Chapter 324: Silver Star Grass

Pan Yong stood at the cave entrance, watching Yin Cong and Duan Rong disappear around the corner of the pitch-black cliff wall.

The pupils in his cold, hard face moved slightly, then he tucked the Star Disk into his sleeve, picked up the two bags at his feet, and walked toward the place where Shang Xiangyu was.

Pan Yong stepped over the fence and saw that in a corner of the platform, a Candle Lamp was lit on the stone wall, and Tang Zhu was half-squatting there, holding a bowl and feeding Xin'er.

As Xin'er ate, for some reason, they began to babble and sing.

Tang Zhu squatted there holding the bowl, patiently waiting for Xin'er to finish singing before feeding the next mouthful.

Hearing the rustling footsteps over there, Tang Zhu turned their head to look and saw it was Pan Yong.

Their eyes met, and both could see that neither had any intention of speaking.

Pan Yong walked over in silence.

Xin'er would occasionally mumble and call Shang Xiangyu "Daddy"; although the words were slurred, these were already the syllables closest to human speech that Xin'er could produce.

The few of them all assumed that Shang Xin was Shang Xiangyu's son.

But only Pan Yong knew that Shang Xin was actually Shang Xiangyu's younger brother.

It was just that Shang Xin had been born with an intellectual disability and had contracted polio in his youth; in his heart, he likely could not distinguish what was a "daddy" and what was an "older brother"...

Pan Yong walked into the cave and saw at a glance that dim, yellowish candlelight was being cast from the side chamber of the stone room; with a flick of his hand, he had already grabbed the Star Disk in his palm, and his originally cold and stiff expression instantly became submissive.

Pan Yong walked quickly into the side chamber.

Shang Xiangyu was sitting in front of a small desk, brows locked in deep thought.

Pan Yong stood beside the cave entrance, his back slightly hunched, head lowered looking at the ground, and said, "Master Shang, last night I made a list according to the prescription you gave. Yin Cong and Duan Rong went to the Medicine Pavilion this morning, and the medicines have all been exchanged and brought back."

As Pan Yong spoke, he placed the two bags on the ground beside the desk, and standing not far from the desk himself, he handed the Star Disk in his hand toward Shang Xiangyu.

Shang Xiangyu glanced at the two bags of medicine, then reached out and grabbed the Star Disk, only taking one look at the disk's surface before tucking it into his sleeve.

Pan Yong did not report to Shang Xiangyu that Duan Rong and Yin Cong had spent an extra ten Contribution Points.

He still knew how to weigh the importance of things and would not bother Shang Xiangyu with such trifles; this was also the reason why Shang Xiangyu had always relied on him.

Such matters were things he usually handled himself below.

Shang Xiangyu said, "This time, the pill refining is different from before. Tomorrow, I will personally guide you all in preparing the medicine."

Pan Yong's gaze shifted, and he said, "Yes, Master Shang."

When he was listing the medicine list last night, he had felt that the variety of medicines exchanged this time was obviously complex, and the total amount was also far more than usual.

He had not expected that now, Shang Xiangyu would even want to personally guide them in processing the herbs; this was the first time in the few years he had been here.

Shang Xiangyu suddenly said in a deep voice, "Tell them, starting from tomorrow, it will be very hard work for a few days! Have them put aside the things at hand and refine pills with me."

"Rest assured, Master Shang!" Pan Yong said, cupping his fists.

Shang Xiangyu nodded and said, "You may go."

Pan Yong slowly retreated from the stone room.

As soon as Pan Yong left the stone room, Shang Xiangyu looked with deep, profound eyes at the large stone pot on the desk in front of him.

Shang Xiangyu raised his hand and opened the lid of the large stone pot; under the illumination of the dim candlelight, one could see at the bottom of the pitch-black pot, a blurry mass of red fluorescence flickering darkly, like a beating heart.

Amidst the floating, blurry red light, chunks of black Qi rolled past from time to time.

Inside this large stone pot was the fruit of a Black Blood Vine that had only just matured yesterday afternoon.

Shang Xiangyu stared at the fruit with red light flickering at the bottom of the pot, a flash of ferocity crossing his eyes, and his tight-skinned face even became somewhat twisted.

"Rejuvenation Pill... I must refine it..."

As Shang Xiangyu spoke, he pulled up his sleeve, revealing the skin on his arm, which was wrinkled and withered like that of a dying old man...

Gazing at that bone-dry arm, intense pain and disgust instantly surged in his eyes.

He wished he could peel off these wrinkled layers of skin one by one...

But he knew that was useless.

The vitality within his body was being eaten away bit by bit.

Shang Xiangyu was disgusted by this feeling, this feeling of being devoured by aging...

He did not know how many times he had woken up from nightmares, in which an old man with a face full of wrinkles was gnawing on his corpse...

That was himself...

After Shang Xiangyu practiced the Nine Nether Great Treasury Art, he discovered that his white hair had begun to gradually increase.

Although he felt suspicious in his heart, he did not think much of it, because the skin on his face remained tight and delicate.

It was not until he achieved the first level of the Nine Nether Great Treasury Art that he turned white-haired overnight.

