Chapter 170: The Effect of the Unconventional Remedy

As Yun Cangqiong was about to pick up a piece with his chopsticks to taste it, Lin Dong helplessly said, “Uncle Yun, I’m afraid this unconventional remedy has to be taken by the old man alone.”
Yun Cangqiong smiled, not taking it seriously, and handed the chopsticks back to Old Ding, pouting and saying, “Whether it works or not, it’s Lin Dong’s good intentions.”
Old Ding took the chopsticks, picked up a piece of Wind Spirit Grass, put it in his mouth, chewed a few times, and then swallowed it. Unable to resist, he picked up another piece. Chewing thoughtfully, he said, “It has a moderate saltiness. It looks wilted, but it’s quite crisp and refreshing when eaten.”
“Then eat the whole plate. That way, the medicinal effect will be maximized,” Lin Dong said with a wry smile. Fortunately, he had the cooking skill bonus, and his own skills were already good. Otherwise, he really wouldn’t know how to persuade Old Ding to eat the entire plate of braised Wind Spirit Grass.
“Then I won’t be polite.”
Old Ding started eating happily with some wine. Lin Dong found a servant, instructed him to prepare some dishes and drinks, then brought a few jars of wine from the corner and joined Yun Cangqiong in drinking.
By the time the servant brought the dishes, Old Ding had already eaten the whole plate of braised Wind Spirit Grass. With a wave of his hand, the jars of wine in the corner flew onto the table. Unsealing them and grabbing the mouths of the jars, Old Ding was about to speak when the smile on his face suddenly froze.
“Strange…”
Lin Dong, who had been paying close attention to Old Ding’s condition, was delighted at this anomaly. He was almost certain that the effect of the braised Wind Spirit Grass had begun to show.
“What’s wrong?” Yun Cangqiong’s heart skipped a beat. Could his injury have worsened?
“Come and take a look,” Old Ding said, turning around and facing his back to Yun Cangqiong.
Yun Cangqiong’s expression darkened. His palms moved like lightning and instantly pressed against Old Ding’s back. His furrowed brows relaxed as spiritual energy flowed into Old Ding’s meridians. Yun Cangqiong slowly said, “It’s still similar to before. There’s no deterioration.”
“It’s not deterioration. Check more carefully,” Old Ding urged.
“No deterioration?”
Yun Cangqiong paused briefly, slowly closing his eyes as spiritual energy circulated through Old Ding’s meridians. Wherever it passed, there were blockages, and broken sections could be seen everywhere.
Although he found nothing unusual, Yun Cangqiong didn’t give up. He patiently controlled the spiritual energy to flow through Old Ding’s meridians again and again.
“Something’s off…”

Finally, Yun Cangqiong realized something was wrong. To allow spiritual energy to flow through the meridians, one had to constantly guide it around blockages and breaks. If the injuries were worsening, it should take longer and longer for the spiritual energy to pass through Old Ding’s meridians. Even if they weren’t worsening, the time taken wouldn’t differ much. But with each attempt, he could sense that the time required was decreasing.

Over by the side, Lin Dong watched intently. Though he had absolute confidence in the Braised Wind Spirit Grass, there was still a hint of urgency in his expression.

Yun Cangqiong kept his eyes closed as the spiritual energy entered Old Ding’s dantian and came to rest there.

The vast dantian was filled with turbulent currents, violently colliding and striking against its inner walls. Yet Yun Cangqiong’s spiritual energy remained firm, like a pine tree in a storm, carefully sensing the changes around it.

After a long while, a look of surprise appeared on Yun Cangqiong’s face.

Old Ding’s chaotic dantian was slowly recovering. Though not quickly, the improvement was clearly perceptible.

After feeling it for a while longer, Yun Cangqiong withdrew his spiritual energy and turned sharply to look at Lin Dong. “This folk remedy really does work for the old man’s injuries.”

“I told you! I could sense that the injuries were showing signs of improvement,” Old Ding exclaimed, turning around. “Young Lin, where did you get this folk remedy? It actually seems to work!”

“What do you mean ‘seems to work’?” Lin Dong relaxed slightly, grabbed a jar of wine, took a big gulp, and then, under the gaze of the two of them, said calmly, “Within a day, I guarantee your injuries will improve by 10%.”

“That’s impossible…”

Both of them shook their heads. In this world, the most effective medicines were undoubtedly high-grade pills. Although this dish contained spiritual ingredients, it was just stir-fried and couldn’t even be called a medicine. It was already a miracle if it could help heal serious injuries of top-tier warriors. To improve injuries by 10% in just one day required only a ninth-grade spiritual pill.

Lin Dong remained silent and brought over a few more jars of wine, placing them on the table. “Drink!”

Yun Cangqiong said seriously, “Lin Dong, how many times can this dish’s medicinal effect last? How many more batches of ingredients do you have?”

The efficacy of the Braised Wind Spirit Grass was extraordinary, but Lin Dong didn’t hide it. “It can be used as many times as needed. I still have three batches of ingredients left.”

Yun Cangqiong showed delight. “Can you tell me which ingredients are missing?”

“Wind Spirit Grass!” Lin Dong replied without hesitation.

Yun Cangqiong stood up abruptly and decided, “I’ll go find Wind Spirit Grass right now. If it really works no matter how many times it’s used, it will surely help me gather enough ingredients for pill-making.”

