"Madam, I must say, I'm impressed," Lu Mingyou remarked with a smile. "Young Master Rui has quite the eye for talent."
Wang Rui lazily hummed in acknowledgment.
It had been two weeks since he and Huo Yuqing arrived at Emerald Pavillion.
During this time, Huo Yuqing spent her days learning about herbs from Lu Mingyou and her nights training diligently in the small room upstairs. Surprisingly, she excelled in both areas.
Wang Rui had provided her with an advanced meditation technique suited for psychic abilities, and just last week, she had steadily raised her soul power to level fourteen.
At the same time, she mastered the fundamental knowledge of herbal medicine taught by Lu Mingyou.
To put it into perspective, even the basic herbs frequently used in alchemy number in the thousands.
Yet, within these two short weeks, Huo Yuqing had not only learned to identify these herbs but also to handle them preliminarily.
At that moment, the girl was carefully sorting through a pile of herbs on the second floor of Emerald Pavillion.
The wooden table was cluttered with a disordered heap of withered herbs. Each stalk looked like a wilted cabbage left too long in the soil. The variety was overwhelming, a chaotic mix, even including some aesthetically pleasing but useless weeds.
The pile had just been dumped onto the table by a chubby White Sand Plains hamster, straight from the special spatial pouch in its cheek.
Rodent soul beasts had a penchant for hoarding, and this hamster, during its time surviving in the Star Dou Forest, had collected every unique plant it came across, storing them in its cheek pouch. Instinct led it to eat only the edible ones, leaving the rest untouched. Yet, one couldn't expect this four-thousand-year-old creature to possess the intelligence required to categorize and preserve different herbs properly.
The White Sand Plains hamster had offered its entire collection, accumulated over years, hoping to exchange it for a Earth Resonance Pill that would aid its earth-elemental offspring's cultivation.
Although the hamster brought a considerable quantity of herbs, their efficacy had diminished to varying degrees. Some rare herbs had deteriorated severely due to improper storage.
This greatly frustrated Lu Mingyou, who promptly sent the hefty rodent off to a construction site in the east of Emerald City, where it would have to work for two years to earn the pill.
The hamster didn't seem to mind; for soul beasts, two years was nothing.
Huo Yuqing worked on identifying the poorly preserved herbs. Those requiring no special treatment were neatly stored in labeled containers, while others were either placed in specific soul tools or manually processed.
Processing herbs was akin to preparing traditional Chinese medicine. It involved using various techniques to activate medicinal properties, eliminate impurities, or make the active ingredients more extractable during alchemy.
For instance, fire-attribute herbs needed thorough drying to preserve their fiery energy. Roots with concentrated energy required separation from their leaves for storage. Herbs with water-based toxins had to be soaked in special solutions. The methods were diverse and required meticulous analysis.
These herbs carried spiritual energy, meaning soul power was often needed during processing. While soul tools reduced much of the workload, many steps still required manual handling.
Watching the process, Wang Rui couldn't help but envy the convenience of refining herbs with otherworldly flames. With a simple swish, those flames could reduce herbs to their purest liquid form, an efficiency he couldn't replicate. Despite his careful control with spiritual power, his attempts had often ended in charred remains.
"Well, it's a fundamental difference between worlds," he thought.
At the moment, Aunt Mouse was scurrying across the table, bringing tools to assist Huo Yuqing, much to Wang Rui's amusement.
Remy from Ratatouille in action.jpg
Even Jiang Nannan had become a mere assistant, as Huo Yuqing's herb-processing skills now far surpassed hers. Despite being overtaken by her junior in progress, Jiang Nannan felt no jealousy—no one could begrudge such a talented individual.
Huo Yuqing's movements were fluid and decisive, completing the sorting and initial treatment as effortlessly as flowing water. Even Lu Mingyou, who had spent over a century in the field, couldn't help but praise her from the heart.
"A little one with such talent and diligence—who wouldn't like her? I, for one, am quite fond of her," Lu Mingyou said with a soft laugh.
Hearing Lu Mingyou praise Huo Yuqing, Wang Rui felt a subtle sense of pride as well.
Wang Rui had always felt the original Douluo Dalu series treated herbology far too simplistically, particularly in its approach to healing.
Most healing abilities were like those of a game healer: a flash of green light, and the injuries healed. In essence, life energy was crudely forced into the injured body, repairing wounds and speeding recovery—or the soul master would use their own soul power to heal.
If not for the inherently robust physiques of soul masters, such crude methods might have caused complications, such as tumors, in ordinary people.
To ordinary folk, healing soul masters were not just a luxury—they were practically unattainable. And most traditional healers avoided treating common people due to the vastly different nature of their ailments compared to those of soul masters.
Wang Rui's initiative to have the Emerald Swan Bi Ji build Emerald City was partly driven by his desire to advance medical knowledge and establish a more scientific approach to training healers and herbalists.
Over millennia, Emerald City had accumulated an extensive repository of medical knowledge. Its free clinics amassed countless case studies, creating a comprehensive and systematic understanding of medicine, both for humans and soul beasts.
The city's advancements in alchemy, however, were extraordinary.
With so many soul beasts in the forest, who hadn't consumed some natural treasures? Drawing from their experiences, the knowledge snowballed.
Furthermore, many plant-type soul beasts began their lives as medicinal herbs. They instinctively knew how to maximize their medicinal potential.
The result was a heritage of refinement, experimentation, and gradual perfection over thousands of years.
By now, the pile of herbs in front of Huo Yuqing had dwindled significantly. She was down to processing the final stalk—a Red Crystal Viper Berry.
Skillfully, she plucked its ruby-like fruits and stored them in a jade box. She removed the wilting leaves, soaking them in purified water, and placed the stems into a soul tool for drying and grinding into powder.
"Done!" she exhaled deeply, a tired but satisfied smile lighting her face.
"Not bad! Two hours and ten minutes to handle 107 herbs. You've passed the first stage of learning and even broken a record," Lu Mingyou said, ruffling her hair. "Since you're my disciple, and therefore half a member of my sect, here's your reward. Inside is a pill for your evening cultivation."
Lu Mingyou handed her a storage soul tool in the shape of a pendant engraved with a golden tree emblem.
Inside was a rare Heavenly Water Pill.
"Thank you, Teacher!" Huo Yuqing beamed, putting the pendant around her neck.
"Congrats, Junior Sister! You're moving on to the next stage. I've got notes that can help you," Jiang Nannan said, ruffling her hair.
"Nannan, are you there?" a voice called from downstairs.
"Eh? Mom? Why are you here?" Jiang Nannan quickly went to greet her visitor.
Lu Mingyou shook her head, smiling wryly at her cheerful senior disciple.
The three descended together.
On the first floor stood a middle-aged woman, still radiant with charm. Her resemblance to Jiang Nannan clearly marked her as her mother.
Huo Yuqing blinked in surprise, recognizing her as the woman who ran a soul beast grooming business in the city's commercial district.
"Greetings, Madam Lu," Jiang's mother said respectfully, bowing to the benefactor who once saved her life.
"Mom, why are you here? Is something wrong?" Jiang Nannan asked.
"Yanzhi's condition isn't good, and I'm worried. Could you come home and take a look?" Jiang's mother replied, her face etched with concern.