Chapter 2

Yuan Chi Powder is a secret medicine that allows one to ignore fatigue and maintain abundant energy. However, once its effects wear off, the person who took it will be extremely exhausted and unable to continue. For ordinary people, after taking it, their strength greatly increases, but once the effects wear off, they become so weak that they cannot move, and those with weak constitutions may even die.

Such secret medicines are mostly refined by martial artists. After taking it, martial artists, due to their strong bodies from training, generally do not die from it; at most, they might fall ill. For those with profound martial arts, they only feel tired.

The few people in front of Qin Xianyu were clearly young heroes of the martial world. Qin Xianyu could tell that these few had all taken Yuan Chi Powder, and most were extremely exhausted, but showed no significant abnormalities. It seemed their martial arts were already at a very high level, so they would not fall seriously ill, let alone die. However, he did not know what they had encountered in the deep mountains that, despite their martial arts being sufficient to resist the side effects of Yuan Chi Powder, they still had to take it.

They asked Qin Xianyu to boil a medicinal soup called Shen Bu Tang.

This kind of medicinal soup is not even recognized by ordinary doctors, but Qin Xianyu knew it. This medicinal soup is a powerful tonic; even for those with strong bodies, it can cause symptoms of over-supplementation. Those who can take this kind of medicinal soup are mostly martial artists.

These few people had taken Yuan Chi Powder and were now quite weak. Although, from a pharmacological perspective, Shen Bu Tang can nourish and treat their current weak state, weren't they afraid of over-supplementation? Or perhaps their martial arts were so advanced that even in their current weak state, they would not experience over-supplementation after taking Shen Bu Tang?

Qin Xianyu did not know, and he just lowered his head to gather herbs.

Thinking of the Immortal Bird, he clenched his hands slightly.

"The main ingredients for Shen Bu Tang they already have; now they only need a few common herbs. What they need is someone who can control the heat to boil the medicine." Qin Xianyu already had seven herbs in his hand, and with two more, he could combine them with the main ingredients the young heroes had and boil Shen Bu Tang.

Those people were not far behind, and they did not avoid Qin Xianyu when discussing matters.

Qin Xianyu, who treated illnesses and injuries in his family, had seen many martial artists and people from all walks of life, and he knew the dangers of the world. Despite being young, his thoughts were more far-reaching than those of his peers.

They did not avoid him in their conversation. Qin Xianyu put the herbs in the medicine basket, and his heart sank slightly.

"The legends of demons, ghosts, immortals, and Buddhas in the world are probably all exaggerated," a young hero in yellow said, frowning. "In my view, it's just that the world exaggerates too much. People like us, who have cultivated inner strength, can cut down a tree with one sword, which seems like a miracle to ordinary people. Perhaps it's just that martial artists are exaggerated and considered immortals. We are all famous young heroes, and if the matter of our coming here is known, it will invite ridicule."

The young hero in purple, who had just kicked Qin Xianyu to the ground, seemed to have a high status among the group. The others called him Brother Zhao. This Zhao surnamed hero shook his head and said, "If it were just ordinary legends, we would consider them exaggerated. But this time it's different. It's a notebook passed down from my ancestors, and it's said that the notebook was written by my ancestor himself. I believe there are truly immortal objects in the deep mountains."

Another young hero smiled bitterly and said, "We haven't seen the immortal objects, but we've encountered many fierce birds and beasts. We had to take Yuan Chi Powder to stimulate our inner strength to escape, and even Brothers Li and Lu were lost in the mountains."

"The birds and beasts here are more ferocious than those we usually see, which is very suspicious," the Zhao surnamed hero said. "This time we didn't find the immortal objects, but there will be next time. We should gather more experts to explore the mountains together. But don't publicize this matter to avoid being preempted."

The young hero in yellow nodded and said, "Brother Zhao is right."

"The boiling of Shen Bu Tang requires a high level of skill in controlling the heat. Although we are familiar with pharmacology, we lack the skill in boiling medicine," the Zhao surnamed hero slightly raised his head, looked at Qin Xianyu not far away, and then looked away, saying indifferently, "If we hadn't met him, we would have had to find a doctor in town to boil the medicine, but that would expose our whereabouts."

Everyone nodded.

Since they had met this young Taoist, they didn't need to find a doctor to boil the medicine. As for exposing their whereabouts, they just needed to kill him, and no one would know.

They did not avoid Qin Xianyu in their conversation because, in their eyes, the little Taoist would not live through the day. Since he was a dead man, why bother to avoid him?

These few young heroes thought the little Taoist was just a mountain child who gathered herbs, naive and without guile, and couldn't understand their implications. But they didn't know that Qin Xianyu's family had run a pharmacy since childhood, and he had interacted with many martial artists and people from all walks of life, deeply understanding the dangers of human nature.

