Peerless Spirit Master - Chapter 4

“Did I hear wrong? My daughter actually said she wants to study pharmacy. Did I hear wrong…”

Ye Guilan looked up. Her father’s face was full of disbelief, but the joy in his eyes was unmistakably real.

In that instant, she suddenly understood that her father was not simply spoiling his daughter-he also had expectations for her in his heart.

It was just that this young lady had always been indifferent, letting down those expectations.

Ye Guilan coughed lightly. “You didn’t hear wrong. I want to study pharmacy. I want to become a Pharmacist.”

Ye He stared fixedly at Ye Guilan, his lips trembling a few times. “Good… good! My daughter, Ye He’s daughter… has not let me down!”

Ye Guilan found it hard to meet his gaze; all his deep expectations for her were written in his eyes.

Ye Guilan couldn’t help but lower her eyes. If her own father were still alive… would he have had expectations for her too? Would he have imagined what kind of person his daughter would become?

“Go ahead and study… I-I’ll find you something…”

Ye He was a little excited. After searching for a long while, he finally found what he was looking for-a book.

When he handed it over, he was even a bit embarrassed. “Ahem, I wrote this myself. Take a look.”

This seemingly ordinary booklet felt surprisingly heavy in her hands.

Ye Guilan touched it. The paper was thin but tough, clearly expensive, and the binding was flawless-meticulously done.

It was obvious this book had been carefully compiled by him, complete with a table of contents, notes, and insights. Clearly… it had been prepared for his daughter.

Ye Guilan was momentarily speechless, feeling the weight of the book in her hands.

Within it was her father’s deep hopes for his daughter. Ye Guilan flipped through it page by page.

As long as she studied this book thoroughly, her foundational knowledge of pharmacy should be solidified.

Ye Guilan stopped at a certain page-he had even drawn simple illustrations!

“Ahem, the drawings are a bit rough, I know.”

Ye Guilan closed the book, afraid that if she kept reading, she wouldn’t be able to bear it.

Did he know that his real daughter was already gone? The person standing before him was not his daughter, Ye Guilan.

At this moment, Ye Guilan didn’t even dare to look up. “I’ll go back and read it slowly.”

She hurriedly said this and was about to leave, but Ye He called out to stop her. “Guilan, wait a moment.”

A small box was handed to her with utmost care, and Ye He looked at his daughter with heartfelt joy.

“I knew it. One day, I would give this to you. One day… you would say what you said today.”

Ye Guilan didn’t know what to say, so she just nodded. Those large hands gently stroked her hair. “It wasn’t in vain that I waited for you so long. It’s not too late at all.”

“What… is this?”

Ye He didn’t answer the question, only spoke kindly, “Take it, and the Spirit Seed within you will awaken.”

Ye Guilan frowned. Naturally, the earlier the Spirit Seed awakened, the better. Some people could even use so-called powerful pills to alter the strength of their Spirit Seed, which could affect the heights they reached in life.

But if she remembered correctly, this Ye Guilan… was already sixteen.

At her age, how many of her peers hadn’t awakened their Spirit Seed?

Sixteen years-this girl had made it this far, protected so thoroughly by her father that she hadn’t even received a single word of ridicule from others.

Ye Guilan looked at the pill. If taking this could awaken her Spirit Seed, then…

She looked up at Ye He before her, at the face identical to her own father’s, and swallowed all her doubts.

Since taking this would awaken her Spirit Seed, then she… might as well take it.

Ye Guilan never dreamed that after taking the pill her father gave her, she would vomit for three whole days.

Whatever she ate, she threw up. If she didn’t eat, it was even worse. She suspected that if this went on, even the Spirit Seed inside her would be vomited out.

“Urgh…!”

Another dry heave. The little maid by her side looked at her with concern and handed her a cup of tea. “Miss, have some tea and take a rest.”
Ye Guilan glared fiercely at her. “Ugh… Wh-where’s my father!”

