CHAPTER 9: First Herbal Bath

Farming was a required course for becoming an alchemist.

However, for these newcomers, wielding hoes and working the fields was no easy task.

Most of the disciples who passed the outer sect assessment had spent their childhoods studying medicine, not farming. Whether male or female, they were all refined and delicate, their hands more accustomed to grinding herbs than tilling soil.

So, aside from a few who had experience gathering herbs in the mountains, the rest stood around awkwardly with hoes in hand, unsure what to do.

Yu Youyou also stood on the sidelines. She was actually quite good at farming, but she had one problem—her furry tail. The moment she lifted her skirt or rolled up her pants, she would be exposed!

After hearing her dilemma, Qi Nanfeng whispered a suggestion, “Why don’t you wrap your tail around your waist?”

“???” Yu Youyou looked at him as if he were a monster. What kind of ideas did this guy come up with?

But after a while, she ended up slipping into a small hut by the medicine fields to do exactly that.

The rope she took from Yu Nianrou was surprisingly useful. Though Yu Youyou had no spiritual energy and didn’t know how to activate it, the rope was soft, resilient, and conveniently the same color as her tail. It was perfect for tying it up.

Fortunately, her waist was slender and flexible. Plus, since the weather had warmed up, she was starting to shed fur. With her tail half-bald, wrapping it around her waist didn’t make her look bulky.

After receiving spiritual herb seeds from a senior disciple, she listened to the planting instructions before stepping barefoot into the medicine field and getting to work.

The hoe was ridiculously heavy—Yu Youyou feared she would develop biceps before long.

Surprisingly, Qi Nanfeng was incredibly efficient at digging, nothing like a spoiled young master.

When someone asked about it, he laughed proudly, “Before my family struck it rich a few years ago, I used to help my dad dig graves all the time!”

Yu Youyou raised a hand and flashed him a thumbs-up.

…

Mornings were spent digging in the medicine fields, and afternoons were for attending lectures in the grand hall, where Elders explained spiritual herbs and their properties. Yu Youyou’s days in the Pill Cauldron Sect were packed, and she ate three full bowls of rice at every meal.

At the same time, she finally learned a harsh truth.

It turned out that first-grade spiritual herbs were the lowest tier! She had thought “first-grade” meant top-tier and had been silently admiring the Pill Cauldron Sect for its generosity!

The classification of spiritual herbs was far more complex than that of ordinary medicinal plants. But Yu Youyou was fascinated—whenever she wasn’t farming, she spent her time in the sect’s library, engrossed in the massive Compendium of Spiritual Herbs that was so thick it could crush someone to death. She could sit there reading all day long.

Qi Nanfeng found Yu Youyou in the library that day, engrossed in a book while munching on a steamed bun.

“The monthly assessment is tomorrow. Everyone else has gone out to buy medicinal herbs for practice, and you’re still here reading?” Qi Nanfeng snatched her cold bun and shoved a warm meat-filled one into her hand.

Pill Cauldron Sect held a small exam every month, and this time, the test was on the proportions of spiritual herbs. The disciples had to use the herbs provided by the sect to refine a standard pill formula.

By coincidence, the first pill formula they had to learn was the Fasting Pill!

Since even the slightest deviation in herb quantities would result in an incorrect formula, the sect had been ruthless enough not to provide the precise measurements for each ingredient. As a result, most disciples either sought out their senior brothers for the exact formula or bought a large amount of herbs to practice with.

Since the senior disciples were notoriously tight-lipped, the majority chose the latter option.

Yu Youyou took a bite of the bun and said, “Spiritual herbs are too expensive, and I’m too poor.”

Qi Nanfeng rolled his eyes. “The sect gave out twenty spirit stones as this month’s disciple stipend. That’s enough for you to buy three sets of herbs to practice with.”

Ordinary first-grade spiritual herbs weren’t particularly expensive and didn’t require too many spirit stones. Of course, if converted into mortal silver, the price would be astronomical.

“Three sets?” Yu Youyou did some calculations and frowned. “I don’t think anyone sells them that cheaply.”

Aside from the herbs allocated by the sect, disciples of Pill Cauldron Sect had to exchange contribution points for more. Yu Youyou and Qi Nanfeng had accumulated the most contribution points among their peers due to their exceptional herb cultivation skills. Even so, they could only afford to exchange for two or three spiritual herbs. If they needed more, they had to buy them from their senior brothers and sisters.

Qi Nanfeng grinned mysteriously. “I know a place where we can get cheap spiritual herbs. Want to go?”

Yu Youyou hesitated for a moment, squeezing the money pouch she had painstakingly saved up. Then, she made up her mind and nodded decisively. “Alright, let’s go!”

….

The place Qi Nanfeng took her to wasn’t in Pill Cauldron Sect but in Tonghua County City.

Yu Youyou’s only impression of the city was the rundown and chaotic East and West Second Streets. This was her first time witnessing Tonghua County’s true prosperity—elegant pavilions and towers could be seen everywhere, and the streets were bustling with activity.

Among the crowd, there were many cultivators, and numerous shops sold talismans and spiritual pills.

“Those are all run by rogue cultivators or outsiders,” Qi Nanfeng explained as he led Yu Youyou into a narrow alley. “Pill Cauldron Sect forbids outer sect disciples from selling pills outside. They’re afraid poor-quality pills will ruin the sect’s reputation.”

He handed her a mask. “Put this on and follow me.”

The mask had a concealment formation on it, preventing other cultivators from seeing their true faces.

Both of them were dressed in black. Once they donned their black masks, they almost blended into the dim alleyway.

“I spent a fortune to get this location out of a senior brother. Yu Youyou, you’re about to witness something amazing!”

