While absorbing the medicinal power and refining it into true qi, Lu Chen had already discerned the general composition of the Living Dragon Elixir. As a descendant of one of the four major martial arts families in Jiaying City, he had consumed countless natural supplements since childhood—red fruit, vermilion fruit, he shou wu, lingzhi… you name it.
This Living Dragon Elixir contained components of these medicines. Not just a few, but dozens. It was through the organic combination of these medicines, mutually supplementing the most subtle energy factors, that this Living Dragon Elixir became more effective and safer than any natural elixir.
Lu Chen had only detected seven or eight of them, and couldn't sense the dosage of lingzhi or vermilion fruit.
As he absorbed the medicinal power, Lu Chen suddenly felt a faint energy emanating from deep within his body. It was like a small, extremely swift fish, rapidly swimming within the medicinal power.
Lu Chen could even feel its tail gently swaying. With each sway, the medicinal power, no longer needing the refinement of the Heaven-Condensing Technique, naturally seeped into his bloodstream.
Lu Chen's eyelids twitched slightly, as if he were about to open them, but then closed again. He relaxed further, letting the wondrous little fish swim around, helping him absorb the medicinal power.
Meanwhile, Pang Bei, who had been observing Lu Chen with relaxed concentration, suddenly shuddered, an incredulous expression on his face. He saw Lu Chen's eyelids slightly open and close, and from within, an extremely pure, azure light emerged!
As his eyelids closed, the light receded.
Pang Bei was now completely baffled, muttering to himself: "Impossible! With such shallow cultivation, how could he possibly possess the primordial light that only super experts possess?"
Primordial light—the light of the Nascent Soul—only appears when a martial arts cultivator reaches the third level of cultivation, the Refining Spirit into Emptiness!
Lu Chen's cultivation level was clearly still very low, even at the most basic level of Refining Essence into Qi, so how could he have suddenly reached the Refining Spirit into Emptiness realm?
Pang Bei couldn't understand it, but he trusted his judgment. Therefore, his initial slight underestimation of Lu Chen was now gone. After all, everyone had their own path in cultivation; who knew if Lu Chen was just playing dumb?
About ten minutes later, Lu Chen opened his eyes.
He stretched comfortably, feeling truly refreshed this time! Before, when he woke up, his head felt heavy and his body light, but now, those problems were completely gone.
His mental and physical strength had fully recovered.
Full of energy, Lu Chen even felt interested in practicing his Cursed God abilities. Unfortunately, he didn't need to buy snacks now, and no enemies were attacking.
However, he remembered the small fish-like energy he had just encountered. Clearly, it wasn't a culinary god's ability, nor a curse god's ability, nor the inexplicable ability that suddenly appeared at the barbecue stall last night, capable of emitting warnings.
Come to think of it, it was the fourth kind of ability!
What kind of ability was this?
As he thought about it, Lu Chen suddenly felt a sense of clarity, and then a whole host of strange data appeared in his mind. He looked at Shangguan Bei, who saw that his gaze seemed to contain some kind of mysterious wisdom.
To be honest, that gaze was quite captivating.
Shangguan Bei's heart fluttered. She blushed like a delicate white lotus flower under his gaze, and softly asked, "Brother Lu Chen, why...why are you staring at me like that?"
Lu Chen said seriously, "Little Bei, after drinking your 'Dragon Elixir,' I do feel incredibly energized. The mental and physical energy I expended last night has been fully replenished. However, I'd like to offer a few suggestions that might help your 'Dragon Elixir' to be further developed and made even more perfect."
Upon hearing this, Pang Bei's expression turned excited. He increasingly felt that Lu Chen was unfathomable; perhaps he really could offer some good ideas.
Shangguan Bei's eyes lit up: "Great! Brother Lu Chen, I've always wanted to develop an even more refined product!"
Lu Chen nodded: "I know, there should be platinum and diamond levels, right? There will be more than three levels in the future, it all depends on how hard you work!"
Shangguan Bei clapped her hands: "Brother Lu Chen, you're so smart!"
Being flattered like this by a beautiful young woman pleased Lu Chen. He nodded, his expression turning serious, and said, "First of all, the taste isn't great! It even tastes a bit like mud. I think we should cater to trends, like those nutritional drinks and water, they all have various flavors, right? So, our first step could be something like orange-flavored Dragon Elixir, lemon-flavored Dragon Elixir, milk-flavored Dragon Elixir..."
Liu Li nodded vigorously: "Yes, yes, just like when we make cakes!"
Pang Bei and Shangguan Bei, however, were dumbfounded.
Shangguan Bei was still holding back, hoping to take Lu Chen's completely uninformed remarks seriously, while Pang Bei couldn't help but burst into laughter, saying gleefully, "Hey Chen, forget about that! That 'flavor' stuff is all made with artificial flavorings, how can you use it on the 'Living Dragon Liquid'? It would definitely damage its energy components! Besides, our 'Living Dragon Liquid' isn't selling taste, it's selling energy!"
As he spoke, he inwardly looked down on Lu Chen. What was he saying?
