Chapter 13: The Unexpected Outcome of picking Herbs
Although the Lian tribe was located in the wilderness where living conditions were tough, the tribe owned a herb producing area, and that was the Lian Clan Herb Mountain!
The Lian Clan Herb Mountain was an area with a higher density of Yuan Qi, which was conducive for the growing of herbs. It could barely be considered a shrine.
Although said to be a shrine, it was only regarded as one by the poor Lian tribal clan. In the eyes of a big tribe, the Lian Clan Herb Mountain would be nothing. After all, in the vast wilderness, there were plenty of places with dense Yuan Qi.
A typical large tribe would choose rich wonderlands to settle down. Only such places were rich in production and beneficial for the cultivation of warriors.
The most important factor was that the strong desolate and wild beasts avoid these “shrines” for some unknown reason. This was most important as it ensured the safety of the clans.
Of course there would be the rare occurrence of an injured or provoked desolate beast that would charge through and destroy a small tribe.
Of course everything had both advantages and disadvantages. While keeping out a large number of desolate beasts, the shrine also caused the number of animals in its vicinity to dwindle. Hunting was not an easy task for the rabbits or deer had been hunted clean early on.
As such, only Purple Blood Warriors had the ability to go into the vast wilderness to hunt.
The shrines in the vast wilderness were a highly sought after resource. The Lian tribe’s herb mountain was considered to be of an extremely low grade, if not, how was the Lian tribe able to hold on to it?
Although the herb mountain was of low grade, but to the Lian tribe it was highly treasured for it was the reason the tribe was formed.
Every time the villagers were sent up the mountain to pick herbs, they would undergo a rigorous body search to prevent anyone from secretly hoarding herbs.
Yi Yun carried the herb basket and walked alongside Jiang Xiaorou. He asked about the martial world’s levels.
The lowest level of martial arts was called Mortal Blood, and warriors of the Mortal Blood level were called Mortal Blood Warriors.
Mortal Blood did not have a clear boundary for its levels, but was just a general term used by the martial arts community.
Mortal Blood came from the fact that they were mortals with normal blood.
Mortal Blood Warriors was in truth just normal warriors. Although they practiced martial arts, they were unable to distinguish themselves from other mortals. They could not escape the fact that they were mortals.
But Mortal Blood Warrior were much stronger than normal people. They could tear a tiger apart, and run as fast as horses.
The realm of Mortal Blood was split into five levels, first level–Valiant, second level–Vigor, third level–Thunderous fourth–Meridians, fifth level-Qi Gatherer.
The first level of Valiant was obtained through continuous weight lifting, running, piling, wrestling and nourished with ginseng, antlers, meat and various treasured food. By slowly improving their body’s constitution, their strength and speed would greatly improve!
Yi Yun’s current level was considered Valiant. His strength had increased to about 300 lbs, and his speed was twice that of Zhao Tiezhu.
Yi Yun would be considered to be much stronger than most Valiant warriors as he was only twelve and his physical fitness was comparable to a fit male.
Strictly speaking, Valiant could not even be considered the first step into martial arts.
For Mortal Blood level two, Vigor would refer to a martial artist with greatly improved fitness, with extremely long breaths. A well trained Vigor could form an air arrow with one breath. This was known as “Breaths in like a Snake, Out like an Arrow”. It was visually obvious in winter, and an air arrow could shoot as far as 5 feet away piercing through paper!
A person at the level of Vigor would have a third of the heartbeat rate of a normal person. But every deliverance of blood had lingering effects. Such a warrior could run as fast as a horse for an hour without panting or an increase in heartbeat rate.
Third level Thunderous refers to the body’s perfection of circulation, muscle, fascia and bones. Every part of the body could be perfectly coordinated. One could stay perfectly still and attack like a lion.
A Thunderous warrior having perfected his body would emit thunder-sounding sounds from his joints when he exerted strength, giving the level its name.
