The green mountains are lush, the empty valleys secluded.
In the dense forest, a young man dressed in a gray short jacket wiped the sweat from his forehead, revealing a hint of relaxation:
"Today's work is done, I can rest for a bit."
He skillfully tossed the herbs in his hand, still tainted with soil, into the bamboo basket behind him, sat down to rest for a moment, but did not hurry to return.
"Panel."
Zhang Yao silently recited in his heart.
A light blue screen appeared, and a waterfall of text rushed down:
Name: Zhang Yao
Talent: Primordial Energy Spring, Essence Qi Transformation
Skills: Herb Mastery (37%), Taiyi Pile Skill (29%)
"This Taiyi Pile Skill, I've been practicing so hard for so many days, yet the progress is still so little, really too slow."
Zhang Yao sighed, feeling a bit melancholic.
He has soul-traveled to this world for a month now, taking over the identity of a Little Daoist Child in Qingping Palace, life is still quite stable.
Especially with the attribute panel and the two talents that came with his crossing, making him quite satisfied.
But he, by nature, tends to be cautious even when living comfortably, especially after hearing the troubled times at the foot of the mountain, full of natural calamities and man-made disasters, he hopes to have more power for self-preservation.
"Take it slow."
"I've lived anew, and gained a talent akin to immortality, already a great fortune, there's no need to be in a hurry."
Zhang Yao soon calmed his mental realm, stood up, found an open space in the forest, unloaded the basket, and began practicing the Taiyi Pile Skill.
This Taiyi Pile Skill, is a skill everyone in Qingping Palace knows, it is not a combat and killing technique, but purely a longevity magic skill.
But it is said that if practiced to perfection, one's physique and bones' strength far surpasses common people, so Zhang Yao practices diligently.
"Hoo…"
He separated his feet, let his shoulders sink, elbows drop, chest relax, and back straighten, controlling his breathing, and slowly practiced.
Taiyi Pile Skill combines movement and stillness, with twelve variations, the fundamental essence is in breathing technique, thus practicing it exhausts physical strength, not the kind of leisurely fancy display.
Zhang Yao practiced for less than an hour, and already he was panting, feeling tired and weak.
He regulated his breathing technique, collected the pillar technique, reached into his pocket, took out a cut white dry tuber, and chewed it.
"Not many herbs left, need to secretly prepare some more."
In Zhang Yao's heart, thoughts slightly turned.
After a few herbs to replenish primordial energy entered his stomach, they soon transformed into a warm current, circulating through his limbs and bones, replenishing his exhausted strength.
"These talents are really nice!"
Zhang Yao took a deep breath, showing a hint of satisfaction.
Both of his talents are related to essence and primordial energy, after crossing, he spent quite some time truly understanding the functions of these talents.
Essence Qi, the foundation of the human body!
Splitting the term essence and primordial energy, they are essence qi and primordial energy, together they govern the birth, aging, illness, and death of humans.
Essence qi, derived from the externally cultivated refinement of grains into vital energy, supports every activity of the human body at all times, without sufficient essence qi, strength declines.
While primordial energy, is innate primordial qi, closely linked to one's lifespan, brought from the womb, each day alive consumes a bit, and cannot be replenished.
Longevity, is to slow the consumption of innate primordial qi, to live as long as possible.
Once suffering from prolonged incurable illness or severe injury needing recovery, tremendous primordial energy is lost, leading to shorter life, this is the so-called "great damage to primordial energy."
Also, the loss of primordial energy will lead to weak essence qi, causing the body to slowly age and become frail and ill, until the primordial energy is exhausted and yin and yang separate leading to death.
His first talent — Primordial Energy Spring, constantly replenishes innate primordial qi, like granting him an immortal body, free from lifespan concerns.
His second talent — Essence Qi Transformation, greatly enhances essence qi conversion efficiency, while to some extent autonomously manages essence qi, able to accelerate healing of injuries, cure diseases, etc.
A month ago:
When he just soul-traveled here, inheriting the body and identity of the Little Daoist Child, the progress of Taiyi Pile Skill was only 24%.
Now after a month, it has increased by 5% in progress, actually far surpassing the Daoists and Daoist Children in the palace, mainly relying on the talent "Essence Qi Transformation."
"Time to go back."
After recovering his strength, Zhang Yao carried the basket again, heading toward Qingping Palace.
After passing through the mountain forest, soon he saw the familiar path, and after walking for about two quarters, he arrived at the mountain path in front of the palace gate.
The mountain path winds up, and at the end are over a hundred stone steps, on the two-zhang-high gate building sign, the three big words "Qingping Palace" glow faintly in the sunset light.
