New Tasks, New Rewards

Upon hearing this, Zhou Cheng hurriedly brought up the system panel to check.

Sure enough, while soaking in the medicinal bath, his Black Tortoise Divine Technique and Indestructible Vajra Divine Technique cultivated at fifteen times their daytime speed.

Zhou Cheng was delighted.

He had never expected that soaking in a medicinal bath could actually increase the cultivation speed of his techniques.

Wait—since soaking in a medicinal bath could increase his cultivation speed, if he switched to a better medicinal bath, would his techniques cultivate even faster?

And since medicinal baths worked, would swallowing pills likewise increase the cultivation speed of his techniques?

And would the effects of pills be even better?

The more Zhou Cheng thought about it, the more excited he became.

It was as though he had discovered an inexhaustible treasure trove.

An inexhaustible treasure trove for developing his strength.

Though excited, Zhou Cheng still soaked for a full two hours. Only after the medicinal bath's effects faded did he climb out of the large wooden tub.

Zhou Cheng had always been frugal. Each portion of this medicinal bath was worth dozens of taels of silver, so naturally, it could not be wasted.

For an ordinary farming family in the Great Feng Dynasty, a month's living expenses amounted to only three or four taels of silver.

After climbing out of the tub, he washed himself, got dressed, and pondered the matter of medicinal baths.

The medicinal bath he was currently using was already the finest body-refining medicinal bath on the Great Feng Dynasty market. He likely could not find a better one. As for Body-Refining Pills, alchemists were few, and the medicinal ingredients were precious. A single pill cost a hundred taels of gold. Even though his father was the General of the Nation, they could not afford such consumption.

Just as Zhou Cheng was troubled over medicinal baths and Body-Refining Pills, the system's notification sounded.

"Ding! The host has a new task."

A task?

Zhou Cheng froze, then brought up the system panel. The task tab was flashing continuously. His heart stirred, and he opened it to take a look.

"Task: Collect one jin each of Heartless Fruit, Autumn Yellow Chrysanthemum, Red Fragrant Leaf, Purple Fragrant Herb, Rock Flower, Small Atractylodes, Ice Crystal Snow, Red Flame, Green Mugwort... and nineteen medicinal ingredients in total."

"Reward: Two portions of Special Body-Refining Medicinal Bath and one Body-Refining Medicinal Bath Secret Recipe."

Zhou Cheng hurriedly used a pen to write down every medicinal ingredient required for the task, then left the Grand General's Mansion and headed for a herb shop.

It was already the hour of the boar, ten at night, but the Dafeng Capital was still brilliantly lit and bustling with voices. Many shops remained open for business.

The streets of the Dafeng Capital were extremely broad. Some main streets could accommodate eight carriages traveling side by side.

The streets were clean, all uniformly paved with exceptionally hard granite.

As Zhou Cheng walked through the streets of the Great Feng Dynasty, he felt as though he had somehow returned to Guangzhou City.

Arriving at a Four Seasons Herb Shop, Zhou Cheng took out the list of medicinal ingredients he needed to buy.

The Four Seasons Herb Shop was one of the largest herb shops in the Dafeng Capital, and its stock was quite comprehensive. Though some of the ingredients Zhou Cheng needed were precious, the Four Seasons Herb Shop had them all.

Thus, after Zhou Cheng paid over two hundred taels of silver, he quickly bought every medicinal ingredient he needed.

The shop packed the nineteen medicinal ingredients separately into small bags, then placed them all into a large sack resembling a rice bag.

Zhou Cheng carried the large sack back to the General's Mansion.

He had just returned to his courtyard.

"Ding! Congratulations, host, for completing the task."

"You have obtained two portions of Special Body-Refining Medicinal Bath!"

"You have obtained one Body-Refining Medicinal Bath Secret Recipe."

"Note: Only one portion of Special Body-Refining Medicinal Bath may be used per day."

Zhou Cheng impatiently took out one portion of the Special Body-Refining Medicinal Bath, poured it into the large wooden tub, and began soaking.

Not long after he entered the bath, waves of warmth surged through his body. These warm currents continuously improved his skin, flesh, sinews, internal organs, and even his marrow!

