Chapter 1324: The Path of Medicine (Fourth Update!)
Qin Mu lowered his head, then took out a few more pieces of Thái Tố Divine Stones and hurriedly refined them, comprehending the Thái Tố Dao within.
The Medicine Master didn't pay it any mind either, instead cheerfully opening a furnace on the ship to refine spiritual pills. Every time he produced a batch of spiritual pills, the Medicine Master would swallow them himself.
Qin Mu and he did not interfere with each other—you cultivate yours, I cultivate mine. After two days passed, suddenly a Medical Dao Heavenly Palace manifested behind the Medicine Master, and his Primordial Spirit actually passed through beneath the Southern Heaven Gate, cultivating to become a True God.
Qin Mu glanced over but didn't pay attention.
The Medicine Master also made no show of it at all, continuing to refine and eat pills. Another three to five days passed, and the Medical Dao Heavenly Palace once again manifested behind the Medicine Master. His Primordial Spirit actually arrived at the edge of the Jade Pool and climbed onto the Jade Terrace!
Qin Mu was finally startled by him, staring wide-eyed in a daze at this scene.
The Medicine Master withdrew his Heavenly Palace, still focusing intently on refining spiritual pills. Another six or seven days later, Qin Mu was horrified to discover that the Medicine Master's Primordial Spirit cultivation had surged explosively, actually arriving at the Execution God Platform of the Heavenly Palace!
Under his heart-pounding gaze, the Medicine Master's Primordial Spirit actually stepped onto the Execution God Platform, enduring the tempering of two streams of baleful energy, and survived!
This was nearly an impossible feat, yet it happened right before his eyes!
The Medicine Master had consecutively crossed the three realms of True God, Jade Pool, and Execution God Platform in an extremely short period of time!
One must know that the highest cultivation realms in the Crippled Elder Village were currently Village Chief and the Butcher, but even Village Chief and the Butcher might not have cultivated to the Execution God Platform realm!
And as the one with the lowest cultivation in the Crippled Elder Village, the Medicine Master had always been known for his terrible cultivation—he was the most vicious in methods yet also the easiest to be killed among the village's residents.
But now, his cultivation realm had likely leaped to become the number one in the Crippled Elder Village!
After the Medicine Master cultivated to the Execution God Platform realm, he didn't continue refining spiritual pills. Instead, he calmed his mind and pondered for a moment, then said, "Mu'er, how many kinds of Imperial Throne cultivation techniques do you know?"
Qin Mu didn't bother refining the Thái Tố Primordial Liquid anymore. He immediately manifested his eighteen Heavenly Palaces and explained each one to him in detail. The Medicine Master sat in the cabin, listening carefully.
Qin Mu was a true master of cultivation, possessing extraordinary insights into the various Imperial Throne techniques he practiced. He personally demonstrated and explained, which was equivalent to a Heavenly Venerate personally lecturing on his own insights and realizations—naturally a splendid and rare occasion!
The Medicine Master continuously asked questions, voicing the doubts in his mind, and Qin Mu answered each one for him.
After a long while, the Medicine Master understood the Sword Heavenly Palace and asked Qin Mu to describe in detail the Dao patterns and the architecture of the Sword Heavenly Palace. Qin Mu explained meticulously.
The Medicine Master pondered for a long time, then buried his head in refining spiritual pills again. When the pills were about to be completed, he took a wisp of Thái Tố Primordial Liquid and cast it into the furnace.
When the furnace opened, a spiritual pill flew out. The Medicine Master gently rotated his palm, and the pill landed in his hand.
His fingertip lightly touched the pill, and suddenly a sword cry rang out. Tens of thousands of sword lights burst forth from the pill, transforming into a Sword Heavenly Palace around him that enveloped the entire swift boat!
Then the medicinal power converged, and the Sword Heavenly Palace sank back into the pill.
Qin Mu watched this scene, a surreal feeling rising in his heart. He assumed the posture of a disciple and asked, "Medicine Master Grandfather, why does the Medical Dao manifest like this? What is the Medical Dao?"
The Medicine Master put away that spiritual pill and said joyfully, "It was only after coming to the Ancestral Court that I comprehended the Medical Dao Heavenly Palace, and recently I obtained your Thái Tố Primordial Liquid, finally understanding the Medical Dao clearly. The Mute said: the way of man is to diminish the insufficient and offer to the surplus; the way of heaven is to diminish the surplus and supplement the insufficient. That saying has its reasoning, but the Medical Dao is different."
