Buying Medicine and Examining Remains (Seeking Collections)

Shi Xuan, full and satisfied, finally had the leisure to observe this ancient and elegant city, so different from modern society. While recalling the road to the south of the city, he looked around. Perhaps because it was market day, the crowds were surging, with small vendors on both sides selling daily necessities, appearing to have been here for a long time. The vegetable sellers were mostly concentrated on a few streets. Beyond these streets, only a few scattered stalls could be seen at street corners in the southern direction.

It was June, and indeed, many people on the street wore Daoist robes, some even wearing robes and fanning themselves, looking rather out of place.

Shi Xuan arrived at Shuijing Street in the south of the city and headed towards the largest and most crowded pharmacy. At the entrance, he saw three large characters written on the plaque in a style resembling Wei script – Tong Ren Tang. Shi Xuan was immediately shocked. Tong Ren Tang was truly impressive, having opened branches even in another world.

After entering, he went straight to the counter. Seeing the shopkeeper attending to a customer, he seized the opportunity. He smiled at the apprentice behind the counter, greeted him, and then began to list the medicinal ingredients from the prescription. The apprentice, seeing that two of the ingredients were precious but also in relatively large stock, didn't ask Shi Xuan any further questions. He directly gathered the herbs, wrapped them in oiled paper, and handed them to Shi Xuan, saying, "That will be four taels and three qian of silver."

Shi Xuan secretly marveled at the expense of the medicinal ingredients in the prescription. These were only a few of them. At this rate, his current wealth might only be enough to prepare about fifty doses of medicine. Each batch of medicine would last about three days, six times a day. If his soul hadn't entered the Soul Strengthening Stage by half a year later, he would be bankrupt. "Poor scholars, rich martial artists," the saying goes, and it was indeed true that Daoists could be ruinously expensive. Of course, martial artists didn't have such magical and precious prescriptions. The prescriptions generally used by martial artists for body tempering cost about dozens of taels of silver per year, and the more precious ones perhaps one to two hundred taels. This was also terrifying, considering that Shi Xuan's small courtyard was only worth two to three hundred taels of silver.

Although surprised inwardly, he remained outwardly calm. He took out silver shards to pay and left. He then visited several other pharmacies to complete the list of medicinal ingredients. Buying from different places could effectively prevent others from discerning the preciousness of the prescription by the ingredients purchased, thus avoiding unnecessary trouble.

Afterward, he went to the butcher shop and told the shopkeeper that he planned to host a dog meat feast for friends and relatives, asking the shopkeeper to deliver four live dogs to his small courtyard in the west of the city.

Shi Xuan returned to his small courtyard and meditated for a while to calm himself. Once his mind was at peace, he went to the left wing room and found the three spare medicine jars. Then, he formed hand seals and chanted incantations, mobilizing the Five Elements Qi of his body to resonate with heaven and earth. He cast a Dust Removal Incantation to clean the medicine jars. Next, he divided the mixture into three portions according to the different last medicinal ingredient, adding the specified amounts of herbs and water as required by the prescription. At this point, he could not use his usual medicine jar because, no matter how thoroughly it was cleaned, there would always be some residual medicinal properties. While this was usually not a problem, this was a prescription akin to alchemy, and even a tiny amount of extraneous medicinal property could lead to failure.

He carried the medicine jars into the kitchen, where there was a row of small stoves that the old Daoist often used for refining medicine. After placing them, he found some wood and ignited it with the Ignition Technique. Shi Xuan began to feel a bit tired. Alas, his soul was too weak. Although he could mobilize the Five Elements Qi of his body to cast spells in the Qi Nourishing Stage, it still consumed soul power. Of course, the Five Elements Qi of his body in the Qi Nourishing Stage was also why Shi Xuan, with a soul in the Body Tempering and Soul Nurturing Stage, could cast spells.

Shi Xuan rallied his spirits, not daring to be negligent. He formed hand seals and chanted incantations, then used the Fire Control Technique, carefully regulating the heat. After half an hour, the most difficult part was over. Now, he only needed to maintain a gentle fire and simmer for another two hours.

