Chapter 65: Through trials and hardships, the two channels are unblocked

Along the journey all the way from the Song State, Qin Anyu and his companions had gathered quite a number of medicinal herbs. Even for backup, the types of herbs he needed were few—only nine kinds in total. The quantity was also small, but because the required grades were all human-grade, the total cost still amounted to one hundred and thirty thousand taels of gold.

Hearing this figure, he was slightly startled at first, but quickly returned to normal.

Human-grade herbs were top-tier medicinal ingredients in this plane, especially three of them which were extremely rare; he had only managed to find a single stalk of each.

After some hard bargaining by Qin Youqin, the final payment was reduced to just forty thousand taels of gold.

The herbs in the Putian Sect's treasury were credited as fifteen thousand taels, the herbs in this medicinal garden were credited as eighteen thousand taels, and the remainder was offset by Qin Anyu teaching them pharmacology and medicinal efficacies.

The Second Shopkeeper had been the first to be convinced by him; a single species of chicken-vine had completely won him over. The other elders, upon hearing the effects of the bitter fruit, had also let go of their initial defiance.

Therefore, when his lecture was valued at only fifty-seven thousand taels of gold, they all accepted it readily.

Hearing a few words from a wise person was better than studying books for ten years. Facing such a master, paying a tuition fee of fifty-seven thousand taels of gold was entirely worth it.

Qin Youqin briskly forked out forty thousand taels of gold, while the Second Shopkeeper dispatched two guards to bring the herbs back, then divided the forces for action: one group to retrieve the required herbs and bring people to dig up the medicinal garden's yield, and another to contact people to find human-grade bitter fruit and dig up human-grade bitter fruit trees.

As for occupying this medicinal garden, they still did not dare to take it over completely, only daring to remove the majority of it. Even though Qin Anyu suggested going to wipe out the Putian Sect of the Chenqiao plane, they still did not dare; it was better to be safe than sorry.

Qin Anyu did not probe deeply either. Selling eighteen thousand taels worth of herbs was fine; it was purely an unexpected bonus. Whether their hesitation was genuine or feigned was not something he cared to consider.

After arranging all of this, Qin Anyu found a room and began his lecture to them.

Before the lecture commenced, all six shopkeepers of the Qihuang Pharmacy took out paper, ink, and brushes, and honestly took their seats.

Seeing this, Qin Wuxian, Qin Lingxue, and Qin Youqin also produced brushes, ink, and paper, all wearing expressions of excitement.

Over these past few days, they had experienced the immense effect of the medicinal baths on their massive physiques, and only regretted their utter ignorance regarding medicinal herbs. With such an opportunity before them, they naturally would not let it slip away.

He began by explaining each medicinal herb in the order they were recorded in the Pharmacopoeia.

As a member of the Qin clan, he was as familiar with conventional medicinal herbs as anyone else. This was a requirement laid down by their ancestors, who stated that encountering danger required self-rescue to preserve one's life first. Furthermore, the clan's development demanded a vast quantity of herbs, and cultivated ones might not always meet the demand; thus, encountering them while traveling outside allowed members to harvest and exchange them for contribution points.

Within the clan, contribution points were extremely important, relating directly to the exchange of cultivation techniques, weapons, materials, and elixirs. The reason he was able to read extensively through the clan's cultivation techniques was not only due to his exceptional cultivation talent, but also because of his abundant contribution points.

Even after becoming an Immortal Emperor, whenever he traveled outside, he would still harvest certain medicinal herbs upon encountering them.

Standing at such a lofty vantage point, his mastery of pharmacology and medicinal properties was far more thorough, allowing him to explain their essence more profoundly.

Take the Long-Bone Flower, for instance. The Pharmacopoeia referred to it as iris grass, noting only that it was poisonous and possessed a certain therapeutic efficacy for bone injuries. What Qin Anyu explained was: the Long-Bone Flower is rich in water, wood, and earth elements. Aside from treating bone injuries, it has strong restorative effects on the liver and kidneys. As long as it is combined rationally to achieve a basic balance among the five elements and mitigate its toxicity, it is an excellent medicinal herb.

