Chapter 76: No Trace Illusory Lotus

Zu An was startled, wondering what cultivation level this guy truly possessed. The arrogant tone in his voice certainly suggested he was not of a low rank.

However, his 'little brother's' problem was still his top priority. Struggling to get out of bed, he rummaged through the nearby wardrobe. At the very bottom, hidden beneath various clothes, he pulled out a silk bellyband. He had 'borrowed' this from Xue'er's room when he sneaked in that night.

Since the girl had caused him such severe injuries, he didn't mind her clothing falling into the hands of this lecherous divine doctor.

Divine Doctor Ji, standing by, saw that Zu An could still get out of bed and couldn't help but exclaim, "Your physique is truly unique. To be able to move on your own after such severe injuries... it seems you've managed to fool the entire Chu family."

Zu An rolled his eyes. *Of course,* he thought. His happiness for the rest of his life depended on this; even if he couldn't move, he'd struggle to get up.

"Here, I've got the item for you," he said. "Now, will you treat me?"

Divine Doctor Ji instinctively took it. After seeing it clearly, he was stunned. "Whose is this?" he asked.

"Qin Wanru's," Zu An replied. He thought to himself that this Doctor Ji wasn't an idiot. He had no connection with the people he mentioned earlier, like Shang Liuyu or Qiu Honglei, so how could he possibly get their personal clothing? Qin Wanru, on the other hand, was a bit more plausible.

*My apologies, Mother-in-law,* he thought. *For the sake of your daughter's happiness for the rest of her life, I'll have to put you out a little.*

Divine Doctor Ji's eyes filled with suspicion, and he was momentarily startled. "You didn't just buy some random one to fool me, did you?" he asked.

Zu An felt a slight pang of guilt but showed no sign of it on his face. He said, biting the bullet, "Take a look at the fabric yourself. Is the workmanship of items sold outside this exquisite? Is the material this good?"

Divine Doctor Ji turned it over and over, examining it carefully. "That's true," he conceded. "Both the quality and the workmanship are top-notch, and it genuinely seems to be from the Chu household."

Zu An was a little dumbfounded. This guy could even tell it was from the Chu family? *What a pervert!* he thought. *How much has he stolen from the Chu family over the years to develop such keen insight?*

"I've done what you asked. What about you?" Zu An asked, looking at him expectantly. His 'little brother's' problem was now his top concern.

Divine Doctor Ji deftly slipped the bellyband into his bosom. Only then did he speak. "I've found a way to undo your seal," he said, "However, I'm still missing a primary ingredient."

Zu An's face immediately darkened. "You're playing games with me!" he exclaimed. "I got you the item, and now you're telling me you still need a primary ingredient?"

Divine Doctor Ji looked embarrassed. "Do you think it's easy to undo the Great Yin-Yang Vein Severing Hand?" he asked. "I've scoured hundreds of ancient texts and combined them with my many years of experience to find a reliable method to create the prescription for the Spirit Root Unsealing Pill. This prescription requires eighty-one precious medicinal ingredients. I've already prepared eighty of them for you, but one is still missing, and I don't have it either."

In truth, he was exaggerating a bit. Many of those ingredients were quite common medicinal herbs. The crucial part was his prescription, which perfectly blended these ordinary ingredients to produce a miraculous effect.

He hadn't expected Zu An to complete the task so quickly, which was why he was caught off guard and spoke that way. Of course, he wasn't lying about still needing one primary ingredient.

"Spirit Root Unsealing Pill?"

Zu An's eyelid twitched. This name was certainly straightforward enough. "What exactly is this primary ingredient?" he pressed. "How much does it cost? I can buy it!" With IOUs totaling 7.5 million taels and 150,000 taels in banknotes, he could certainly be considered wealthy.

To his surprise, Divine Doctor Ji shook his head. "That thing can't be bought with money," he said.

"What's it called?" Zu An demanded. "I refuse to believe that money can't make the world go round." The other party's slow explanation made Zu An pace anxiously.

"This herb is called the Traceless Illusionary Lotus," Divine Doctor Ji explained. "Legend has it that it blooms only once every thousand years. It's said that a single petal can allow someone to advance one minor cultivation realm. Do you think such a thing can be measured by money?" Divine Doctor Ji looked at him with disdain, as if he were a nouveau riche.

"That amazing?" Zu An was instantly stunned. "A single petal can raise one minor cultivation realm? That doesn't make sense. The elemental energy required to advance one minor realm for a high-rank cultivator is vastly different from that needed for a low-rank one, isn't it?"

"That's precisely its magic," Divine Doctor Ji said with emotion. "It's as if it operates by a rule, rather than a medicinal effect we can understand. Regardless of whether one is high-ranked or low-ranked, one petal can elevate one minor realm."

"Naturally, something like this would be more effective if consumed by someone of a higher rank," Zu An couldn't help but ask. "Who would be foolish enough to consume it at a low rank and waste it?"

"That's the theory, but in this world, things rarely go as smoothly as planned," Divine Doctor Ji snorted. "Many people perish before they can reach higher cultivation. In that case, wouldn't this item just benefit someone else? This world is quite dangerous. You'll encounter many difficulties and enemies during cultivation. The most important thing is the present. Improving your strength as quickly as possible is the true path."

Zu An was dumbfounded by what he heard. *Is this world really that dangerous?* he wondered.

Divine Doctor Ji continued, "The crucial point is that this item only blooms for a few hours. If you miss that window, it will wither and lose its magical properties. Therefore, anyone who obtains it consumes it immediately; they would never save it for later."

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Zu An said with a look of disdain. "So where can I get this thing? Are there any all-powerful merchant guilds or anything like that?"