Qin Xianyu's heart was heavy. The implication of their words was that they did not want to expose their whereabouts, and the best way was to kill him.

"These few people are indeed ruthless," Qin Xianyu sighed inwardly, picking a few mushrooms.

Mushrooms are a marginal herb, optional in Shen Bu Tang, but using them is still better.

But the mushrooms in Qin Xianyu's hand were colorful, with bright colors, very attractive.

He carried the medicine basket, piled up a mound of earth in front of everyone, and started a fire inside. Then he placed the stove taken out by the young heroes on the fire. Qin Xianyu took a water bag from a young hero and poured it into the stove.

The young heroes only glanced at the little Taoist and then continued to chat, ignoring him.

Qin Xianyu stood in front of them, looking somewhat nervous, like a young man who rarely saw the outside world.

The stove already contained many herbs, and the last thing needed was a type of mushroom, which Qin Xianyu had already gathered.

The young Taoist was somewhat nervous, his palms slightly sweaty. He took the colorful mushrooms and put them into the small stove.

At that moment, a cold laugh suddenly sounded.

Qin Xianyu's heart sank.

Someone grabbed his wrist.

It was the Zhao surnamed young hero who had kicked him down.

This young hero, who looked only a few years older than Qin Xianyu, said coldly, "Do you really think we don't recognize herbs? We come from various martial arts holy places and are the most outstanding figures in the martial world. Even if we don't know how to boil medicine, we recognize many herbs. If not, we would have been poisoned and our years of hard training would have been in vain. I advise you to be more careful, or else..."

Before he finished speaking, Qin Xianyu felt a pain in his shoulder and rolled away.

The Zhao surnamed hero's face showed a mocking expression and said, "This thing looks good, but the more beautiful the mushroom, the more toxic it is. Even mountain hunters know this, let alone us?"

The young hero in yellow beside him frowned slightly and whispered, "Lacking one type of mushroom doesn't affect the efficacy of Shen Bu Tang. Why not just kill this kid?"

The Zhao surnamed hero shook his head slightly and said, "What kind of people are we? Would we use incomplete herbs?"

He spoke, and another person followed, saying, "Brat, go gather some mushrooms, or else..."

Qin Xianyu felt relieved, holding his aching shoulder, and slowly got up.

The Zhao surnamed young hero said coldly, "The soup is almost ready. Move faster. Remember, your life is not as valuable as this medicinal soup."

He flicked his finger, and a small stone shot out from his hand, hitting Qin Xianyu's face.

This stone was thrown like a hidden weapon, with sharp edges, instantly scraping a blood mark on Qin Xianyu's face. Qin Xianyu thought it was bad and deliberately showed a few signs of fear, hurriedly going to find mushrooms.

He rushed around, finally finding some mushrooms.

These mushrooms were non-toxic, with a dull color.

He quickly gathered some and then leaned on a green tree to stand up. The green tree had vines growing on it.

The vines were green.

So the mushrooms got a little green.

Just a little green.

Qin Xianyu gathered the mushrooms, quickly returned, and washed them with water from the pot, washing them quite clean. However, he accidentally left one unwashed, which had a bit of green on it.

The young heroes did not pay much attention.

When the last mushroom was put into the stove, Qin Xianyu fanned the fire and controlled the heat.

The young heroes watched him, making him very uncomfortable.

After a long time.

"Done."

Qin Xianyu lifted the medicinal soup and said respectfully, "The medicinal soup is ready."

The Zhao surnamed young hero watched him silently, making him feel uneasy.

After a long time, the Zhao surnamed young hero said coldly, "Drink it."

Qin Xianyu was taken aback.

The Zhao surnamed young hero's face became even colder, like ice, and said, "Drink it."

Qin Xianyu sighed and took a small sip.

"You seem to be honest this time," the Zhao surnamed young hero laughed and suddenly struck Qin Xianyu with a palm.

Qin Xianyu's body tensed up. When the young hero struck, he tried to turn his body. Although he had not learned martial arts, he was prepared, and the young hero only struck him with a casual palm, not using full strength. In the end, Qin Xianyu managed to dodge.

The palm missed his vital points but hit his shoulder.

Qin Xianyu's face turned pale, and he took more than ten steps back, almost falling backward, and finally fell to the ground.

The Zhao surnamed young hero, who did not kill Qin Xianyu with one palm, showed a cold expression, hummed, and lifted a bowl of medicinal soup to drink.

The others also drank the Shen Bu Tang.

"Brother Zhao's one palm didn't kill this person, it's really..." another young hero said mockingly, "Should Brother Zhao use his sword to finish him off?"

"A little herb-gathering Taoist child, does he deserve my sword?"

The Zhao surnamed hero laughed coldly and walked toward Qin Xianyu.

As he took a step, he felt the world turn upside down, and his head spun.