Chapter 16: A piece of licorice medicine [asking for monthly tickets and follow-up reading] The four elements of spiritual practice are Dharma, wealth, companions and place. All four are indispensable. Among these, "Dharma, wealth, and companions" need not be mentioned. As for "place", it is generally a quiet place far away from the city, where one can retreat and practice meditation, away from the hustle and bustle. And above the "quiet place" is the legendary "blessed land". This place is a gathering place of blessings from mountains, rivers and streams, where spiritual energy converges and the mysteries of nature are mysterious. "No wonder Bai Shu is so smart and understands human nature so well." Qiu Zhen suddenly realized. Baizhu is truly blessed with great fortune, as its nest is built on the edge of a blessed land. It has benefited a lot from it imperceptibly and is full of spirituality. However, Baizhu is only a mountain monster after all, with limited means, and is unable to further explore and discover this treasure land.
"Bai Shu, you are really a lucky star!" Qiu Zhen was overjoyed and without thinking too much, he rushed towards the magical herbs and precious medicines in the wasteland in the valley. Take a closer look. What comes into view is a small patch of green vegetation. They have thick rhizomes with brown outer skin, short soft hairs on both sides of the leaflets, slightly wavy edges, and purple, white or yellow corollas; the pods are curved in a sickle shape and densely packed into balls. "This is... Licorice!" Qiu Zhen recognized the herb at a glance. Licorice as the main ingredient can replenish qi and nourish the middle, treat cold and heat evil spirits in the five internal organs, strengthen tendons and bones, grow muscles and increase strength, detoxify, and long-term use can make the body light and prolong life. As a blending agent, it can harmonize various medicines, alleviate the strength and toxicity of other medicinal materials, and reduce the bitterness and spiciness of medicines. It has the reputation of "the good minister among medicines" and "the elder of the country". It can be said to be the king of all medicines. "nice one!" Qiu Zhen was overjoyed and immediately counted the precious medicines in the licorice bush. Take inventory. Among hundreds of licorice plants, he found eight precious licorice herbs. It can be said to be a great happy event. However, there are some drawbacks. Among these eight precious licorice herbs, only one has a strong spiritual aura, and its spirituality is similar to that of the "precious white atractylodes herb". The rest are just tiny dots of light, and are not yet ripe for picking. Picking them by force is a waste of natural resources.
"Anyway, I can't run away. With this blessed land, it will sooner or later grow into excellent spiritual herbs and precious medicines. I can enjoy them slowly in the future." Qiu Zhen is not an impatient person. This blessed land is naturally covered by a "ghost wall" and is concealed by "optical sleight of hand", making it impossible for outsiders to find it. These treasures are all his and can't run away. Immediately, Qiu Zhen suppressed his excitement, and soon left with Bai Zhu. There was no way. The sun was rising high in the sky and it was getting late. The workers had to go to work, and it would be difficult to deal with the precious medicine if they dug it up. That night. After returning from work, Qiu Zhen went straight to the valley, picked the ripe licorice herb, returned to Xiangyang Courtyard, boiled it and made a pot of licorice herbal soup. "Wow~" Qiu Zhen poured 30% of the licorice herbal soup in the pot into a bowl and placed it in front of the white fox that was squatting and watching. Atractylodes: "Σ(⊙▽⊙"a" "This is for you. Anyone who sees it will have a share. If there is any gain in the future, you will have a share." Bai Zhu was overjoyed. He stood in human form, bowed three times to Qiu Zhen, then happily held the medicine bowl and began to lick it. "Ow~" In the past, whenever it found precious medicines, it would chew them raw. As a carnivorous monster, eating grass must have been very uncomfortable. It was not as particular as it is now. "Da da da~" Baizhu licked the slightly sweet medicinal soup and cheered with joy. This is what a "demon life" is. Seeing this, Qiu Zhen chuckled. Although the precious medicine is very important to him as he is trying to become a martial artist, he still does not have it all to himself. This is a matter of principle. The previous "precious medicine of Atractylodes" was presented to it by Atractylodes, but he did not share it with it and accepted its offering with peace of mind. Baizhu was also happy to accept it, and was delighted that the "god" accepted its offerings. However, this time was different, this time they were sharing the harvest. He has no right to enjoy it alone. After all, he had promised repeatedly that he would not treat the white fox unfairly, and that was certainly not just words. Today's precious medicine is very important to him. Tomorrow he will have to break through to the next level, so precious medicine is always in short supply. Then when should we give Atractylodes macrocephala? What I said before has become a joke.
