Astonishing Medicinal Effects

Liu Simin had just stepped out of the restroom when she saw Shen Qian rushing toward her. Startled, she instinctively crossed her arms over her chest. "What are you doing?!"

"Come on, Teacher Liu. You're a fifth-stage Beginner Martial Artist, at least. What could someone who isn't even a martial artist possibly do to you?" Shen Qian said speechlessly.

Liu Simin realized she had overreacted. She awkwardly smoothed her hair. "What do you need?"

"Teacher Liu, I know you've always been a dedicated and conscientious teacher. After your instruction just now, I've seen the light. I've decided that over the next three-plus months, I'll strive actively and work hard to improve. I hope you'll give me plenty of help!" Shen Qian said with utmost sincerity.

"It's good that you know you were wrong." Liu Simin nodded approvingly. "If there's anything your teacher can do, then by all means—"

"Lend me five hundred."

"...What?"

"I said, Teacher Liu, lend me five hundred." Shen Qian repeated himself earnestly. "That's something you can help me with right now."

"What do you need five hundred for?" Liu Simin finally came back to herself.

"To pay the Martial Arts College Entrance Exam registration fee."

Liu Simin froze and looked Shen Qian over again. "Are you serious?"

"Very."

"Mm..." Liu Simin pondered for a moment, then nodded and patted Shen Qian on the shoulder. "It's good that you truly have the will. Then work hard. Though from a teacher's standpoint, I'd still advise you to focus on the liberal arts, perhaps a miracle might happen?"

After saying that, Liu Simin turned and left. Shen Qian immediately became anxious. "Teacher Liu, then lend it to me!"

"Someone already paid your registration fee for you," Liu Simin said without stopping, merely waving a hand.

Staring at the Physical Testing Hall before him, Shen Qian's thoughts were temporarily pulled back to the present.

Just how much had he improved overnight?

He would know soon enough.

He arrived at that familiar office, pushed open the door, and found only Grandpa Xu sitting there as usual, watching the news and drinking tea.

Grandpa Xu glanced at Shen Qian, who approached while rubbing his hands together. Before Shen Qian could speak, he deftly removed his employee card and tossed it over.

"Grandpa Xu, what do you take me for? I came specifically to see you today!" Shen Qian said indignantly.

"Then give me the card back."

"That's so distant of you. Look, I even brought you a gift."

"...Who the hell gives cola as a gift?"

"It's sugar-free. It cost two more yuan!"

"Get lost, get lost... Wait a minute, why is this cola bottle cap loose?"

"That's because your grip is too strong. It's all an illusion!"

After saying that, Shen Qian hurriedly ran out of the office.

Watching Shen Qian's retreating figure disappear, Grandpa Xu shook his head. He took a sip of cola, but felt rather puzzled. Hadn't this kid tested himself just yesterday?

Could he have broken through after one night's sleep?

The Physical Testing Hall was rather crowded during the noon break. Perhaps because the Martial Arts College Entrance Exam registration fees had only been paid that morning, many people had come to test their own strength.

In order to keep a low profile, Shen Qian waited until the afternoon, when class was nearly about to begin and almost everyone had left, before approaching the Simulation Machine.

After swiping his card and putting on the helmet, Shen Qian quickly sank into darkness.

"Please select a testing scenario."

The LCD screen lit up. It was still that pleasant female voice. Shen Qian vaguely remembered that the voice actress seemed to be some popular singer, though he had forgotten who.

Shen Qian chose the "Bronze Man Formation" again. The scenery before his eyes shifted, and he returned to that mist-shrouded high platform.

The bronze man stood silently opposite him, waiting for him to launch an attack.

With a low shout, Shen Qian sprang forward like a released spring and threw a punch.

The bronze man still dodged the punch with ease, but this time, Shen Qian finally saw the bronze man's attacking movement clearly. His evasive movement was still a little too slow, however, and the bronze man struck his arm.

Shen Qian threw another kick, only to be struck in the face by the bronze man.

"Stage complete. Data is being compiled. To challenge again, please exit and select again."

Although the result of the challenge was no different from yesterday's, Shen Qian smiled happily.

He had lasted two more moves. That was tremendous progress.

Besides, he still wasn't used to the sudden surge in Physical Strength. Otherwise, there should have been room for even more improvement.

Ding!

The notification sounded. Shen Qian quickly stood up and looked toward the data panel.

Username: Not logged in

Data Statistics:

Burst Strength: 116 KG

Instantaneous Speed: 11.1 S/100 m

Physical Strength Grade has not reached measurement standards

Physical Toughness Grade has not reached measurement standards

...

(▼ Click to expand for more detailed data)

...

No martial skill assessment

No realm assessment

...

Friendly reminder: The martial path is fraught with hardships. Please keep working hard!

Compared to yesterday...

His strength had risen from 98 KG to 116 KG!

And his speed had gone from 11.4 seconds to 11.1 seconds!

Although he had expected it, the extent of the improvement still filled Shen Qian with excitement.

Last year's minimum admission threshold for the Martial Arts College Entrance Exam had been 118 KG and 11 seconds. He was already infinitely close to that standard!

Hope.

From childhood until now, this was the first time Shen Qian had clearly felt the meaning of those two words.

After school, Shen Qian and Wang Yangming walked out of the school gates side by side.

The entrance was bustling with people. Shen Qian happened to glance over and abruptly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Wang Yangming asked curiously.

