Chapter 175: Medicine and Martial Arts Dual Cultivation

Artifact: Dirty Notebook Ancient Book

Spirit Artifact Tier: Second Tier

Devour Requirement: Host Mental Power Level 2 (Satisfied)

Devour Effect: Proficiency in Medical Principles, Proficiency in Medicinal Properties

Duan Rong looked at the data panel appearing before him, his brow furrowed, his gaze flickering.

He remembered that the last time he tried to read the Five Tigers Flock of Sheep Saber Secret Manual given to him by Xiao Zongting, the devour effect of that manual was blank, but this heirloom of Gu Suxiu's grandfather contained a second-tier Spirit Tool.

Thoughts swirled in Duan Rong's mind, and he immediately understood the reason for this.

The secret manual Xiao Zongting gave him had been copied by Xiao Baijiao; Xiao Baijiao had not understood any of the content in the manual to begin with, she had simply recited it while writing it down, and once finished, it was handed over to the Apprentice Escorts by Xiao Zongting.

These Apprentice Escorts would only flip through the manual when they encountered questions while practicing martial arts; they would neither annotate it, nor would they spend decades of effort flipping through it repeatedly.

But that medical book, the heirloom of Gu Suxiu's grandfather, was different. Gu Suxiu's grandfather had read this book for half his life, was still reading it when he died, and had annotated it almost every year, soaking much of his own heart and spirit into the book.

Only then did the two second-tier Spirit Tools of proficiency contained in the book come into being.

Once Duan Rong figured out the reason, his heart cleared, his gaze sharpened, and he secretly said: "Devour."

As the data panel before his eyes flickered and dissipated, Duan Rong closed the heirloom book in his hand and handed it back to Gu Suxiu. He shook his head and said, "The handwriting is completely different, and from the handwriting, it does not seem that there is any lineage shared."

Upon hearing this, Gu Suxiu's gaze dimmed, and he carefully took back his grandfather's heirloom that Duan Rong handed over. He had originally thought that if Duan Rong truly had a connection with his Gu family, he could provide some care, but now it seemed he might have overthought it.

Duan Rong handed the heirloom to Gu Suxiu, then suddenly his gaze shifted; he saw that inside the wooden box there seemed to be a small Wooden Buddha Pendant, only it had been covered by the heirloom book before, so he had not seen it.

Duan Rong's heart stirred, he reached out and pinched the Buddha pendant out, then secretly said: "Spirit Reader."

Another set of data appeared before Duan Rong's eyes.

Artifact: Wooden Buddha Pendant (Damaged)

Spirit Artifact Tier: Third Tier

Devour Requirement: Host Mental Power Level 3 (Satisfied)

Devour Effect: Proficiency in Difficult and Complicated Cases (Incomplete), Minor Accomplishment in Decoction Prescriptions (Incomplete), Minor Accomplishment in Acupuncture Essentials (Incomplete)

Duan Rong looked at the devour effects before him, feeling surprised in his heart—two minor accomplishments, one proficiency, but unfortunately, all were incomplete.

It seemed Gu Suxiu's grandfather's medical skills were indeed formidable, but it was a pity that the pendant was damaged, and the Spirit Tools were all incomplete.

Duan Rong looked at the Buddha pendant in his hand with no small amount of regret, only to find that the Buddha pendant was still quite intact and had no obvious signs of damage!

Duan Rong was momentarily puzzled.

Seeing Duan Rong curiously examining the Buddha pendant, Gu Suxiu said, "This was my grandfather's personal item during his lifetime. I have always kept it in this wooden box, but a few years ago, I accidentally discovered it had been moth-eaten. So, later on, I would take it out every year to smoke it with mugwort."

"Moth-eaten?" Duan Rong finally saw a few very tiny insect holes on the back of the Buddha pendant.

"Perhaps the moth-eaten holes hollowed out much of the inside of this Buddha..." Duan Rong thought to himself, and with a shift of his mind, he secretly said: "Devour!"

Although all three devour effects were incomplete, they were, after all, two minor accomplishments and one proficiency; it would be a real pity not to devour them.

Duan Rong placed the Buddha pendant in his hand back into the wooden box. He then remembered that when he entered the door earlier, a Buddha statue was also enshrined in the shrine on the side of the entrance; it seemed the Gu family had a long-standing tradition of believing in Buddha.

