Preparing Spirit Medicines
Before Doctor Mo returned to the mountain, Han Li knew it was safe to use the bottle in Divine Hand Valley for the time being. He was the only person in the entire valley, and outsiders did not normally barge in, so nothing unexpected would happen during this period. He could use the small bottle without worry.
Han Li estimated when Doctor Mo would return to the mountain. He thought it impossible for Doctor Mo to find any good medicinal ingredients nearby, so he would probably have to search farther afield, most likely in deep mountains and ancient forests rarely visited by people. Only in such remote places would he have a chance of gathering rare medicinal ingredients. But the journey there and back, combined with the time spent searching, would take him nearly a year at the very least before he could return to the mountain.
Nearly half a year had passed since Doctor Mo went down the mountain, and Han Li estimated that he would return to the Seven Mysteries Sect in another six or seven months. In the days before his return, Han Li could only hasten the growth of as many useful herbs as possible. He needed to obtain the medicinal ingredients according to the several rare formulas he knew, rather than blindly waste the green liquid.
The medicines Han Li was about to make would help increase his cultivation and break through bottlenecks. They were all supreme-grade sacred medicines that Doctor Mo had previously wanted to prepare but had been unable to gather the ingredients for. Any one of them, if offered on the market, would be a rare treasure for which an ordinary family would spend its entire fortune and people of the martial world would fight to the death.
Even with Doctor Mo's brilliant medical skills, he had never seen any of these medicines in finished form, much less made them himself. Although Doctor Mo knew how to prepare these sacred medicines, without the ingredients he could only raise his face to the heavens and sigh.
When Han Li had studied medicine under Doctor Mo, he had taken a great interest in these rare formulas. Although he had never dared hope he could prepare such exceedingly precious medicines himself, he had memorized quite a few of the formulas. Doctor Mo had been indifferent to Han Li's enthusiasm for learning them. Whenever Han Li asked, he explained everything in minute detail, showing no intention of concealing anything. Doctor Mo probably also considered these formulas chicken ribs: tasteless to eat, yet a shame to throw away.
Now these formulas had become the flesh closest to Han Li's heart. He diligently hastened the growth of herbs to the various ages required by the formulas, not daring to relax in the slightest. He did not have much time left. He had to prepare the medicines before Doctor Mo returned, then put the bottle on a high shelf and never use it again on the mountain without good reason.
Han Li had no confidence whatsoever that he could use the small bottle in Doctor Mo's presence without giving himself away. He knew very well how shrewd and cautious Doctor Mo was, and he had not the slightest intention of telling him the bottle's secret.
Han Li felt that his relationship with Doctor Mo was peculiar, far from as simple as an ordinary relationship between master and disciple.
Doctor Mo often looked at him with a peculiar gaze, which always made Han Li feel that he was hiding some secret that would be harmful to him. This feeling had grown even stronger in the past year or two. As a result, Han Li and Doctor Mo could not be as close as an ordinary master and disciple, sharing everything with each other.
In daily life, Doctor Mo actually treated him very well. He had never beaten or kicked him, nor had he ever cursed him out. When it came to cultivating the Mnemonic, he spared no effort in creating the best possible conditions for him. Yet there seemed to be a barrier between master and disciple, and an awkward atmosphere always hung between them.
Doctor Mo was clearly aware of this rift, but he showed no intention of mending the bond between master and disciple. He continued doing whatever he would normally do, single-mindedly urging Han Li to make progress in cultivating the Mnemonic. The strange expression that used to fill his gaze when he looked at Han Li did seem to appear less and less, however, and for long stretches of time it did not surface at all.
But Han Li's keen fifth sense vaguely told him that Doctor Mo had not truly abandoned whatever designs he had on him, but had cleverly concealed his desires. This made Han Li even more wary of Doctor Mo. Under such circumstances, how could he dare let him know the bottle's secret?
From many historical records, Han Li had learned an ironclad lesson: "One must not harbor the intent to harm others, but one must never be without the vigilance to guard against them."
Whether Doctor Mo truly meant him harm or Han Li's feeling was mistaken, it could not be a bad thing to be more wary of him. If Doctor Mo really harbored ill intentions toward him, taking greater precautions would keep him from being hurt. If his fifth sense had misjudged things, there was still nothing wrong with being more alert. He would not take the initiative to betray his master and destroy his lineage. He, Han Li, would remain Doctor Mo's good disciple and properly fulfill the filial duties a disciple owed.
At this thought, Han Li still felt somewhat uncomfortable. A master and disciple as strange as he and Doctor Mo were probably one of a kind in the Seven Mysteries Sect. He could not help sighing.
He absolutely could not use the bottle after Doctor Mo returned; that much was certain. Walls had ears. Even if he was lucky enough to avoid being discovered by Doctor Mo, someone else in the Seven Mysteries Sect might stumble upon his secret. The safest course was to put it away, as though none of this had ever happened.
Having made all his plans and resolved to keep the bottle secretly stored away and not use it again without good reason, Han Li felt relieved. In a daze, he fell asleep on his bed.
Over the next few months, Han Li secretly used the green liquid in the bottle to hasten the growth of large quantities of precious medicinal ingredients. Using these ingredients, he prepared quite a few rare medicines according to the formulas, but he also failed many times in the process. Each failure pained him for a long time. Every ingredient used to make these medicines was a supreme-grade material rarely found in the world, and each failure meant who knew how much silver had gone down the drain. But he could hardly be blamed. It was anyone's first time preparing these formulas, so a few failures were inevitable. Even if Doctor Mo personally prepared the medicines, he would make a mistake once or twice. Han Li could only console himself this way.
The Yellow Dragon Pill, Clear Spirit Powder, Golden Marrow Pill, and Essence Nourishing Pill-all rare medicines seldom seen in the outside world-had been placed in more than a dozen small bottles and arranged one by one before Han Li. Looking at the medicine bottles, Han Li beamed with joy. With these miraculous medicines, not only could he master the fourth layer of the Mnemonic, he could even master the fifth and sixth layers without too much effort.
Of these medicines, the Yellow Dragon Pill and Golden Marrow Pill were the most helpful to his cultivation. Both had the wondrous effect of increasing his cultivation and shedding his mortal body and exchanging his bones. Clear Spirit Powder, meanwhile, was a sacred antidote rarely found in the world, capable of neutralizing hundreds upon hundreds of deadly poisons. Finally, the Essence Nourishing Pill was a spirit medicine with miraculous effects on both internal and external injuries. No matter how severe the injuries, taking a single pill would greatly alleviate them and preserve one's life, even if it could not bring the dead back to life or heal the injuries immediately.