The moment Qi Nanfeng finished speaking, he forcefully pushed Yu Youyou against what appeared to be a dilapidated wall.

The expected pain never came. Yu Youyou stumbled forward a few steps and looked up, only to realize that the scene before her had completely changed.

It was a sealed-off space with no sunlight, yet enormous treehouses illuminated by countless lanterns filled the area, making it as bright as day.

“This is the cultivation black market of Tonghua County. You can find anything here,” Qi Nanfeng whispered behind her, lowering his voice. “Almost every cultivator comes here to buy and sell things. You can get anything, though a lot of the goods have questionable origins.”

For example, if a cultivator robbed and killed someone for a treasure they couldn’t openly sell, they would bring it here. Conversely, if someone was searching for a rare item, they could spend money to hire someone to find it.

It was even rumored that people could hire assassins here, but Qi Nanfeng found that too gruesome to mention to Yu Youyou.

The people moving around were all dressed in black robes and wearing pitch-black masks, resembling drifting shadows in the dark market.

Since it was their first time here and they had no cultivation, Yu Youyou and Qi Nanfeng didn’t dare to linger. They quickly bought the herbs they needed and returned to the sect.

Sure enough, the prices at the black market were far cheaper than what the senior disciples charged.

“I bought five sets of herbs. I’ll practice a few times tonight—I refuse to believe I can’t master the Fasting Pill formula by tomorrow!” Qi Nanfeng declared. “What about you? How much did you buy?”

Yu Youyou didn’t have a storage pouch, so she unwrapped the bundle on her back and showed Qi Nanfeng. “Here, take a look.”

Qi Nanfeng glanced inside and his expression darkened. “Why didn’t you buy any of the herbs for the Fasting Pill?”

The bundle contained all sorts of spiritual herbs, even herb seeds, but not a single ingredient for the Fasting Pill.

Yu Youyou scratched her head. “They’re going to distribute a set during the exam tomorrow, aren’t they?”

That was like treating the exam as the final test paper—while everyone else was buying practice materials to study beforehand!

Qi Nanfeng was speechless, nearly choking in frustration. “If you fail three assessments in a row, you’ll be expelled from the outer sect! Forget it, I’ll give you two sets of herbs. You better practice tonight…”

“No need.” Yu Youyou pushed the herbs back to him and said seriously, “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

“Really?” Qi Nanfeng was doubtful.

“Really.”

After seeing Qi Nanfeng off, Yu Youyou laid out the herbs she had purchased one by one.

Then, she walked into the courtyard and dug up a first-grade Silvertrace Herb she had transplanted there. Fortunately, she had listened to her little brother’s advice and uprooted it with the soil intact; otherwise, she wouldn’t have such a fresh ingredient.

Her bloodline backlash was coming again soon. The medicine from last time had run out, so this time she planned to make a stronger painkiller using Silvertrace Herb.

With experience from last time, her hands moved quickly. In no time, she had refined the medicine.

On the table, piles of herbs were neatly arranged, all of them spiritual herbs.

Yu Youyou’s expression turned serious.

The two bloodlines in her body clashed like sworn enemies, battling each other once a month and leaving her body battered and broken. Her spiritual veins were completely shattered, making it impossible for her to cultivate. Ordinary tonics were no longer effective—she needed spiritual herbs just to sustain herself.

The spiritual herbs on the table were the ones Yu Youyou had carefully selected after repeatedly consulting the Compendium of Spiritual Herbs.

In the post-apocalyptic world, there were many medicines that enhanced the body, but because their effects were too intense, most people didn’t dare consume them directly. Instead, they chose to absorb the medicinal properties through herbal baths. Though slower than direct consumption, this method was much gentler.

Now, Yu Youyou decided to adopt this approach as well.

She prepared a large tub of cold water in her room, shut the doors and windows, and slowly dipped one foot in.

It was freezing, and goosebumps immediately rose on her leg.

However, she didn’t add any hot water. Instead, she submerged herself entirely in the water and began tossing in the spiritual herbs.

The potency of spiritual herbs was far beyond that of ordinary medicinal plants. As soon as the herbs touched the water, the previously icy water instantly turned scorching hot, causing Yu Youyou’s pale skin to flush a deep red.

Having experienced the agony of bloodline backlash before, Yu Youyou’s tolerance for pain was frighteningly high. Without any expression, she continued adding herbs to the water. The bathwater fluctuated between scalding and freezing, and, even more bizarrely, some of the herbs made it burn like chili peppers!

In her daze, Yu Youyou momentarily suspected she had become an ingredient in a hot pot.

Under the stimulation of the spiritual herbs, the two bloodlines within her body began to surge violently.

She gritted her teeth tightly, her whole body trembling uncontrollably, even her tail stiffening from the pain.

She couldn’t bear to take a painkiller—she had to save those for when the bloodline backlash struck again. She didn’t have enough spirit stones this month to buy another batch of spiritual herbs.

The torment continued until the latter half of the night. The originally murky medicinal bath gradually became clear again, and only when dawn’s light filtered through the cracks of the door and windows did the sleepless Yu Youyou finally regain her senses.

She struggled to climb out of the bath, dressed herself, hid her tail, and yawned as she ran toward the mountaintop.

However, as soon as she stepped into the grand hall, ready to head toward her familiar corner, someone stopped her.

“Sorry, this spot is taken.”

Yu Youyou was baffled. Wasn’t this her seat? Even more ridiculous was the fact that the one blocking her was her good buddy, Qi Nanfeng!

“You got a new buddy?”

“No, this is—wait, shit, you’re Yu Youyou?!” Qi Nanfeng snapped back to his senses at the sound of her voice, staring at Yu Youyou’s face in shock.