Unique Medicinal Prescription

Zhang Lin's eyes lit up when he heard there was a chance. As expected, this old man is meticulous and understands the ways of the jianghu.

"If the vice-director is a candidate manager of Tiger Wolf Gate, then a director is a genuine junior manager of Tiger Wolf Gate. He's someone Tiger Wolf Gate focuses on cultivating. The monthly salary is twenty taels. Every month, he can also regularly receive a certain amount of medicinal supplements and resources. He can cultivate some of Tiger Wolf Gate's basic techniques for free. Every year, he has a chance to visit Tiger Wolf Gate's Library Pavilion. When buying medicinal supplements on the black market, he gets them at prices close to cost..."

Zhang Lin described the benefits of being a director as though he were counting treasures.

After hearing him out, even Xie An couldn't help clicking his tongue.

Though they were both directors, the treatment between the primary and deputy positions... was worlds apart. It was very much like the structure from his previous life, where one person held almost all the power.

To be honest, Xie An was tempted...

There was no other reason. Society was extremely unfriendly to men over fifty, and joining Tiger Wolf Gate... was the path best suited to him.

However, Xie An was not yet fully confident that he could take over as director. He did not immediately state his position. Instead, he rose and cupped his hands in farewell. "Thank you for the kind invitation, Director Zhang. It's just that this old man is advanced in years, and I fear I may be unequal to the task. Please allow me to think it over a little longer."

Zhang Lin was patient as well. "I understand. After all, it's a major decision in life. Let me see you off, Elder Brother."

He escorted Xie An out of the canyon before finally stopping. He watched Xie An leave, standing there in a daze.

"Boss, this rotten old man really doesn't know how to appreciate favors. You've lowered yourself this much, yet he still refused." Zhou Xing came over with a saber in hand, sounding quite indignant.

Smack.

Zhang Lin raised his hand and rapped Zhou Xing on the head. "What do you know? He's merely being cautious. If he'd agreed immediately, I would have started wondering instead. This man is extremely deep and seasoned. If he can join us, he'll definitely help me eliminate Zhang Biao."

Zhou Xing wore a baffled expression. "Huh? You never even told him about your grudge with Zhang Biao, and he didn't agree either."

Zhang Lin said, "Smart people understand with the slightest hint. Do you think everyone's as pig-brained as you?"

Zhou Xing drooped his head and dared not speak. Yet inwardly, he still felt it was all too mystical, and he even less believed that this masked old man possessed such skill and depth.

Boss... you're making him out to be more than he is.

"Boss, how about I follow him and investigate his identity?"

Zhang Lin immediately rejected the idea. "No need. Since he doesn't want people to know his identity, we shouldn't go adding unnecessary complications. Show others respect, and they'll respect you in turn."

Zhou Xing scratched his head. "Yes."

By the time Xie An returned to the small cottage in the rear courtyard, it was already deep into the night.

He performed a set of Five Animal Play to warm himself and drive away the cold, then sat cross-legged and cultivated a round of Fetal Breathing Technique, steadying the breathing and blood flow within his body.

After completing the two Health Cultivation Techniques in turn, he immediately felt refreshed and invigorated, the fatigue swept from his body.

"Zhang Lin's meaning was already very clear. As long as I take out Zhang Biao, I can replace him and become a director."

"If I join Tiger Wolf Gate, I still need to secure a director's position. But Zhang Biao is a director, after all, and is at least a warrior who has entered the gate. I can't rush..."

Having passed fifty, Xie An could keep his composure. He knew many things did not need to be handled in a frantic hurry.

Taking things more slowly, proceeding while observing the situation, would always be much safer.

"According to Zhang Lin, lifting four hundred jin is roughly the strength of a Bronze Skin Realm warrior. In other words, my strength has already reached the Bronze Skin Realm level, but in terms of fighting methods and actual combat power... I should still be behind a true Bronze Skin Realm warrior."

"For now, increasing my strength is still the top priority. As long as I have sufficient strength, let alone a director's position—even the hall master's position... isn't something I can't think about."

