Centennial Wild Ginseng

Centennial Wild Ginseng

Hundred-Year Ginseng!

When Lu Qing finished reading the information about the plant root in his hand, he was stunned.

This was actually ginseng, an exceedingly precious medicinal herb recorded in the Classic of Materia Medica! And it was already more than a hundred years old!

"Little fellow, this gift of yours is truly a grand one!"

Lu Qing looked at the ginseng in his hand, then at the Black Little Beast, unable to suppress his amazement.

Among the hundreds of medicinal herbs recorded in the Classic of Materia Medica, ginseng absolutely ranked among the most precious.

Moreover, the older it grew, the more valuable it became.

Ginseng that was several decades old already possessed excellent medicinal effects and was worth a considerable sum.

A specimen like the one in his hand, more than a hundred years old, was even rarer than a phoenix feather or unicorn horn.

In many medicine shops, it could serve as the treasure that held down the store.

"So all those fish I caught for you weren't for nothing after all."

Lu Qing was immensely pleased.

Though he did not know the precise value of this Hundred-Year Ginseng in his hand,

it was clearly worth far more than Red Moon Carp.

After all, although Red Moon Carp also had nourishing effects, the wealthy people who paid high prices for them mostly did so for that mouthful of fresh flavor.

But this Hundred-Year Ginseng was different. This was something that could truly save lives.

Precious medicinal herbs like this were often priceless and unavailable on the market. The moment one appeared, people would scramble to seize it.

Not to mention that the strange light emanating from the ginseng in Lu Qing's hand carried a faint trace of red.

That meant this ginseng had already begun to possess a hint of the traits of a spirit medicine.

Such a precious treasure was likely even more valuable than ordinary ginseng.

Compared to it, the fish he had fed the Black Little Beast these past few days were utterly insignificant.

Looking at the Black Night Spirit Fox, which was leisurely licking its paws and washing its face nearby,

Lu Qing's eyes shifted. He crouched down and said ingratiatingly, "Little fellow, let's make a deal. If you come across something like this again, bring it to me. Whatever fish you want to eat, I'll catch it for you, all right?"

If anyone had seen Lu Qing like this, they would have noticed

that his smile looked exactly like that of a strange uncle holding candy and trying to coax a child.

It was unknown whether the Black Little Beast understood Lu Qing's words.

After licking its paws clean, it merely cast Lu Qing a sidelong glance, then elegantly walked to the fence, gave a light leap, and vanished into the night.

This time, Lu Qing saw its look clearly.

He felt as though he had been looked down upon by a little beast.

Lu Qing froze for a moment, then shook his head with a smile.

Though he had been despised by a little beast, his mood remained extremely cheerful.

Carrying the Wooden Basin back into the kitchen, Lu Qing unusually lit an oil lamp and found a damp cloth.

Then he sat in the main hall and, by the lamplight, began carefully cleaning the dirt from the ginseng.

As he meticulously cleaned it bit by bit, the ginseng in his hand gradually revealed its full appearance.

The main body of this ginseng was quite plump, like a small radish.

Its rootlets were long, and overall, it vaguely resembled a human figure.

If it kept growing, it might truly have grown into something like a little person.

Unfortunately, some of the ginseng's rootlets had clearly snapped off.

This made its appearance somewhat less than perfect.

Apparently, when the Black Little Beast had dug up this ginseng, it had forcibly torn those roots apart.

Though Lu Qing felt regretful, he knew better than to be too greedy.

Honestly, it was already astonishing enough that the Black Little Beast had managed to dig up a ginseng plant.

He could hardly demand that it excavate the ginseng as perfectly as a professional herb gatherer would.

After admiring this Centennial Wild Ginseng for a while, Lu Qing carefully put it away.

He planned to bring it to his master tomorrow and see how to make the best use of it.

After all, although he had memorized the Classic of Materia Medica, when it came to understanding medicinal herbs, he could not catch up to his master, this Divine Doctor, even if he whipped his horse.

Early the next morning, Lu Qing got up and first imitated his master by practicing the Body Nourishing Fist twice in the courtyard. Only after feeling refreshed and clear-minded did he go make breakfast.

After breakfast, he brought Xiao Yan to the Half-Mountain Courtyard.

Upon seeing the Old Doctor, he immediately took out the Centennial Wild Ginseng wrapped in cloth.

"Master, your disciple unexpectedly obtained a medicinal herb last night. I would like you to examine it and tell me how it should best be handled."

"Oh? What medicinal herb?"

The Old Doctor found this rather strange.

Could it be that his disciple had gone gathering herbs in the middle of the night?

"It's this medicinal herb."

Lu Qing opened the cloth, revealing the ginseng inside.

"This is..." When the Old Doctor saw what the herb looked like, his eyes immediately widened. "This is ginseng?!"

Still astonished, the Old Doctor directly took the cloth bundle from Lu Qing's hands and picked up the ginseng to inspect it carefully.

"It truly is ginseng, and an exceptionally fine, fresh Old Mountain Ginseng more than a hundred years old at that!"

Only after examining it for quite some time did the Old Doctor let out a long breath and sigh.

"A Qing, where did this ginseng come from? Did you enter the mountains last night?"

The Old Doctor looked at Lu Qing in great surprise.

Centennial Wild Ginseng of such quality generally grew only in remote, trackless deep mountains and ancient forests.

Ordinary herb gatherers found it difficult to set foot in such areas.

Even he, with all his years of herb-gathering experience, had encountered only a few plants like this.

Judging by how fresh this ginseng was, it had clearly been dug up not long ago.

How had Lu Qing obtained it?

Could it be that he had run into the deep mountains and ancient forests last night?

But that was obviously impossible.

Faced with the Old Doctor's doubts, Lu Qing smiled. "Master, you would never guess who gave me this ginseng."

"Someone gave it to you? Who?" The Old Doctor became even more curious.

Someone was actually so lavish as to give away such precious Centennial Wild Ginseng?

"It was that Black Little Beast I told you about before. Last night, after I fed it fish, it carried this ginseng over and gave it to me."

"It was that Black Little Beast?" The Old Doctor was greatly shocked.

Lu Qing then recounted everything that had happened the previous night in detail.

The Old Doctor listened in repeated amazement, while Xiao Yan at the side widened her eyes.

"It seems this Black Little Beast truly possesses extraordinary intelligence, enough to understand human nature."

After hearing Lu Qing's account, the Old Doctor exclaimed in wonder.

"That is what your disciple thinks as well. I feel that it may even understand what we say."

That contemptuous look in the Black Night Spirit Fox's eyes before it left last night...

"This is the benefit of doing good and accumulating virtue." The Old Doctor stroked his beard. "If you had not been kind-hearted that day, if you had driven it away instead of feeding it fish every night, how could you have received this fortunate bond today?"

Was I kind-hearted for not driving it away? I simply didn't dare drive it away!

Hearing his master's words, Lu Qing felt rather embarrassed.

That little fellow was incredibly formidable. Who would dare provoke it?

"Master, according to you, this ginseng is already more than a hundred years old. Then how valuable is it?" Lu Qing asked.