Chapter 452 - 392: Awarding a Merit
Chapter 452: Chapter 392: Awarding a Merit
"Spiritual Energy?" Bai Lihua picked up a packet of herbs and sniffed it again. "I’ve been around herbs my whole life, since our family has always collected them, and I’ve taken plenty of medicinal baths. I’m used to the smell, but I just thought these herbs Tang Manman gathered smelled a little better. This ’Spiritual Energy’ you’re talking about, Father, is it...?"
Old Master Bai nodded repeatedly, his hands trembling slightly as he opened one of the packets. He pinched off a piece of a stem and put it in his mouth, savoring it, unable to contain his excitement. "This is exactly the kind of Spiritual Energy I’ve told you all about before! Ah, Lihua, your father must credit you for this great service. These herbs are a godsend, and they couldn’t have come at a better time! Once I use these, I should be able to recover some of my power. Come, both of you. I’ll teach you how to identify Spiritual Energy. Let’s see which of you two has the better aptitude!"
As the daughter, Bai Qingyue had been doted on since childhood and was never forced to practice martial arts. Still, she followed Bai Lihua and crowded around Old Master Bai, sniffing the herb packets continuously. ’Don’t all medicinal herbs smell more or less the same?’ she thought. ’What could be so special? We can’t manage to collect many these days, but back then, the old Bai Family estate never had a shortage of herbs.’
Some of their closer relatives and friends were aware of a particular habit of the Bai Family: a room in their residence was set aside specifically for storing medicinal herbs. The collection, which included both common and precious types, was vast and varied, with a stockpile large enough to rival a commercial pharmacy. The Bai Family’s official story was that the elders were frail and often ill, requiring herbal medicine year-round. It was more convenient to slowly build their own supply rather than constantly buying from outside.
And it was true that several members of the Bai Family did require constant herbal remedies. The late Old Mrs. Bai, for instance, had a weak constitution. Before her, Old Master Bai’s mother and grandmother were also perpetually ill and reliant on medicine.
Having been steeped in the aroma of herbs since he was a boy, Old Master Bai understood from a very young age that the women of the family actually used very little. The ones who consumed the herbs in massive quantities were his great-grandfather, grandfather, and father.
The men of the Bai Family practiced Ancient Martial Arts and soaked in medicinal baths to strengthen their meridians and toughen their bones. Not everyone who tried this method could achieve the same results. The Gu Family, for example, another Ancient Martial Arts Family, had no success with it for one simple reason: they didn’t know the formula for the medicinal bath that could temper the body.
The formula was a Bai Family heirloom, said to have been left by the very ancestor who had achieved Energy Introduction, cultivated to Late-stage Foundation Establishment, and lived for more than two hundred years. Unfortunately, that ancestor was an aloof man who, for some unknown reason, had become estranged from the family. He lived in the wilds year-round, neglecting his family matters. He had no wife or children of his own. When his descendants finally managed to track him down, he merely fobbed them off with some herbs, medicinal pills, and the formula for the training-enhancement bath. He had no intention of leading his descendants down the path of Cultivation. Sometime later, he vanished without a trace and was never heard from again.
The herbs, elixirs, and formula he left behind were passed down through the Bai family for generations. While the formula was always preserved, the supply of herbs and elixirs dwindled with each passing era. The reason was simple: like plucking a feather from every passing goose, the custodian of each generation would use some up, causing the stockpile to naturally shrink.
When Old Master Bai was a child, he had only ever seen two stalks of reishi grass and a single Nourishing Yuan Pill. They were in the care of his great-grandfather, who would occasionally let him smell the grass and the elixir. The fragrant aroma of the herbs was comforting and pleasant, but what truly captivated him, what he found utterly intoxicating, was the wisp of Spiritual Energy that emanated from them.
