu Zuo recited all of this knowledge himself, she no longer needed to say anything further.

Thus, Ling Su nodded and said,

“Master must also gather nine rare auxiliary herbs, three types of heavenly and earthly spiritual springs, and one type of heavenly and earthly spiritual soil. Once all these are obtained and the Jiu Zhuan Hui Shen Pill is successfully refined, then through the use of a secret method, you will be able to use Qi Tianyou’s corpse as a foundation… and bring him back to life.”