Harvesting and Appraisal

"Coo~ coo~"

In the afternoon, as sunlight poked through gaps in the dark clouds, the carrion Strange Owls that had fled far from the Corpse Burial Wasteland flew back first, circling around the area without pause as they searched for a chance to fill their bellies.

Du En and the others had worked all day, methodically filling the pits. Now, with the final shovelful of soil packed down, today's work was finally over.

Whoosh...

The corpse buriers all breathed sighs of relief. Their tension dispersed in a single breath, leaving them looking listless and even more exhausted than usual. Ning Caize began coughing, and everyone was utterly drained.

The harm caused by the dark, baleful energy was truly considerable. Even after changing their strategy and avoiding it as much as possible, they still inevitably suffered more than usual.

Their already meager and thinly spread magical power had been overdrawn. After another full day of labor, their hands were numb by the time they finished shoveling, stiff as frozen meat.

Only Du En still had surplus energy. His attention turned toward the woods beside the wasteland.

He was the first to leave the wasteland. Removing the cloth from his head, he swept his surroundings with eyes as sharp as a hawk's.

As a side benefit, he raised his shovel and, with a clang, knocked unconscious a Strange Owl that had been especially impatient and had delivered itself right to his door.

They had not yet had any meat today. There were some remains along the path, but how could those compare with the corpse buriers, who had been soaked through even more thoroughly today and had become ten times more delicious to their senses?

Then, as expected, they used the life of one of their own kind to verify that these two-legged corpses were still as difficult to deal with as ever.

Amid the din, they could only settle for second best.

"These filthy-feathered birds are so damn noisy!"

Hearing the incessant cooing and cawing, Wei Ming could not help losing his temper. He really wanted to rush over and make them all shut up, but his body could not support such an operation.

The shovel in his hand felt as heavy as a thousand jin, and his legs were filled with lead. Although they had finished work earlier than usual, given the speed and force of his steps now, he would probably take no less time than usual to get back to their lodgings.

Then they saw a light-footed, industrious figure leave the path and keep darting among the trees.

"As expected of Big Brother!"

Wei Ming praised him sincerely again, then belatedly asked, "Huh? What's Big Brother doing?"

He instinctively looked toward Ning Caize.

Don't look at me every time you encounter something you don't understand!

I'm merely prematurely aged. I'm not actually forty or fifty!

Ning Caize was just as puzzled inside. He had no idea what Du En was doing.

Looking again at the place where Du En had just been standing, he saw an unconscious Strange Owl with its neck twisted, lying quietly there.

Amazing!

This man had actually thrown the free food he had just obtained onto the ground!

Everyone was astonished. They stopped in their tracks, leaning on their shovels to rest and catch their breath while watching Du En, wanting to see exactly what he was doing.

The object of their attention paid them no mind.

He surveyed the woods where sunlight leaked through the gaps. Wherever the light reached, he quickly found something.

Ginseng, wolfberries, and wild red dates.

The woods of the Southern Border truly were primitive and abundant. In particular, the area around the Corpse Burial Wasteland was usually devoid of people, allowing all kinds of medicinal plants to grow unchecked.

Although none had reached a tier and none counted as Spiritual Materials, they were still far from ordinary goods.

The ginseng could be pulled up with decades of growth on it, the wolfberries were bright red and as large as fingers, and the wild red dates hung thickly from the branches, ripe for picking.

He gathered several jin of them, wrapped them in the clean cloth he had brought out that morning, and carried them back to the others.

"Are these... medicinal herbs?"

Everyone was somewhat dazed.

Du En nodded slightly and offered a brief explanation. "Yes, medicinal herbs. I want to experiment with Spiritual Cuisine. I heard something related to it near Elegant Courtyard before, and I've been pondering it for several days. I have a little confidence now."

The moment the place-name Elegant Courtyard was mentioned, the four old men—Ning Caize and the others—immediately changed expression. They became unfathomably guarded and hurriedly avoided the subject.

