The Next Day
Wanhua Pavilion
"Why are you here so early?" Lin Qingyi yawned, stretching lazily.
Jiang Ning looked at her sleepy expression and smiled faintly. "Sister Lin, you're up early today!"
Lin Qingyi yawned again, then shot him a playful glare. "You woke me up so early! How could I sleep after that?"
"Unfair!" Jiang Ning raised his hands in mock surrender. He had come to Wanhua Pavilion early to inquire about resources for bone tempering, not expecting to disturb Lin Qingyi.
Seeing his reaction, Lin Qingyi couldn't help but laugh. She sat down at the table, poured herself a glass of water, and drank it in one go. "Alright, out with it. You never visit without a reason. What brings you here today?"
Jiang Ning replied, "I recently came across a strange type of blood. It's quite unusual, so I wanted to ask for your opinion."
"Oh?" Lin Qingyi's eyes lit up with curiosity. "What's so strange about it? Tell me more."
Jiang Ning then recounted the events of the previous night.
After listening, Lin Qingyi's eyes sparkled with excitement. "From what you've described, I think I know what it is!"
"What is it?" Jiang Ning asked eagerly.
"Bai Ling Blood!" Lin Qingyi declared.
"Bai Ling Blood?" Jiang Ning looked puzzled, as he had never heard of it before.
Seeing his confusion, Lin Qingyi explained, "Bai Ling Blood is a refined essence extracted from the blood of a hundred different beasts. For martial artists, it's a treasure that significantly boosts vital energy. Just one drop can bring noticeable changes."
She then looked at Jiang Ning intently. "Do you have any of this Bai Ling Blood with you? If you do, let me see it. I can confirm if my guess is correct."
"I do," Jiang Ning nodded.
In the next moment, a flash of white light appeared in his hand, and a drop of crimson blood floated above his palm. As soon as the blood appeared, an indescribable fragrance filled the air.
Both of them inhaled deeply, their expressions shifting slightly.
"That's it! It's Bai Ling Blood!" Lin Qingyi's eyes were fixed on the drop of blood in Jiang Ning's hand. She nodded decisively.
"Put it away," she instructed.
Only after Jiang Ning retracted the blood did Lin Qingyi finally look away.
Then, she asked, "How much of this Bai Ling Blood do you have?"
Jiang Ning thought about the amount of blood in the golden box. From what he had seen last night, there were roughly a hundred drops.
He shook his head. "Not a lot, but I have some."
"Can you sell me ten drops?" Lin Qingyi asked.
"Sister Lin, do you need Bai Ling Blood too?" Jiang Ning asked, surprised.
Lin Qingyi nodded. "Bai Ling Blood has two main effects. One is to greatly enhance vital energy, and the other is to serve as the best external aid for reaching the Blood Exchange Grandmaster level."
"Blood Exchange Grandmaster?" Jiang Ning's eyes widened in realization. "If Sister Lin needs it, of course, I'll give it to you."
Jiang Ning agreed without hesitation. In his mind, he would have given it to her for free if she had asked. Lin Qingyi had helped him immensely and had even saved his life. On that night when the Earth King's spirit had found him, if it hadn't been for Lin Qingyi's intervention, he didn't dare imagine what might have happened. Such a great favor had to be repaid.
In the next moment, Jiang Ning took out the golden box. Before coming here, he had only taken one drop of blood from it.
"This thing..." Lin Qingyi's eyes narrowed as she saw the golden box.
When Jiang Ning opened it, nine drops of crimson blood floated out from the box.
At the same time, whispers echoed in Lin Qingyi's ears but vanished as soon as Jiang Ning closed the box.
"So it's true!" Lin Qingyi thought to herself.
She glanced at the ten drops of blood floating in the air and then at the slight bulge between Jiang Ning's eyebrows, feeling a surge of surprise.
"Materializing spiritual energy and controlling objects from a distance is a sign of spiritual energy reaching a tangible level, something only Bone Tempering Realm experts can achieve. Such strong spiritual energy is also the biggest hurdle to entering the Bone Tempering Realm."
The slight bulge between Jiang Ning's eyebrows indicated a recent, significant leap in his spiritual energy.
After observing this, Lin Qingyi couldn't help but wonder, "What level has he reached now?"
"What's wrong?" Jiang Ning asked, noticing Lin Qingyi's intense gaze. He looked down at himself, checking if there was anything unusual, but found nothing.
