’The most important thing is to remove the negative side effects of the dicinal power. The formula must be usable once a day, or even multiple tis a day...’
’...And then... cos improving and enhancing the dicinal properties...’
The night was deep, yet the candlelight in the room still flickered. Chu Mu was completely absorbed in researching the dicinal formula he envisioned.
After several months of study and a massive investnt of "Spiritual Radiance Value," Chu Mu’s theoretical knowledge was abundant.
And with this abundance of theoretical knowledge supporting him, he had a great many ideas.
A dicinal formula, whether for healing the sick and saving lives or for assisting in cultivation, was like a fixed strategy for governing a state or deploying troops.
The so-called Monarch, Minister, Adjuvant, and Envoy ford the fundantal composition of a formula.
The Monarch was also called the primary, and the Minister the supplentary, hence the saying: primary, supplentary, assistant, and envoy.
That is, the main herb, the supplentary herb, the assistant herb, and the envoy herb!
When creating a formula, the most important step was naturally to determine the main herb.
The main herb, just as its na implied, was the ingredient that played the primary role in treating an illness or aiding in cultivation.
The supplentary herb, also as its na suggested, was ant to support the main herb and compensate for any of its deficiencies.
The assistant herb had three functions: first, to aid the main and supplentary herbs in strengthening their dicinal properties; second, to eliminate or mitigate the toxicity or potency of the main and supplentary herbs; and third, depending on the need, to use an herb with properties opposite to the main herb but which could still create a complentary effect.
The envoy herb’s main role was to harmonize the effects of the main, supplentary, and assistant herbs, allowing their dicinal properties to combine into a single force and perfect the final effect of the formula.
What Chu Mu needed to do now was prescribe the right redy for the ailnt.
The "ailnt" was unquestionably clear: purely to support Qi and Blood Cultivation!
What was the key to Qi and Blood Cultivation?
It was Essence Qi!
And where did Essence Qi co from? Grains, ats and vegetables, and restorative dicinal herbs...
The main herb was easy to choose, because the "ailnt" of needing Essence Qi practically locked down the range of options.
It would have to be so kind of nourishing herb. Since he couldn’t obtain a "Spirit dicine" that had grown beyond its normal lifespan, he could obviously only choose a common nourishing herb as the main ingredient.
While the original formulas in the Body Refining Technique were ordinary, their main herbs, chosen from a very limited range, were clearly not wrong.
What Chu Mu had to do was choose and experint with the supplentary, assistant, and envoy herbs to select and refine a more perfect combination.
’I’ve removed the original three supplentary herbs and two envoy herbs, replacing them with Zhengyang Grass and Cyan Calm Ginseng...’
About fifteen minutes later, he set down the Centiter Scale. Chu Mu held a palm-sized dicine packet, his brow slightly furrowed. He walked over to the stove, untied the packet, and poured all the herbs directly into the clay pot.
One ladle of water, then a slow simr over a gentle heat.
Chu Mu sat cross-legged before the stove, carefully controlling the fire. According to the dical texts, thick, nourishing dicines should be decocted slowly over a gentle fla to extract their dicinal effects to the greatest extent.
Furthermore, if a formula contained highly toxic ingredients, it also required a slow simr over gentle heat to reduce or remove the toxicity.
And the formula Chu Mu was modifying contained one such highly toxic herb!
Using a potent poison to assist the dicinal properties was not exactly an unorthodox approach in pharmacology. In dical practice, especially for ergencies, the conventional and unconventional often needed to complent each other.
And this "unconventional" elent was often a poison. But when a poison was used correctly, its effects were frequently much stronger than those of a conventional dicine.
’Simr on gentle heat for fifteen minutes, then switch to high heat and cook rapidly for half a quarter-hour...’
Chu Mu poked at the firewood in the stove, his gaze occasionally shifting to the hourglass tir at his side. There was no single standard for this brewing ti.
