Spells Grinding: From Basic Sparks to Divine Arts

Chapter 220: Second Grade Pill

Walking out of his courtyard, Qin Lu surveyed the street and couldn’t help but sigh.

“It’s… tragic.”

Although ten days had passed since the battle, White Jade Market remained a shadow of its former self. The bustling crowds were gone, replaced by a haunting silence. Dried blood still stained the cobblestones a rusty brown, and many buildings lay in ruins, their shattered timbers a testament to the ferocity of the Foundation Establishment clashes overhead.

The collateral damage had been severe. Countless low-level Loose Cultivators had been caught in the crossfire, their lives extinguished like candles in a storm.

“In the end, it’s always the little people who suffer,” Qin Lu murmured. “We were lucky.”

His own people, the members of the Qin Sect, had largely survived unscathed—save for Lu Xuan. Shops could be rebuilt, and Spirit Stones could be earned again. Lives were the only currency that couldn’t be replenished.

Shaking his head to clear the gloom, Qin Lu quickened his pace toward the Gu manor.

The servants at the gate recognized him instantly and ushered him through without a word. He went straight to Gu Can’s room.

Inside, the air was thick with the smell of medicinal herbs and despair.

Gu Can lay on the bed, his eyes tightly shut. His once-vibrant face was now a deathly grey, his lips cracked and bloodless. The most horrifying sight, however, was his torso. His entire right arm, shoulder, and a significant portion of his chest were simply… gone. The wound was wrapped in layers of thick gauze, but fresh blood still seeped through, painting crimson flowers on the white fabric.

Gu Yue sat by the bedside, her white robes pristine but her face haggard. Her eyes were dull, vacant with grief.

“How is he?” Qin Lu asked softly, stepping up to the bed.

“Sigh…” Gu Yue let out a breath that seemed to carry the weight of the world. “He’s alive. Barely. But he won’t wake up. I have to channel Spiritual Qi into him constantly just to keep his heart beating.”

“Why?” Qin Lu frowned. “Is the [Bone Regeneration Pill] useless?”

In the cultivation world, medicine was miraculous. A [Bone Regeneration Pill] could regrow flesh and knit bone in hours. For a cultivator, even a severed limb shouldn’t be a death sentence.

Gu Yue shook her head. “That’s a First Grade, Middle-Rank pill. It works for Qi Condensation injuries, but the damage to a Foundation Establishment body is too severe. It’s not enough.”

“Then we find a Second Grade Pill!” Qin Lu insisted. “The [Injury Recovery Pill]—it’s rare, but it exists. We can find it.”

“I already gave him one,” Gu Yue whispered, staring at her brother’s sleeping face. “That’s the only reason he isn’t dead. But it didn’t wake him.”

She looked up at Qin Lu, her eyes glistening. “I asked Xie Jian—the Golden Core Patriarch—to examine him. He said the wound is infected with the Blood Demon’s evil energy. It’s entrenched in his meridians. Even Xie Jian… he said there’s nothing he can do.”

Qin Lu froze. “Even a Golden Core expert said that?”

His heart sank. If a Patriarch couldn’t fix it, who could? Gu Can was like a younger brother to him—reckless, arrogant, but fiercely loyal. The thought of that vibrant spirit being trapped in a broken shell forever was unbearable.

“Is there really no other way?” he asked, desperate.

Gu Yue remained silent, her head bowed.

“No,” Qin Lu said firmly. “White Jade Market is a backwater. Just because we can’t cure him here doesn’t mean he’s incurable. The world is vast. There has to be a way.”

Gu Yue looked up, a flicker of light returning to her eyes. She forced a weak smile. “I thought the same. If there’s no hope here, we have to look elsewhere.”

“Where?”

The smile vanished from Gu Yue’s face. A complex emotion—resentment, perhaps, or fear—flashed in her eyes.

“Shuntian City,” she said, her voice tight.

Qin Lu caught the change in her tone immediately.

He knew the siblings weren’t locals. They had come from Shuntian City, the capital of the Flowing Cloud Prefecture. It was a metropolis guarded by a Nascent Soul ancestor, a holy land for cultivators.

Why would two talented heirs leave such a paradise to live in a dangerous border town like White Jade Market? And why did they arrive with no guards, no resources, and only a powerful family secret technique to their names?

It screamed of a family exile. Or an escape.

“Fellow Daoist Gu,” Qin Lu asked gently. ” You don’t want to go back, do you?”

“No,” she admitted bluntly.

“Why?”

A shadow passed over her face. “No particular reason. I just… don’t want to.”

Qin Lu didn’t press. Everyone had secrets they wanted to keep buried.

“Then let me go,” Qin Lu said solemnly. “I need to travel anyway. I’ll go to Shuntian City and find a cure for Gu Can.”

Gu Yue’s expression softened. She didn’t offer fake politeness or refuse his help. She simply nodded, a look of profound gratitude on her face.

“Thank you. I’ll trouble you with this.”

She paused, then added, “But wait until you’re fully healed. I can keep him stable for now. There’s no rush for a few days.”

“Agreed.”

Qin Lu turned back to the bed, looking down at the broken boy. He clenched his fist.

Don’t worry, kid. I’ll drag you back from hell if I have to.