Once he had made up his mind, Xie An took out the Unique Medicinal Prescription Tang Qingfeng had given him. He brought out all the medicinal ingredients he had gathered, then began compounding them with a precise small scale.

"Honeysuckle, one qian; fleeceflower root, three qian; dried lingzhi grass, four qian; Bear Heart Meat, one liang..."

He measured eight or nine kinds of medicinal ingredients according to their prescribed weights, then put them into a mortar and pounded them into powder.

According to the prescription, the crushed ingredients needed to be dried in the sun for three days. They could also be smoked and roasted over a fire.

It was night, and there was no sunlight. Xie An therefore lit a stove. After smoking and roasting the mixture for an hour, he felt it had met the prescription's requirements, so he steeped it in boiling water and swallowed it.

"This taste... bitter and fishy!"

Xie An only took a few sniffs before finding the smell intensely pungent. It was hard to swallow and even made his stomach churn.

Remembering that it was Tang Qingfeng's Unique Medicinal Prescription, Xie An pinched his nose and gulped it all down.

As the medicinal soup entered his body, Xie An clearly felt a powerful current of heat surge from his stomach.

Hot!

So hot!

It felt as though his body was about to catch fire.

This was an effect he had never experienced, no matter how much Qi Generating Soup he had consumed before.

The heat was so intense that Xie An immediately removed his outer jacket, leaving only his inner shirt. Even so, the fiery heat remained unbearable. In the end, he simply stripped off the inner shirt and stood bare-chested.

The heat within his body had nowhere to vent.

Xie An thus began performing Five Animal Play wildly, using it to release the heat.

Tiger Seeking Food, Deer Running Long, Bear Shaking Its Strength, Ape Plucking Fruit, Crane Taking Flight...

Every move and stance was practiced by Xie An with convincing form. At last, the heat within his body found an outlet and began pouring into his limbs and bones.

After more than half an hour, Xie An not only did not feel tired, but instead grew increasingly fierce, as if he possessed inexhaustible strength.

"Master Tang's Unique Medicinal Prescription truly lives up to its name. This effect is far too good."

Having tasted the benefits, Xie An became absorbed and could not pull himself away.

Two hours later, Xie An was already drenched in sweat, yet still felt it was not enough. He simply sat cross-legged, swept away the restlessness in his heart, and began cultivating Fetal Breathing Technique.

"This Unique Medicinal Prescription combined with Five Animal Play naturally produces twice the result with half the effort. I wonder how it will work with Fetal Breathing Technique..."

"Danlu Stance..."

After practicing for a while, Xie An was astonished to discover that the prescription also had miraculous effects when paired with Fetal Breathing Technique. It could guide the heat within his body into Mingmen, circulating it throughout his entire body.

He faintly felt as though he could breathe without using his mouth or nose...

"Truly a precious medicine. Apart from being expensive... there's nothing bad about it."

The days that followed once again became plain and uneventful.

He inspected the pawnshop as usual, while using the rest of his time to cultivate Health Cultivation Techniques and practice archery...

Though life was dull and tasteless, Xie An could feel himself making a little progress every day, and he delighted in it.

Autumn passed and winter arrived. It was New Year's Eve.

After today, Xie An would be fifty-one.

Yet he felt no signs of aging. Instead, he grew increasingly robust, and even his appearance seemed somewhat younger. The wrinkles on his face had diminished considerably. His once completely white hair had also regained its black color by a third.

What kind of old man was this? If he had been placed in his previous life, he would have been the mature middle-aged uncle girls loved most.

After winter arrived, the sky began to shed goose-feather snow.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Xie An practiced Health Cultivation Techniques bare-chested inside the cottage.

The room's stove was unlit, and the cold pierced to the bone. Yet Xie An did not feel cold in the slightest. Instead, he was drenched in sweat.

As his hands and feet moved, waves of explosive air-cracks rang out.

The muscles on his body grew increasingly pronounced, filled with streamlined beauty.

Smack.

As Xie An lunged forward with the Tiger Seeking Food movement, the air let out a deep hum.

"My Five Animal Play has finally broken through..."