“Master instructed that Miss should vomit a little longer, and then she’ll be fine.”

The little maid offered her tea with a flattering smile. “Master also said that dry heaving is uncomfortable for Miss, and drinking tea will help a lot.”

“I…! Ugh!”

Ye Guilan wanted to say something, but turned her head to dry heave again. The little maid stood by, smiling politely but awkwardly.

Before long, Ye He, dusty from travel, pushed the door open. “Guilan, how’s the vomiting? Have you gotten it all out?”

Ye Guilan looked weakly at her father, unsure what to say.

Ye He walked over with a cheerful smile and patted her back. “Only when you’ve vomited it all out can I be at ease.”

After another hour of vomiting, Ye Guilan finally stopped, exhausted and slumped in her chair.

Seeing her pale face, Ye He couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. “Be good, eat this too.”

Another pill was handed over. Ye Guilan obediently swallowed it, and in an instant, the discomfort from dry heaving vanished, and the lingering unease in her body over the past few days disappeared without a trace.

“Your Spirit Seed is rather special. You never intended to cultivate at first, so to avoid certain things, you sealed it away.”

Ye He spoke lightly, but Ye Guilan was bewildered. Could a Spirit Seed be sealed so easily?

“Now that your Spirit Seed has seen the light again, Guilan, there are some things I need to make clear to you.”

Ye He’s expression was unusually serious, and Ye Guilan couldn’t help but sit up straight.

Ye He was silent for a while before speaking in a low voice. “The Spirit Seed that was sealed for sixteen years has awakened, and the spiritual power accumulated inside has built up over the years. If not properly guided, it could harm your body.”

Ye Guilan nodded. Ye He sat there and looked up. “Did you read the booklet I gave you?”

“I did.”

Ye Guilan replied, not quite understanding Ye He’s intent.

Ye He was overjoyed, the sparks in his eyes making Ye Guilan suddenly feel like prey.

“Good, since you’ve read it, it’s not abrupt for you to start making medicine.”

Wait, what? Making medicine?

It had only been three days since she said she wanted to learn and he gave her the booklet!

She had looked at the booklet, but only skimmed the basics. She couldn’t even distinguish some of the herbs, nor did she know the specific process of making medicine. Was she supposed to start now?

“No time to waste, let’s begin!”

Ye He stood up excitedly. “Spiritual power is essential for making medicine. The stronger the pill, the more spiritual power it requires. Your spiritual power urgently needs to be guided, and making medicine will help you greatly.”

“But I…!”

Ye Guilan wanted to protest, but was already being dragged into the medicine room.

“With your father here, you don’t need to worry about anything. Whatever you don’t understand, I can teach you.”

“But…!”

Ye Guilan was pushed to the table, everything prepared for her, even sorted into categories with care.

“Guilan, listen! Left plus right, right plus center, then add left again!”

What… Is this a video game combo? Up, up, down, down, left, left?

Ye Guilan was confused, but her body moved on its own.

Following Ye He’s instructions, she began making medicine. She was clueless about the steps, and Ye He never explained why things were done this way, nor did he mention the names of the herbs.

When all the herbs were mixed, Ye He smiled. “Very good, close your eyes.”

“Use the spiritual power within you to sense these herbs. Tell me, what do you see?”

Ye He’s gentle voice sounded in her ear. Ye Guilan snapped back to herself and quickly did as he said.

Closing her eyes, she saw only darkness at first, but suddenly, colors flashed before her eyes-large and small, strong and weak. Though chaotic, she saw them with unusual clarity.

“What… are these?”

Seeing her astonishment, Ye He was even more delighted. His daughter truly was a genius at making medicine.
Her spiritual power had just awakened, yet she was already using it with ease, even managing to quickly discern the spiritual nature of these medicinal herbs. One had to know, when he had reached this step, it had taken him a full seven days!

