Spirit-Restoring Dew

The wisp of sinking qi inside his body was Cocoon Force he had picked up from Li Family Village.

With the evil qi still uncleansed, Xie An felt uncomfortable all over.

As he circulated the Spirit Preservation Method, rings of mental ripples spread through his mind, making his consciousness clear and lucid.

Xie An stared fixedly at that wisp of sinking qi in the mirror.

After roughly a quarter of an hour, the sinking qi in the mirror had visibly shrunk by a circle.

"Sure enough, it works!"

Xie An was overjoyed. Just as he was about to continue circulating the Spirit Preservation Method, a fierce pain suddenly tore through his scalp, as though his brain were about to explode.

He had no choice but to stop and viciously knead his temples.

He glanced at the mental stat on the panel. It had actually dropped back to a pitiful 0.1.

Circulating the Spirit Preservation Method consumed far too much mental energy!

Fortunately, he had confirmed that the Spirit Preservation Method could erase Cocoon Force. He could try again after taking the medicinal soup Chen Mo had prepared to recover some mental energy.

"Qiu Lan, when Chen Mo returns and finishes brewing the medicine, knock and call me," Xie An instructed. Then, dragging his exhausted mind along, he climbed into bed and fell asleep.

He did not know how long he slept before someone woke him in a daze.

"Young Master, Instructor Chen's medicine has finished brewing."

Only then did Xie An climb out of bed. He casually checked the mental stat on his panel, only to find it was still a pitiful 0.1.

Wasn't that the same as not recovering at all?

If he did not quickly find medicine to restore his mental energy, it would become a major problem.

After getting dressed and entering the sitting room, he saw Chen Mo, clad in green, standing ramrod straight with a bowl of medicine in her hands. Once Xie An sat down, she presented the medicinal soup. "Based on the martial hall's prescription for awakening the mind and nourishing the heart, I used sweet flag and reishi as the primary ingredients, then added ginseng and Solomon's seal."

Xie An nodded, but did not drink the medicine. Instead, he looked at Chen Mo.

At first, Chen Mo was baffled. Then she understood.

Young Master Mingxi wanted her to test the medicine first.

How cautious!

Chen Mo's heart suddenly turned cold, but she smiled. "I shall test whether the medicine is too hot for Young Master."

With that, Chen Mo scooped up a spoonful and drank it. "It is not too hot."

Only then did Xie An nod. He picked up the bowl and drained it in one gulp.

Closing his eyes, he carefully felt the medicinal power flow through his limbs and bones.

After quite a while, a clear, bright medicinal force seeped into his brain, making it feel somewhat more at ease.

It seemed to work?

Xie An abruptly opened his eyes. "Bring three more bowls."

Chen Mo immediately ran off to fetch more medicine.

After three large bowls of medicinal soup entered his stomach, Xie An closed his eyes and sensed the effects for a long while. He found that the mental stat on his panel had recovered to 0.2.

It really worked... Xie An could not help but rejoice.

"Bring the medicine pot over."

Chen Mo brought over the medicine pot, and Xie An drank all the remaining medicinal soup.

His mental stat recovered to 0.3, then stopped rising.

The medicine had some effect, but not much.

Still, a mental stat of 0.3 already made Xie An feel much better. At the very least, controlling his body to perform basic movements was no longer much of a problem.

Winning over Chen Mo as a trusted confidante was costly, but the money had been well spent.

When he had first won Chen Mo over, Xie An had also held something back.

Now that he saw Chen Mo expertly preparing medicine for the mind, and judging from the first time she had made medicine... she was reliable as well. If he told her the cause of his illness, she might be able to formulate more effective medicine based on his symptoms.

If she could formulate a prescription similar to the Vital Blood Pill, he would be able to restore his mental energy whenever he wanted in the future. Then, he could transplant mental martial arts in large quantities.

Xie An had Chen Mo sit at a side seat. "I will not hide it from you. A few days ago, someone used a Yin Cloth Doll to kill Zhao Hu's entire family. Later, that thief even tried to use a Yin Cloth Doll against me. The fright drained my mental energy dry, as though it had been sucked out of me. The medicine you prepared just now is useful, but its effects are poor. Do you have a better prescription?"

