Compendium of Materia Medica, a monumental work on pharmacology penned in a previous life by the ancient master physician, Li Shizhen. Nie Kong, however, harbored no lingering ambition regarding this; the medicines of his former existence were practically useless here. Naming his pharmacopeia after the Compendium of Materia Medica was merely to satisfy a slight, private quirk.
From the second day onward, Nie Kong became extraordinarily busy, deducing medicinal formulas by day and refining seventh-grade elixirs with ten-tenths fusion degrees by night.
One per day!
The elixirs Nie Kong refined were not static. For instance, among nearly twenty formulas provided by Hua Yi, the Grand Elder of the Tiandizong, there was a seventh-grade elixir called the "Dragon Orchid Jade Bamboo Pill." If the herbs were all present, Nie Kong would refine one Dragon Orchid Jade Bamboo Pill for Hua You. If the herbs were incomplete, he would substitute another seventh-grade elixir.
At this time, the medicinal herbs collected by Long Xuechan in Luocheng were also continuously delivered, the first batch amounting to over a thousand varieties. Fortunately, Nie Xingyun and Lian Tianxin had arrived at the Spirit Abode long ago; with the aid of two masters, Nie Kong was finally freed from these trivial matters.
About twenty days later, all the formulas had been deduced. What satisfied Nie Kong was that not a single Spirit Pharmacist had tried to cheat the process.
Consequently, Nie Kong distributed the seventh-grade elixirs quite readily.
"..."
"Good, good, indeed a ten-tenths fusion degree."
"Young brother Nie Kong, I never expected you to refine the 'Eight Meridian Golden Pill' for me; this is excellent!"
"Little brother, what about mine?"
"..."
As dawn broke, the Clear Heart Hall echoed with cries of surprise and excitement, one after another. A few minutes later, You Li, Hua You, and the others had all received their respective seventh-grade elixirs.
Nie Kong lightly clapped his hands, drawing everyone’s attention, and smiled warmly, "Esteemed seniors, are you satisfied with the seventh-grade elixirs this junior refined for you?"
"Satisfied! Satisfied!"
The crowd responded almost in unison; the lingering dissatisfaction in their hearts vanished the moment they saw Nie Kong deliver the elixirs as promised.
"It is good that you are satisfied."
Nie Kong laughed loudly, "Before all you seniors depart, this junior has one more matter I wish to request your assistance with; I hope you will not refuse."
"Young brother Nie Kong, please speak." Hua You suppressed the excitement surging in his chest, clutching the Dragon Orchid Jade Bamboo Pill as if it were a rare treasure.
"If it is within my power, this old man will certainly not refuse."
"..."
Everyone spoke up, yet they retained a degree of wariness in their hearts—not entirely their fault, given how unnerved they were by the "small favor" from more than twenty days ago.
"The esteemed seniors here represent most of the great clans and sects on the Heavenly Spirit Continent. Besides them, we have not yet fully collected the medicinal formulas from sects like the Spirit God Hall and the Malu Sacred Mountain. Therefore, this junior wishes to ask all of you seniors to help this junior collect their medicinal herbs as much as possible," Nie Kong said with a smile.
"Haha, so that's it! I thought it was some momentous undertaking!"
"Young brother Nie Kong, I possess several secret medicines from the Malu Sacred Mountain; I will send them over in two months."
"I also have two eighth-grade elixirs secretly refined by the Spirit God Hall."
"..."
Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief, their tension easing.
Their reaction was entirely within Nie Kong's expectations. Seeing this, Nie Kong smiled conspiratorially, "Then I shall trouble you esteemed seniors. If you obtain new medicinal formulas, please have someone send them directly to the Prohibited Spirit Stele outside. As long as someone enters, this junior will know, and a token of thanks will be sent for every single formula received."
Hua Yi stroked his beard and chuckled, "This benefits all of us, young brother need not be so polite."
"Exactly, exactly..."
"..."
Half an hour later, Nie Kong finally escorted You Li, Hua You, and the others to the exit of the Spirit Abode. Nie Kong had already lifted the blockade on the exit the night before.
Figures vanished before his eyes, and in less than half a minute, only Ling Xiao and Mu Chonglou remained around Nie Kong. Both of them had long decided to stay behind to assist Nie Kong in compiling the pharmacopeia and would not depart with the others. Besides them, Hua Yaolin, Hua Qiongyu, Long Zhaojun, and Gu Changgong also remained in the Spirit Abode.
"Nie Kong, the move you just pulled off was quite brilliant," Mu Chonglou withdrew his gaze and said with a smile.
"Indeed. Once they leave, they will be more diligent than anyone else in collecting the medicinal herbs," Ling Xiao understood Mu Chonglou's implication and chuckled.
"..."
Nie Kong couldn't help but smile as well.
The Heavenly Spirit Continent boasted numerous sects and great clans, and the seventh-grade Spirit Pharmacists and eighth-grade Medicine Kings he had invited could only represent about half of the existing powers. It was important to remember that besides these ranks, many other forces possessed fifth-grade and sixth-grade Spirit Pharmacists. Some of these forces might have once had seventh-grade Spirit Pharmacists or eighth-grade Medicine Kings but were temporarily in decline, yet they still guarded a considerable number of secret medicines.
Moreover, there were the two massive powers: the Spirit God Hall and the Malu Sacred Mountain.
You Li, Hua You, and the others had contributed their sects' formulas, but the Spirit God Hall and the Malu Sacred Mountain had not. Once Nie Kong's pharmacopeia was promulgated across the world, the Spirit God Hall and others would have intimate knowledge of their secret medicines, yet they themselves would remain ignorant of their rivals' formulas.
With this asymmetry, declining forces might well rise, and already powerful forces would become even mightier. While the overall strength of their sects would also increase, it would absolutely be less than that of their rivals. How could You Li, Hua You, and the others stand by and watch such a thing happen?
Thus, collecting the medicinal herbs of the Spirit God Hall, Malu Sacred Mountain, and others for Nie Kong to decipher was the best way to eliminate the future gap between them. Even if Nie Kong hadn't explicitly requested it, they likely would have sent the herbs over before long; doing so now made it perfectly justifiable.
Furthermore, Nie Kong had openly stated that a token of thanks would be sent upon receiving the herbs.
When Nie Kong was challenging various parties previously, he hadn't approached those fifth and sixth-grade Spirit Pharmacists for two reasons: first, he didn't have the time to seek them out one by one; second, for this very reason. As for whether the pharmacopeia's release would offend those powers, Nie Kong gave it no thought. Since he was even going to publicize the medicinal formulas of the Spirit God Hall and the Malu Sacred Mountain, he certainly wouldn't worry about weaker sects and clans.
Now that You Li and the others had departed, they would likely notify their respective sects and clans to begin their actions as soon as they exited the Prohibited Spirit Marsh.
With this thought, Nie Kong turned to Mu Chonglou and said with a smile, "Great Ancestor Grandpa, I will trouble you to inform the Lingbao Pavilion as well. We cannot place all our hopes on them."
"Naturally, I shall issue the command now." Mu Chonglou smiled faintly, and his figure vanished abruptly from the Spirit Abode exit.
"Nie Kong, this old master will also go out to deal with the affairs of the Langna Sect."
"As Sect Master Ling wishes."
"..."
After watching Ling Xiao depart, Nie Kong also headed toward the Medicine Pagoda, where a mountain of various herbs awaited his task of distinguishing their medicinal properties one by one.
...