In any case, their doubts about Du En's motives had been cleared up.

Wei Ming was left baffled, but he also knew this was not the time to say something he shouldn't. He quickly changed the subject. "Speaking of which, these ginseng and such grow here. Can they actually be used?"

The Corpse Burial Wasteland was no good place!

"You'll know once you try."

That was all Du En said.

Three-step Poison Test!

First, crush it and smear it on exposed skin, carefully sensing the reaction and comparing it against the principles of cuisine.

Second, crush it and apply it to the lips, inside the mouth, and other areas, continuing to sense and compare.

Third, chew it thoroughly and swallow a small amount into the stomach, still sensing and comparing.

At the same time, he also had to circulate his cultivation technique and mobilize his magical power as an aid.

His methodical, professional-looking procedure made the others nervous.

So when Du En showed a new reaction, they immediately could not help asking, "How is it?"

"Not bad. There's no cold, baleful strangeness. Instead, things have gone to the opposite extreme, and they all possess warm, yang-natured medicinal properties."

Du En reached this conclusion.

At those words, the others' eyes lit up.

Medicines with warm yang properties—could they cure the baleful energy seeping into their bodies?

Otherwise, relying on ginger soup after they returned would be completely useless, serving only to comfort themselves.

They immediately forced their exhausted bodies to move and went to gather some for themselves, hoping to see whether the effect would be even better.

Seeing this, Du En did not stop them. He only added, "If you're picking them, choose those growing under the sunlight."

He had selected only that kind just now. He could not guarantee that the same medicinal plants growing in shaded places would have similar properties.

Ultimately, these ordinary medicines were easily affected by their environment.

Even tiered spiritual medicines would display different medicinal properties depending on how they were cultivated.

Seeing that the others had taken his words to heart, Du En tied the medicinal herbs tightly, hung them on his body, then carried the shovel in one hand and the Strange Owl in the other.

With a thought, the panel appeared.

Almost everything remained unchanged, except that there was one additional entry.

[Hundred Arts of Cultivation: Harvesting and Appraisal (Beginner's Practice 1/10)]

"Harvesting and appraisal? That makes sense. Harvesting and appraising all kinds of Spiritual Materials is indeed a craft. It gives rise to occupations such as ore prospectors and herbal gatherers."

Unlike the purely physical labor of corpse burial, this could be classified among the Hundred Arts of Cultivation.

That was an unexpected delight.

It also indirectly proved that there was no risk of misidentifying the medicinal herbs he had gathered here.

In his mind, he had already begun considering how he should cook them.

The several sheets of paper Luo Heng had contributed contained no specific recipes for Spiritual Cuisine, only the theoretical foundations. How to proceed in practice would depend entirely on Du En himself.

However, judging from the situation with Harvesting and Appraisal, it could be inferred that starting with non-tiered items when practicing the Hundred Arts was indeed a viable strategy.

The others soon returned.

Their mouths were stuffed with various things, mainly wild red dates. They were large, sweet, and juicy, easier to find than ginseng and more conspicuous than wolfberries.

The main problem was that they were too dirty. Unlike Du En, who had prepared in advance, they could only use hands they had barely wiped clean to stuff a few into their mouths.

They were eating with relish now, and once the food reached their stomachs, a warm feeling spread through them. It was more effective than drinking a whole pot of ginger soup, leaving them feeling exceptionally comfortable.

Although the effect was limited to that, it was already quite good.

"Du En, it really has to be you! If it were us—or the seniors from before—we wouldn't have dared touch the wild medicinal herbs here. We could only watch them grow, crop after crop, and rot away."

Unlike ginseng, the wild red dates and wolfberries were all fruit. Once fully ripe, they fell, and if they lay there too long, they rotted.

Ning Caize felt deeply moved by this.

The others were busy chewing, doing nothing but nod repeatedly. Their admiration for Du En was unmistakable.