Chen Mo pondered for a moment. "Then an ordinary mind-awakening prescription will not do."

Xie An's eyes lit up. "Explain in detail."

Chen Mo said, "Mental weakness caused by ghosts and specters differs from ordinary mental weakness. At its root, it is instability of the three souls and deficiency of the seven spirits. Ordinary mind-awakening soup can scarcely restore it. You must take medicinal soup specifically meant to warm and nourish the soul.

"When my father roamed the jianghu in his early years, he was once afflicted by evil and his soul became weak. Later, he encountered a wandering Daoist who gave him a prescription. My father prepared the medicine according to that prescription, and after taking it, his soul quickly recovered."

Xie An was delighted to hear this.

This was exactly the sort of prescription he needed.

"What kind of prescription was it?"

Chen Mo said, "It is called Spirit-Restoring Dew. Its medicinal power can penetrate the flesh and nourish and repair the three souls. The one who takes it will enter a state of deep recuperation, similar to false sleep, allowing the soul to recover completely. However, gathering the ingredients needed to prepare Spirit-Restoring Dew is no easy matter."

Xie An said, "Go on."

Chen Mo nodded. "Preparing Spirit-Restoring Dew requires three exceedingly precious ingredients.

"The primary ingredient is the Soul-Nourishing Flower. This flower grows in places of extreme yin and is born bathed in moonlight. Its petals store pure lunar essence, making it an invaluable treasure for nourishing the soul.

"Second is Rootless Water, the medicinal catalyst. It is the first drop of dew beneath the first ray of sunlight each day, or the first drop of rain that falls from the heavens amid thunder and lightning. As the purest 'water born of heaven,' it is the perfect medium to guide medicinal power to the soul.

"Third is the supplementary ingredient, Black Jade Reishi. It is a kind of reishi that grows on the sheer cliffs of mines, its entire body black as jade. Its own effects are mediocre, but it can harmonize the properties of the Soul-Nourishing Flower and Rootless Water, allowing the two to meld perfectly.

"All three ingredients are exceptionally precious. Gathering enough for one dose costs a thousand taels of silver."

The original owner had spent over ten thousand taels in total just to sleep with Su Hongxiu, the Red Sleeve House's courtesan queen... yet he had not even kissed her little mouth.

What was a thousand taels for medicine now?

"Qiu Lan, go to the estate treasury and withdraw one thousand taels of silver. If anyone asks, say I need it to purchase martial arts manuals," Xie An immediately ordered.

Qiu Lan nodded and left. Before long, she returned with a stack of silver notes.

Xie An handed the notes to Chen Mo. "Chen Mo, I will trouble you with this."

Chen Mo's hand froze for a moment as she accepted the silver notes.

One thousand taels... and he did not even blink.

"Young Master, rest assured. However, Spirit-Restoring Dew has side effects."

Xie An was taken aback. "Oh?"

Chen Mo said, "There are mainly two side effects.

"If taken continuously over a short period, its effects will weaken drastically. You must wait seven days before it can take effect again.

"If taken over a long period, the mind will become dependent on and addicted to Spirit-Restoring Dew. Once the medicine is stopped, the whole body will feel unwell."

The seven-day limit was nothing. The main issue was addiction.

But then Xie An reconsidered.

No matter.

He would not take it every day. He would only take it after transplanting mental martial arts. He would not become addicted.

"I understand. Go on, then."

After giving his instructions, Xie An returned to his bedroom to sleep.

At dusk, Qiu Lan woke him. Chen Mo had already prepared the Spirit-Restoring Dew and placed it in a small porcelain bottle as thick as a thumb.

As before, he first had Chen Mo drink a drop. Once nothing happened, Xie An drank a drop himself.

Buzz!

His brain immediately began to hum, and his scalp went numb.

The mental stat on his panel rose at a speed visible to the naked eye.

0.3→0.4→0.5...1.9!

Even Xie An was stunned by the medicine's effects.

Just one drop had restored his mental energy to full.

That thousand taels had truly been well spent.

Xie An returned to his bedroom, closed the door, and circulated the Spirit Preservation Method before the mirror.

"Sinking qi, this time you should disappear..."