Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 10

Han Li, eager to test his increased power, wanted to find a breakthrough in his cultivation of the Art of Minor Acquisitions. The efficacy of the art itself was no longer his primary concern.

Cultivating the Art of Minor Acquisitions had become a habit, a routine. In these mountains, if he wasn’t cultivating, there was little else to occupy his time.

Mastering this art was the only path available to him, the only goal he had been given.

He spent the entire afternoon cultivating with all his heart, but a sense of discouragement began to creep in. Han Li couldn’t help but feel that he wasn’t some genius sent from the heavens.

Even though the fourth level of the Art of Minor Acquisitions seemed tantalizingly close, he couldn’t make even the slightest progress.

His hard work all afternoon had been in vain. He thought that without Master Wen’s medicinal help, he would be stuck at the edge of the third level forever, unable to advance even a single step.

Han Li eagerly awaited Master Wen’s return, hoping he would find enough medicinal ingredients to help him out of this predicament.

* * *

The next morning, Han Li woke up at dawn and immediately rushed to the herb garden, curious to see if any changes had occurred in the herbs.

As he approached, he was met with several strong herbal scents. He was momentarily stunned, and then a thought suddenly popped into his head.

“Could it be…?”

Without realizing it, he quickened his pace and approached the herbs that were emitting the strong fragrance.

‘Is this really the same herb from yesterday?’

He pinched his face hard, as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. The remaining sleepiness vanished completely.

“The leaves of this Yellow Dragon Grass are tinged with purple, and the Bitter Lotus Flower has surprisingly bloomed with nine petals! The Worry-Free Fruit has turned black. Haha! Hahaha!”

Han Li couldn’t contain himself. He had always tried to keep his mind as calm as water, but now he couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“I’ve struck it rich! In just one night, the medicinal properties of herbs that were only one or two years old have all transformed into those of herbs that are over a dozen years old. Judging by the color of the leaves, the shape of the fruit, and the fragrance of the petals, they have all become rare herbs that have aged for many years.”

Han Li carefully checked again to see if these herbs matched the descriptions in his medicinal herb books. They were indeed rare ones that could only be obtained after a long time.

“If I can make the herbs mature like this, I can create as many precious medicinal ingredients as I want. Moreover, if I sell these to others, I can amass a huge fortune.”

Han Li couldn’t control his excitement, and various thoughts kept swirling in his head.

What he had discovered was truly a treasure. He was so happy that he jumped up and down. At this moment, he didn’t look calm at all, and the expression of a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy fit him perfectly.

After a while, Han Li finally regained his composure, and his mind returned to its previous sharp state.

Although these herbs looked fine on the surface, he needed to find out if they actually had medicinal properties.

Since they had changed like this after absorbing that strange liquid, who knew if its components were still present in the herbs.

He had seen the miserable deaths of the wild rabbits yesterday, so it seemed best to be careful.

Also, the green liquid in the bottle had already been used up, so it was unknown whether this phenomenon would continue.

He first went to the kitchen quarters outside of the valley and brought back two more gray wild rabbits. People looked at him strangely because of his actions.

However, Han Li didn’t care what others said. This time, he didn’t tie the wild rabbits in the herb garden but brought them to his door so that he could observe the rabbits’ changes in detail. Then, he went to the herb field and carefully collected the transformed herbs and returned.

Then, he mixed the herbs into the wild rabbits’ favorite feed. He fed it to the wild rabbits three times a day, observing if the herbs were poisonous. After doing all this, Han Li anxiously waited for night to come. As soon as darkness covered the sky, he took out the mysterious bottle and gently placed it on the ground. Then, he waited for changes to occur in the bottle.

An hour passed, but there was no sign of anything happening in the bottle. Then two hours, three hours… As time passed, Han Li’s heart sank deeper. Even after waiting until the sun rose again, no phenomenon occurred in the bottle. He was utterly disappointed.

‘Was this bottle only usable once? Or did I do something wrong?’

Han Li steeled his heart and looked around.

“There’s nothing suspicious. Except that the sky is a bit dark.”

He suddenly raised his head with fierce momentum and looked at the sky. The sky was full of clouds, dark and gloomy, and nothing could be seen.

“Could it be because the sky is cloudy and the stars and moon aren’t visible?”

When Han Li thought about it, the strange phenomena of the bottle had all occurred on clear days. The sky was clear without a single cloud, and the stars and moon were clearly visible. But today, the entire sky was filled with dark clouds. He decided to try again on a clear day.

However, contrary to Han Li’s expectations, the weather remained gloomy after that day. Rain even poured down outside the window. Han Li was anxious.

The more he waited for the sky to clear, the more the sky seemed to respond with heavier rain.

He turned his head and looked at the two wild rabbits he had brought into the room. Seeing them running around energetically made Han Li even more depressed.

Even after eating the feed mixed with the herbs, the wild rabbits not only showed no changes but also seemed more lively than before.

