At the Herb Gathering Hall, the training grounds.
Ye Qin sat cross-legged on a straw mat, centering his qi in his dantian, eyes closed, meditating, drawing in breath and gathering energy. He silently circulated the
Ye Qin realized that although the manual's cover labeled it the Nourishing Body Sutra, the text inside consistently referred to it as the Sitzing in Oblivion Sutra.
The book was divided into two parts: the Preliminary Chapter,
Over the five months, Ye Qin had practiced the preliminary technique,
Ye Qin thought to himself, this must be the legendary internal zhenqi. It truly was wondrous.
Completing one full Great Heavenly Cycle, Ye Qin opened his eyes.
These five months had given him a certain understanding of the Sitzing in Oblivion Sutra.
The claim that practicing this technique allowed one to endure hardship, forgo food and water, and withstand cold or heat for three to five days was largely inaccurate.
This technique demanded eating—and eating a great deal. Ye Qin's appetite had soared, consuming massive amounts of food daily, which significantly bolstered his physical strength, quickened his limbs, and gradually sharpened his eyesight. Only after reaching a certain level of cultivation and achieving mental vigor could one withstand three to five days without sustenance.
The abundance of food over these five months had accelerated his mental cultivation speed. His appetite was excellent, and his frame, no longer frail and weak, had become solid. Carrying a hundred-pound sack, he could march several li at a brisk pace without tiring.
Still, every time he considered the peculiar internal art he had chosen, a hint of regret surfaced.
Ye Qin watched the other children training on the grounds with a touch of envy.
He hadn't known what martial arts were for initially. He had simply asked for a technique based on what he desired most at the time: a mind method that fostered endurance and allowed him to ignore hunger, cold, and thirst. By the time three or five months had passed and he understood what martial arts truly entailed, it was too late.
The training yard was filled with the flash of swords and saber light, the roar of powerful tiger cries, and the vibration of palm strikes. Or perhaps it was the lightness of movement, leaping heights exceeding ten feet. The forty-odd herb-gathering acolytes were mostly learning powerful martial arts, becoming formidable in a brawl.
Take his four fellow disciples, for instance.
Yang Yicheng studied an external martial art focused on the hands, the
After five months of practice, while nowhere near the level of tearing wolves and splitting tigers, a single punch delivered squarely to a green brick could shatter it into several fragments. This delighted Yang Yicheng, and he spent his days seeking partners for practice.
Ye Qin’s internal art only enhanced his physique; it possessed none of the defensive capabilities of common internal arts, so he dared not receive his punches.
Feng Xiao, nimble of body, chose a movement technique manual,
Qian Ruoxiu chose
Sun Ying selected a sword manual,
Any one of the four possessed far greater offensive power than Ye Qin's practice of the Sitzing in Oblivion Sutra. The
According to the rules of the Medicine King Gang, the external hall's herb-gathering acolytes had a three-year probationary period during which they could only study one technique and were forbidden from cross-training. Strictly prohibited was the exchange of manuals. Only internal hall pharmaceutical acolytes were permitted to study two.
After three years, herb-gathering acolytes were promoted to Herb-Gathering Apprentices, at which point they could select another manual from the scripture room.
Yang Yicheng and Feng Xiao often mocked him over this.
Thinking of this, Ye Qin felt a pang of regret; his hopes of becoming a martial arts master were unrealizable in the short term.
However, he was content.
During these past few months, mornings were dedicated to three skills: literacy and arithmetic, herbal identification, and emergency treatment. Afternoons were for training: static stances, horse stances, body-strengthening exercises, along with one external or internal martial art.
The Herb Gathering Hall mandated that acolytes memorize at least a thousand common medicinal herbs within five months—including their taste, function, indications, growing environment, and morphology. For unknown herbs, they were at least to discern their value. This averaged six to ten new herbs memorized daily.
Failure to identify herbs resulted in the lash—enforced by the law-enforcing disciples from the inner hall.
This finally clarified for Ye Qin the purpose of the exquisitely dressed youths he had first seen in the Herb Gathering Hall. They were all enforcers, highly skilled practitioners cultivated by the inner hall, mastering advanced internal and external martial arts far superior to those of the dedicated gatherers like them.
