Volume One: The Beginning of Cultivation

Chapter 001 Henry Carter

The rising sun.

On the treetop, a white-headed, blue-bodied xian-ke bird chirped joyfully, hopping and flitting among the green leaves. This bird, covered in blue feathers with a tuft of white on its head, is called the xian-ke bird. It is extremely rare, highly intelligent, and can understand human speech and intent.

Inside a dilapidated Daoist temple, a handsome young Daoist smiled lightly and beckoned with his hand. The bird immediately spread its wings and flew over, landing on the Daoist's hand.

This youth, with a pure and clean appearance, wore Daoist robes and looked about sixteen or seventeen years old. His features were delicate and refined, with a scholarly air, but not frail.

The young Daoist was named Henry Carter, the sole disciple and also the master of this Daoist temple.

The The Carter Family was a family of doctors, practicing medicine for generations with a great reputation. Mr. Carter was busy treating the sick and saving lives, rarely having time to teach Henry Carter the art of medicine or the skill of identifying herbs. Fortunately, the old master of this nameless Daoist temple was well-versed in medical theory and had been a good friend of Old Mr. Carter. Thus, Mr. Carter entrusted his youngest son to the old master.

Henry Carter followed the old master for several years. The old master taught him how to identify herbs, explained medical principles, and passed on effective remedies. Occasionally, when there was free time, he would have Henry Carter recite Daoist classics and study the Daoist Canon. In the end, Henry Carter's study of Daoist texts became as deep as his knowledge of medical books.

According to the old master, medical books and Daoist texts share similarities in some areas, such as the concepts of meridians and acupoints, and similar terminology. Reading Daoist texts could help in understanding medicine by analogy.

Two years ago, both Mr. Carter and Mrs. Carter contracted a deadly illness and died on the same day. The old master also caught the same disease and soon passed away.

This The Carter Family, a family of doctors for three generations, saw its reputation plummet, especially since the famed Divine Doctor Carter died of illness himself. The title "divine doctor" became an excuse for many jealous physicians or those at odds with the The Carter Family to harshly criticize them.

Henry Carter was still young, and no one believed in the The Carter Family's medical skills anymore, let alone trusted a mere boy. The The Carter Family pharmacy had already been taken over by relatives, leaving him only with the xian-ke bird his mother had given him for company.

Fortunately, the bird was intelligent and understood human speech, so Henry Carter's life was not without joy. Relying on his skill in identifying herbs, the boy lived a rather leisurely life. Sometimes, just by digging up a single medicinal herb and exchanging it for silver, he could be free from worry about food and clothing for several days.

Coincidentally, today was another day when he had run out of food.

Henry Carter slung his small medicine basket over his back, placed his little herb hoe outside the door, turned to close the main gate, then bent down to pick up the hoe and headed toward the woods south of the temple. The young Daoist waved his hand, and the xian-ke bird, which had just flown back to the tree, let out a low chirp and flew to perch on his shoulder.

As he neared Yinghuang Mountain, a look of seriousness appeared in Henry Carter's eyes. He raised his hand and said softly, "Go on, if anything happens, notify me at once."

The xian-ke bird gently touched his neck, then let out a long cry and soared into the sky.

Yinghuang Mountain is a great mountain, its depths thick with vegetation and rarely visited by people. There are many fierce birds and beasts; even hunters only dare to hunt on the outskirts and never venture deep inside. The Daoist temple where Henry Carter lived was at the foot of Yinghuang Mountain.

The young Daoist took a deep breath, feeling the fresh mountain air clear his mind.

Carrying his herb hoe, he walked forward. Most of the herbs nearby had already been dug up, so he had to go a bit further. However, with so many wild beasts in the deep mountains, he dared not venture too far and instead circled the outer areas to gather herbs.

Even on the outskirts, it was not necessarily safe. Those fierce birds and beasts usually stayed in the mountains and rarely came out, but there were exceptions. For example, last year, a male eagle, half as tall as a man, nearly snatched away the xian-ke bird. Failing that, it spotted Henry Carter and almost captured the young Daoist himself.

Sometimes, wild boars would come out to roam. These wild boars were nothing like domestic pigs—they were extremely ferocious.

"Last time I picked four stalks of silver dollar grass, which can treat rheumatism and is very effective. Each stalk is worth about seventy silver coins. But I only gather herbs and don't run a shop, so I can't sell medicine myself, and people don't trust a boy like me. Selling to the city pharmacy, I only got ten silver coins per stalk," Henry Carter thought to himself. "Four stalks of silver dollar grass brought forty silver coins, which bought me half a bag of rice and lasted more than ten days. But I remember that seventy steps beyond the silver dollar grass, there are two more stalks of inkshine grass."

"Ink grass can treat external injuries and can be made into wound medicine. Its price should be higher. Ordinary pharmacies sell it for ninety silver coins per stalk, but if I sell it to a pharmacy, I can probably get twelve or thirteen silver coins each."

The old Daoist had taught him the rules: when gathering herbs, always leave the roots and never be greedy.

It takes years for herbs to mature; picking one means one less. If the roots are damaged, the herb will die out. If the roots are left, they can sprout and grow again. And one should not be greedy—just take what is needed, greed is useless.

Henry Carter's family used to run a pharmacy, so every time he gathered herbs, he could estimate the selling price. Once he felt he had enough, he would stop.