"Things are somewhat worse than I expected," Wang Sheng reflected. The village head would need to consider what needed to be done.
After completing their investigation, Mountain Lord carried the group back near the edge of Qingshan Village's surrounding forest.
Li Peng and the others went back first, while Wang Sheng stayed behind to deliver the payment.
He took out five Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pills and placed them in front of Mountain Lord, then touched its tiger head and said, "Well done, I'm giving you an extra one. I'll be sure to seek you out for future tasks."
Having a "tiger carriage" in the forest was truly excellent; there was no need to worry about undergrowth or getting lost.
"Roar~"
Mountain Lord roared, clearly delighted by the extra Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pill.
But it also took note of the key point in Wang Sheng's words — he would seek it out again?
Of course, that was more than fine. As long as he kept providing these magical pills, Mountain Lord would safely deliver ten or eight people to their destination without a single mishap.
As for pride, in the face of power advancement, pride was worth less than nothing.
With power, who would have to worry about saving face?
Initially, Mountain Lord had planned to leave the area after this job since it wasn't a match for this human. Additionally, it noticed that the man seemed particularly interested in its tiger skin, putting it in potential danger at any moment.
But now it seemed this human wasn't too bad after all. He kept his word and had pills, so it could consider staying a bit longer.
Contemplating this, Mountain Lord swallowed the five Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pills, and with another low growl expressed the message "Look for me next time." It didn't care whether Wang Sheng understood or not and simply left.
The harvest this time was plentiful. Mountain Lord needed to find a quiet place to digest the increased qi blood power inside its body. It should be able to reach the next level of strength,
After watching Mountain Lord leave, Wang Sheng returned to his house.
Although the trip to the mountain was brief, the actual gains were significant.
First of all, he had a clear evaluation of his own strength.
It was widely accepted that Mountain Lord was comparable to a Third Grade Martial Artist.
He could defeat Mountain Lord without fighting to the death, meaning his strength was stronger than Mountain Lord's, possibly at the Fourth Grade Martial Artist level.
However, Mountain Lord's attack methods were limited. Aside from the suspected spirit-based attack method, it mostly relied on its physical strength and, like him, probably hadn't gone through much actual combat, so its experience was lacking.
Taking these factors into account, Mountain Lord's strength level dropped a grade in his mind.
If he was somewhat stronger, then as far as his strength was concerned —
"At best a Third Grade Martial Artist, but quite likely a Second Grade Martial Artist."
Wang Sheng made a somewhat uncertain judgment of his own strength.
According to his understanding, when estimating strength, it's better to underestimate his own power rather than to overestimate it.
In summary, when facing an enemy, it's wise to appear a grade weaker than one actually is, while actually possessing higher capability.
Such a strategy could effectively reduce trouble while also confusing the enemy.
Those protagonists able to turn the tables on their foes often did so because their actual strength was higher than what it seemed.
Wang Sheng thought this was worth learning, of course, without adopting any bad habits like attracting unnecessary trouble.
Being able to level up to a Second Grade Martial Artist in a few months was something to celebrate. It significantly increased his ability to defend himself.
In this chaotic world, the stronger the better.
Apart from confirming his own strength, he had also made progress in skills.
"Ba Duan Jin; 8 (25%)"
The level of Ba Duan Jin was previously at level 6.
But in just two days, it had advanced to level 8.
Thinking about what had happened in these two days, Wang Sheng felt there was only one possibility.
"Actual combat is indeed a powerful way to improve martial skills!"
Ba Duan Jin, one form of martial art, is best improved through real combat.
Even Wang Sheng had not anticipated that just a battle of no more than three minutes could increase the progress of Ba Duan Jin by so much.
"It's a bit of a pity that I only discovered it after returning to the village."
He noticed the significant progress in Ba Duan Jin on his way home after separating from Mountain Lord.
Otherwise, he would have continued sparring with Mountain Lord until he reached the first breakthrough limit.
But that wasn't a major issue, as there would still be opportunities next time.
Elsewhere, deep in the jungle within a certain cave, Mountain Lord, feeling invigorated from the Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pills, still couldn't help but shiver subconsciously. It felt like someone was eyeing it.
Could that person still be thinking about its tiger skin?
This wouldn't do. It needed to increase its strength quickly. As long as it was powerful enough, that person wouldn't be able to do anything to it.
Human, you will regret "arming" your enemy.
What's lost will be reclaimed!
...
Each with their own thoughts, and with no one coming to seek him, Wang Sheng returned to his peaceful everyday life.
He continued to alternate his practice between Ba Duan Jin and Inner Core Skill, rapidly advancing his Qi Rushing to the Disease skills.
While he improved his abilities, he didn't neglect the cultivation of medicinal plants. In fact, due to increased consumption, Wang Sheng even increased the time spent on Medicinal Plant Cultivation.
Not only that, but he also took some time to study Healing Medicine.
This was inspired by Mountain Lord.
When he used Saffron to relieve Mountain Lord's pain, he thought that he might get injured himself someday, whether external or internal wounds, and he would need a way to treat them.
For external wounds, he thought of the famously known golden sore medicine.
This frequently mentioned remedy in novels actually existed in reality, but the original formula was lost for various reasons.
What Wang Sheng remembered was the later publicized formula, which only revealed the necessary ingredients, not the specific method of preparation. He would have to work out the details based on his own understanding of medicinal herbs.
But there was no way around it — he was no god, and couldn't remember every formula. He only knew of golden sore medicine because he specifically researched it out of an interest in martial arts novels; he didn't recall other formulas for external injuries.
If possible, he would have preferred to create the fictional Black Jade Discontinuation Ointment, but unfortunately, that was purely invented.
Then there was the concoction for treating internal and hidden injuries.
The best option was Yunnan White Medicine, but since that was a state-secret formula, Wang Sheng hadn't had the resources in his previous life to obtain it, so he had to settle for some folk formulas he remembered.
Calling them formulas might be generous — they were primarily just various blood-activating and stasis-dispelling herbs that could be combined with other ingredients to create some home remedies.
The main ingredients consisted of three herbs: Panax notoginseng, Saffron, and Myrrh, all of which had excellent effects on internal injuries.
The injuries that Mountain Lord sustained from Wang Sheng could only be soothed by Saffron, but if it were able to take these three, it wouldn't be completely cured, but it wouldn't be far off.
"We're still short on quite a few medicinal herbs!"
When he had previously asked Li Yongfeng to bring back seeds for the Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pill, he had also requested a number of other seeds.
But he recalled that there were still some that he didn't have and would need to purchase.
"Back to being busy again, huh? I wonder if I can still find them now..."
But for the sake of cultivation, it's all worth it!