Chapter 88: The Four Great Apothecary Houses Unite

Over the next stretch of time, Jia Shimiao was in an almost feverish state of excitement.

Lin Le had agreed to transcribe the Qihuang guiding technique into a meridian chart, and that alone sent Jia Shimiao into a frenzy. Once the dishes were served, he kept urging Lin Le to eat more.

“The food here at Mount and Sea Pavilion has tremendous restorative benefits. Many of the ingredients are blended with medicinal herbs that are good for the body, Mr. Lin. Please, do try more.”

It had to be said that the taste of the dishes at Mount and Sea Pavilion was indeed excellent, and Lin Le could also clearly feel that after eating them, the true essence within his body had been replenished to some extent. Perhaps that had something to do with the tonics and medicinal ingredients added to the food.

“The food here really is good,” he praised at once.

“Oh? You like it, Mr. Lin? Then that’s wonderful.” As he spoke, Jia Shimiao took a white card from his person and handed it to Lin Le.

“The owner of this place was once my patient. A few years ago he suffered a heart attack and nearly died. I was the one who pulled him back from death. Out of gratitude, he gave me this platinum card. With it, you don’t need to make a reservation. You can come here and be seated anytime.”

“How could I possibly accept something like this?”

“Anyway, the owner and I are now close friends, and I have no use for the card. I’d rather give it to you, Mr. Lin, so please do not decline. You must take it,” Jia Shimiao said.

“Well... then I’ll be obliged to accept.” Lin Le had no real interest in such things, but on thinking that it might come in handy in the future if he invited someone out for a meal, sparing him the trouble of waiting for a table, he took it.

After that, Jia Shimiao steered the conversation back to the owner of Mount and Sea Pavilion.

“Speaking of which, I’m quite fated with the owner here as well. One of my students comes from a family that trades in medicinal materials, and I hear they do business on quite a large scale. The herbal ingredients used in the dishes here are supplied by that student’s family. I only learned that later,” Jia Shimiao said with a smile.

“Medicinal materials?” At the mention of that, Lin Le seemed interested.

He suddenly thought of his own cultivation.

In the process of cultivation, the demand for spiritual energy is immense. It can be said that the fullness of spiritual energy, to a very large extent, determines the speed of one’s progress.

On Earth today, after so many years, spiritual energy had been depleted almost entirely. Most places were in a state of exhaustion, and places like Dragon Abyss Lake, where spiritual energy was somewhat abundant, were already exceedingly rare.

The multicolored spiritual rainbow on Dragon Breath Mountain was quite dense, but once the Little Four-Phenomena Formation was established, it would be drained by Lin Le in just a few days. After that, he would only be able to draw from the ordinary feng shui spiritual energy around Dragon Abyss Lake.

That level of spiritual energy was far from enough for Lin Le’s cultivation.

So he had to think ahead and prepare for the needs of his future cultivation.

For now, the best approach was to begin with medicinal pills.

Using pills to replenish spiritual energy was the most common method in the path of cultivation. And the most common materials for refining pills were precisely these herbal medicines.

Originally, after the matter of the Little Four-Phenomena Formation was settled, Lin Le had planned to begin searching for herbs that could be used for alchemy. So when he suddenly heard Jia Shimiao mention the medicinal materials trade, his interest was piqued.

“That’s right. My student’s surname is Qi. Mr. Lin is not part of the official system, so you may not know much about this, but the Qi family of Capital City is one of the four great medicinal merchants of the country. They have been in the medicinal trade since ancient times. I’ve heard that they even supplied medicinal materials to the imperial palace back in the day,” Jia Shimiao said, clearly proud when speaking of his student.

“The four great medicinal merchants of the country?” Hearing that title, Lin Le became even more interested.

He knew that a medicinal family like the Qis would surely have precious herbs kept in reserve.

And the more ancient the herb, the richer the world’s spiritual energy contained within it. Those old, hidden herbs kept by such merchant families were exactly the kind of alchemical materials Lin Le needed. Refined into pills, they would be full of spiritual energy and would greatly aid his cultivation.

