Chapter 124 — Heaven-Sent Masterstroke
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
The imperial physicians hastily took the prescription Shen Mu had written and fetched the ingredients. Before long the herbs were brought, but the physicians stood there without making a move, faces full of expectation, waiting to watch Shen Mu refine the medicine. Shen Mu's vital aura burst forth as he lifted each ingredient into the air; with no elixir furnace, he refined them directly in midair.
He displayed one extraction technique after another, drawing out the medicinal potency without boiling in water, baking and fusing it with his vital aura, his fingers leaping like notes and runes. The white-haired Imperial Physician Yu watched with tears in his eyes. "To see such a refining technique even once in my lifetime is more than enough! " Yu exclaimed. Shen Mu, wholly absorbed, did not hear them; had he heard, the youth would have curled his lips.
His technique had barely passed muster.
Under Grandfather Alchemist in Hidden Remnant Village, he had only managed a passing grade. Before long the spirit medicine was finished, and the imperial physicians looked on entranced. Imperial Physician Qu said, "Young Divine Physician, just now you used that technique to stir ripples in the water and draw out the potency through water—why did you suddenly turn to fire? " Shen Mu placed the refined elixir in a jade cup on the tray and said, "That particular ingredient needs both water and fire, so water first, then fire, to fully release its potency.
" Imperial Physician Yu changed his own handwork, manipulating his vital aura to roast herbs, and asked hastily, "Young Divine Physician, does my technique look like a proper imitation? " Shen Mu looked him over and said, "Your vital aura runs a little sluggishly. The beauty of my technique is not in the handwork but in the subtle use of vital aura.
The aura must wind through twelve circuits before the furnace fire reaches its perfected blue. " Imperial Physician Yu suddenly saw the point and said eagerly, "I was only looking at the surface. Also, when you refined the Five Fortune seeds, was there some special rule to the technique you used?
" The imperial physicians crowded around Shen Mu, discussing with great excitement, while Lord Yan frowned deeply and said in a low voice, "Gentlemen, you can discuss this later—Her Majesty the Empress Dowager is still here! " The physicians came to themselves, and Imperial Physician Qu said hurriedly, "Young Divine Physician, Her Majesty's medicine must come first.
" Shen Mu said, "I still need one thousand and twenty-three three-legged blue-eyed toads. " Imperial Physician Qu and the others' eyes lit up. They clapped their hands and laughed, praising, "A stroke of genius!
A stroke of genius! This old man is thoroughly convinced!
Quick, quick—go buy three-legged blue-eyed toads! " The maids and eunuchs in the hall rushed to the market to buy the toads. After much bustle, the toads were brought in, each the size of a fist, with three legs.
Shen Mu had them place the toads inside the hall, ordered all the maids and eunuchs to withdraw, and presented the spirit elixir to the Empress Dowager.
"In a moment," he said, "when the sovereign poison of the Thousand Mechanisms is replaced by the venom in this medicine, the other toxins will collapse, and the poison will turn violent in the blink of an eye.
Those poisons have been in Your Majesty's body and combined with your vital aura, so they have grown a kind of cunning. Blue-eyed toads feed on poison. They will take the chance to eat the poison out of Your Majesty's body, and then Your Majesty will be cured.
" The Empress Dowager waved her hand. "Withdraw, all of you, so the poison does not strike you.