"Nothing," Lin Qingyi shook her head, snapping out of her thoughts. She didn't plan to delve deeper into Jiang Ning's strength.
Then she said, "For these ten drops of Bai Ling Blood, I'll pay you ten taels of gold per drop. Is that acceptable?"
"Ten taels of gold?" Jiang Ning was taken aback.
One tael of gold was worth a thousand taels of silver. Ten taels of gold would be ten thousand taels of silver. Just these ten drops of Bai Ling Blood were worth a hundred thousand taels of silver!
"Sister Lin, isn't that price a bit exaggerated?" Jiang Ning asked, puzzled.
"Exaggerated?" Lin Qingyi chuckled and shook her head. "At this price, even with my status, I can't buy it!"
"You can't buy it?" Jiang Ning was even more surprised. Lin Qingyi was no ordinary person she was the deputy head of Wanhua Pavilion in this region. How could there be something she couldn't buy?
Seeing his confusion, Lin Qingyi explained, "You don't understand. In this world, money isn't everything, especially when it comes to rare treasures like Bai Ling Blood. Even I can't buy it, no matter how much money I have."
"This is the best aid for Blood Exchange Grandmasters. It's priceless and rarely appears on the market. Even if it does, it's usually snatched up before it reaches Wanhua Pavilion."
As she spoke, Lin Qingyi felt a wave of emotion. Bai Ling Blood was something she had been searching for over the past two years. In that time, she had found very little, not enough to complete her first blood exchange.
While she could easily obtain it using her status as a princess, she dared not. If she used her royal connections to acquire Bai Ling Blood, it would undoubtedly draw the attention of the old prince, ruining her last hope of escaping her gilded cage.
By quietly building her strength, she might have a chance to break free once she reached the Grandmaster level.
These ten drops of Bai Ling Blood were the final piece she needed to step into the Grandmaster realm. With them, she was confident she could achieve it within a few months.
Thinking of this, a smile spread across Lin Qingyi's face.
"Thank you, little brother!" she teased, her eyes sparkling with joy.
With a flick of her sleeve, she stored the ten drops of Bai Ling Blood in her spatial ring.
Jiang Ning retorted, "I'm not little!"
"Where aren't you little?" Lin Qingyi smirked, her gaze playful and suggestive.
Jiang Ning: "..."
"You win," he said, raising his hands in defeat.
Lin Qingyi's smile widened.
Seeing her happiness, Jiang Ning couldn't help but smile as well. If Lin Qingyi was teasing him like this, it meant she was in a good mood. The ten drops of Bai Ling Blood must have been incredibly important to her.
In this way, he felt he had repaid some of the debt he owed her.
Then, Lin Qingyi waved her hand, and several gold ingots appeared on the table.
"Each ingot is ten taels, totaling a hundred taels of gold. Count them if you like," she said.
Jiang Ning glanced at the gold on the table but didn't bother counting. "Sister Lin, I'm not in urgent need of gold. I'd prefer martial arts resources instead. Would that be possible?"
"What kind of resources do you need? Just name them," Lin Qingyi replied.
"Iron Bone Pills, Mystic Bone Pills, and Jade Bone Pills," Jiang Ning listed.
Earlier, he had asked Xiao Lü downstairs, but her answer had disappointed him. The Wanhua Pavilion here didn't have any resources for the sixth-grade Bone Tempering Realm.
The resources he needed were the three types of pills he had just mentioned.
Iron Bone Pills were made from special herbs mixed with iron marrow. After tempering one's bones, these pills would replenish the missing elements in the bones, significantly speeding up the process.
Without such aids, the progress of bone tempering would be painfully slow.
According to what Jiang Ning had read in miscellaneous books, in the early days of martial arts, Bone Tempering practitioners had to swallow iron sand, allowing their stomach acids to break it down and absorb the iron. This method was far less efficient and required much more effort.
Now, with Iron Bone Pills, the process was much faster. A single pill could provide the necessary iron marrow to strengthen the bones.
This was why Jiang Ning had come to Wanhua Pavilion first thing in the morning. Without these resources, his progress in bone tempering would be severely hindered.
Meanwhile, Lin Qingyi's eyes widened in surprise at Jiang Ning's request.
"Iron Bone Pills, Mystic Bone Pills, and Jade Bone Pills?"
"Yes," Jiang Ning nodded. "I need these pills. I already asked Xiao Lü, and she said Wanhua Pavilion here doesn't have them."
