Immortal Fate Is Ethereal, Starting with Qin!

Early morning.

The silver moon gradually faded, and the great sun first appeared.

The sun and moon were briefly in the sky together, and ethereal purple qi came from the east.

The hazy purple qi scattered morning light, illuminating the small town in the valley, with its antique buildings, white walls, dark tiles, and deep courtyard mansions.

It indeed possessed a unique charm of its own.

The township was not large, named: Bayi.

Surrounded by groups of mountains on the periphery that could evade weapons and soldiers, it had a gentle river stream running through it from north to south internally.

In troubled times, one could avoid the world and not emerge; in peaceful times, its water conservancy could benefit the people. Truly it was a wonderland outside the world, outstanding in spirit and blessed in location.

At this moment.

In the bustling market of the town--

Qin Lu looked out towards the east just as he always did, regulating his breath and calming his spirit.

Only when the great sun was completely revealed did he conclude his morning exercise.

Although his mind was as still as water and as firm as iron, his foundation was ultimately somewhat shallow, like a mayfly shaking a tree, and he failed to grasp the profundities within.

In the end he fell just short of success, leaking his breath and relaxing his spirit, leaving both mind and body exhausted.

After making slight adjustments.

Only then did Qin Lu prop up his stall, hang out the "Qin Clan Medical Hall" sign, and gaze at the bustling crowd in the market, allowing him to return to a state of calm.

The faint smoke of mortal life comforted the spirit and settled the heart.

Counting the time--

Ever since his rebirth, twenty-one years had already passed.

Qin Lu possessed no golden finger, nor any plug-ins like a system, let alone an old grandfather or secret treasures such as High Antiquity divine artifacts.

The only fortune he had.

In his early years, when he went up the mountain to chop firewood, he had accidentally obtained a Cultivation Method Secret Manual from a mountain cave.

Its name was: Azure Wood Scripture.

Judging from the remains in the cave, it seemed to be a cultivation method from the jianghu.

Pity that after cultivating it for several years, he never found the knack. However, he had learned quite a number of the medical theories recorded upon it, and taking them as his foundation,

he became a barefoot doctor.

Although still not wealthy, compared to tenant farmers, he did not know how much better off he was.

Only after passing through years of accumulation did he open a medical hall in the town. Relying on a skill of his own, he could be considered to have firmly established a foothold.

Living his life twice, he was born knowing.

Qin Lu deeply understood the importance of a craft; only by grasping the means of production

could one stand on one's own and grow strong!

A peasant laboring in the fields, an honest man, no matter in which lifetime, could only be reduced to cattle and sheep waiting to be slaughtered. Only through self-strengthening could one gain a moment of peace.

Having lived long, he naturally saw through this worldly path.

Right at this moment--

Seeing the medical hall's doors flung wide open, people successively came to the door to ask prices.

Most of them were wild folks backing up against the deep mountains, relying on risking their lives to pick medicine, scraping together a bite to eat to support their whole households.

A healer possessed a benevolent heart.

As long as Qin Lu saw the medicinal herbs were passable, he would buy them.

Affording convenience to others was affording convenience to oneself.

It was nothing more than ten-odd copper coins left and right to buy a good reputation, which was worthwhile anyway. After turning them around, he would sell them to those wealthy masters.

Their value would at least double.

Then with careful embellishment, perhaps he could sell them even more dearly.

After all, gentry masters and wealthy households simply loved expensive things; if you sold cheap, they would instead feel it was not fine.

Human nature, was it not just like this?

However, today--

It truly opened Qin Lu's eyes.

He saw a mountain folk cautiously pull a crude wooden box from inside his bosom.

As he slowly opened it.

A wild ginseng could be seen, emitting a fresh medicinal fragrance, with superb appearance!

Qin Lu observed it closely for two eyes, inevitably marveling in his heart:

This ginseng had whiskers several inches long, a body like a human figure, and its crown and joints visually measured over twenty sections, meaning it possessed a ginseng age of more than twenty years-truly hard to come by.

Its ginseng age might even be older than mine!

The saying went that an ounce of ginseng was worth no more than two or three pieces of silver.

Yet this ginseng weighed at least six or seven ounces, with a ginseng age exceeding twenty years. It was a rare treasure unseen for years! Its value was at least forty or fifty liang of silver!

