Future Plans

People came and went on the street. After strolling through an entire street, Gula had nearly made himself hungry just from looking around, yet he still had not found a suitable way to make money.

"Selling Energy Cubes would draw Soul Masters' enthusiasm, and I could make a huge profit, but it would attract far too much attention."

Gula stood at the street corner, entered a pharmacy, and bought some basic medicinal herbs. He had them wrapped up and planned to take them back to study their properties.

Two packets of medicine, each about the size of an apple, cost Gula more than half his fortune, making his heart ache so much he wanted to send greetings to the pharmacy owner's entire family.

"No wonder commoners don't dare get sick. Medicinal herbs are this expensive. If one illness doesn't empty out your family savings, you're lucky."

Gula's parents in this life had died after catching an illness outside, so he had heard the villagers talk about such things.

The medicinal herbs on the Douluo Continent grew in deep mountains rarely visited by people. Wild beasts and even soul beasts were not uncommon there. Hunters and herb gatherers had to risk their lives to pick medicinal herbs with enough age, and certain medicinal herbs even required Soul Masters to personally go and harvest them.

There were also Noble Soul Masters who took medicine from childhood to ignite their potential, leaving demand far greater than supply. So even though the Primeval Forest was filled with medicinal herbs, their prices remained high.

Otherwise, Dugu Bo would not have personally planted medicinal herbs for the sake of treating his illness, all to avoid being unable to find the medicinal herbs he needed when the time came.

Gula frowned slightly. "The price of medicinal herbs is unexpectedly high. I estimate a single medicinal bath would cost several hundred to over a thousand Gold Soul Coins, and the improvement wouldn't even be that great."

He shook his head. "Even if it were only once a week, soaking from childhood to adulthood would still cost a terrifying amount. No wonder only Core Disciples of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan can enjoy medicinal baths. Sure enough, this is an industry only major powers can afford to play with."

He remembered that the reason Yu Xiaogang had been expelled was precisely because he had used up a large amount of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect's resources as a child.

In the end, after several years passed, Yu Xiaogang had still been unable to break through level twenty-nine. His sect master grandfather, Yu Yuanzhen, had been bitterly disappointed in him and had no choice but to expel him from the sect to appease the resentment of the elders and disciples.

The fact that even one of the Upper Three Sects could not support medicinal baths for all its Core Disciples was enough to show how valuable the related medicinal herbs were.

"If I want to lay out faith, the thesis I publish has to be enlightening to the vast majority of Soul Masters. Should I develop a low-cost medicinal bath formula?"

With Enhanced Viridian Power, Gula could sense the subtle changes in herbal medicinal herbs, so researching a formula would not be difficult.

Gula lowered his head and stared at his own shadow, countless thoughts running through his mind, before finally making up his mind.

"Ordinary work won't help much with cultivation. Tang San can cultivate hammer techniques and temper his body through forging. I can't waste my time on repetitive work either."

"A thesis not only concerns my faith layout, there are also manuscript fees, which can help with living expenses, as well as the most important system rewards. In truth, I have no choice."

Gula's gaze became firm as he sorted out the work he currently needed to do.

"First, convert the Shadow Clone move into a Soul Power version and maintain distance between them, preferably over a thousand meters. It'll be a little difficult, but I can use the clone's memories to cultivate, so it can be overcome."

"Second, use a mature Shadow Clone to collect the manuscript fee. Sigh, I originally wanted to give up the manuscript fee, but in the end, I still can't bear to. More importantly, I need research funds for experiments. I can't rely on imagination for all my data."

"Third, purchase some medicinal herb seeds and see if they can be planted on the Farm. If they can... with growth speed over a thousand times faster, I won't lack medicinal herbs in the future."

"Fourth, analyze the medicinal properties of the herbs and combine them into a formula that strengthens the physique and eases muscle fatigue. I'll also have to keep it confidential."

Gula paused for a long while. If he could obtain the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's medicinal bath formula from Yu Xiaogang, he would definitely save a great deal of research time.

But this concerned his future faith, and he did not want any accidents to occur.

Besides, no matter how much of a bastard Yu Xiaogang was, he would not casually spread his sect's secret formula.

In the original work, he had mixed the medicinal baths himself and had Tang San and the others soak in them directly.

"Tang San seems to have been taught it, but that's still far too early. I'll research it myself. My Viridian Power's sensitivity toward non-plant medicinal materials is a little weaker. It would be best if I can distinguish it from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect's medicinal bath, so they don't get to benefit from it."

"That's right, there's also Whale Rubber. I can research another oral formula around Whale Rubber. Mm... I can operate according to the theory behind Energy Cubes. That'll make things much simpler."

A glint flashed in Gula's eyes. He already had inspiration.

"Speaking of Energy Cubes, would Energy Cubes aimed at Ghost Pokémon be able to treat soul injuries?"

In an instant, Gula thought of many things and decided to try it once he had points.

"If I can make my clone wake up, even without fully recovering, it would be equivalent to having a research assistant with the same memories but different thought processes, as well as a helper whose strength I can borrow at critical moments."

When the time came, Gula's plans could become more aggressive, and his progress would grow faster and faster.

"There's also the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. There must be medicinal herbs inside that can heal the soul. Even if there aren't immortal herbs, Ten Thousand Year Medicine Kings should also have an effect."

"My next thesis has to leave Dugu Bo a hook. If I have a chance to establish contact with him, the complete range of medicinal herbs he has will be of great use to me!"

Among Gula's skills was Master-level Apothecary Skill. It leaned toward healing and removing abnormal conditions, and he likewise had extraordinary insight and research into how to raise a Pokémon's energy level.

Gula felt that if Pokémon could eat it, Soul Masters could definitely eat it too.

"There will always be people in this world who don't remember others' kindness. Relying solely on theses to gather faith probably won't be enough. The greatest function of theses is still to spread my reputation and control public opinion."

"If I can create a chamber of commerce that spans the Entire Continent and sells medicines useful to Soul Masters, with the condition that they must devoutly chant my name when purchasing them, it will definitely speed up the collection of faith."

Gula murmured, "I don't understand the Power of Faith, but I understand Ghost Pokémon—the resentment among them, life essence, sweet dreams and nightmares."

"One of those must be related to the Power of Faith. If I find the common point, making a machine that detects faith shouldn't be difficult."

Mm, this would require Master-level Machine Research. He might also have to make a trip to the Sun-Moon Continent to learn how to make Soul Tools.

Gula rubbed his brow. There were too many things to do, and he was somewhat unused to it all at once. If only he had a few more clones.

"No, once Groudon awakens, I can go cooperate with the humans of the Pokémon World and hand some work over to them. That would save a lot of trouble."

"I remember that in the Hoenn Region, the Champion, Steven Stone, is quite easy to talk to, and his family has the Devon Corporation. His strength and status are both impeccable. I can go try."

Gula took out a Great Ball, found a notebook, and wrote down all the inspiration and ideas from just now, in case he missed anything in his memory.

As he wrote, Gula thought that since he had the resources of two worlds, he had to make full use of them.

On the Douluo Continent, he was weak, but in the Pokémon World, he was one of the divine beasts. As long as he did not act stupidly, his safety would not be a problem.