Chapter 35

Li Wenjun was not really possessed by a demon; rather, his heart was moved by Xu Yidan's words.

What touched him was not Xu Yidan's suggestion to directly inject the medicinal liquid into the patient's veins, but the several alternative methods of drug processing he mentioned.

Compared to the other methods, the process of boiling herbs and making them into pills was undoubtedly the most complex. The difficulty of the other methods was much lower. In particular, boiling medicinal soup was something Li Wenjun was very familiar with.

Who hasn't been sick? Who hasn't used a clay pot to boil the medicine prescribed by a doctor?

Boiling medicinal soup had another advantage: it did not require a pill furnace, effectively avoiding Li Wenjun's biggest weakness. He could solve the problem by simply buying a new clay pot from a pharmacy. As for a pill furnace, even if he wanted to buy one, there was no place to do so.

Of course, this approach also had its drawbacks.

Li Wenjun had not experimented or compared, but his intuition told him that changing the Qi-Gathering Powder, which should have been made into pills, into a medicinal soup would result in significant loss. To some, it might seem like a loss outweighing the gain. However, Li Wenjun did not think so. If he insisted on mastering the correct method and buying a pill furnace before making the Qi-Gathering Powder, it would take an unknown amount of time.

Li Wenjun did not care about money or the effort required, and he was even willing to risk his life for the slim hope. However, he was not indifferent to everything; what he hated most was wasting time. The sooner he succeeded in cultivating, the more life-saving skills he would have in this perilous world.

Li Wenjun had no interest in continuing to listen to Xu Yidan's lecture on pill-making, but he did not leave. He sat there, ignoring the outside world, and focused on how to feasibly improve the method of making Qi-Gathering Powder.

When Li Wenjun had some ideas, Xu Yidan had just finished his lecture. People got up and crowded around Xu Yidan, hoping to have a closer exchange and build a relationship with him.

Li Wenjun got up, did not even look at Xu Yidan, and hurriedly left the school, out of the Zhang residence, and headed straight to his resting place.

Back at the residence, Li Wenjun saw Sun Baicao and his son Sun Jianing sitting in the courtyard, looking worried.

"Uncle Sun, what's wrong?" Li Wenjun asked.

Sun Baicao sighed but did not speak. Instead, Sun Jianing explained, "Brother Wenjun, we sell our herbs to a fixed herbalist every year. We have a long-standing relationship, and his purchase price is slightly higher than others. We planned to sell our herbs to him this year, but we couldn't find him after searching for two days. My father heard that the herbalist had a sudden illness and passed away."

"Is that so?" Li Wenjun comforted him. "Uncle Sun, don't worry too much. There are so many herbalists in Fengshou Town; you might find one who is even more generous and earn more money."

Sun Baicao smiled bitterly and said, "Wenjun, don't worry about our affairs. I will handle it. If you have something to do, go ahead. If I need your help, I will let you know."

Sun Baicao observed Li Wenjun's hurried comings and goings over the past two days and knew that Li Wenjun must have something important. He did not want to disturb him and always looked at the young man with a bit more respect.

Li Wenjun nodded and said, "Alright, I might not go out for a few days. Uncle Sun, if you need me, just let me know."

Back in his room, Li Wenjun took out the "Changchun Gong" and the Four Treasures of the Study, flipped to the page recording the Qi-Gathering Powder, and carefully studied it from beginning to end. Whenever he had an idea, he would write it down with a brush to prevent forgetting it later.

By the afternoon of the next day, Li Wenjun had read the method of making Qi-Gathering Powder hundreds of times and used dozens of sheets of paper. He recorded all the possible key points and formulated corresponding measures.

After that, Li Wenjun went out, found a pharmacy, and, under the pretext of catching a cold, bought several doses of medicine and two clay pots. Then, he went to a general store and bought two stoves, several bags of charcoal, a large bathtub, and an iron pot.

Some of these items were for boiling medicinal soup, and others were for medicinal baths. He chose the medicinal bath method instead of directly drinking the boiled soup because he was not sure if the soup he boiled would be usable. If it was spoiled and contained too many impurities or toxins, drinking it would be dangerous. A medicinal bath provided a buffer.

