Of course, that didn't mean there was no solution. Bai Sui could actively absorb the qi of heaven and earth to expand his capacity.
Bai Sui had also discovered that the more spiritual liquid he had within him, the more natural qi he could absorb passively.
He figured that once he grew stronger, he would be able to supply energy to his body while still having enough left over to cultivate passively.
His body would probably grow stronger by then and need more energy, but that was a matter for the future. For now, he didn't know.
Bai Sui decided to run an experiment and see whether anything would change if he stopped eating and relied solely on qi for energy.
Since he no longer needed to cook or eat, he had more time that morning. He decided to search the nearby area for any useful medicinal herbs.
He even thought that, in the future, he could try preparing some external alchemy pills.
Bai Sui was currently practicing internal alchemy. External alchemy wasn't essential, but it was still an excellent method for strengthening oneself.
As it happened, Bai Sui had come across a few prescriptions for cultivation aids in his previous life. Back then, however, he had been pursuing the path of the Ghost Immortal, and the medicines enhanced the spirit by depleting the body.
Bai Sui didn't think he would need them in this life. Since he was pursuing the path of the Human Immortal, his physical body was still useful, and there was no need to take such medicines.
He even suspected that the ancient rulers of his previous life had died from taking pills like these. In the early days, they had sought spiritual transcendence through corpse liberation, not longevity that preserved the body.
Those prescriptions truly were immortal formulas, and might even have been genuine ones used by immortals. But the goal had been different, so the pills had turned from elixirs into poison.
Putting those thoughts aside, Bai Sui began his search for medicinal herbs.
Chinese herbal medicines could generally be divided into categories such as exterior-releasing herbs, heat-clearing herbs, wind-dampness-dispelling herbs, diuretics, phlegm-resolving and cough-suppressing herbs, qi-regulating herbs, blood-activating herbs, hemostatic herbs, digestion-aiding herbs, antiparasitic herbs, purgatives, summerheat-clearing herbs, cold-dispelling herbs, spirit-calming and spasm-relieving herbs, tonics, astringents, softening and mass-resolving herbs, and external medicines.
Since the five hunters were the people in the village most likely to need medicine, Bai Sui made a point of gathering more hemostatic and antiparasitic herbs.
Unfortunately, the season was wrong. It was still spring, and most of the herbs Bai Sui knew were harvested in autumn. There weren't many useful plants available now, though he did find some.
Zhu Wood could be used medicinally in its roots, flowers, and leaves. It was mainly used to treat various kinds of bleeding, including coughing up blood, nosebleeds, uterine bleeding, bleeding hemorrhoids, and bleeding ulcers. It was simple to prepare: just boil it in water and drink it. For external wounds, fresh leaves had to be crushed and applied to the affected area. That was the method he had used yesterday, and Zhu Wood could be gathered all year round.
Wintergreen could be used medicinally in its entirety and could also be gathered year-round, but it had to be dried before use. He couldn't use it today, but he could collect it for later. It was simple to prepare, too: just grind it into a fine powder and sprinkle it over the wound.
Ranunculus could be used medicinally in its entirety and gathered year-round. It was poisonous and could be used to kill mosquito larvae. He just had to chop up fresh plants, soak them in water at a ratio of 1:19 for a day, then spray the liquid over stagnant pools and other places where larvae bred. It was only just spring, and there were no mosquitoes yet, but they would probably appear soon, so he could prepare in advance.
There was no helping it. It was early spring, when useful herbs were scarce. Besides, Bai Sui hadn't specialized in this field in his previous life. He was mostly relying on what he could identify from memory, which left him with limited options.
Fortunately, it was early spring, so there were few poisonous insects. He could also make calomel, sulfur, realgar, and other substances to repel or kill them.
As he searched for herbs, Bai Sui kept half of his attention on the radiance of his Primordial Spirit. He sifted through memories from his previous life and compared what he remembered with the plants in the forest.
By comparing what he remembered with what he found, Bai Sui gradually mastered a great deal of knowledge that had previously been no more than vague impressions.
Although he had few medicines and techniques at his disposal for now, Bai Sui believed that with time, he would become more and more skilled and be able to stock a wider variety of herbs.
As he returned to dry the Wintergreen, Bai Sui thought about his earlier attempts to use the five-element techniques.
Could fire be the release of qi, making the qi he controlled operate in a dispersed form and take on the properties of fire?
He hadn't succeeded when he used the qi he had cultivated within himself. What about natural qi? Would that work?
After several attempts, Bai Sui managed to make qi produce heat. He still couldn't kindle a flame directly, but it worked well enough to dry herbs.
At first, his control had been poor, and he'd scorched one of the plants. To avoid wasting it, Bai Sui found a piece of cloth, dampened it, and tried to dry it using qi.
After several tries, Bai Sui managed to dry the herbs without scorching them. He still couldn't release the qi outward; he could only let it out around his body.
Still, he figured that if he struck someone with his palm, he could probably burn the area he hit.
"Does this mean I've learned the Blazing Sun Palm? I never thought I'd end up cultivating martial arts through the path of cultivation, when everyone else enters the Dao through martial arts."
With that idea in mind, Bai Sui tried experimenting with the other four attributes.
And sure enough, he made some discoveries. After experimenting, he found that wood-attribute qi could accelerate plant growth, though with his current abilities the effect was negligible.
Metal-attribute qi could make the body or other things tougher. It worked best on his own body, with weaker effects on other things.
So far, Bai Sui had only managed to bring out the cold property of water-attribute qi. In contrast to drying herbs, he could use it to freeze food. He hadn't found any other applications yet, and it didn't work very well for combat when he tested it.
Earth-attribute qi was the most unusual. After experimenting, Bai Sui found that it had healing effects. This greatly enhanced his medical abilities at this stage and could partly make up for his lack of medicine and medical equipment.
Bai Sui spent the rest of the time experimenting and testing at home. He didn't remember that he had something to do today until someone came to see him.
The visitor was a little boy, Kyo Yasuhiro, Kyosato's younger brother. The flush in his cheeks and the fact that he was still catching his breath showed that he had run all the way there.
There was no need to keep him waiting. This would also give Bai Sui a chance to test the practical effects of his qi on someone else.
He ground up the dried Wintergreen and put it in a small jar, then took along some cloth strips he had steamed earlier and headed for Kyosato's house.