Chapter 34: Little Medicine Kings

"Back when I traversed the Central Continent, I carved out a resounding reputation for myself. Had it not been for someone broadcasting my aphrodisiac qualities, forcing me to seek refuge here at the Sect of Asking Dao, I would still be wandering out there today."

"My traveling companion was also an illustrious figure among your human race, known as Hermit Gu Yue. When he delivered me to the Sect of Asking Dao, he even promised to write me into his books so that the world would remember me forever."

Hermit Gu Yue was a renowned traveler of the Central Continent, possessed by a love for wandering and adventure; his footprints were left across the Central Continent, the Demon Realm, and the Buddhist Kingdoms, and his legends lingered in every land.

It was said that he had once served as a court historian in the Great Xia Dynasty, meticulously recording the romantic escapades of the Xia Emperor among the common folk, as well as the exact count of his illegitimate children.

In the Demon Realm, he was abducted by a dragon princess, only to flee on the eve of their forced marriage, resulting in a relentless pursuit that chased him all the way into the Buddhist Kingdoms.

Once within the Buddhist lands, he masqueraded as a monk to swindle others; whenever someone exposed a flaw in his logic or faced an unanswerable riddle, he would simply declare, "The Buddha says it cannot be spoken," a phrase that subsequently spread far and wide across the realm.

Hermit Gu Yue compiled everything he had seen and heard into volumes that became immensely popular throughout the cultivation world.

Although no sacred texts explicitly recorded Hermit Gu Yue's cultivation level, Lu Yang surmised it had to be remarkably high—for had it been even slightly lacking, he would have been beaten to death long ago.

The Ginseng Baby proved to be an excellent tutor, for many of the tales it recounted were memories from its own past, and several species of herbs in the medicine garden had actually been discovered during its travels with Hermit Gu Yue; Lu Yang followed close behind, swaying his head in rapt fascination as he listened.

The human and the ginseng soon arrived at a small cottage woven from flowers and grass; the closer they drew, the more Lu Yang could sense a vitality so concentrated it felt almost tangible, making his heart leap with sudden dread.

"Something is wrong!" Lu Yang gasped, clutching his chest as an uncontrollable tremor seized his body.

Thump, thump, thump... Lu Yang’s heart hammered faster and faster, as though countless tiny insects were swarming around his ears, buzzing incessantly without pause.

Listening closely, a sudden chill gripped Lu Yang’s heart and raced down his spine, for those were no insects at all—it was the sound of countless voices speaking from within his own body!

Those voices cried out that they were trapped inside him, demanding to leave, demanding to escape...

The Ginseng Baby was the first to notice Lu Yang’s distress and shouted loudly, "Hey, hey, hey! A guest has arrived! You lot better behave, rein in your vitality, hurry up now!"

Lu Yang circulated his cultivation technique to calm his boiling blood, and only then did the voices gradually fade away.

Kneeling upon the ground, Lu Yang panted heavily for breath; everything just now had been no illusion, something truly resided within his body—but what on earth was it?!

Setting down the spatial spirit stone, the Ginseng Baby waddled over to Lu Yang with an apologetic tone.

"I am terribly sorry, I really did not expect that you have not even reached the Nascent Soul stage yet."

Unlike humans, the Kings of Medicine did not measure their cultivation by stages but by years; the Ginseng Baby could not discern Lu Yang's exact strength, it simply found him rather agreeable to the eye.

"What... what was that just now?" Lu Yang asked, his soul still shaken, as though he had just taken a stroll through the depths of the Nine Nether Underworld.

"Little Ba and that she-devil possess cultivation levels that are far too high among your human race, which made me careless regarding how our vitality might affect someone like you."

"Our life force is simply too exuberant, so much so that it could cause every single one of your organs to develop its own consciousness and become an entirely independent entity. Only when you attain the Nascent Soul stage, when your acupoints are perfected and your golden body leaks no essence, will you be immune to our vitality."

Alerted by the Ginseng Baby's shouting, countless three-inch-tall herbs came hopping and skipping to Lu Yang's side.