His eyes grew brighter and brighter, and he said, "The path of medicine is also the way of man—diminishing the surplus and supplementing the insufficient. Humans have birth, aging, sickness, death, and pain. Humans cannot give birth, yet the Medical Dao assists birth; humans grow old, yet the Medical Dao delays aging; humans fall ill, and the Medical Dao cures illness; humans approach death, and the Medical Dao rescues from death; humans are injured, and the Medical Dao treats wounds; humans feel pain, and the Medical Dao heals pain. Birth, aging, sickness, and death are nature, and humans are meant to go against nature, seeking paths that defy nature from within the various principles of nature. Mu'er, this is the Medical Dao."
He manifested his Medical Dao Heavenly Palace and laughed, "My cultivation is insufficient, so I use the Medical Dao to treat it, using miraculous pills and medicines to elevate my cultivation realm. I don't understand swordsmanship, I don't know sword techniques, I don't comprehend the Sword Dao, so I use the Medical Dao to refine pills of the Sword Heavenly Palace. In this way, by taking the pill, I can temporarily possess a Sword Heavenly Palace and greatly increase my strength."
"The so-called 'one method mastered, then a hundred methods mastered; one Dao achieved, then a hundred Daos achieved'—the Medical Dao is the same. Mu'er, although you surpass me immeasurably in cultivation and strength, and although you surpass me greatly in intelligence and talent, I still have two things that surpass you."
He raised two fingers: "The first is appearance. The second is the Medical Dao. Your Medical Dao is only at the entry level—you still need to continue cultivating!"
Qin Mu bowed and said, "I naturally agree with the second point Medicine Master Grandfather made, but the first point, I don't quite agree with."
The two burst into laughter.
"So now, how much confidence does Medicine Master Grandfather have in curing Moon Heavenly Venerate?" Qin Mu asked again.
"Thirty percent."
The Medicine Master raised another finger and said calmly, "I cannot understand the Heavenly Venerate's Great Dao, and I lack the Dao cultivation of a Heavenly Venerate. If you can see through Moon Heavenly Venerate's Dao injury, then I will have one hundred percent confidence! Though I am the one administering the treatment, the key still lies in your eyesight!"
Qin Mu's brow arched.
The swift boat arrived outside the Ancestral Court and entered the Spirit Energy Bridge.
Before long, the swift boat arrived at Diên Khang, passing over the Primordial Realm's sky, heading toward the Peach Forest beside the Dao Gate.
The boat would take a few days to reach that place, so Qin Mu continued to diligently teach the Medicine Master other Imperial Throne techniques. Though the Medicine Master couldn't learn them, he memorized the runes and the Dao patterns they formed, using various spiritual herbs gathered from the Ancestral Court to construct the Dao patterns within the pills, refining Heavenly Palaces with Dao patterns.
He refined several more pills, and by then, the swift boat had arrived beside the Dao Gate.
Qin Mu stopped the boat, and the two leaped down. Qin Mu waved his hand, retracting the boat and placing it within the Qin Character Continent.
The Medicine Master slowly exhaled a turbid breath, then bowed toward the Peach Forest and said, "A wandering Medicine Master of Diên Khang, arriving together with Mu Heavenly Venerate, requests an audience with the Master of the Peach Forest!"
His cultivation was now incomparably stronger than before, and his voice carried far into the deepest part of the Peach Forest. After a long moment, a young woman in purple robes walked out of the forest with small steps, greeted them lightly, and said in a soft voice, "Two honored guests, please follow me."
Qin Mu and the Medicine Master followed the young woman into the Peach Forest. After only a few steps, the forest experienced the changes of all four seasons—some peach blossoms were in full bloom, some peaches were still green, some peach fragrance assailed the nose, some peach leaves were withered and red, and there was even snow hanging from the peach trees—truly a wondrous sight.
Qin Mu, however, knew that this Peach Forest was not a real forest, but a peculiar place formed by the stitching together of countless Peach Forests from countless worlds.
Each step they took might not seem like much distance, but in reality, they could be stepping from one world into another.
The Peach Forest represented the supreme achievement in the Dao of Space!
This forest was precisely the handiwork of Moon Heavenly Venerate!
They arrived before the palace deep within the forest and followed the young woman inside. Within the hall, the young woman withdrew, leaving only Qin Mu and the Medicine Master.
Qin Mu looked at the figure behind the screen and said in a deep voice, "Moon Heavenly Venerate, the strongest Medicine Master of the current age, the Medicine King who founded the Medical Dao Heavenly Palace, I have brought him. Are you ready?"
The woman behind the screen trembled slightly. After a moment, she said in a low voice, "I am ready. Come in."
Qin Mu and the Medicine Master stepped forward together toward the back of the screen. The Medicine Master said in a deep voice, "Mu'er, do you remember? I have thirty percent, you have seventy percent! Your eyesight must not make a mistake!"
Qin Mu's vertical eye on his brow opened wide, his blood boiling with fervor!