The medicine garden outside the village was vast, filled with spirit herbs the Apothecary had collected from the Great Ruins over the years. The villagers had long coveted them, but the Apothecary kept many dangerous insects in the garden, so no one dared sneak in to steal any.
The Great Ruins was rarely visited by people, so spirit herbs were abundant, and rare treasures plenty. Over the years, the Apothecary had gathered countless exotic and precious plants, transplanting them into the medicine garden. He seldom used these herbs, but now he had finally decided to use them on Quinn!
You had to know—the Apothecary had high standards, and every spirit herb he picked was a rare treasure. Even a single stalk would cause a sensation if brought outside, so he was truly going all out!
The bonfire slowly died down, and the villagers each returned to their homes to rest. Quinn also went back to his room, sleeping in the outer chamber. Not long after, he was sound asleep. Granny Sue came to tuck his blanket, gazed at the boy’s sleeping face, and smiled with warmth.
"My Quinn... Whether or not you have the Overlord Body, you're still the child I raised. I won’t let anyone or anything hurt you!"
She was clever, and from the expressions of the Village Chief and the Apothecary during the bonfire celebration, she had already figured out a lot, though she kept it to herself.
On tiptoe, she walked into the inner room and went to sleep.
The next morning, Grandpa Blind barged into the house, bamboo staff in hand, and shouted, "Quinn, hurry and get up, it’s daylight, the Apothecary..."
"I haven’t gotten up yet, Grandpa Blind! How dare you peek!"
Suddenly, there was a loud crash. Quinn opened his sleepy eyes just in time to see Grandpa Blind flying out from Granny Sue’s room, tracing an arc through the air and out of the village. No one knew where he landed.
Grandpa Blind is really something!
Quinn was amazed. Even as he was sent flying, Grandpa Blind managed to sit cross-legged in midair, bamboo staff in hand, looking completely innocent.
Quinn got up, dressed, washed up, made breakfast, and ate with Granny Sue. After cleaning the pots and bowls, he saw Grandpa Blind running back from outside the village, shouting, "You old witch, that kick was vicious! I nearly couldn’t crawl back! Quinn, hurry over, the Apothecary has made you some medicine!"
Granny Sue glared fiercely at Grandpa Blind and left, hobbling away. "I’m heading to Dragoncrest City for trade. Grandpa Blind, you’re in charge of Quinn for the next few days. If he comes back missing a single hair, I’ll hold you responsible! Grandpa Mark, is the ox cart ready? Crippled Joe, is the bamboo raft tied up?"
Quinn quickly followed Grandpa Blind to the Apothecary’s shop. Even before stepping inside, he smelled the strong scent of medicine. He saw a huge cauldron suspended in the air, with several vermilion birds flying around it. Flames blazed between their feathers, heating the cauldron red-hot, and a bubbling sound came from inside.
"Quinn, this is your medicine."
When the Apothecary saw Quinn arrive, he took out the final ingredient—a green leaf—and dropped it into the cauldron. The moment it touched the boiling liquid, the medicine instantly became thick and viscous.
With a flick of his hand, the Apothecary spun the cauldron rapidly. Soon, a series of metallic clinks rang out from inside—the entire brew had turned into half a vat of white pills, rolling and knocking together with crisp, metal-like sounds.
The Apothecary waved his hand, and the vermilion birds flew out through the window lattice, disappearing from sight.
The cauldron landed. Quinn was astonished: "Grandpa Apothecary, am I supposed to eat all these pills today?"
"If you ate them all, you'd die."
The Apothecary said calmly, "This batch was refined from only the finest spirit herbs. Although it's technically the lowest-tier Core-Stabilizing Pill, a single pellet surpasses a hundred others. You can only take one or two at a time—never more."
Quinn was skeptical. The Apothecary had given him plenty of strange medicines before, always in huge bowls, but now just a single pill—could its effect really be that strong?
Grandpa Blind was doubtful too. "Every charlatan claims one pill equals a hundred. Is yours really that potent? Though it does smell pretty good."
The Apothecary grinned sinisterly. "Why don't you eat the whole vat and see for yourself?"
"Quinn, grab a handful and try it!" Grandpa Blind coaxed.
Quinn wasn’t fooled at all—he took just one and popped it into his mouth.
The moment the spirit pill entered his belly, he knew something was wrong. It was as if hundreds or thousands of fire dragons, water dragons, metal dragons, and wood dragons were raging inside, tossing him about—one moment tall, one moment short, now fat, now thin. Sometimes his skin froze over, sometimes smoke curled from his clothes, sometimes his garments sprouted buds and fur grew wild, sometimes his clothes and even his skin took on a metallic sheen, turning rock-hard as if cast from metal!
Even worse, sometimes all the symptoms hit at once, making Quinn utterly miserable.
He grunted, immediately running the Overlord Three-Core Art to use his yuanqi to dissolve the medicinal power!
