Grinding

Chen Mu had always admired Jie Jia's money-making mindset.

But he couldn't just keep fleecing the same sheep.

What if he stripped it bald?!

"Want them?" Jie Jia still squinted, expressionless and utterly calm.

"Yes!" Chen Mu gritted his teeth.

To grind Medicine Crafting proficiency, he couldn't avoid buying medicinal herbs.

Supplies in Qingshan County were scarce. Anything even slightly rare was difficult to purchase.

"I'll sort out a list in a few days, then buy them." Chen Mu wanted to finish the medical books in his hands first and only get started once there was nothing left to grind from them.

That night, after dinner and washing up,

Chen Mu sat at the wooden table beneath the window of his Wooden Cabin, dressed in loose robes.

He lit an oil lamp and neatly arranged the medical books Jie Jia had found for him at the corner of the table.

There were quite a few books, three stacks in total, each as tall as his forearm.

If not for the duplicate copies, that small burlap sack of books would have held even more.

With a thought, he summoned the Gray Wall and looked at the Medicine Crafting entry.

Medicine Crafting: 4852/10000/Second Tier;

Chen Mu had long since made a plan for grinding Medicine Crafting proficiency.

The three stacks of books before him were the best tools.

He pulled out a book titled "Compendium of Materia Medica," turned up the oil lamp, and focused intently.

As he read, strands of insight flowed into his mind like trickling streams.

Terms that ordinary people found difficult to understand held no secrets in Chen Mu's eyes.

His proficiency rose rapidly with every page.

Half an hour passed, and he had already finished one-third of the finger-thick medical book.

He summoned his proficiency panel.

Medicine Crafting had gone from 4852 to 4873, increasing by twenty-one points.

"Not bad. Keep going!"

An hour later, Chen Mu finished the last page.

His proficiency had reached 4913.

It was not just the numbers that had improved. When he closed his eyes and recalled it, the contents of the medical book he had just read appeared in his mind like photographs.

His mind had even gained additional information about the growth environments of medicinal plants.

"An external cheat really is incredible!"

If he'd had this cheat in his previous life,

all those top students and geniuses would have had to step aside!

Chen Mu stood and stretched, preparing to sleep.

Outside the window, the night was deep and silent. Only his place still had an oil lamp burning.

There was little entertainment at night in this other world.

Most of the people living here were laborers.

They spent the day breaking mountains and chiseling stone, then fell asleep snoring as soon as night came.

Chen Mu blew out the lamp and prepared to rest.

As he turned around, he happened to glance outside through the window.

Under the bright moonlight, a dark figure flashed across the mountain path.

Chen Mu turned back.

He saw only a black shadow vault over the wall into Qingfeng Temple and disappear.

"Forget it. Better not meddle in other people's business."

He had no interest in chasing after it to investigate.

His top priority now was recovering from his injuries.

Once he was healed, he would leave. Whatever secrets Qingfeng Temple had were none of his concern.

Chen Mu's Wooden Cabin stood on the sloping foothills on the western side of Little East Mountain. It was beyond the edge of the Settlement, closer to the forest.

He kept to himself and had almost no interaction with the people in the Settlement.

Chen Mu enjoyed the peace and quiet. He stayed in his Wooden Cabin to recover slowly, reading every day and grinding proficiency to the point of obsession.

His Medicine Crafting experience climbed rapidly.

Half a month later, at dusk, Chen Mu reclined halfway in a bamboo chair.

His left hand held a copy of "Pharmacological Properties of Lei Gong's Preparation Methods," which he read with full concentration, while his right hand absentmindedly rolled a peanut-sized Cobblestone between his fingers.

He put down the book and summoned the Gray Wall.

Medicine Crafting: 7726/10000/Second Tier;

He took out a duck-egg-sized Porcelain Bottle and poured out a Three Yang Six Gentlemen Pill.

He held it beneath his nose and carefully distinguished its medicinal scents.

"Sixteen ingredients. Still not complete."

Smelling its aroma, tasting its flavor, dividing it apart, then testing its components with other herbs.

Every day, he used Medicine Crafting to identify the composition of the Six Gentlemen Pill.