"Wait for me."

Shen Qian said this, then quickly crossed through the crowd and called out to the girl in a blue school uniform, still wearing her hair in a ponytail, who was about to open a car door.

"Ding Yi!"

"Hm?" Ding Yi, books in her arms, turned around with a confused expression. "Shen Qian, do you need something?"

"Thank you." Shen Qian stopped and uttered those two words.

Ding Yi froze, her expression becoming even more perplexed. "What are you thanking me for?"

"I'm off!"

Shen Qian smiled, waved, and turned to leave.

Ding Yi watched Shen Qian depart, then turned and opened the car door before taking a seat in the back.

A middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses was already seated there, reading some sort of written report projected from his wristband. He glanced at his expressionless daughter and suddenly spoke. "So this is why you paid a thousand yuan in Martial Arts College Entrance Exam registration fees?"

"Dad, what are you talking about? That was only because a classmate forgot to bring money and borrowed some from me temporarily." Ding Yi shook her head.

"But if I remember correctly, you took a thousand yuan from your mother before you left this morning?" The middle-aged man smiled. "So our Little Yi can foretell the future now!"

"Dad!" Ding Yi's face reddened.

"Fine, fine, I won't say any more." The middle-aged man adjusted his glasses and said as if casually, "That boy has good eyes. He has that spark in him. What a pity..."

The middle-aged man did not say what was a pity, and Ding Yi did not ask.

After a brief silence, the middle-aged man resumed reading his report while speaking to the suited man in the front passenger seat, who had remained turned sideways. "A-Wei, after taking Little Yi home, let's go to the South District. I want to ask those marketing department managers why sales of the 'Body Tempering Potion' have dropped by four percentage points this month..."

Seeing that her father was no longer paying attention to her, Ding Yi somehow produced a small notebook and opened it. In neat handwriting, she added another line on the newest page:

"March 9, 2297. During the Basic Martial Arts Class occupied by Teacher Liu, I paid five hundred yuan to register Shen Qian for the Martial Arts College Entrance Exam..."

At this point, Ding Yi paused. After thinking about it, she crossed out the last sentence and changed it to, "Shen Qian borrowed five hundred yuan from me to register for the Martial Arts College Entrance Exam."

The girl then nodded in satisfaction and closed the little notebook.

"How much money did you borrow this time?"

Wang Yangming glanced at Shen Qian as he returned, unable to make sense of it.

"Shen Qian, tell me honestly. Did you save Little Ding's life or something?"

"What are you talking about?" Shen Qian said unhappily. "Do I only ever borrow money when I look for Ding Yi?"

"Don't you?"

"Do I?"

"Don't you?"

"...Do I?"

Seeing that Wang Yangming seemed genuinely confused, Shen Qian suddenly lost confidence. "Quit yapping and get home already."

The two were not really headed in the same direction. Wang Yangming was a native of Jing City, and his home was near Chengzhong. After parting at the intersection, Shen Qian slowed his pace.

The events of the day had already proven that Shen Qian was not dreaming, so it was necessary to figure out everything about the system.

Speaking of yesterday's AFK Record, there was still one crucial part Shen Qian had not looked at: the memory fragment related to "pharmaceutical refining."

To be cautious, Shen Qian found a public restroom and slipped inside before sinking his consciousness into the system and retrieving that memory fragment, which could be illuminated.

A sharp pain pricked his mind, and then Shen Qian gained a memory related to pharmaceutical refining.

The sensation was extraordinarily strange, as though he had genuinely experienced it himself.

He remembered everything with perfect clarity: the combination of medicinal ingredients, their weighing, the order in which they were added, even the control of the heat. Or rather, he astonishingly discovered that he had already mastered this skill, as if he had known it all along.

There was even quite a bit of additional knowledge about medicinal ingredients in his mind.

He had roughly understood the effects of the potion he had refined, but there was still one question he needed to clarify.

If Shen Qian's guess was correct, then he already had a vague plan in mind for what to do next.

With that thought, Shen Qian left the restroom and headed for the nearest pharmacy.

Tianrentang Pharmacy was larger than the Huaxia Pharmacy Shen Qian had visited yesterday, located right in the heart of Chengnan.

Though it was daytime on a weekday, Tianrentang Pharmacy still had quite a few customers.

No one could escape medicine through birth, aging, illness, and death.

However, Tianrentang Pharmacy was divided into two distinct sections, as sharply separated as the Jing and Wei rivers.

One was for ordinary customers and bustling with people. The other displayed all sorts of potions exclusively for martial artists and had only a scattering of visitors.

After spiritual energy revived, many plants throughout heaven and earth had mutated as well. Some of them possessed miraculous effects in strengthening the human physique.

With humanity's wisdom, directly consuming these medicinal herbs—or rather, spiritual treasures—was naturally wasteful. Thus, pharmaceutical refining exclusively for martial arts, built upon the foundations of existing medicine, had emerged in response.

After centuries of exploration, there were now countless potions on the market, though only a few were truly mainstream.

Especially for those below the level of Beginner Martial Artists, Shen Qian estimated that there were not many options.

Shen Qian walked straight into the martial artist section. A young saleswoman with a professional smile approached him. "Sir, which type of potion would you like to purchase?"

"For someone below the level of a Beginner Martial Artist, which potion has the best body-tempering effect?" Shen Qian asked directly.