He simply couldn’t become strong in this world, no matter how much he wanted to. Compared to other ordinary people, Olivia Smith now didn’t have even the slightest advantage. So-called mediocre talent, to put it bluntly, just meant being a bit stronger than the average person, but in the Smith clan, where the strong were as numerous as clouds, he was the most worthless existence.

According to what Olivia Smith knew, the cultivation of true qi only became more and more difficult as one progressed. Especially after entering the Martial Master realm, every advancement in level was nearly a multiple of the previous effort.

With the help of this intelligent auxiliary system, he could indeed catch up to those with exceptional talent in the early stages. But later on, even if he wasn’t left far behind by them, he would likely end up lost among the crowd.

Yet at this very moment, an opportunity to change everything was right before him.

Back then, in order to find a way to fully repair his body, Olivia Smith not only took all the required courses in sports health at medical university, but also audited some classes in surgical anatomy and pharmacology. Thanks to his analytical abilities, he had achieved some minor accomplishments in both areas.

After arriving in this world, he quickly found a field that intersected with both his abilities and his studies—alchemy.

In the early days after he first regained consciousness, the very first thing Olivia Smith did was to understand his current environment. Besides subtly inquiring from others, he also went to the Yue clan’s library to browse the collection, recording its contents with his intelligent auxiliary system.

After that, as he gradually adapted to playing the role of Olivia Smith, he began to worry about his own lack of strength.

Olivia Smith still clearly remembered the surprise he felt when he first learned from those books that there were actually quite a few medicines in this world that could enhance internal cultivation and improve physical constitution.

Of course, such prescriptions would never be recorded in those books. The Yue clan probably had two or three types, but they were regarded as priceless treasures, never shown lightly to anyone—not even to clan disciples.

But that didn’t matter. As long as Olivia Smith knew it was possible, that was enough. Since the ancients of this world could concoct such medicines, why couldn’t he?

—As for the yin-yang theory and the monarch-minister-assistant-courier principles of traditional Chinese medicine, Olivia Smith only half-understood them. But he had the ability to analyze substances, and to fully break down the components of a medicinal herb was something that alchemists in this world could never hope to achieve.

His previous reading about the effects of medicinal herbs and identifying drugs in the pharmacy was just preparation. Only now was he truly beginning.

The only thing making him hesitate now was that learning alchemy and pharmaceutics would inevitably consume a great deal of his time and money. If he made no progress for a long time, it might even affect his martial arts training.

Frowning, Olivia Smith looked up at the sky. And just as he was hesitating, Olivia Smith’s sharp eyes caught sight of a group of four-winged tiger eagles, each about ten zhang long, two thousand meters up in the sky, hunting and chasing a wind heron passing through.

Olivia Smith couldn’t help but let out a wry laugh. In this world where strength reigns supreme, the weak are always prey. If he didn’t want to end up like that wind heron in the sky, already torn to pieces, he had no choice but to find a way to become stronger.

As for a little delay—what difference was there between an eighth-level warrior and a ninth-level warrior?

With a self-mocking smile, Olivia Smith opened each of his various-sized packages one by one, then took out the bronze cauldron he had recently picked up at the antique shop and placed it in front of him. After that, he carefully reached into his chest.

Chapter 0010: Medicine Analysis

Whether in Olivia Smith’s previous life or now, the requirements for a martial artist’s aptitude were about the same. Besides the smoothness and toughness of the meridians, what people valued most was the strength of one’s innate energy.

This “vital energy” comes from the natural circulation of the twelve main meridians, and there is a certain limit to how much is produced each day. The process of cultivating internal breath is to train this “vital energy,” transform its nature into true qi, and then store it in the lower dantian.

There is a distinction between “true essence” and “external essence.” True essence is the core and foundation; as long as the owner doesn’t deliberately activate it, it won’t be consumed. The latter is attached to the former, and when martial artists use true qi, it is this that is expended. It can recover naturally, or its recovery can be accelerated through breathing techniques.

In this era, although there was no need, as in Olivia Smith’s previous life, to seek the body’s “self-sufficient” treasure trove that could combine all kinds of spiritual energy between heaven and earth with one’s own true essence to strengthen true qi, there were still some limitations.

In fact, in all the internal cultivation manuals Olivia Smith had read, almost without exception, they emphasized the importance of the foundation. The so-called foundation refers to “true essence.” If the spiritual energy from the outside world exceeds the limit that the body’s true essence can fuse with, the martial artist’s foundation will be shaken. At best, one loses control over the true qi in the body; at worst, all cultivation is lost.