Take Tianji Winter, for another example. It is rich in earth, metal, and water elements. Ordinarily, it only displays the metal element, so it is often perceived as having a single function. However, through the rational allocation of medicinal herbs, the earth and water elements can be stimulated. This not only strengthens pulmonary function, but also fortifies the spleen, kidneys, tendons, and bones...

His explanations were visionary yet highly actionable; listening to them strengthened foundations and rapidly broadened horizons.

His narration flowed like a gentle stream, while his listeners were utterly captivated and spellbound.

Not knowing how much time had passed, Zhou Yikang pushed the door open. Seeing the array of shopkeepers glaring fiercely at him, he hurriedly and cautiously said, "Shopkeepers, friends, lunchtime passed long ago, and dinner has already been reheated three times. Can we perhaps pause here and continue after eating dinner?"

Prompted by these words, Qin Anyu finally realized his stomach was terribly empty and immediately said, "Let's eat first."

He had eaten only three flatbreads on the move before storming the Putian Sect's mountain gate, and during the past four hours, he had only taken two bites of red ginseng; his belly had long been completely hollow.

Zhou Yikang immediately beckoned outward, and a procession of people walked in carrying pots, bowls, basins, and ladles.

True to being a pharmacy, the meal was meticulously prepared, consisting entirely of medicinal cuisine.

The greens were mortal-grade aged herbs, and the meat came from Qi-refining realm beasts, infused with several additional mortal-grade aged herbs. Eating it provided abundant energy and a complete array of all elements.

After the meal, because Qin Anyu needed to cultivate, he asked them to return tomorrow.

Although he wanted to leave some things here, his own cultivation had to take precedence.

What he needed to do now was to activate his body's meridians and acupuncture points as quickly as possible, dredge and widen the opened meridians and points, and rapidly elevate his physical constitution's strength.

He could not afford to stay long in the lower realm; he needed to locate Qin Tuan and his wife as soon as possible, then press on to the immortal realm to understand the Qin clan's situation, and eventually ascend to the divine realm.

After distributing the required herbs to the three of them, he began brewing the medicinal broth while practicing the *Nine Transformations Body Technique*.

Because he had unleashed sword intent today, he was able to complete the sixth movement and perform half of the seventh.

Amidst the excruciating pain generated by the Heaven-Reaching Decoction, the Rending Mansion Ointment, and the *Nine Transformations Body Technique*, he acted as a "bystander" to widen the already opened meridians and clear out the blockages within them.

During this process, this "bystander" persona was also nearly wracked into fainting from the agony.

A process like this was purely an impact of brute force, akin to scraping the bone to heal a wound; there was no other way. Therefore, whoever experienced it knew what it entailed. In any case, he had no idea how long he persisted before losing consciousness.

Waking up from his sleep, he checked his body and discovered that two of the opened meridians could now channel true qi. Although the volume was minuscule, they were unobstructed after all, and his three dantians had expanded by ten percent.

He was excited for a moment. "Finally, I am no longer a completely clumsy body. Even if I were to stall here, there is still a small probability I could achieve foundation establishment."

However, he would not stall here; his long-term plan had already been mapped out, and the next step was to refine every single step. "The next step is to breakthrough and widen the three meridians leading to the Metal Palace, Wood Palace, and Water Palace, and then activate and widen all five palaces. Only thus will it not affect foundation establishment."

The five palaces of the human body are the Metal Palace, Wood Palace, Water Palace, Fire Palace, and Earth Palace, corresponding respectively to the lungs, liver, kidneys, heart, and spleen.

The five palaces of the human body are the foundation of cultivation; the perfection degree of foundation establishment and golden core formation within these five palaces determines the height of one's future development.

Achieving a perfect foundation establishment requires enduring extreme pain, because it entails widening the meridians and acupuncture points to their absolute limits.

The perfection of the golden core requires a perfect foundation establishment as a prerequisite.

The ancestors of the Qin clan did not know these details back then, but through sheer immense willpower, they widened their meridians and acupuncture points, ultimately achieving formidable combat prowess and successfully stepping out of the immortal realm.

With such brilliant examples before him, he naturally could not afford to fall behind.

With a clumsy body resting upon him, circumstances did not permit him to slack off either.