Herbal Body Forging Method

The next morning.

Yao Yan rented a small single room near the school.

He carried the bags of medicinal herbs from Li Caiyi's pharmacy inside, unpacked them one by one, and sorted them neatly into categories.

Holding the written list of proportions in his hand—one jin of Lingzhi, three jin of Crimson Sun Seed... After weighing them repeatedly, he quickly put together an approximate batch for the Medicinal Bath.

The reason it was only approximate was that its exact effects still needed to be tested.

He filled a large iron pot with water, poured all the herbs into it, then went to the stove and started the fire.

About half an hour later.

The water in the iron pot began to boil, gradually turning a vivid green as the scent of medicine filled the entire kitchen.

Yao Yan knew it was not time yet. The herbs still needed another half hour of boiling to extract their medicinal properties more thoroughly.

Another half hour passed quickly.

Yao Yan took out the wooden barrel he had bought beforehand, poured all the medicinal liquid from the pot into it, stripped off his clothes, and jumped in.

Sitting cross-legged in the barrel, he began circulating the Meditation Method.

As he entered a meditative state, Yao Yan could clearly feel a dense, itchy numbness spreading across his skin, as if countless tiny ants were gently gnawing and crawling over him.

He endured the discomfort.

After the numbness and itchiness passed, a cool, soothing sensation slowly rose from his limbs and spread throughout his body, refreshing his mind.

The Soul Power within him accelerated. After completing one circulation, he opened his eyes.

He could clearly see that the green color in the medicinal liquid had faded slightly. Clearly, its essence had already been absorbed by his body.

"It works!" he rejoiced inwardly.

He immediately sped up the process. After his Soul Power completed nine cycles through his body, the effects gradually weakened, and a tearing sensation came from his meridians.

He had clearly reached the limit of today's training.

Yao Yan did not force himself further. He climbed out of the barrel, dried himself off, and got dressed.

Glancing at the clock hanging on the wall, he saw that around three hours had passed.

His current training time was still rather short. Once his level rose, cultivating through the entire night would not be difficult.

Yao Yan looked at the herbs in the pot and estimated that they could still support another three Medicinal Baths.

He added fresh water to preserve their medicinal properties.

After washing the wooden barrel, he placed Xiao Ying in the room. "You'll be staying here from now on."

Xiao Ying let out a soft cry and raised one of its spider legs in protest.

Yao Yan gently stroked its fuzzy forehead and chuckled. "There's no helping it. I can't take you to class. I'll come back and keep you company at night."

Xiao Ying placed its legs over its head, wearing a wronged expression.

"Acting cute won't work either. You'd scare the children if I took you along." Yao Yan stood up and slung his Backpack over his shoulders. "Play here, and remember not to wreck anything."

After giving his instructions, he pushed open the door and headed down the street.

Now that the Medicinal Bath formula was ready, it was time to buy a few sandbags for weight training.

He remembered that Yu Xiaogang's so-called Devil Training also involved running. The Medicinal Bath he had devised only served to relieve fatigue, so it seemed his own training method was quite a bit better.

He quickly bought the sandbags, then headed into the school to prepare for the opening ceremony the next day.

After that, he could officially begin the training phase.

A month passed quietly.

Yao Yan had fully settled into a routine of three points and one line: classes in the morning, weight training in the afternoon, and making Healing Potions after his Medicinal Bath at night.

After several rounds of improvements, the Healing Potion had finally become affordable for ordinary people, with most of the rare medicinal herbs replaced.

The conditions for mass production were now in place.

He handed the formula to Li Caiyi and negotiated a twenty-eighty split contract. They would provide the people and labor, while he only needed to lie back and count the money.

Except he never actually saw any money. As Li Caiyi put it, "I'm saving it for you, for when you need to marry a wife in the future."

Yao Yan was helpless, but his allowance had risen from one Gold Soul Coin to two.

That made him happy. To build good relationships in the dormitory, he took everyone from the Seventh Dormitory out onto the streets and spent wildly.

It could be considered making up for the regrets of his childhood.

During that time, he also asked about Tang San's training speed and learned that it took Tang San six hours to circulate the Mysterious Heaven Skill through nine cycles.

Yao Yan was overjoyed when he heard that!

It seemed surpassing Tang San in cultivation was just around the corner.

Over this month, his Soul Power had also successfully broken through to level eight.

It was another early morning. The rising sun dispelled the thin mist lingering across the campus.