The skin on his hands and feet also began to dry, peel, and age, and after a few hours, it became wrinkled...

Shang Xiangyu immediately discovered that he had been tricked.

After discovering that aging had begun to spread within his body, he came up with the method of Five Poisons Blood Transformation to suppress the spread of aging.

And taking advantage of this time, he scoured ancient prescriptions and studied intently, only then finally managing to improve this ancient prescription for the Rejuvenation Pill.

After exhausting his efforts to replace a few medicines that had already gone extinct in this realm.

Shang Xiangyu repeatedly deduced and believed that the improved pill formula still had a very high probability of successfully forming a pill.

And now, the Five Poisons Blood Transformation was almost of no use anymore, and this Rejuvenation Pill had become the single thread on which his life hung...

He no longer had the qualification to fail.

Yin Cong left Pan Yong's cave and walked along the cliff wall with a stifled heart, seeing that he was almost at the entrance of his own cave.

Duan Rong suddenly said, "Senior Brother, we have been tired for a day too. Why don't I go into the forest and catch some game, and we can have a good meal?"

Yin Cong smiled upon hearing this, raised his hand to pat Duan Rong's shoulder, and said, "Disciple has a heart. Then I will trouble you."

"Senior Brother, rest for a moment, wait for me to return." Duan Rong said, then stepped into the pitch-black night and headed into the dense forest.

Seeing Duan Rong leave, Yin Cong stood at the cave entrance and sighed heavily.

He had been here with Shang Xiangyu for over a year, always suppressed by Pan Yong and Chen Hu, and had suffered no shortage of grievances from all sorts of miscellaneous chores.

However, he also had self-awareness; whether it was his martial arts realm or his wits, he could not compare to those two, so he could only endure and swallow his pride while getting by.

When Duan Rong returned carrying two pieces of bloody game, Yin Cong had already started a fire at the cave entrance.

Duan Rong had caught a pheasant and a wild rabbit. Furthermore, before returning, he had already cleaned them by the side of the pool.

Duan Rong sat down in front of the fire, and the two of them began to roast the game.

Seeing the pheasant and wild rabbit being roasted until they sizzled with oil, the fragrance filled the air...

As Duan Rong turned the wild rabbit in his hands, he said, "Senior Brother, I have thought about it repeatedly. I must have taken the wrong herb, which is why I spent ten extra Contribution Points."

Yin Cong sighed and said, "Don't think about it. What's done is done. It's normal to make mistakes; it's your first time doing this. Only perverts like Pan Yong and Chen Hu would never make mistakes, and even think that never making mistakes is the norm."

In truth, he bore more responsibility for this matter himself.

He had actually failed to remember the points Pan Yong told him correctly. If he had remembered them accurately, he could have checked again at the Medicine Pavilion counter at the time and caught the error.

Actually, deducting ten Contribution Points was nothing; he just couldn't stand the way Pan Yong looked at people with a cold face.

Just as Yin Cong's voice trailed off, a dark shadow was seen walking over from the corner of the cliff wall.

As soon as the shadow walked out, Yin Cong recognized that it was Pan Yong. Looking at the posture of his walk, the shadow itself gave off a sense of being stuck-up.

Pan Yong approached, the firelight reflecting off his cold, hard face.

He had heard what Yin Cong said just now about him and Chen Hu being perverts.

Seeing Pan Yong approach, Yin Cong immediately stood up with a smile, tore off a leg from the pheasant he was roasting, and handed it to Pan Yong, saying, "Senior Brother, freshly roasted game. Come, have a taste."

Pan Yong pulled a long face, waved his hand, and said, "No need, I don't like eating such greasy things."

Pan Yong glanced at Duan Rong, who was still sitting there motionless upon seeing him arrive, and said in a deep voice, "I came to tell you two Disciples. Tomorrow at the third quarter of the Mao hour, arrive at the platform on time. Master Shang will personally instruct us on processing herbs."

After Pan Yong finished speaking, he turned and left.

Yin Cong looked at Pan Yong's back, bit hard into the chicken leg in his hand, looked at Duan Rong, and said, "Look at that dead look he had just now; even a debt collector has a better expression than him. Putting on a stinking face every day, I don't know who he's showing it to."

Duan Rong, however, had a shift in his gaze and said, "Just now he said Master Shang will personally instruct us on processing herbs."

"Hmm..." Yin Cong was taken aback upon hearing this.

Just now he had been too busy sulking with Pan Yong to pay much attention.

Duan Rong asked, "Has Master Shang instructed us on processing herbs before?"

Yin Cong blinked and said, "Since I arrived, he shouldn't have. It has always been Pan Yong leading us."

Duan Rong said, "Then isn't this time of refining medicine quite different?"

Yin Cong then remembered that the medicine exchanged this time seemed much more complex than before, but he immediately tore off a piece of chicken from his hand and said, "Why are you worrying about that?! We just need to do our own jobs well."

As Yin Cong spoke, he sat down carelessly and buried his head in chewing.