"Ginseng King, is this a human? Why is he so tiny?"

"What do you mean tiny? He is clearly the exact same height as us, or are you saying you are tiny yourself!"

"It must be a spell! Human magic is quite miraculous; what is so strange about changing size? I have even seen spells that turn men into women, and humans into demons."

"This human's cultivation does not seem very high, has he not even reached the Gestation stage?"

"What Gestation stage? King Lin, your memory is getting worse and worse, it is called the Nascent Soul stage."

"He looks like he can barely stand straight, let us carry him into the cottage."

The little Medicine Kings chattered all at once in hushed tones, creating a dizzying buzz in Lu Yang's ears.

They hoisted Lu Yang above their heads and carried him into the cottage woven of flowers and herbs.

The King of the Enlightenment Trees stood outside, scratching its trunk with a rustle of leaves; it was simply too massive to fit inside the small dwelling.

Only upon entering did Lu Yang realize that the structure was not woven from flowers and grass at all, but constructed from ancient timber; under the influence of the little Medicine Kings' vitality, the ancient wood had burst into a second spring, sprouting fresh leaves and blossoms that concealed its original form.

Lu Yang felt much better; he slowly rose to his feet and tried to identify these Medicine Kings.

As fate would have it, he did not recognize a single one.

"Human, what is your name?" asked a blade of grass bearing three tender leaves, its entire form shimmering in silver with specks of starlight dotting its surface like a microcosm of the cosmos.

"This junior is Lu Yang, may I ask who senior might be..." Lu Yang inquired politely; by age alone, these little Medicine Kings were not only his seniors, but the seniors of everyone in the Sect of Asking Dao.

"That is the Three-Leafed Stellar Herb, we all call it the Stellar King," another little Medicine King piped up quickly; it was a seven-colored flower whose petals corresponded to the five elements, while its center was divided into black and white, a speck of white within the black and a speck of black within the white, forming a Taiji diagram like an exquisitely beautiful ink wash painting that one could not help but be entranced by.

"I am the Flower of Time's End, you may call me the End King. Everyone says I am the most beautiful flower, but I feel someone is just envious of my charm and trying to flatter me into ruin. As a humble Medicine King, I believe I am merely the second most beautiful flower in the world..." The Flower of Time's End rambled on without end.

Lu Yang stared at the Flower of Time's End for a couple of seconds, his pupils dilating in sheer disbelief; though he had never seen the appearance of the Flower of Time's End, he had certainly heard of its grand reputation.

"The Flower of Time's End... the very flower rumored to bloom in its most beautiful state only when the world ends and all living things plunge into misery, freezing even time itself?!"

It was no wonder Lu Yang lost his composure so entirely, for ancient texts recorded that the blooming of the Flower of Time's End was synonymous with doomsday, representing a complete reset of the entire world.

Yet according to historical records, no such cataclysmic event had ever occurred in the world!

The Flower of Time's End scratched its nectar in vexation: "Some people do say that, but I recall blooming during a very peaceful era when everyone was living in perfect harmony, and I saw no disaster whatsoever. The tales about my blooming are probably just rumors."

Just as Lu Yang was about to ask further, he heard another little Medicine King speak.

"Lu Yang, what brings you to the medicine garden? Did Little Ba send you to harvest herbs?" asked a tiny, jade-green Qilin, beautifully sculpted like fine jasper, looking entirely unlike an object of the mortal realm.

Lu Yang gasped in shock once more: "A Qilin?!"

What was a Qilin? It was the most mysterious of mythical beasts, so rare that one or two could hardly be found across the entire world, far scarcer than those in the Tribulation Transcendence stage; their traces could only be found in the fragmented records of ancient texts, yet the Sect of Asking Dao actually possessed one?

The hidden heritage of the Sect of Asking Dao was terrifying beyond anything Lu Yang could have imagined.

The Ginseng Baby explained: "That is the Qilin Herb of Immortality, its current form is merely its dharma manifestation. Your cultivation is still insufficient; once you reach the Deity Transformation stage and cultivate the Heavenly Eye, you will be able to see its true form clearly."