Chapter Twenty-Three: Befriending in Advance

Just as expected, revealing a certain degree of talent at the right moment brings all sorts of advantages in its wake.

The chance to select a martial art from the Secret Pavilion, coupled with direct entry into the pharmacy as a decoction apprentice—these things alone already set me apart from the other apprentices.

Chen Yushu was in excellent spirits.

He knew many people preferred to conceal their abilities, keeping a low profile for fear of attracting trouble.

But he thought differently.

Martial arts cultivation was fundamentally based on the mastery of stance training. Without reaching a certain level, he wouldn't be able to learn the subsequent external or internal techniques at all.

Unless, of course, he resorted to other means to seize them.

But why bother with that?

Simply letting his progress show naturally allowed him not only to learn martial arts, but also to gain attention and nurturing.

To keep a low profile out of fear of being noticed? That would only ensure he missed out on many opportunities.

For example, this chance to enter the Secret Pavilion, to become a decoction apprentice with access to medical texts and the path to becoming a physician… Not to mention Master Qian’s request, which meant a greatly improved diet—three full meals a day, never going hungry. This, too, was indispensable for his martial training.

“My talent might be considered impressive among these apprentices. But in this world, there is no shortage of geniuses. Compared to those outside, nurtured with abundant resources, precious elixirs, and secret medicines, I am nothing special.”

With these thoughts, Chen Yushu stood up and headed for the pharmacy.

He collected another serving of Vitality Tonic and was about to hand it to Zhang Ruyun when he saw Zhang was busy. As he hesitated, a lean young man approached him.

“Give it to me. I’ll prepare it for you,” the youth said.

“Thank you, senior. What should I call you?” Chen Yushu hurried to express his gratitude.

“Qinghe. Zhou Qinghe.”

With that, Zhou Qinghe added fuel to one of the stoves and began decocting the medicine.

“For this Vitality Tonic, the ingredients are already measured. All you need to do is boil the water, then add the herbs. But if you want to maximize its effects, you have to pay attention to the timing and heat,” Zhou Qinghe explained with a smile. He poured a pot of clear water into the container, opened the packet of herbs, and added the two largest slices first.

When the water boiled, he added several other types of herbal slices, adjusting the fire beneath the stove as needed—sometimes higher, sometimes lower. Once all the herbs were in, he covered the pot and turned the fire up to its highest. When the steam began to billow, he finally lowered the flame.

“All done!” he announced, pouring the decoction into a bowl.

Chen Yushu’s eyes brightened.

Though it was still the dark gray Vitality Tonic, the color was noticeably brighter, and there was much less herbal residue.

“Thank you, Senior Zhou!” Chen Yushu thanked him again.

He could clearly see that the tonic prepared by Zhou Qinghe was superior to what Zhang Ruyun had made before.

“No need to thank me. It’s just part of my duty,” Zhou Qinghe replied with a wave of his hand, then went off to a side room.

Unlike the bustling decoction room, that place seemed like another world—several apprentices sat quietly, reading books.

Noting Zhou Qinghe’s name, Chen Yushu drank the tonic in one gulp.

Almost immediately, he felt a surge of heat rising within him, even faster than before.

Without delay, he hurried back to the courtyard and began practicing the King of Medicine Stance.

“Qinghe, what’s going on? What made you interested in preparing medicine today?” someone asked as Zhou Qinghe returned to the others.

“Steward Zhou just said two new junior brothers will be helping in the pharmacy these days. One is Wang Yuan from Room Two. Care to guess who the other is?”

“Could it be him?” the inquirer was surprised.

“Two days to master the stance… not something just anyone can do. There’s no harm in making a good impression early,” Zhou Qinghe replied calmly.

“That’s true. But someone’s probably going to lose sleep over this,” the other said with a schadenfreude grin.

“Yes. The year-end assessment is nearly here,” Zhou Qinghe replied softly.

…

“The decoction prepared by Senior Zhou really is more potent. I managed to practice the stance ten times before feeling exhausted,” Chen Yushu panted, but his face was filled with delight.

Previously, even after drinking the tonic, he could only manage nine rounds of stance practice before the medicinal power was used up.

But this time, with the same tonic, he reached ten.

And with his progress, each practice consumed and transformed increasingly more medicinal energy. From nine to ten—this wasn’t just a ten percent improvement, but possibly twenty or thirty percent.

“This just shows that decocting medicine is a skill in itself. Zhang Ruyun’s method was by the book, but Senior Zhou Qinghe was able to optimize the timing and heat, clearly much more skilled.”

Comparing the two in his mind, Chen Yushu found himself looking forward to tomorrow.

He then turned his attention to his status panel.

Name: Chen Yushu

Age: Twelve

Martial Arts: King of Medicine Stance—Beginner (45/100)

Skills:

Literacy: Insight (165/200), Calligraphy: Self-Expression (97/100), Throwing: Adept (53/400),

…

“My stance experience has reached forty-five. In just three days, this is extremely fast. But it’s all due to the Vitality Tonic. Now that I’ve finished all three servings, I’ll have to rely on my daily meals for progress. At most, I can practice three to four times a day. Even at four times a day, it will take nearly half a month to improve further.”

Though he sighed, Chen Yushu did not feel disappointed.

Even in this brief period, he could already sense real changes in himself.

His strength, constitution, and body had all improved. He was no longer as frail and weak as before.

With both hands, he could now lift a hundred-pound stone.

“This is the benefit of martial arts. I wonder how much stronger I’ll be when I reach proficiency in the stance.”

He was filled with anticipation.

“Other than the stance, my literacy skill has also improved significantly. In a few days, it should reach the next level. The first stage is Literacy, the second is Insight—I wonder what the third will be. Moreover, my calligraphy skill is about to break through. I’ll try to raise it today…”

He glanced at his other skills.

Both literacy and calligraphy were close to advancing, which made him look forward to the days ahead.

As for throwing, once he reached adept level, the difficulty increased and progress slowed.

Still, compared to everything else, it was advancing the fastest among his current skills.

…