Tang Qi's delight came from the addition of a new skill in his skill bar.
Skill: Secret Medicine (Not Entered!)
After Meditation Method, Molten Furnace Eye, and Chaga Fighting Technique, Tang Qi gained yet another skill, despite not having entered the field.
At the slight stirring of a thought, behind Secret Medicine, a series of information fragments emerged belatedly.
[Information Fragment One: The uninitiated Secret Medicine, stemming from a part of the knowledge of the Original Secret Medicine School, they were once active in the Old Calendar Thirteenth Century and were the main rivals of the Maya Secret Medicine School. They pursued the replication and reenactment of nature and the primitive, as well as benign transformations, finally mysteriously vanished.]
[Information Fragment Two: Digesting this part of knowledge and formulating three basic original secret medicines, you will be promoted to "Secret Medicine Apprentice".]
"Three kinds?"
Seeing this, Tang Qi silently immersed his mind into the depths of his memories, soon locating those three original secret medicines which are [Rubber Man Secret Medicine], [Wind's Secret Medicine], and [Spirit Communication Secret Medicine].
The formulas for the three secret medicines unfolded one by one.
At the same time, the meaning represented by the secret medicines also surfaced.
The Original Secret Medicine School seems to have originated from a tribe living in the jungle area, which ultimately established a prosperous civilization, but this tribe was ultimately defeated by the Maya Civilization due to vastly different levels of war preparation.
Much like the philosophy of the Secret Medicine School, that civilization, simply did not excel at war.
Even though it was only part of the knowledge, Tang Qi discovered that most of the secret medicine formulas within had little to do with combat; at least, they couldn't directly enhance combat strength, except for a few that could be advanced and strengthened, as well as some curse-type secret medicines.
And the Rubber Man Secret Medicine is one of the rare ones aimed at body enhancement, but what it enhances is not combat power, but rather the ability to withstand blows; after taking this secret medicine, your body will be as tough as rubber, allowing you to perform many difficult maneuvers.
Perhaps the people of that civilization used this secret medicine to harvest fruit from the canopy layer?
And after consuming the Wind's Secret Medicine, you can clearly hear the messages contained in the wind, swiftly gaining insight into the environment around you.
The Spirit Communication Secret Medicine represents the sorrow for the dead; after consumption, you can meet the Dead Spirits for a short time and bid them farewell.
"So, this is a friendly type of Secret Medicine School?"
"However, this does explain why Professor Cassel, who held this knowledge, couldn't escape the torment of cancer, because this school doesn't encourage eternal life, and thus lacks a corresponding series of secret medicines to extend lifespan."
"Out of desperation for survival and revenge, he had to concoct the highly difficult and uncontrollable Spider Demon Secret Medicine."
"Pop, pop~"
Restored from the pain of the soul being cut, Professor Cassel on the desk waved a tentacle in a slapping motion, seemingly responding to Tang Qi's words.
It had forgotten the secret medicine knowledge, but the deeds it had done were not forgotten.
Feeling Tang Qi's gaze upon it, Cassel didn't dare to delay. Its slimy tentacle reached back into the water cup, moistened it, and wrote on the desk: "When will you fulfill the trade, so that I can have a new body?"
Professor Cassel's fear was keenly felt by Tang Qi.
At this moment, it is probably in a state filled with fear and panic with nowhere to turn.
The activated state of the Shadow Cage Mushroom barely allows it to move like an octopus, but that does not change the fact that it is very fragile.
Moreover, in ten days, if it doesn't succeed in transferring to a new body, it will dry up and die.
Compared to these, falling into Tang Qi's hands might actually be considered its luck.
After offering the biggest stakes and paying the price, it also obtained a "promise" from Tang Qi.
Although it can't be sure whether this cunning-looking high school student will fulfill the trade.
If it had a human body right now, and a pair of eyes, it would see Tang Qi, who had already risen to his feet at some point, watching it with an odd expression, before finally bursting out laughing: "Professor Cassel, perhaps you don't know, but I am famously known as the most contract-abiding person."
"In fact, I've already found an incredibly strong body for you, almost ready-made; it just needs a little preparation and definitely won't take ten days."
As Tang Qi spoke, he took a glass bottle off the shelf next to him.
Opening the lid of the bottle, he placed it in front of Professor Cassel and continued, "Before that, I'm afraid you'll have to stay inside, Professor. I'll make sure to add water regularly for you."
Hearing Tang Qi's words, Cassel tapped on the object in front of him with a tentacle and quickly realized what it was.
A glass bottle, a very thick kind.
Though quite reluctant, it knew it couldn't go against Tang Qi's wishes, so it wriggled like a real octopus into the bottle and, quite considerately, screwed the lid on itself.
"You really are the best collaborator, Mr. Cassel."
With a compliment, Tang Qi then moved the glass bottle back to the shelf and casually covered it with a black cloth.
He tidied up the desk, pulled open the curtains at the nearby window, and the warm sunshine poured in, filling the previously dim room with light.
It was the sunlight of early morning, falling on Tang Qi's face, slightly dazzling and a little itchy.
Stanna had brought Tang Qi back at dawn.
It was only to trick Cassel into entering an activated state that Tang Qi had pretended it was still deep into the night.
Another sleepless night!
Tang Qi felt his spirit was still full, but deep down he wondered if substituting sleep this way was too crude, whether perhaps he should relax once in a while, forget all meditation methods, the Samra family, the mysterious side, and just sleep deeply for one night, letting go of himself.
The moment the thought arose, Tang Qi shook his head and suppressed it.
Now was not the time for games. Life-and-death enemies could show up at any moment, seizing every opportunity to enhance his own strength was the better strategy.
Relax?
It wasn't time for that yet.
Today was a day off; there were no classes, so maybe he should go to Midtown Avenue for a walk, gather some materials. It was about time to prepare my first batch of secret medicine.
As Tang Qi thought about this, he was also preparing breakfast for himself.
He kept it simple today, with French toast and a strong black rice coffee, and a small bowl of fresh blueberries, marking the perfect start of a new day.
However, just as he finished making breakfast and was about to enjoy it, the doorbell rang once again.
Despite being far from the door, his excellent perception still informed him who the visitor was.
An impressively tall figure, still wearing a long overcoat, concealing her explosive curves but adding an air of valor, and her red hair, like a flame impacting the mind in the misty morning.
If she could put on leather armor, take up a long sword, she could totally pass as a Valkyrie, perhaps even more captivating.
"Stanna, visiting so early, what's happened again?"
With such thoughts running through his head, Tang Qi opened the door and directly asked.
"It's nothing major. However, today is your first day on the job, so I thought I'd take you to meet some... Eh? What is that smell? It's so fragrant!"
Watching the mature and beautiful police chief whose conversation was abruptly interrupted as she sniffed the air, Tang Qi was somewhat speechless, silently turning around to let Stanna into the house.
At the same time, he made an invitation.
"If you don't mind, please join me for breakfast~"
"Of course!"
Before she could finish speaking, the police chief had already pulled out a chair and sat down first.