Choosing medicine gave him another trade to put food on the table.
A trade that fed him was important, so he chose the Essence Nourishing Formula.
Whether it boosted virility or not did not matter. What mattered was increasing his qi and blood.
Essence Nourishing Formula: a prescription for warming and nourishing qi, blood, and vital essence.
Ingredients: ten-year ginseng, deer antler, polygonatum...
Of the three main ingredients, Bai Yu only had deer antler.
Ten-year ginseng was exceedingly hard to find.
But there was no rush. He was an immortal; sooner or later, he would gather them all.
For an immortal, slow was fast.
As long as he could keep lying low, there was nothing he could not get.
Bai Yu steadied his mind and invested all 8 points of life experience into Five Elements Fist.
Five Elements Fist immediately rose a level, becoming Beginner's Insight.
His attribute panel now became:
Name: Bai Yu. Talent: 3 Qi and Blood: 8.8 Strength: 10 Cultivation: Unranked Martial Artist. Technique: Five Elements Fist (Beginner's Insight) Divine Ability: Eternal Life. Skills: Playing the Suona (Practiced to Perfection), Literacy (Beginner's Insight), Hunting (Beginner's Insight).
Five Elements Fist had finally crossed the threshold. Experience toward the next level: 1.2/100!
Best of all, his talent had risen by 2 points as well!
Filled with enthusiasm, Bai Yu practiced the entire set of Five Elements Fist from beginning to end.
This time, he discovered that after finishing, his entire body felt pleasantly warm.
When he clenched his fist, the muscles on his arms swelled, hard as iron.
First-rank Flesh Refinement—the muscles surged, and strength greatly increased!
Flesh Refinement, as its name implied, meant training the muscles and increasing their power.
Generally speaking, one's total strength could reach a limit of three hundred jin.
"Finally, I've become a first-rank martial artist!"
Bai Yu let out a long breath and glanced at his panel.
After one round of punches, his experience progress had risen by 0.2!
But his loss of qi and blood had fallen to 0.1.
Moreover, he had made another gain: his strength had increased by 0.1 as well.
Once his strength reached 30—three hundred jin of force—he could break through to second-rank Tendon Forging.
Bai Yu's little life was peaceful and fulfilling.
He farmed, set traps, and practiced his fist techniques.
Every now and then, he helped bury the dead, and whenever he caught prey, he shared some with Master Meng and the others.
Unhurried and unflustered, the years passed in tranquil beauty.
His strength also rose steadily.
Sometimes, he hunted a two-hundred-jin wild boar and ate his fill.
Sometimes, he caught a fiery red fox, whose fur earned him a few coins of silver.
The plum pit he had planted sprouted green buds and sent out new branches.
Before he knew it, it had grown into a great tree.
In the first year the plum tree blossomed, Xiao Yu got married.
The little girl who had once followed behind Bai Yu all day, calling, "Brother Changsheng, Brother Changsheng," had already pinned up her hair and become another man's wife.
That year, the plum tree bore fruit—bright red plums, sweet within their astringency.
In the fifth year the plum tree bore fruit, Master Meng passed away.
Bai Yu bustled about, handling the funeral arrangements all by himself.
During that time, some ruffians and scoundrels even tried to prey upon the bereaved household and divide the Meng family's property.
Bai Yu revealed fists the size of sandbags and persuaded them with reason.
Later, Sister-in-law San's Xiao Maodan went out into the world to seek his fortune.
Sister-in-law San often stood at the village entrance, waiting for her son to return, until her hair turned white.
One year, the snow fell especially heavily. It snapped one of the plum tree's branches—and crushed Sister-in-law San as well.
There was one more grave mound at the village entrance.
With a single suona, Bai Yu played for every wedding and funeral, every meeting and parting, every life-and-death farewell in the little mountain village.
When he casually looked up one day, the plum tree he had planted long ago was already broad and lush, its shade like a pavilion roof.
Over those years, Five Elements Fist had broken through from Beginner's Insight to Practiced to Perfection.
Bai Yu's talent had also risen to 5 points.
Realm: First-Rank Flesh Refinement Realm (97%) Five Elements Fist (Practiced to Perfection, 12/1000)
As long as he continued training, he would become a second-rank martial artist.
