Task 1: Create five different herbal medicines in five days.
Reward: Catalogue of magic herbs.
Punishment for failure: Deduct one point of attributes.
Task 2: Successfully create an Anshensan within a month.
Reward: One formula.
Punishment for failure: Unable to use ancient spring water for a month.
Two tasks!
"System, is there any specific requirements for the five different herbal medicines?" Wang Yao asked.
No.
"Can I use existing formulas?" asked Wang Yao.
Yes.
"Okay, that's good!" Wang Yao was relieved.
If he was asked to create a brand new herbal medicine that had never appeared in history before, he couldn't possibly complete the task. It would have been better to just give up. Even with the last task, he completed it by accident.
He immediately took out the books he bought on the internet and picked several simple formulas from the books that had minimal side effects. It was past 9 pm by the time he completed everything.
I should sleep early tonight as tomorrow will be another busy day, Wang Yao thought as he was looking at the two new tasks.
The next morning, he went up on the hill to water the herbal field which was growing very well. He also allocated another area to grow the moonlight herb seeds he obtained last night after upgrading.
He sprinkled the seeds carefully onto the ground and watered them with ancient spring. Then he went off to town to buy some herbs for creating his herbal medicine. On his way to the town, he bumped into Wang Mingbao.
"Hey bro, where are you going?" asked Wang Mingbao.
"To the town center to buy some stuff," replied Wang Yao.
"Hop in," said Wang Mingbao as he motioned to his car.
"Don't worry about me, it's more convenient for me to ride my bike," said Wang Yao.
"Stop talking; hurry up, I'm going to the town center too. I can give you a lift."
"Okay, give me a second." After driving his motorbike back, Wang Yao hopped into Wang Mingbao's car and they went to town together.
"What are you going to do in town?" asked Wang Yao. Wang Mingbao rented an office in the town center for internal decoration business. The real estate market had been booming in recent years and Wang Mingbao was generous and forthcoming. With his father's assistance, business had been hot. He made quite a lot of money in the last few years.
"I am attracted by a commercial property in the town—two-tory. I want to buy it after negotiating with the landlord," said Wang Mingbao.
"Good, you are doing well!" Wang Yao said with a smile.
"Just good luck," Wang Mingbao smiled back.
After they had arrived in town, they went to the herb store. Wang Yao took out his grocery list and was going to buy what he required while Wang Mingbao had to go elsewhere. The two of them then would meet up for lunch before going back to the village.
"Hey young man, what are you buying these herbs for?" the shop assistant took the list from Wang Yao and was amazed by it. There were quite a lot of different herbs listed with only a small amount written for each.
"I'm learning how to brew herbal decoctions from an experienced practitioner," Wang Yao said with a smile.
"I see, but you don't actually need to use real herbs to learn," said the shop assistant.
"Of course I need to use real herbs," said Wang Yao.
"Okay, then you'll have to wait for a while," said the shop assistant.
Ginseng, Angelica, Poria Cocos, Licorice, dry Ginger, Atractylodes, Bupleurum—over 20 different herbs were weighed separately and put aside. The shop assistant then wrapped the herbs in a big bag with the respective names written on it.
"Young man, you can use the herbs to brew decoctions but don't drink it!" The shop assistant was nice enough to remind Wang Yao that he could get sick by drinking the herbal decoction. Fortunately, most of the herbs were for promoting health so Wang Yao wouldn't lose his life even if he drank it. He would just absorb too much Yang and with an unbalanced Ying and Yang, he'd probably suffer from some diarrhea at worst.
"Sure, thank you," Wang Yao thanked the shop assistant.
When it was lunchtime, Wang Mingbao drove over. He and Wang Yao had lunch together in a restaurant nearby. Wang Yao wanted to go home to have lunch, but Wang Mingbao insisted on buying lunch for Wang Yao, so they picked a nice restaurant to eat at.
After they sat down, they ordered some dishes and started to chat. They soon mentioned Wang Zexiao who was very sick in the last few days.
"I just came across Zexiao's mother who told me Zexiao has been recovering fast. He is going to be discharged from the hospital tomorrow," said Wang Mingbao.
"Really? That's good!" said Wang Yao.
"I also heard the doctors from that hospital have made the treatment and process a classic case," said Wang Mingbao.
"What?" Wang Yao was surprised.
He didn't know the details of treatment, but he knew that it was the antidote herb saving Wang Zexiao's life. Precisely speaking, it was the magical function of the antidote herb. The treatment from the hospital just prevented Wang Zexiao's illness from getting worse. Even this was not properly managed by the doctors, otherwise, they wouldn't have given him a critically ill notice.
"I didn't expect those doctors to be able to cure Zexiao," said Wang Mingbao.
"Haha," Wang Yao laughed. He was afraid that the doctors still hadn't figured out what poison caused Zexiao's illness, let alone cure him.
"Anyway, as long as he's fine now," said Wang Yao.
"Exactly," said Wang Mingbao.
The food was delivered to their table as they were speaking.
"What about the commercial property you want to buy?" asked Wang Yao.
"It's almost done. I've made an appointment to sign the contract and get the settlement done at the same time," said Wang Mingbao.
"So you are going to live in the town?" asked Wang Yao.
"Not necessarily. To be honest, I prefer to live in the village where most of my family and friends live. It's easier to hang out with my friends in the village," said Wang Mingbao.
"Well, a lot of villagers want to live in the town," said Wang Yao.
"Maybe after a few years, people living in the town will want to return to the village. You never know," said Wang Mingbao.
The two of them went back to the village after the meal. After Wang Yao returned home, he put together of the herbs he bought in the town and went to the hill.
"I'm ready!" he said to himself.
After the preparation, Wang Yao started to pick and form the herbs. He started from those simple formulas such as Koshiba Ebisu soup, which was relatively easy to make and had minimal side effects.
Step 1: Pick the herbs. Step 2: Wash the herbs. Step 3: Brew the herbs!
Simmering in the pot, the herbs slowly released a nice smell. When it was almost done, Wang Yao threw away the dregs and a bowl of Koshiba Ebisu soup had been made.
Strange, how come nothing has happened? Do I have to drink it? Wang Yao thought.
When the decoction cooled down a bit, Wang Yao drank it up. But still, nothing happened.
"How come? System, is there a problem?" asked Wang Yao.
There was a mistake during the process, the system answered.
"Mistake? What mistake it is?" asked Wang Yao.
No reply came from the system this time.
Wang Yao had to do the whole thing again. This time, he made sure every single step was properly completed and thought about what could have possibly gone wrong. At last, he made another bowl of decoction but failed again.
"How come it failed again? Where is the problem?" he murmured.
The formula had been existing for thousands of years so it couldn't be wrong. Was it because of the herbs I bought?
Wang Yao couldn't figure out what went wrong.
Let me try again!
This time he was more careful. He searched for each herb on his mobile phone, compared them to the pictures online and then weighed them precisely before double checking the process. This time he was successful and he also guessed where he went wrong.
"System, was it because I didn't get the timing correctly when I failed twice?" asked Wang Yao.
Yes! the system answered after a while.