Injuries Fully Healed

"This was unexpectedly smooth. Could Luck God have possessed me?"

In a room in the rear courtyard of Myriad Medicine Hall, Yan Qingshan stared at the emerald-green crystal core on the table, still faintly tinged with blood. Everything that had happened today felt almost dreamlike, far too smooth.

After obtaining the Blood Lotus Essence, Shuguang naturally provided him with a better treatment plan. The other ingredients were manageable, but he needed a First-order Magic Core compatible with his body's attribute—in other words, a Wood Attribute core—to provide energy.

Magic Cores were energy crystals formed by Magical Beasts, unique products of the Dou Qi Continent. They were extremely valuable, but not easy to obtain. First, Magical Beasts were powerful; Dou Practitioners of the same rank generally could not defeat a First-order Magical Beast.

Second, obtaining Magic Cores from low-level Magical Beasts depended on luck. First- and second-order Magical Beast cores were the most troublesome. Sometimes, a mercenary group could slaughter more than ten First-order Magical Beasts and still end up empty-handed. Such things were far from rare on the continent.

The First-order Wood Attribute Magic Core in Yan Qingshan's hand had come from a First-order Magical Beast known as the Azure Wood Wolf, a creature that became a First-order Magical Beast upon reaching adulthood.

Qingshan Town was also known as a town of Magical Beasts, so obtaining Magic Cores here was not especially difficult. Yan Qingshan had originally planned to go out and buy one. However, the First-order Magic Core in his hand had not been bought; it counted as his spoils of war.

Back in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, he had been attacked by an Azure Wood Wolf and bitten in the neck. According to the mercenaries who had brought him back, that unlucky Azure Wood Wolf had somehow been stabbed in a vital spot by him while he was unconscious.

Because the Magical Beast had continued clamping down on his neck even after dying, they had brought it back to Myriad Medicine Hall together with him. By mercenary rules, that Azure Wood Wolf counted as his spoils.

Perhaps he had been blessed by absurd luck, because this Azure Wood Wolf actually possessed a Magic Core, and it perfectly met his requirements. It saved him quite a bit of trouble.

"Jade Root Flower, Withered Bone Grass, Heavenly Star Vine, Scarlet Flame Pepper... and this First-order Magic Core powder!"

Yan Qingshan processed and crushed the herbs one by one using specific techniques. With Shuguang's assistance, his movements were exceptionally steady, and his methods were practically textbook-perfect.

The steaming bathwater in the room gradually turned into medicinal soup thick with the scent of herbs. His dagger flashed as he ground the Magic Core bit by bit into fine powder, then slowly poured it along the edge of the bathing barrel, where it mixed into the murky medicinal soup.

"Magical Beasts have sharper senses than ordinary people. What that Azure Wood Wolf had locked onto back then was probably this piece of Blood Lotus Essence in my hand!"

Yan Qingshan took out the Blood Lotus Essence he had carefully stored away. Even now, recalling it left him shaken. That truly had been a brush with death!

The Azure Wood Wolf had charged madly through the encirclement of numerous Dou Practitioners just to attack a mere physician apprentice like him. There had been nothing normal about that, but if it had been after this piece of Blood Lotus Essence, it made sense.

Still, his luck had been good. Not only had he survived the disaster, he had gained the corpse of an Azure Wood Wolf. Although his injuries had indeed been severe, with the Blood Lotus Essence and the First-order Magic Core, his gains had been even greater.

Yan Qingshan carefully untied the bandages around his wound. The bloody holes left by two savage rows of teeth were terrifying. At the deepest point, he could even see the pale white collarbone beneath a layer of blood.

Under the original optimal treatment plan, even if this injury healed, his left shoulder would inevitably retain hidden damage. He would need a long period of recuperation and follow-up treatment afterward. That was entirely due to limitations in available materials.

But now... Yan Qingshan took out the Blood Lotus Essence and carefully sliced open a tiny patch of its skin. Crystal-clear, blood-like juice faintly seeped out, like sweat emerging from Pores.

