Under the dazzling night sky, the majestic figure of the Enlightenment Tree King blocked out the moonlight. The little Medicine Kings soaked in the water, having the time of their lives, and even Lu Yang joined in, mingling right alongside them. Time seemed to stand still in this exceptionally harmonious scene.
Once the little Medicine Kings had bathed to their content, they sprawled out on the ground and atop the wooden cabin, snoring soundly.
The Enlightenment Tree King did not idly rest. While the little Medicine Kings slept, it put away the wooden tub and collected the water, leaving Lu Yang puzzled.
"What are you doing?"
The Enlightenment Tree King replied casually, "Oh, Little Ba asked for it. He said this bathwater is worth quite a bit, and Dao Seeking Sect disciples love using it."
The Enlightenment Tree King shifted its branches in a gesture resembling a shrug, conveying its utter helplessness regarding human behavior.
As a plant, it found many of humanity's bizarre antics hard to comprehend. From what it knew, humans loved brewing tea with its hair—that is, its leaves—or using its skin in cooking, claiming it enhanced flavor. It seemed to be called cinnamon bark or something of the sort.
"Oh, right. Little Ba even gave the bathwater a fancy name—Medicine King Spiritual Liquid. You humans really are cultured; your naming skills are far beyond ours."
"Medicine King Spiritual Liquid?"
Lu Yang subconsciously murmured the words under his breath. The name sounded familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before. In an instant, he remembered where.
Wasn't this the wildly popular Medicine King Spiritual Liquid on the contribution point exchange board?!
The description on the board claimed the Medicine King Spiritual Liquid was a precious elixir specially brewed by the higher-ups of Dao Seeking Sect. So *this* was what "specially brewed" meant!
Lu Yang began to feel suspicious about all kinds of strange items on the exchange board. Just because nothing seemed amiss in the descriptions didn't mean there wasn't a catch!
...
In the days that followed, Lu Yang toiled away tunneling through the earth while the little Medicine Kings chattered incessantly in his ear, lecturing on herbal lore. His days passed in full and lively fashion.
"I remember there's a patch of Eight Treasures Lotuses up ahead—plump, pink, and absolutely gorgeous! Want to burrow over and take a look?" Ginseng Baby called from behind Lu Yang.
"...Aren't lotuses supposed to grow in ponds?"
"Yeah," Ginseng Baby nodded as if it were obvious.
"Then if I burrow over there, wouldn't I dive straight into the water?"
Ginseng Baby had a sudden realization. "Oh, right! That makes a lot of sense."
"..."
Lu Yang emerged from the ground in the direction Ginseng Baby indicated. Not far away stood the magnificent Eight Treasures Lotuses. Morning dew condensed on the petal tips and dripped down into the water, sending ripples across the surface.
The Eight Treasures Lotus possessed the effects of clearing summer heat, expelling dampness, detoxifying, and nourishing the heart, making it a common ingredient in pill refinement.
"I just don't know why the Eight Treasures Lotus is called 'Eight Treasures,'" Lu Yang remarked, recalling what he had read in books.
This was an unsolved mystery among alchemists. Countless alchemists had authored treatises and cited classical texts, proposing all manner of theories.
For example, some claimed it was because the lotus had eight distinct effects; others asserted the name derived from the Supreme Eight Trigrams; still others believed "eight treasures" alluded to the eight meridians of the human body, asserting that eating more of it could clear the eight extraordinary meridians... In short, there was no end to the conjectures.
Lu Yang was more inclined to believe the first theory—that it possessed eight effects. If nothing else, at least that one sounded plausible.
"You mean that? I know the reason!" Ginseng Baby piped up.
"You do?"
Planting its rootlets on its hips, Ginseng Baby declared triumphantly, "Of course! The Eight Treasures Lotus was discovered by Layman Guyue. Back then, the two of us stumbled into an undiscovered secret realm. Fortunately, both of us had profound cultivation, so the realm posed no danger to us.