Lin Dong was stunned. Although Xiao Tianchi had spent over half a year collecting just over thirty Wind Spirit Grasses, Yun Cangqiong, as a peak-level powerhouse, surely had more. Did that not mean that enough Wind Spirit Grasses to fully restore Old Ding’s injuries could be gathered soon?

Just as he was about to tell Yun Cangqiong that another seventy or so Wind Spirit Grasses were needed, a flash of movement—Yun Cangqiong had vanished without a trace.

“Old man, drinking will only worsen your injuries. If you don’t want to die, endure it for now,” came a faint voice as if from the sky.

Lin Dong rushed out of the room only to find no sign of Yun Cangqiong. Turning back to Old Ding, he saw his gaunt face filled with struggle. His gaze at the wine jar ahead was filled with deep hesitation.

Fine wine, life. In Old Ding’s heart, fine wine far outweighed life. But without a life, what could he use to drink? No matter how much he told himself to sacrifice a little time to gain more time for drinking, he couldn’t bring himself to make the decision.

Lin Dong said helplessly, “Stop hesitating! Drink to your heart’s content! My unconventional remedy will be far more effective than you can imagine.”

“Never mind, I’ll drink!”

Old Ding gulped, grabbed the wine jar, and poured it into his mouth desperately.

Having regained the super mission and knowing it could be completed soon, Lin Dong was in high spirits. He stopped using spiritual energy to extract the wine’s essence and joined Old Ding in drinking heartily…

Five days later, as Lin Dong and Old Ding were sipping wine in the backyard, suddenly, Old Ding’s body trembled as he stared sharply toward the main hall. Vaguely, a figure was rushing in from the back door.

Lin Dong instinctively turned to look but saw nothing. In the next blink, he was shocked to see Yun Cangqiong appearing in front of them, covered in dust.

Seeing Old Ding, Yun Cangqiong sighed in relief and quickly walked over to the stone table, taking out all the Wind Spirit Grasses from his storage spirit ring. In the blink of an eye, the table was piled high with them.

“There are 320 in total. Can they delay Old Ding’s injuries for three months?”

“Yes. It’s almost certain they can even fully cure him,” Lin Dong said, overjoyed. 320 was far more than the minimum needed to heal Old Ding’s injuries. More importantly, some of these Grasses had been picked not long ago, still with seeds on them.

With these seeds, they would never have to worry about a shortage of Wind Spirit Grasses again.

“Fully cure the old man?” Yun Cangqiong wasn’t sure what he meant.

“With these Grasses, I’m 100% confident I can fully cure him,” Lin Dong nodded firmly.

Yun Cangqiong frowned. After traveling nonstop for five days, had his ears gone wrong?
“Young Yun, give it a try,” said the old man Ding, turning around to reveal his gaunt back.
Doubtful, Yun Cangqiong raised his palms and placed them on the old man’s back. As spiritual energy flowed in, the blockages and breaks that were once everywhere diminished significantly. His dantian was still in a state of chaos, but it wasn’t as violent as before.
“How could this folk remedy possibly…” Yun Cangqiong opened his eyes and stared at Lin Dong in astonishment.
“The old man is lucky. This remedy happens to work well for his injuries,” Lin Dong said with a smile.
Unconvinced but not wanting to ask further, Yun Cangqiong simply nodded and, with a wry smile, changed the subject: “It seems I rushed around for nothing. With his condition, the old man can live another ten or eight years.”
If the effects of the braised Wind Spirit Grass really came from the recipe itself, Lin Dong would never hide it from Yun Cangqiong. But since the effect came from the inn system, it was impossible to explain. Hearing this, he also changed the subject: “The earlier it’s taken, the faster the old man’s injuries will heal. By the way, where did Uncle Yun get so many Wind Spirit Grasses? As far as I remember, all the alchemy sects in Autumn Wind Mansion combined probably don’t have more than three hundred plants. How did he collect so many in just five days?”
“I went to the Wan Dan Sect and raided their spirit material warehouse,” Yun Cangqiong replied, sitting down on a stone bench. His pale, beardless face showed signs of fatigue. Traveling at top speed using spiritual energy for five days straight, without time to negotiate, and forcing his way through the Wan Dan Sect’s warehouse’s defenses—even with his strength, it was quite exhausting.
Lin Dong was stunned. Though Yun Cangqiong spoke casually, the fact that he didn’t mention the Wan Dan Sect as one of the few major sects in the Great Han Nation alone showed how difficult this journey had been.
The three talked for a while longer, after which Lin Dong immediately went to prepare the braised Wind Spirit Grass.
It could only be taken once a day; otherwise, no matter how much was consumed, it would be ineffective. This meant it would still take seven days to cure the old man Ding’s injuries.
During those seven days, Lin Dong stayed at Lin’s Inn in Xilan City. He needed to monitor the old man’s condition and take care of Yun Cangqiong. Fortunately, no major news came from Autumn Wind City, so Lin Dong treated it like vacation—drinking in the daytime and practicing cultivation at night, living a carefree life.
Seven days later, as the old man Ding finished eating the last piece of braised Wind Spirit Grass and then gulped down wine carelessly, Lin Dong’s heart grew anxious. He stared at the old man without blinking.

The super mission is today!