Chapter Ninety-Four: Qilin Elixir

Without opening the Book of Boundless Merit, Gao Wu already knew that his Azure Dragon Palm had reached the level of minor mastery.

His bones, muscles, and sinews, once as hard and rigid as steel, had been honed by this period of training into something supple and seamless. His boxing and his body had truly become one, inside and out.

Though he still had not yet gathered primordial power at this stage, it meant that his skill in the fist arts had become pure and unobstructed. In the realm of martial cultivation, he had reached the level of a top-tier warrior.

It also meant that the explosive leap in physical condition he had undergone over the past few months had all been fully digested by his boxing.

The next step would be to unify spirit and flesh into a single whole, with no distinction between inner and outer. Then he would be able to condense primordial power and open his acupoints.

After a month of settling himself, Gao Wu had also come to terms with many things.

His talent in martial cultivation was mediocre. If not for the Book of Boundless Merit, he likely would not have been much different from Shen Yue.

To have achieved what he had today was already three parts luck, seven parts effort, and a further ninety parts the Book of Boundless Merit!

So long as he tempered every aspect of himself to the utmost, he would one day become a warrior. Whether that came a day earlier or a day later was no cause for urgency.

In any case, even if he did not become a warrior, he could still enter Anjing University. And even if he did become one, that still would not solve Wan Canglong.

He had already tried it: Thunderflash Shift could not enhance his spirit.

His fifteen points of spirit had clearly exceeded the limit of Thunderflash Shift's augmentation. If Thunderflash Shift could raise his spirit by three points, then he would have a chance to deal with Wan Cangsong.

At close range, with a Thunderflash Shift, so long as it caused even the slightest disturbance to the primordial power field, no flesh-and-blood body could withstand the sword strike of his soul-spirit.

A pity, a pity...

Gao Wu's grievance was not really with Wan Canglong, but with the fact that he and Little Song had nearly died at the hands of Huang Hai.

If a warrior could possess such destructive power, then one could only imagine what a martial master like Wan Canglong might do. Fortunately, Little Song's spirit and mental power had not only fully recovered, but had even improved considerably.

Seeing Gao Wu silent and dazed, Song Mingyue's bright eyes showed a trace of puzzlement. "Are you still worried about Wan Canglong?"

"We really are in perfect sync!" Gao Wu was delighted that Little Song understood his troubles. At once his whole demeanor brightened, and the more he looked at Song Mingyue, the more he liked her.

He could not help asking again, "Now that your divine skill is complete, can you deal with Wan Canglong?"

Song Mingyue shook her head. "It would be a matter of life and death."

"With me added in?"

"You're already included."

"Ah?" Gao Wu's face was full of disbelief. A martial master was that strong?

"To my knowledge, Wan Canglong has a level-six divine weapon in his possession. Very powerful." Song Mingyue knew Gao Wu had no real concept of divine weapons, so she explained, "My Frost Moon Sword can only barely be called a level-four divine weapon.

"To put it simply, a level-four divine weapon is roughly the level of a martial master, while a level-six divine weapon is the realm of a grandmaster. My Frost Moon Sword would surely collapse on first contact with a level-six divine weapon."

She emphasized again, "Wan Canglong has wealth and influence beyond measure, and he surely has bio-armor and other equipment as well. A strong figure like that is not someone we can provoke."

Song Mingyue could feel that Gao Wu was taking this matter far too seriously, so she said, "Wan Canglong is a dignified martial master. He has no idea how many enemies he has. Even if he truly goes mad and seeks revenge, he would not come looking for us first."

Then she said, "I think you should put your energy into the upcoming Qilin Cup."

"I hear there are several eighteen-year-old warriors in Anjing who won't be easy to handle either," Gao Wu said casually.

Wan Canglong was like a great stone pressing on his chest; his enthusiasm for the Qilin Cup had already dwindled.

He asked, "Is Qilin Elixir any good?"

Song Mingyue understood his mood very well and patiently advised him, "The Qilin Cup champion receives a twenty-million prize. Split among the team, that's still four million each. Winning Best Warrior also comes with Qilin Elixir as a reward.