Yan Qingshan held the Blood Lotus Essence a short distance above his left shoulder and exerted a little force. A drop of blood-colored liquid carrying a strange fragrance fell precisely into the most frightening wound on his shoulder.

In an instant... waves of bloody light emerged from his shoulder. Numb itching and sharp pain swept through his nerves, and his right hand nearly crushed the precious herb in his palm.

He hurriedly placed the Blood Lotus Essence, which had lost little of its energy essence, back into the wooden box he had prepared, then plunged headfirst into the bathing barrel.

After a drop of Blood Lotus Essence entered his wound, it rapidly dispersed. Its energy flowed through the wound and drilled into the Meridians throughout Yan Qingshan's body, eventually forming layer upon layer of blood membranes that intertwined and seeped outward. The two rows of wolf fang wounds in particular erupted with the most intense bloody light.

Yan Qingshan gripped the edge of the bathing barrel with both hands. His face had gone utterly pale, sweat covered his forehead, and his body trembled violently. Threads of blood continuously surged from the skin around his wound. In the blink of an eye, the wound had been coated in a layer of dark red blood, making for a horrifying sight.

Not long after the blood filled the bloody holes in Yan Qingshan's left shoulder, it began to rapidly solidify over the surface of his skin, eventually forming a crimson keratinous layer.

His wounds were sealed within it, and the layer of blood scab continued spreading outward from them. The Medicinal Power was taking effect.

"Urgh..."

Yan Qingshan silently endured the agony brought by his rapidly healing wounds. The Meridians on his hands bulged as he clutched the bathing barrel. He clenched the cloth in his mouth, meant to prevent him from biting his tongue, and forcibly kept himself conscious. Once seated upright, he placed his five centers toward the sky and circulated energy throughout his body, preventing excess Medicinal Power from spilling out recklessly and harming him instead.

"Shuguang, display my detailed data!"

Yan Qingshan woke again and felt the abundant Dou Qi within his body. With a thought, a stream of information rapidly appeared in his mind.

Host: Yan Qingshan

Cultivation: Sixth Duan Dou Qi

Strength: 0.7

Status: Healthy

Agility: 0.6

Mental Power: 7.3

(Data collection target: the average One-star Dou Practitioner in Qingshan Town. The median data for a One-star Dou Practitioner is 1.0 in all attributes.)

"Sixth Duan Dou Qi. What a pity. I'm only one step away from the advanced Seventh Duan Dou Qi, yet that one step is the difference between heaven and earth. Only after Seventh Duan Dou Qi does one enter the advanced stage of Dou Qi."

Yan Qingshan shook his head somewhat unhappily. The cultivation of Ninth Duan Dou Qi was an important foundational stage on the Dou Qi Continent.

The original owner's cultivation had not been high, nor had his talent been particularly strong. Breaking through to Sixth Duan Dou Qi with the Medicinal Power of the high-grade Blood Lotus Essence should have been something worth celebrating. But being stuck right at the threshold of advanced Dou Qi was rather unpleasant.

"Forget it. I shouldn't be so greedy."

Yan Qingshan moved his limbs. Feeling healthy really was wonderful. After lying bedridden for so long, unable to move his body, even taking a few steps made him feel far more comfortable.

"Having lived another life, and in such a dangerous fantasy world at that, running away won't keep me safe!"

After stretching his muscles and bones, Yan Qingshan began considering his future. Since he had been given another life, he had to make plans for what came next.

"On the Dou Qi Continent, the strong are revered. If I don't want to drift with the current, cultivation methods, resources, and money are all indispensable..."

Yan Qingshan took the blue robe from the clothes rack, draped it over himself, and walked out of the room. A cool breeze blew toward him, but he did not feel it at all, merely furrowing his brow as he considered the problem.

