Lonely Immortal

Zhang Zhiwen returned to the house where he lived, but there was still no one around.

He was a little surprised. This yard should be for disciples like him to live in, right? Could it be that he was the only disciple like him?

Then the linen boy should also be an apprentice in alchemy, and he should be from a poor family, right? But why didn't he see him?

Zhang Zhiwen didn't know the reason for this for a while, so he didn't think much about it. He went back to the house.

The house had been cleaned up, the bed was neatly made, and there was a pot of tea on the table. Zhang Zhiwen came to the table and sat down, poured a cup of tea, took a sip, the tea was fragrant, and the taste was sweet. When had he ever drunk such a fragrant tea?

Speaking of the strict rules of the Chamber of Commerce, as Deputy Hall Master Hou said, the Chamber of Commerce has clear rewards and punishments. Now he has exchanged his life for the identity of an apprentice in alchemy, and naturally he has enjoyed the same treatment. This is many times better than wandering outside the city.

At least as long as he is a disciple of the Chamber of Commerce for one day, he will not have to worry about food and drink, nor will he have to sleep on the streets or wander in the mountains.

However, the most urgent task must be to learn useful herbal knowledge as soon as possible, and then complete the tasks of the Chamber of Commerce, otherwise such a comfortable life will soon come to an end.

Zhang Zhiwen drank a few cups of fragrant tea and took out the "Eternal Life Sutra" to read.

Fortunately, he can recognize words, otherwise he would have to spend a lot of time learning to read. People say that geniuses have always come from poor families, but they must come from poor families. The so-called poor families are also poor nobles.

If he is illiterate, he is just a blind drifter. What is the use of being a blind drifter? Even if he is lucky enough to become an apprentice in alchemy, he can't read a single word. I am afraid that he will die sooner or later unless he works hard to learn to read.

When the "Eternal Life Sutra" was opened, the first page wrote the basic mental method, called the Longevity Heart Sutra.

This heart sutra is the basic chapter. The author emphasizes that beginners must read and remember this chapter carefully and practice diligently in the future.

Zhang Zhiwen didn't rush to practice, he continued to flip through.

There were nine chapters of key points in the future. The so-called key points are extended on the basis of the heart formula, equivalent to the nine-level exercises, and are explained with pictures.

These nine-level exercises have no specific names, but are classified as longevity exercises, which are generally classified from the first to the ninth level.

Zhang Zhiwen also glanced over these things and didn't pay much attention to them. After all, this book is just a health book. According to the old man, this thing has been verified by countless people. In addition to the comments of the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Zhang Zhiwen doesn't think that others are fools, so he certainly doesn't rush to practice the longevity heart formula. After all, the most important thing at the moment is to learn the knowledge of herbs.

So, he continued to flip through.

When the nine-level key points ended, the longevity medicine chapter appeared.

This medicine chapter seems to have some content. Zhang Zhiwen took a rough look and found that it was roughly divided into several categories. For example, the first chapter is about antipyretic drugs, followed by Chinese medicine, blood-activating and stasis-removing drugs, laxatives, etc., and even gynecological drugs.

The herbs recorded in each chapter are also common herbs, with about dozens of them in one chapter, with pictures and texts, and easy to understand.

There are so many types of medicine, about thousands of them. Zhang Zhiwen took a rough look for the time being and continued to read on.

The end of the medicine chapter must be the classic chapter.

The classic chapter is about various health-preserving methods, including various prescriptions, common deficiency syndromes and so on.

Zhang Zhiwen couldn't understand this, but the prescriptions were mostly pill formulas. Obviously, the author likes to make pills and highly recommends them.

Zhang Zhiwen was very interested in this. He is now an apprentice in medicine making, and he will learn these things in the future. He carefully checked them out, and soon he found the prescription of Yiqi Pills.

The prescription of Yiqi Pills is simple, with dried tangerine peel, codonopsis and the like, which are classified as Sijunzi Decoction plus or minus.

What is Sijunzi Decoction?

Zhang Zhiwen was in the dark again, so he could only go back to look it up. Soon, he found it. So, he flipped through it for a while, and he felt that this book was not useless, and it was even good in terms of medicine. He only read it for a while, and he learned some knowledge of herbs.

The book also fully records the refining techniques of various pill formulas, which are quite detailed.

Basically, the basic things are enough for Zhang Zhiwen to learn.

As for those gentry children, even rich children, they may have learned these things a long time ago, so naturally no one cares about this kind of things and throws them in the warehouse.

After a rough reading of the book, Zhang Zhiwen couldn't help but turn to the front again.

He looked at the words recorded on the first page, thinking, but soon, he skipped it again.

How could he have time to keep healthy now? His top priority now is how to survive.

So, he temporarily put the longevity secret aside and began to study the knowledge of the medicine classics all night.

When his parents were alive, they often urged him to read and learn to read, strive to pass the imperial examination, and bring honor to the family.

