Chapter 14: Gathering and Identification

"Coo—coo—"

In the afternoon, as sunlight peeked through the gaps in the overcast clouds, the carrion-eating strange owls that usually avoided the corpse-burying wasteland were the first to fly back, circling overhead and lingering, searching for a chance to fill their bellies.

Du En and the others had been busy all day, filling in the graves in an orderly fashion; now, as they laid down the final shovel of dirt, they declared the day's work complete.

Haa...

The corpse-buriers all felt a sense of relief and let out a collective breath, their entire bodies appearing listless and even more exhausted than usual; Ning Caize even began to cough, looking completely drained of strength.

The harm caused by the sinister black Qi was truly significant; even though they had changed their strategy to avoid it as much as possible, it was still unavoidable that they would be more affected than usual.

Their already meager and sparse mana was excessively depleted, and after a day of labor, their hands were numb by the time they finished shoveling, feeling just like frozen meat.

Although the effect was limited to this, it was already quite good.

Everyone was a bit dazed.

Such a methodical way of acting made the others feel a bit nervous.

He had just chosen this type, and there was no guarantee that similar medicinal herbs growing in a shady place would have similar medicinal properties.

The first step: mash it up, apply it to exposed skin, carefully sense it, and compare it against the principles of dietetics.

It was mainly because their bodies were too dirty; unlike Du En, who had prepared in advance, they could only use their barely-cleaned hands to stuff some in haphazardly.

Amazing!

This corpse-burying wasteland is certainly no good place!

The others soon walked back.

Basically nothing had changed, except for one extra thing.

Hearing this, the eyes of the others suddenly lit up.

This person actually threw the free food he had just obtained onto the ground!

Even for ranked spiritual herbs, because of different planting methods, they would actually present different medicinal properties.

"Du En, it has to be you! If it were us, or the predecessors from before, we wouldn't dare to lay a hand on the wild medicinal herbs here, only watching them grow here and rot away batch after batch."

"Try it and you'll know."

"This, medicinal herbs?"

It also indirectly proved that the medicinal herbs he had gathered and identified here did not have any issues of misjudgment.

"These mongrel birds are truly noisy as hell!"

His gaze scanned the mountain forest where sunlight leaked through the gaps; in the places where these rays reached, he made discoveries quite easily.

At the same time, he could not do without circulating his cultivation technique and utilizing his mana as an aid.

Unlike the purely physical labor of burying corpses, this could be classified under the Hundred Arts of Immortal Cultivation.

"Not bad, there is no sinister cold or strange evil; on the contrary, it is a case of things turning into their opposites, all presenting a warm, yang medicinal property."

Immediately, they braced their bodies, determined to go and gather some to eat, to see if there were even better effects.

They hadn't had a taste of meat today; although there were some remains on the path, how could they compare to the corpse-buriers who were more thoroughly soaked in the aura today and, in their senses, had become ten times more delicious?

Then, unsurprisingly, they used the lives of their own kind to verify that these two-legged corpses were, as always, very difficult to deal with.

The shovel he held seemed to weigh a thousand catties, and his legs felt as if they had been filled with lead; although they finished work earlier than usual, at their current pace and strength, it was estimated that by the time they returned to their dwellings, it wouldn't be much different from the past.

Ginseng could be pulled up with decades of age at will, the goji berries were bright red and as large as a finger, and the wild red dates hung full on the branches, ready for picking and choosing.

Therefore, as soon as they saw Du En had a new reaction, they couldn't help but ask: "How is it?"

Looking again at the place where he had just been standing, a stunned strange owl with its neck twisted lay quietly there.

Amidst the clamor, one could only settle for the next best thing.

Du En only replied like this.

Three-step poison testing!

Only Du En still had the spare energy to cast his gaze toward the mountain forest at the edge of the wasteland.

With a thought, the interface appeared.

Du En reached this conclusion.

