Chapter 101

Cheng Feng didn’t know the specific effects of the decoction pot.

A month ago, Xia Hong personally came to him and told him to pay attention to external plants while leading his team to cut wood—any plant suspected of medicinal use or sufficiently rare and valuable should be brought back.

Although he didn’t know why, Cheng Feng still followed Xia Hong’s orders and kept a closer eye out; over the past month, he had brought back more than a dozen unusual plants.

The decoction pot looked miraculous, but so far, Cheng Feng hadn’t found any practical use for it—it did nothing, and each time he put in a plant, he had to consume varying amounts of coal stone before any reaction occurred.

The so-called reaction was merely the pot emitting a faint glow.

Though it seemed miraculous, since it produced no tangible result—the plant went in as it was and came out unchanged—Cheng Feng had grown increasingly puzzled over why Xia Hong had ordered him to do this.

“Where did this Blue Gel Grass come from?”

Blue Gel Grass?

Realizing Xia Hong was referring to the pale blue plant he had brought back, Cheng Feng quickly answered: “I found it on the outskirts of Hongmu Ridge, growing on snow beside a blue tree—there were many of them. I smelled a faint fragrance and thought it might be useful. Leader, do you recognize Blue Gel Grass? Is it of great use?”

Though he didn’t understand the decoction pot’s exact function, from Xia Hong’s instructions, Cheng Feng could guess something—and seeing Xia Hong’s earlier smile, he immediately realized he had brought back something valuable.

When Xia Hong heard there were many of these plants, his face lit up with joy, and he hurriedly asked: “You didn’t cut down that tree, did you?”

Cheng Feng shook his head: “No. Recently, we’ve been cutting mainly Jinlin trees; we only cut Zhushuang when we couldn’t find any. This blue tree is of average hardness, and since it was the first time we’d seen it, we didn’t cut it.”

“Then mark its location—this tree must not be cut down in the future. Blue Gel Grass is likely a symbiotic plant of that tree, and it’s of great use.”

Hearing Xia Hong’s solemn instruction, Cheng Feng nodded.

“Grind one each of Blue Gel Grass and Black Thorn, half a catty of coal stone powder, one catty of Jinlin tips, and ten catties of Frost Wolf backbones ground into powder; add water and boil together for half an hour.”

Looking at the formula for Jinchuang Powder in the system, Xia Hong’s expression shifted slightly. He called over Cheng Feng and told him to fetch Xia Chuan, then gave Xia Chuan the list of ingredients and ordered him to retrieve them from the mine warehouse.

Coal stone and Blue Gel Grass were already on hand; Black Thorn grew near the mine entrance;

Jinlin tips grew at the very top of Jinlin trees, appearing white and oval-shaped, somewhat like fruit—each tree bore only one, weighing between ten and fifty catties;

Frost Wolf backbones, as the name suggests, were the bony spines along the neck of a Frost Wolf; an adult could grow over a dozen, each weighing about ten catties.

Earlier, whenever an item was confirmed by the decoction pot to have medicinal value, Xia Hong ordered it collected and stored in the mine warehouse—these materials, like cold beast meat, were all managed by Xia Chuan, the quartermaster.

Soon, Xia Chuan brought all the items Xia Hong had requested.

Xia Hong personally prepared the materials, then had a large wooden barrel of water brought over. He dumped everything into the decoction pot, poured in the water, and added ten units—two hundred catties of coal stone—to begin the boiling.

At first, the onlookers were confused, but as time passed, the herbs inside emitted waves of strange fragrance, and they immediately realized Xia Hong was refining medicine; everyone’s faces lit up with anticipation.

Of course, the most eager of all was Xia Hong himself.

Jinchuang Powder, from its name, seemed similar to the golden wound ointments in his past-life wuxia novels—used to treat external injuries. For present-day Great Xia, this was an extremely precious medicinal resource.

Those who stayed in camp and didn’t go out, including the woodcutters, were mostly fine; under normal circumstances, they rarely got injured.

But the hunters were different—they faced powerful cold beasts daily. Though they now had animal traps and Xia Hong led them personally, as long as they avoided overly strong or unfamiliar beasts, deaths were rare, but injuries were unavoidable.

Even Xia Hong, a Digging Realm cultivator, was no exception; the other Foundation Establishment cultivators were even more vulnerable—accidental injuries from cold beasts occurred nearly every night.

Without medicine, injuries could only heal naturally. Though their strong physiques allowed minor wounds to heal on their own, more serious ones could not—leading at best to lasting complications, at worst to disability or infection, and ultimately death.

Besides, anything produced by the system had never disappointed Xia Hong. Though Jinchuang Powder sounded ordinary, its true effects could only be known through testing.

The decoction pot grew louder, the steam rising thicker, and with each puff, the strange fragrance intensified. When half an hour passed, the coal stones at the bottom crackled and went out; the pot fell completely silent.

When the last wisp of steam vanished, Xia Hong stepped forward and opened the pot’s lid. Many nearby gathered around.

All eyes turned toward the pot’s interior.

A pile of golden-dry medicinal powder lay clearly visible.

The strange fragrance from the powder brought expressions of delight to everyone’s faces.

“Send for Zou Yuankai and Zhu Shun.”

At Xia Hong’s order, the crowd stirred. Soon, Zou Yuankai and Zhu Shun walked in from the perimeter.

Zou Yuankai’s right cheek was wrapped in beast hide; Zhu Shun limped as he walked, his face occasionally twisting in pain.

Xia Hong had given the hunting team the day off today because of these two.

Last night, while hunting a Golden-Eyed Demon Sheep, the tree they hid behind was knocked over by the beast, and both suffered serious injuries.

“Show me your wounds. I’ll apply medicine and test its effect.”

=9+ Shu _ Ba

Hearing Xia Hong’s words, the two didn’t hesitate—they immediately revealed their wounds.

Zou Yuankai peeled back the beast hide: a five-inch-long, gruesome gash stretched from his chin nearly to his forehead, horrifying to behold. Fortunately, people in the Bingyuan World had no vanity about appearance—had this happened in his past life, it would have been unmistakable disfigurement, likely condemning him to lifelong shame.

Zhu Shun rolled up his pant leg and unwrapped the beast hide: a wound over twenty centimeters long marred his left thigh, still oozing blood. By sheer size, it was even more terrifying than Zou Yuankai’s.

Those gathered around the pot gasped at the sight of the two men’s wounds.

“The cold beast meat you eat every day doesn’t come from nowhere!”

Xia Hong wouldn’t miss such a perfect teaching moment. Seeing the astonishment on their faces, he immediately spoke up.

No sooner had he spoken than even the woodcutters, who had never left camp, wore looks of shame—let alone the reserve troops who had never seen combat.

Xia Hong said no more. Some things were best left unsaid; a gentle reminder to be grateful was enough.

He scooped up a bit of Jinchuang Powder with a wooden spoon and carefully sprinkled it onto Zou Yuankai’s facial wound.

Hssss……

The moment the powder touched the wound, it reacted—Zou Yuankai winced and sucked in air; Zhu Shun experienced the same, his larger wound requiring more powder.

“Leader, it’s itchy—no, it’s really itchy! My face is itching so much…”

Just as he finished applying the powder to Zhu Shun’s wound,

Zou Yuankai’s words made Xia Hong freeze.

Itchy?

Scabbing? Already? Only minutes have passed!

Xia Hong frowned, suspicious, and hurried to Zou Yuankai’s side, staring intently at the wound.

After only a moment, his face broke into a wide smile.

(End of Chapter)