You Smell So Good!

"Little Zou, you're not asleep yet, are you?"

He knew from the voice that Luo Yong had come.

Zou Feng opened the door and respectfully said, "Master, do you have something to instruct me about?"

Luo Yong nodded. "We'll be busy these next few days, so I won't have time to teach you the craft for now. Take some time to read this book first."

He had taken on a disciple but had yet to teach him anything, and Luo Yong felt somewhat guilty about it.

So, before it got too late, he had personally come to deliver the book.

By the moonlight, Zou Feng saw the words written on the cover: Herbal Compendium.

"You must be able to skillfully identify all kinds of herbs, understand their properties, and grasp their principles before you can prepare medicinal meals without making mistakes."

Zou Feng's eyes lit up.

He had been wanting to cram up on the medicinal knowledge of this world anyway.

Medicine and poison shared the same source. The more he understood medicinal theory, the easier it would be to deal with poison.

After all, an evil art like the Five Poisons Palm could hardly be considered a sophisticated technique.

If he truly wanted to achieve something with it, merely using the venom of ordinary household poisons would not be enough.

Sooner or later, he would have to deal with more complex poisons.

"Thank you, Master!" Zou Feng solemnly accepted the book with both hands.

Knowledge books like these were extremely valuable in this world.

They were not something one could read whenever one pleased.

"The Herbal Compendium has six volumes. This is only the first."

"Once you've nearly finished this volume, come to me for the rest."

There were six volumes of herb books, each thicker than two bricks put together?

Though he had already planned to make up for his lack of herbal knowledge, the sheer workload still gave Zou Feng a headache.

Luo Yong continued to remind him, "Read more and memorize more. Do not slack off. In a few days, I'll test you on what's in the book!"

Here, becoming any craftsman's disciple was no easy matter.

If a disciple was disobedient or poor at learning the craft, the master would inevitably resort to sticks and beatings.

Hearing that there would even be a "test," Zou Feng's headache worsened.

Before crossing over, he had never been good at rote memorization, and he had only been interested in the sciences.

After chatting idly for a few more moments, Luo Yong turned to leave.

Yet after taking only a few steps, he suddenly stopped and turned back. With a look of disgust, he said, "Oh, right. You're a fine young man—can you stop carrying those sachets around?"

"We cooks smell too many pungent fragrances, and it affects our sense of smell when we cook!"

Zou Feng was stunned for a moment, then nodded. "Oh, oh, I understand, Master. Take care..."

Only after Luo Yong had gone far away did Zou Feng slowly close the door.

Then he frowned and looked at his own palms.

He had not been carrying any sachets at all.

The fragrance Luo Yong had smelled was actually emanating from his palms.

As his Five Poisons Palm cultivation deepened, the fragrance emitted by his hands would become more obvious.

Zou Feng simply had not expected that the Five Poisons Palm would actually train his hands to smell like five-spice powder...

Luckily, he had been helping out in the kitchen and naturally came into contact with all sorts of spices. Otherwise, the misunderstanding would have been enormous.

"Still, according to the manual, once I reach a certain level, the scent will gradually fade. As long as I don't circulate my inner power, it won't be noticeable."

"Once the technique is mastered, even if I circulate my power with all my strength, it will become completely colorless and odorless..."

So he still had to hurry up and keep cultivating!

Dragging out the chamber pot filled with venom, Zou Feng once again made Brother Li suffer on his behalf.

This time, however, he also lit an oil lamp and placed the Herbal Compendium on the table beside him.

He clearly intended to cultivate while reading.

Dividing one's attention while cultivating was a great taboo, but Zou Feng did not need to concentrate in the first place.

Whatever went wrong during cultivation would all be borne by Brother Li anyway.

After reading for a while, that all-too-familiar, uncontrollable drowsiness he used to feel when reading textbooks before crossing over surged over him.

There was no helping it. It was simply far too, far too boring—especially since he had to memorize it all carefully.

Moreover, although the herbs in the book came with highly realistic illustrations, many of their differences lay in tiny details, and staring at them for too long easily made his eyes swim.

It was all hard knowledge. How long would he have to memorize this—until the monkeys grew old?

Zou Feng now envied the protagonists from the novels he had read before.

It seemed those protagonists always obtained some secret manual and remembered everything after reading it a few times...

Just as he was feeling helpless, the panel in his mind suddenly appeared on its own.

"Five Poisons Palm (Initial Glimpse), progress: 67%"

"Herbal Compendium, Volume One (Initial Glimpse), progress: 2%"

"Cultivation side effects: unbearable pain, chronic poisoning."

"Drowsiness, agitation."

"Do you choose to transfer the side effects?"

"Current available transfer target: Li Rui"

Uh... this could be transferred too?!

Zou Feng clearly remembered that the side effects of cultivating the Five Poisons Palm had only been unbearable pain and chronic poisoning.

But now that the Herbal Compendium had been added, drowsiness and agitation had immediately appeared as well.

But the Herbal Compendium was not a cultivation technique...

No, that was not right. The reason he was studying the Herbal Compendium was not to become a cook or a physician.

It was to help himself improve the Five Poisons Palm in the future.

Therefore, studying the Herbal Compendium had probably been classified as part of cultivating the Five Poisons Palm.

And after being tired all day, staying up late to study was suffering in itself. Of course there would be side effects.

Not to mention that he had never been good at rote memorization to begin with.

So Brother Li would have to suffer again...

The transfer took effect immediately. Zou Feng instantly perked up, and all of his previous drowsiness vanished without a trace.

When he looked at the herbal knowledge in the book again, he no longer found it dry and tasteless. Instead, he read it with great relish.

As everyone knew, once studying no longer felt dull and tedious, memorizing became much easier.

If he had possessed this ability back when he had been a student before crossing over, how wonderful would that have been...

After finishing his Five Poisons Palm cultivation, Zou Feng continued memorizing the Herbal Compendium for a while before finally going to sleep in peace.

Early the next morning, because the Yang Estate's open banquet was still ongoing, Zou Feng remained just as busy.

It was said that this open banquet would actually continue for seven days.

And Li Rui looked even worse today.

Though detoxifying medicine soup suppressed the poison, he had also suffered through studying, so his sleep quality had inevitably been poor. He felt as though his body had been hollowed out.

Seeing this, Zou Feng asked with concern, "Brother Li, did you not sleep well?"

Li Rui did not even want to speak. Hearing this, he merely nodded weakly.

Zou Feng added, "I happen to know a prescription that replenishes qi and calms the mind. Brother Li can give it a try."

The medicinal ingredients needed for this prescription were all cheap and common. There was no need to take risks by getting them from the kitchen for free.

So Li Rui would not think there was anything suspicious about it.

"Thank you..." Li Rui looked at Zou Feng with doubt in his eyes.

Did this guy not know that he had been the one to report him before?

He was strangely nice.

But the next moment, Li Rui's nose twitched. Then he stared at Zou Feng with a baffled look and asked, "Why do you... smell so good!?"

The five-spice scent emitted by cultivating the Five Poisons Palm had grown even stronger.

Zou Feng made up an excuse. "Probably because I've been surrounded by piles of medicinal herbs these past few days!"

Li Rui had also been handling medicinal herbs these past two days, so after hearing that, he lowered his head and sniffed himself as well.

"There is a bit of a smell, but it's nowhere near as fragrant as you..."

Zou Feng said awkwardly, "Ahem, ahem. Let's get to work first. Sigh, we're going to be worked to the bone again today!"