"I need to keep grinding proficiency."

Chen Mu helplessly put down the medical book. It was the last one in his possession.

Qingshan County was a remote little city with limited foundations. It would be difficult to find new books.

"I still have to try it myself." Besides reading, personally crafting medicine could also raise proficiency. "There's no avoiding this expense."

Chen Mu hesitated. Research and development could burn through funding like a bottomless pit.

"Don't let me lose money."

Chen Mu pondered the Six Gentlemen Pill for a while longer and felt that it was only missing two or three ingredients.

"I'll first grind Medicine Crafting to Tier 3. If it still doesn't work, I'll give up!" Chen Mu drew a line for himself.

With proficiency in hand, he would not be satisfied without trying.

Just as he was considering which herbs to use for practice, a gray shadow flashed through the woods.

Chen Mu flicked his wrist.

Whoosh!

Thud!

The Cobblestone tore through the air and struck the gray shadow like lightning.

Chen Mu walked over curiously.

A large gray rabbit with glossy fur lay on the ground, its head smashed to pieces.

"An unexpected bonus. Extra food, extra food!"

Living beneath the forest, there was no shortage of game.

Chen Mu had visited the small market in the Settlement a few times.

Each time, he saw people selling freshly killed game such as wild rabbits and mountain chickens.

Once, he had even seen someone selling half a wild boar. The bright red meat had looked a little unsettling.

He carried the wild rabbit to a spring stream not far from his Wooden Cabin.

The vegetation along the way was lush. He had once regarded it all as weeds, but now he could identify many plants that could be used as medicine.

After cleaning the rabbit, he dug a pit, piled stones around it, and set up two wooden poles to make a simple grill.

He found the charcoal he had prepared for brewing medicine and lit it.

Chen Mu planned to roast the plump rabbit.

"Too bad I don't have spicy barbecue sauce."

The moment that thought crossed his mind, a flood of herbal information suddenly poured into his head.

"That works too?" Chen Mu was astonished.

After thinking it over just a little, a roast meat seasoning recipe appeared in his mind.

Many of the ingredients grew in the nearby forest. It was perfectly suited to local conditions.

"This won't do. It's bitter."

"This one isn't good either. It tastes good, but eating too much causes diarrhea."

"This combination is good. It removes gaminess, stimulates the appetite, enhances intestinal movement, and speeds absorption."

"Adjust it a little more... Mm, not bad. Add some trace elements..."

While recovering and practicing cultivation, he kept quite a few medicinal ingredients on hand. After another trip through the surrounding woods to gather wild plants, he soon put together a batch of roast meat seasoning.

"Let's do this!"

He sprinkled on the seasoning powder. As the fat sizzled, a rich fragrance spread through the air.

Before the rabbit was fully cooked, a figure appeared in front of the Wooden Cabin.

Chen Mu glanced at Jie Jia, who was staring fixedly at the roast rabbit, and was no longer surprised.

The second day after Chen Mu moved in, Jie Jia had come here to mooch dinner.

If the distance had not been so great, he would probably mooch all three meals.

What a stingy old man!

"It smells amazing!" Chen Mu tore off a rabbit leg and savored it slowly.

Jie Jia usually ate in an unhurried, elegant manner. Today, though, he could not help speeding up by thirty percent.

Chen Mu was surprised as well.

Medicine Crafting and Culinary had actually produced some kind of chemical reaction.

"Maybe I can make some medicinal cuisine."

Chen Mu subconsciously looked at the Gray Wall.

To his surprise, Medicine Crafting proficiency had increased by more than ten points?

"This is the real unexpected bonus!"

Just coming up with roast meat seasoning had actually increased his proficiency!

He had been wondering which medicinal formula to use for practice.

Wasn't this exactly what he needed?

Deodorizing and flavor-enhancing seasonings, medicinal cuisine recipes, preservatives for candied fruit and dried meat—there were far too many things he could use to practice!

And none of them required particularly precious medicinal herbs.

Chen Mu shot Jie Jia a smiling glance.

This time, he most likely would not need Old Man Jie to help him buy herbs anymore.

Want to swindle another sum out of me?

Keep waiting, hahaha...