Chapter Thirty-One: A Palm Strike to Kill

  "The Emperor's mind is unfathomable; how could a humble old slave like me possibly guess?"

  The old eunuch Tian Bao said with great respect: "This humble servant has an idea, the reason why Your Majesty wants to come to Medicine King's mansion instead of other places is definitely to refine a kind of spiritual elixir in Medicine King's mansion."

  "Refining the elixir?"

  Su Che's expression turned contemplative, and he spoke in a soft voice: "The Medicine King's Manor has the unique skill of refining medicine, gathering all sorts of spiritual herbs from around the world. What kind of medicinal material do they not have? Your Majesty only needs to give an order for the Medicine King's Manor to refine it, so why must you personally come here? Could it be that the medicinal materials needed for this spiritual elixir are something that even the Medicine King's Manor does not possess, but rather something that Your Majesty has found yourself? Then what kind of elixir is Your Majesty planning to refine?"

  The eunuch of the Tianbao era lowered his eyebrows and eyes: "The sacred pill that the emperor wants to refine must be extraordinary, otherwise he would not have come in person. Your Highness can wait for a few more days, and when the emperor arrives, you will naturally know."

  At noon, the sun had just passed overhead, and Jiang Nan immediately stopped his cultivation. He felt the true energy flowing inside him, and involuntarily let out a clear cry, transforming into the first move of the Jiang Yue Broken Wave Technique: "Great River Emerging from Deep Valley".

  Only to see his true energy flowing out from between his hands, forming a visible air flow that is barely visible to the naked eye, like a miniature version of a great river rushing and whistling out of the deep valley!

  This is the powerful place where people in martial arts cultivate to the realm of refining Qi, true energy can take shape, and its power naturally doubles!

  At the abandoned mine, when Zishan fought against Jiangnan, his true energy began to vaguely reveal this strange phenomenon, but it was far from being as clear as Jiangnan's.

  Jiang Nan immediately transformed into the second form, with a bright moon hanging in the sky. Only his true energy was seen, mixed and harmonious like the moon, rising up, just like a bright moon suspended in the air!

  The great river flows with the tide!

  The bright moon shines over the great river!

  Shén yuè yǎn dà guāng!

  Translation:

  Miracle Moon shines brightly!

  Universal illumination without bounds!

  Jiang Nan's series of moves unfolded, his true energy flowing freely without any obstacles. However, the fifth and sixth forms of Jiang Yue Po Lang were merely tempering techniques that didn't possess much power. Shen Yue Yan Da Guang was a technique where true energy transformed into a bright moon, rising from the spine and ascending along it, finally settling between the eyebrows, shining brightly.

  While Puzhao Wuji Tu is the divine light of the moon shining brightly, illuminating the whole body, refining and purifying the impurities in the body.

  Jiang Nan had already obtained the Douluo Divine Flame and the Mysterious Fetal Movement Scripture, and his body was refined to be pure and unblemished. The two moves of the Jiangyue Broken Wave Fist were not of much use to him.

  "The river flows but the rock does not turn!"

  His body suddenly paused, and he launched the seventh move of Jiangyue Broken Wave Fist. His body was like a boulder, his true energy like a great river surrounding him. The state of being unmoving as a rock in the river's flow was exactly that - his body was like a boulder, allowing the great river to wash over him, and he stood firm and unshakeable.

  This is a purely defensive move, unlike Jiang Nan's self-created Xiang Wang Shen Zhuang. Although Xiang Wang Shen Zhuang also has extremely strong defense, the defense comes with fierce offense, while "Jiang Liu Shi Bu Zhuan" uses its entire body's true energy to defend itself and does not have any attack, so in terms of defensive power, it is even stronger than Xiang Wang Shen Zhuang.

  However, Jiang Nan has not yet reached the realm of inner refinement. Although he can use the move "River Flowing Stone Unmoving", his true energy's defensive power is not strong and cannot achieve the state of being as steady as a rock and unmoving like a flowing river.

  He dispersed this move, his body changed, transformed into a crocodile dragon out of the abyss, and launched the Dragon Tiger Elephant Power Technique. His true energy transformed into the Dragon Tiger God Elephant's movement, the tiger roared and the dragon wailed, the god elephant trumpeted loudly. In the blink of an eye, he had already performed the sixth move of the Dragon Tiger Elephant Power Technique, the Elephant King Divine Stake. The moves unfolded, all around were his true energy transformed into elephant trunks, whipping and lashing out with a loud cracking sound!

  And Jiangnan's spine is like the legs of a divine elephant, allowing him to root himself in the earth, with a stark contrast to the purely defensive style of Jiangliu Shi.

