Chapter 24: 催药生

Han Li had expected the gloomy, rainy weather to persist, but then the sun finally reappeared in the sky, and the weather cleared up.

Almost half a month had passed since Han Li first discovered the secret of the green liquid, and he had grown quite impatient. On the very evening the sky cleared, he once again witnessed the miraculous sight he had first seen four years ago: countless specks of light densely clustered around the small bottle, forming a large luminous orb.

The moment Han Li saw this extraordinary phenomenon, a heavy burden lifted from his mind. This essentially confirmed that the small bottle was not a single-use item but rather a wondrous artifact that could be used repeatedly.

After another seven days of waiting, a drop of green liquid finally reappeared in the small bottle. Although Han Li had been about eighty to ninety percent certain this would happen, he was still overjoyed to see it. This meant he would have a continuous supply of rare medicinal herbs in the future, eliminating any further worries about them.

It is well known that the value of medicinal herbs is largely determined by their age; the older an herb, the more potent its medicinal properties. Similarly, older herbs are much harder to find, typically growing in remote mountains, ancient forests, or on sheer cliffs. Without taking significant risks, acquiring such herbs would be an impossible feat.

While some pharmacies and doctors cultivate certain herbs themselves, these are mostly common varieties that can be used after a short period. Most people would not be foolish enough to grow something that takes decades, or even a few decades, to become usable.

However, some affluent and influential families, as a precaution, commission the cultivation of a few exceptionally rare herbs for life-saving purposes during crises. These herbs typically offer little efficacy unless they are considerably old. Ordinary medicinal items are easily procurable for such wealthy individuals, so there would be no need to expend great effort cultivating them. Moreover, these prominent families can pass down their fortunes for generations, making the time required for cultivating these herbs irrelevant to them. Since no one knows when they might need them, these herbs are usually premium varieties that take centuries to grow, or rare, one-of-a-kind specimens. Ordinary people simply lack the financial and material resources to undertake such endeavors.

When rare wild herbs occasionally appear on the market, they are almost always acquired by these powerful families. This drives up the prices of rare medicinal herbs, often leading to a situation where they are priced exorbitantly but unavailable for purchase.

Han Li was not optimistic about Doctor Mo's current expedition and doubted he would find much. However, Han Li no longer needed to worry about medicinal supplies. With the bottle, he could cultivate any amount of high-quality herbs in a short time.

With a strange mix of emotions, Han Li conducted several more experiments on ripening herbs over the next few tens of days.

In one experiment, he sprinkled the diluted green liquid on numerous herbs. The next day, he only obtained a large quantity of common medicinal herbs that showed merely one to two years of accelerated growth, far inferior to the herbs from his first attempt. From this experiment, Han Li vaguely discerned some underlying patterns.

In the subsequent experiment, Han Li skipped the dilution step entirely and dripped the green liquid directly onto a ginseng plant. To his astonishment, when he woke up the next day, he found a century-old ginseng that was indistinguishable from a wild century-old specimen. This experiment filled Han Li with immense delight, not just for acquiring a rare herb, but because he had now roughly grasped how to use the green liquid.

Following this, Han Li conducted several experiments on preserving the green liquid. He placed the liquid, freshly extracted from the bottle, into various containers, including porcelain bottles, jade bottles, gourds, and silver bottles. He discovered that no matter the container, the green liquid could not be preserved for more than fifteen minutes. Once removed from the mysterious small bottle, the liquid had to be used within that quarter of an hour; otherwise, it would slowly vanish without a trace. Its diluted form exhibited the same characteristic; although it could last slightly longer, beyond a certain point, only the other liquids it had been mixed with remained in the container, as the green liquid component still disappeared.

After several such experiments, Han Li completely lost confidence in preserving the green liquid in other containers. It seemed impossible to store this mysterious liquid in large quantities, so he decided to perform another test: stacking its medicinal properties.

Han Li dripped a drop of green liquid onto a green Three-Black Grass, transforming it into a yellow Three-Black Grass with a hundred years of medicinal properties. A few days later, he dripped another drop of green liquid on it, and its age was enhanced by over a hundred more years.

Seeing that this method was indeed effective, Han Li continued to repeat the same process for over two months. Whenever a new drop of green liquid appeared in the small bottle, he would drip it onto the Three-Black Grass. The herb did not disappoint: its leaves gradually changed from yellow to yellowish-black, then from yellowish-black to black. Finally, when its leaves became completely dark and lustrous, it had transformed into a rare Thousand-Year Three-Black Grass.

This test was highly successful. It appeared that with enough patience, the Three-Black Grass's age could be further increased. However, for Han Li, this was entirely unnecessary. Knowing that the method was viable was sufficient. He did not currently need herbs of such extreme age; herbs with several hundred years of potency were quite enough for his own consumption.

After completing this long series of experiments, Han Li could finally rest and take stock. A considerable amount of time had passed since Doctor Mo had left the mountain.

Han Li now lay on the wooden bed in his room, holding the Thousand-Year Three-Black Grass and staring blankly.

His eyes were fixed on the dark, lustrous herb, seemingly studying it. However, anyone else in the room would have noticed from his unfocused gaze that his mind was not on the Three-Black Grass at all, but rather wandering far away, lost in thought.

He no longer felt the joy he had experienced when he first obtained the Three-Black Grass. Instead, he was carefully contemplating the benefits and dangers the small bottle brought him, planning his future course of action.

Han Li had read numerous examples of "possessing a treasure inviting disaster" in the various books in Doctor Mo's room. The bottle in his hand was undeniably a priceless treasure. If outsiders ever learned he possessed such an item, he certainly wouldn't live to see the next morning. Like many previous "treasure possessors," he would be overwhelmed by various greedy individuals drawn by the news. Setting aside distant examples, even within his own sect, if a few sect masters discovered the bottle's secret, they would undoubtedly not spare him. They would devise ways to kill him and seize the treasure, leaving him with the dismal fate of "treasure lost, life extinguished."

"I must never tell anyone about this bottle," Han Li resolved. "And I must use it carefully on the mountain. The bottle's absorption of light creates too much commotion; if I'm not careful, outsiders might discover its secret." He made up his mind to remain silent and not utter a single word about it to anyone.

"However, I'm currently in urgent need of herbs for my cultivation, and it would be a terrible waste not to use this bottle. I need to find a way to have the best of both worlds." He thought of his stagnant cultivation progress and felt a pang of sadness. Regardless, he couldn't delay his progress with the cultivation mantra. He wasn't cultivating simply because Doctor Mo urged him; he had vaguely sensed that some of his recent unusual changes were inextricably linked to practicing this nameless mantra.