Chapter 165: Veteran Pill Taker
Li Jian was rather taken aback by the sight.
He could understand Jiang Longyu's eagerness. After all, as one of the Eight Han Resurgence Generals, he had been carefully nurtured by the imperial court from birth, and he had taken all types of pills growing up.
Jiang Longyu's tolerance to pill poison is definitely much higher than that of the other trainees, but why is Chu Qiguang also so eager to try out the Bloodbath Pills?
Chu Qiguang had forged quite a reputation for himself, and Li Jian was familiar with his feats, but he also knew that Chu Qiguang had come from an underprivileged background. Tolerance to pill poison could only be built up through pill consumption, which was a very expensive activity. In his eyes, there was no way that his pill tolerance could possibly match Jiang Longyu's.
After some thought, Li Jian turned to Chu Qiguang and said, "While your enthusiasm is to be commended, Jiang Longyu has more experience when it comes to taking pills and resisting the effects of pill poison, so I'll be using him for the demonstration for this lesson."
Jiang Longyu flashed Chu Qiguang a gloating smile, and then he swaggered his way over to Li Jian.
"Bloodbath Pills are used in battle, but of course, there are other pills to be used in your daily cultivation," Li Jian introduced as he tied everyone's arms and legs to the table. Then, he brought out a pill. "This is a Bloodbath Pill. It can forcibly elevate your qi and blood beyond their usual limits for fifteen minutes, enhancing your strength and explosiveness.
"However, when the pill's effects wear off, you'll be left feeling very weak from a deficit in both qi and blood.
"Bloodbath Pills inherently contain pill poison, which will require a day to be cleared out of your system. If you take too many in a day, the pill poison will accumulate in your internal organs. Over time, you will experience symptoms like persistent stomach pain, nausea, and diarrhea.
"If you ignore the symptoms and accumulate more pill poison, your organs will eventually fail, and even the best doctors won't be able to save you by then. Pills are equal parts medicine and poison, so you must learn more about them before you take them."
Concerned looks appeared on the faces of some of the trainees. They hadn't expected the pills of the Demon Vanquishing Department to be so dangerous.
"Bloodbath Pills are one of the most foundational pills of the Demon Vanquishing Department," Li Jian continued. "If you can't even take Bloodbath Pills, then you're going to die sooner or later in this line of work."
From there, he fed Jiang Longyu a pill. After consuming a Bloodbath Pill, Jiang Longyu's skin gradually turned red, and veins bulged on his forehead and cheeks, presenting a rather unsettling sight to behold.
He struggled vigorously against his restraints for a moment, and that allowed him to suppress the aggression and agitation in his heart. Clearly, this was not his first time taking Bloodbath Pills.
"After taking Bloodbath Pills, you will feel more aggressive and agitated than normal," Li Jian said. "If you become too worked up, you could even shatter blood vessels, so you must overcome this feeling."
He pulled out a second Bloodbath Pill and cautioned, "Tell me if your stomach starts to hurt. That's a standard telltale sign that the accumulation of pill poison is beginning to exceed your limits."
Jiang Longyu nodded in response. He clearly knew his limits from past experience, and he took three Bloodbath Pills before finally stopping.
"Use your qi and blood to rinse your organs. That way, you'll break down the pill poison faster. This process is going to be very painful, so I've bound your hands and feet to prevent you from hurting yourselves.
"By regularly pushing your limits before cleansing your organs with your qi and blood, you will slowly increase your tolerance to pill poison, and your qi and blood will also begin to adapt. They will become more and more proficient at breaking down pill poison.
"However, don't expect to be able to take three Bloodbath Pills in one go like Jiang Longyu anytime soon. He can do that because he has consumed such pills for years and has undergone extremely rigorous training.
"His pill poison tolerance is much higher than yours, so he'll be able to leverage more pills both in battle and in his daily cultivation. Do not try to compete with him. Unless you have an extremely rare mutated physical constitution, just a single Bloodbath Pill is the limit of what you can handle for your first time."
Jiang Longyu looked around with a triumphant expression.
There were trainees here who were superior to him when it came to studies, martial arts, and Dao arts, but surely no one could compete with him when it came to taking pills!
He was already accustomed to all of the painful side effects of pill consumption, so his expression remained unchanged, whereas the majority of the other trainees were clearly suffering immensely.
None of these people can even hope to compete with me! I've taken far more pills than they have over the years! Comparing their tolerance to mine would be like comparing—
"Chu Qiguang just took his third pill!" someone exclaimed, sounding stunned.
"What?! Does that mean his tolerance is on par with Jiang Longyu's?"
"Wait, he's going for a fourth one! His tolerance is even higher than Jiang Longyu's!"
Jiang Longyu and Li Jian immediately turned to Chu Qiguang with stunned faces. Li Jian asked, "Do you feel any type of discomfort? Does your stomach hurt at all?"
This was precisely the effect that Chu Qiguang wanted to achieve. Now that Li Jian was aware of his pill tolerance, he would be able to get more pills during these lessons.
It's a shame that these Bloodbath Pills are only useful in battle. I wonder when I'll get to have some pills that can help advance my cultivation base.
"My stomach hurts a little," he said. Of course, it was a lie.
Li Jian was both bewildered and amazed as he examined Chu Qiguang. He concluded. "You seem to be in great condition. Have you also received training to build up pill tolerance in the past?"
Chu Qiguang shook his head in response, and Li Jian became ecstatic as he theorized, saying, "In that case, it's very likely that you have a mutated physical constitution that grants you far superior pill tolerance than the average person!
"From now on, you can take the same number of pills as Jiang Longyu in future lessons. If you feel any side effects, make sure to tell me right away. This is the first time I've ever seen someone with a physical constitution like yours."
The other trainees revealed faces of envy.
Li He was cleansing his internal organs with his qi and blood over and over again while enduring the severe pain in his abdomen. He's a third-state Dao artist, and his pill tolerance is also at least on par with Jiang Longyu's. At this point, my only advantage over him is my martial arts cultivation base. He may prove to be an even more formidable rival than Jiang Longyu.
Huang Xiangyu hadn't taken any pills yet. Instead, he had been secretly observing everyone else. After hearing Li Jian's glowing appraisal, he knew that he had made the right decision in trying to befriend Chu Qiguang.
Unwilling to be outdone, Jiang Longyu clenched his fists and declared, "I can still take one more pill!"
Li Jian took a glance at him and warned, "You're already bleeding from the nose. If you keep going, you're going to end up with internal injuries."
"Lecturer Li, you just told us that we can't get too worked up after taking Bloodbath Pills because that could lead to broken blood vessels; have you already forgotten?" Chu Qiguang scoffed and added, "Look how calm and composed I am."
"Look! Jiang Longyu's bleeding out of his other nostril as well!" Zhang Haizhu exclaimed and chortled gleefully.
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