Seven days? Even for Ye He, that was extremely fast. Normally, for an Alchemist to use their spiritual power to distinguish the spiritual nature of medicinal herbs, it would take a whole month!

“All things possess spiritual energy-plants, insects, birds, and beasts are no exception. What an Alchemist must do is use their spiritual power, according to the prescription, to harmonize the spiritual nature of the herbs, fusing them together. The more perfect the fusion, the higher the quality of the pill.”

“I’ve already helped you harmonize the herbs this time. Since you can distinguish their spiritual nature so quickly, next time you can do it yourself. According to your father’s habit, the herbs are sorted by the attribute and strength of their spiritual nature: the weakest on the left, the moderate in the middle, and the strongest on the right. The recipes in that booklet are also arranged according to this habit.”

Ye Guilan suddenly understood. No wonder the recipes were always filled with strange instructions like left-right, right-left, and so on, with various attributes marked beside left, right, and center.

“If you can distinguish the strength of the herbs’ spiritual nature, the recipes are indeed simple.”

Ye Guilan opened her eyes and muttered. Ye He, however, burst out laughing. “In this world, an Alchemist who can distinguish the spiritual nature of all herbs probably hasn’t been born yet. You should know, most Alchemists are already impressive if they can distinguish the spiritual nature of a hundred kinds of herbs.”

Ye Guilan clicked her tongue. The number of herbs an Alchemist could distinguish by spiritual nature was limited, which meant the number of recipes they could master was also limited. Even if they recognized more herbs, if they couldn’t discern their spiritual nature, it was as good as ignorance.

The higher the grade of the pill, the more demanding the spiritual nature of the required herbs, and Alchemists who could distinguish them were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

“Just make the first recipe on the first page of the booklet-make several dozen. When you’re done, eat them yourself. This will be good for you.”

Several dozen? And eat them all?

Ye Guilan watched as Ye He walked out, then took out the little booklet her father had given her. The first recipe was for the Spirit-Building Pill.

Spirit-Building Pill… Although she didn’t know what it was for, the name sounded like it was beneficial for the Spirit Seed. The recipe was extremely simple, much simpler than the previous one.

For a full seven days, Ye Guilan stayed in the medicine room, wholeheartedly making Spirit-Building Pills. After making them, she would eat them herself. The taste was quite good-sweet and sour, not much different from eating hawthorn balls.

“Miss, breakfast is ready!”

On the eighth day, the little maid called from outside. Just as she was about to push the door open to bring in the meal, the door was gently opened from within.

Ye Guilan stood at the doorway, her whole person seeming to have undergone a complete transformation. Gone was the pampered and delicate air of before; instead, she now exuded a calmness and composure.

The little maid was dumbfounded, feeling that the current Miss was even more beautiful than before. Gone was the foolish, infatuated look-her Miss was truly a rare beauty.

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

Ye Guilan chuckled softly. Of course she knew about her own changes. After days of making and consuming pills, her control over her spiritual power had become very skillful. Making Spirit-Building Pills was now second nature-she could make them with her eyes closed.

And after consuming so many Spirit-Building Pills, she could clearly feel the changes within her body. The Spirit Seed inside her was already thriving under the nourishment of the pills.

As for sprouting and taking root, it was only a matter of time.

Ye Guilan suddenly felt a heat in her nose. The little maid stared in shock. “Miss! You’re having a nosebleed!”

“I know, don’t make a fuss.”

Ye Guilan wiped away the blood carelessly and looked up abruptly. Eating too many pills would of course cause a nosebleed, especially after consuming so many.

“Where’s my father?”

“Master went to the Trading House. He said he wanted to buy something for you. Master was in such a good mood when he left today.”

Ye Guilan smiled lightly. It seemed her father had already anticipated her results and was happily off to buy her a gift. “I’m going out to find him.”

“Miss, aren’t you going to take some tissues?” the little maid called after her, but Ye Guilan had already run out. The Trading House-she had wanted to see it for a long time.