CHAPTER 11: Spiritual Vein Assessment

Inside the towering building, the flickering lights stretched the burly and lean silhouettes alike, distorting them into long, eerie shapes.

Among them, one particularly small shadow was surrounded on all sides.

Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Yu Youyou reached into the bundle behind her and pulled out several small knives and fine needles of varying sizes, their cold, gleaming surfaces reflecting the dim light.

The one with the severed arm felt his scalp go numb.

“Aren’t those just sewing needles and peeling knives?!”

Correct. Yu Youyou gave him a mental thumbs-up.

These were the treasures she had earned from washing dishes in the sect’s dining hall for three days. She had no money to commission the professional medical tools from her past life.

Anyway, cultivators had strong bodies and didn’t fear infections—sewing needles worked just fine.

Of course, that wasn’t something she could say out loud.

Yu Youyou’s tone instantly turned serious. “Do not insult the sacred tools of a healer. This is a surgical knife. And this—” she held up a needle, “is a surgical suture needle.”

These were terms no one had ever heard before, but with her confident delivery, they sounded inexplicably impressive!

The one-armed cultivator was successfully intimidated.

“Then… reattach it for me—”

“Mmph!” Before he could finish speaking, the small knife had already pierced into his severed limb. But this was the black market, and its fighters were hardened warriors. Despite the pain, he only let out a muffled grunt.

“Does it hurt?” Yu Youyou asked with concern, then quickly added, “Be honest. Don’t downplay your condition.”

The one-armed cultivator nodded. “It hurts like hell.”

“Since today’s my grand opening, I’ll give you a painkiller for free. Next time, it’ll cost you a hundred spirit stones.”

She shoved a pill into his mouth and began the procedure.

The surgical techniques from her past life’s apocalypse were far beyond ordinary comprehension.

Yu Youyou’s ten fingers moved with astonishing speed, switching between needles and blades. The cold gleam of her tools flickered through the bloody flesh, creating an oddly mesmerizing sight.

Before anyone realized it, the previously noisy arena had fallen into complete silence.

With a final flick of her wrist, Yu Youyou discarded the used needles.

“Ding.”

The crisp sound snapped the onlookers back to reality.

“What? That’s it?”

The man with the severed arm was momentarily dazed. Looking down, he saw that his limb was fully reattached, now covered in a layer of medicinal powder.

“Special promotion today—normally, my pain-relieving pill costs a hundred, and my hemostatic and flesh-regrowing medicine costs two hundred. But for anyone getting a limb reattached, they’re free.” Yu Youyou called out.

Lies. The painkiller was just a common pill, and while the hemostatic medicine was indeed a spirit herb, she could trade a day’s work in the herbal fields for two of them.

A curious bystander asked the patient, “How does your hand feel?”

“I can’t feel anything.” The man answered honestly. “It doesn’t hurt at all.”

“No feeling? Does that mean it’s useless now?”

“Didn’t that short healer say she gave him a painkiller? That’s probably why he can’t feel anything.”

The spectators, always eager for drama, chattered noisily.

“Hah. Fools.” The man with the severed leg scoffed coldly at the scene, his voice dripping with mockery. “You’ve been in the black market this long and still don’t know that aside from Master Shen Kun, no other healers here are reliable?”

He picked up his severed leg and hopped off the stage on one foot. “I’m going to find Master Shen Kun to reattach my leg. You can wait for your hand to rot away.”

Yu Youyou turned to the one-armed man, curious. “How much does this Master Shen Kun charge?”

“Master Shen Kun is said to be an inner disciple of Pill Cauldron Sect. His services start at a thousand spirit stones.”

Yu Youyou gasped in shock. “You guys only make a hundred or two per fight, but the medical fees are a thousand?!”

“What if we win without losing any limbs?” The one-armed man sounded completely matter-of-fact. “That’d be like spirit stones falling from the sky.”

Amazing. True gamblers through and through.

After reattaching one arm, Yu Youyou didn’t get any more business.

She wasn’t greedy, though. Hugging her hard-earned hundred spirit stones, she sprinted toward the herbal market and, before long, returned to the outer sect carrying a massive bag of spirit herbs.

The last medicinal bath had truly worked wonders—this time, she wasn’t even out of breath from running. She didn’t even need to hire an ox cart.