"This elixir comes from the Tai Chi Research Institute of the Central Continent. It can improve a person's affinity with primordial power and strengthen both body and spirit. Even a warrior of only middling aptitude can use a single dose of Qilin Elixir to open their acupoints. For a warrior, it is one of the most precious top-tier elixirs there is. It suits you perfectly."

Gao Wu could not help laughing. "If you need to be a warrior just to compete for the championship, yet the reward is Qilin Elixir, isn't that intentional?"

"When the Qilin Cup was first held, the level of combat was much lower. The champions were all advanced warriors. Only in the past twenty years have eighteen-year-old warriors become more and more common. Of course, Qilin Elixir isn't quite as precious as it once was..."

Song Mingyue said earnestly, "Eighteen-year-old warriors generally have very low primordial power levels. By standard measurement, their primordial power values are around one hundred. That means, at most, they can sustain the activation of a primordial power field for ten seconds.

"With your physical toughness and endurance, as well as your exceptional spiritual strength, beating them is not very difficult. Winning Best Warrior should be well within reach."

"This title is extremely useful. Not only is there the Qilin Elixir; in general, you can also receive an invitation from the Martial Arts School of Anjing University. You can even obtain a ten-kilogram piece of Qilin Gold.

"This is a very special and very expensive otherworld alloy material, which can be used to forge weapons, armor, and more..."

Gao Wu had also looked up some information on the Qilin Cup online, though not as comprehensively as Song Mingyue had explained it.

Quietly summoning the Book of Boundless Merit, Gao Wu saw clearly that both his Azure Dragon Palm and his sword had reached the level of minor mastery. Only the Nine Forms of Dragon Shape remained at the level of proficiency, though their radiance was stronger than before, and they should not be far from minor mastery.

Looking again at his personal attributes, agility had risen by 0.3, reaching 9.7, and was on the verge of ten.

This was mainly because he had mastered the Azure Dragon Palm, unified his bones, sinews, and muscles, improved his force-generating technique, and made his body more coordinated while also increasing his explosive power. That, in turn, had raised the agility attribute as well.

More importantly, his constitution and spirit were both exceptionally strong; by tempering himself in this way, he could continuously release the potential of those two attributes.

Even his aptitude had risen by 0.3, reaching 7.8.

Through repeated practice, Gao Wu had confirmed that aptitude represented his talent and comprehension for martial cultivation. This recent progress in the martial path had, in turn, improved his aptitude.

By his reckoning, an aptitude of 7.8 was about the same as Monkey, Wang Tiesong, and the others... in other words, merely of ordinary quality.

With such talent, he should originally have had no chance of achieving anything in martial cultivation. Yet relying on the Book of Boundless Merit, he had madly supplemented himself with medicine, and with the careful guidance of the old man, Song Mingyue, and Tie Dalong, especially Song Mingyue's one-on-one, in-depth instruction...

To be honest, his achievement in the Azure Dragon Palm was mainly thanks to the spiritual resonance between him and Song Mingyue. That had saved him an untold amount of painstaking effort.

If he could unleash Gale Thunderflash Shift on the arena, he ought to be able to take the championship steadily.

But with countless eyes watching, if he used Thunderflash Shift to break a warrior's primordial power field directly, his secret would certainly be exposed.

It would be far too unworthy to reveal his trump card in public just for a championship.

As for the soul-spirit, it could not interfere with the real world at all. Unless he had the Fate-Severing Sword in hand, it would be of no help in arena combat.

Thinking for a moment, he said to Song Mingyue, "I still can't use primordial power, and that's too much of a disadvantage. If I want to win the championship, I need greater speed and reaction."

"Buy me ten more Swift Mouse Elixirs."

He grinned, baring his teeth. "I'll win the championship and repay you with the prize money."

"That's a good idea."

Song Mingyue felt the method was feasible. After a month of settling down, Gao Wu had made great progress in martial cultivation, had initially achieved integration of the body inside and out, and had truly digested all the elixirs.

