Chapter 4: Cultivation and Medical Legacy

"Ugh—"

Before Hua Changxi could even feel happy about obtaining an opportunity, she was already retching repeatedly, assaulted by a stench like kitchen waste left out for days in the middle of summer clinging to her body.

Just then, Yao pushed the door open and entered.

Seeing her mother, Hua Changxi quickly begged for help: "Mother, tell Sixth Brother to fetch me water. I need to bathe."

Yao instinctively refused: "Bathe what? You have wounds on you, you can't—"

Yao couldn't finish her sentence, because as she approached Hua Changxi, she caught the pungent smell and immediately held her breath.

At the same time, she also saw the filth clinging to Hua Changxi's body.

"Ninth Girl, what happened to you?"

Worried that something was wrong with her daughter, Yao quickly turned and left the room, hurrying to drag over Hua Minghe, who was resting at home, with Hua Liulang following behind.

As soon as Hua Liulang entered the room, he blurted out: "Ninth Girl, why are you so stinky?" He shouted while backing out of the room.

Hua Minghe stepped forward to examine Hua Changxi, a look of surprise on his face, then turned to Hua Liulang and said: "Go fetch water for your sister."

Yao was still concerned: "But Ninth Girl's wounds..."

"Mother, it's fine. My wounds have already scabbed over." Hua Changxi had already removed the gauze bandaging her wounds.

Looking at her daughter's scabbed wounds, Yao was very astonished: "How could the injuries heal so quickly?"

Hua Minghe thought for a moment and said: "It must be the effect of the medicinal broth from the Medical Department."

The stench was making Hua Changxi's stomach churn: "Father, Mother, let me bathe first. We can talk about everything else later, okay?"

This time Yao didn't insist, and quickly told Hua Liulang to go to the front yard to fetch hot water.

About ten minutes later, Hua Changxi was soaking in the bathtub. She changed the water five times before the strange smell finally disappeared.

"Finally, I feel alive again."

After changing her clothes, Hua Changxi opened the door.

As soon as the door opened, Hua Minghe, Yao, and Hua Liulang, who had been waiting outside, came in.

Hua Liulang circled around Hua Changxi twice: "Father, Ninth Girl looks like... a martial artist's body tempering."

Hua Minghe didn't disagree, but he was puzzled: "Does the blood-replenishing medicinal broth from the Medical Department also have the effect of body tempering?"

Upon hearing this, Hua Changxi's eyes flickered.

She felt that her current condition had nothing to do with the Medical Department's medicinal broth, but was caused by the opportunity she had just obtained.

However, Hua Changxi said nothing.

Intuition told her that it was best not to let anyone know about the opportunity gained by the demonic cultist sacrificing eighty-one people.

Hua Liulang kept circling around Hua Changxi: "Ninth Girl, how do you feel now?"

Hua Changxi: "I feel refreshed and clear-headed, and my body feels lighter than usual."

"Then that's body tempering for sure."

Hua Liulang looked at Hua Changxi with envy: "Ninth Girl, you're really lucky. Do you know? A martial artist's body tempering costs over a hundred silver taels each time."

"Lucky?" Yao glared at her son. "Your sister went through a terrible ordeal this time."

Yao looked at her husband: "Husband, is Ninth Girl really body-tempered?"

Hua Minghe nodded: "It seems so."

Yao was amazed: "Are the people from the Medical Department that generous? Not only did they save her, but they also threw in a body tempering?"

Hua Minghe: "Pharmacist Xu said that True Bloodwood is a new medicinal herb discovered by the Medical Department. Perhaps even the people there don't know all its effects."

Hua Changxi seized the opportunity to interject: "Father, don't tell anyone about this. I don't want to attract attention. If the Capital Prefecture and the Six Fan School find out I've been body-tempered, they might summon me for questioning again."

Hua Minghe had no intention of spreading it either, and he instructed Hua Liulang: "Don't breathe a word about your sister's body tempering outside."

Yao also added: "Don't tell anyone in the family either. A few days ago, the second sister-in-law was talking about having Eighth Son undergo body tempering, but Mother didn't agree. If she finds out that Ninth Girl, a mere young lady, has already been body-tempered, there will definitely be trouble from that side."

Fortunately, it was noon, and everyone else was taking a nap. Ninth Girl's bathing hadn't attracted the attention of other family members.

Hua Minghe knew the family's financial situation well; even though he and his two younger brothers were all clerks in the government office, and the family also ran a herbal medicine shop, they simply couldn't afford to have every son in the family undergo body tempering and martial training.

Seeing that her family had kept quiet about her body tempering, Hua Changxi felt a weight lift from her heart.

She hadn't forgotten that young woman who had fought desperately against the red-robed demonic cultivator.

What worried her most was that the young woman recognized her.

Now that she hadn't died, if news of her body tempering got out, it was hard to guarantee that the young woman wouldn't guess that she had obtained the opportunity of the red stone.

In order to seize that opportunity, the young woman and the red-robed demonic cultivator had fought to the death. If she found out that Hua Changxi had gained the opportunity, wouldn't she come to kill her and take the treasure?

Thinking of this, a flicker of doubt crossed Hua Changxi's eyes.

If the red stone was the opportunity, the stone had been thrown into the lava by her—so how had she obtained the opportunity?

Just because she had touched the red stone?

Hua Changxi couldn't quite figure it out, but the thought that the young woman might come knocking at her door made her anxious.