Strictly speaking, the brewing thod and ti for every formula—whether for treating illness or, like now, for aiding cultivation—were different and needed to be determined by the herbs in the formula.
However, unless there were compelling factors, such as poison or an ergency, the heat for brewing was generally not controlled with such precision.
After all, for an ordinary person, whether the dicinal properties were perfectly extracted didn’t make much of a difference.
’Controlling the fire’s temperature is also far too vague...’
’If only...’
Gazing at the flickering flas in the stove, Chu Mu couldn’t help but think of the legendary Cultivation Immortal Realm. If one were to step onto the Immortal Path, could one achieve such control?
Was the legendary art of Alchemy a higher level of understanding both people and dicine?
As his imagination ran wild, the stick in his hand moved unconsciously, controlling the heat.
"WHOOSH..."
After fifteen minutes, he picked up a blowpipe. With a deep breath, he blew a stream of air through the pipe and into the stove. The small flas, fanned by the airflow, began to spread.
As the fire grew fiercer, the dicinal aroma in the room grew stronger. Hot steam swirled before Chu Mu, but he seed oblivious, his eyes fixed on the flas in the stove.
’It’s ready!’
When the ti was up, Chu Mu decisively pulled out most of the firewood, leaving only a few embers to maintain the residual heat.
He opened the dicine pot, and a rich dicinal fragrance assailed his nostrils, making him feel a faint sense of agitation.
A thin layer of dicinal liquid was clearly visible at the bottom of the pot. He took out a ladle and scooped one spoonful into a porcelain bowl he had prepared earlier.
The liquid was slightly viscous and dark brown, with a translucent, crystalline appearance.
Chu Mu pondered for a mont, then dipped a chopstick into the liquid and brought it to his mouth for a small taste.
It was astringent at first, followed by a sweet aftertaste.
The flavor was no different from what he had expected.
’Spiritual Radiance!’
He chanted inwardly. As he activated the "Spiritual Radiance Blessing," he swallowed the liquid.
In that instant, his Qi Blood circulated, protecting the internal organs the dicinal liquid was about to enter.
At the sa ti, his profound perception locked onto the dicinal properties that spread through his body after ingestion.
Although the formula used a highly toxic substance as a supplentary herb, the combination of main, supplentary, assistant, and envoy herbs was based on sound principles.
According to Chu Mu’s predictions, the efficacy might vary, but the fundantal goal of supporting Qi and Blood Cultivation was unlikely to be wrong.
If he was wrong, it would only prove that this modification of the formula was flawed from the very beginning. He would then have to seriously consider whether his arduous studies of late had sent him down the wrong path.
A mont later, Chu Mu let out a sudden grunt. His slightly closed eyes snapped open, and the dicine he had just ingested was spat back out.
"The dicinal properties are nourishing, and the direction is correct. The overall dicinal power is about one-tenth stronger than the original formula..."
"The toxicity was not handled as expected. The brewing process can be ruled out as the cause, so the problem should be with the combination of herbs. If used, the interval between doses would likely have to be even longer than the original formula’s..."
"The dicinal properties are unstable. It causes a pressure on the heart similar to Palpitations. The reason is unknown and requires investigation..."
"Perhaps I could try changing the main herb. Ginseng is gentle, but that doesn’t fit the unorthodox approach. Or maybe that needs to be changed..."
...
The brush flew across the paper as lines of text appeared, containing both problems Chu Mu could confirm and his own speculative guesses.
He filled one sheet of paper, but the brush didn’t stop. He switched to a new sheet and continued to write.
In the end, his brush had filled five sheets of white paper before he finally set it down.
There were many problems, far more than he had anticipated even in his worst-case scenario. But looking at this long list of issues, Chu Mu’s uncertain heart began to settle.
He wasn’t afraid of having many problems. As long as there were problems, he could find ways to solve them.
What he feared most was being completely unable to identify what was wrong.
...
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