Chapter 26

Just as Han Li thought this rainy weather would persist for some time, the sun finally reappeared in the sky, and the heavens cleared.

It had been nearly half a month since Han Li discovered the secret of the green ‘liquid’; he had long grown impatient. On the very night the sun returned, he saw once again the wonder he had witnessed four years prior: countless tiny light points clustered densely around the bottle, forming a large luminous sphere.

The moment Han Li saw this spectacle, the heavy stone hanging in his heart finally dropped—he could now be certain this small bottle was not a one-time consumable, but a reusable marvel.

After another seven days of waiting, a single drop of green ‘liquid’ reappeared in the bottle. Though Han Li had already been ninety percent certain it would happen, he still felt immense joy—this meant he would now have a constant supply of rare ‘herbs’ and never again need to worry about them.

One must understand that the value of ‘herbs’ is mostly determined by their age; the older a herb, the stronger its medicinal properties. Likewise, older herbs are far harder to find, typically growing in deep mountains, ancient forests, or on sheer cliffs—without risking one’s life, finding them was unthinkable.

Though some herb shops and physicians now cultivate certain herbs themselves, these are mostly common varieties that reach usable age in just a few years. Most people would never be foolish enough to plant herbs requiring ten or even dozens of years to mature.

Yet some wealthy and powerful clans, to prepare for emergencies, would hire specialists to grow a few extremely rare medicinal plants for life-saving use in crises. These herbs generally require a very long time to develop any medicinal effect, for even slightly common substances could be easily purchased by such families—why bother with the immense effort of cultivation? Moreover, since these clans pass down their wealth across generations, they care little for the time required to grow such herbs. No one knows when they might need them, so these herbs are typically Jipin cultivated over a hundred years or more, or rare, one-in-a-million singular specimens—ordinary people lack both the wealth and resources to do such a thing.

Occasionally, rare wild herbs appear briefly on the market, but they are almost always bought up by these clans, causing the prices of rare medicinal herbs to rise steadily—and often, they become unobtainable even at any price.

Han Li did not expect much from Master Mo’s journey; he doubted the old man would return with much. But now Han Li no longer needed to worry—this bottle could rapidly cultivate countless fine ‘herbs’ in a short time.

With mixed emotions, Han Li conducted several more trials over the following dozens of days, using the bottle to accelerate herb growth.

Once, he sprayed diluted green ‘liquid’ onto many herbs; the next day, he obtained only a large quantity of ordinary herbs with just one or two years’ worth of potency—far inferior to the first batch he had obtained. From this trial, Han Li subtly grasped a pattern.

In his next trial, Han Li skipped dilution entirely and directly dripped the green ‘liquid’ onto a ginseng root. When he woke the next morning, he found a hundred-year-old ginseng—indistinguishable from a wild, century-old specimen. This trial filled Han Li with elation—not because he had obtained a rare herb, but because he had now roughly mastered the use of the green ‘liquid’.

Han Li then conducted several preservation trials, placing freshly extracted green ‘liquid’ into various containers: porcelain vials, jade bottles, gourds, silver flasks, etc. He discovered that no container could preserve the green ‘liquid’ for more than a quarter-hour. Once removed from the mysterious small bottle, it had to be used within that time—or it would vanish completely. Even its diluted form shared this trait: though it lasted slightly longer, once a certain time passed, only the other liquids absorbed into the container remained—the green ‘liquid’’s essence had disappeared.

After several such trials, Han Li completely lost faith in storing the green ‘liquid’ in any other container—it seemed impossible to store it in bulk. He turned instead to testing another method: stacking medicinal properties.

Han Li dripped one drop of green ‘liquid’ onto a green Sanwu herb, transforming it into a yellow Sanwu herb with a hundred-year potency. Several days later, he dripped another drop onto it—and its age increased by another hundred years.

Seeing this worked, Han Li repeated the same process tirelessly over the next two months. Whenever a new drop of green ‘liquid’ formed in the bottle, he dripped it onto the Sanwu herb. The herb did not disappoint: its leaves gradually shifted from yellow to yellow-black, then to pure black, until finally, when its leaves became utterly glossy black, it became a thousand-year Sanwu herb—rare even in the world.

This test succeeded brilliantly. It seemed that, with patience, the Sanwu herb’s age could be pushed even higher. But for Han Li, such an effort was entirely unnecessary—he only needed to confirm the method worked. He did not need herbs of extreme age; herbs with several hundred years’ potency were more than sufficient for his own use.

After completing this long series of trials, Han Li finally had time to rest and reflect. By now, considerable time had passed since Master Mo had descended the mountain.

Han Li now lay on his wooden bed in his room, holding the thousand-year Sanwu herb, staring blankly.

His eyes fixed on the pitch-black herb, as if studying it—but anyone else in the room could see from his unfocused gaze that his mind was far away, lost in thought.

He no longer felt the joy he had upon first obtaining this herb. Instead, he carefully weighed the benefits and dangers this bottle brought him, planning his next moves.

From the various books in Master Mo’s room, Han Li had read many examples of “bearing jade invites death.” His bottle was priceless—if anyone discovered he possessed such a treasure, he would not live to see the next morning. He would be overwhelmed by greedy seekers, just like countless others before him who had “borne jade.” Never mind distant threats—closer to home, if even a few Sect Masters here learned the bottle’s secret, they would spare no effort to kill him and seize it. He would meet the grim fate of “treasure seized, owner destroyed.”

“I must never tell anyone about the bottle. Even on the mountain, I must use it cautiously—the bottle’s absorption of light points is too conspicuous; one slip and its secret will be exposed.” Han Li resolved to keep silent, revealing not a single word about it to anyone.

“Yet I am now in dire need of herbs for cultivation. Not using this bottle would be a waste. I must find a way to use it safely.” He thought of his stagnant cultivation and felt a pang of gloom. But his progress in the cultivation incantation could not be delayed—he was not cultivating for Master Mo’s urging, but had already sensed that his recent unusual changes were inseparable from this nameless incantation.

WwW.feiazw.CoM Wang