But he was too young and naughty at that time, so he didn't understand those words, so he didn't study and learn to read seriously. But many years later, when he thought about it, Zhang Zhiwen couldn't help but feel a little regretful. He regretted that he knew that reading was useful now, but his parents were no longer in the world.

That night, Zhang Zhiwen didn't know when he fell asleep unconsciously. He lay on the table and woke up when the first ray of sunlight shone in the morning.

After waking up, he found that his waist and back were sore all over, and his eyes were confused and sour. He hadn't read for too long. He read for most of the night in a hurry, and his head was buzzing.

It is not easy to study after ten years of study, especially this long medicine book, which has a lot of content and too many points to remember. Zhang Zhiwen does not have an extraordinary memory, and he just relies on his perseverance to memorize it.

But there are more or less gains. After a night, he has roughly remembered the knowledge of dozens of herbs.

At this time, the woman brought breakfast again.

After breakfast, Zhang Zhiwen planned to continue studying hard.

But after spending most of the night, coupled with his weak body, he felt that his mind was a mess and he couldn't continue reading at all, otherwise he couldn't remember anything he read.

It seems that studying medicine books is not something that can be accomplished in a day or two, but he doesn't have much time now. After a month, if he can't complete enough tasks, he will be punished by the Chamber of Commerce or even executed.

But now he can't continue studying in this state, and his temples are aching.

He rubbed his temples and casually opened the first chapter of the Changsheng Sutra.

Seeing the Heart of Longevity, Zhang Zhiwen's heart moved. Isn't this book about health preservation? He is very tired and confused now. Would it be better to practice the Heart of Longevity?

If the Heart of Longevity can relieve his fatigue and make his mind a little clearer, then he can read more medicine classics?

Besides, he can't continue to study now. Anyway, he is idle, so it's good to take a rest.

So, Zhang Zhiwen began to study the Heart of Longevity carefully.

The Heart of Longevity is not difficult. It has only four sentences, which are simple and easy to understand. The general meaning is to let the practitioner sit cross-legged to nourish the spirit, let the mind enter the heart, and find the qi to enter the acupoint according to the meridians on the map, and finally merge into the dantian.

Zhang Zhiwen understood it after reading it several times. He also sat cross-legged on the bed according to the requirements of the Heart of Longevity, let the mind enter the heart, and then imagine that there is a qi in the body that begins to wander in the meridians.

He closed his eyes, concentrated, and imagined wholeheartedly.

Perhaps because he had been wandering outside the city for many years, his willpower was still quite strong, so he sat for most of the day. Even though there was no reaction in his body after doing it for most of the day, he still did it. According to the book, after 9981 times, it was considered a small Zhoutian completion.

When a small Zhoutian was completed, Zhang Zhiwen opened his eyes. At this moment, his eyes seemed to be less sore, and his brain seemed to no longer be buzzing.

He moved his body and sat cross-legged for most of the day. It seemed that his legs and feet were not sore. He sat for a night. Originally, his legs and feet were sore, but after practicing a small Zhoutian, they were not sore. He was a little surprised. Could it be that this longevity heart is really so magical?

But he immediately felt that it was unlikely. A normal person sitting on the bed and resting for most of the day would probably be able to recover his energy and spirit, right?

Alas, it seems that this book is really useless. It is just to relieve boredom.

So, after lunch, Zhang Zhiwen continued to study the medicine classics.

Seven days passed unknowingly. During these seven days, Zhang Zhiwen hardly left his house. There was no movement in the yard outside. Except for the woman who brought him food on time, there was no one else.

Zhang Zhiwen even suspected that he might be the only one living in the yard. If he was not immersed in learning, he would not be able to stay there.

However, after these seven days, he has basically mastered the knowledge of thousands of herbs. Although it is superficial, it can be used outside. For example, the black fig is actually a fig, but it is an alienated variety, which is also mentioned in the book.

In addition, although the book only records thousands of herbs, these herbs are divided by years. For example, the thousand-year-old Polygonum multiflorum is not ordinary. It is also called the King of Ginseng Essence, or the King of Earth Essence, and even the King of Kings.

It can be seen that this herb has many nicknames, which are not listed one by one. No wonder Zhang Zhiwen could not understand the names of the herbs required in the task in the Foreign Affairs Hall. Those names such as Snow on Frost and Thousands of Killers are actually nicknames, which are divided according to the age of the herbs.

Zhang Zhiwen now knows that the herbs required by the Foreign Affairs Hall are at least ten years old. No wonder most of them are in remote and dangerous places.

In addition, there is progress in the longevity heart formula.

In the past seven days, Zhang Zhiwen has not forgotten to practice the longevity heart formula, but after seven days, it seems to be of no use, but it seems to make him more energetic.

But Zhang Zhiwen feels that he has had a good meal these days, and his originally exhausted body has been nourished, so his energy will certainly be much better, which seems to be different from the longevity heart formula.

In short, he is not sure whether the longevity heart formula has brought any changes after practicing it. Even if there is, he thinks it is quite limited.

But when he opened the door and came out of the house for the first time in seven days, he found that things seemed to be different from what he thought.