I'm quitting!

Chapter 39 A Medical Project in the Cultivation World Starting from Zero

Emerald green essence seeped from Shan Ling'er's fingertips, like spring vines just beginning to bloom, or like a clear spring silently seeping into the soil.

Lin Xiaofan stood three steps away, observing closely—

Take three breaths, sinking the breath into the lower abdomen; take seven breaths, spreading the breath throughout the limbs. Each breath in and out subtly aligns with the natural rhythm of plant growth.

With each breath, the vital energy meanders down the meridians, then rises back up, nourishing the limbs and bones in a continuous cycle. Like roots drawing water, like leaves receiving sunlight.

"Roots connect to the earth's veins, leaves absorb the pure spirit," Lin Xiaofan murmured softly.

"So the key to 'the original wood energy nourishing the spirit' lies not in the wood energy itself, but in the process of 'life'?"

If we compare the soul of Mi Lanfang's daughter to a withered tree, then the inner demons are the termites, and the dissipation of the soul is the root rot.

What he wanted to do was not to forcibly infuse the wood with energy, but to rebuild a natural order of growth. First, strengthen the roots, then nourish the branches, so that the leaves can flourish again.

"Thank you, Ling'er," Lin Xiaofan thought to himself.

Dan Ling'er was completely unaware that she had become a "living teaching material." She only felt that her senior brother's gaze was particularly gentle today, like a spring breeze in March. Her heart was filled with sweetness, and her true energy flowed more and more smoothly.

His aura increased by another three points.

Several withered trees on the cliffside quietly sprouted new buds.

With the foundation of the wooden path clear, Lin Xiaofan turned to the Sutra Repository.

As you push open the door, the scent of pine resin and cinnabar hits you. Wu Daozheng is deep in thought, with seven or eight kinds of spiritual ink scattered on his desk and talisman papers piled up like a mountain. He is scratching his head in frustration.

"Elder Lin... Elder Lin!" Wu Dao suddenly stood up, nearly tipping the inkstone over.

"No need for formalities." Lin Xiaofan casually pulled up a chair and sat down, his gaze sweeping across the table. "What are you studying?"

"Reporting to the elder, this disciple wishes to reduce the activation threshold of the 'Fire Gathering Talisman' by another 20%, so that even mortals can control it..." Wu Dao shook his head with a wry smile, "However, it's stuck on the core array pattern... Mortals lack true essence and cannot activate the 'Spirit Gathering Array Pattern' within the talisman."

Lin Xiaofan nodded slightly, then suddenly changed the subject: "Wu Dao, have you ever dabbled in the underlying array patterns of wood-type talismans?"

"Wood element?" Wu Dao was taken aback. "This disciple is quite familiar with the array patterns of the 'Rejuvenation Talisman' and 'Life-Giving Talisman'... Elder, you want to—"

"I've recently been working on a wood-based spirit field circulation array," Lin Xiaofan said calmly. "I've encountered a bottleneck... If the wood energy enters the array and only heals in one direction, it's too forceful. I need the wood-based spirit energy to form a 'two-way circulation' within the talisman, and the flow rate must be absolutely controllable. How should I embed these 'throttling' array patterns?"

Wu Dao's thoughts raced, and his subordinates were already sketching a draft on the talisman paper: "If we're talking about conserving water, I can embed a 'sluice gate' structure into the array patterns! Like a water channel gate, it can intercept water in layers and control the flow segment by segment."

"The idea is sound, but a single-layered dam is prone to collapse," Lin Xiaofan pointed out at the opportune moment. "Furthermore... if there's no source of water within the formation, meaning no cultivator's true essence is actively drawing it out, how can this wood-type talisman operate on its own?"

Wu Dao paused, his pen poised. "Elder, this is an ironclad rule of the talisman path. Without true essence to activate it, the array patterns are lifeless. Unless... unless it resonates with the breath of plants."

Lin Xiaofan's eyes flickered slightly: "What if we change the core array pattern into a 'resonance cavity'? Instead of actively absorbing true essence, it passively amplifies the weak attributes in the environment. For example, the Fire Gathering Talisman does not require people to input fire-type true essence. It only takes the meager heat from the surface of ordinary people, or even the heat generated by friction, as a 'catalyst', which is amplified step by step through the resonance cavity until it reaches the activation threshold."

Wu Daoru was struck by lightning and stood frozen in place.

"Resonance cavity...passive amplification..." he muttered to himself, then lunged at the table, his brush moving like dragons and snakes, tearing down the core array of the Fire Gathering Talisman and starting over.

Half an incense stick later, a brand new fire-gathering talisman was completed.

Wu Dao's hands trembled; without channeling any true energy, he merely rubbed the talisman paper vigorously with his fingertips—

call!

