The 43-year-old mother looked prematurely aged, appearing to be a woman in her sixties. The 44-year-old father lay in bed, his disheveled hair and beard making the pale-faced middle-aged man look very wretched. Only Zhao Yunlong's 18-year-old sister looked youthful and energetic, her beauty undeniable even in her patched-up clothes.
After hearing Zhao Yunlong's introduction, the mother and daughter immediately wanted to kneel down and kowtow to Lin Yao, and the father on the sickbed also tried to get up to pay respects to his benefactor, but Lin Yao and Jiang Yi hurriedly stopped them.
This family was as pure and simple as crystal; the concept of gratitude was deeply ingrained in their souls, which made Lin Yao like them even more.
Because they had always lived in the mountains, Zhao Yunlong's family did not own any land in the village. They relied on a few plots of land they had reclaimed on the mountain to grow crops, with potatoes and corn as their main crops. Other crops were either unsuitable for the soil and water or could not withstand the severe pests and diseases in the mountainous area.
Another pillar of the family's income is goats. Thanks to the devoted care of Zhao Yunlong's mother and sister, their goat herd now numbers ten, including two lambs.
When their benefactor arrived, the poor mountain people offered him the most lavish hospitality. At Zhao's father's insistence, Jiang Yi had no choice but to personally slaughter a lamb to express the family's gratitude. This was done with Lin Yao's tacit approval; if Lin Yao hadn't agreed, Zhao's father, lying in his sickbed, would have even gotten out of bed to personally slaughter the lamb.
The lamb, even without any seasoning, tasted quite good. Although it had a slightly gamey smell, Lin Yao and Jiang Yi ate until their mouths were full and their bellies were bulging. Zhao Yunlong and his family of four watched their benefactors feast with smiles, while they themselves ate very little. They even planned to save some lamb for their benefactors to eat next time.
During the meal, Lin Yao didn't urge the family to eat more of the fruits of his labor. For the simple mountain people, the more he ate, the happier they would be. So Lin Yao ate heartily, but he felt a little sad. He didn't know how many families like this existed in the country. At this moment, he suddenly felt so small and insignificant.
After the meal, Lin Yao helped Zhao's father with his treatment. He estimated that Zhao's father would recover his health in one or two months. Zhao's father had only fallen and injured himself in the mountains, and the dampness had caused him to develop a rather severe case of rheumatism, which was why he had lost his ability to work and his health had been deteriorating. With proper treatment, he estimated that he would soon be a strong and capable man again.
Lin Yao did not stay at Zhao Yunlong's house. He arranged for Jiang Yi to move the family to Nanchang immediately before leaving alone. He wanted to work with Xiaocao to absorb the essence of the mountains and forests and store medicinal and poisonous gases.
"Yaoyao, there are so many bugs in these mountains. Should I get rid of them all? To rid the people of this scourge."
The sound of grass rang out, and in the chilly night, it felt especially warm and familiar to Lin Yao.
At this moment, Lin Yao was vigorously swinging the shovel, using all his strength to dig a hole, and the pitch-black night made him feel somewhat lonely.
"Great! The grass is helping people get rid of pests, and this forest will grow even better because of your efforts."
Lin Yao casually agreed with Xiao Cao's opinion, and wielded the shovel that Xiao Cao had stolen from some farmer, continuing to dig the hole. At this point, the hole, which was about one meter in diameter, was already two meters deep, and Lin Yao was completely submerged in it.
The reason for digging the pit was that while absorbing the medicinal energy, Xiaocao discovered a "Tai Sui" in the mountain. Although this "Tai Sui" was not over 3,333 years old, it was already quite good according to Xiaocao. Although it could not be used to refine "Year-Round Pills", it could be used to refine a better pill than "Life-Giving Pills" compared to ordinary raw materials. That's why Lin Yao agreed to dig it up.
It would take 3,333 years, who knows how many years that would be? By then, Lin Yao would have long since turned to dust, and if there were reincarnation, who knows how many lifetimes he would have gone through. So, without any hesitation, Lin Yao decided to take it out himself to refine the pill, no longer considering his descendants. Who knows if any of his descendants would know how to refine pills?
"Done! We're done."
Little Grass used a popular slang term to express her meaning: "Yaoyao, you're so slow, much slower than the old bat. You've only dug two meters in so long, and this 'Tai Sui' is eight and a half meters below! Are you going to dig until tomorrow night?"
Lin Yao pouted, ignoring Xiao Cao's teasing. He thought to himself, "You yourself don't lift a finger, yet you say that ladies can't do such rough work, but you make me, who is only a mid-level Earth Realm person, wield a shovel to dig a hole."
Even with the added factor of witchcraft modification, Lin Yao knew that his physique was at most at the peak of the Earth level. How could he possibly compare to that Heaven level expert, Old Bat?
"Hurry up, there's too much mud in the cave, you need to clean it up quickly."
Lin Yao responded to Xiao Cao's inaction with a complaining tone. He could dig a hole, but cleaning up the excavated soil was very difficult for him. He had neither a winnowing basket nor a wicker basket, so he had no way to carry the small pieces of soil and stones out of the hole. He had to rely on Xiao Cao's ability to clean it up.
"Hehe, Yaoyao is angry."
