Chapter 24 Breakthrough
Lin Lei thought for a moment, then gave Yeru an apologetic smile. "Boss Yeru, sorry to trouble you."
"No trouble at all," Yeru said with a chuckle. "It's just sending someone back. Small thing. The Dawson Trading Company always has people running back and forth delivering letters and whatnot. We'd just be tagging along."
Lin Lei nodded.
"Third brother," Yeru suddenly grew serious, looking at Lin Lei. "Tell me straight — why do you need these herbs so urgently?"
If it were anyone else, Lin Lei could easily make up a lie about using them for a "medicinal bath" to speed up his body training. Medicinal baths for accelerating physical cultivation were a real thing. But facing his own brother, Lin Lei didn't want to lie.
"Boss Yeru, now isn't the time to tell you. When the time comes, I'll let you know." Lin Lei patted Yeru on the shoulder.
The four brothers of Dormitory 1987 had grown up together, eating together, living together. Closer than blood relatives.
"Third brother, I understand. But if there's anything you need, just say the word." Yeru didn't push further.
Lin Lei's butler delivered the herbs he needed the very next day, though he hadn't been able to obtain the "Mist Fog Grass." According to him, Mist Fog Grass simply wasn't available on the market. To acquire it, someone would need to be sent to the Four Great Empires.
After all, Mist Fog Grass grew in the Far Eastern Great Grasslands, and markets in the Four Great Empires near the grasslands could still obtain small quantities.
"Out of the eight ingredients needed for the Blood Dissolving Poison powder, I now have seven. Only 'Yun Ling' remains." Lin Lei gazed at the various materials arranged in his secret chamber, his mind working. Of the three rare ingredients among the eight, Mist Fog Grass had been solved thanks to the Dawson Trading Company. And he already had the Blueheart Herb.
"If I wait three months, the Dawson Trading Company will deliver the Yun Ling." Lin Lei felt fairly confident about this.
At the latest, in three months he would have gathered all the ingredients. Then he could naturally refine the "Blood Dissolving Poison powder."
But Lin Lei was not the type to sit around at home waiting.
"Spread the word for me — say I'm preparing a medicinal bath to train my body and need Yun Ling. I'm willing to pay a million gold coins for it." Lin Lei instructed his butler.
With his own brothers, Lin Lei never lied. With outsiders, he naturally needed a good cover story.
Yun Ling itself was non-toxic and actually quite beneficial to the body. But herbs were wondrous things — through the various processes of eight different ingredients, they could ultimately be refined into something as deadly as "Blood Dissolving Poison" powder.
"Yes, Master Lin Lei." The butler's heart jolted at the mention of "a million gold coins."
For Lin Lei, a million gold coins was really nothing. The stone sculpture "Awakening from a Dream" had sold for twelve million gold coins, and later when Pederson had met with him secretly, he'd given him another ten million. After Lin Lei's status soared, the Church of Light and the King of Fenlei had both given him substantial sums, and after being appointed as the court's First Magician, many nobles had sent gifts as well.
Even just recently, the Magic Crystal Card the Debus Family had given Lin Lei contained a million gold coins inside.
Lin Lei's total assets now exceeded twenty million gold coins.
That didn't even account for the Saint-realm Purple-striped Black Bear's Magic Crystal Core he kept hidden away. That Saint-realm magical beast's crystal core was a priceless treasure — probably worth a hundred million gold coins and still unpurchasable.
A million gold coins for "Yun Ling" — this news had initially only circulated among herbal merchants, but before long it spread throughout the nobility of the Kingdom of Fenlei. Those nobles all knew... that "Master Lin Lei" needed this herb called Yun Ling.
If they could deliver this herb to Lin Lei, they wouldn't just receive a million gold coins — it would likely be a chance to build a good relationship with him.
Many nobles began searching high and low for "Yun Ling."
Unfortunately, Yun Ling was far too rare and precious.
After releasing the news, Lin Lei settled into solitary cultivation at his estate. Before he knew it, November had arrived, and the weather was growing colder. The leaves on the great tree by the rockery in the Spring Water Garden had turned yellow and fallen, covering the grass with withered foliage.
"Hup!"
Lin Lei, who had been training with one-finger handstands all along, suddenly exerted force through his finger. The burst of power sent his entire body leaping upward. In midair he executed an easy roll, then landed standing upright on the ground. His bare torso glistened with beads of sweat.
Under the effects of the Gravity Technique, prolonged training had worn down even Lin Lei's powerful body.
"Phew."
Standing upright, Lin Lei felt a pleasant tingling ache in his fingers, arms, and shoulder muscles. It was an oddly satisfying sensation. He knew that at this moment, his muscles and bones throughout his body were slowly undergoing transformation.
Physical training was about repeatedly pushing past the body's limits — though you couldn't push too far each time.
He sat cross-legged and immediately began circulating the "Dragon Blood Secret Manual" to continue his cultivation. Liquid Dragon Blood Battle Qi in his dantian began rolling outward, and the powerful Dragon Blood Battle Qi spread throughout Lin Lei's entire body in moments.
With each cycle of practice, the Dragon Blood Battle Qi grew a little purer, and Lin Lei's bones and muscles grew a little stronger.
The blue-black Dragon Blood Battle Qi entered his dantian again and again, and left again and again. The dantian served as the central nexus for a warrior's entire being. Lin Lei had long since reached the late stages of the sixth rank, and the months of September and October in particular had pushed him to the absolute peak of the sixth rank.
Now Lin Lei had reached a threshold — a breakthrough could come at any moment.
"Crack, pop, snap!" All manner of strange sounds emanated from Lin Lei's body. His muscles bulged and sank as if mice were running beneath his skin, veins stood out in stark relief, and sweat and beads of blood seeped from his entire body.
"So this is what a breakthrough feels like." A wave of elation surged through Lin Lei.
He had been waiting for this day for so long.
"Gurgle, gurgle~"
The blue-black Dragon Blood Battle Qi churned in bizarre spirals. A stinging pain spread through Lin Lei's entire body, and the liquid Dragon Blood Battle Qi in his dantian actually shrank in volume once more while its density increased dramatically. The Dragon Blood Battle Qi flowed ceaselessly into his dantian and back out again, forming a continuous cycle.
Every wisp of Dragon Blood Battle Qi that entered the dantian underwent transformation.
After roughly an hour, all the Dragon Blood Battle Qi in Lin Lei's body had completed a full transformation. Although the gap between peak sixth rank and initial seventh rank was only a thin membrane apart, Lin Lei's actual power had multiplied several times over.