As usual, Yao Yan rose early and skillfully strapped sandbags onto his body.

As he stepped out, he happened to run into Tang San, who was preparing to leave. Tang San carried a travel pack on his back, seemingly about to embark on a long journey.

The two exchanged a glance and gave slight nods, considering that their greeting.

They went downstairs together and saw Yu Xiaogang waiting below.

Yao Yan immediately understood. Today, Yu Xiaogang would be taking Tang San to the Spirit Beast Forest to put his "theories" into practice.

Yu Xiaogang beamed when he saw Tang San, but the instant he noticed Yao Yan standing nearby, his smile vanished and his expression darkened.

He still remembered how this kid had nearly made him lose his composure that day.

"Teacher." Tang San stepped forward and gave a slight bow.

"Let's go." Yu Xiaogang had no desire to say more. He shot Yao Yan a cold glance, took Tang San's hand, and headed toward the academy gates.

Yao Yan did not care. He knew Yu Xiaogang's character better than anyone.

He turned and headed to the training field to begin his morning exercises.

Two days later, at dusk, Yao Yan left the academy as usual, preparing for that day's Medicinal Bath.

A carriage slowly rolled up. A short-haired young man in blue leaped down from it, then helped a middle-aged man in a black shirt with a crew cut awkwardly descend from the carriage.

The middle-aged man's face was pale as paper. His left leg hung limply, utterly unable to bear any strength, and he could only barely support himself with the young man's help.

They were Tang San and Master Yu, who had been poisoned by a snake.

Yao Yan's gaze shifted slightly at the sight, but it soon returned to normal.

As he passed the two, he gave Tang San a slight nod and walked straight out, ignoring the scene.

"Yao Yan." Seeing that he was about to leave, Tang San's brows twitched, and he suddenly called out to stop him.

Yao Yan paused and turned around. "What is it?"

Tang San looked at Yao Yan, pondered for a moment, then said, "For the sake of us being from the same village, I advise you to take my teacher as your master."

"Xiao San, some people can't recognize Mount Tai when they see it. Why bother saying more?" Master Yu's expression darkened as he abruptly cut in.

Tang San hurriedly soothed his teacher.

Yao Yan was somewhat surprised. He did not know why Tang San had suddenly said this, so he asked, "Why do you say that?"

Tang San did not truly want Yao Yan to become his fellow disciple. More than anything, he had his eye on Yao Yan's wealth.

He knew Yao Yan often ate special meals outside the academy. He thought that if they became fellow disciples, he could freeload off his meals with a legitimate excuse in the future.

After all, the food on the academy's first floor had barely any meat or oil.

And his teacher could not keep taking him to the second floor either. If it went on too long, it would invite gossip.

"Under my teacher's guidance, I have successfully obtained my First Soul Ring." Tang San raised his left hand. A Yellow Soul Ring appeared beneath his feet, while Blue Silver Grass floated from his palm.

"Look, even my useless Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul now possesses offensive ability."

Upon closer inspection, several faint black streaks could be seen mingled within the veins of the otherwise emerald-green blades, clearly indicating that it carried poison.

"Is that so?" A meaningful expression appeared on Yao Yan's face as he knowingly asked, "What is the effect of your First Soul Skill?"

"I'll show you." One of Tang San's soul rings lit up as he shouted, "First Soul Skill, Blue Silver Entanglement!"

The Blue Silver Grass in his hand instantly shot out three meters, wrapping around a tree at the academy gates as thick as an arm. He then gave it a fierce pull.

Bang!

The Blue Silver Grass snapped in response, but the trunk was visibly pulled askew.

"What do you think?" Tang San withdrew his stance and looked at Yao Yan, his tone carrying a hint of pride in showing off his achievement.

Yao Yan shook his head slightly and said calmly, "Has it occurred to you that you can do that kind of entangling even without using a Soul Skill?"

"You can do it without using a Soul Skill?" Confusion appeared on Tang San's face.

Then, before his eyes, the Blue Silver Grass in Yao Yan's hand instantly expanded three meters and wrapped around the same tree.

Immediately afterward, Yao Yan suddenly exerted force and yanked his arm back!

Crack—!

The Blue Silver Grass snapped as well, but the tree trunk it had wrapped around came crashing to the ground amid a sharp cracking sound!

Yu Xiaogang and Tang San froze in place, their faces filled with disbelief.