As the "master", it is natural for Qiu Zhen to take the lion's share. Giving 30% of the profits to Bai Zhu is not only a way of controlling his subordinates by "distinguishing rewards and punishments clearly", but also his principle in dealing with people. "Grrrrrr!" After the licorice herbal soup cooled down, Qiu Zhen and others drank it in one gulp, then closed their eyes, meditated into a calm and focused state, and refined the medicinal power in their bodies. Shortly after. "It is estimated that the first level of Medicine King Five Animal Play can be mastered in 139 days." Qiu Zhen looked inward at his own body, deduced from his primordial spirit and Dharma body, and immediately had an idea in his mind. It improved by about 10% and shortened the hard work by about 100 days. The effect of the medicine was within his expectations. "If I can get another precious spiritual herb, I will probably be able to cultivate it to the first level of the [Five Animals of the King of Medicine] and become a martial artist." Qiu Zhen was very happy and full of energy. Over the next two days, the man and the fox would go into the mountains early in the morning and at night, cleaning the valley, removing weeds, and building a settlement, and spending the rest of the time searching for treasures. It’s a pity that people’s luck is limited. Good luck won't always be with you. Even though Qiu Zhen possessed the [Clairvoyance], the ability to search for spiritual objects with his 'spiritual eyes', they were unable to find the second 'spiritual herb'. What made him even more depressed was that in the past two days, he tried to practice the "Eating Breath Method" in the blessed land in order to achieve better results. As a result, it also failed. Practicing in the blessed land is almost the same as practicing in the Xiangyang Courtyard, and there is basically no change in the progress of practice. Obviously, it was not that there was a problem with the "Blessed Land", but that he had no method of cultivating immortals. The "food air" that came with awakening the soul after a hundred days of foundation building was too rough. The pipe is only this big, so there is not much difference between collecting water from a pool and collecting water from a large river. As for the remaining seven plants of "licorice medicine" in the valley, he had thought about digging them out. The "Martial Master Realm" is very important to him. People should not be trapped in a windless place for long. For him, becoming a "martial artist" is a great opportunity. As long as he takes this step, he will be able to climb out of the bottom and usher in a different life. However, after careful consideration, he held back. The seven precious licorice herbs were very weak and were still growing. Even if he ate them all, their efficacy might not be as good as the two precious herbs "Atractylodes" and "Licorice" that he had eaten before. It would be too extravagant and wasteful. The next day, it was dawn.
Bai Zhu knocked on the door and entered the house, still holding a bamboo basket and a hatchet in his mouth. He was full of energy and was not at all discouraged by the failure of the previous two days. "Hey~" "I will not go today. You go to the mountains to look for the treasure medicine by yourself. If you find it, call me in your heart and I will know." "Ow~" Bai Zhu nodded obediently and put down the bamboo basket. His figure flashed, turned into a residual shadow, and disappeared. Qiu Zhen finished his meditation, stood up, picked up the bamboo basket, and rushed to the kitchen. These past few days, he had not been completely without gain. During the few days in the mountains, Baizhu captured two wild rabbits. Perhaps because of the sufficient meat and grains, his progress in martial arts training improved significantly. According to the deduction of the Dharmakaya, with sufficient intake of grains and meat, it would only take more than ninety days to become a martial artist, which is a little less than half the time. This reminded Qiu Zhen. He had the magical power of "remote viewing" and was talented in archery. After practicing archery well, if he failed to collect herbs or search for treasures in the mountains, he could hunt for meat, which was also a way to improve his martial arts skills. "There is a market in Qingmu Town in the morning. Sell the herbs you prepared these days for money, and then save some to buy a good bow. It will be a short time before you can become a martial artist." PS: Thanks to "胖胖圆圆敦顿" for the reward of 10000 Qidian coins, and "书友20221030172541934" for the reward of 500 Qidian coins. (End of this chapter)