’The most important thing is to remove the negative side effects of the medicinal power. The formula must be usable once a day, or even multiple times a day...’

’...And then... comes improving and enhancing the medicinal properties...’

The night was deep, yet the candlelight in the room still flickered. Chu Mu was completely absorbed in researching the medicinal formula he envisioned.

After several months of study and a massive investment of "Spiritual Radiance Value," Chu Mu’s theoretical knowledge was abundant.

And with this abundance of theoretical knowledge supporting him, he had a great many ideas.

A medicinal formula, whether for healing the sick and saving lives or for assisting in cultivation, was like a fixed strategy for governing a state or deploying troops.

The so-called Monarch, Minister, Adjuvant, and Envoy formed the fundamental composition of a formula.

The Monarch was also called the primary, and the Minister the supplementary, hence the saying: primary, supplementary, assistant, and envoy.

That is, the main herb, the supplementary herb, the assistant herb, and the envoy herb!

When creating a formula, the most important step was naturally to determine the main herb.

The main herb, just as its name implied, was the ingredient that played the primary role in treating an illness or aiding in cultivation.

The supplementary herb, also as its name suggested, was meant to support the main herb and compensate for any of its deficiencies.

The assistant herb had three functions: first, to aid the main and supplementary herbs in strengthening their medicinal properties; second, to eliminate or mitigate the toxicity or potency of the main and supplementary herbs; and third, depending on the need, to use an herb with properties opposite to the main herb but which could still create a complementary effect.

The envoy herb’s main role was to harmonize the effects of the main, supplementary, and assistant herbs, allowing their medicinal properties to combine into a single force and perfect the final effect of the formula.

What Chu Mu needed to do now was prescribe the right remedy for the ailment.

The "ailment" was unquestionably clear: purely to support Qi and Blood Cultivation!

What was the key to Qi and Blood Cultivation?

It was Essence Qi!

And where did Essence Qi come from? Grains, meats and vegetables, and restorative medicinal herbs...

The main herb was easy to choose, because the "ailment" of needing Essence Qi practically locked down the range of options.

It would have to be some kind of nourishing herb. Since he couldn’t obtain a "Spirit Medicine" that had grown beyond its normal lifespan, he could obviously only choose a common nourishing herb as the main ingredient.

While the original formulas in the Body Refining Technique were ordinary, their main herbs, chosen from a very limited range, were clearly not wrong.

What Chu Mu had to do was choose and experiment with the supplementary, assistant, and envoy herbs to select and refine a more perfect combination.

’I’ve removed the original three supplementary herbs and two envoy herbs, replacing them with Zhengyang Grass and Cyan Calm Ginseng...’

About fifteen minutes later, he set down the Centimeter Scale. Chu Mu held a palm-sized medicine packet, his brow slightly furrowed. He walked over to the stove, untied the packet, and poured all the herbs directly into the clay pot.

One ladle of water, then a slow simmer over a gentle heat.

Chu Mu sat cross-legged before the stove, carefully controlling the fire. According to the medical texts, thick, nourishing medicines should be decocted slowly over a gentle flame to extract their medicinal effects to the greatest extent.

Furthermore, if a formula contained highly toxic ingredients, it also required a slow simmer over gentle heat to reduce or remove the toxicity.

And the formula Chu Mu was modifying contained one such highly toxic herb!

Using a potent poison to assist the medicinal properties was not exactly an unorthodox approach in pharmacology. In medical practice, especially for emergencies, the conventional and unconventional often needed to complement each other.

And this "unconventional" element was often a poison. But when a poison was used correctly, its effects were frequently much stronger than those of a conventional medicine.

’Simmer on gentle heat for fifteen minutes, then switch to high heat and cook rapidly for half a quarter-hour...’

Chu Mu poked at the firewood in the stove, his gaze occasionally shifting to the hourglass timer at his side. There was no single standard for this brewing time.

