A Mortal's Journey to Immortality

Zhou Ping looked at the wisp of smoke rising from the agarwood with delight, his face full of joy, and a weight was finally lifted from his heart.

Nine days had passed since he last discovered this phenomenon, during which time he had doubted his own judgment.

He worried that the appearance of the smoke was just a one-off event and might not continue. What if it never appeared again?

This thought made Zhou Ping somewhat anxious and uncertain. Without the help of the smoke, his brilliant ideas would become nothing but empty talk.

Seeing the smoke rising from the top of the agarwood again, he finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

Zhou Ping was now certain that this smoke was not a disposable consumable, but a strange substance that could be continuously generated.

Suppressing his excitement, he took a porcelain bottle, filled it with water, and carefully inserted the end of the incense stick, which was emitting wisps of smoke.

After watching intently as the smoke disappeared into the water, Zhou Ping carefully sealed the porcelain bottle with a stopper.

Having done all this, Zhou Ping was in a great mood and began to plan his next steps.

In his vision, since the water mixed with smoke could make bamboo grow and develop rapidly, it should have the same effect on other plants.

If this assumption is correct, Zhou Ping immediately thought of the items he comes into contact with every day, the most precious of all plants: herbs!

If he cultivates herb seedlings in this way, wouldn't he be able to harvest as many precious herbs as he desires?!

He will no longer have to worry about the shortage of medicinal materials in his future cultivation. In fact, if he can cultivate herbs of the highest quality, he can greatly increase the cultivation speed of the Qingyuan Technique.

Even if he can't use them all himself, he can resell the excess herbs, which is a way to get rich with multiple benefits!

Zhou Ping's face lit up with joy. The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, and the more ideas came to him. He stared intently at the sandalwood on the table, as if he were looking at a rare treasure.

It took Zhou Ping a long time to recover from his excitement and regain his composure.

Because among these wonderful ideas, there are still a few concerns that he needs to try them out himself before he can feel at ease.

The first issue is the withering and death of bamboo. If it is a normal process of birth, aging, illness, and death, then there is no need to worry.

However, if the withering and death are caused by the lack of clean water, then it will be difficult to deal with. If all the cultivated herbs wither and die, they will be of no value to him.

The second concern is whether the cultivated medicine will undergo some undesirable mutation. If the medicinal effects change, or if it absorbs water mixed with smoke and acquires some unknown toxicity, the herb will become worthless.

The third concern, which Zhou Ping was also interested in, was what unexpected changes might occur if people or animals directly consumed the strange water.

After thinking about all this, Zhou Ping brought out the herb seedlings he had prepared earlier. He neatly arranged several pots of seedlings on the table so that he could observe them at any time.

He planned to address the first two concerns first, but as for the third, he dared not risk testing the poison on himself.

Furthermore, if the first two concerns are indeed valid, there is no need to proceed with any further attempts.

Having made up his mind, Zhou Ping went to the seedlings and gently opened the cork of the porcelain bottle.

He poured the water into the flowerpots in front of him, one by one, from a small amount to a larger amount, wanting to know what effect different amounts of water would have on the growth of the seedlings.

After doing all this, Zhou Ping hurriedly went to the canteen, quickly finished his dinner, and then returned to Cuifeng Villa.

Unlike before, when he returned from the cafeteria, he made a point of taking a stroll around the pheasants that Chef Wang kept.

After seeing several brightly colored pheasants peacefully foraging inside, he left satisfied.

Night falls.

Zhou Ping began his anxious wait. After preparing for so long, all the answers would be revealed tonight!

As darkness fell, he felt that time was passing very slowly. He rubbed his sore eyes and then focused intently on the few herb seedlings once more.

Finally, as Zhou Ping grew increasingly anxious, midnight arrived.

At this moment, Zhou Ping had long lost his initial excitement. His mind had been in a state of high concentration for a long time, which made his eyes dry and drowsy.

He sat at the table, one hand supporting his forehead, the other hand idly tracing patterns on the surface, his eyes mechanically scanning back and forth between the three seedlings.

Just when Zhou Ping thought this situation would continue, a faint rustling sound came from one of the flowerpots.

With his keen hearing, Zhou Ping immediately noticed the slight disturbance. He sat up abruptly and raised his chin to look at the flowerpot that had made the sound.

Immediately afterwards, the same sound, a "rustling" sound, came from several other flowerpots one after another.

At this moment, Zhou Ping stared wide-eyed at the strange sight before him, speechless, and even forgot to breathe.

The seedlings in the flowerpot seemed to come alive; their small branches grew thicker and longer, and their leaves expanded and became larger.

In Zhou Ping's eyes, the seedlings seemed to be growing at an accelerated rate, developing at an unbelievable speed.

About fifteen minutes later, as the last "seedling" stopped its frenzied growth, this strange sight finally disappeared completely.

Instead, the room was filled with the aroma of medicine...

Zhou Ping took a deep breath, but the shock on his face still couldn't be dispelled.

This extraordinary sight was completely beyond his comprehension, making him feel as if he were in a dream.

The medicinal fragrance in the room seemed to activate the Azure Yuan True Qi within Zhou Ping's body, and wisps of azure energy began to circulate within him on their own.

Feeling the coolness emanating from his body, Zhou Ping quickly calmed himself down. He then rubbed his hands together and examined the three "seedlings" in front of him with shining eyes.

At this moment, the three herbs had long since lost any trace of their seedlings. They were either deep in color, or had large fruits, or had thick roots that had broken through the soil.

After carefully examining the three herbs, even with his calm and mature nature, Zhou Ping couldn't help but chuckle.

"They're not dead, not a single one is dead! Hahaha!"

"As I expected, the bamboo withered simply because its growth cycle was too short!"

"After switching to herbs with longer growth cycles, the deaths stopped."

"There are no problems with the appearance of these herbs for the time being; they are no different from those that are normally cultivated. As for their medicinal properties, we will have to try them to find out."

"I guess I'll have to try the cafeteria tomorrow..."

Thinking of the colorful pheasants from earlier that day, Zhou Ping nodded unconsciously.