Chapter 29: Medicine

The soldiers cheered with joy—two gold coins, a full two months' pay! Since they had begun serving here, the most they had ever earned from hunting was a few dozen silver coins. The soldiers loudly praised the Honorable Mage's generosity. Shaoke felt no sting from giving away the gold coins. For him, obtaining such valuable items out of thin air was something that even thousands of common gold coins couldn't buy. In total, he had given away just over two common gold coins.

At Shaoke's request, the excited soldiers began carefully grinding down the large stone. Shaoke, too, was too excited to care about the flying stone dust, standing nearby to watch. He didn't want the soldiers to accidentally create an opening in the stone, causing the liquid inside to leak out. If that happened, his loss wouldn't be measurable in gold coins.

As for this discovery, Shaoke had no intention of sharing it equally with the other two mages. In fact, he planned to give them nothing at all, as he had found it entirely on his own.

The stone was soon ground down to a size Shaoke deemed suitable. Originally over a meter tall, it had been carefully reduced by the soldiers to about a foot in size. The surface of the stone was densely covered with various strange and intricate patterns. Based on his reading, Shaoke believed they were now close to the hollow part of the stone.

Carefully, he used a small drill to bore into a corner of the stone at an angle. Shaoke was now somewhat nervous. He feared he might have misjudged, which would not only mean his earlier excitement was in vain but also likely earn him the soldiers' silent mockery for his previous actions.

"It's... it's hollow!" The soldier drilling trembled as he stopped his work, turning to Shaoke with a shaky voice. "Lord Mage Xueye, it's hollow, it's hollow!"

"Good, slowly pull the drill out, be careful," Shaoke said excitedly. The surrounding soldiers cautiously gathered around, eager to get a closer look at the thing that had earned them two gold coins.

As the hardened steel drill was slowly withdrawn, Shaoke felt his spirit become slightly more active. This further confirmed the possibility that the stone contained empty stone liquid.

He quickly brought a prepared small porcelain vial under the drill bit. Every drop that fell was worth dozens of common gold coins—almost as much as all of Shaoke's current wealth combined. As expected, a mixture of empty stone liquid and stone dust slowly dripped from the drill into the vial. Three or four drops fell before no more liquid came out.

This time, Shaoke had prepared a larger porcelain vial. He had the soldiers carefully lift the stone and slowly pour out the empty stone liquid inside. They managed to fill nearly half the vial before no more liquid flowed out. A milky-white pearl, about the size of a little fingernail, also rolled out from the hollow space. Since it wasn't the right time to retrieve it, Shaoke left it in the vial for now.

The soldiers took some grape wine and slowly poured it into the stone, then collected it in a small jar. They repeated this process dozens of times before finally concluding this harvest.

After carefully storing the vial of empty stone liquid, Shaoke had the captain distribute the grape wine used to rinse the stone's interior among the soldiers. After all, it had been mixed with a few drops of empty stone liquid. Though heavily diluted, it still had some effect on the soldiers' spirits.

After the busy work, under the captain's orders, the soldiers lay on their beds, still excited, and carefully savored the grape wine they had just received. Even though, after countless reflections, they still didn't feel any special changes, they believed that the noble medicine, which only mages could afford, couldn't be without effect. They simply thought they hadn't noticed it yet.

After the soldiers quieted down, Shaoke carefully took out a drop of empty stone liquid, diluted it in a cup of snow grape wine, drank it, and began his Meditation.

Not long into his meditation, Shaoke felt his mental space slowly fill with milky-white specks of light, even smaller than his spiritual light points. They divided into two parts. Most of them gradually gathered together, forming a small vortex next to the three-pointed star he had visualized during meditation. This vortex attracted the surrounding spiritual light points, causing them to swirl within it. Shaoke quickly stopped meditating and focused his mind to observe. After about half a magic hour, he confirmed the effects of the empty stone liquid he had discovered.

