Chapter 19: Methods to Accelerate the Absorption of Potions
The clouds in the sky hung very low, as if a sheet of lead could fall to the ground at any moment.
On a broken skyscraper standing at an unbelievable height, Qing Ji sat sideways on the edge of the rooftop, gazing at the sky, deep in thought. After a long while, he withdrew his gaze and silently sighed.
He knew very well that as a remnant spirit energy fluctuation, having existed for too long might inadvertently transform him into an urban legend, so he must complete his mission as soon as possible.
He was not afraid of d*ath, but others were attached to this world, causing his emotions to be somewhat contradictory.
TOBEORNOTTOBE. Just as Qing Ji was pondering this question seriously, a familiar voice came from behind him.
“Ancestor, Ancestor, I’m here!”
Hearing Luxianbei’s voice, Qing Ji jolted, quickly turning his head to see Luxianbei waving at him, and he couldn’t help but be surprised. “Why are you here at this time?”
Calculating the time, it was just a little past 7 PM. Did this girl come early today to try to k*ll me? Qing Ji thought to himself.
“Um…” Luxianbei said awkwardly, “I wanted to ask you about something.”
I can’t just tell the ancestor that I was messing around with potions, got high, and ended up fainting, right? Even if I have to say it, it has to be a bit indirect. Luxianbei thought.
Earlier, Luxianbei had been at home, keeping watch over the potion she had spent a lot of money to concoct. She felt conflicted and couldn’t resist indulging once.
Having finally concocted the potion, if she didn’t take it, it would be like guarding a mountain of gold and silver with no way to spend it or holding a beautiful girl and just staring at her—what’s the difference?
So, following the usage instructions on the potion formula, she rummaged through all the porcelain bowls she could use at home, tossed them around over twenty times, and got over twenty bowls with different dosages of potion.
For those over twenty bowls of potion, she used the Blessing God Copper Coin to conduct divination on “Will drinking it cause d*ath?”, “Will drinking it cause permanent disability?”, and “Will it be ineffective?” etc.
Finally, she filtered out five bowls from those over twenty based on efficacy, danger, and disability rates, which seemed relatively reliable.
For safety’s sake, she chose the one with the smaller dosage among the five, and according to the maximum usage stated in the instructions, she divided that bowl into nine portions, picking the one that looked the least conspicuous and downing it all in one go.
At this point, the divination with the Blessing God Copper Coin was no longer useful; each small portion of the potion was composed of the same ingredients and quality. The reason she continued to pick was mostly for psychological comfort.
As for why she chose the least conspicuous one…
Luxianbei felt that she had been plagued with bad luck as a permanent debuff, so if she picked the most appealing one, something would definitely go wrong. If she picked the least appealing one, there might be a chance it was actually fine.
She admitted that this method had a gambling element to it, and it wasn’t very rigorous, but compared to the crazy dosage stated in the usage instructions, it was already quite reliable.
Thus.
The already cooled potion just entered her mouth and swallowed; in an instant, it felt like it turned into scalding molten iron, coursing down her throat, surrounded by countless bubbles emitting high temperatures.
Echoes of four segments from within her body continued to resonate, two pointing to the female ghost, one pointing to the witch, and one pointing to Ifrit. The three powers symbolized by these four segments continuously collided within her, vying for the power of the potion.
High-intensity power collisions turned into “fireworks” that exploded within her, shaking her bones as if they were being forged. Her flesh and even every pore screamed in agony.
This process lasted about ten seconds before the three forces finally distinguished victory and defeat.
There’s a saying: When the eldest and second fight, the third dies first.
The first to silence was the power of the Ifrit spirit patterns, while the forces of the female ghost and witch tangled for a long time, ultimately leading to the witch’s defeat, with the female ghost, more compatible with the complete potion, emerging victorious.
Of course, the compatibility of the Ifrit spirit patterns was also very high, but unfortunately, it couldn’t win out.
Thus, that familiar description in her mind grew stronger and clearer.
“There are people from Zhongshan, and a girl in green… There are people from Zhongshan, and a girl in green… There are people from Zhongshan…”
In that moment, Luxianbei felt a passionate flame ignited deep within her being, bursting forth from the inside out, consuming her. Her body uncontrollably convulsed violently, and she let out a deep roar that she couldn’t suppress.
The roar gradually shifted from deep to delicate, ultimately becoming youthful, culminating in a wave of moans from a man and gasps from a girl. Hearing this from upstairs, the chubby guy blushed deeply, feeling a tinge of envy, almost calling the police.
Public indecency in broad daylight, what a disgrace! He had long found that couple downstairs annoying, but since there was a cheap thrill to be had, before calling the police, he decided to wait a moment.
Then…
There was no then. She lost consciousness, and the proud eavesdropper suddenly had no evidence and couldn’t call the police.
When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in a dream.
After appearing on the rooftop in her dream, she anxiously found a piece of metal that barely reflected light to check if her appearance had undergone any abnormal changes due to taking the potion. Once satisfied that she wouldn’t be seen as a threat, she approached Qing Ji.
