Chapter Ten: The Spiritual Medicine Hall

  Ji City was built on the mountain, and Nie's house was located in the west of the city, next to the mountain range. The buildings were densely packed, with almost a fifth of the entire city occupied by them. Ji Yang is a major city in the southern part of the Great Cheng Empire, with a population of over 500,000, extremely prosperous, and its one-fifth can be imagined.

  In the Nie family, direct descendants generally live in the middle, while collateral branches are scattered on both sides. As for important buildings like "Molou" and "Lingyao Hall", most of them are concentrated at the foot of the mountain in the central area, where many high-ranking members of the Nie family gather.

  The next day, Nie Kong followed the memories in his mind and turned left and right on the bluestone road. After being reborn with a new body, Nie Kong was walking out of the house for the first time, and the place he wanted to go was the Spiritual Medicine Hall of the Nie family.

  Both sides of the road were lined with green-tiled houses, and people from the Nie family could be seen coming in and out at any time. They wore all sorts of robes, and their language was also different from that on earth, but Nie Kong had received all the memories of this body and had digested them for two days, so he had no problem understanding what they were saying.

  Listening to the sound of footsteps on the bluestone pavement, Nie Kong felt as if he was strolling through a historical scroll, and what came towards him was a strong sense of ancient charm.

  After walking for nearly half an hour, a faint medicinal scent entered his nostrils, and Nie Kong knew that the Spiritual Medicine Hall had arrived. Indeed, at the intersection ahead, a turn to the left revealed a rustic building before his eyes. The building had five floors, about twenty meters high, with each floor smaller than the last, forming a triangular shape overall.

  Nie family spiritual masters can receive spiritual medicine at different levels based on their own cultivation. The lower the cultivation, the more ordinary the medicine that can be received, and the Ling Master can only enter the first level.

  Originally, Nie Kong wanted to find some ginseng, lingzhi, he shou wu, and cordyceps sinensis to make a medicinal decoction for bathing, but unfortunately, after searching his memories several times, there was no relevant information. Not only that, other traditional Chinese medicines from his past life were also nowhere to be found. Of course, it's also possible that the body's previous owner was too reclusive and ignorant.

  Finally, Nie Kong had no choice but to come and take a look at this place.

  In the past, Nie Kong was not qualified to enter the Spiritual Medicine Hall. Here, one had to have a cultivation of Gathering Spirit in at least three attributes to even enter the first floor.

  Two burly men stood at the entrance of the first floor. Seeing Nie Kong's thin and frail figure, both of them were somewhat perplexed. Normally, people who came in and out of here, even if they were small fries from the Aggregating Spirit Realm, could be familiarly called by name, but this skinny youth before their eyes was extremely unfamiliar to them.

  "Have seen Uncle Qingfeng."

  As he walked closer, Nie Kong rushed to the left side of that robust man with a full beard and bowed his hands.

  In his memory, Nie Kong had met this person a few times. He was of the same generation as his father, Nie Qingyang, and was named Nie Qingfeng. He was known for being bold and generous, and it was said that he had already broken through to the Hua Ling realm.

  "You are..."

  Nie Qingfeng was even more suspicious, carefully sizing up Nie Kong for a few moments before realizing that he looked somewhat familiar. After wracking his brains for a while, Nie Qingfeng suddenly slapped the back of his head and exclaimed in realization, "I remember now! You're the second son of the Qingyang family? Nie Kong... is that your name? Have you recovered from your injuries?"

  "In any case, I won't die for the time being." Nie Kong said with a smile.

  Seeing Nie Kong's demeanor, a hint of unusual color appeared in Nie Qingfeng's eyes. The man with the eagle nose beside him frowned and said, "Qingfeng, do you know him?"

  Nie Qingfeng nodded, a hint of sadness in his voice as he sighed: "Yes, Qing Hong, do you still remember Nie Qingyang I told you about before? Nie Kong is his second son. Three years ago, during that mission to capture the spiritual beast, both Qingyang and I participated. Unfortunately, he didn't make it back."

  "Oh, Nie Kong? Isn't that the good-for-nothing who has been cultivating for ten years and is still stuck at the Qi Refining stage?" Nie Qing said coldly.

  Nie Qingfeng looked at Nie Kong with an awkward expression: "Cough, Qinghong, you can't say that. This kid is like his brother, he's had a strange illness since childhood, and even the elders of our family who are good at spiritual energy couldn't cure him. However, his perseverance is much stronger than most of the younger generation of the Wind Clan. He has persisted in cultivating the 'Five Stars Shift Technique' for ten years, never giving up, and it's not his fault that he hasn't been able to break through."

  "No matter what the reason, trash is still trash." Nie Qinghong's expression revealed a hint of disdain, his gaze piercing Nie Kong, sharp as a knife. "What are you doing here?"

  "I've come to Lingyao Hall to collect the medicine." Nie Kong's eyes didn't retreat in the slightest, staring straight at Nie Qinghong with a calm expression, as if he hadn't sensed the disdain in his words.

  Upon hearing this, both Nie Qing and Feng were stunned for a moment. In an instant, the corner of Nie Qing's mouth had already revealed a mocking meaning: "To receive medicine? What kind of joke is that? You're just a first-rate cultivator coming to the Spirit Medicine Hall to receive medicine, get out of here, kid! Where did you come from, go back there and don't cause trouble here."