The talisman ignited without wind, and a warm, orange-red flame leaped out of thin air, illuminating Wu Dao's ecstatic face.

"It's done! Even mortals can be controlled!" Wu Dao was so excited that he was incoherent. He looked at Lin Xiaofan with shock and reverence in his eyes.

Lin Xiaofan's expression remained calm as he simply said, "Give me a jade slip detailing the principles of the 'three-layer nested throttling' and 'resonance cavity' in the wood-element array. I need it to deduce the array."

"This disciple will tidy it up immediately!"

Before long, Wu Dao presented the jade slip with both hands, his heart churning with turbulent emotions—

Elder Lin didn't come to ask about wood-type formations at all. He clearly saw through his bottleneck and deliberately used the concepts of "water without a source" and "resonance" to subtly enlighten him!

"Thank you for your guidance, Elder!" Wu Dao bowed deeply.

Lin Xiaofan waved his hand, held the jade slip, and drifted away.

Upon reaching a secluded path, he exclaimed in a low voice, "My goodness, this kid is born to make a living with talismans."

[Boss, you're quite something! You helped them overcome the obstacle with just a few words.]

"I just think that since the threshold is difficult to lower, we might as well try a different approach: increase the input in order to trigger the activation point."

Let's just say that's how it is.

Are you currently flush with enough materials?

Lin Xiaofan glanced at the jade slip in his palm: "The basic framework is complete, but... it's far from enough."

Inside the alchemy room, the air was thick with the aroma of medicinal herbs, and waves of heat surged.

Dan Xuanzi was manipulating three alchemy furnaces to rotate simultaneously, the flame patterns on the furnace walls flickering erratically, like the ebb and flow of his emotions. His brows were deeply furrowed, and sweat beaded on his forehead; clearly, he had reached the most dangerous moment in alchemy.

"Senior!" Upon seeing Lin Xiaofan enter, Dan Xuanzi hurriedly spared a wisp of his mind to pay his respects, but dared not relax his alchemical fire in the slightest.

"Don't stop." Lin Xiaofan walked to the furnace. "I've come to ask you something. Do you have any pills for regulating vital energy and clearing the mind?"

"Regulate the vital energy and purify the spirit?" Dan Xuanzi smiled bitterly as he controlled the fire. "There is a 'Heart-Clearing Pill,' and this furnace is it. Right now, we are at the critical moment of finishing the pills. This pill is very potent, and it is easy to backfire when calming the restless inner demons. The medicinal power clashes when finishing the pills, and three furnaces have already exploded."

Lin Xiaofan rubbed his chin: Was he implying that I should give him some pointers? But I don't understand... Should I play dumb?

After a few breaths of internal struggle, he finally spoke: "I've recently been researching a technique called 'using qi to carry medicine.' If the medicinal power is diluted and not swallowed directly, but used as a 'guide drug' and enveloped by wood-elemental spiritual energy, how should the medicinal properties be adjusted to achieve a gentle and controlled effect?"

Dan Xuanzi's expression turned serious: "If spiritual energy is used to envelop the medicinal power, the Heart-Clearing Pill can act as a vanguard to suppress the agitation. However, ordinary pills are potent and easily cause secondary damage if forcibly enveloped in spiritual energy and forced into the meridians..."

"Therefore, we need a 'catalyst'," Lin Xiaofan continued. "If we don't forcibly suppress the medicinal power, but instead introduce a trace of 'gentle gathering' spiritual energy as a buffer layer when closing the pill, allowing the medicinal power to gather on its own, what do you think?"

Dan Xuanzi shuddered, and his eyes suddenly gleamed.

Instead of forcing the medicinal liquid to fuse with the fire of the alchemy, he formed hand seals and channeled a warm, wood-elemental spiritual energy into the furnace, where it condensed into a thin "spiritual energy buffer membrane".

The originally violent and clashing medicinal liquids, under the protection of this membrane, flowed and blended on their own like rivers flowing into the sea, and the medicinal properties gradually became mild and gentle.

"Freeze!"

Dan Xuanzi gave a low shout, and as the furnace lid was lifted, three round, jade-like pills with a faint, clear light flew into the jade bottle.

"It's done! The improved Qingxin Pill has a 100% success rate!" Dan Xuanzi's hands trembled slightly as he bowed and thanked him repeatedly before immersing himself in the passion of alchemy once more.

Lin Xiaofan quietly left, with another document in his hand for further study.

"Is this also 'nonsense'?" Lao Xian joked.

"It's not entirely 'made up,' but... I never expected that Master Dan would use it to comprehend a new method for collecting elixirs."

By the time we returned to the bamboo hut on the back hill, it was nearly dusk.

The setting sun, like ochre, slanted through the bamboo grove, turning the scrolls on the table into a warm gold.