Lu Chen was also a little embarrassed, scratching the back of his head and chuckling, "Okay, then I'll talk about something else. Listen carefully, this is some very important data, maybe it'll be very valuable."
Pang Bei managed to refrain from rolling her eyes at him. This kid seemed quite capable, and he talked big and could boast.
Shangguan Bei, however, remained serious. In her mind, Lu Chen was definitely a capable person. She couldn't explain why she trusted him so much, but she just did.
Then, Lu Chen began to speak. He first pointed out the main components of the Dragon Elixir, rattling off over twenty in one breath, which immediately moved Shangguan Bei.
She had seen people who could name five or six components of the Dragon Elixir, but never over twenty! Then, Lu Chen even roughly described the dosages of these components, specifying which components required higher dosages, which required lower dosages, which medicines needed to be decocted, and which were best ground into powder…
"I don't know the specific extraction process. But these medicines were refined into pills in ancient times. Refining them into a liquid certainly accelerates absorption, but it also causes some loss of medicinal properties. So, Xiao Bei, I think your next research topic could be how to develop a new generation of Dragon Elixir while preserving the energy of ancient pills…"
This long and detailed explanation left Pang Bei, despite some familiarity with Dragon Elixir, completely bewildered and impressed. Shangguan Bei, her face flushed with excitement, exclaimed, "Brother Lu Chen, you're amazing! You're practically a god! My next project is exactly what you mentioned! If we can conquer it, we can create platinum-grade Living Dragon Liquid!"
As she spoke, if she weren't in a wheelchair, she would have rushed over and hugged Lu Chen.
Pang Bei was deeply shocked. He scrutinized Lu Chen, his eyes filled with astonishment.
What on earth was this kid up to?
From a very low-level martial arts practitioner at the beginning, to later revealing the azure aura only high-level Refining Spirit and Returning to Emptiness cultivators possessed; from initially spouting such idiotic nonsense about adding flavoring to the Living Dragon Liquid, to now articulating the formula with such confidence that even Shangguan Bei was impressed!
He's not playing dumb to outsmart everyone!
Lu Chen, however, was unaware of Pang Bei's elaborate scheme. He was quite pleased with himself, feeling truly capable. However, he was still completely bewildered, not understanding what was going on. It seemed that the energy, like a small fish, had naturally sent him this information after wandering around.
He only knew six or seven kinds of medicinal herbs!
Could it be that the fourth ability actually had the ability to identify and concoct medicinal herbs? What kind of ability was this?
He looked at Shangguan Bei, then involuntarily looked at her legs, and suddenly jumped off the bed.
Liu Li quickly said, "Xiao Chen, you haven't recovered yet, be careful!"
Lu Chen waved his hand and chuckled, "Sister Li, it's okay, I'm completely healed!" As he spoke, he squatted down in front of Shangguan Bei, looking at her legs. Actually, he couldn't see anything; Xiao Bei was wearing a long dress.
However, being stared at like that by a grown man squatting in front of her, Shangguan Bei couldn't help but feel a little shy. She subconsciously squeezed her legs together and asked curiously, "Brother Lu Chen, what...what are you doing?"
"I want to see your legs," Lu Chen said in a deep voice. At this moment, the small fish-like energy within him seemed to have grown larger, transforming into a larger fish. This fish surged through his limbs and bones, bringing forth waves of strange energy. He felt that these energy waves seemed to contain boundless vitality, capable of creating a world.
It was under the influence of this energy that Lu Chen, as if possessed, wanted to see Shangguan Bei's legs.
Hearing Lu Chen say this, Shangguan Bei's face flushed red with embarrassment, and she nervously clutched her skirt. She didn't know whether to say yes or no.
Pang Bei spoke up, a hint of surprise in his voice: "Ah Chen, you can heal Miss's legs? Both her legs...their blood vessels are blocked. It started four years ago. Back then, she was testing a synthetic Chinese medicine, but she didn't expect it to be so toxic. After taking it, it blocked all her blood vessels. Grandpa found several martial arts masters to force the toxins in her body to her calves, but they couldn't force them out anymore."
"Four years, it's been like this, but I'm used to it," Shangguan Bei said with a faint smile.
Lu Chen smiled at her: "What if I could heal you?"
"Really?" Shangguan Bei's eyes lit up immediately, but then dimmed little by little: "Brother Lu Chen, I think it's unlikely. It's too difficult to cure. Grandpa found many famous doctors to treat me, but none of them could help!"
Lu Chen didn't speak, but directly reached under Shangguan Bei's skirt, grasping her delicate, smooth ankles in both hands. It was icy cold to the touch, truly like ice, but very soft and fluffy, quite comfortable.
Seeing how bold this man was, putting his hands under the young lady's skirt without her consent, Pang Bei felt something was wrong. He wanted to shout "Stop!" but remembering his earlier display of skill, and seeing the young lady's shy yet unyielding expression, he held back, letting out a sigh.
Then, he waved for the nurse and Liu Li to follow him out.