Chapter 5

Upon returning to Blue Star, Lu Yao wasted no time and immediately searched for the main ingredient missing from the Ten-Ingredient Great Tonic Soup — Groundcover Herb.

Groundcover Herb is known for its heat-clearing and detoxifying properties, as well as its ability to invigorate the blood and qi, making it a crucial component in almost all tonics.

In the other world, it was already expensive and rare, and due to the war, it was out of stock.

However, in Blue Star's Xia Country, the price of this herb was — 12.8 yuan per kilogram… and if you buy 10 kilograms, you get 3 kilograms free.

"The difference in eras! The herbs here are grown on a large scale, making them very cheap."

With a sigh, Lu Yao immediately placed an order for 10 kilograms and asked the seller if it could be delivered on the same day.

Receiving a positive response, he continued to search on the shopping app for — a fully automatic decoction machine!

These days, no one uses clay pots to decoct herbs anymore; modern technology has taken over the tedious work.

After being diagnosed with cancer, Lu Yao had taken a lot of traditional Chinese medicine and was very familiar with it. He quickly selected a machine and placed an order, choosing a local store to ensure same-day delivery.

Coincidentally, the owner of this medical equipment store was the same person who sold him the herbs.

The seller sent a message: "Mr. Lu, we are only three streets apart, what a coincidence. I'll deliver it to you right away."

~~~~~~~~~~

Half an hour later, the phone rang.

Answering the call, a pleasant female voice came through: "Mr. Lu, the decoction machine has arrived. You don't expect me, a weak woman, to carry it up to the 5th floor, do you?"

Lu Yao replied calmly, "I'll come down." He then walked down the stairs.

Just as he reached the entrance of the residential area, he saw a white X6 with the back door open, and the decoction machine inside.

The seller turned out to be a young and beautiful lady, dressed fashionably.

The short-haired lady, upon seeing Lu Yao, who was emaciated and in poor health, showed a brief look of shock and awkwardness.

As a professional in the medical industry, she immediately recognized that Lu Yao was suffering from a terminal illness. She quickly said, "This... let me help you carry it up."

Lu Yao shook his head, "No need, there's an elevator. Thank you for delivering it to my doorstep!"

With that, he pushed the decoction machine, which was about the size of a water dispenser, and struggled towards the elevator.

The lady hurriedly came to help, and together they managed to get the machine into the house.

After setting up the machine, she handed him a business card with both hands:

"My name is Li Lei. This is my card. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. You can also add me on WeChat."

Lu Yao took the card and nodded, "Thank you. I don't think there will be any problems; I've operated this many times."

"Alright, I'll take my leave then. Goodbye." They shook hands, and the transaction was complete.

Before leaving, Li Lei glanced at the frail customer, feeling a sense of pity, "Such a young man, what a pity..."

~~~~~~~~~~~

At this moment, Lu Yao's mood was very complex. He saw pity in the eyes of the beautiful girl.

For someone with a strong sense of self-respect, the pity of others can be more hurtful than schadenfreude.

Taking a deep breath to clear his mind, Lu Yao focused on trying to decoct the Ten-Ingredient Great Tonic Soup using the machine.

He placed the herbs in the machine's storage box, set the temperature, the order of addition, and the heat level, and then waited.

Decocting the herbs in a sealed environment not only greatly reduced the time required but also allowed the machine to repeatedly press the herb residue, extracting the most effective medicinal liquid.

This is the latest trend — numerically controlled fully automatic decoction.

Lu Yao fell asleep and was woken by the machine's "beep beep beep" notification, indicating that the decoction was ready!

He took a cup, pressed the switch, and the medicinal liquid flowed out. Lu Yao drank it in one go but frowned. "The efficacy is far worse than in the other world! What's going on?"

A small sip at Liao Ya's place made him feel hot all over, but a large cup on Blue Star barely had any effect.

Lu Yao was puzzled. Only the Groundcover Herb was not from the original source; everything else was the same. Even if there was a difference, it shouldn't be so significant.

"Maybe the problem isn't with me... I'll take this machine to the other world and try it out!"

After being diagnosed with cancer, he had used the decoction machine to decoct herbs over a thousand times, so there was no way he could have made a mistake in operation. The only thing left to check was the environment.

Thus, he took out his phone and searched for — a household diesel generator.

He quickly selected one and placed an order, but a problem arose — he was out of money!

The decoction machine cost 1000 yuan, and the generator was 5000 yuan... he only had 300 yuan left.

~~~~~~~~

Holding the remaining 300 yuan, Lu Yao went to a trendy accessory shop on the street and picked out some delicate hair clips, bracelets, and other items.

Just as he finished buying the accessories, the generator arrived.

Despite his frail state, Lu Yao insisted on helping the driver carry the heavy generator to his home.

He broke out in a cold sweat, but everything was ready. Lu Yao opened the dimensional door, covered the equipment and herbs, and teleported to the other world.

~~~~~~~~

It was mid-morning, and Liao Ya was nowhere to be seen, probably meditating in her room.

Lu Yao searched around and finally found Liao Qi, who was cooking.

The girl in an apron looked charming. Seeing him, she ran over, swaying.

"Oh, when did you come back? Running around when you're sick, I was so worried about you!"

"What, afraid I'll run away without paying?"

Liao Qi glared at him and pouted, "Ah, you're so mean! This time, I really was worried about you!"

Lu Yao smiled, "Alright, no more fooling around. Come and help me."

They went into the house, and Liao Qi saw the decoction machine and the generator, exclaiming, "Is this a foreign product? What's it for?"

"It's not a foreign product; it's a decoction machine. Help me move it, and I'll show you how it works."

Liao Qi, a Bone-Forging Realm martial artist, was quite strong and could easily lift the generator, which weighed about 100 pounds with one hand.

Lu Yao directed her to set up the machine and then took out the herbs.

Liao Qi was shocked again, "Holy crap!!! So much Groundcover Herb! Where did you get it?"

"Don't be so surprised. I brought it from home." Lu Yao didn't even look up as he operated the machine, "Help me check if the order of adding the herbs is correct."

Liao Qi stared in amazement. Groundcover Herb was expensive and rare, usually sold by the root.

But Lu Yao had brought two large bundles, each as thick as a utility pole. If someone didn't know, they might think it was firewood.

Her exclamation had also attracted her sister, Liao Ya.

The sisters stared at Lu Yao with wide eyes, not blinking.

After a while, he stood up and said, "All done. Now we just need to wait for the decoction to be ready."

"Is this reliable?"

"It should be fine. Did I add the herbs in the correct order?"

"Yes, it's fine. What do you think, sister?"

Liao Ya nodded, "The order is correct. But can it really decoct the herbs this way?"

The two girls were still skeptical. In the past, decocting tonics required careful attention and a lot of effort, and they couldn't believe that pressing a few buttons could do the job.

Lu Yao said, "We'll see. By the way, I brought some specialties."

"Overseas specialties?" Liao Qi excitedly leaned in but saw countless beautiful accessories!

Modern craftsmanship was far superior to the crude and rustic items in the other world. The girl, being at an age where she loved to dress up, was very fond of these items.

"Wow, this hair clip is so beautiful!" Liao Qi immediately picked out the most expensive one, adorned with tiny diamonds, and held it tightly in her hand.