Although marveling in his heart.

Qin Lu did not reveal anything out of the ordinary, merely showing a bit of interest as he said:

"Old sir, how much are you planning to ask for this?"

Hearing this.

The old man was also somewhat unsure, after all, he was merely a rustic of the mountains and wilds.

His insight was ultimately lacking.

He only knew that ordinary wild ginseng selling for three or five liang of silver was already an exceptionally good price.

Yet for the one before his eyes, he truly was somewhat at a loss as to where to start.

If he quoted the price too low, he would suffer a massive loss; if he quoted too high, he feared he would not have the life to spend it, seeing as he was merely a powerless rustic deep in the mountains.

Flaunting wealth invited disaster, and if he died, no one would even collect his corpse.

Yet thinking of his lifetime of toil, the old man inevitably felt some hesitation.

Now that his descendants had no one to rely upon, could it be that he must still let the younger generation be like him, laboring for a lifetime and existing only from morning till night?

"Shopkeeper Qin, you are a great good man, a great philanthropist ah!"

"Do you think... fifteen liang of silver?"

"No, no, no... thirteen liang, ten liang... how about ten liang of silver?"

The old man ultimately took a gamble.

Although ten liang of silver could not be considered much, it was not little either, enough for an ordinary family of five to cover food and clothing expenses for several years, which was no small sum.

And it could solidly accomplish quite a few practical matters.

Whether it was purchasing a few mu of fine farmland, or buying some poultry and livestock, those were all exceptionally good options, or else arranging a match for a descendant to continue the family incense.

These matters were enough to let their family alter their social standing.

Although the old man cherished his life, how could he miss such an opportunity!

Living a life in this world, one could lose countless times.

Yet one only needed to win the most crucial time to bring prosperity to descendants for generations.

Seeing this--

Qin Lu naturally had no objections.

Yet he did not directly agree either, acting hesitant and considering for a moment before reluctantly consenting.

Immediately--

One hand delivered the money, the other hand delivered the goods.

The old man took the money and left, but closely following behind him, quite a few people trailed away.

Witnessing this scene, Qin Lu shook his head slightly.

Since ancient times, two good things were difficult to have simultaneously; there must be giving up to gain.

How could fish and bear paws both be obtained?

Obtaining such wealth today was fate; whether it would become an opportunity for his descendants to soar in the future, or a sudden disaster crashing down, who could say for sure?

Even for him--

Obtaining a precious ginseng today might very well be a disaster.

It was just that compared to that old man, one was sudden windfall wealth where the wealth did not match the station, whereas he still possessed room to maneuver.

As far as he was concerned--

A precious ginseng would at best arouse covetousness.

It did not yet reach the point of provoking a fatal disaster, nor would anyone dare to openly rob and injure people in the street.

After all, as a physician.

To a certain degree, he could determine a person's life or death, and his reputation preceded him. Within Bayi Town alone, those who dared to move against him probably did not exist.

If you dared to tear down your face today,

then when you required life-saving help in the days to come, Qin Lu could naturally sit on the mountain and watch the fire, refusing to save those about to die.

Soon.

The sun passed midday--

Seeing that no more wounded callers visited today.

Qin Lu half-closed the main door, picked up the precious ginseng, and retreated into the back courtyard.

The news that he had obtained a precious ginseng today presumably could not be kept hidden either. After all, Bayi Town was only as big as the palm of a hand, so how could matters be concealed there?

He estimated that in a couple of days, people would come knocking on his door to visit in quest of the precious medicine.

Especially the Wei and Han families in the town; these two families were both local gentry magnates with dozens or hundreds of clansmen, constituting major surnames in the town.

As for the grandfathers of both families, they were advanced in years, and their Qi and Blood were severely depleted.

With winter approaching right now, they naturally required heavily nourishing items to replenish their own Blood Qi. As the saying went: having an old person in the family was like having a treasured object.

With them present, this household naturally could not fall into chaos.

Therefore, extending their lives naturally became the top priority for both families.

Leaving aside these matters--

Just considering the value of the precious ginseng itself, it was enough to make these wealthy households scramble after it. After all, who would ever think they had too few treasures of their own?

What is more, it was a treasure that could save lives!