"After all, it is an old object, and being made of wood, it attracts insects," he said casually.

Gu Suxiu nodded, put the heirloom book back into the wooden box, and then placed the wooden box back into the cabinet in the corner.

Just as Gu Suxiu finished putting it away and turned around, he heard a deep male voice calling from the front hall of the Medical Hall: "Doctor Gu, Doctor Gu!"

The two of them went out of the back hall together and headed toward the Medical Hall in the front.

They saw that the visitors were a couple; the woman was heavily pregnant and walking with great difficulty, while a thin man was supporting her by her side.

As soon as Gu Suxiu saw these two, he said, "Mrs. Xu, have you taken the pregnancy-stabilizing medicine? Are you feeling any better?"

"It is a bit better, but she keeps waking up in a fright at night!" the thin man supporting his wife said immediately.

Seeing that Gu Suxiu had a patient, Duan Rong took his leave and went out.

Duan Rong walked on the street, his head feeling heavily muddled; in just under half an hour, he had successively devoured three Spirit Tools.

Two third-tier Spirit Tools, one second-tier Spirit Tool.

This was not a Tree Spirit, which digested very slowly and had no adverse reactions.

In fact, after practicing the Womb Treasury Sutra, Duan Rong could basically adapt to the discomfort after devouring a Spirit Tool; if he only devoured one, he could already respond normally and digest it even without sleeping.

But now, having devoured three Spirit Tools, he immediately felt as if his head were filled with lead...

Duan Rong walked with heavy steps back to Liu Lu, climbed onto the bed, and instantly fell into a deep, unconscious sleep...

After sleeping for nearly two hours, Duan Rong finally woke up slowly. He stretched, realized the discomfort in his head had completely vanished, and feeling hungry in his stomach, he jumped off the bed. He walked out of the room, washed his face, and glanced at the sun on the willow tips, estimating it was just the time for the Middle Courtyard canteen to serve food, so he walked hurriedly toward the canteen to eat.

After finishing his meal, Duan Rong returned to Liu Lu. He sat on the stone chair in the simple pavilion in the courtyard, and sat there for over an hour...

After sitting for an hour, Duan Rong suddenly stood up and began to pace back and forth in the courtyard...

He had digested and absorbed two third-tier and one second-tier Spirit Tools; not only from Gu Suxiu, but also from Gu Suxiu's grandfather. It could be said that his current medical skills, including his understanding of medical principles and medicinal properties, already far exceeded Gu Suxiu's.

But Duan Rong discovered that these were of no use for the problem he wanted to solve.

Because, whether it was Gu Suxiu or his grandfather, their medical skills and principles were all about treating diseases in ordinary people.

And what Duan Rong wanted to solve was the problem of medicinal supplementation for a Martial Artist's Internal Breath cultivation.

These were two completely different fields.

Although Duan Rong understood the medicinal properties of almost all medicinal herbs, this understanding was based on medical principles and diseases.

And the way these herbs acted upon Internal Breath was actually another field of study.

Duan Rong suddenly understood that to solve his problem, it had to be someone who practiced Medicine and Martial Arts Dual Cultivation, and who leaned toward medicine.

Because, if one did not practice martial arts oneself, how could one possibly understand the relationship between medicinal properties and Internal Breath?

Only, was there such a person in Xiangu County?

Duan Rong had never heard of one!

Medicine and Martial Arts Dual Cultivation—Duan Rong believed that there must be such people in this world, otherwise, where would those medicinal supplement prescriptions come from?

It was just that Xiangu County was too isolated and lacked such rare talent.

Duan Rong could not help but let out a long sigh; even though he possessed the ability of Devouring Artifact Spirit, a clever housewife could not cook a meal without rice, and there was simply no one in Xiangu County who practiced Medicine and Martial Arts Dual Cultivation, so where was he to go to devour?

"It seems the issue of medicinal permeability cannot be solved for the time being." Duan Rong sighed deeply and had no choice but to set this problem aside.

Now, he had only one perilous path left to take: to cultivate like a madman!

"If I don't shed a layer of skin for this, I probably won't be able to pass the test!" A fierce light shot from Duan Rong's eyes; he had already decided that in the days to come, he would grind away at the Hunyuan Stance.

(End of this chapter)