Cyan Mountain Village.
After bidding farewell to Er Niu, Chang Qing entered the village.
By this time, night was gradually falling, and people from the village were returning from the fields, chatting in groups of three or four.
"Sigh, I don't know what's wrong with my husband lately, he's been coughing nonstop every day. He never had such a severe cold before."
"Tell me about it. Old Su from next door has been coughing so much he can't get out of bed today. I heard many people in the village are sick."
"Sigh, there's not even a physician in the village, we just have to endure it. Who knows when it'll get better..."
Hearing these distant voices, Chang Qing's brow gradually furrowed.
He hadn't expected the cold this time to be so severe, with so many people falling ill.
"Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, Chang Qing is back."
Just as Chang Qing was lost in thought, Su Wenlin approached, coughing violently.
"Uncle Wenlin, you..." Chang Qing frowned even more deeply.
When he saw Su Wenlin in the morning, he wasn't this severe. How could he be coughing like this in just one day?
"Cough, cough, it's nothing."
Su Wenlin waved his hand weakly, sighing:
"We mountain folks are like this, no matter how strong the body, a major illness can take half our life."
"It's fine if we can get through it, but if not..."
He paused mid-sentence, sighed deeply, and walked away shaking his head.
Chang Qing's brow furrowed even tighter. He glanced at the medical book in his arms and quickened his steps home.
Not far off, villagers watching this scene silently gave Su Wenlin a thumbs up.
Su Wenlin first grinned, then looked at Chang Qing's departing figure and sighed,
"After this event, even if the village suddenly loses a dozen people, it wouldn't be too abrupt, and they could accept it more easily."
"Kid, your Uncle Wenlin is waiting for you at the Su house, whatever happens, we'll accept it, whether it's a beating or a scolding."
If it were a time of peace, with the influence of the Su family, it wouldn't matter if some spoiled kids were raised.
But not now. With the coming great era, the bearers of this Su family generation must be exceptional.
Just as he thought that, he saw a sneaky figure slip into the village.
Seeing that familiar face, Su Wenlin's anger surged, and he shouted,
"You little bastard, get over here!"
Er Niu, just back, shivered all over and hung his head as he approached Su Wenlin.
"Stupid boy, sneaking out to play again?"
Su Wenlin grabbed Er Niu's ear, saying angrily, "Have you mastered the Surging Wave Sword Technique? Unified your essential skills?"
"It's been more than half a year, and you still haven't broken through the fourth realm. Are you trying to upset me to death?"
"There's been some trouble in the Su family. In a few days, I have to leave early. Before that, I'll make sure to supervise your training!"
Er Niu's face turned pale as he whined, "Dad, you don't even know sword techniques, what can you teach me?"
"Don't worry about leaving, I promise I'll train hard."
Su Wenlin coldly laughed, "I may not know sword techniques, but I sure know how to beat you up, don't I?"
"If the beating is harsh, there's no sword that can't be mastered, come with me!"
Amid a series of howls, Er Niu was dragged away by his father for devil training.
Meanwhile, Chang Qing returned home.
After greeting his parents, he went straight into his room and took out the Celestial Doctor's Mysterious Volume.
With more and more villagers catching colds, he was feeling a bit anxious.
With anticipation in his eyes, Chang Qing took out the book from his arms.
The Celestial Doctor's Mysterious Volume was very thick, and the pages it was written on were not ordinary, being exceptionally tough.
The characters on it were very small, as tiny as grains of rice, though there was only one book, it contained far more text than any he's read in the past two days.
"Are there so many diseases in the world?"
Filled with questions, Chang Qing held the book and began to read.
The knowledge within the book was extremely diverse, not only covering relevant pathology but also various spirit medicines and their combinations.
Curiously, there were no prescribed formulas in this book; instead, a disease was explained thoroughly, and then one would formulate it themselves.
Gradually, Chang Qing became completely immersed, with vast amounts of knowledge flooding into his mind.
Unlike other books, this one was hard to read because there were so many combinations of the various herbs.
And different diseases often required hundreds of spiritual ingredients, which needed to change based on the ailment.
The vast knowledge made Chang Qing obsessed.
At the same time, he gained a unique understanding of 'medicine' and 'disease,' akin to a heavenly path of medicine not inferior to any scholarly way.
Unknowingly, the night passed, and it wasn't until dawn that Chang Qing snapped out of it.
For some reason, even though he hadn't slept all night, he didn't feel the least bit tired.
"Could it be that I'm about to cultivate a mighty spirit?"
Chang Qing's face was filled with excitement; this was a good omen for him.
"With quite some time left before reading duty resumes, I should gather the herbs first."
In one night, Chang Qing had only read about one-fifth of the Celestial Doctor's Mysterious Volume, but it was enough for him.
The cold, as recorded in the book, was but a minor ailment.
Although he hadn't treated it before, after a night of reading, he could come up with no fewer than a hundred ways to cure it just by thinking a bit.
The main issue now was the herbs.
Cyan Mountain Village had no physicians or anyone who'd been cultivating herbs, so that was something Chang Qing had to figure out on his own.
But that wasn't a big deal; the surrounding mountains of Cyan Mountain Village were full of such things.
"There are quite a few wild beasts in the mountains, if it was a few days ago I wouldn't dare go, but now I have some confidence."
Chang Qing smiled confidently. The practiced sword technique, though incomplete, still had some power.
Against those large beasts, he might not be able to kill them, but he could certainly scare them away.
Thinking this, Chang Qing didn't rush to leave. Instead, he went to the woodshed to pick a suitable wooden stick and carved it into the shape of a wooden sword.
After a simple bout of swinging, he nodded with satisfaction.
The sword technique needs a sword; without one, there's always a lack of momentum.
Now that the wooden stick was replaced with a wooden sword, although it was just a simple change, it felt much more balanced.
"Since there's time, might as well call Er Niu along."
"Having a companion in danger is helpful, plus I can teach him sword techniques along the way."
With that thought, Chang Qing didn't delay and, holding the newly made wooden sword, headed straight to Su Wenlin's house next door.
Inside the house, Su Nan watched Chang Qing leave, puzzled:
"He was reading that book just fine; why start practicing with a sword? Chang Qing hasn't learned any sword techniques?"
He had firmly warned the Su family that no one should teach Chang Qing cultivation methods prematurely.
Beside him, Ye Shu didn't find it odd, casually saying:
"Can the methods of a Scholar teaching be the same as ordinary people? It might just be the homework assigned to Chang Qing."
Upon hearing this, Su Nan suddenly understood.
Since it was Mr. Li's assignment, that made sense.