“What is it? Are you interested in medicinal materials, Mr. Lin?” Seeing Lin Le’s reaction to the words “medicinal materials,” Jia Shimiao immediately assumed he had an interest in them.

“Oh, I’m not interested in the trade itself. It’s just that I happen to need to purchase a batch of medicinal herbs recently, and since I heard you mention it, Dean Jia, I became interested.”

“I see. May I ask what sort of herbs you need? You can make a list for me, and I’ll have my student arrange everything for you,” Jia Shimiao said generously.

“The older the herbs, the better. Still, I think it would be best if I selected them in person.”

After all, medicinal herbs were not like ordinary merchandise. Every herb had different properties and different effects; what mattered most was the amount of spiritual energy within them. Only someone like Lin Le, a cultivator, could perceive that.

“Is that so...” Jia Shimiao thought for a moment, then suddenly slapped his thigh. “I’ve got it!”

“Coincidentally, at the end of next month, I’m going to Capital City to attend a medical symposium. I was already planning to give a talk on ancient medical arts. Since Mr. Lin also needs to purchase medicinal materials, why not accompany me to Capital City then? You can attend the conference with me, and at the same time go to my student’s place to select the herbs yourself. Wouldn’t that be the best of both worlds?” Jia Shimiao said with a broad smile.

If, by then, Lin Le could finish the evolved meridian chart of the Qihuang guiding technique and bring it to that medical symposium, it would be even more perfect.

At the thought of this, Jia Shimiao’s heart surged with excitement.

“This...” Lin Le carefully weighed Jia Shimiao’s proposal in his mind and felt that it was not impossible. Besides, he had originally planned to make a trip to Capital City to see his mother. Ever since he left for military service three years ago, he had not seen her once in all that time, and he had long been missing her. This trip to Capital City with Jia Shimiao might just be the perfect opportunity.

“Very well, it’s settled then. When Dean Jia goes to Capital City, please remember to let me know in advance. I’ll go with you,” Lin Le said after some thought.

“That is truly wonderful!” Jia Shimiao was delighted that Lin Le would join him.

“And the evolved meridian chart of the Qihuang guiding technique?” Jia Shimiao asked tentatively.

“Dean Jia, rest assured. I’ll write it as soon as possible and try to have it ready before you leave for Capital City to attend the conference,” Lin Le naturally understood what Jia Shimiao was thinking.

“Excellent! That is truly excellent!” Though already advanced in years, Jia Shimiao was so excited at that moment that he was almost like a child, nearly leaping to his feet.

“Mr. Lin, I toast to you—for such noble understanding, I, Jia Shimiao, salute you!” he said, lifting a cup with excitement and respect.

“Thank you for your esteem, Dean Jia.” Lin Le accepted the cup and drained it in one gulp.

After that, Jia Shimiao drank heartily with Lin Le for a while longer. In the end, Jia Shimiao was so drunk that he could barely stand; only after calling people from his hospital did they send him back.

As for Lin Le, those wines were like plain water to him, with no effect at all.

After leaving Mount and Sea Pavilion, Lin Le received a call from an unfamiliar number.

After a moment’s hesitation, he still answered.

“Hello? Who is this?” Lin Le said calmly.

“Mr. Lin, it’s me, Ah Xiong.”

“Ah Xiong?” Lin Le was first taken aback, wondering when he had ever known someone called Ah Xiong. Then the voice sounded familiar, and he finally remembered who it was.

“Oh, Boss Xiong.”

Who would have imagined that the mighty leader of the Heavenly Hero Gang, the underground kingpin of South City in Haizhou, would call himself Ah Xiong in front of Lin Le?

“No, no, not at all. Mr. Lin can just call me Ah Xiong,” Guan Tianxiong said with a smile.

Ever since Guan Tianxiong learned that Lin Le was the old master’s young friend, he had long been filled with reverence and awe. How could he still dare call himself Boss Xiong? He now only dared to refer to himself as Ah Xiong.