As long as he knew what Soul-Nourishing Grass looked like, things would be much easier.
In the past, when he gathered herbs in the mountains, the greatest problem he faced was not being unable to find medicinal plants, but that aside from the herbs listed on the few prescriptions passed down in his family, he had no idea what any other herbs looked like.
After planting the Soul-Nourishing Grass, Li Qiuchen reached out, pressed his hand against its leaves, and began to pour life energy into it.
The moment he tried to stimulate its growth, he realized something was wrong.
On the surface, this spirit herb looked utterly ordinary, its leaves merely a little strange. But when he began infusing life energy into it, he discovered that the thing was practically a black hole.
He had poured in enough life energy for an entire person, yet it had not caused the slightest ripple. Not even a single new leaf had grown.
Li Qiuchen was greatly astonished, and for a moment even suspected the thing might be made of plastic.
But on second thought, that made sense. Anything Jiang Tingyue could take out was bound to be far from ordinary.
Whether it was that jade pendant or the two bottles of Spirit-Gathering Pills, neither was a treasure a mere rookie at the Qi Refining realm could enjoy.
This spirit herb was likely the same. Its appearance seemed plain and unremarkable, but in truth, Li Qiuchen’s discernment was simply insufficient to judge its true age. He had hit a wall right from the start.
I really don’t believe this evil nonsense!
He poured almost all the life energy accumulated within his body into it, but there was still not the slightest reaction. Feeling as if his body had been hollowed out, his vision going dark, Li Qiuchen gritted his teeth, stood up, returned home, and took out the piece of peachwood core he had hidden away.
Who didn’t have a treasure or two stashed at the bottom of the chest?
The value of this piece of peachwood core went without saying. Just the roots of the old peach tree were enough to make those Apothecary believers flock to them like mad. If they were to see the thing in his hands, who knew how frenzied they would become.
Li Qiuchen had originally planned to wait until his cultivation improved in the future, read a few more books, broaden his knowledge, and then come back to properly handle this great treasure.
At the very least, he did not want to waste the life essence stored within it.
But he was not in a very good mood today.
Although he was always thinking that when winter came, he would pluck this stupid bird bald, drain its blood, smoke it, and turn it into stored rations,
after living together for so long, some feelings had more or less accumulated, even if only the tiniest bit.
“Do you want it or not?”
Li Qiuchen gritted his teeth and, with force, snapped off a thumb-sized piece of peachwood core. He placed it at the root of the Soul-Nourishing Grass, held it in his hand, and said coldly, “You’d better give me some kind of reaction.”
Apothecary’s Blessing, activated once more!
The peachwood core, white, crisp, and tender like a bamboo shoot, melted in his hand into a cool, viscous liquid. It flowed out through the gaps between his fingers and, in an instant, was absorbed cleanly by the Soul-Nourishing Grass.
The sickly-looking Soul-Nourishing Grass instantly straightened. At a speed visible to the naked eye, it grew taller and taller, rising from its original height of one foot to a little over three feet, continuously sprouting fresh new leaves.
The effect was immediate.
But letting it grow wildly on its own was far from enough. Taking advantage of its rapid growth, Li Qiuchen plucked off branches and leaves and replanted them in the soil. He then consumed two more small pieces of peachwood core and stimulated two new plants to grow.
Only then could it be considered secure.
Once all preparations were complete, Li Qiuchen finally began to boil the medicinal decoction.
By the time he finished cooking the medicine, pinched the white crane by the neck, and forcibly poured the decoction down its throat, he himself was utterly exhausted. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
When he woke up, Li Qiuchen abruptly sat up and looked at the white crane beside him. It was still completely motionless.
He reached out and touched it. It still had body heat.
That’s not right. Why isn’t the medicine working?
“Wake up!”
Li Qiuchen grabbed the white crane by the neck and shook it hard several times.
For a single dose of medicine to show no effect was within his expectations.
But even if it did not wake up, there should have been some reaction.
If all three stalks of Soul-Nourishing Grass were used up and the stupid bird still could not wake up, he was going to curse someone’s ancestors.
“Gaa—”
Under Li Qiuchen’s violent shaking, the white crane finally opened its eyes with difficulty, glanced at him, and let out a weak, feeble cry.
Thank goodness.
Li Qiuchen immediately relaxed.
The stupid bird’s life had been saved.
“Still sleeping! Do you know you were wrong? How many times have I told you not to provoke those government soldiers! You never took it to heart at all, did you?”
Li Qiuchen scolded it harshly for a couple of sentences. The stupid bird did not even have the strength to retort and remained silent.
This time, its injuries truly were severe.
For Apothecary believers, no matter how serious physical injuries were, they could recover. Even if their heads were chopped off, they could be reattached, or a new one could grow.
But the stupid bird clearly did not have such ability. Healing its physical wounds did not mean the blood essence it had lost could be replenished and restored in a short period of time.
Over the next few days, Li Qiuchen boiled several more pots of medicinal decoction for it.
He tasted one mouthful himself, and it was so bitter he began to doubt life.
The stupid bird resisted with all its might, even displaying an unyielding spirit of preferring death to submission. Unfortunately, it was listless and weak, unable to resist, and every day Li Qiuchen pinched it by the neck and forcibly poured medicine down its throat.
By the third day, the stupid bird refused to drink no matter what. It hid its beak under its belly, assuming an attitude that said, if you dare pour medicine into me again, I’ll die right in front of you.
You think I want to feed you? If you don’t drink the medicine, then hurry up and get better!
Left with no choice, Li Qiuchen could only snap off another piece of peachwood core and bring it to its beak. “Try this. This one is sweet.”
The white crane looked at him doubtfully, its eyes turning, but it could not resist the temptation and opened its beak.
Li Qiuchen seized its neck in one grab and began pouring medicine.
“Gaa gaa gaa gaa—”
Feathers flew everywhere, and its cries were miserable.
The next day, Li Qiuchen tried the same trick again. However, the white crane was no longer willing to believe his nonsense.
“This is the last pot of medicine. Even if you want more after this, there won’t be any.”
Holding the peachwood core in his hand, Li Qiuchen coaxed it patiently. “The medicine was given by Senior Jiang. If you want to hate someone, hate him. If you hadn’t been running errands for him, why would you have had to suffer like this? Don’t give me that look. I’m your life-saving benefactor, and twice over at that.”
“Think about it. If I gave it to you yesterday, then would I have to give you some today too? Do I look like I’m rolling in wealth, enough for you to squander like this? Today is the last bowl of medicine. After you finish drinking it, you can eat this and put a perfect end to all the suffering you’ve endured these past few days. Isn’t that good?”
The white crane hesitated.
“Gaa!”
Give it to me first!
Li Qiuchen grabbed its neck in one hand and began pouring the medicine.
“Gaa gaa gaa gaa—”
Who said people would not fall for the same trick twice? Birds were the same.
Of course, in the end, Li Qiuchen still stuffed that piece of peachwood core into the bird’s beak, blocking off any hope it had of spitting the decoction back out.
He had not lied to the bird.
The aged stalk of Soul-Nourishing Grass Jiang Tingyue had given him had indeed been used up. As for the newly planted ones, they were not old enough, so their medicinal strength was naturally insufficient as well.
The medicine had all been drunk, but the white crane still looked sickly, lying in its nest and unable to get up.
This new book needs everyone’s support. Esteemed readers, please don’t be stingy with the monthly tickets in your hands—throw them fiercely at my face!