  He suddenly paused, fell into deep thought, and began to ponder the seventh move of the Dragon-Tiger Elephant Fist, Crocodile Fishing for Turtle.

  It is said that the dragon turtle is cunning by nature, and when it wants to eat a soft-shelled turtle, it will lower its whiskers into the water, making the soft-shelled turtle think they are food. When the soft-shelled turtle swallows them, the dragon turtle will then hook it out and eat it.

  What Jiangnan wants to create with this move is to fully utilize the ferocity and cunning of the crocodile dragon, baiting the enemy, pretending to be a turtle dove, waiting for the opponent to take the bait, then suddenly striking like an evil crocodile, taking them down!

  He has been practicing alchemy until now, and he hasn't eaten or slept. When he's hungry, he just eats some fire spirit pills directly. Although the fire spirit pill and nourishing pill can no longer drive out the impurities in his body, they are still sufficient to supplement his energy.

  When he was tired, he would eat a few more spirit-replenishing pills or spirit-traveling pills, or sit in meditation for a moment, but soon he would be refreshed and spirited again.

  "It's great being an alchemist..."

  Jiangnan finally managed to create the "Hooking Turtle with Dragon Claw" technique, and couldn't help but sigh: "That old shopkeeper from the medicine store said that Dan Wu can't be cultivated together, it's simply misleading people. Who says Dan Wu can't be cultivated together? I cultivate Dan Wu together, and it's actually faster than my previous cultivation speed, and more smooth and effortless!"

  If the old shopkeeper heard this inner voice, he would definitely be heartbroken. Who among others hasn't fallen thousands of times while refining elixirs, smashing their heads and bleeding? Even experienced alchemists with decades of experience often end up with a furnace full of useless pills, and exploding furnaces are not uncommon either.

  The value of the elixir is not low, precisely because the success rate is too low. Refining a ten percent elixir is after all only a minority, and alchemists who have delayed their martial arts cultivation are countless.

  Only in Jiangnan, he got the best of heaven and earth, once he started, it was a perfect success, never had any failure, the precious elixir, he ate like sugar beans, whenever he wanted to eat, naturally his cultivation speed was faster.

  "After refining the Sheli Lingdan, I am no longer restricted to practicing only in the morning, but can practice at any time and anywhere."

  Jiang Nan took out a Sheli Lingdan and thought to himself, "This Sheli Lingdan has six-tenths more medicinal power than the Buddha's Hand Golden Lotus' petals. If I'm not careful, it'll burst me apart... should I eat it or not..."

  The Demon Prison's Mysterious Fetus Scripture is powerful and has a fast cultivation speed, but it can only be cultivated in the morning, which restricts his progress. Other elixirs like the Qi Supplementing Pill and the Qi Benefiting Pill have low quality and slow refinement speeds, so they cannot enter his eyes. Only the Sarira Spirit Pill can provide him with sufficiently powerful medicinal properties.

  Moreover, he still has more than a dozen Sheli Lingdan that have not been refined yet. To ensure that the refinement of so many Lingdan will not lead to an explosion, his cultivation must be able to support it, and improving his cultivation is crucial for him. Therefore, he also urgently needs to take Sheli Lingdan to improve his own cultivation now.

  "Jiang Xue sister said that using Ling Dan to improve cultivation is not the right way, Ling Dan is only suitable for breaking through bottlenecks and replenishing cultivation during intense consumption, and if I don't improve my cultivation, every time I refine a furnace of Sheli Ling Dan, I will have to spend a lot of time recovering my cultivation..."

  Jiang Nan hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth and swallowed the Shelili Lingdan. To do a good job, one must first sharpen their tools, after cultivation and improvement, alchemy would become more effortless and faster.

  "Oh no!"

  This sarira lingdan entered the abdomen, and immediately, infinite medicinal power burst out violently, more violent than the Buddha's hand golden lotus flower petals, and the medicinal power erupted even faster!

  Jiang Nan immediately knew something was wrong, such a surging and overwhelming medicinal power absolutely exceeded his body's tolerance!

  He immediately went all out to urge the Demon Prison Xuan Tai Jing, and the rolling medicinal power in his body surged forth, constantly being converted into true energy by the Demon Prison Xuan Tai Jing. His strength also increased wildly, with a tiger's might increasing by a tiger's might.

  This speed is something he never dared to imagine before!

  More medicinal power burst forth, filling his body and overflowing into his skin, even surging into his muscles and bones. This surge of medicinal power grew stronger and stronger, and if he couldn't refine it, it would eventually exceed the limits of what his body could endure!

  Fortunately, his body was much stronger than when he took the Buddha's hand golden lotus, and he could still suppress the medicinal power. However, if he exceeded the limit, his skin would burst open, and even his muscles, tendons, bones, and bone marrow would all be torn apart by the medicinal power!