That saved her fifty copper coins!

….

Life in the outer sect was incredibly fulfilling. Every day, from the moment she opened her eyes, it was all about planting and processing medicinal herbs. When she closed them, she would recite the complete compendium of medicinal ingredients and prescriptions.

For a long while after that, Yu Youyou didn’t find another opportunity to visit the black market.

That bag of herbs, though it seemed abundant, was actually used up after just one medicinal bath.

The only thing worth celebrating was that the medicinal herb seeds she brought back had all sprouted. Judging by their lush green appearance, they would likely be ready for harvest in about two months. By then, she wouldn’t need to spend money on pain relief medicine anymore.

Pinching her empty money pouch, Yu Youyou felt an ache in her heart.

Why was it so expensive just to stay alive?

With a sigh, she continued flipping through the thick medicinal compendium while munching on a steamed bun.

This made Elder Wan, who had been secretly observing her, twitch his eyebrows.

“She’s already eaten ten of those—how is she still eating?”

Just then, Qu Qingmiao landed lightly on the ground. As the senior disciple of the Pill Cauldron Sect, she was also responsible for instructing the outer sect disciples.

She said softly, “The more she eats, the more she replenishes.”

It seemed like she had suffered from hardship before, which was why she was so frail. Eating more would help her recover.

Elder Wan shook his head with regret. “No matter how well she eats, she won’t be able to mend her shattered spiritual veins. Still, at least she’s hardworking. Whether it’s cultivating herbs or processing medicinal materials, she’s one of the best in the outer sect. She could stay on as a steward in the future.”

Qu Qingmiao pressed her lips together, not refuting his words.

She had come this time to test the disciples’ spiritual veins.

In fact, she had already examined them briefly when they first entered the sect, though it had not been a formal test.

From the initial results, very few had the potential to cultivate. Among them, Yu Youyou’s situation was the worst.

Even those with the weakest spiritual veins could at least absorb some spiritual energy, but her spiritual veins—well, they were completely shattered.

All the disciples were now seated in the grand hall.

“I have told you before that there are three conditions for refining spiritual pills,” Qu Qingmiao said.

“First, the ingredients used must be spiritual herbs. Second, the cauldron must be a spiritual artifact. Third, refining the herbs requires spiritual power.”

“Some mortals have attempted to use spirit stone formations to refine medicine, but the spiritual energy within those formations cannot be controlled, making it impossible to properly refine medicinal ingredients.”

Hearing this, Yu Youyou glanced at Qi Nanfeng.

Back then, he had tried using a spirit stone formation for pill refinement, only to end up with half-burnt, half-green pills.

Qi Nanfeng quickly turned his head away, pretending he hadn’t heard anything.

Qu Qingmiao’s gaze seemed to land on Yu Youyou inadvertently before she continued, “Now, step forward one by one and place your hands on the spiritual testing stone.”

The most eager participant, naturally, was Qi Nanfeng.

Before Qu Qingmiao had even finished speaking, he had already rushed up and placed his hand on the stone.

The moment his palm made contact, the half-person-tall transparent stone burst into a brilliant emerald glow, painting everyone in the grand hall green.

A jade medallion, inscribed with a cultivation technique, emerged from the testing stone and landed in his hand. Qi Nanfeng wrinkled his nose. “Why is it so green?”

“The brighter the glow, the better your aptitude,” Qu Qingmiao explained. “Different spiritual vein attributes will call forth different cultivation techniques, each containing their respective cultivation methods.”

The hundred or so disciples in the hall all looked eager, stepping forward one by one. The grand hall occasionally flickered with various hues of light.

Some glows were too faint, barely managing to summon a jade medallion. But even if they received one, those with such poor aptitude wouldn’t be able to cultivate effectively.

After Qi Nanfeng, no one else displayed such dazzling brilliance.

That was, until Su Yizhi stepped forward and placed his hand on the testing stone.

A surge of crimson light burst forth, just as intense as Qi Nanfeng’s, interwoven with faint golden streaks.

Qu Qingmiao’s eyes lit up. Previously, she had only noticed Su Yizhi possessed fire-attribute spiritual veins. She hadn’t expected him to have a secondary metal-attribute spiritual vein as well.

It seemed that his fire element was so dominant that it had completely overshadowed the gold element!