After listening to Luxianbei’s brief recount of the events, Qing Ji propped his chin up and pondered for a few seconds. “So you’re saying you took the potion, uh, according to your terms, the complete potion, which is why you came here early?”
“Yes,” Luxianbei nodded in response.
“You want to ask me if taking the potion and fainting will leave any aftereffects, right?” Qing Ji continued.
“Sort of…” Luxianbei hesitated.
Mainly, she wanted to ask if there was any irreversible body changes from the complete potion. Luxianbei thought to herself.
She clearly remembered that before she fainted, her body had already begun to take on urban legend characteristics. This was a very serious issue.
Before this, apart from the time she interacted with Professor Ma’s bamboo slips and drew spirit patterns, she had only once undergone urban legend transformation during the day due to an external strong spirit energy fluctuation’s threat.
If the potion impacted her and she couldn’t revert back, who could endure that!?
What’s even scarier was that she had no idea to what extent she had transformed into an urban legend. What if she only transformed halfway and could never go back…?
A device cannot hold two systems, how could this work? Just thinking about it sent chills down her spine!
“Um…” Qing Ji pondered for a moment and said seriously, “It seems that there shouldn’t be any problems. You’re still alive, right? Being alive proves there’s no issue.”
Luxianbei, “…”
As long as I’m alive, there’s no problem? This requirement from the ancestor is a bit much…
Living shouldn’t just be about survival; one should also seek a better tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and distant futures!
Complaining in her mind, Luxianbei pressed Qing Ji, “Then Ancestor, didn’t you say that you had taken many potions before? Have you summarized any more reliable methods of taking them?”
After all, the Great Serpent God’s knowledge on potion consumption had significant gaps. It had a body many times stronger than humans from the moment of its creation.
Following its experience to take potions wouldn’t guarantee anything!
Luxianbei even suspected that this totally unconventional and uncommon dosage unit was something the Great Serpent God concluded based on its own standards for consumption.
And she knew that Qing Ji had swallowed all sorts of strange potions; if she could gain some useful insights from his experiences, that would be great.
“Um… I really can’t answer that question,” Qing Ji said with a serious expression. “I take everything all at once.”
“Ah?”
Everything all at once?
You actually didn’t end up wasted or explode?
Luxianbei was stunned for a moment, just as she was about to say something, Qing Ji waved his hand.
“I know you want to say that not considering the dosage and randomly taking potions is very dangerous,” Qing Ji explained.
“But at that time, I didn’t really think about so much, and no one told me what to do. I just ate whatever my master gave me, and nothing went wrong.”
“…” Luxianbei pondered for two seconds and asked seriously, “Are you sure your masters didn’t dislike you for eating too much and trying to get rid of you on purpose?”
“That shouldn’t be the case.” Qing Ji smiled broadly. “After all, I train my son Yuebo the same way, out of paternal love. My masters must have had the same intention.”
Luxianbei, “…”
The old Lu family being passed down to my generation isn’t easy either.
But thinking about it makes sense; if they didn’t really care for this disciple, why would they send him to the female disciples’ locker room?
As for the male disciples’ bathhouse… Perhaps it was to consider that disciples might not like female disciples, hence developing personal interests?
Complaining inwardly, she seemed to understand Qing Ji’s meaning and asked, “So what you mean is, after I take the potion, I should go to Dachunyang Palace to provoke something? Endure a round of beatings?”
Such a thing should be like gaining reasonable nutrients and then exercising for the best effect, right?
Meaning that as long as I absorb quickly enough, the aggressive power wouldn’t have time to damage my body.
But I’m an urban legend! What if I can’t escape, and can’t get out, wouldn’t I end up dead? Luxianbei thought.
“No.” Qing Ji shook his head. “What I mean is, after you take the potion, you should find a place where no one is around to unleash spells and vent your power.”
“Find a place where no one is with me, vent power…” Luxianbei repeated Qing Ji’s words, turning around to scan her surroundings. What lay before her were desolate, empty ruins of the city.
It seemed, maybe, perhaps…
Qing Ji noticed Luxianbei glancing around stealthily, her gaze gradually becoming abnormal, and he tensed up, quickly saying, “You idiot, this place won’t do!”
Just practicing swordplay had already worn him out; if he had to accompany her in absorbing the potion, he would be exhausted to d*ath!
Moreover, this place was unclear whether it was reality or illusion. Venting power here would be uncertain if it would even be effective, Qing Ji thought.
Luxianbei frowned. “If this place won’t do, then where should I go?”
“Did I not tell you? Find a place where no one is.” Qing Ji shrugged, “Actually, any place will work; what’s most important is to vent your power and not get caught.”
Luxianbei, “…”
This… Isn’t what I’m worried about just getting caught?
Cursed spells injuring people; if the Siye Society comes knocking, I’m done for!
It seems like I need to carefully comb through the urban legend incident catalog to find a place where I can unleash my power freely without drawing attention.
(Today a good friend came to visit, so the update is a bit short. Tomorrow there will be a longer one!)