"The two of us had a great time exploring. When we got tired, we rested where we were—eating, sleeping, and soaking in the atmosphere.
"While eating, Layman Guyue spotted a patch of pink lotuses he had never seen before. When I asked what name he wanted to give them, he glanced at the eight-treasure porridge in his bowl and casually said, 'Why not call them Eight Treasures Lotuses?'
"Later, he took several lotuses out with him and propagated them in the outside world, until they reached the scale you see today."
Lu Yang: "..."
This was by no means the first time he had heard tales of Layman Guyue, and every single one ended with an unexpected twist.
The other little Medicine Kings had also journeyed across countless mountains and rivers and lived through many experiences, but none were as colorful as Ginseng Baby's.
Through his interactions with them, the little Medicine Kings gradually came to accept Lu Yang. Even when he returned to his original size, they did not reject him, instead finding the big guy quite fun to be around.
In the blink of an eye, a month passed. During this time, Old Ba carted away the drained spirit stones along with the little Medicine Kings' bathwater, bringing back a large quantity of high-grade spirit stones for the little Medicine Kings to bury in their original spots.
Now and then, Old Ba also harvested plenty of medicinal ingredients to supply Pill Cauldron Peak.
...
"Originally, Layman Guyue wasn't called Layman Guyue at all. His surname was Hu, and he called himself Layman Hu. His calligraphy was rather poor, and one time when writing his name, he spaced the character 'Hu' so wide that someone misread it as 'Gu Yue.' Since he never cared much about such things anyway, he just went along with it, calling himself Layman Guyue from then on and never bothering to change it back." Ginseng Baby was babbling away in Lu Yang's ear as usual, spilling Layman Guyue's embarrassing past.
Right then, Old Ba sent a voice transmission to Lu Yang.
"Lu Yang, come out for a moment."
When he arrived at the entrance of the Herb Garden, he saw an affectionate married couple. The husband looked cheerful and confident, while the wife leaned sweetly against him. The only problem was their choice of clothing, which Lu Yang found hard to compliment.
The couple wore garments that looked like swim rings—ridiculously bulky, the kind where you would float if you fell into the sea.
This was the traditional attire of their tribe.
"And these two are...?"
"Allow me to introduce them. These are your seniors, the Silver-ringed Heavenly King Earthworms," Old Ba said.
Understanding dawned on Lu Yang. It seemed the marital conflict had been resolved and the couple had made up; he wouldn't have to dig through the dirt anymore.
Still, resolving their emotional dispute in just a month was surprisingly fast. He had assumed it would drag out like a forty- or fifty-episode drama series, ending with the female lead getting amnesia, the male lead awakening her memories, and finally arriving at a happy ending or something.
"His name is Lu Yang. As a couple, you should have heard of him—the Sect Master's fourth disciple, personally trained by Yun Zhi."
"Greetings, Seniors," Lu Yang said, bowing respectfully. The gesture made the Silver-ringed Heavenly King Earthworm's heart tremble in fright, and he hastily supported Lu Yang, not daring to accept the bow.
"You're Yun Zhi's junior brother. My name is Li Yin; just call me Xiao Li. And this is my wife, Xiao Li."
The she-devil's junior brother—who would dare treat him as a junior?
Lu Yang had no idea what kind of image Eldest Senior Sister projected in other people's minds.
"How did you two resolve your marital problem?"
"What's so hard about that?" a voice called out from underground.
Another couple burrowed out of the earth, looking completely identical to the Silver-ringed Heavenly King Earthworms.
"Since my wife could split herself in two and become a pair of sisters, I could naturally split myself in two as well and make a brother," Xiao Li said proudly.
Xiao Li Couple Number Two was also deeply in love.
Old Ba nodded with satisfaction; this idea had been his brainchild.
He was very responsible, after all—if he caused a problem, he made sure to solve it.
Chapter 37