It turned out that the empty stone liquid Shaoke had consumed was not the kind sold in mage apothecaries, which was mixed with plant essence. Moreover, his empty stone liquid was over ten thousand years old, far superior to those that were only a few hundred or a few thousand years old. Shaoke discovered that the vortex formed by the empty stone liquid purified spiritual energy even more effectively than his current Meditation Method. This delighted him beyond measure. It seemed that merchants, even when selling items to mages, weren't much different from those in his previous life—driven by huge profits! From what Shaoke knew, the empty stone liquid sold in mage apothecaries had only about half the effect of his current meditation method. Depending on its age, it lasted between three to five magic hours, or even longer. Now, all he had to do was wait and observe how long this effect would last, so he could compare it with the merchants' products.

Although empty stone liquid couldn't be used with most other medicines, it didn't interfere with a mage's meditation. In fact, it slightly enhanced the effects of meditation.

Shaoke didn't just sit there idly waiting for the effects to wear off. Instead, he re-entered his mental space and resumed meditation. This time, he visualized the three-pointed star directly above the vortex. Although there was no special effect, he instinctively felt that this might improve his meditation efficiency.

Spiritual light points continuously flowed into the three-pointed star and the small vortex. When they emerged again, they were largely the same. However, the former required the mage's constant mental guidance, while the latter was maintained by the medicine's effects. The advantages and disadvantages were immediately clear. Shaoke decided that by the time he reached the Magister rank, he absolutely could not lack such speed-enhancing medicines, regardless of the type.

When Shaoke felt he had meditated for about ten magic hours, the vortex formed by the medicine slowly dissipated. This astonished him—ten magic hours! If he could continuously take the medicine, it would be equivalent to doing nothing but meditating for dozens of hours, or even dozens of days. This made Shaoke feel that his promotion was drawing even closer.

By this time, the soldiers had begun waking up one by one. The captain had risen early to instruct them in preparing today's breakfast and gathering the supplies needed for the day's journey. Shaoke took another cup of grape wine, diluted a drop of empty stone liquid in it, and drank it. After confirming the medicine was taking effect, he felt reassured and began his morning studies. He had been worried that such a high-concentration medicine couldn't be taken continuously. Once he saw the effects hadn't diminished, he set his mind at ease and turned to other matters.

The soldiers who had stayed in the cave, following the captain's orders, carefully packed their belongings before going out to help prepare breakfast. They wanted to leave the mage a relatively quiet environment for his morning recitation and memorization.

The joyful mood from the previous night continued into the morning. The soldiers eagerly shared their experiences with each other. Some said they felt stronger, others claimed to be faster. In short, the soldiers felt they were in the best condition of their lives. After some discussion, they concluded that the liquid from the stone could enhance each person's abilities in different ways, depending on their individual traits.

"Heavens! If that's the case, wouldn't Lord Mage Xueye become stronger than Iron Tower if he drank a sip every day? But why do other mages look so frail? Hmm... Lord Mage Xueye seems even frailer!" one soldier exclaimed in surprise, but his voice gradually trailed off. He was afraid the mage inside the cave might hear and reprimand him.

The soldiers' debate continued until breakfast ended. Since they didn't dare ask the mage directly, they thought of the Elder Physician. Fortunately, the Elder Physician had heard about this precious medicine from some merchants. The honest Elder Physician generously shared everything he knew with the soldiers and deduced, "The conditions you're experiencing are external manifestations of your spirits being in their optimal state. It's not that your abilities have actually improved significantly. Once your spirits can no longer maintain this perfect state, you'll return to how you were before."

While the soldiers were consulting the Elder Physician, Shaoke discussed today's itinerary with the captain. Both agreed to leave thirty soldiers stationed at this campsite to begin simple defensive work at the cave entrance. The remaining soldiers would return to the previous campsite from another direction to fetch the soldiers and mages left there, bringing them to this campsite with the cave and abundant Second Rank Snow Tigers.

Thanks to the medicated wine from the previous day, the soldiers were in perfect condition. Throughout the journey, they displayed exceptional bravery in every encounter. Even the scouts managed to hunt a Second Rank Snow Tiger on their own, with only one soldier suffering minor frostbite from the cold—no other injuries occurred.

Ignoring the injured soldier's pain, the captain sternly reprimanded them and decided that once they returned to the town and the injured soldier recovered, they would receive the harshest punishment: fifty lashes with a leather whip.

The soldiers' excitement and impulsiveness gradually subsided after the injury and the captain's scolding. Their impulsiveness had cost them one elite soldier's injury, and this soldier might never be able to wield his weapon again due to the frostbite.