Grandpa Blind’s face changed drastically. “Apothecary, this Core-Stabilizing Pill doesn’t seem like an ordinary one!”
“That’s right. Ordinary Core-Stabilizing Pills come in four types: Fire, Water, Metal, and Wood.”
The Apothecary grinned darkly. “Core-Stabilizing Pills are tailored to the four great Spirit Bodies, each matching one yuanqi attribute and nourishing that attribute. But Quinn’s Overlord-Body yuanqi has no attribute, so I took a compromise: I fused all four attributes into this one pill. It contains all four elements, and maybe it’ll unlock the Overlord Body’s power. Only Quinn’s attribute-less yuanqi can absorb and neutralize it. If you’d eaten the whole vat just now, well, heh...”
Grandpa Blind shivered. The four yuanqi attributes would clash—if he’d eaten the whole vat, he’d probably lose two or three tenths of his cultivation. Of course, just one pill wouldn’t do much harm to him.
“Apothecary, did you make a tonic or a poison?” Grandpa Blind muttered.
Suddenly, Quinn let out a shout and bolted, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Grandpa Blind couldn’t help but worry. “Four attributes clashing—Quinn’s not going to be in trouble, is he?”
“He’s just digesting the medicine. No need to worry.”
Though he said that, the Apothecary was uneasy. This was his first time modifying and refining a Core-Stabilizing Pill, and the first time anyone had taken it. He had no idea how strong the medicine was, whether there’d be side effects, or if it could even kill someone.
Of course, he couldn’t say that out loud—or Granny Sue would kill him.
From the distant forest came Quinn’s roar, followed by the thunderous crash of trees toppling one after another.
The Apothecary’s eye twitched. "He’ll be fine, don’t worry. Listen—he’s full of vigor right now!"
Grandpa Blind sighed, "Young people sure have energy."
In the mountains, Quinn dashed wildly through the forest. His fists and legs moved like lightning, crazily punching and kicking at the trees. Even trunks so thick two men could barely encircle them snapped after just three punches and two kicks!
It was hard to bear.
It was just too much!
The medicinal power of the Apothecary’s Core-Stabilizing Pill was simply too fierce. Even running the Overlord Three-Core Art while sprinting couldn’t dissolve it. Quinn felt as if his body was about to burst, so he unleashed all the martial arts Grandpa Mark and Crippled Joe had taught him, venting the excess energy!
Inside his Spirit Embryo Treasury, the tiny Humanoid Spirit Embryo was also working frantically—breathing in and refining the flood of yuanqi, purifying it. Even that little Quinn was exhausted, panting for breath.
"You little runt—die!"
Suddenly, the forest shook. A furious Demon Ape rose from the trees, bellowing, its mountain-sized fist slamming straight at the rampaging Quinn!
It turned out Quinn, dazed by the medicinal power, had wandered back into the Demon Ape’s territory. The great beast, seeing the same little brat trespassing again, flew into a rage and attacked without hesitation!
Quinn’s eyes went blood-red. With the explosive surge of medicinal power, his yuanqi felt like it would burst out of him. He leapt up and punched straight at the Demon Ape’s fist!
Boom—
A heavy crash sounded. Quinn was sent flying, smashing through several trees. The Demon Ape, excited, bounded after him and swept a massive leg at Quinn, its thick limb like a huge black pillar rolling down!
Quinn roared, unleashing a flurry of kicks at the beast’s huge leg—striking at the muscles and where tendon met bone. The Demon Ape instantly felt its leg go numb, but it still hammered down with a punch from above.
Quinn raised his arms to block, but was knocked stumbling backward again.
The Demon Ape closed in, fists and feet tearing through the air with roaring winds, attacking Quinn. Quinn fought back like a madman, clashing head-on with the beast, undaunted even when pushed back.
The Demon Ape grew even more furious, attacking with heavier and heavier blows.
Man and ape, big and small, wherever they passed, trees toppled and stones shattered.
Suddenly, Quinn leapt like lightning, sprinting up the Demon Ape’s arm and appearing right in front of its face.
Thousand-Hand Buddha!
His two arms seemed to split into a hundred, leaving afterimages as he unleashed a barrage of punches—hundreds of fists hammered the Demon Ape’s soft nose.
The Demon Ape howled in pain, tears streaming down its face. It toppled backward, then swung its massive palm at Quinn, smacking him away!
The Demon Ape scrambled up, blood pouring from its nose. Scanning around, it saw Quinn plastered to the cliff face in a spread-eagle shape, as if embedded in the rock. Satisfied, it said, "You little runt—die."
Suddenly, the little runt stuck in the cliff twitched, then braced his arms and broke free from the imprint, charging at the Demon Ape like a madman.
Startled, the Demon Ape beat its chest, leapt forward, and roared as it met Quinn head-on: "You little runt! Die!"