  Nie Qingfeng glanced at Nie Kong with some dissatisfaction, then helplessly persuaded: "Nie Kong, you'd better go back first. If it's a lack of medicine... I just so happen to have some spiritual medicine at home, I'll send some to your house tonight."

  "Thank you, Uncle Qingfeng." Nie Kong smiled slightly and turned his gaze to Nie Qinghong, his tone suddenly becoming sharp, "However, I must enter the Spiritual Medicine Hall today."

  "Alright, you've got guts!"

  Nie Qinghong's face was cold and gloomy, he had long been dissatisfied with the family assigning him to guard the Lingyao Hall, today was a good opportunity to vent his anger on this waste.

  Nie Kong's face was calm and peaceful, his steps slow and deliberate. Nie Qinghong chuckled to himself, his right hand slightly raised, a thread of green misty snake-like energy darting in and out of his palm.

  "Nie Kong, you..."

  Nie Qingfeng was shocked and anxious. This little guy really didn't know how to live or die. The Lingyao Hall was the Nie family's forbidden land, and if Nie Kong forced his way in, he wouldn't be able to protect this little guy either.

  As Nie Kong stopped in front of the stairs, he suddenly grinned and gently patted the stone lion on the left side of the stairs with his palm. The surface of the lion was engraved with intricate patterns, and when a streak of emerald green spiritual energy entered the stone lion from Nie Kong's palm, those patterns quickly changed, and after a moment, they combined into four characters:

  Jū Líng Sān Pǐn! -> Three Treasures of Gathering Spirit!

  ……

  "What? Three Spiritual Treasures?"

  Nie Qinghong's face was dull, wasn't it said that this waste had been cultivating for ten years and only reached the first rank of Spiritual Gathering? How could the "Trial Spirit Stone" show that he was at the third rank of Spiritual Gathering? The "Trial Spirit Stone" was specially made by the Nie family to test their clan members' cultivation, and it would never be wrong. This little waste had actually secretly cultivated to the third rank!

  Nie Qingfeng was taken aback, then somewhat surprised: "Good kid, I didn't think you'd actually cultivate to the 'Gathering Spirit Third Rank'. Not bad, not bad." The Nie family had many Gathering Spirit Masters, and although Nie Qingfeng wasn't familiar with Nie Kong, he also knew how difficult it was for him to cultivate to the Gathering Spirit Third Rank.

  "Alright, Uncle Qingfeng, I'm going in." Nie Kong said, stepping up the stairs and glancing at Nie Qinghong as he passed by, a hint of a smile playing on his lips that seemed to mock his blindness.

  "Go on, go on." Nie Qingfeng waved his hand and smiled.

  "Halt!"

  Nie Qinghong let out an unwilling low growl.

  Nie Kong turned back with a smile and said, "Uncle Qinghong, are you thinking of going against the rules of the tribe?" After that, Nie Kong entered the Spiritual Medicine Hall without looking back.

  "You, you..."

  Nie Qinghong's face turned alternately pale and red, clearly enraged.

  Nie Qingfeng smiled and patted him on the shoulder, saying: "Qinghong, you're already a Huā Líng Shī (Soul Refiner), why bother with Nie Kong, that little kid? Alright, alright, after Lingyao Hall closes tonight, I'll treat you to drinks. I heard 'Four Seas Building' recently got a new head chef, whose skills are exceptional, how about it, want to give it a try?" He knew Nie Qinghong had a narrow temperament and Nie Kong was all alone with no one to rely on, if he let Nie Qinghong harbor resentment towards him, that wouldn't be good.

  Nie Qing snorted coldly: "Fine, spare this little waste's life."

  “……”

  ——————————————————————————————————————————————

  Inside the Lingyao Hall, it was quiet and elegant. Dozens of wooden shelves were lined up in the spacious hall. On the shelves, many small wooden boxes were neatly placed, with the names of medicines written on them. At this time, several 13- or 14-year-old boys were selecting medicines between the shelves.

  All kinds of medicinal fragrance lingered at the tip of his nose, Nie Kong was a bit greedy and sniffed hard, to him, this kind of medicinal fragrance was delicious food.

  "Tribe mark!"

  An aged voice suddenly rang out, startling Nie Kong, who turned his head to see an old bald man sitting at a desk in the shadows by the door, propping up his chin with his right hand and dozing off.

  Nie Kong took off the small wooden plaque from his waist, which represented his identity as a member of the Nie family, and placed it on the table. This wooden plaque was extremely exquisite and specially made by the Nie family, making it extremely difficult for outsiders to imitate.

  "Register!"

  The old man didn't even lift his eyelids.

  There was paper and pen on the desk, Nie Kong quickly wrote down his own name.

  "Choose your medicine!"

  The old man muttered, "For those with a spiritual level of 9th grade or lower, you can enter the Spiritual Medicine Hall twice a month. Each time, you can choose no more than five types of medicine, and the weight of each type cannot exceed two taels."

  "Yes."

  The old man spoke, pausing between every two words, his voice staccato. Nie Kong found it somewhat unbearable to listen to. However, he didn't dare reveal his thoughts here; who knew if this old man was a master? He hastily responded and headed towards the medicine shelves.

  ……