The cultivation speed of the Black Tortoise Divine Technique and the Indestructible Vajra Divine Body was actually three or four times faster than when he had soaked in the previous medicinal bath!

After soaking for two hours, Zhou Cheng only rose from the tub once the medicinal bath's effects gradually faded. He then opened the system's character tab.

Host: Zhou Cheng

Black Tortoise Divine Technique: Third Layer (Progress 62)

Indestructible Vajra Divine Technique: First Layer (Progress 44)

Only twelve hours had passed since noon, yet the Black Tortoise Divine Technique had increased by a full twelve points!

At this rate, he would break through to the fourth body-refining realm by the day after tomorrow at the latest.

"The day after tomorrow?" Zhou Cheng murmured. Happiness had arrived too quickly, catching him somewhat off guard.

Just as Zhou Cheng was savoring this happiness that had come too fast, the system's voice sounded again. "Ding! A new day has begun. The host has a new task."

Another new task?

Only then did Zhou Cheng realize that midnight had already passed.

But what kind of task would it be this time?

Zhou Cheng checked the task tab.

"Task: Collect one jin each of Water Lily, Lovesickness Fruit, Celestial Maiden Flower, Sacred Generation Fruit, Black Peach, Golden Lingzhi... and nineteen medicinal ingredients in total."

"Reward: Two Ancient Body Refining Pills, one Ancient Body Refining Pill Recipe, and one Earth Cauldron."

Two Ancient Body Refining Pills!

And an Ancient Body Refining Pill Recipe, plus an Earth Cauldron!

This Cultivation System was far too considerate. It even rewarded him with a cauldron. Even the most ordinary alchemy cauldron cost several thousand taels of silver, and Zhou Cheng truly could not afford one right now.

But it was already past midnight, and the shops had long since closed. Zhou Cheng planned to go to the Four Seasons Apothecary after getting up tomorrow. In any case, the task did not require immediate completion.

Zhou Cheng undressed and lay down on the bed made of Plow Flower Wood. Looking at the exquisite carvings beside the bed, he could not help but sigh. A day ago, he had still been an ordinary university student from an ordinary family. Now, he had suddenly become the son of a grand general and gained a Cultivation System. The change was so immense that it all felt somewhat unreal.

Zhou Cheng forcefully pinched his arm. It hurt.

That meant it was not a dream!

A moment later, Zhou Cheng did it again. It still hurt.

It seemed it truly was not a dream.

Before he knew it, Zhou Cheng fell asleep.

This sleep was sweeter than any he had ever known.

Back when he was a university student, he had been weak and plagued by dreams, with terrible sleep quality. He had never slept so sweetly before.

Only when sunlight streamed through the window and shone on his face did Zhou Cheng wake up.

After leaving his room, Zhou Cheng stretched his entire body and felt refreshed and invigorated.

Though less than a day had passed, under the cultivation of the Black Tortoise Divine Technique and the Indestructible Vajra Divine Technique, his skin, flesh, sinews, internal organs, and bones had all strengthened considerably compared to before.

He felt as though his entire body had become lighter.

This was no illusion.

After being tempered by both the Black Tortoise Divine Technique and the Indestructible Vajra Divine Technique, the impurities within his body were continuously being expelled, which was why he felt lighter.

Zhou Cheng left his courtyard and headed toward the Four Seasons Apothecary.

Upon arriving at the apothecary, the manager recognized Zhou Cheng and said with a smile, "Young master, are you here to buy more medicinal ingredients?"

The night before, Zhou Cheng had spent over two hundred taels on medicinal ingredients at once. For such a valuable customer, it would have been hard for him not to remember.

Zhou Cheng nodded, took out the list of nineteen medicinal ingredients required for the new task, and said, "Does your apothecary have the ingredients on this list? I want one jin of each."

The apothecary manager took the list and glanced at it, his eyes lighting up. This was another major sale. His smile became warm. "We have all nineteen of these medicinal ingredients. Young master, please sit and have some tea. I'll have someone fetch the ingredients for you right away."