Time to Drink Medicine

Before Lin Xuan could round up enough men, a dark, swarming mass of people appeared in the distance to the west, approaching Liangcheng.

The distance was too great for most to discern whether it was a group of refugees, a defeated army, or a band of marauders.

The long-range vision granted by Sharp Eyes far exceeded that of an ordinary person. At a glance, they appeared to be refugees and defeated soldiers; their formation was ragged, they carried a smattering of weapons, and they did not seem to be wearing armor.

In that case, it was highly probable they were refugees and defeated soldiers, but Lin Xuan dared not be certain, nor did he wish to make contact. If they were marauders in disguise, it would be a disaster.

Consequently, he led the able-bodied men he had conscripted and headed straight for the Liangcheng Thousand-Household Office.

Lin Xuan's speed in rounding up men was quite impressive; he managed to gather all the required able-bodied men in a single night.

Upon arriving at the Garrison, he discovered that tents were being erected within the compound, and grain was being transported in continuously. This was the grain from several Hundred-Household Commander posts; unable to hold their ground against the marauder army, they had transferred all their grain and assets here.

No one would dare embezzle their own rations.

Chen Fang and Lin An had been settled in the Qin Family courtyard. The Qin Family also had quarters at the Thousand-Household Office; although the residence was not as large as the one at the Hundred-Household Commander post, it could still accommodate many people.

They had tidied up a few empty rooms, allowing the family of three to stay together.

After returning to the Garrison, Lin Xuan immediately went to find Thousand-Household Commander Su.

At this moment, Thousand-Household Commander Su had already shed his official robes and donned his armor, looking every bit like a man prepared for battle.

"Thousand-Household Commander Su, the men I was ordered to round up have all arrived. Are there any further arrangements? I wish to consume that decoction as soon as possible to increase my strength, so that I may have more power when the time comes to defend against the bandits."

Seeing the men Lin Xuan had brought, Thousand-Household Commander Su was taken aback; this lad had completed his task quite quickly.

"Very well, you may go. There is nothing left for you to do today."

Lin Xuan nodded, then took his leave and headed toward the Qin Family residence.

The Qin Family placed no restrictions on his movements, so he soon arrived at his room.

Chen Fang and Lin An were both weaving cloth; after all, having arrived here, they had nothing else to do.

"I am going to start consuming that Body-Strengthening Potion. Help me boil it. Use a high flame for one hour, then stop the heat to add these herbs, and finally use a low flame for half an hour," Lin Xuan instructed Lin An.

Lin An nodded.

Having come from a family of physicians, her sensitivity to the timing of decocting medicine was far greater than Lin Xuan's.

Lin An opened the herb packets and couldn't help but frown, thinking to herself, They are truly cautious. The herbs are ground so finely that one can barely tell what the ingredients are. Otherwise, I could have adjusted the formula myself.

She felt a sense of regret; she was exceptionally sensitive to medicinal materials. As long as the herbs were packaged normally, she could basically analyze the dosage ratios, but this level of grinding was almost like flour!

"What a pity, such a pity," Lin An couldn't help but say aloud.

"What's a pity?" Hearing her words, Lin Xuan's curiosity was instantly piqued.

Lin An did not hide it and responded candidly, "The medicine is ground too finely. I can't even distinguish what the materials are. If someone wanted to poison this, it would be effortless."

If she could deduce the formula for this Body-Strengthening Decoction, then she and Lin Xuan could see a massive improvement in a short time, and they could even smuggle this decoction.

"You are actually capable of this?" A look of pleasant surprise appeared on Lin Xuan's face; it seemed he had discovered something extraordinary.

"Yes, I come from a family of physicians; I know a bit about herbs," Lin An said, her tone filled with pride.

"You call this 'knowing a bit'?" Lin Xuan was speechless. She was far too modest. How could a talent capable of reverse-engineering medicinal ratios be someone who only knew "a bit"?

Presumably, others have tried to reverse-engineer the imperial Body-Strengthening Decoction's ratios and succeeded, which is why the imperial court now grinds the herbs so finely—to prevent the next genius from attempting this method.

Since she possesses this talent, should I grant her the Eidetic Memory talent? That way, combined with her talent for identifying herbs... No, the main issue with this medicine is that it has been pulverized. Eidetic Memory seems useless here. How can I acquire a talent that would make her current one even stronger?

Lin Xuan suddenly thought of the Book of Fate's talent fusion function. Ever since he had obtained this golden finger, he had never used it.

Could this function merge two identical talents to create a higher-level one?

He did not know, as resources were extremely tight, and he had no spare talents to experiment with using Dao Rhyme.

It seemed he had to obtain more Dao Rhyme; he would have to spend more time near piles of corpses!

"I truly hope I can survive this time. The harvest would be so bountiful I dare not even imagine it."

Afterward, Lin Xuan lay on the bed to recover his strength.

Today had been too exhausting. Not to mention the martial sparring, he had been running back and forth to conscript men. Even with Endurance, he couldn't hold out much longer and needed to rest for a while.

An hour and a half later, Lin An finished boiling the medicine and shook Lin Xuan's body, trying to wake him.

"Brother, Brother, it's time to drink the medicine!"

Lin Xuan woke up, gulped down the entire decoction in one go, and then sat directly on the bed to circulate his internal energy.

The next morning, after digesting most of the medicinal effects, Lin Xuan felt his strength had increased significantly once more. It was possible he was very close to the strength required for the Breath-Connecting Realm.

However, his cultivation level was still far off. After all, of the five hundred catties of physical strength he had possessed a few days ago, thirty percent had been provided by the Super Strength talent.

Lin An was also practicing martial arts and drinking medicine at this time, though she was drinking a decoction made from the dregs Lin Xuan had left behind; her progress was limited.

Lin Xuan did wish for her cultivation to catch up quickly, but reality did not permit it. If he had been promoted to Flag Commander and there were no wars, he could have shared half of that decoction with her.

But the situation was different now. The marauders were about to strike at their very doorstep. If he didn't hurry to strengthen his own personal power and instead split his resources, it would be like breaking all the eggs in both baskets at once.

The sky outside had already brightened. Lin Xuan stepped out of his house. The people at the Garrison were mostly busy repairing the city walls, and a large group of people had even gathered at the entrance of the Garrison.

This group wore no armor but carried weapons; they looked very much like deserters who had been beaten, lost their gear, and fled in panic.

Yet, that was indeed the case. Thousand-Household Commander Su was in the process of integrating these remnants, funneling the deserters who still possessed combat capability into the Garrison's defensive lines.

However, these people were mostly soldiers. The displaced commoners, as well as the wealthy landowners who had fled with their assets out of fear, had already been driven to the county seat; that was where they belonged.