Indeed, under his great-grandfather’s tutelage, Old Master Bai learned to identify the Spiritual Energy within herbs at a very young age. His great-grandfather was ecstatic, certain that the boy was exceptionally gifted, possessed a Spirit Root, and was capable of pursuing the Guiding Path of Cultivation. He intended to give the Nourishing Yuan Pill to the boy and reserve the two stalks of reishi grass for his use. He even spared no expense to find the reclusive Gongsun Clan, a Cultivation Family. The Gongsuns had a connection to the Bai Family’s old Foundation Establishment ancestor, and the great-grandfather hoped they could guide his grandson. Regrettably, on his way to the Gongsun Family after finally getting a lead, tragedy struck. A flash flood swept over the road, carrying vehicles away. The great-grandfather disappeared, his body never to be recovered.
The precious reishi grass and elixir he had been safeguarding vanished along with him. And with that, the Bai family’s long-held obsession with achieving Energy Introduction and attaining immortality was shattered.
Old Master Bai was only eight or nine at the time. Though his path to Immortal Cultivation was severed, he still had his family’s ancestral Ancient Martial Arts. By mastering them, he could still attain extraordinary power. But through it all, his awareness and sensation of Spiritual Energy remained perfectly, profoundly clear in his memory.
Thus, when he took the herbs Bai Lihua had brought home, a single sniff was all it took for him to detect that familiar, delightful, and pure essence. It was faint, very faint, but it was undeniably, absolutely there!
One could only imagine Old Master Bai’s ecstasy. ’I never gave up on the Bai family’s dream! Even without guidance for Energy Introduction, just finding Spiritual Energy is enough! With these herbs and the Spiritual Energy they contain to supplement my Ancient Martial Arts training, I could break through two more realms. That would extend my life by at least fifty or sixty years! And if I maintain myself well and manage it properly, I might be able to advance even further... It’s so good to be alive! Who could ever say their life is too long?’
’And if these herbs are used to compound the medicinal bath formula, the effects will surely be even more remarkable! My descendants are truly blessed!’
After sniffing the herbs repeatedly for a good while, Bai Lihua seemed to catch a hint of a peculiar essence. "Father," he said, pleasantly surprised, "I think I’m starting to understand what Spiritual Energy is!"
"That you can sense it proves you have the sensitivity and the aptitude for it. It’s a shame you were so lazy and undisciplined as a child. You never succeeded in your martial training, always preferring your books."
A sharp glint flashed in Old Master Bai’s eyes. "But it doesn’t matter. Everyone has their own destiny. Junfan easily obtained a Heart Protection Pill from Mr. Tang, and you successfully brought back so many herbs from Tang Manman. It’s proof enough that both your and Junfan’s fortunes are good. In this day and age, Spiritual Energy is exceedingly rare; I haven’t sensed it in many years. Of course, that’s also related to one’s realm. I once reached the late stage of a Postnatal Martial Artist, but illness in recent years has weakened my body and cost me my power, dulling my senses. But as long as Spiritual Energy exists, there is hope for us! Ah, Lihua, it seems you were right. Tang Manman must ultimately take her status as Wu Xiaowen’s birth mother into account; she can’t simply ignore her. That being the case, I won’t oppose you getting closer to Wu Xiaowen, but do it as discreetly as possible. Don’t draw any attention! If, for every ten requests Wu Xiaowen makes, Tang Manman agrees to four or five, you should be able to obtain at least half of the result... With that as our foundation, once we locate the Gongsun Clan and ask them to impart their Cultivation Method, our Bai Family will undoubtedly enter a new golden age!"
Bai Lihua nodded in understanding.
Bai Qingyue asked, "Father, who is this Gongsun Clan? I’ve never heard of them. What is their relationship to our Bai Family?"
Old Master Bai sighed and said, "The Gongsun Family is an extraordinary clan. They possess wealth that could rival a nation and immense power, yet they choose to live in seclusion, keeping a low profile and ignoring worldly affairs to focus solely on Cultivation and the path to immortality. The Cultivation Technique our family’s Cultivator ancestor practiced was the same as theirs. The Gongsun Clan owes the Bai family a favor and promised to pass on their Cultivation Technique to any Bai descendant with the proper aptitude. They surfaced once, over a decade ago, but the Bai Family was entangled in too many matters at the time, and the circumstances were delicate. We missed our chance. We did, however, manage to ask them for a favor in the end... At the start of this year, I had people begin searching for them in secret, and not long ago, we finally got a small lead. As long as we can make contact, everything else will be easy!"