Likewise, this Merit was not much, but just like the Merit Jiang Yuan had gained before, its strength lay in its lasting nature. As long as this way of cooking remained in use, he could continue to earn Merit.
And as this method of cooking spread and more and more people used it, the amount of Merit it provided him would keep increasing.
"An unexpected bonus."
There really was an unexpected bonus. Jiang Yuan carefully tallied things up and realized he had quite a few meritorious deeds to his name.
From creating characters and making paper at the beginning, to weaving cloth, and now cooking, all of these could provide him with a steady stream of Merit.
Granted, each of these deeds provided only a little Merit on its own, but together, the total was quite substantial.
So substantial that Jiang Yuan felt he might not need to collect the Nine Sons' Essence Blood after all. With Merit alone, he might be able to form the Nine Sons Incarnation.
Merit really was too versatile. He felt he could find a place to hide right now and stay there until the Era of Liches and Demons ended. By then, the Merit he had earned should be enough for him to reach the Daluo Golden Immortal Realm, or even the Quasi-Saint Realm.
Tsk, tsk. It was a fine idea, but unfortunately, it wasn't realistic. As the conflict between the Wu and Yao races grew ever fiercer, where in the Primordial World was safe, aside from the Sages' sanctuaries?
Take the Demon Race Slaughter of Humans Tribulation. That alone wouldn't be easy to escape. Hiding wasn't realistic, so he still had to work hard at cultivation.
If he relied on Merit alone, he wouldn't reach the Daluo Realm until after the Wu-Yao conflict. But if he combined Merit with his own hard cultivation, perhaps he could reach the Daluo Realm before the Demon Race Slaughter of Humans Tribulation broke out.
Even before a calamity of that scale, a Daluo Golden Immortal couldn't change much. But protecting himself and some of his people wouldn't be a problem.
Once they replaced the meat broth with medicinal broth, the results were indeed different—immediate, in fact. It instantly purged most of the baleful energy from their bodies.
The little that remained would probably be completely purged after two or three more doses.
"Good. Draw pictures of these medicinal herbs and make sure the tribespeople memorize them. The next time they encounter a similar situation, they'll know how to deal with it."
"Also, gather a sample of every medicinal herb near the Human Race. I want to carefully analyze their medicinal properties and compile them into a book for the tribespeople to use."
Remembering something, Jiang Yuan gave the order to everyone. Shennong's achievement had been cultivating the Five Grains. Since he had already taken that achievement, he might as well take it all the way and claim the achievement of tasting the hundred herbs, too.
It was all for the Human Race. Surely the Earth Emperor would understand.
Today's cause would become tomorrow's effect. Jiang Yuan had taken the Earth Emperor's achievement in advance today. When the Earth Emperor was born in the future, if Jiang Yuan was still alive, he would naturally repay him many times over.
"There are ultimately too few kinds of medicinal herbs near the Human Race. Have the Ten Thousand Races help gather some as well."
"To keep them from finding it difficult, don't ask them to gather any rare medicinal herbs. Just have them collect some common ones."
Thinking of the relationship between the Human Race and the Ten Thousand Races at present, Jiang Yuan added this.
If he was going to do it, he would do it properly. What was tasting a hundred herbs? He would taste ten thousand and write a Primordial Spirit Herb Canon, recording the features and medicinal properties of every spirit herb in the Primordial World.
If conditions allowed, he could make it even more detailed by recording the regions where those spirit herbs grew and the environments they needed.
And that still wouldn't be the limit.
He could make it more detailed still, recording how to cultivate each of these spirit herbs.
He could even combine information about their environments and regions to draw a detailed Primordial World Map.
Hiss~~
At the thought, Jiang Yuan instinctively took out the Writing Brush of Creation and the Character Creation Diagram.
He had previously imagined turning these two treasures into the Human Emperor's Brush and the Earth Emperor's Book. He'd thought it was only a fantasy, but he hadn't expected it might actually become reality.
If he recorded everything he had just thought of—the Primordial Spirit Herb Canon, the Primordial Spirit Herb Planting Manual, the Primordial World Map, as well as the Primordial Agriculture Book and the Primordial Husbandry Book that had just occurred to him—on the Character Creation Diagram with the Writing Brush of Creation, how powerful would the diagram become?
Bringing together History Book, maps, books on farming, the Canon of Spirit Herbs... and so many other important classics, the Character Creation Diagram would earn the name Earth Emperor's Book from the Heavenly Dao itself, even if Jiang Yuan didn't say a word.
If even such a treasure couldn't bear the name of the Earth Emperor, then what treasure in the Primordial World could?
Since the Character Creation Diagram had become the Earth Emperor's Book, the Writing Brush of Creation that wrote in it would naturally earn the name Human Emperor's Brush as well.
"This is the path by which the Character Creation Diagram and the Writing Brush of Creation will ascend in the future. One records knowledge, the other passes it on. So long as they record and transmit enough knowledge, they'll eventually ascend into the Earth Emperor's Book and the Human Emperor's Brush."
Jiang Yuan understood. He knew how to strengthen these two treasures from here on: record as much knowledge as possible in them, and they would grow more powerful by the day.
Jiang Yuan didn't know how powerful the Earth Emperor's Book and the Human Emperor's Brush would be, but even if they fell short of an Innate Supreme Treasure, they surely wouldn't be weaker than the Ten Great Innate Spiritual Treasures. They might even rival the top Innate Merit Spirit Treasures.
"Yes!"
Jiang Yuan was lost in thought when Tao answered, having received his order. The reply brought him back to himself.
"Mm, go ahead."
Jiang Yuan nodded and dismissed Tao, then continued dealing with his official duties. But his thoughts were clearly elsewhere now; his mind was full of grand plans.
He couldn't neglect cultivation, he couldn't stop cultivating Grain, and he also had to compile the Canon of Spirit Herbs.
All three tasks were important. And with the official duties he was handling, he couldn't let any of them fall behind. Jiang Yuan truly wished he could split himself into four and handle all four tasks at once.
Huh~~
Split into four...
He actually might be able to.
Thinking of his cultivation technique, Jiang Yuan circulated the Creation Dao Scripture and split off four incarnations.
Although he hadn't yet formed the Nine Sons Incarnation, before that, he had made two attempts to reach the Heaven Immortal Realm and formed eighteen incarnations.
Those eighteen incarnations hadn't vanished when his breakthroughs failed. Instead, they had become part of his reserves and remained hidden within his body.
They were his trump card. The eighteen incarnations were eighteen versions of himself, and working together, they could easily surround and kill even a Heaven Immortal.
What was more, each incarnation was another life. Those eighteen incarnations gave him eighteen extra lives, able to die in his place eighteen times.
How could he give up such a method? He had to keep them inside him for emergencies. And now, here was just such an occasion.
With four incarnations helping him, Jiang Yuan felt much more at ease. His true self focused on cultivation.
The other four incarnations each had a task: one handled official duties; one tried to tame Foxtail Grass and cultivate it into Grain; another tasted ten thousand herbs, identifying their medicinal properties and compiling the Canon of Spirit Herbs.
The last incarnation mingled among the Ten Thousand Races, gathering information and learning about their customs and traditions while experiencing the mortal world.
That was Jiang Yuan's daily routine from then on. It was certainly a full one.