The Medicine King's Spirit Liquid

Beneath the brilliant night sky, the mighty Dao Enlightenment Tree King blocked out the moonlight. The little Medicine Kings splashed and played in the water, and even Lu Yang joined in, soon getting along with them like one of their own. Time seemed to stand still, and the scene was exceptionally harmonious.

Once the little Medicine Kings had soaked to their hearts' content, they sprawled out on the ground, arms and legs flung wide, then clambered onto the wooden hut and fell fast asleep.

The Dao Enlightenment Tree King didn't just sit idle. While the little Medicine Kings slept, it put away the tub and the water, leaving Lu Yang baffled.

"What are you doing?"

The Dao Enlightenment Tree King answered casually, "Oh, Little Ba wanted it. He said the bathwater is worth a lot, and Ask Dao Sect disciples all like to use it."

Its branches shifted, making a gesture much like a shrug, as if to show how helpless it felt about the ways of humankind.

As a plant, it found some of humanity's strange habits hard to understand. From what it knew, humans were especially fond of using its hair—in other words, its leaves—to brew tea, or cooking with its skin, claiming it added fragrance. It was apparently called cinnamon bark or something.

"Oh, right. Little Ba even gave the bathwater a nice name: Medicine King's Spirit Liquid. You humans sure are cultured. You're much better at naming things than we are."

"Medicine King's Spirit Liquid?"

Lu Yang murmured the name without thinking. It sounded familiar, as if he'd seen it somewhere before. A moment later, he remembered exactly where.

Wasn't this the hugely popular Medicine King's Spirit Liquid on the contribution-point exchange list?

The list said the Medicine King's Spirit Liquid was a precious liquid specially concocted by the upper echelons of Ask Dao Sect. So this was what they meant by "specially concocted"!

Lu Yang began to question all the strange and wonderful items on the list. Their descriptions seemed perfectly fine, but that didn't mean there was really nothing wrong with them!

In the days that followed, Lu Yang busied himself digging through the earth while listening to the little Medicine Kings chatter endlessly about medicinal herbs. His days were packed.

"I remember there's a patch of Eight-Treasure Lotuses up ahead. They're pink and tender, really pretty. Want to dig over and have a look?" the ginseng doll asked from behind him.

"...Aren't lotuses supposed to grow in ponds?"

"Right," the ginseng doll said, nodding as if it were obvious.

"Then if I dig over there, won't I plunge straight into the pond?"

The ginseng doll suddenly understood. "Oh, right. That makes a lot of sense."

"..."

Following the ginseng doll's directions, Lu Yang dug up to the surface. Not far away stood a breathtaking patch of Eight-Treasure Lotuses. Morning dew gathered at the tips of their petals, then dripped into the water, sending ripples across the surface.

Eight-Treasure Lotuses could dispel summer heat and dampness, detoxify the body, and nourish the heart. They were often used in alchemy.

"I just wonder why they're called 'Eight-Treasure' Lotuses," Lu Yang said, recalling what he'd read in a book.

It was one of the great unsolved mysteries among alchemists. Countless alchemists had written books, cited ancient texts, and put forward all kinds of theories.

Some said they were called Eight-Treasure Lotuses because they had eight medicinal effects. Others claimed the name came from the Eight Trigrams of the Supreme One. Still others said "Eight-Treasure" referred to the body's eight meridians, and that eating lots of them could open all eight extraordinary meridians... In short, everyone had their own theory.

Lu Yang was more inclined to believe the first one. Eight medicinal effects—at the very least, that sounded plausible.

"You mean that? I know," the ginseng doll said.

"You do?"

The ginseng doll planted its ginseng tendrils on its hips and said smugly, "Of course. The Eight-Treasure Lotus was discovered by Hermit Gu Yue. Back then, the two of us stumbled into an undiscovered secret realm. Luckily, our cultivation was profound, so the realm wasn't dangerous for us."

"We wandered around the secret realm, and when we got tired, we rested right where we were. We ate and slept and all that, just to set the mood."

"While we were eating, Hermit Gu Yue spotted a patch of pink lotuses he'd never seen before. I asked him what he wanted to call them. He glanced at the bowl of Eight-Treasure Congee in his hand and casually said, 'Why not call them Eight-Treasure Lotuses?'"

"Later, he took away a few of them and cultivated them in the outside world. That's how they spread to the size they are today."

Lu Yang: "..."

This wasn't the first story about Hermit Gu Yue he'd heard. Every one of them had an unexpected ending.

The other little Medicine Kings had also traveled far and wide and seen plenty, but none of them had stories as entertaining as the ginseng doll's.

As Lu Yang spent time with the little Medicine Kings, they gradually came to accept him. Even when he returned to his normal size, they didn't shun him. In fact, they thought having a big guy around was pretty fun.

A month passed in the blink of an eye. During that time, Uncle Ba took away the empty spirit stones and the little Medicine Kings' bathwater, then brought back a large haul of high-grade spirit stones for them to bury where they'd found the originals.

Uncle Ba also periodically picked a large number of medicinal herbs to supply Elixir Cauldron Peak.

"Actually, Hermit Gu Yue wasn't originally called Hermit Gu Yue. His surname was Hu, and he called himself Hermit Hu. His handwriting wasn't very good. Once, when he was writing his own name, he wrote 'Hu' so widely that someone read it as 'Gu Yue.' He was the sort who didn't care about such things, so he simply went along with it and started calling himself Hermit Gu Yue." As usual, the ginseng doll was chattering in Lu Yang's ear about Hermit Gu Yue's embarrassing past.

Just then, Uncle Ba sent Lu Yang a message.

"Lu Yang, come out for a moment."

When he reached the entrance to the medicinal garden, he saw a loving couple. The husband was sunny and confident, while his wife was sweet and demure. The only thing Lu Yang couldn't approve of was their clothes.

The couple wore outfits shaped like pool floats, so bulky they could probably stay afloat if they fell into the sea.

It was the customary dress of their clan.

"These two are...?"

"Let me introduce them. These seniors are the Silver-Ring Heavenly King Earthworms," Uncle Ba said.

Lu Yang understood. It seemed the couple had settled their marital dispute and reconciled, so he wouldn't have to dig anymore.

Still, resolving their romantic troubles in just a month was pretty fast. He'd expected it to take at least forty or fifty episodes, ending with the heroine losing her memory, the hero bringing it back, and a happy ending.

"He's Lu Yang. You two must have heard of him. The Sect Master's fourth disciple, personally trained by Yun Zhi."

"Greetings, seniors." Lu Yang bowed. The Silver-Ring Heavenly King Earthworms' hearts nearly stopped. They hurriedly helped him back up, not daring to accept his bow.

"You're Yun Zhi's junior martial brother. I'm Li Yin—just call me Little Li. This is my wife, Little Li."

Who would dare treat the female fiend's junior martial brother as a junior?

Lu Yang had no idea what kind of impression his eldest senior sister made on other people.

"How did you two solve your problem?"

"What's so hard about that?" a voice came from underground.

Another couple emerged from the earth, looking exactly like the Silver-Ring Heavenly King Earthworms.

"Since my wife could split herself in two and turn into a pair of sisters, I could obviously split myself in two and make a brother," Little Li said proudly.

Little Li and his wife, version two, were just as affectionate.

Uncle Ba nodded in satisfaction. He was the one who'd come up with the idea.

He was a responsible man. If he caused a problem, he had to solve it.