Duan Rong looked at him and shook his head slightly, sighing in his heart: This guy is too careless; I don't know how he managed to survive until now under Pan Yong and Chen Hu.

The two finished the game and chatted for a while before dispersing.

The next day at the Mao hour, the sky was still pitch black, and two Candle Lamps had already been lit on the platform outside the cave.

Pan Yong, Chen Hu, Yin Cong, Duan Rong, and Tang Zhu were already standing on the platform.

Tang Zhu's face had already reduced in swelling, with only a few scabs remaining on his face.

At this moment, black mist rolled, the Candle Lamps were like beans, and a strange atmosphere weighed heavily on the hearts of the few.

After a while, Shang Xiangyu walked out of the cave carrying a bag.

Shang Xiangyu spread out the bag and said, "Inside here are sixteen types of medicine, which are your tasks for today. Pan Yong gets four types, and everyone else gets three."

"Come, Pan Yong, come over here; I will teach you first how to process these four types of medicine."

Pan Yong walked to the front of Shang Xiangyu, and Shang Xiangyu used the candlelight to point out the four types of medicine to Pan Yong.

Pan Yong recognized them one by one, and only then did Shang Xiangyu begin to explain the processing methods and his requirements.

By the time Shang Xiangyu finished explaining to them one by one, the sky was already bright, and everyone began to get busy.

Among them, the most nervous were Yin Cong and Tang Zhu; both of their faces were somewhat pale, and their hands were trembling slightly, mainly because they had only half-understood Shang Xiangyu's explanation earlier.

Meanwhile, Pan Yong, Chen Hu, and Duan Rong had already begun to process the herbs in an orderly manner.

Yin Cong glanced at Duan Rong; Pan Yong and Chen Hu were one thing, but Duan Rong had only been here for a few days, so how could he be so familiar with those strange and peculiar tools?

He himself had been here for over half a year before he slowly figured it out.

"This kid is really weird..."

As the group was busy on the platform outside the cave, Shang Xiangyu would come out from the cave from time to time to check their techniques and would also point out some details to them.

Because Yin Cong hadn't understood how to process one of the herbs earlier, when Shang Xiangyu came out for the second time, he finally gathered the courage to ask.

Unexpectedly, Shang Xiangyu answered him very patiently and said, "If you have any questions, don't hide them. In the processing of these herbs, there cannot be the slightest bit of sloppiness!"

"If you have questions and don't ask, and the herbs are processed poorly, it will affect my progress in refining medicine. I will never show leniency!"

As soon as Shang Xiangyu said this, Tang Zhu immediately asked several questions. Shang Xiangyu answered them one by one.

Throughout the day, even Pan Yong and Chen Hu asked a few questions they were unsure about.

Only Duan Rong remained silent from beginning to end, not asking a single question.

Furthermore, before the sky had even turned dark, he had already finished processing the three types of herbs he was assigned. He returned to the cave early.

Starting the second day, Duan Rong's workload had already become the heaviest among them, processing two more herbs than Pan Yong.

But even so, Duan Rong was still the first among them to finish.

And every time Shang Xiangyu checked, he would nod secretly at the herbs Duan Rong had processed.

On the evening of the third day, as the sky was about to turn dark, the work at hand for everyone had begun to wrap up.

"Eh!"

Tang Zhu suddenly let out an "eh," looking with surprise at the small bundle of herbs in his hand in the dim light.

He saw that on the serrated leaves of the herb, there were tiny silver spots, like tiny stars.

Tang Zhu said, "How come there are three qian more of this Silver Star Grass?!"

Upon hearing this, Yin Cong immediately straightened his back, leaned over, and said, "Let me see."

Tang Zhu said, "Then, there are two bundles of Silver Star Grass here?!"

Yin Cong rummaged through those two bundles of herbs, turned his head to look at Chen Hu, and asked, "Hey, poker-face! How many Contribution Points is three qian of Silver Star Grass again?"

Chen Hu said coldly, "Ten points."

Yin Cong immediately slapped his thigh and shouted, "That's it then. The extra ten points were just for taking this thing."

Yin Cong looked at Duan Rong and said, "Duan Rong, did you take an extra three qian of Silver Star Grass?"

Duan Rong touched his own face and said, "I suppose so."

Yin Cong said with a look of joy, "Senior Brother Pan Yong! Then, do I still need to make up for these extra ten points spent?"

Pan Yong coughed once and said, "That won't be necessary. This Silver Star Grass can be considered a commonly used herb; just store it for now and use it for alchemy next time."

Yin Cong said, "At least the truth has come to light. Otherwise, some people might still think I took the opportunity to buy some private goods for myself."

At these words from Yin Cong, Pan Yong's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

On the evening of the fifth day, the herbs that needed to be processed for this alchemy session had all been finished.

Yin Cong and Duan Rong had exchanged for about a hundred types of herbs in the Medicine Pavilion, and about sixty percent of them needed to be processed.

Looking at the dense cluster of bottles and jars in the corner of the platform, Shang Xiangyu's face showed not a hint of relief, but instead became increasingly grave.

"Tomorrow evening. All of you, follow me into the cave to refine medicine!"

(End of this chapter)