A golden and a red jade medallion landed in Su Yizhi’s hands.

“Excellent.” Qu Qingmiao rarely gave praise.

For cultivators, the more types of spiritual energy they could command, the better.

However, Su Yizhi didn’t seem as excited as Qi Nanfeng. He casually pocketed the jade medallions without even sparing them a glance.

Soon, it was Yu Youyou’s turn.

The crowd murmured among themselves—

“Xiao Yu is so capable, she might be even stronger than Su Yizhi.”

“Not necessarily. Look at how frail she is—she doesn’t seem like she’s suited for cultivation at all.”

…

Ignoring the whispers behind her, Yu Youyou reached out and placed her hand on the spiritual testing stone.

The transparent stone reflected her small figure, and after a long moment, no light appeared, nor did a jade medallion fly out.

The murmuring in the hall abruptly ceased.

“Senior Sister Qu, is the testing stone broken?” Qi Nanfeng immediately stood up and leaned forward to check.

“How could it be broken? I say she just has terrible aptitude. It’s obvious she’s not meant for cultivation,” another youth interjected. His family sold funeral urns and was a business rival to Qi Nanfeng’s, so naturally, their relationship wasn’t good.

“You shut up!” Qi Nanfeng turned back anxiously to look at Qu Qingmiao. “Senior Sister Qu…”

Qu Qingmiao’s expression was a bit complicated. She stared at the testing stone for a long while before finally speaking in a soft voice, “The testing stone isn’t broken.”

Which meant…

“So Yu Youyou really is just that untalented?”

“Looks like she won’t be making it into the inner sect.”

The crowd began whispering again, some with pity, others with schadenfreude, all casting their gazes toward Yu Youyou.

Qi Nanfeng suddenly turned to look at her as she walked back with light steps. He quickly hid his own glowing green jade medallion, afraid that seeing it would make her feel worse.

“Don’t be too upset,” Qi Nanfeng hesitated for a long time before finally pulling out a steamed bun and handing it to her. “Here, have a bun to cheer up.”

To his surprise, Yu Youyou actually accepted it, looking perfectly content as she ate.

Qu Qingmiao, watching this scene, was momentarily stunned.

She had actually been observing Yu Youyou all this time.

If there was any difference in Yu Youyou compared to before, it would be… that lately, she had been gnawing on steamed buns every day—dozens of them in a single day.

“There’s no way she ate her way into having a spiritual vein, right?”

Qu Qingmiao muttered to herself.

Yes, Yu Youyou’s spiritual vein.

The others hadn’t noticed, but being close enough, she had seen it.

Just now, the spirit-testing stone had flickered with a faint glow—so faint that its color was indiscernible, but it was undeniably there.

Yu Youyou, whose spiritual veins had been completely shattered, actually had a newly formed, albeit weak, spiritual vein!

“It can’t be the steamed buns.” Qu Qingmiao felt a bit uneasy, thinking her earlier speculation was too ridiculous.

Perhaps she had just overlooked that tiny spiritual vein last time?

…

What Qu Qingmiao could see, Yu Youyou could naturally see as well.

Of course, it was impossible for her to have no spiritual veins at all—her scumbag father was Long Aotian, and her mother was a princess of the demon race. With such a bloodline, she was undoubtedly a second-generation cultivator.

It was just that a backlash from her bloodline had shattered her spiritual veins. But now, with the nourishment and repair from spiritual medicine, her broken body was beginning to recover.

Yu Youyou was quite satisfied with this. The medicinal baths were indeed highly effective—if she had spirit pills, the results would likely be even better.

However, before that, she needed to restore her spiritual veins to the point where she could cultivate spiritual energy. That meant she needed more spiritual medicine for her baths.

Yu Youyou eyed her deflated money pouch.

She had to head back to the black market to make some more money.

….

Yu Youyou made her way to the black market with practiced ease.

The moment she slipped through the wall and stepped inside, she was immediately grabbed by the collar and lifted off the ground.

A group of fierce-looking masked men surrounded her, led by none other than the one-legged cultivator.

His mask was painted with a ferocious greatsword, identical to the one in his hand.

Before Yu Youyou could even speak, a chilling sensation crept up her back.

At that moment, the massive blade was pressed right against her spine!