Strictly speaking, the brewing method and time for every formula—whether for treating illness or, like now, for aiding cultivation—were different and needed to be determined by the herbs in the formula.

However, unless there were compelling factors, such as poison or an emergency, the heat for brewing was generally not controlled with such precision.

After all, for an ordinary person, whether the medicinal properties were perfectly extracted didn’t make much of a difference.

’Controlling the fire’s temperature is also far too vague...’

’If only...’

Gazing at the flickering flames in the stove, Chu Mu couldn’t help but think of the legendary Cultivation Immortal Realm. If one were to step onto the Immortal Path, could one achieve such control?

Was the legendary art of Alchemy a higher level of understanding both people and medicine?

As his imagination ran wild, the stick in his hand moved unconsciously, controlling the heat.

"WHOOSH..."

After fifteen minutes, he picked up a blowpipe. With a deep breath, he blew a stream of air through the pipe and into the stove. The small flames, fanned by the airflow, began to spread.

As the fire grew fiercer, the medicinal aroma in the room grew stronger. Hot steam swirled before Chu Mu, but he seemed oblivious, his eyes fixed on the flames in the stove.

’It’s ready!’

When the time was up, Chu Mu decisively pulled out most of the firewood, leaving only a few embers to maintain the residual heat.

He opened the medicine pot, and a rich medicinal fragrance assailed his nostrils, making him feel a faint sense of agitation.

A thin layer of medicinal liquid was clearly visible at the bottom of the pot. He took out a ladle and scooped one spoonful into a porcelain bowl he had prepared earlier.

The liquid was slightly viscous and dark brown, with a translucent, crystalline appearance.

Chu Mu pondered for a moment, then dipped a chopstick into the liquid and brought it to his mouth for a small taste.

It was astringent at first, followed by a sweet aftertaste.

The flavor was no different from what he had expected.

’Spiritual Radiance!’

He chanted inwardly. As he activated the "Spiritual Radiance Blessing," he swallowed the liquid.

In that instant, his Qi Blood circulated, protecting the internal organs the medicinal liquid was about to enter.

At the same time, his profound perception locked onto the medicinal properties that spread through his body after ingestion.

Although the formula used a highly toxic substance as a supplementary herb, the combination of main, supplementary, assistant, and envoy herbs was based on sound principles.

According to Chu Mu’s predictions, the efficacy might vary, but the fundamental goal of supporting Qi and Blood Cultivation was unlikely to be wrong.

If he was wrong, it would only prove that this modification of the formula was flawed from the very beginning. He would then have to seriously consider whether his arduous studies of late had sent him down the wrong path.

A moment later, Chu Mu let out a sudden grunt. His slightly closed eyes snapped open, and the medicine he had just ingested was spat back out.

"The medicinal properties are nourishing, and the direction is correct. The overall medicinal power is about one-tenth stronger than the original formula..."

"The toxicity was not handled as expected. The brewing process can be ruled out as the cause, so the problem should be with the combination of herbs. If used, the interval between doses would likely have to be even longer than the original formula’s..."

"The medicinal properties are unstable. It causes a pressure on the heart similar to Palpitations. The reason is unknown and requires investigation..."

"Perhaps I could try changing the main herb. Ginseng is gentle, but that doesn’t fit the unorthodox approach. Or maybe that needs to be changed..."

...

The brush flew across the paper as lines of text appeared, containing both problems Chu Mu could confirm and his own speculative guesses.

He filled one sheet of paper, but the brush didn’t stop. He switched to a new sheet and continued to write.

In the end, his brush had filled five sheets of white paper before he finally set it down.

There were many problems, far more than he had anticipated even in his worst-case scenario. But looking at this long list of issues, Chu Mu’s uncertain heart began to settle.

He wasn’t afraid of having many problems. As long as there were problems, he could find ways to solve them.

What he feared most was being completely unable to identify what was wrong.

...