I am about to die of old age, and I have awakened the character of longevity.

Chapter 5: Obtaining the Medicinal Auxiliary
As soon as I walked out of the yard, I saw He Chunli wiping the doors and windows of the shop.

The young disciple was surprised and delighted to see Xie An's energetic appearance, "Master, you look much more energetic."

Xie An was in a good mood, and he smiled as he spoke. "I've been in a good mood recently, and I feel more energetic. By the way, where's Zhang Bing?"

Xie An hadn't looked his age before his stroke. After all, serving as an official in the imperial court wasn't rough work, so he'd maintained himself fairly well. Although he looked younger now, there was no need to hide anything.

But if your appearance continues to stay young and you really do experience rejuvenation... then you really need to find a reason.

He Chunli's expression darkened. "Brother Zhang is still sleeping. He won't get up until noon."

Xie An glanced at He Chunli's hands covered with cracked chilblains and immediately understood.

Disciple Han Li took a few months off because of something going on at home, so there was nothing much to say.

However, Zhang Bing really thought of himself as the imperial master, and ordered He Chunli around and bullied him at will.

In the past half month, Zhang Bing had only visited Xie An symbolically twice, and each time he was perfunctory.

Xie An even keenly felt that every time Zhang Bing came to visit him, he paid special attention to his complexion.

It’s not so much that they came to visit me, but rather that they were afraid that I would get better and hoped that I would die soon.

Xie An encouraged He Chunli, "Xiao He, if you work hard, you will definitely be able to make a name for yourself in the future."

He Chunli was confused, but he scratched his head and said, "Yes, Master."

Xie An said nothing more and turned away.

With Xie An's current health, it would have been more than enough for him to go back to the shop and work. But since Master Li had given him three months, he might as well make good use of it.

What's more, although practicing health-preserving exercises is boring and hard, I enjoy it every time I see my body grow stronger and my lifespan increase.

In comparison, I don't have much interest in the job of appraising objects.

……

The most powerful lord in town is undoubtedly Chen Lei, the master of the Chen Clan Martial Arts School. Having acquired extraordinary martial arts skills, he journeyed through the martial arts world, and upon returning home in glory, he opened a martial arts school to train warriors for the village. He is truly a powerful figure in Wuqiao Town.

In this chaotic world, practicing martial arts will always be the most honorable profession.

Although the Li family was wealthy, it was nothing compared to the Chen family. When Mr. Li saw Mr. Chen, he had to bow his head and tuck his tail between his legs.

If you want to buy medicinal supplements for practicing martial arts, there is no better place than Chen's Martial Arts School in the entire Wuqiao Town.

Next to the gate of Chen's Martial Arts School is Chen's Pharmacy.

The medicinal supplements that are usually prepared are first supplied to the martial arts apprentices in the martial arts school, and the excess will be sold to the outside.

Chen He, the owner of Chen's Pharmacy, was Chen Lei's distant cousin, a 49-year-old man who had trained in martial arts and was well-maintained. He had privately consulted Xie An on numerous occasions to appraise antiques, and they were quite familiar with each other.

Martial artists are often bold and uninhibited, not so particular about rules and regulations. Chen He did not despise Xie An for being a slave, but was rather amazed at his extraordinary skill in appraising objects.

"Old Xie, why are you going out so early in the morning? Aren't you afraid of catching a cold? Hey, why do you look so energetic?"

Chen He, who was sitting behind the counter of the pharmacy, looked Xie An up and down in surprise.

Xie An laughed and said, "I've recently found a health-preserving exercise to invigorate my joints and bones. Maybe that's why. By the way, do you have any medicinal supplements that are compatible with the Five Animal Exercises?"

Chen He retracted his gaze and introduced them like a treasure, "Of course there are. The general one is the bone strengthening soup, three taels of silver for a dose, and you can take it three times a day. For someone like you, Old Xie, who practices for fun, the bone strengthening soup is enough."

Knowing that Xie An was a slave, the introduction was quite pertinent.

The problem is, Xie An is not practicing for fun...

Xie An was not satisfied and asked, "Is there anything better?"

Chen He was a little surprised. "There's a better one, the Blood Nourishing Soup. It costs eight coins of silver per dose and can be taken morning and night. There's also the Nourishing Yuan Soup..."

"What's the best?"

Chen He was even more surprised. "The best medicine I have here for health-preserving exercises is none other than Shengqi Soup. It contains ginseng, angelica... and deer blood. It costs two taels of silver per dose, and you can take it once every two days."