Only then did Shi Xuan let out a long sigh, feeling completely dizzy. He quickly sat down cross-legged, exhaled and circulated his Qi. It took a while before he regained the strength to move. By the time the butcher shop owner, Zheng Sunan, delivered two black and two yellow dogs, Shi Xuan's complexion had returned to normal.

After tying up the four dogs, Shi Xuan drew a bucket of water from the small well and drank heartily. Then, he went inside to sort through the old Daoist's belongings.

This was the first time Shi Xuan had entered the old Daoist's room since his death. The room was very tidy. Shi Xuan searched around. Besides some clothes and commonly used items for cultivation, there was a gray bundle. These clothes were of little use to Shi Xuan as they didn't fit, and he didn't know how to sew. It seemed the old Daoist had some premonition of his death and had packed everything into the bundle.

He opened the bundle, and inside were three items. One was an ancient book, the "Returning to Truth Scripture," which was the true transmission the old Daoist had received and the cultivation method this body had previously practiced. However, for Shi Xuan, who already possessed the "Supreme Clarity Yuyu True Transmission for Overcoming Tribulations and Attaining the Dao Treasure Record," a fundamental great law that directly pointed to the Dao, this scripture's cultivation method was not of much use. However, the Daoist techniques within the "Treasure Record" were all derived from the fundamental great law. Apart from a few divine abilities that required external objects for cultivation, most were Daoist arts that could only be practiced in the Golden Core Stage and beyond. The "Returning to Truth Scripture," on the other hand, had more usable Daoist arts. Although they were all techniques, their power was limited due to the realm restriction, but the techniques were magical and always had some useful aspects.

When Shi Xuan thought of limited power, he thought of a divine ability in the "Treasure Record" that required external objects for cultivation: Great Yin Lung Yang Geng Metal Sword Qi. This divine ability required finding a piece of Geng Metal, then using a secret method to absorb its Qi and store it in the lungs. It needed to be tempered day and night with secret methods before it could take form. According to the description, its power was immense, and unlike casting spells, it didn't require time for hand seals and incantations, making it extremely quick to use. Even cultivators in the Spirit Soul Stage might not be able to withstand its edge. Of course, whether he could hit the target was another matter, as this divine ability had range and usage limitations. Naturally, as he slowly nurtured the sword Qi in the future, its power and range would increase.

However, this was just speculation. This divine ability required at least the Soul Departure Stage to cultivate. Without the subtle control of his soul, how could he control the Geng Metal Qi? Without powerful internal energy, how could his lungs withstand the sharpness of the Geng Metal Qi? Moreover, Geng Metal was not easy to find! Of course, it was not impossible to use other materials. Great Unity True Gold, Western Metal Essence, Taibai Essence – these legendary materials used to forge immortal swords could also be used. The divine ability would just have a different name. Of course, these were also rare and hard to come by.

Strangely, Qingyunzi mentioned in the "Treasure Record" that it was imperative to cultivate this divine ability and four other divine abilities (Lesser Yin Heart Yang True Fire of Emptiness and Reality, Jue Yin Liver Yang Green Wood Genesis Art, Great Yin Spleen Yang Mountain Suppression Form Technique, Lesser Yin Kidney Yin Ice Soul Divine Light) before the Golden Core Stage. Doing so would bring immense benefits upon entering the Golden Core Stage, but Qingyunzi kept the specific benefits a secret.

To return to the point, the "Returning to Truth Scripture" was also a fundamental part of a true Daoist lineage. It lacked the basics for artifact refining and alchemy, which was truly regrettable.

Shi Xuan set the "Returning to Truth Scripture" aside. He suddenly realized that if he primarily cultivated the "Treasure Record," wouldn't Old Daoist Xu's Daoist lineage be lost? Although he had no actual master-disciple relationship with Old Daoist Xu, he had seen Old Daoist Xu's care for Du Bai through fragmented memories. Since this was now his body, he naturally had to repay that kindness and affection. It seemed he could only find a suitable successor to pass on the Daoist lineage when he traveled the world in the future.

