The second update,

...

Returning to Ninghai was a must, and he had already arranged to meet with Tang Feifei. Without seeing him safe and sound, their worries would not be completely alleviated.

Even though Qin Fang had survived, if he were missing an arm or a leg, Tang Feifei and the others would still be distressed...

But what they didn't know was that even if Qin Fang's injuries were severe, they wouldn't result in an amputation.

If he had truly suffered such grievous injuries, the mere loss of Life Points would have been enough to take Qin Fang's life... As long as the injuries weren't fatal, they could gradually diminish as the Life Points recovered.

This was why Qin Fang, having just returned yesterday, was eager to get back to Ninghai today. He didn't want Tang Feifei and the others to continue worrying.

Of course, last night's action was just the first counterattack against Li Rui; he had further moves to make.

Many people were concerned about Qin Fang, especially his women, who were more anxious than the next, and all were waiting for him in Ninghai. Naturally, Qin Fang wanted to return as soon as possible.

There were exceptions, of course, like Ye Huan, who bore the title of Qin Fang's woman yet had completely disappeared. She left the Jincheng Military Region after Qin Fang went with Li Yang into the mountains.

As for where she went, that remained unknown, since no one was tasked with monitoring her every move.

Even Qin Fang had only just recalled that it had always been Ye Huan who initiated contact; he hadn't even kept a way to reach her.

If that was the case for Qin Fang, then Li Yang was out of the question; hence, the news of Qin Fang's death hadn't reached Ye Huan, and naturally, she wouldn't contact him proactively.

Qin Fang was no important figure whose life or death would be everyone's concern; only his relatives and friends would care, and it wasn't something that everyone would know.

Speaking of Ye Huan, one can't help but mention the recent sensational case of Jincheng, the murder of Xishu's number one young master, Miao Junfeng. The case, due to involvement with a senior official's relative, was handed over to the provincial department for supervision.

With all leads running cold, the final conclusion was that Ye Huan, whom Miao Junfeng pursued, was kidnapped. Miao Junfeng tried to play the hero to rescue the damsel in distress, and although he managed to save the lady, he and his bodyguards lost their lives. As for the killer... it was said to be three international fugitives.

It was ironic that around the time Miao Junfeng was killed, these three international fugitives were spotted nearby Jincheng. Under the compulsion of resolving the case within a deadline, coupled with the manipulation of certain leaders, these three unfortunate men were pinned with the crime.

To become international criminals of their caliber truly required great skill, or else they would have been apprehended long ago. The police in Jincheng hadn't even determined their whereabouts before they had already left Xishu without a trace.

In the end, the case was helplessly classified as an unresolved mystery.

As for the other victim, Ye Huan, who disappeared mysteriously after giving her statement, it was rumored that she was kidnapped again, though there was no solid evidence.

"Ye Huan really is no simple character..."

Upon hearing about this from Li Yang, Qin Fang couldn't help but express such a sentiment. Without a doubt, it was Ye Huan's scheming, and Qin Fang had heard from her that this matter might be related to the mysterious Thousand Gate.

Qin Fang carried the title of a Thousand Gates Acolyte, yet so far, he knew only little about this profound and enigmatic organization, let alone its modern developments.

Of course, he had no idea what the title's true utility was and could only silently wait for an opportunity. He believed the day the mystery would be unraveled wasn't too far away.

...

But before returning to Ninghai, Qin Fang had another equally important matter to attend to: dealing with the herbs that Li Yang's people had brought back.

Qin Fang had arranged a time and place with Li Yang. It didn't take long for Li Yang to arrive with his men, not for a fight, but to deliver the herbs.

These herbs had been gathered by the warriors after Qin Fang's fall. The gathering process might have been incorrect, leading to loss of potency in the herbs, or they might even have been completely ruined.

Some might not even be the herbs Qin Fang needed but had been picked because they looked similar. All these required Qin Fang's reevaluation.

"All the herbs are here. These on this side were personally identified and gathered by you and are perfectly preserved... As for these on the other side, they were gathered by my men. Although they were very careful, some damage has been done. See if they can still be used for medicine..."

General Li's illness only required some days of recuperation and didn't actually require medication. Early in the morning, Qin Fang had already obtained a body-nourishing prescription from Elder Ma, and he arranged for Shen Liang to purchase all the necessary medicinal ingredients. He only needed to simply mix them to complete it.

However, it was these ingredients that Qin Fang was concerned about, for they were the materials needed for the Heart Nourishing Pill. Missing even one type was a significant deficiency for him.