Qingping Palace is not small, covering an area of three to four acres, well known in the surrounding ten miles as a Great Daoist Temple, prosperous with visitors.
"Junior Brother Qingxu."
"Junior Brother Qingxu, you're back."
The two Daoist attendants at the gate saw Zhang Yao returning from gathering herbs and greeted him.
"Senior Brother Qing Lang, Senior Brother Qingzhao."
Zhang Yao bowed and, after a brief exchange, entered the Qingping Palace.
The mottled old red walls had lost much of their plaster, and the crevices in the blue bricks were filled with moss, revealing the age of this monastery.
Qingping Palace was founded over a hundred years ago, passed down through four generations, and now there are forty to fifty people, including real people, Daoists, and Daoist children in the palace.
After entering the palace gates, Zhang Yao skillfully navigated through the halls and pavilions and arrived at the Pill Furnace Hall.
"You're back?"
A Daoist inside the hall, dressed in a black Daoist robe and wearing a lotus crown, glanced at Zhang Yao as he heard his voice while reading a book by candlelight:
"Put down the basket. We'll handle the cleaning and processing later. First, go eat."
"Yes, Master."
Zhang Yao respectfully bowed, placed the basket in the corner of the hall, and quickly left.
By the time he reached the dining hall, it was nearly dark outside. The dining hall was almost empty, but fortunately, some food was left, so it wasn't all cold and desolate.
Today's meal was a simple bowl of plain noodle soup with pickled vegetables, with little oil or water. Zhang Yao quickly finished one bowl and then served himself another.
"Senior Brother Qingxu!"
As he sat down at the long table, a slightly younger Daoist child approached excitedly:
"Have you heard? Lord Guan Yuan is going secular, and the position of Lord Dugu will soon be vacant!"
"Of course, I know that."
Zhang Yao raised an eyebrow, casually replying:
"But what does that have to do with us?"
"We are just ordinary little Daoist children, not even initiated, so it's not something for us to worry about."
"How can you say it has nothing to do with us?"
The little Daoist child disagreed, lowering his voice:
"If our master is chosen as Lord Dugu, wouldn't we also rise with him?"
The scale of Qingping Palace is not as large as those Daoist monasteries with hundreds of people, and its internal hierarchy isn't as complex as the 'Three Capitals, Five Masters, and Eighteen Heads,' but the ranks are still strict.
Below the Palace Master, the highest positions are held by the two prime real people, the Lord Dugu and the General Lecturer, followed by the Lord Hall Masters of the four halls.
These few little Daoist children all belong to the Pill Furnace Hall, nominally disciples of the current Lord Hall Master "Guanlu." If Lord Guanlu could be promoted, they might also benefit.
"You're overthinking it."
Zhang Yao immediately saw through his naive notions and shook his head:
"We are merely nominal disciples, not inner disciples."
"Even if the Master becomes Lord Dugu, we will still belong to the Pill Furnace Hall, and by that time, we would have a new Lord Hall Master."
"Ah?"
The little Daoist child's face immediately fell upon hearing this:
"So it's like that... I thought I could follow Master to the Guardian Pavilion and leave behind this tough task at the Pill Furnace Hall."
There are no idlers in Qingping Palace. Even the little Daoist children have clear responsibilities.
As children of the Pill Furnace Hall, they often have to go into the mountains to harvest herbs and are also responsible for the processing, storage, and maintenance of medicinal herbs, which is hard work.
As selling spirit pills that extend life and strengthen the body is an important source of income for Qingping Palace, they can't afford to be careless. Any negligence would lead to reprimands and punishment.
Among the three pavilions and four halls of Qingping Palace, the children and Daoists of the Pill Furnace Hall and the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall have the most laborious tasks.
"You want to leave the Pill Furnace Hall?"
Zhang Yao slurped a noodle, glancing at him, murmuring:
"I'd advise you to give up that idea early; it's too challenging."
Several Daoist children his age complained about the tough tasks at the Pill Furnace Hall, but Zhang Yao didn't mind it terribly.
The world below the mountain is chaotic, with natural calamities and man-made disasters frequent. Many commoners can't survive, forced to sell their children or even starve to death.
As Daoist children living in Qingping Palace, they don't face threats to their lives. They can eat and work, and have the chance to practice health-preserving techniques, which was quite fortunate. Many people below the mountain could only dream of such a life.
"Ah..."
The little Daoist child sighed, looking worried:
"I just hope I grow up soon and get initiated, then I can stay in the palace to refine elixirs without having to run around tirelessly."
Zhang Yao smiled, finished the noodles in his bowl, and stood up, saying:
"Growing up is not necessarily a good thing..."