"Money and resources can still be found somehow, but cultivation methods—especially high-grade cultivation methods—determine one's upper limit. Normal avenues offer me almost no hope. That leaves only..."

Yan Qingshan formulated a plan in his mind. Every word of the novel he had once read echoed in his head. Because of Shuguang, his memory was terrifyingly sharp, and he had forgotten almost nothing from his previous life.

Theoretically, for an ordinary person to obtain a high-grade cultivation method was almost as difficult as ascending to heaven. However, nothing was absolute. The Dou Qi Continent was vast, with countless races scattered across it, and its immense territory concealed many unknown recluses.

Before these senior recluses reached the end of their lives, they might hide the cultivation methods they had created somewhere, waiting for those fated to find them. A saying circulated across the Dou Qi Continent: if one day you fall from a cliff into a cave, do not panic. Take two steps forward, and perhaps you will become strong.

The saying was naturally true. Throughout the continent's history, there had been no shortage of tales of people becoming strong through fortuitous encounters.

At that moment, facing the cool breeze, Yan Qingshan gazed toward the winding mountain range in the distance. The Magical Beast Mountain Range, paradise for adventurers and a burial ground for the dead...

"Myriad Medicine Hall is heading into the Magical Beast Mountain Range to gather herbs! There are still seventeen spots left. You need to be at least a Two-star Dou Practitioner. Hurry up, everyone!"

In the center of Qingshan Town, before Myriad Medicine Hall, many mercenaries in a long, dragon-like queue jostled one another. Each stretched out their neck, hoping to be chosen. There were only seventeen spots, yet at least twenty people had gathered here.

This was Myriad Medicine Hall's monthly herb-gathering expedition, and every trip attracted a great number of mercenaries.

Myriad Medicine Hall was the largest medicinal shop in Qingshan Town. It could not possibly rely solely on buying the scattered herbs brought back by mercenaries. Moreover, mercenaries were extremely rough when gathering herbs, causing many herbs to lose much of their Medicinal Properties and become difficult to preserve, wasting many valuable ingredients.

"Brother Qingshan, are you really all right?"

Yan Qingshan sat in a carriage outside Myriad Medicine Hall. Beside him was Xiao Yi Xian, her face full of worry. The two of them were the people in charge of this Myriad Medicine Hall herb-gathering trip.

Physician apprentices at Myriad Medicine Hall could not simply study without practice. Before their skill in treating illnesses and saving lives was sufficient, they could not directly run a clinic, so being placed in charge of herb gathering was a common task.

Every Myriad Medicine Hall herb-gathering expedition had a physician or physician apprentice accompanying it, ensuring that the gathered herbs met requirements and did not lose their Medicinal Properties through improper collection.

The Magical Beast Mountain Range was full of dangers. Even a large herb-gathering party could not avoid injuries. At times like that, physician apprentices had the chance to practice... ahem... no, the chance to save people. That was how experience and skill were accumulated.

Yan Qingshan, who was already over fourteen and nearly fifteen, had led herb-gathering teams many times. However, after being seriously injured in an unfortunate mishap last time, Xiao Yi Xian, who was barely twelve, would be doing it for the first time.

Boss Yao of Myriad Medicine Hall was greedy and harsh. Few of the official physicians under him were willing to supervise herb-gathering teams, so after physician apprentices had solid fundamentals, this work was basically thrown to them.

Originally, because Yan Qingshan had been injured, Boss Yao intended to have Xiao Yi Xian, young but the most outstanding in medical skill, begin taking charge of herb-gathering work.

However, Yan Qingshan, who was supposedly still recovering, had volunteered to assist. He had long since healed, but he had to keep pretending to be severely injured and inconveniently mobile at Myriad Medicine Hall. How could he possibly stand staying there any longer?

After thinking it over, Boss Yao agreed. Considering that Xiao Yi Xian lacked experience, she needed someone to guide her. However, Boss Yao recruited more mercenaries than usual for this trip and repeatedly instructed them to protect the carriage at all costs.