He remembered that in the past, there were usually some mysterious merchant guilds. As long as you had money, they could procure anything for you, and their power was immense, unafraid of coercion from any faction.

"There are indeed such merchant guilds," Divine Doctor Ji said, first nodding, then shaking his head. "However, the Traceless Illusionary Lotus is exceptionally rare, blooming only once every thousand years. So far, even I have only heard legends of it, so it's naturally impossible for a merchant guild to have one."

Zu An's brows immediately furrowed. "You mean you've never even seen it?" he pressed. "Then how can you use it to formulate some Unsealing Pill? You're not deliberately trying to trick me into finding the Traceless Illusionary Lotus to boost your own cultivation, are you?"

Divine Doctor Ji was instantly enraged. "Why don't you go ask around outside?" he snapped. "Am I, Ji Dengtu, with my famous reputation, like that kind of person?"

Recalling the lecherous look on his face when he was flipping through that picture book, Zu An instinctively nodded. "Yes!" he affirmed.

Divine Doctor Ji gasped, then let out a frustrated huff. "If it weren't for Xiao Xi begging me, do you think I'd be interested in treating you? I don't mind telling you, this Spirit Root Unsealing Pill prescription was something I formulated after scouring countless ancient texts. Although I haven't seen the Traceless Illusionary Lotus myself, others have seen it before. I deduced this based on the notes of predecessors combined with my many years of medical experience."

"So that means it might not work?" Zu An pressed.

Divine Doctor Ji was truly annoyed. "You don't trust my medical skills?" he retorted. "Then go find someone else."

After saying that, he turned and started to leave. Zu An hurriedly grabbed him, saying with an appeasing smile, "I was just speaking carelessly. How could I dare not trust you? This is a small gift I specially prepared for you. Please calm down, calm down."

As he spoke, he slipped a small booklet to him.

"What's this?" Divine Doctor Ji asked, squinting with a disdainful look. It clearly wasn't banknotes or anything valuable; it looked like a worn-out book. What was so special about it?

Zu An revealed a mysterious smile. "You'll know once you take a look," he said.

Having witnessed Divine Doctor Ji being bribed by a picture book before, Zu An had come back and prepared this booklet just in case it was needed. It never hurt to have a good relationship with a doctor, after all; his happiness for the rest of his life depended on this guy.

Divine Doctor Ji, with a suspicious look, opened the booklet. He saw that it began with: "Everyone has their own misfortunes..."

Originally, he was somewhat dismissive, but as he continued reading, his breathing quickly became a little more rapid. He hurriedly tucked the booklet into his bosom. *Such good stuff is too much of a waste to read during the day,* he thought. *Of course, one should slowly savor it when the night is quiet.*

"You really are a talent, kid," Divine Doctor Ji said, patting his shoulder with an expression that suggested Zu An was a teachable child.

Zu An breathed a sigh of relief. *So that's all it takes to satisfy you?* he thought. *I had a whole pile of alternatives ready. It just goes to show how profound and extensive the knowledge of those 'old drivers' from my previous life was, and how impoverished the spiritual life of people in this world is.*

"Where did you get such good stuff?" Divine Doctor Ji asked mysteriously.

"I once met an itinerant Taoist priest and heard about it from him," Zu An replied. He didn't say he wrote it himself; after all, for something like this... he needed to save face.

"These Taoist priests really are..." Divine Doctor Ji gasped, thinking he had underestimated them before. "Heh heh, I actually thought you wrote these stories," he chuckled. "I was thinking, your 'thing' doesn't work, yet you can still write such wonderful stories—truly admirable."

Zu An's face immediately darkened. *If I didn't still need you for treatment,* he thought, *I'd drain all the rage points from you—I'd be doing myself a disservice if I didn't.*

"You're saying this thing is so miraculous, so does that mean I'm out of luck?" Zu An suddenly thought, his heart sinking. "Where am I supposed to find something this magical?"

"You don't need to be so disheartened," Ji Dengtu said, stroking his goatee and looking like a grand master inviting others to witness his wisdom. "Seeing as your little booklet is quite to my liking, I'll give you a hint or two."

"Oh, please enlighten me, Divine Doctor," Zu An said, practically ready to give him a back massage.

"I once received news that there should be a Traceless Illusionary Lotus in the Yaoguang Secret Realm," Ji Dengtu replied. "As for whether you can get it, that depends on your own ability."

"Yaoguang Secret Realm?" Zu An asked, looking bewildered. He knew every single character, but put together, he had no idea what it meant.

Ji Dengtu frowned. "You're from Brightmoon Academy, how could you not know?"

"Are people from Brightmoon Academy supposed to know?" Zu An said with a frustrated expression. "I've only been enrolled for a couple of days."

Only then did Ji Dengtu speak. "Although cultivators in this world are powerful and have conquered many places," he said, "this world is vast, and there are still too many unknown mysteries."

"In every prefecture and county under heaven, there are secret realms," Ji Dengtu explained, a hint of yearning in his eyes. "No one knows how these secret realms came to be; it's as if they've existed between heaven and earth since humanity first recorded history. One theory is that these secret realms are small worlds created by ancient immortal grandmasters. Their environments and rules are sometimes similar to our world, and sometimes vastly different. They are fraught with danger but also full of opportunities."

Zu An instinctively nodded. *Like dungeons, right?* he thought. As a gaming enthusiast, he understood these concepts.

Ji Dengtu continued, "However, as time passed, most secret realms came under the control of the imperial court. They are used to cultivate cultivators loyal to the court. In other words, only the teachers and students of the academies under the Grand Minister's jurisdiction are qualified to enter these secret realms."