For more than ten days, Han Li carefully observed the rabbits. He confirmed that the wild rabbits showed none of the symptoms of being poisoned and that their muscles and bones had become stronger and healthier. The changes in the rabbits pleased Han Li.

Now, the most important question for him was whether this bottle could produce the green liquid again. But the cloud-covered sky was preventing him from solving this mystery. How could Han Li not be depressed?

* * *

Finally, the sun hung in the sky, and the sky cleared. As soon as the day cleared, he immediately took action. And finally, he saw the strange phenomenon he had seen four years ago again.

Each ray of light densely surrounded the bottle, creating a huge cluster of light.

Seeing this phenomenon, Han Li felt as if a huge rock had been lifted from his chest.

Now, with this liquid, he could create precious herbs at any time, and he didn’t have to worry about his cultivation progress.

The longer a medicinal herb aged, the more its medicinal properties increased, making it more valuable. Therefore, it was very difficult to find old herbs, and they were only found in deep mountains, dense forests, or places like cliffs. Therefore, they could not be obtained without taking risks.

Some herbal medicine shops and doctors also grew these herbs, but most of them were ordinary, common herbs.

And they would pick and use the herbs before they were old. They wouldn’t do the foolish thing of cultivating herbs that could only be used after waiting for decades.

However, occasionally, wealthy or high-ranking families would have people cultivate these precious herbs in preparation for emergencies.

Life-saving herbs often had no effect unless they had reached a considerable age.

Also, these families passed on their wealth to the next generation, so there was no problem with cultivating these herbs.

Even if these rare herbs were collected from the wild, they were all bought by the families, making them impossible to obtain even with money.

Therefore, on one hand, he didn’t have high expectations for Master Wen’s departure from the sect. He probably wouldn’t get a big harvest.

But now, he no longer needed to worry about herbs. With this bottle, he could grow many herbs in a short amount of time.

Han Li sprinkled the liquid on the herbs several times and observed the changes.

At first, he sprinkled the well-mixed green liquid on many herbs. As a result, the next day, he obtained ordinary herbs that had grown for about one or two years.

They were very different from the herbs he had obtained at first. Through this experience, Han Li gradually learned the method.

The next time, he skipped the process of mixing it with water and directly dropped the liquid onto a single ginseng root.

As a result, the next day, he surprisingly obtained a hundred-year-old ginseng. It was no different from a ginseng that had grown in the wild for 100 years. Han Li couldn’t contain his joy at this sight, not because he had obtained a rare medicinal ingredient, but because he now knew how to use the green liquid.

After that, Han Li tried to figure out how to store this green liquid.

He put the liquid that had just come out of the bottle into various containers: porcelain bottles, jade bottles, gourds, silver bottles, etc. But he couldn’t preserve the liquid in any bottle for more than an hour.

The liquid had to be used immediately after it came out of the mysterious bottle. Moreover, even the diluted water would eventually return to just water after a certain amount of time, and the green liquid would disappear.

There seemed to be no way to collect it in large quantities. It seemed that he would have to try to increase the medicinal properties of other types of herbs.

When Han Li dropped the green liquid on a green Three-Crow Herb, it turned into a yellow Three-Crow Herb with a hundred years of medicinal properties the next day.

After a few more days, when he dropped the green liquid on it again, it surprisingly grew for another hundred years.

For the next two months, Han Li repeated this process. Until a new liquid appeared in the mysterious bottle, he would sprinkle it on a single Three-Crow Herb.

And as expected, the Three-Crow Herb gradually changed from yellow to blackish-yellow and then to black. Eventually, its leaves became completely black.

This was a Thousand-Year Three-Crow Herb, which was not easily found anywhere in the world. If Han Li had patience, he could have increased the medicinal properties of this Three-Crow Herb even further, but it was unnecessary for Han Li.

He was satisfied just to have confirmed that such a thing was possible.

Herbs that were a few hundred years old were enough for Han Li. After completing this long series of trials, Han Li finally had time to rest.

Come to think of it, quite a bit of time had passed since Master Wen had left the mountain.

Han Li looked at the Thousand-Year Three-Crow Herb he had pulled from the herb field and was lost in thought.

His eyes were on the herb, but his mind seemed to be wandering through the heavens and earth, and it was impossible to know what he was thinking.

Han Li thought carefully about why he had obtained this mysterious bottle and also pondered the path he should take in the future.

Han Li had seen many stories in the various books in Master Wen’s room about ‘people who had bad endings because they possessed treasures.’

The bottle in his possession was definitely a priceless treasure.

If others were to find out that such a treasure was in his hands, he might be buried by greedy people.

Not to mention those far away, even if this matter were to reach the ears of some of the sect leaders nearby, they would never let him live.

They would use all sorts of methods to eliminate him and take the treasure. He was left with only a miserable ending of dying because of the treasure.
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