  "I underestimated the power of the Sheli Lingdan, I didn't expect that one pill would have such a strong effect, even exceeding my body's endurance! It must be released, the excess energy must be released!"

  Jiang Nan took a deep breath, this was the Medicine King's Manor. If he were to vent his emotions and cause destruction here, it would be somewhat inappropriate. He was hesitating, but at this moment, suddenly heard the sound of chaotic footsteps coming from outside, the door to Ya She's room was kicked open by someone, and Mu Qin Nan, Lu Zhong Xiang, along with five people who looked like slaves, walked in big strides.

  These five slaves, although of humble status, were incredibly arrogant, wearing brocade and fish-scale armor, with an air that surpassed even the young masters of aristocratic families. Their cultivation was not weak either, as they were all high-ranking experts in the Refining Qi realm!

  Martial artists who have reached the Refining Qi realm are not uncommon, but most of them are members of aristocratic families or descendants of influential clans. It is already a remarkable achievement for a slave to cultivate to the Refining Qi realm, and they can hold positions such as senior stewards.

  These five slaves are all in the Refining Qi realm, and they still serve as slaves for others. It can be seen that their master's status is low and wants to surpass the likes of the Qi Wang Fu aristocratic family. The leader among them is an old man in brocade robes. Even Mu Qin Nan and Lu Zhong Xiang show great respect towards him, clearly this old man has a powerful force backing him.

  "Are you Jiang Zikuan?"

  That eunuch in the brocade robe was none other than Xiao Zongguan, with a proud face and a cold smile, saying: "Jiang Zikuan, our family has come to you on the orders of the Second Prince to resolve the feud between you and Mo Qinnan Gongzi and Lu Zhongxiang Gongzi. Now that you've seen us, why don't you bow?"

  "Are you eunuchs?" Jiang Nan asked with some curiosity, forcibly suppressing his medicinal power.

  Xiao Zongguan's face turned red with rage and he shouted: "What did you just say?"

  "Are you eunuchs?"

  "Jiangnan patiently explained: 'Eunuchs are actually referring to imperial eunuchs...'"

  "We know, no need for you to explain!"

  Xiao Zongguan flew into a rage and shouted in a shrill voice: "What you're saying is that our family... is a eunuch?!"

  Jiang Nan felt a surge of medicinal energy within him that he couldn't quite suppress, his heart growing increasingly anxious. He countered with a question: "Are you not the ones?"

  "Our family is just too poor..."

  Xiao Zongguan said this, and also felt that something was wrong. His face turned red like a pig's liver, and he shouted: "We came here on the orders of the Second Prince, representing the Second Prince. Jiang Zikuan, why don't you kneel down and pay your respects?"

  Jiang Nan was shocked: "The second prince is also a eunuch?"

  Xiao Zongguan and others shouted in anger, rebuking him for his great irreverence. Jiang Nan sneered: "Since the Second Prince is not a eunuch, why should I pay respects to a eunuch? If you want me to thank him with courtesy, first go and castrate the Second Prince!"

  He had no good feelings towards this sudden emergence of the second prince, these few eunuchs said they were resolving grievances, but as soon as they came up, they made him kneel down, which was too much, it was clear that they were following the orders of the second prince, coming to find fault, and even wanted his life in order to win over the Mu and Lu families!

  "Jiang Zikuan, you indeed have a sharp tongue and are good at manipulating right and wrong. The Second Prince heard that you ambushed Mu Qin Nan, the young master of the Mu family, and injured him, thus creating a grudge between them. Therefore, His Highness has taken into consideration the idea of turning hostility into friendship and wants us to come and mediate between the two parties. But now it seems there's no need for that."

  Xiao Zongguan's eyes gleamed with murderous intent as he sneered: "Will you kneel down and accept death yourself, or do you want me to take action personally?"

  Mo Qin Nan burst out laughing and strode towards Jiangnan with a pleased expression: "You think you can do whatever you want just because you have the backing of the Fourth Prince? This time, even if the Second Prince kills you, the Fourth Prince won't dare to fart in your defense! I'd like to see who comes to save you this time..."

  Wow!

  In the south, a sudden flip of the hand, a palm heavily pressed down, like a heavy iron gate weighing several thousand catties, clamping down with an overwhelming gust of wind. The palm slapped onto Mu Qin Nan's head, making a light "plop" sound, and sent Mu Qin Nan's entire body into the mud like a nail, only leaving his head exposed outside!

  Qin Nan's eyes widened in shock, his seven orifices spraying blood as he died without even realizing it. Jiang Nan hadn't given him a chance to finish speaking, directly slapping him dead with one palm!