The three-year training period for the herb-gathering child, during which they follow the herbalist out to collect herbs, must be completed before they can be promoted to herb-gathering apprentice. At this point, they no longer need to follow the herbalist to gather herbs; they can go out independently to collect herbs and earn money. The more valuable the herbs they collect, the greater the rewards they receive.

Seven or eight years later, outstanding herb-gathering apprentices will be able to advance to herbalists themselves, and can then take new herb-gathering children up the mountain to collect herbs.

After several decades, if a herbalist accumulates enough contributions to the Herb Gathering Hall, they will be promoted to herbalist master, becoming an important figure in the hall like Herbalist Foster. This is not impossible. You should know that the status of a herbalist master in the Herb Gathering Hall is extremely high—they have wealth, power, and prestige. Except for a few people like the hall master and deputy hall master, they don’t have to look to others for approval. In Zhuqi County, they are also people of great renown.

After Herbalist Foster finished explaining all this, Henry Clark, Charles Baker, Lucy Brooks and the others all showed fervent expressions, clenching their fists. Such a bright future was enough to make them give it their all.

Herbalist Foster saw the excitement on their young faces and secretly sneered: The status of a herbalist master is indeed high, but only if you live long enough to see that day. The life of a herb gatherer is fraught with danger—this is no exaggeration. Of the thousands of disciples in the Herb Gathering Hall, there are only a few dozen herbalist masters.

These words, however, he would never say aloud.

Chapter 11: Choosing a Martial Art

The day after joining, several well-dressed youths of about fifteen or sixteen led all forty-some children to a separate three-story pavilion within the Herb Gathering Hall’s estate—the “Library Pavilion.”

The first floor of the Library Pavilion housed numerous books on herbs, medicinal materials, and medicines, which disciples of the hall could borrow. The second floor was the guard post, where eleven of the hall’s top young experts were stationed. The third floor was the secret manual room, storing over a thousand types of saber manuals, sword manuals, external martial arts, and internal cultivation techniques, all under strict supervision.

The Medicine King Sect is a highly respected society in the martial world of Pingzhou, with a history spanning several centuries. It has always considered itself a neutral society, striving to avoid involvement in martial conflicts. From its founding, it never had its own martial arts techniques or formulas, being purely a medicinal society.

Because the Medicine King Sect’s main business is gathering and refining herbs, it started with medicinal materials. It often used rare medicines to exchange for martial arts formulas from other small societies in the martial world, thus acquiring cultivation techniques.

When it came to life-saving medicines versus martial arts formulas, those small societies were forced to trade their secret manuals for medicine. Although most of these secret manuals were low-level cultivation techniques and not particularly valuable, over the centuries, the Medicine King Sect accumulated so many martial arts formulas that they could almost form a small mountain—there was no shortage of martial arts techniques.

Just in the secret manual room of the Zhuqi County Herb Gathering Hall alone, there were hundreds of entry-level secret manuals for the herb-gathering children to choose from, and hundreds more intermediate and advanced martial arts manuals—an astonishing number.

You should know that for other small societies, having a few or a dozen secret manuals is already impressive. Even the major societies in the martial world of Pingzhou rarely have more than a few hundred secret manuals; none have as many as the Medicine King Sect.

However, having many secret manuals does not mean the Medicine King Sect is powerful.

There are hundreds or even thousands of societies in Pingzhou. The Medicine King Sect has long ranked as the fifth largest society, never breaking into the top three. The reason is simple: the secret manuals owned by the Medicine King Sect are too varied and disorganized, to the point that masters often don’t know what their disciples are practicing, and disciples often don’t know what their masters are practicing. Masters can’t guide their disciples’ martial arts, so disciples mostly rely on self-study.

Take Herbalist Foster for example—he practices an external martial art called “Eagle Claw Technique,” and his hand skills are exceptional. But Henry Clark and the other five must each choose a martial art from the secret manual room on their own; they do not learn the same martial art as Herbalist Foster. If they choose an external martial art, Herbalist Foster can offer some tips. If they choose an internal martial art, Herbalist Foster cannot provide any in-depth instruction.

Fortunately, the Medicine King Sect’s main focus is on gathering and preparing herbs, and it maintains extensive connections with most of the societies in Pingzhou. Its martial arts may be weak, but that does not prevent it from being a major society in Pingzhou. In the martial world of Pingzhou, the Medicine King Sect is known for the diversity of its martial arts—other societies can never predict what its disciples might know, and thus do not dare provoke them lightly.

The second floor of the Herb Gathering Hall’s Library Pavilion.

The well-dressed youths led the children into the pavilion and up to the second floor.

There, in the spacious second-floor hall, within a radius of several hundred feet, there were only eleven cushions. On each cushion sat a stern-looking young man, cross-legged in meditation, cultivating internal energy. In front of each of them lay a sharp weapon—either a sword or a saber.

The arrival of the well-dressed youths with the large group of children disturbed them.