Shi Xuan looked at the other item, which was a stack of talismans tied together, about ten in total. These were defensive items that Old Daoist Xu had prepared for his disciples in his last year. It was known that although one could use spells after entering the Qi Nourishing and Soul Strengthening Stage, the spells at this stage required many steps and took a long time. Therefore, talismans were often drawn beforehand, and all that was needed at the time was a single incantation or even a bit of soul power to activate the talisman. As an expert in the Soul Departure Stage, the talismans left by Old Daoist Xu were certainly far superior to those of Shi Xuan, his disciple.

Shi Xuan carefully examined the talismans. There were seventeen in total, with four of each of four types: Invisibility Qi Concealment Talisman, Earth Armor Talisman, Qi Induction Thunder Talisman, and Golden Light Soul Breaking Talisman. Another talisman was written in Ancient Cloud Seal Script (the "Treasure Record" contained content on Primordial Thunder Patterns and Ancient Cloud Seal Script) – Great Unity Sky Thunder. It faintly emanated lightning, and its script was ancient, not appearing to be something Old Daoist Xu could have drawn. It was either inherited when he received the true transmission or obtained through some fortuitous encounter during his travels.

The last item was a mirror and a piece of paper that the old Daoist had attached to it. It stated that he had obtained this mirror from a dilapidated temple on Old Mountain by the West of the Lake. This mirror had suppressed a hundred-year-old ghost within the temple for decades. When the old Daoist passed by, unaware of the situation, he moved the mirror, allowing the ghost to escape. In a fierce battle, the old Daoist was nearly killed. In the end, he used one of the two Great Unity Sky Thunder talismans he had obtained during his true transmission to kill the hundred-year-old ghost. The mirror was also damaged in the process. Although Old Daoist Xu couldn't identify the material of the mirror, he still picked up the largest fragment and remade it into a mirror. However, it no longer possessed its former power and couldn't even be considered a magical artifact, only capable of suppressing weak spirits due to its innate spiritual properties.

However, precisely because the material was excellent, Old Daoist Xu intended to leave it for his disciple. Perhaps in the future, it could be refined into a magical artifact again. As mentioned earlier, before the Golden Core Stage, casting spells involved various steps. Although the casting time would be reduced with the increase in realm, some people always found spellcasting slow and thus devised various alternative methods, such as talismans or magical artifacts. Cultivating divine abilities using external objects, as described in the "Treasure Record," was also a form of alternative method.

Magical artifacts were spellcasting implements made with suitable materials, using appropriate restrictions, and requiring time to refine. They possessed great power and were convenient to use, making them highly favored by cultivators. Of course, they were also exceptionally precious. Magical artifacts were divided into four levels: Magical Artifact, Spiritual Artifact, Magic Treasure, and Spiritual Treasure. The refinement of Magical Artifacts used corresponding Earthly Fiend Restrictions. When Earthly Fiend Restrictions were perfected and merged with Heavenly Dipper Restrictions, they advanced to Spiritual Artifacts, at which point one could proceed to refine Heavenly Dipper Restrictions. The restrictions for Magic Treasures and Spiritual Treasures were called Treasure Restrictions and Spiritual Restrictions, respectively. In general, Magical Artifacts and Spiritual Artifacts were items for the Qi Refining Stage, while Magic Treasures and Spiritual Treasures were for the Nascent Soul Stage.

After Shi Xuan finished examining the old Daoist's belongings, he carefully put the scripture inside his clothes, placed the talismans in the hidden pockets of his belt and sleeves for easy access, and only put the mirror into his bundle. Currently, he had neither other suitable materials nor the refining techniques, so dreaming of magical artifacts was useless.

Shi Xuan rested for a short while, and the time to take out the brewed medicinal herbs arrived.