She did not like meaningless risks. Gao Wu's condition should have been enough for him to advance to warrior already, yet he had still not taken that final step. At such a time, taking a little risk and injecting more elixir was worthwhile.

The main thing was that Gao Wu had a special talent and could endure the elixir's side effects. His mental power had also surged recently, and with his naturally firm will, another round of Swift Mouse Elixir should not be a problem.

"I'll have Aunt Lan arrange it," Song Mingyue said. She did not mention money at all. Having lived through a life-and-death battle together, her relationship with Gao Wu had deepened further.

There was no need to speak of money. If Gao Wu wanted to keep accounts clear, so be it; she would not mind these things.

After thinking it over, she added, "Aunt Lan's channels are too slow. I'll go find my father."

Buying elixir through Aunt Lan required going through a long procedure, and the Qilin Cup was on April twenty-seventh. By calculation, time was running short.

From the injection of elixir to its taking effect, and then to fully adapting to the new changes, all of that required time.

Gao Wu knew that Song Mingyue and her father had a very poor relationship. Asking Song Yunhe for help on his behalf would surely make Song Mingyue feel wronged.

He tried to persuade her. "It doesn't make much difference if it's a few more days. Forget it, forget it."

"Back then I didn't go to my father because there was nothing worth asking him for. He oversees Dragon Soaring Company, and his business is martial cultivation. If I buy from him, it's safe, fast, and even discounted."

Song Mingyue said, "Even if it weren't for the Qilin Cup, you should be advancing to warrior as soon as possible."

Although Huang Hai had been eliminated, there were surely other fish that had slipped through the net. Add Wan Canglong to that, and it was still troublesome.

It was not that they were unlucky; rather, the world itself was full of undercurrents. Ordinary people were swallowed by them without leaving a trace.

Why was the Alliance pushing martial cultivation so hard? Because too many warriors would, in themselves, disrupt social stability.

The root of the matter was that the other world and the real world were connected, and since there was no way to sever that connection, the threat would always remain.

The more warriors there were, the stronger humanity's ability to protect itself. As for the negative impact warriors had on society, that was ultimately only an internal human conflict.

Song Mingyue was highly efficient, or rather, Song Yunhe was indeed capable. On the third day, he sent over ten Swift Mouse Elixirs and twenty Vajra Elixirs.

Gao Wu was somewhat surprised when checking the elixirs. "What are Vajra Elixirs?"

"They can enhance your body strength and power, which is very helpful in arena combat. Just consider it one more use of my father." Song Mingyue felt that Gao Wu's tolerance for medicine was simply too good. For others, taking elixirs was to overdraw potential; for Gao Wu, it was to cash in potential. The difference was enormous.

"Good friend!" Gao Wu was overjoyed. He had actually had the same thought, but was too embarrassed to trouble Song Mingyue.

Thirty genuine elixirs, all with neutralizing agents included. Total value: five million.

He had no need for the neutralizing agents, but they came as part of the package. Whether he used them or not, the price was the same.

Gao Wu said, "Help me dispose of the Golden Thunderhawk."

Both guns were luxury items. Though practical, they were not worth that much money. Better to exchange them for cash and resolve his current financial troubles.

Only Song Mingyue would be able to find a channel to sell both guns for a decent price.

"Secondhand won't fetch much. Keep it and use it."

"The Golden Thunderhawk's special alloy has better sealing, can withstand high-temperature impact, and the barrel is longer. With the same ammunition, its power can increase by more than thirty percent. It can also channel primordial power for close combat, making it a very good self-defense weapon."

Song Mingyue shook her head. Buying the Golden Thunderhawk specifically was of course not worth it, but selling a used Golden Thunderhawk for cash would be a loss as well. Better to keep it and use it.

Gao Wu did not insist. A few million was nothing major. He would return the money to Song Mingyue after he won the championship.

He was brimming with confidence.

Not winning the championship? What a joke. Were all those elixirs he had taken for nothing? What use was that tiny little ball of primordial power condensed by some low-level warrior?