He was the first to walk out of the wasteland, took off his headcloth, and with eyes like a falcon, scanned the surroundings.

Hearing those chirping sounds, Wei Ming couldn't help but lose his temper, wanting to rush up and make them all shut their mouths, but his body couldn't support such an operation.

Once the place name "Qingya Garden" was mentioned, the four elders including Ning Caize immediately changed their expressions, becoming tight-lipped and avoiding the topic.

In his mind, he had already begun to ponder how to cook them.

Ginseng, goji berries, and wild red dates.

However, from the situation here with gathering and identification, it could be inferred that for the Hundred Arts, starting with unranked items was indeed a feasible strategy.

He gathered a pile, weighing several catties, wrapped them in the clean cloth he had brought out in the morning, and walked back to the group.

He did not care about being the center of attention.

The few sheets of paper contributed by Luo Heng did not contain specific dietary recipes, only the theoretical foundation; how to specifically go about it all depended on Du En himself.

This left Wei Ming feeling baffled, but he also knew that this was not the time to say what shouldn't be said, so he changed the subject: "That said, these ginsengs and such, growing here, can they be used?"

The third step: chew it up, swallow a small amount into the stomach, and continue to sense and compare.

Everyone was astonished, stopping their steps, and while leaning on their shovels to rest and catch their breath, they all looked toward Du En, wanting to see what exactly he was doing.

【Hundred Arts: Gathering and Identification (Beginner 1/10)】

This counted as an unexpected joy.

They were eating with relish; after entering the stomach, it felt warm, more effective than drinking a large pot of ginger soup, and they felt quite comfortable.

After all, these mortal medicines were easily influenced by the environment.

"Gathering and identification? That's right, gathering and identifying various spiritual objects is indeed a craft, giving rise to many trades such as ore-seekers and herb-gatherers."

Seeing that the others had listened, Du En wrapped the medicinal herbs tightly, hung them on his body, and then picked up the shovel in one hand and the strange owl in the other.

He looked toward Ning Caize's side, subconsciously.

In any case, the doubts regarding Du En's motives had been cleared.

Unlike ginseng, these wild red dates and wolfberries are all fruits; they fall once fully ripe, and rot if left on the ground too long.

Du En nodded slightly and offered a brief explanation: "Yes, medicinal herbs. I want to tinker with spirit cuisine. I heard something about it near Qingya Garden before, and after pondering it for these past few days, I have a little bit of confidence."

Seeing this, Du En did not stop them, only adding: "If you are going to pick them, go pick the ones that grew in the sunlight."

Wei Ming sighed in sincere admiration once more, then, realizing belatedly, "Eh? What is the boss doing?"

Medicine with warming properties—could that be used to treat yin-evil seeping into the body?

Otherwise, just relying on boiling ginger soup after returning would be of no use at all, serving only to comfort oneself.

Stop looking at me like that every time you encounter something you don't know!

I am just prematurely aged, not actually forty or fifty years old!

Ning Caize was actually just as confused inside, unable to understand what Du En was doing at this moment.

Then, they saw a nimble and diligent figure leave the path, moving incessantly among the trees in the mountain forest.

Along the way, he raised his shovel and, with a *clang*, knocked unconscious an exceptionally impatient strange owl that had delivered itself to his doorstep.

This Southern Border mountain forest is indeed primitive and rich, especially around the wasteland where corpses are buried; since few people usually tread here, many plants that can be used as medicine grow wantonly.

Although none of them are ranked or considered spirit items, they are not ordinary, common goods either.

The second step: mash them up, apply them to the lips and oral cavity, and continue to sense and compare.

"Truly worthy of being the boss!"

Their mouths were stuffed with things, mainly wild red dates, which were large, sweet, and juicy; they were easier to find than ginseng and more conspicuous than wolfberries.

Ning Caize felt very wistful because of this.

The others were busy chewing, only nodding incessantly; they were full of admiration for Du En.

(End of this chapter)