Fourth level Meridians refers to the clearing of the twelve meridians and the conception and governor vessels, with perfect circulation of the meridians. Upon reaching this level, a martial artist could feel the world’s Yuan Qi.
Fifth level Qi Gatherer supplements the fourth level’s Meridians. An martial artist can feel the world’s Yuan Qi, and also absorb it into his body.
At the peak of Qi Gatherer, the world’s Yuan Qi would transform the body, and rejuvenate a person, resulting in him reaching a brand new state–Purple Blood.
Strictly speaking, the Purple Blood level was the true beginnings of martial arts training.
When a warrior cultivates his body to a certain stage, his body will undergo changes. The moment he breakthroughs into the Purple Blood Warrior realm, all his blood will become as heavy as mercury. This blood would appear golden purple in the sun.
This gives the state it’s name!
Warriors entering the realm of Purple Blood were very strong, and could support a small tribe single-handedly. Hence, a Purple Blood Warrior enjoyed an extremely high status in the wilderness.
A Purple Blood Warrior would be treated as an emperor in any small-medium tribe. Every member of the tribe would obey his instructions. He had vast control and determined the life and death of the tribe. All the pretty women in the tribe were up to the Purple Blood Warrior’s choice. All these women with the Purple Blood Warrior would also be honored, so even if she was the daughter of the Patriarch, she would gladly climb into his bed.
This was unavoidable. Which girl leading a precarious life eating tiny amounts of porridge would not embrace the appearance of hero who could lead her to a better life.
In this age, people exalted the strong, especially the females! …
“Yun-er, I’ll climb up to pick the herbs. I’ll throw them down for you to pick up.”
Jiang Xiaorou said that as she tried climbing up a cane. The Lian Clan Herb Mountain covered a vast area but was an extremely dangerous mountain!
Most of the previous herbs grew on the cliffs, so they were not easy to pick.
Climbing the cliffs to pick herbs was an extremely dangerous task. It led to many deaths. Yi Yun had previously fallen to his death.
With Yi Yun revived, Jiang Xiaorou was adamant not to let Yi Yun climb the cliff again.
Yi Yun insisted on not letting Jiang Xiaorou take the risk. He said, “Sis, you pick the herbs at the bottom. Leave the top to me!”
“Yun-er, stop fooling around! You just recovered. How could you have the energy to climb…” Jiang Xiaorou said halfway as she saw Yi Yun grab onto the cane and climbed up nimbly like a monkey.
“Yun…Yun-er…” Jiang Xiaorou stared as she saw Yi Yun climbed up. He was climbing the vertical cliff as though it was flat ground. When did Yun-er become so agile?
Picking herbs off a cliff wasn’t just about climbing high. It also required experience and to be familiar with the herbs and where they most likely grew.
For example, some herbs preferred the shade, while others preferred to be in the sun. Some herbs preferred it dry, while others preferred it moist.
Yi Yun had caught up on his herbal knowledge the day before, but his knowledge was limited.
He was planning on using his agility to make up for his lack of knowledge, but he quickly learned that wasn’t required.
Just as Yi Yun reached a height of 8 meters, he saw light dots rising up from a boulder a short distance away.
The light dots remained in the air for a few seconds before flying straight into Yi Yun’s chest.
Following that, the Purple Crystal’s faint coolness became more vivid, and energy flowed through his veins, making him feel extremely comfortable.
Without question, the Purple Crystal was absorbing energy.
“Could it be…”
Yi Yun climbed over easily and looked under the boulder and saw fiery red fruits the size of his fists!
Dan Guo was a low quality Purple Blood realm herb. Looking at its color, it was likely more than twenty year old herb
Yi Yun was delighted. Just as he wanted to pick it, a light dot flew out from the Dan Guo right into his chest!
A few seconds later, a third light dot followed by a fourth.
The number of light dots increased. The Dan Guo’s surface had a slight sheen, so without careful examination, it would have been missed.
The Purple Crystal could absorb the essence of the Dan Guo!