The Beauty in Books!

Oscar opened his mouth, then closed it again.

He felt that Ma Hongjun had a point, but something about it still seemed off.

"Then why were you developing this prescription? You're only seven years old, already a rank-thirty Soul Elder. Your cultivation speed is fast enough already. Do you still need medicinal assistance?"

Ma Hongjun took back the sheet of paper. His gaze fell on the rows of numbers and herb names written across it. His tone remained calm, but there was something more in his eyes.

"The medicinal bath formula was prepared by Teacher Shao Xin. The herbs were purchased by the village. There's nothing wrong with the formula, nothing wrong with the herbs, and nothing wrong with the person brewing them. But that formula was made for ordinary people, not those with Innate Full Soul Power, not an Evil Fire Phoenix, and not Shrek students."

He paused.

"Our physiques, Martial Souls, and cultivation methods are all different from those of ordinary Soul Masters. If we use someone else's formula, we'll never rise beyond someone else's limits."

Ma Hongjun did not say much, but every word made Oscar feel as though something was churning inside his mind.

He still wanted to ask more, but Ma Hongjun had already turned his attention back to his book. The meaning was clear: the discussion was over.

Oscar sensibly rose to his feet. When he reached the door, he looked back once.

Ma Hongjun's shadow stretched long under the oil lamp, cast against the wall. His shoulders were solid and powerful, nothing like those of a seven-year-old child. Yet he held his pen steadily, his writing swift.

"Don't stay up too late." With that, Oscar left.

Hearing the door close, Ma Hongjun set down his pen and leaned back in his chair, letting out a long breath.

He looked at the several thick books on the table, then at the page covered in his own writing.

The prescription was still incomplete. It needed repeated consideration and testing.

He had revised the ratio of Bone-Tempering Grass to Blood-Activating Vine more than ten times, yet he still felt there was room for improvement.

Adding Spirit-Focusing Flower did indeed improve meditation efficiency, but too much of it would instead leave the mind restless.

The balance between each herb was far subtler than he had anticipated.

But he knew he was on the right path.

Books held houses of gold; books held beauties fair.

He had heard those two lines in his previous life, but only in this life did he truly understand their meaning.

Books contained more than knowledge. They held the paths walked by those before him, the pitfalls they had stepped into, and the little bits of experience they had gained at immeasurable cost.

If he had to explore all of that on his own, one lifetime would never be enough.

Ma Hongjun picked up his pen and added another line to the paper: "Two qian of Spirit-Focusing Flower paired with one qian of Benzoin can temper its intensity and stabilize the mind."

Outside the window, moonlight flowed like water.

The training ground was empty. Only the dark blue banners fluttered softly in the night breeze, the golden emblems upon them glinting faintly beneath the moon.

Flender stood by the office window, looking at the sliver of light spilling from Ma Hongjun's room.

"That kid's still reading?" Zhao Wuji walked in from outside and followed Flender's gaze.

"Mm."

"Staying up that late every day—can his body handle it?"

Flender did not answer.

He stared at that thread of light, something complicated in his eyes.

"He's right," Flender said.

Zhao Wuji had not heard clearly. "What?"

Flender said nothing more.

He closed the window and returned to sit at his desk.

A book lay open there as well, one he had borrowed from Ink Fragrance Library.

Advanced Soul Power Theory.

He turned to the dog-eared page and continued reading.

Ma Hongjun was right.

Books held houses of gold.

Books held beauties fair.

Even as a teacher, he could not fall behind.

Ma Hongjun spent three whole days buried in the library.

Not the grand library of Ink Fragrance Library, but the small reading room built by the academy itself.

The bookshelves were not large, and they held only a few hundred books. Yet every one had been carefully selected by Flender—Soul Beast Compendium, Medicinal Herb Compilation, Martial Soul Theory, General History of the Continent.

The gilded lettering on their spines glimmered dimly beneath the oil lamp, while the edges of their pages had frayed from frequent turning.

Over three days of spare moments, he reread Advanced Pharmacology from beginning to end. He took out his notebook recording herb properties, compared and corrected his notes, then dug out Shao Xin's medicinal bath formula and reviewed it once more.

There was nothing wrong with Shao Xin's formula. The herbs were matched properly, with principal, supporting, assisting, and harmonizing ingredients each fulfilling their roles.

For an ordinary Soul Master, it was already quite an excellent nourishing formula.

But for a genius with Innate Full Soul Power, for an Evil Fire Phoenix, for Shrek students, it was too mild.

And "too mild" meant it was not potent enough.

Ma Hongjun picked up his pen and wrote down the first version of the formula.

Three qian of Bone-Tempering Grass, five qian of Blood-Activating Vine, two qian of Spirit-Focusing Flower, one qian of Benzoin, one barrel of Millennium Hot Spring Water.

Bone-Tempering Grass strengthened the bones. Blood-Activating Vine cleared the meridians. Spirit-Focusing Flower settled the mind and improved meditation efficiency. Benzoin tempered the intensity of Spirit-Focusing Flower.

The four herbs each served their purpose without conflicting with one another.

After writing it, Ma Hongjun read it over twice and felt that it was too moderate.

He wrote a second version.

He increased Bone-Tempering Grass to five qian, Blood-Activating Vine to eight qian, kept Spirit-Focusing Flower at two qian, and removed the Benzoin—he did not want to temper the intensity of the Spirit-Focusing Flower. That intensity was exactly what he wanted.

If he was going to forcibly neutralize it, he might as well not include it at all.

A third version.

A fourth version.

A fifth version.

Every version was bolder than the last.

The amount of Bone-Tempering Grass rose from three qian all the way to one liang.

Blood-Activating Vine increased from five qian to two liang.

Spirit-Focusing Flower went from two qian to five qian.

Millennium Hot Spring Water rose from one barrel to three.

Ma Hongjun looked at the fifth version and laughed even himself.

With those amounts, forget people—even an ox would not endure the soak.

He changed to another sheet of paper and started over.

This time, he no longer pursued sheer potency. Instead, with utmost seriousness, he wrote down the final version he had reached after careful consideration, stroke by stroke.

Six qian of Bone-Tempering Grass, one liang of Blood-Activating Vine, three qian of Spirit-Focusing Flower, two qian of Benzoin, two barrels of Millennium Hot Spring Water.

Ma Hongjun held up the sheet and examined it from side to side. At last, he nodded in satisfaction.

Six qian of Bone-Tempering Grass—bones had limited endurance. Any more would injure the marrow instead, so greed was not an option.

One liang of Blood-Activating Vine—clearing the meridians was the core purpose of the medicinal bath. If the meridians were blocked, Soul Power circulation would be impeded, and cultivation speed naturally could not improve.

Spirit-Focusing Flower paired with Benzoin—seventy percent of the flower's intensity would be neutralized, leaving thirty percent behind.

It would improve meditation efficiency without making the mind restless. Three parts stimulation, seven parts stability.

After finishing the formula, Ma Hongjun did not immediately go looking for Flender.

He took out Compendium of Spirit Beast Herbs again, found the page on Bone-Tempering Grass, and reread the section on its medicinal properties: "Enters the kidney meridian, strengthens sinews and bones; prolonged use lightens the body and extends life." Then he found Blood-Activating Vine and read through it, followed by Spirit-Focusing Flower.

After confirming that there were no mistakes, he folded the prescription and tucked it into his clothes.

The next morning, after training ended, Ma Hongjun went to find Flender.

Flender was flipping through account books in his office.

The academy's recent income and expenses were fairly balanced. Revenue from the auction house was stable, the remaining payment for the school buildings had been settled, and there were still more than ten thousand Gold Soul Coins in the accounts.