Chapter Thirty-Four: Wounding the Liver (Seeking Comments!)

Breath turned outward, exhaling a plume of white mist.

Chen Yu’s whole body steamed with heat, clearly from the intensity of his earlier exertion. At this moment, his blood surged, and with every movement, his muscles and bones branded the memory deep within, gradually transforming it into instinctive reflex.

He drew back his fists, breathing lightly, then took the damp towel prepared nearby and wiped the sweat from his torso.

Swallowing a mouthful of spiritual solution, he waited for his body to ease with this breath, then activated the Spirit-Invoking Strengthening Technique. Amid a faint prickle, a warm current rose from his stomach, coursed through his liver, and spread to every limb. In an instant, all fatigue vanished, and the weariness on his face dissipated completely.

The spiritual solution was truly invaluable.

Chen Yu sighed. With each use, his appreciation for its worth deepened, understanding more keenly its rarity. Down in the foothills, such a treasure would be coveted by every battered martial artist, none would rest until they fought tooth and nail for it.

Within his body, guided by the awareness born of channeling internal force, though somewhat rough and indistinct, he could perceive the hidden injuries in his flesh gradually healing.

Internal force alone lacked this effect—it relied on the clash of muscles, often leaving the body in disarray. Thus, all credit belonged to the spiritual solution.

Of course, Chen Yu had neither the leisure nor the funds to purchase supplements from below the mountain. Otherwise, he could follow others and treat internal injuries with restorative medicines. Yet, such a path proved exorbitant—some nourishing elixirs grew in secrecy, their scarcity rendering them worth more than gold.

Now, with each mouthful of spiritual solution, Chen Yu found the healing gentler and more effective than any supplement.

Most importantly, there were no side effects.

All medicines carry some poison, but while the spiritual solution resembled a restorative, its essence was not medicinal, but rather the condensed aura of vitality.

“What I need to worry about now isn’t the spiritual solution, but my liver.”

His liver protested, cried out in pain.

Master Chen could only smile wryly. He was a man of whim, rarely chasing after anything with intent.

‘Diligence’ and ‘perseverance’ were foreign notions to him.

Martial arts were a curiosity—a fascination with skills he’d never touched in his previous life, though their fame had thundered in his ears.

For him, the notion of training through winter’s chill and summer’s heat was inconceivable. Whether he trained, and how he trained, were entirely different matters.

The same applied to studying spiritual force, refining techniques, or absorbing spiritual solution.

Everything was guided by preference, his heart devoid of strong compulsion.

But he could not ignore the visible power gained through the Spirit-Invoking Strengthening Technique.

Once or twice was manageable, but after ten or twenty rounds, the rush of rapid progress became addictive.

Fortunately, he hadn’t read the Daoist scriptures in vain—he managed to restrain himself, resisting the urge to push beyond his limits.

Still, he kept up the daily thirty cycles, resisting the temptation to add more.

For one reason only: extra practice harmed the liver.

“Let me think—there should be some liver-protecting prescriptions left in the temple.”

Thirty cycles a day put undue strain on his liver; Chen Yu considered either reducing the frequency or improving the method.

Yet, the Spirit-Invoking Strengthening Technique had only been newly developed. Even with inspiration, he was still probing, and progress was unlikely in the short term.

Thus, he was left with but one option: nourish the liver.

Again, all medicines carry some poison, so he sought gentle remedies—those that would quietly nurture the liver and relieve its burden.

Nourishing Wolfberry Formula? Six Spirits Detox Powder? Eastern Origin Nine-Treasure Soup?

He sifted through his memories and quickly settled on his target.

...

In the storeroom, upon a wooden shelf.

Chen Yu fetched a wooden box, opened it, and took out a stack of books.

The first bore three words: The Herbal King Canon.

A grand name, but in truth, merely a book cataloging common herbs, said to have been brought back by the second abbot and kept in the library for the temple’s priests to study before venturing into the mountains to forage.

Library?

This was it.

Over a decade ago, the old priest assumed the abbot’s seat, and the temple declined day by day, its disciples few, scriptures neglected, most succumbing to worms.

The library, too, became nominal, eventually repurposed as a storeroom.

The box contained the last of the better-preserved scriptures.

Chen Yu had leafed through them two months prior; most were gone.

Only a book of herbs, The Herbal King Canon, and a Daoist miscellany, Cloudborn in the Multi-tiered Pavilion, remained.

The latter recounted the adventures of a Daoist named Cloudborn, who stumbled upon a place called the Multi-tiered Pavilion.

Much like a tale from Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio.

His predecessor and the old priest, aside from martial prowess, were cut from the same mold, naturally paying little heed to such miscellanea.

It was only after Chen Yu arrived that he cleaned the place, washed and aired the box, and sun-dried the books several times, thus preserving them to this day.

Rustle—

He gently turned to a certain section, revealing a page of yellowed paper, upon which a figure was drawn, accompanied by text, but Chen Yu’s gaze fell upon a few lines of tiny script in the corner.

A prescription for a liver-nourishing medicine called Reed Ginseng Paste.

Reed Ginseng Paste was no miracle drug, its recipe widely circulated, else it would not be recorded in a general herb manual like The Herbal King Canon.

Besides this formula, another caught his eye—Cloud Turtle with Stag Antler Paste.

Yet the latter required deer antler and cinnamon mushroom: one he couldn’t find, the other he didn’t recognize.

Both could only be procured from the foothills.

“Looking at it, Reed Ginseng seems more reliable.”

His predecessor knew the plant, had collected it before; it was not rare, growing in a hollow behind Qingtai Mountain.

There the woods were dense, insects rife; rumor had it that decades ago, tigers and leopards roamed.

His predecessor encountered none, so either hunters had wiped them out, or they’d relocated due to environmental changes.

But to venture deep into those mountains for herbs, proper preparation was essential.

He stepped outside, glanced at the sky.

Recently, rain had been frequent and unpredictable; best to wait awhile before going.

For now, he could only reduce his practice cycles, so that the spiritual solution’s nourishment and his body’s natural recovery could keep pace with the liver’s demands.

With this decision made, Chen Yu felt the persistent worry dissipate, his heart clear, as though a desire had been set aside, and even his spirit seemed subtly invigorated.

Whoosh—

He exhaled deeply; with the matter of practice settled, he needed to occupy himself lest his mind wander.

“That’s right!”

This perusal of the herb manual reminded him—he still hadn’t prepared a certain medicine!

“What’s gotten into my head lately?”

The ingredients for White Cloud Powder had been bought long ago, left unused ever since. Though dried and thus safe from spoilage, his distraction with other matters had nearly made him forget.

Upon reflection, his recent progress in training had accelerated—far faster than at the start. So, the White Cloud Powder he had so longed for when collecting Orange Silver Grass was now nearly forgotten.

Truth be told, the records claimed this medicine was highly effective for refining the Cloud Crane Technique.

Especially when taken internally and applied externally, it promised substantial improvement for both outer and inner practice.

Yet he couldn’t help but doubt—could it truly rival the spiritual solution?

Now that he remembered, he entered the inner room, gathered all the herbs, fetched the two inherited medicine cauldrons and a stone grinder, and began to prepare, determined to test its efficacy.