Inside the small wooden hut, Bai Yu was flipping through a blue-covered medical classic, Meng Family Herbal Canon.
Master Meng had handed this to Bai Yu before his death.
"Changsheng, the greatest regret of my life is that I never taught a single scholar."
"You were originally the disciple I thought most highly of. Alas."
"Never mind. If you cannot become a worthy minister, then become a worthy physician. Here is a medical book passed down from our Meng family ancestors. Take it and study it."
"You are a kind-hearted child. You will surely amount to something."
Afterward, he took out an envelope and handed it to Bai Yu.
If Bai Yu wanted to make a living in the city, he could take this letter and seek out Master Meng's prized disciple, Yang Lin, there.
Bai Yu turned the pages of the Herbal Canon, reading with great care.
Old Mo was also lying beside the table, reading along with Bai Yu.
He loved learning things and would even secretly study by himself while Bai Yu slept.
"Tiger Thorn Grass, commonly known as Yellow Chicken Claw. Its roots resemble chicken claws."
Bai Yu took out a medicinal herb and repeatedly checked it against the description in the Herbal Canon.
"With Tiger Thorn Grass root, plus the ten-year ginseng I previously had someone bring back from the city, the ingredients for the Essence Nourishing Formula are complete."
Bai Yu solemnly took out a small bundle wrapped in several layers. Inside was a piece of ten-year ginseng.
It had cost Bai Yu a full two taels of silver to have someone bring it back from the city.
Next came deer antler, polygonatum, and Tiger Thorn Grass.
"Two qian of ginseng, three qian of deer antler ground into powder, and five qian each of polygonatum and Tiger Thorn Grass."
Bai Yu took out a set of tools and began preparing the medicine.
After measuring the medicinal ingredients according to the proportions, he ground them into powder and mixed them thoroughly.
Half a day later, he finally produced several packets of Essence Nourishing Powder.
All the herbs used were non-toxic. Even if he mixed them wrong, there would be no side effects.
Unable to wait any longer, Bai Yu steeped a packet of Essence Nourishing Powder in water and drank it.
Once the Essence Nourishing Powder entered his stomach, he felt a warm current rise from his abdomen and slowly flow throughout his body.
On the attribute panel, he could clearly see his qi and blood continuously increasing.
Qi and Blood +0.1!
Qi and Blood +0.1!
Qi and Blood +0.1!
One packet of Essence Nourishing Powder increased Bai Yu's qi and blood by nearly 5 points, and it was still slowly rising.
One dose of medicine was worth roughly five taels of silver and could make ten packets of Essence Nourishing Powder.
In other words, the qi and blood alone amounted to fifty points.
Abundant qi and blood flowed through his entire body, and strands of strength arose within his muscles.
Bai Yu's spirits soared, as though he possessed strength he could never exhaust.
He could not help letting out a long roar before going outside to practice Five Elements Fist.
"White Tiger Pounces!"
"Black Tortoise Guards the North!"
"Azure Dragon Grasps!"
Old Mo followed Bai Yu as well, mimicking every move and stance. He was already looking quite convincing.
Bai Yu practiced the entire set of Five Elements Fist over and over again.
The pores all over his body opened, and his spirits grew ever more invigorated.
He suddenly clenched his fist. The muscles on his arms surged, veins bursting out one after another like dragons and snakes.
Tendons and muscles like dragons!
Second-rank Tendon Forging!
At this moment, Bai Yu had finally stepped into the realm of second-rank martial artists!
With a thought, he threw a punch at the plum tree.
A fist mark abruptly appeared on the sturdy trunk!
Bai Yu drew his stance to a close and slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.
At last, he had entered the Tendon Forging Realm.
Once Flesh Refinement reached three hundred jin of force, further tempering of the muscles had little effect.
At that point, one had to begin training the tendons and veins.
As the boxing proverb went: stretch the tendons one inch, gain three parts of strength, and extend life by ten years.
By continuously tempering the tendons, one could raise one's strength to five hundred jin.
Moreover, one could unite the force of the entire body into a circle, using the strength of the whole body with every move.
Only then could one enter the third-rank Skin Refinement Realm!
Bai Yu glanced at his attribute panel.
Before you continue