Early in the morning, after reciting the Morning and Evening Scripture Study of the Zhengyi Path, Wen Lianggong got up and walked to the kitchen in the backyard of the Taoist Temple.
He picked up the mushrooms he had gathered from the mountain the day before, washed them, stir-fried a dish, and after leaving half aside, he ate two large bowls of rice, feeling contented as he placed the bowl down. Then, he poured out so pills from the drawer in his room and swallowed them with warm water.
Soon after, Wen Lianggong's gaze beca sowhat unfocused. With a slight movent of his mind, he suddenly saw a rather simple attribute panel appear in his field of vision.
"Surna: Wen Lianggong
Lifespan: 30/32 (Late-stage brain cancer)
Skills: Morning and Evening Scripture Study (Initial Glimpse), Qingwei Pill Formula (Initial Glimpse), Taoist Hand Seal (Initial Glimpse)"
With only two years left, seeing the attribute panel, Wen Lianggong sighed.
Over the years, he had traveled across the whole country visiting countless renowned hospitals. In the end, he spent all the savings he had worked hard for over the years without any result. The only treatnt plan was chemotherapy, and more chemotherapy.
Given his frail body, ravaged by cancer cells, starting chemotherapy would an declaring death prematurely.
Rather than dying on a hospital bed, Wen Lianggong felt it was better to spend the last monts traveling across the country.
By chance, he ended up at this Taoist Temple, earnestly apprenticing under an old scholar officially registered with the Zhengyi Qingwei Sect branch, making him an unofficial yet registered Daoist disciple.
Now, with a calm mind and spirit, he practiced the true skill of the Qingwei Pill Formula taught by his master, which combined motion with stillness, enhancing his constitution and reviving so vitality.
At the very least, his headaches and fainting spells had greatly eased.
When the system panel first appeared, it had excited him greatly, as he believed he would surely see a turnaround. However, reality proved that it was rely an attribute display, and cultivation still depended on oneself.
As for health cultivation exercises like the Eight Pieces of Brocade and Longevity Skill, Wen Lianggong tried them all. But it seed that due to his body's severe weakness, during cultivation, his Qi and Blood surged, resulting in him vomiting large amounts of blood and fainting, which changed the attribute panel's lifespan from 32.5 to 32.
Eventually, his eighty-plus-year-old master brewed dicine for him, allowing him to recuperate for so ti and slowly regain the ability to walk.
This made Wen Lianggong feel incredibly guilty and realize his constitution was alarmingly poor, prompting him to no longer focus on so-called health preservation skills, and instead practice Qingwei Pill Formula, guided by his master He Qing.
The Qingwei Pill Formula turned out to be surprisingly effective, as his practice smoothly progressed and ford a skill on the attribute panel, enriching his vitality.
Moreover, he could feel that sothing was gestating within him.
This focus on true skill made his master exclaim in wonder, saying that four hundred years ago, he might have beco a true master, but now as a sick man, it wouldn't be long before the elderly bury the young...
"..."
Although still troubled by cancer, his body was gradually becoming stronger. At least nowadays, he could eat two bowls of rice.
"Junior Brother, did you make food?"
Hearing a sowhat immature, sleepy voice from behind, Wen Lianggong turned to see a young Taoist, no more than thirteen or fourteen years old, and smiled, "I left so food in the kitchen, it's still warm. Little Brother, just go and eat."
This young Taoist was nad Zhang Qingling, a direct disciple of Master He Qing, currently on sumr break. His Taoist-believing parents sent him up the mountain for quiet cultivation, intending for him to inherit Master He Qing's official role in the future, awaiting initiation upon reaching adulthood.
This little brother arrived a few years earlier, so naturally, he was respectfully addressed as senior brother.
Zhang Qingling acknowledged and went to brush his teeth. Then he eagerly rushed into the kitchen, and upon lifting the mushrooms Wen Lianggong stir-fried, his eyes widened.
"Junior Brother Wen, where did you pick these mushrooms? These are all poisonous!"
At seven or eight years old, he would often go up the mountain with his parents to pick mushrooms and naturally knew which ones were edible and which weren't.
But this attribute panel indeed served as an excellent golden finger, its skill progress bar growing as he constantly adjusted his body to find the optimal solution,
"Clearly, I'm quite good at cooking, so why can't I gain a skill?"
Wen Lianggong couldn't help but complain internally. When the attribute panel first appeared, it greatly invigorated his spirit. He originally thought his chance had arrived, but after six months of research, he concluded that it was rely a display of personal statistics.
"Do you have any regrets now?"
"Of course, I do. I still haven't had a girlfriend, haven't held hands, haven't kissed, a virgin to this day. Passing away like this, I definitely won't be reconciled! I'm even planning to use next week's allowance to help so young ladies in trouble at the foot of the mountain."
After saying this, Wen Lianggong frowned, "So why are you asking about this?"
"Alright? I just wanted to check if you're ntally stable, given that the mushrooms you picked might have so hallucinogenic properties."
Li Ziyue closed the dical record, adjusted his glasses with his middle finger, and asked, "In your Taoist sect, is marriage allowed?"
"I'm from the Zhengyi Path, not the Quanzhen Dao. Of course, marriage is allowed in the Zhengyi Path. I'm even planning to find a Taoist partner to form a couple with."
Li Ziyue pouted, "Okay, once you've finished this bottle, you'll be fine. Rember to pay and handle the discharge paperwork."
Li Ziyue took a few steps, then turned back, "You're really not going to the high school reunion this weekend?"
With the deanor of an enlightened master, Wen Lianggong calmly replied, "That's mundane business. As a cultivator sincerely seeking the Tao, trying to achieve immortality, how could I bother with it."
"...Speak like a human!"
Wen Lianggong's expression fluctuated, and he finally cursed, "You know Fatty Hu and I never got along in high school, and now he's flaunting his wealth. He'll probably mock , so why would I go?"
Li Ziyue was speechless, "Why didn't you think of this earlier? What happened to your Taoist heart, Master Wen?"
"Master Wen practices the Path of Innocence; if I want to curse, I'll curse."
Li Ziyue replied, "Alright, I sent the address to you. If you decide to go, let know, so we can go together."
After pausing, he added, "Shen Jiayi will also be there."
Wen Lianggong froze, "Who is Shen Jiayi?"
Li Ziyue was puzzled, "Isn't everyone's first love Shen Jiayi?"
"丨!"
After finishing the IV, paying, and handling the discharge procedure, Wen Lianggong rushed back to the Taoist Temple, mumbled a few words to his master Liu Deyun, took a few days off for cultivation, decided not to partake in the rituals during these days, and quickly shut his door.
Making sure no one was spying, Wen Lianggong then looked inside his private little pot, at the brightly colored mushrooms, he picked while drunk after a gathering with his fellow disciples.
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