Lieshan lay sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath. His dizzy head gradually cleared, and sweat drenched his body as though he had just been hauled out of the water.
At the sight of that familiar figure before him, he knew who had saved him.
Duobao.
The teacher who had remained hidden in the shadows, silently watching over him.
"Enough." Duobao's voice rang in his ears, tinged with distress. "You're going to get yourself killed."
Lieshan managed a weak smile. "I won't die... not with you here, Teacher."
Duobao fell silent for a moment, then said heavily, "I can save you, but that doesn't mean you can throw your life away. If you encounter certain unusual poisons, I'll have no choice but to fish you back out of the Underworld."
Lieshan pushed himself up, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and carefully placed the plant that had nearly killed him into his bamboo basket.
"It's poisonous. Deadly poisonous," he murmured to himself. "The poison is potent and takes effect extremely quickly...!"
Duobao was speechless.
Had this disciple of his gone mad?
He had just escaped death, yet the first thing he did upon waking was analyze the plant's medicinal properties instead of feeling afraid?
"Give it a name," Duobao said irritably. "It did nearly kill you, after all."
Lieshan thought for a moment and said, "Eating this herb tears the bowels apart. Let's call it... heartbreak grass."
Duobao: "..."
Lieshan shouldered his bamboo basket and, enduring the lingering pain in his abdomen, continued searching the mountain forest for the next herb.
The discovery of heartbreak grass was only the beginning.
In the years that followed, Lieshan swallowed dozens of different plants every day, analyzing their medicinal properties and effects.
Every morning, he entered the mountains and tested