Lin Xiaofan laid out his gains for the day one by one—

Dan Ling'er's cultivation notes were used to lay the foundation for the basic framework;

Wu Daomu's array patterns are used to construct the "spiritual field channel" that connects and amplifies the energy.

The Danxuanzi alchemy method aims to achieve the goals of "using qi to carry medicine" and "using the power of medicine to nourish the body."

The three elements revolve around a core: a wood-based spiritual plant, whose roots are connected to the earth's veins and whose leaves absorb pure spiritual energy. It nourishes the soul with the warmth of the original wood and can soothe the restlessness of inner demons.

"Old Xian, schedule a time."

Here we go!

With a flick of its holographic fishtail, a pale blue light screen was projected before its eyes:

【Treatment Plan v0.1】

[Phase 1: The Mind-Clearing Pill initially suppresses the inner demons]

[Phase Two: Constructing a Spiritual Field Channel with Wood-type Talismans]

[Third Stage: Guiding the Origin of Wood Energy into the Soul]

[Phase Four: Nourishing and Strengthening the Spirit]

"Hmm... the core difficulty lies in obtaining the primordial wood energy."

This is a major flaw.

[The primordial wood energy cannot be extracted from just any wood-type cultivator. That thing is equivalent to the lifeblood of a wood cultivator; extracting too much will damage their foundation.]

Lin Xiaofan stared at the light screen, pondering for a long time.

"Could we use the Three Green Cauldrons' 'Refining All Things' property to purify the wood energy in ordinary spiritual materials to the 'Origin' grade?"

[Theoretically feasible, but the purification efficiency and the extent of energy loss are currently unknown.]

"Then let us verify the truth through practice."

Lin Xiaofan immediately took out a thousand-year-old snow ginseng—one of the rare medicinal materials that Su Lang had given him, with an extremely strong wood attribute.

The snow ginseng was placed into the Three Green Cauldrons, and the refining process slowly unfolded.

One hour later—

A wisp of extremely green energy rose from the cauldron, its purity far exceeding that of ordinary wood-based spiritual energy, faintly exuding the primal charm of newly sprouted vegetation.

"Phew..." Lin Xiaofan let out a long breath. "How was it?"

[Preliminary assessment...approaching the quality of primordial wood energy, with a purity of approximately 87%]

"Still not enough." Lin Xiaofan frowned. "Adjust it again."

In the days that followed—

Lin Xiaofan devoted almost all his energy to probing and testing the solution.

In the morning, he sought guidance from Shan Ling'er on his cultivation. In the afternoon, he went to the Sutra Repository to exchange talismans with Wu Dao. In the evening, he went to the alchemy room to mix pills with Dan Xuanzi. Late at night, he returned to his shed and used the Three Green Cauldrons to repeatedly purify the wood energy.

Day after day, the plan was continuously fine-tuned.

The spiritual energy channel has been changed from a three-layer nested structure to multiple overlapping nested structures, increasing the concentration of medicinal power from 10% to 40%, and the purification temperature control curve of the Three Green Cauldrons has been iterated sixteen times...

Ma Qiu occasionally uses his talent for "distinguishing genuine medicines" to identify the quality of wood energy, and has become an indispensable quality inspector.

On the morning of the tenth day.

Inside the bamboo shed, the solution displayed on the pale blue light screen has been iterated from v0.1 to v3.7.

"Haa—"

Lin Xiaofan rubbed his sleepy eyes, his voice still carrying the raspy sound of the morning sun.

"Old Xian, how's it going?"

[Theoretical feasibility: 92.3%; practical error tolerance: moderate. Core risk: Insufficient purity of primordial wood energy, potentially causing secondary damage to the soul. It is recommended to increase the purity to over 98%.]

"98%..." Lin Xiaofan leaned back in his chair, his finger pressed against his forehead, lost in thought.

The boss is really going all out!

[Since the launch of this program, it has only been ten days.]

"Hmm? Is something wrong?"

Starting from scratch, traversing three unfamiliar fields—wood-based Taoist magic, talisman engineering, and elixir preparation—you have constructed a complete soul healing method. What so-called "alchemy masters" and "talisman masters" might not be able to achieve even after decades of effort, you have already created a prototype in just ten days.

Lin Xiaofan was slightly taken aback, then burst into laughter.

"Why are you praising me too? This is just a theoretical plan. When we actually start working on it, who knows how many details will need to be filled in."

The boss is really strict with himself! Maybe he should switch to medicine?

"No... This one case alone has already kept us incredibly busy. If we were to deal with it year after year, we'd probably go bald."

Lin Xiaofan got up and walked to the clearing in the bamboo forest. The morning breeze caressed his face, and his shadow moved slightly in the sunlight.

"Compared to that, I still prefer the 'morning exercise' here."