Two taels per set, one dose every two days, which means one tael of silver is consumed every day.

It’s ridiculously expensive…

Although Xie An felt the pain in his heart, he was determined that this was the medicine he had to buy. However, he still showed an embarrassment and said, "I want to buy five sets. Can Manager Chen give you a discount?" Five sets would cost ten taels.

Chen He has been running a pharmacy for many years, but he has rarely encountered such a domineering customer.

If it were anyone else, Chen He would have been tempted to try and trick them, but facing Xie An, he still advised, "Old Xie, this is not a small amount of money. Don't be impulsive. You can spend this money on martial arts training. It's not worth spending it on health-preserving exercises."

If it were before, Xie An would also be reluctant.

But recently, after tasting the benefits of health-preserving exercises, he became more determined. "Thank you, Shopkeeper Chen, for your kindness. But I can't practice martial arts at my age, so I thought of practicing health-preserving exercises."

Chen He didn't try to persuade him any further. "Five servings of Shengsheng Soup will cost you eight taels of silver. Is that okay?"

Xie An knew this was quite generous, so he agreed and said, "Okay."

Chen He was very familiar with the medicine. He wrapped five prescriptions in mulberry paper and was about to collect the money when he suddenly said, "Old Xie, I have something here. Can you help me take a look at it?"

In this world, wealthy families tend to collect antiques, calligraphy and paintings.

Xie An readily agreed and took the item to look through it.

It is a jade ruyi with good color, pure light transmittance and crystal clearness.

While Xie An was appraising the item, Chen He talked about the origin of the item. "I bought it at the county antique market for ten taels of silver a while ago. They said it was a jade ruyi belonging to a princess of the previous dynasty. But when I went to the pawnshop, they said it was a fake. Fuck..."

Xie An looked through the jade pendant for a long time, pointing to the sailfish carving on it. "Although the sailfish carving originated in the late period of the previous dynasty, there were few imitators at that time, and it was mostly popular among the nobles in Kyoto. It was not until the 20th year of the Jingtai reign of this dynasty that it became widely popular. Later, due to changes in the wind direction, the sailfish carving became less common."

Chen He rubbed his hands nervously, "Is it worth money?"

Xie An said, "The swordfish carving is unique in itself, and it has only been popular for a short time. It is quite rare. But the princess of the previous dynasty is exaggerating. It must have belonged to a noble lady during the Jingtai period of this dynasty. It has a history of thirty years. If you meet someone who knows the business, it will be sold for twenty taels without any problem."

Chen He couldn't believe it, "Really?"

Xie An was very confident in his craftsmanship. "If you can hold onto the money for ten years before selling it, you can get double the value. If you don't believe me, you can go to Li's pawnshop today. I'll take it for twenty taels. But you'll have to pay a loss."

"Hahaha, I believe what Brother Xie said." Chen He was in a good mood and unconsciously changed his address to brother.

When collecting the money, he was only willing to accept three taels of silver from Xie An, saying it was the cost price.

Xie An naturally accepted this favor.

There isn't much surplus to begin with, so every penny saved counts.

"By the way, a health-preserving master will be coming to the martial arts school in a month to teach. You can audit for just two taels of silver. Old Xie, do you want to come?"

"Look again."

When we returned to the small house in the backyard of the pawnshop, it was already bright.

Xie An closed the door, moved a stove from the corner, lit it and started boiling medicine.

While cooking the medicine, Xie An practiced health-preserving exercises.

Chen He’s last words couldn’t help but come to my mind.

"My progress in the health-preserving exercises has been noticeably slower recently, not only due to a lack of supplemental medicine, but also because I'm not practicing correctly."

Health-preserving exercises may seem simple, but it is not easy to master them.

Although you can slowly improve your progress by working hard, if you don't use the right method, it will be too slow and you will easily take many detours.

If you have a health master to give you some advice, you will definitely get twice the result with half the effort when you work out.

Just like the art of appraising objects, if an ordinary apprentice relies on self-exploration, it may take ten years to master it. But if he can get some guidance from others, he will make great progress in two or three years.

"It seems that these two taels of silver for attending the class have to be spent."

As he was speaking, the medicine was already prepared.

Xie An dragged his exhausted body and ate three bowls of angry soup, and was immediately stunned.

hum!
The warm current in my lower abdomen seemed to have been injected with stimulants and was growing crazily...

(End of this chapter)