The little grass laughed happily, "It's just asking you to dig a few holes, and even the old bat didn't complain. You're unhappy after digging only two meters deep. How boring!"
"No way!" Lin Yao immediately refuted Xiao Cao's statement. "You said there are two 'Tai Sui' in this mountain forest? It would take me a whole day to dig just one, and it would get more and more difficult as I dig deeper. Wouldn't it take two or three days to dig for two 'Tai Sui'?"
“There are so many things to do outside right now. If you don’t help, then we can just dig up these two ‘Tai Sui’ and go home. We might as well buy some more medicinal herbs to absorb the medicinal and poisonous fumes. We don’t have time to waste in this desolate wilderness.”
"Okay, okay, it was my fault."
Xiao Cao apologized, but there was no hint of apology in her tone. "I was busy inhaling the medicinal and poisonous fumes and exploring underground, which is why I asked you to dig the hole. But when I saw how cool you were at digging, I couldn't bear to disturb you."
"You go out, I'll dig."
Xiao Cao's words left Lin Yao speechless. He left the shovel behind, pushed off with his legs, and emerged from the mud hole.
Just as Lin Yao had regained his footing, he suddenly felt a dark shadow attacking him. Without activating his senses, he could only dodge. After activating his senses, he realized it was the shovel. Little Grass didn't need a shovel to dig a hole, and it playfully swung it at Lin Yao.
In just ten minutes, a "Tai Sui" about half a meter square appeared in front of Lin Yao, much faster than the old bat.
"Yaoyao, hurry up and refine the pills. We still need to dig for another Tai Sui. It's too far away for me to dig a hole."
Xiao Cao's voice rang out, her tone full of pride.
“Then take this Tai Sui with you. I will sit next to the next Tai Sui to refine pills, and you can dig up Tai Sui yourself.”
Lin Yao immediately offered a way to improve efficiency, which made Xiao Cao mutter, "I can absorb all that excess magical power you use when you're refining pills. It's such a waste."
Despite saying that, Xiaocao still followed Lin Yao's advice and rolled him and "Tai Sui" together to a hillside two kilometers away.
With the full cooperation of the grass, Lin Yao reaped a great harvest in the mountains and forests.
In half a month, Lin Yao traveled to various mountains and forests, obtaining 731 "Tai Sui" of different years and sizes. He worked day and night to refine 153,277 pills. This data was provided by Xiao Cao. Lin Yao was only responsible for refining pills and meditating to recover his strength.
Lin Yao even gave up on sleep completely because the rewards in the mountains were too tempting. This petty bourgeois guy was willing to do anything for the sake of benefits. Fortunately, meditation and practicing martial arts have the effect of rest and conditioning, which prevented him from being too physically tired, but he was mentally exhausted.
Among the more than 150,000 pills, there were 5,422 "Year-Round Pills" made from "Tai Sui" that had reached the required age. As for how many "Year-Round Pills" there were, Lin Yao and Xiao Cao didn't care or calculate it. The residue left over from making the "Year-Round Pills" and containing "life force" was all absorbed into Xiao Cao's body. The two of them were too busy to calculate such a small matter and were completely immersed in the ecstasy of the great harvest.
Ordinary "Tai Sui" still has extremely high efficacy. Although it does not contain the most precious "life force", it has an extraordinary effect on improving various functions of the human body. It has even been discovered by Xiaocao to enhance the cultivation of true qi.
This conclusion was discovered by Xiaocao while she was bored and waiting for Lin Yao to refine pills after digging up the "Tai Sui". At that time, she used Lin Yao as an experiment, turning the pill into pill energy and sending it into Lin Yao's body. She was pleasantly surprised to find that Lin Yao's "Yi Jin Jue" true energy had been significantly improved, but it had no effect on the most important medical true energy, which was the only regret.
Relying on this elixir, Lin Yao safely advanced his "Yi Jin Jue" true qi to the peak of the Earth level. However, he did not immediately advance to the next level to reach the peak of the Earth level because he had heard from the Great Elder Yi Potian that if the realm was unstable, it would have a great impact on his future cultivation. In order to reach the Heaven level, Lin Yao had no choice but to endure not advancing further.
Lin Yao had a stockpile of over 407,000 of these pills, which he named "Creation Pills." Perhaps he was already on the verge of advancing to the next level, or perhaps his physique was exceptional. Advancing from the mid-stage Earth Realm to the peak Earth Realm only required a few dozen "Creation Pills," making Lin Yao very proud of his talent.
"Yaoyao, shouldn't we go back now? I've collected enough medicinal and poisonous gases. Even the entire army in the country couldn't defeat me alone."
Xiao Cao's words surprised Lin Yao. There are 2.3 million soldiers in the country. It's amazing that Xiao Cao could take them down by herself. It seems that using poison is the key. Of course, the premise is that she must be able to successfully administer the poison. If she encounters someone who has practiced kung fu and has true qi, Xiao Cao will have to put in more effort to take them down.
"Wait a minute, let's go to Zhurong Peak, pay our respects to the Bodhisattva, and then go home. It would be a shame not to visit such a famous place."
Lin Yao presented the itinerary, and it was indeed time to go home. However, having already arrived at the world-famous Hengshan Mountain in the south, it would be a shame not to visit the main peak, "Zhurong Peak".