"That's true," Lin Qingyi admitted, still looking at Jiang Ning with suspicion. "Why do you need these? Are you planning to start bone tempering?"
"That's right," Jiang Ning grinned.
In the next moment, a gust of wind swept past as Lin Qingyi appeared right in front of Jiang Ning, her delicate fingers gripping his hand.
Jiang Ning felt the immense strength in her slender fingers, causing the tendons in his arm to tense up.
"Dragon Tendons!!" Lin Qingyi's eyes widened in disbelief. "You've reached Dragon Tendons!!"
She stared at Jiang Ning, her face inches from his, her breath quickening.
At that moment, Jiang Ning's warm breath brushed against her cheek, causing her to blush slightly. She quickly let go of his hand and took a step back.
Jiang Ning's voice broke the silence. "Yes, a while ago, I used my contribution points at the Internal Affairs Department to exchange for a Dragon Ascension Pill. That's how I reached Dragon Tendons."
"Dragon Ascension Pills are incredible!" Lin Qingyi exclaimed. "You can only get them so easily in the Inspection Bureau. Elsewhere, they're nearly impossible to obtain, even at two or three times the price. Creatures with dragon blood are just too rare."
Then, she looked at Jiang Ning again. "Since you need Iron Bone Pills, Mystic Bone Pills, and Jade Bone Pills, I'll use this hundred taels of gold to get them for you from elsewhere."
"Thank you, Sister Lin!" Jiang Ning clasped his hands in gratitude.
"I should be thanking you," Lin Qingyi said. "These ten drops of Bai Ling Blood are incredibly important to me."
"May Sister Lin achieve her goals soon!" Jiang Ning smiled.
Hearing this, Lin Qingyi's eyes sparkled as she looked at him. "I'll take your blessings to heart."
A moment later, Lin Qingyi saw Jiang Ning off.
"This kid, he's already on the verge of entering the Bone Tempering Realm. His progress is terrifyingly fast. What a monster!"
As she watched Jiang Ning's retreating figure, she couldn't help but marvel.
Then, as Jiang Ning disappeared from her sight, Lin Qingyi finally looked away.
"I wonder which lucky girl will catch his eye in the future."
She then pondered, "I wonder if Xiao Jin has received my letter and where she is now. I wonder if she'll catch Jiang Ning's attention."
On the Other Side
As Jiang Ning walked out of Wanhua Pavilion, he felt a weight lift off his shoulders.
His visit had solved two problems.
First, he had secured the resources he needed to advance to the sixth-grade Bone Tempering Realm Iron Bone Pills, Mystic Bone Pills, and Jade Bone Pills. With Lin Qingyi's help, this was no longer an issue.
The hundred taels of gold, in Jiang Ning's estimation, should be enough to cover the cost of these pills, allowing him to smoothly progress through the Bone Tempering Realm.
However, according to Lin Qingyi, it would take anywhere from three to ten days for the pills to arrive, as they were only available in larger cities like prefectures and commanderies. Small towns like Luoshui County rarely had such high-grade resources.
The second problem was understanding the nature of the blood in the golden box. Thanks to Lin Qingyi, he now knew it was Bai Ling Blood, an incredibly rare resource that could greatly enhance vital energy and serve as a crucial aid for reaching the Blood Exchange Grandmaster level.
From this, it wasn't hard to deduce that Lin Qingyi was at the peak of the fourth grade, just one step away from becoming a Grandmaster.
"That's incredible!" Jiang Ning thought, amazed. A fourth-grade peak expert, on the verge of becoming a Grandmaster, was living in a small place like Luoshui County. He had never expected this.
And she was so young too. From Jiang Ning's perspective, Lin Qingyi looked to be in her late twenties. Reaching the Grandmaster level at such an age would shock countless prodigies.
"What is her true identity?" Jiang Ning wondered.
He no longer believed that Lin Qingyi was just an ordinary deputy head of Wanhua Pavilion in Luoshui County. If even a regular deputy head had the strength of a fourth-grade peak expert, Wanhua Pavilion's influence would be enough to challenge the Great Xia Dynasty's rule. That was simply impossible.
So, in Jiang Ning's eyes, Lin Qingyi's identity was far from simple. She must have a significant secret behind her.
However, Jiang Ning didn't plan to dig deeper. He only became more determined to stay close to her.
A future Grandmaster this was a massive opportunity!
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