Lu Yang knew nothing of what had happened over in Nuoding City. Lately, he had been so absorbed in his studies that he could hardly pull himself away. With an introduction from Ye Qingling, the head of the Ye Family, he had also begun interacting with Ye Lingling.
That day, Lu Yang took some whale rubber from the Medical Clinic's front hall to the rear courtyard. He laid it on a stone table and studied it against the descriptions in the Medical Canon he held.
Ye Lingling arrived shortly afterward. Seeing this, she sat beside Lu Yang and asked curiously, "What is that?"
"This? Whale rubber. Haven't you seen it before?" Lu Yang answered without even raising his head.
"Whale rubber?!" Ye Lingling froze for a moment. Then, remembering what it was used for, her expression immediately changed.
She subtly shifted her body, seemingly trying to put some distance between herself and Lu Yang.
Lu Yang, however, did not notice her movements. He placed the Medical Canon in front of her. "Senior Sister, look at this record. It says people who consume whale rubber experience a slight improvement in their physical constitution. Do you think the whale rubber could be responsible?"
Only when she heard Lu Yang's voice did Ye Lingling come back to her senses. She leaned over to look where he was pointing, carefully read the passage, and then raised her head.
The cases recorded in this Medical Canon were actual cases accumulated over decades of the Ye Family's medical practice. They could even be traced and verified, so there was no chance of an error.
But wasn't whale rubber something those decadent people used as an aphrodisiac during their bedroom escapades? How could it have an effect like this as well?
Her existing understanding made Ye Lingling reluctant to believe it. Yet as a direct descendant of the Ye Family, and the current inheritor of the Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul, she understood one thing very clearly: no judgment could be passed on something that had not been verified.
Even the Ye Family's Medical Canon was not set in stone. As the times advanced and people gained a deeper understanding of pharmacology, the Ye Family's Medical Canon had undergone countless revisions.
"So you want to verify whether whale rubber also has this effect?" Ye Lingling asked.
Lu Yang nodded. Ever since coming to the Ye Family, he had devoted particular attention, outside his studies, to methods of improving physical constitution. The Medicinal Bath formulas he selected and the medicinal properties of herbs he researched all leaned in that direction. Everyone in the Ye Family knew this.
That was precisely why Lu Yang had taken the opportunity to introduce his whale rubber "research topic."
Lu Yang understood his current circumstances very well. His cultivation was low, and he had neither a protector nor powerful backing. Recklessly revealing certain things would only draw fire onto himself and burn him to ashes.
Thus, whenever he did something, he always found a suitable opportunity or justification. This was an excellent opportunity to reveal whale rubber's effects.
"What do you intend to do?" Suddenly, another voice reached Lu Yang and Ye Lingling.
At some point, Ye Qingling had also entered the rear courtyard. She had heard their entire conversation and had now grown curious herself.
"Uh, Teacher, I'm planning to simmer this whale rubber and give it a try," Lu Yang said.
In the original Douluo story, the description of how to use whale rubber appeared during Peerless Tang Sect, when Huo Yuhao picked up some ten-thousand-year whale glue at a bargain. Huo Yuhao had asked Ma Xiaotao to help refine it with her flames, removing the impurities inside.
Although Lu Yang could also wield flames, he worried that he would not control the heat properly. He simply decided to try a more primitive method: treating the whale rubber like a medicinal herb and simmering it.
Ye Qingling nodded lightly at his words. She did not dislike children who loved delving into things as Lu Yang did; in fact, she quite liked them. If he really could discover another use for whale rubber from the few scattered words recorded in the Medical Canon, that would be a good thing.
Even if Lu Yang failed, all they would lose was a piece of whale rubber that was not particularly old. Such a small loss was nothing to Ye Qingling.
With Ye Qingling's approval, Lu Yang boldly began his experiment. The whale rubber he had was not particularly old, but once he put it in the pot and began simmering it, its pungent, fishy odor still made him pinch his nose.
Once the whale rubber melted, a delicate fragrance wafted from the pot, prompting Ye Lingling, who was keeping him company, to turn and look.
"That fragrance... I never imagined something like whale rubber could turn out like this after simmering."
As the fragrance drifted out, the whale rubber changed from a solid into a gelatinous substance. At that moment, Lu Yang took the pot off the fire, picked up the wooden spoon resting beside him, and scooped a spoonful straight into his mouth.
Just as with absorbing a Soul Ring beyond his limits, Lu Yang had never considered experimenting on anyone else. Whether simmering whale rubber actually worked was something he had to test himself.
The strange texture of the whale rubber made Lu Yang somewhat uncomfortable when it entered his mouth. But once it reached his stomach, a burning heat immediately swept through his entire body.
Lu Yang hurriedly circulated the soul power within him, hoping to ease the sensation through meditation and refine the energy contained in the whale rubber.
A short while later, Lu Yang felt the burning heat in his body gradually recede. He carefully assessed his physical condition before opening his eyes.
"Well? How effective was it?" Ye Qingling asked as she waited beside him.
Lu Yang shook his head. "It did have some effect, but it wasn't very noticeable."
Hearing his answer, Ye Qingling nodded thoughtfully. She turned and left the rear courtyard, heading for the front hall.
After a while, Ye Qingling returned, carrying a piece of older whale rubber.
This time, Ye Qingling did it herself. Although simmering whale rubber was a simple task, her proficiency in such matters was far beyond anything Lu Yang could match.
Before long, the whale rubber's delicate fragrance drifted out again. Because of its greater age, this batch gave off a richer scent than the previous piece had after simmering.
Once the whale rubber was ready, Lu Yang intended to step forward and test it. To his surprise, Ye Qingling grabbed Ye Lingling beside her and poured a serving of whale rubber straight into her mouth.
Ye Qingling's decisive action left Lu Yang dumbfounded. His gaze shifted back and forth between mother and daughter as he thought, Yep, they're definitely mother and daughter!
With her mouth full of whale rubber, Ye Lingling's face flushed with embarrassment and anger. She turned her head, trying to spit it out, but Ye Qingling gave her no chance. With a lift of her hand, she made Ye Lingling swallow every bit of whale rubber in her mouth.
The whale rubber Ye Qingling had brought this time was nearly a thousand years old, and its medicinal potency was far stronger than the hundred-year-old piece Lu Yang had simmered earlier. Not long after swallowing it, a flush spread across Ye Lingling's cool, aloof face. She hurriedly circulated her soul power and began refining its medicinal effects, but ambiguous sounds still escaped her mouth from time to time, nearly driving her mad as she meditated.
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