Ye Qin harbored no resentment. While the training in the Herb Gathering Hall was arduous, it was vastly superior to wandering the wilderness begging for scraps.
During this time, he gradually pieced together information about the Herb Gathering Hall from his seniors. The Herb Gathering Hall was a subordinate branch of the Medicine King Gang, a major martial arts society in Ping Province, divided into an Inner Hall and an Outer Hall.
The Inner Hall was managed by Vice Hall Master Ma and was responsible for pharmaceutics (including compounding, grading, drying, cutting, and preparing medicines), enforcement (core disciples), guarding (gatekeeping, transporting herbs), storefronts (managing shops, commerce), and general affairs (all the mundane necessities of life in the hall, overseen by Chief Steward Zhang).
The Outer Hall was managed by Vice Hall Master Ji and was responsible for herb gathering (collecting and identifying herbs).
The Medicine King Gang's main headquarters were in Wan'an Prefecture, the capital of Ping Province, with its primary business being medicinal materials. Gathering and preparing herbs were undoubtedly the most crucial aspects, split into the gathering system and the preparation system. The Herb Gathering Hall in Zhuqi County leaned heavily toward gathering, with some preparation capabilities.
The Medicine King Gang maintained a strict hierarchy with rigorous promotion systems.
Gathering System: Herb-Gathering Acolyte, Herb-Gathering Apprentice, Herb-Gathering Craftsman, Herb-Gathering Master, Herb-Gathering Grandmaster.
Preparation System: Pharmaceutical Acolyte, Pharmaceutical Apprentice, Pharmaceutical Craftsman, Pharmaceutical Master, Pharmaceutical Grandmaster.
Grandmasters resided only at the main headquarters. Branch halls in county towns housed Masters and Grandmasters, though Grandmasters were generally on par with Hall Masters and Vice Hall Masters. Vice Hall Master Ma was a Pharmaceutical Master, and Vice Hall Master Ji was a Herb-Gathering Master. The Head Hall Master, Li the Good Benefactor, was a famous martial expert in Zhuqi County's martial circles; though unskilled in preparation or gathering, he had familial ties to the Medicine King Gang Leader.
Ye Qin's master, Herb-Gathering Master Wang Hong, was the next rank below Master within the Herb Gathering Hall. There were only a few dozen individuals of the Master rank in the hall.
At the Master level, they rarely went out gathering themselves; instead, they focused on teaching disciples, nurturing successive batches of qualified Herb-Gathering Acolytes, and sending Herb-Gathering Craftsmen to lead the acolytes on collection trips.
Herb-Gathering Craftsmen were not qualified to take on disciples; they only led acolytes on excursions, constantly venturing into the most dangerous parts of the deep mountains to gather herbs.
Herb-Gathering Acolytes had to follow Craftsmen into the deep mountains for three years, forbidden from entering alone. Good performance might earn them scarce rewards from the Craftsmen. After three years of training, upon completing the process, they underwent a formal 'Knife Handover Ceremony' by their Master and were promoted to Herb-Gathering Apprentice. Apprentices could gather independently, either alone or partnered with other Apprentices, submitting their collected herbs to the Herb-Gathering Master and receiving income based on their yield. After seven or eight years, those with good records were promoted to Craftsmen. Craftsmen enjoyed relatively high status, receiving a direct share of the Hall's profits and earning substantial income.
The Herb Gathering Hall assessed the rank of its gatherers based on their collection performance.
Ye Qin occasionally overheard talk within the hall that many gatherers died every year. Those who survived became increasingly rare, gaining higher status, and being assigned to the most dangerous and complex areas to collect the rarest herbs.
Such rumors instilled significant panic among the Herb-Gathering Acolytes.
However, Vice Hall Master Ji of the Herb Gathering Hall later promised the acolytes that once their gathering years were complete and they became Craftsmen, they could choose to continue gathering or transfer to guard shops or assist in preparation at the county town's larger pharmacies, thus enjoying comfort without risking death in the wilderness. This somewhat stabilized the acolytes' minds, giving them something to look forward to.
Therefore, Ye Qin's greatest current ambition was to complete his apprenticeship quickly, accumulate achievements, and become a Herb-Gathering Craftsman.
He currently had no inkling how difficult becoming a Herb-Gathering Craftsman truly was.