Chapter Fifty-One: Medical Skills and Talisman Drawing

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“If I hadn’t known, it would be another matter. But now that I know…” Chen Yushu pondered in silence, his mind turning with thoughts.

To practice martial arts always requires expenditure.

There is Nourishing Essence Decoction, and the Foundation Pill. The Foundation Pill is still out of the question for now—it greatly increases one’s vital energy and replenishes one’s life force, its effects far surpassing the decoction, but because its medicinal strength is too potent, it isn’t suitable for him at present.

But the effects of the Nourishing Essence Decoction he had already experienced. It could significantly increase the efficiency of his training in the King of Medicine Stance, accelerating his progress in that discipline.

If he could obtain the relevant inheritance, he could save a great deal of money.

“However, the year-end assessment requires first place.”

Chen Yushu thought for a moment and decided to take things one step at a time.

After all, there were still two months until the year-end assessment.

All he needed to do was follow his training schedule, and in two months’ time, he ought to reach the Minor Achievement stage in his stance training.

By then, he could reconsider the matter.

For now, his mind was more occupied with the cultivation of the White Tiger Visualization Technique.

His cultivation was insufficient; he couldn’t even practice the Subduing Yin Art.

The incident with the stolen medicinal herbs left the atmosphere in the pharmacy gloomy for an entire day. Affected by this, Chen Yushu silently went about his tasks, completing everything assigned to him.

What comforted him was this:

He found that as his mental strength improved, his rate of learning also soared.

Originally, his learning efficiency was already quite high.

When it came to selecting and decocting herbs, he was already adept.

Anything he had been taught, he rarely made mistakes in again.

Of course, what allowed him to increase his knowledge the fastest was still reading.

Within the pharmacy, there was a side room specifically reserved for medical books and texts.

The apprentices could study and read there during their free time.

This was tacitly approved by the shopkeeper and the physicians.

For example, the Compendium of Hundred Herbs and the Materia Medica that Chen Yushu had previously studied both came from this room.

For this reason, whenever he had spare time, he would enter this room to read and expand his knowledge.

Previously, once his reading proficiency reached the Insight Stage, any book he read—if not quite photographic memory—was nearly so, and he could quickly grasp its principles and meanings.

Now, with the ignition of his Celestial Fire, his mental strength improved once more.

His reading efficiency became even more astonishing.

Reading ten lines at a glance would be an exaggeration, but three or four lines per glance was now possible.

His speed in going through books was remarkable.

With full concentration, he could finish a book in the time it took to burn one or two sticks of incense, and immediately commit it to memory, comprehend, and master it.

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By now,

Chen Yushu had already read over a dozen books in that room, covering many works on medicinal materials, pharmacology, medicinal properties, as well as texts on herb combinations, theories of hot and cold, yin and yang, and the study of cold-induced disorders…

He could sense personal growth nearly every day.

Some theories, once he pondered them, could be applied directly in his decoction work.

For example, in a set of herbs, there are principal and auxiliary ingredients, but sometimes even auxiliary herbs may conflict with each other, or with the principal herb.

So, when decocting, he had to pay close attention to the order in which herbs were added.

Done correctly, the medicinal properties would be greatly enhanced, achieving the best therapeutic effect.

Done wrong, the potency would be diminished, and it might take an extra day or two for the patient to recover.

At times, even Xu San was amazed at his pace of improvement, and there were even patients who mentioned that this time the decoction’s effects were better than before.

Consequently,

His reading experience points increased rapidly.

Reading: Insight (215/400)

Unconsciously, he was already more than halfway to the next level.

…

In the days that followed,

No new disturbances arose in the pharmacy.

A few of the assistants whose injuries were minor had already returned to work.

However, the shopkeeper was appearing less and less in the shop, spending most of his time outside.

For reasons unknown, the atmosphere in the pharmacy remained tense.

Moreover, there were fewer patients, giving Chen Yushu even more time to spend in the side room reading and studying.

He could now finish three to four books per day.

He had begun to delve into true medical arts: identifying acupoints and their functions, acupuncture, pulse diagnosis, the theory of the spleen and stomach…

Through his tireless study,

One day he discovered a new skill had appeared on his attribute panel.

Medicine: Beginner (12/100)

“This, truly, is an unexpected delight.”

Chen Yushu was moved.

He became even more devoted to his studies.

Sometimes, when observing a person’s features, he could vaguely sense if the person might be ill.

Of course, he kept such observations to himself.

Silently accumulating knowledge.

…

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“Without the Nourishing Essence Decoction, my progress in stance training has slowed dramatically. I can only practice three to four times a day, otherwise I risk overexertion and total exhaustion.”

At night, after completing his routine training, Chen Yushu glanced at his attribute panel.

King of Medicine Stance: Proficient (32/200)

At this rate, he would need at least two more months to push his stance technique to the Minor Achievement stage.

Although this pace was not actually slow,

Having tasted the speed of previous progress, he found himself dissatisfied.

“Unfortunately, I truly don’t have much silver left.

Now, as an apprentice with no income, how can I make money to buy Nourishing Essence Decoction?”

Chen Yushu felt a slight headache.

At this moment, he even missed the time when he helped Shi Hao deal with the dead fish and gained that precious catch as a reward.

“I wonder how that kid is doing now.”

Chen Yushu muttered to himself,

Then rose and made his way to the study.

These days, he hadn’t been idle in the evenings either.

Nearly every night, he would spend an hour or two practicing calligraphy.

What he wrote were the three-dimensional runes recorded in the Sunrise Talisman Manual.

There were forty-seven runes in total. By now, he could use a brush to write each one from start to finish in a single, unbroken motion.

“This means,

I can truly begin to try drawing talismans.”

Chen Yushu took a deep breath, excitement rising within him.

He had long awaited this day.

Ever since he reached the Minor Tranquility level in meditation, he had been looking forward to this moment.

For this, he had moved house, purchased special talisman paper and ink, and, feeling his brushwork was lacking, even devoted time to practicing calligraphy… At last, all was prepared.

“Let’s begin.

Start with the simplest talisman.”

Chen Yushu took out the pleated talisman papers he had already cut, then retrieved the talisman brush and ink, and finally a black ruler, which he placed carefully at the corner of the paper.

This black ruler was a magical artifact—the Soul Severing Ruler.

Though he still couldn’t wield its power,

He felt that placing it there while drawing talismans might increase his chances of success.

Closing his eyes to focus his mind, Chen Yushu began to carefully recall the structure and method for drawing a particular talisman from the Sunrise Talisman Manual.