Chapter 22: Chapter 22: Delivering Medicine

Long Xuan sighed helplessly and ultimately decided to put the matter aside for now. Accumulating so many spirit stones is not something that can be accomplished overnight; it would likely require an alternative approach.

Long Xuan put away the formula for the Divine Ice Flame and walked out. As he opened the door, he was greeted by a fragrant medicinal garden, which, due to its variety of flowers, could be more accurately described as a flower garden.

Today was the day some of the spiritual herbs matured, and Long Xuan needed to pick them and deliver them to Elder Long’s cottage.

As long as he delivered the prescribed amount of spiritual herbs, Elder Long rarely came here.

At this moment, the garden's fat hen was still scratching the soil, looking for fat worms to eat, clucking away.

Among the flowers, hundreds of spirit bees buzzed busily, flitting back and forth, occasionally diving into a flower bud, exposing their large behinds.

Over the years, the two spirit bees he initially bought online had multiplied into hundreds. Don't ask how they reproduced; he hadn’t paid much attention.

Originally, he intended to cultivate a queen bee, as there are many methods in this world to evolve spirit bees into queen bees.

But now he realized it wasn’t necessary. It seemed not all bee species in this world needed a queen to reproduce.

Since he bought those two spirit bees, they settled here upon finding ample nectar sources, built their nest, and refused to leave. With enough food, they started reproducing rapidly.

With this family settled, the medicinal garden thrived, with bees buzzing in the sky and spirit chickens running on the ground, creating a lively and vibrant scene that made Long Xuan’s life far from dull.

Despite his desire for spirit honey, Long Xuan still feared the bees’ aggression and didn’t dare approach the hive lightly.

Getting pecked by a chicken while gathering eggs was tolerable, but being stung by these bees was far worse.

These were not ordinary bees from his previous life; spirit bees in this world could sting a person to death. Currently, they maintained a mutually non-aggressive relationship, like neighbors getting along well.

Long Xuan tended the herbs while they collected nectar from the flowers, maintaining a delicate balance.

He is afraid that stealing honey might make the bees hold a grudge, complicating his future visits to the garden.

After much thought, he concluded he had to cultivate a queen bee. With a queen bee bound by a blood contract, ordinary spirit bees under its control would pose no threat to him.

But for now, it wasn’t feasible. Gu practitioners could only have a limited number of Gu insects, and he couldn’t blood-bind every ordinary spirit bee.

At that moment, the spiritual herbs he was about to harvest reached 100% maturity. Flowers bloomed, exuding an intense fragrance.

The bees, with their keen sense of smell, immediately flew over to collect nectar and pollen.

Once they had gathered all the nectar and pollen, their legs heavy with their bounty, they flew back to their hive.

After the bees were done, Long Xuan harvested the spiritual herbs, replanted the area, and took the newly gathered herbs to Elder Long.

Elder Long needed this batch of herbs to research the Hundred Flowers Pill. Despite another year passing, he still hadn’t succeeded.

Long Xuan felt anxious for him, having succeeded in just two days himself.

First-grade spiritual herbs mature quickly, and with the aid of maturation liquid, they can be harvested every six months. This allowed Long Xuan to see Elder Long every six months during herb delivery.

This meeting came just six months after the last one.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Long Xuan entered the cottage and, seeing that Elder Long wasn’t refining pills, spoke up, “Elder Long, a batch of spiritual herbs has matured. I’ve harvested them.”

Long Xuan untied the storage bag filled with herbs from his waist and looked at the burly old man lying on the chair.

Elder Long was reading a book on pill refining. Hearing the voice, he turned to look at Long Xuan and said, “Just put them on the table.”

After speaking, he scrutinized Long Xuan, a hint of surprise in his eyes.

“You’ve broken through to the mid-stage of Spirit Gathering?” Elder Long asked, puzzled.

“Your keen eyes, Elder Long, have noticed my breakthrough. It took junior over ten years to reach the mid-stage, much to your amusement,” Long Xuan responded, without surprise that Elder Long could discern his level.

“No, no.” Elder Long shook his head. “I’m not amused. I estimated you’d never reach the mid-stage of Spirit Gathering in your lifetime. Your quick breakthrough is surprising.”

“Huh? Is my aptitude that poor?” Long Xuan felt a bit stung by Elder Long’s words.

“Not exactly,” Elder Long sighed. “You possess the rare Ten Absolute Body, the number one unique body in ancient times. With a vast spiritual sea, your spiritual power far exceeds your peers, excelling in prolonged battles and frequent powerful attacks without much depletion.”

“The meridians of the Ten Absolute Body are exceptionally broad, far superior to others, making the power of the same spiritual technique much greater in your hands.”

“In ancient times, those with the Ten Absolute Body were incredibly formidable, unmatched by their peers. So, you could be considered a rare genius.”

“But today, the cultivation methods for the Ten Absolute Body have long been lost, and it cannot cultivate other techniques.”

“The spiritual sea of the Ten Absolute Body is as solid as a rock, with the strongest foundation. But this also makes breakthroughs more difficult. While having an advantage in battles, its vast spiritual sea requires more spiritual power to fill, slowing cultivation speed.”

“Thus, it needs specific techniques to address these issues, and it rejects other techniques.”

“How fast can someone who can’t cultivate techniques progress?”

“You likely reached the mid-stage through nutritional supplements, probably from eating too many spirit eggs.” Elder Long stroked his beard, guessing.

Hearing this, Long Xuan realized why he couldn’t cultivate other techniques except for health-preserving ones. The root cause was here.

Still puzzled, he asked, “Isn’t it just a lost technique? Can’t we create a new one?”

Long Xuan’s casual remark showed his lack of understanding of the difficulty of creating techniques.

Elder Long glared at him, “You think it’s easy? Creating a peak-level technique isn’t something anyone can do. Even the strongest in the Gu world today wouldn’t claim to create one.”

Long Xuan’s expression turned odd. He didn’t know how hard it was for others, but he truly had the talent to create techniques. So, he tentatively asked, “Suppose, just suppose, I accidentally create a technique for the Ten Absolute Body. Would that make me the world’s greatest genius?”

Elder Long looked at him with a strange mix of anger and amusement, “Such naivety! You really think that’s possible? Even if there are geniuses who can create techniques, they are rare once in a century, and the Ten Absolute Body appears once in ten thousand years. Combining both talents is almost impossible. Even if such a person exists, they wouldn't grow up enough to create techniques. It's a vicious cycle. Rest assured, you are not that person. Give up on that idea!”