After all, following this incident, Qin Fang wouldn't be able to organize so many people to enter the mountains to search for medicinal herbs again.

And successfully making the Heart Nourishing Pill was not guaranteed, even though the ingredients seemed plentiful. Even with a complete set of materials, it was not certain that the Heart Nourishing Pill could be made.

"Purple Dragon Grass, Dragon Tongue Moss, Plastic Heart Flower, Green Spirit Fruit... All four main ingredients are in hand, and their quality is very intact. Good, good..."

The first things Qin Fang checked were naturally the four main ingredients. He had personally gathered the first three, especially the Dragon Tongue Moss, which he harvested at the risk of his life. These two were without a doubt prefect.

As for the Green Spirit Fruit, it is a very special fruit, a type of grass fruit. Its skin is very thin, and if one uses slightly more force when picking it, the fruit will burst, and all the juice inside will flow out, thereby ruining its medicinal properties.

Looking at the Green Spirit Fruits that were carefully placed in the box, there weren't many— only four in total. Qin Fang could imagine just how difficult it had been to preserve these four.

The herb that grows Green Spirit Fruits is called Green Spirit Grass, a very rare herb that only bears fruit once every three years, producing about ten to twelve fruits each time.

But now only four remained; the rest were either touched or spoiled on the way back due to poor preservation.

That's why Qin Fang said that it was already quite difficult to retain these four fruits.

As all four main ingredients were preserved intact, it was the most fortunate thing for Qin Fang. He was also a bit proud; luckily, he had personally picked the first three, preventing the loss of their medicinal properties. If these three had been left to other warriors, he would have truly been in tears.

Besides the four main ingredients, there were nine adjunct ingredients. Some were used as medicine guides, some to neutralize the toxicity of the drugs, and others were to harmonize the properties of the medicine, as per the concept of "monarch, minister, assistant, and envoy" in traditional Chinese medicine...

In short, Qin Fang identified each ingredient one by one.

Although there were only nine adjunct ingredients, the actual number of medicinal materials Li Yang brought was as many as twenty. Many had extremely similar appearances, and those unfamiliar with the field could not discern the subtle differences, not to mention that the drawings Qin Fang had made were not particularly precise.

"Phew... thankfully!"

After Qin Fang finished identifying all the medicinal materials, he immediately discarded eleven types. Among these, some could cure diseases, some were poisonous herbs, and others were just ordinary plants...

Although some were complete and others were damaged, they all had one thing in common: they were useless to Qin Fang when concocting the Heart Nourishing Pill!

The other nine types were not all intact either; several had lost some of their potency. However, Qin Fang's Herb Identification Technique was quite exceptional. While identifying the herbs, it also displayed the degree of intactness of their medicinal properties. Coupled with the extraction function of Qin Fang's Herb Gathering Technique, the most quintessential part of the herbs could still be extracted.

Qin Fang concocted the medicine using these most essential parts. The integrity of the herbs only affected the quantity of essence that could be extracted and did not have much impact on the quality.

Qin Fang prepared a quiet room and brought the medicinal ingredients inside. Chu Yunxuan considerately chatted with Li Yang outside, not disturbing Qin Fang's alchemy. Of course, this also meant she prevented others from bothering him.

First, Qin Fang took from the Props Box the body-nourishing medicinal ingredients he had prepared in advance for General Li, mixed them according to the prescription provided by Elder Ma, and finally processed each batch into a single Elixir.

The only regret was that the prescription given by Elder Ma was not recognized by the System; it seemed that the prescription was not perfect...

This was not surprising, as prescriptions are usually tailored to an individual. Different conditions require different prescriptions, and even the dosages of the medications are different.

Only some very special prescriptions, such as the Detoxification Pill and the Heart Nourishing Pill, are recognized by the System.

In any case, these Elixirs were meant to nourish General Li's body. Once the Elixirs were formed, Qin Fang immediately assessed their properties to ensure they were harmless to the human body before he truly felt relieved.

Only after the body-nourishing Elixirs were completed did Qin Fang fully engage in the primary task at hand, which was to concoct the Heart Nourishing Pill.

The first step was to extract the essence of all the main and adjunct herbs and turn them into small spheres, so he could measure the doses according to the prescription and use the Pharmacopeia Technique to mix them...

The alchemy process was foolproof, hardly requiring much of Qin Fang's mental effort; rather, this extraction process was extremely important. Qin Fang had to be extremely cautious and not neglect the slightest detail!(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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