Who Let Him Cultivate Immortality

Under the dazzling night sky, the majestic form of the Tree King blocked the moonlight. The little Medicine Kings were frolicking in the water, and even Lu Yang joined in, creating a harmonious and seemingly timeless scene.

After the little Medicine Kings finished their enjoyable bath, they lay sprawled on the ground and on the roof of the wooden house, sound asleep.

The Tree King wasn’t idle. While the little Medicine Kings slept, it collected the water and the wooden barrel, puzzling Lu Yang.

“What are you doing?” Lu Yang asked.

The Tree King casually explained, “Oh, this is for Old Ba. He said the bathwater is quite valuable. The disciples of Dao Seeking Sect like to use it.”

The Tree King moved its branches, resembling a shrug, expressing its helplessness towards human behaviors. Being a plant, it found human actions quite perplexing. For example, it knew humans liked to use its ‘hair’ or leaves to brew tea or its ‘skin’ to cook, which they claimed added flavor, something called cinnamon.

“Oh, right, Old Ba also gave a fancy name to the bathwater – Medicine King Spirit Liquid. Humans are more cultured, indeed. Their naming skills are way above ours.”

“Medicine King Spirit Liquid?” Lu Yang repeated the name under his breath, feeling it sounded familiar. He quickly remembered where he had heard it – it was the highly popular Medicine King Spirit Liquid on the contribution points exchange list of Dao Seeking Sect. So, this was the ‘special method’ of its production!

Lu Yang began to question the authenticity of various strange items listed on the exchange list. The descriptions seemed fine, but that didn’t mean there were no issues!

In the following days, Lu Yang tirelessly burrowed through the earth while the little Medicine Kings incessantly chattered about herbal knowledge, making his days quite full.

“I remember there’s a patch of Eight Treasure Lotus ahead, very pretty and delicate. Do you want to burrow over to see it?” The Ginseng Child suggested from behind Lu Yang.

“…Shouldn’t the lotus be growing in a pond?”

“Yes,” the Ginseng Child nodded matter-of-factly.

“So, if I burrow there, won’t I end up plunging into the pond?”

The Ginseng Child had an epiphany, “Oh, right. You make a good point.”

“…”

Lu Yang, following the Ginseng Child’s directions, emerged from the ground and saw the stunning Eight Treasure Lotus nearby. Morning dew condensed and dripped from the petals into the pond, creating ripples. The Eight Treasure Lotus was known for its effects in clearing heat, eliminating dampness, detoxifying, and nourishing the heart, often used in pill concoction.

“I just don’t know why it’s called ‘Eight Treasure’.” Lu Yang mused, recalling what he had read in books.

This was a mystery among alchemists, with numerous theories proposed in various texts. Some said it was named for its eight effects, others speculated it derived from the eight trigrams of Taoism, and some even suggested the ‘eight treasures’ referred to the human body’s eight meridians, claiming regular consumption could open these meridians. In short, there were many theories.

Lu Yang leaned towards the first theory, finding it the most plausible.

“You’re talking about this? I know,” said the Ginseng Child.

“You know?” The Ginseng Child put their hands on their hips and proudly said, “Yes, the Eight Treasure Lotus was discovered by the Householder Ancient Moon. At that time, both of us accidentally entered an undiscovered secret realm. Fortunately, our cultivation was profound, so the secret realm was not dangerous for us.”

“We played freely in the secret realm, resting and eating on the spot when we got tired, just to set the mood.”

“While we were eating, Householder Ancient Moon discovered a patch of pink lotus flowers that we hadn’t seen before. I asked him what name he wanted to give to these lotus flowers, and he glanced at the Eight Treasure Porridge in his hand and casually said, ‘Why not call them Eight Treasure Lotus Flowers.’”

“Later, he took away several lotus plants, and they multiplied outside, becoming what they are today.”

Lu Yang: “…”

This wasn’t the first time he had heard stories about Householder Ancient Moon, and each time, they had unexpected endings.

The other little Medicine Kings had also traveled through numerous mountains and rivers and experienced many things, but none of them had experienced anything as exciting as the Ginseng Child.

Through their interactions with the little Medicine Kings, the little Medicine Kings gradually accepted Lu Yang. Even when he returned to his original size, they didn’t reject him and found the tall figure quite amusing.

A month passed quickly. During this time, Uncle Ba took away the empty spirit stones and the little Medicine Kings’ bathwater, bringing back a large number of high-quality spirit stones, which he buried in their original locations.

Uncle Ba also occasionally picked many medicinal herbs and provided them to the Alchemy Peak.

…

“Originally, Householder Ancient Moon wasn’t called Householder Ancient Moon. His surname is Hu, and he called himself Master Hu. His handwriting wasn’t very good, and one time when he wrote his name, he wrote ‘Hu’ too openly, and people mispronounced it as ‘Householder Ancient Moon.’ He was a carefree person and went along with it, never changing it.” The Ginseng Child, as always, recited the black history of Householder Ancient Moon to Lu Yang. (TL Note: This is hard to translate. Basically his name went from 胡 to become 古月 which is the previous character but split.)

Just then, Uncle Ba sent a message to Lu Yang.

“Lu Yang, come out for a moment.”

When he arrived at the entrance of the medicine garden, he saw an affectionate couple. The husband was confident and radiant, while the wife was delicate and charming. However, the type of clothing they wore was something Lu Yang couldn’t praise.

The couple was dressed in extremely bulky clothing, similar to lifebuoys. They were so oversized that even if they fell into the sea, they could float.

This was the clothing habit of their tribe.

“These two are…”

“Let me introduce you. These are your seniors, the Silver Ring Heavenly King Worms.” Uncle Ba said.

Lu Yang suddenly understood. It seemed that the marital conflict between the couple had been resolved, and they were reconciled. He wouldn’t have to dig up soil anymore.

It was quite fast to resolve emotional disputes within a month. He had thought it would turn into a 40-50 episode drama, with the female lead losing her memory, the male lead awakening her memories, and the story ending happily.

“He’s Lu Yang. You husband and wife must have heard of him. He’s the fourth disciple of the Sect Master, cultivated personally by Yun Zhi,”

“I greet the two seniors,” Lu Yang greeted them, scaring the Silver Ring Heavenly King Worms, who quickly raised him up and refused to accept the courtesy.

“You are Yunzhi’s junior brother, I’m Li Yin. You can just call me little Li. This is my wife, little Li.” (the Li here is different in chinese)

The junior disciple of the female demoness, who would dare to consider him a junior?

Lu Yang didn’t know what image his senior sister had in the eyes of others.

“How did you two resolve your problems?”

“What’s so difficult about that?” A voice came from underground.

A couple emerged from the ground, looking exactly like the Silver Ring Heavenly King Worms.

“Since my wife can split herself in two and become sisters, naturally, I can also split in two and create a brother,” Little Li proudly said.

The second couple was also very affectionate.

Uncle Ba nodded approvingly; this idea had come from him.

He was still very responsible, resolving problems that he had caused.

(End of the chapter)