Seeing that her daughter looked unwell, Yao thought it was due to her injuries, so she waved off Hua Minghe and Hua Liulang: "Alright, Ninth Girl needs to rest. Don't just stand around here."

Seeing that Hua Changxi was indeed fine, Hua Minghe left with Hua Liulang.

As soon as the father and son had left, Yao told Hua Changxi not to sleep yet, hurried to the kitchen, and brought back a clay pot of chicken soup.

"You must be hungry? This is chicken soup your mother specially simmered for you. Eat it while it's hot."

Because her daughter was injured, Yao had gone to the market early this morning to buy a black-boned chicken, stewed it with angelica, and made soup to nourish her body.

Hua Changxi was indeed hungry. She took the chicken soup her mother handed her and began to drink. After a few sips, she let out a surprised "Huh?"

[Herbal Canon Notes (Beginner): Taste Hundred Herbs 1/10]

Another line of text appeared in her field of vision.

Hua Changxi had a goji berry from the soup in her mouth, and she forgot to swallow.

Yao looked at her, puzzled: "What's wrong? Does the soup not suit your taste?"

Hua Changxi swallowed the goji berry and quickly shook her head: "No, the soup is delicious." As she spoke, she picked up her chopsticks, picked up a slice of astragalus from the soup, and put it into her mouth.

[Herbal Canon Notes (Beginner): Taste Hundred Herbs 2/10]

Hua Changxi then picked up a piece of angelica and put it in her mouth. [Herbal Canon Notes (Beginner): Taste Hundred Herbs 3/10]

Seeing her daughter eating happily, Yao's face brightened with a smile: "Take your time eating. I'll go tidy up the kitchen."

Hua Changxi nodded absently.

By the time Hua Changxi had tasted every medicinal ingredient in the chicken soup, the text in her vision changed to [Herbal Canon Notes (Beginner): Taste Hundred Herbs 8/10].

This...

Hua Changxi was confused. She couldn't figure out exactly what kind of opportunity she had gained.

[Realm: Qi Training Realm 1/1000]

This was clearly related to cultivation.

[Herbal Canon Notes (Beginner): Taste Hundred Herbs 8/10]

Literally speaking, this seemed to be related to medicine.

Cultivation plus medical arts inheritance—the opportunity she had gained was truly extraordinary!

[Taste Hundred Herbs 8/10]

Only two more medicinal ingredients were left.

Hua Changxi was very eager to find out what would happen when she tasted ten different herbs. She got up and left the room.

The Hua residence was a two-entrance compound.

The house faced south and north, and each entrance had the same layout: five main rooms on the north side plus two side rooms, and three rooms on each of the east and west wings.

The difference was that the first entrance had three inverted-facing rooms on the south side, and there was a well in the yard.

Old Master Hua and Old Madam Hua had three sons and one daughter in total.

The eldest son, Hua Minghe, married a woman named Yao, and they had three sons and two daughters; the second son, Hua Ming'ang, married a woman named Fan, and they had two sons and two daughters.

The third child, Hua Zhiyan, married into the Shen family and also had two sons and two daughters; the fourth son, Hua Mingcheng, married a woman named Liu, and they had two sons and three daughters.

The first courtyard housed Old Master Hua, Old Madam Hua, and the eldest son's family, with three inverted rooms serving as kitchen, woodshed, and utility room.

The second courtyard was occupied by the second son's family and the fourth son's family.

In the seventh month, the capital's weather was extremely muggy; the midday period was when people were most sluggish. The courtyard was silent, with everyone resting indoors.

Hua Changxi left her room and headed straight for the northwest corner of the courtyard.

In the northwest corner stood several herb racks, where some medicinal herbs that her elder brother Hua Sanlang had gathered from the mountains were being dried.

Reaching the herb racks, Hua Changxi quickly put perilla leaves and bletilla into her mouth.

In an instant, the characters in her vision changed.

[Annotated Compendium of Herbs (Introduction): Tasted a Hundred Herbs 10/10]

At the moment the characters changed, an ethereal, indistinct voice sounded in Hua Changxi's mind.

"The 'Common Plants' section of the Annotated Compendium of Herbs is now unlocked."

Then, Hua Changxi felt her head swell, and in an instant, a vast amount of Chinese herbal knowledge filled her mind.

These medicinal herbs included not only plants but also animals, minerals, and more, accompanied by illustrations and detailed lists of their properties, such as medicinal effects and toxicity.

At that moment, she had only one feeling: she had instantly memorized dozens of books on Chinese herbs, and the knowledge from those books was imprinted in her brain.

Hua Changxi was speechless—this method of transmitting medical skills was simply heaven-defying.

Then, Hua Changxi digested the herbal knowledge in her mind and discovered that it not only encompassed everything she had learned in her previous life but also recorded herbs used by martial artists that she had been unaware of in this life.

Among them was a description of True Blood Wood.

True Blood Wood, common plant; replenishes blood and restores blood; a holy remedy for blood replenishment in mortals, an essential herb for body temperers.

"The 'Common Plants' section..."

What would come after Common Plants?

[Realm: Qi Refining Realm 1/1000]

[Annotated Compendium of Herbs (Introduction): Tasted a Hundred Herbs 10/10]

Cultivation, transmission of medical skills...

Hua Changxi was already astonished enough when she learned that this world had martial arts masters, but now cultivation and transmissions had appeared as well.

So, what kind of world had she actually transmigrated into?