After preparing everything, Li Wenjun lit the stove, put the cold medicine in a large clay pot, filled it with water, and placed it on the stove to boil.

Li Wenjun had never made Qi-Gathering Powder pills or boiled Qi-Gathering Powder soup before. He had boiled medicine for his parents before and knew that the process usually emitted a strong medicinal aroma. Experts could identify the herbs by the smell.

The herbs Li Wenjun used were quite precious, especially the nearly two-hundred-year-old wild ginseng, which was a rare treasure. He had obtained it by robbing Wu Xuemei's subordinate. If someone passed by the courtyard and smelled the wild ginseng, it would definitely cause trouble.

Although Fengshou Town was full of herbs, and the streets were filled with the smell of medicine, it was not certain that someone would notice the wild ginseng. However, being cautious could avoid some trouble. Li Wenjun feared trouble the most and wanted to boil the medicinal soup smoothly and cultivate as soon as possible. Once he crossed the threshold, the number of people who could threaten him would decrease significantly.

While the stove heated the cold medicine, Li Wenjun took out his storage bag and removed the herbs, including the Moon Cliff Grass, from it.

He had already processed these herbs and divided them according to the formula for Qi-Gathering Powder, placing them in several paper packets. After dividing all the herbs, a few were left over, but not many.

Li Wenjun took one packet and poured it into the clay pot, then carefully cut a small piece of wild ginseng and added it as a guide. He then added water to the pot.

When the clay pot with the cold medicine started to boil and the strong medicinal aroma filled the air, Li Wenjun lit the other stove and began to boil the Qi-Gathering Powder soup.

Li Wenjun did not realize that he had unintentionally taken the right path. Using medicinal baths for cultivation had been practiced since ancient times. This method was usually suitable for low-level cultivators, but it was rarely used by mid- to high-level cultivators, not because it was ineffective, but because the herbs and other precious materials needed for mid- to high-level cultivators were extremely hard to find.

Of course, medicinal baths and pill-making were highly specialized, requiring guidance. The preparation of the herbs, the boiling process, and other aspects involved a lot of knowledge. It was not as simple as putting some herbs in a pot, adding water, and lighting a fire to boil a usable medicinal soup.

Fortunately, Qi-Gathering Powder was a very low-level pill. The herbs required could be collected by an ordinary person like Li Wenjun in the mountains, indicating how low-level it was. Low-level herbs were easy to process and did not require high skills from the maker. It was like how poor people were easy to raise; no matter how they were handled, it would work.

Li Wenjun's long preparation was beneficial. He did not know how to boil Qi-Gathering Powder soup, so he followed the method recorded in the "Changchun Gong" for making Qi-Gathering Powder. He strictly followed the method, using a gentle fire at certain times and a strong fire at others.

After nearly an hour, he extinguished the fire and looked at the dark, gray, and brownish medicinal soup in the pot, feeling uncertain. He took a porcelain bowl, poured the soup into it, and set it aside. Then, he placed the iron pot on the stove, filled it with water from a bucket, and started boiling the water.

After about half an incense stick's time, the water in the pot boiled. Li Wenjun poured the water into the bathtub, added some cool water to adjust the temperature to a suitable level for bathing, and then poured the boiled medicinal soup into the bathtub.

When the medicinal soup entered the water, it spread like ink in water, and in a moment, most of the bathtub's water changed color.

Li Wenjun stared at the reddish-brown water, feeling a bit dazed. He had worked hard to prepare the bath, but now he hesitated. No one could tell him if the process was correct, and if there was any mistake, jumping into the bathtub could be dangerous.

He needed to be cautious!

Li Wenjun quickly ran outside and bought a lamb. When he returned home, he scooped some of the bathwater into a copper basin and placed the bleating lamb in it.

After about an incense stick's time, the lamb was still lively and showed no signs of distress.

Li Wenjun sighed in relief, but a new doubt arose. Could the bathwater he prepared have no effect at all? Why was the lamb fine? Could it be that the lamb was more suitable for cultivation than he was?

He thought for a long time but found no answer.

Li Wenjun shook his head. Speculating was useless; he needed to try it himself to see if the bathwater was effective.