I Have Medicine

Chapter 571 - (Returning to the Wilderness) This place is quite suspicious.

As Gu Zuo stepped out the door, he looked up and saw his strikingly handsome big brother in their courtyard, delicately holding a wine cup while sitting at a stone table, sipping his drink.

In front of him, on the training ground, numerous Tianlong Guards were grouped in pairs of five, practicing the Six Dao Techniques. The techniques’ profound intent and coordinated strikes unleashed immense power.

Before long, the Tianlong Guards finished their drill, and his brother offered a few pointers. Then, he had another group of battle slaves form a combat formation, splitting into two sides to spar against each other. The sound was deafening, the momentum awe-inspiring.

Moments later, his big brother turned his head, a faint smile on his face. “Ah Zuo, you’re out of seclusion?”

Gu Zuo immediately forgot about the various poisons he’d been developing and ran over joyfully. “Big Brother!” If they weren’t outside with so many people around, he’d have leapt onto his brother’s back.

Gongyi Tianheng reached out and pinched his cheek, chuckling. “You’ve lost some weight. Was it tough?”

Gu Zuo shook his head. “It wasn’t tough. I…” He paused, choosing his words carefully. “…had quite a bit of fun.”

Gongyi Tianheng raised an eyebrow. “Fun?”

Gu Zuo coughed lightly. “I mean, I’ve already developed a good number of medicines. They basically cover three races. It’s just that when it comes to dealing with the Blue-Eyed Tribe with awakened blue eyes, I’m still a little short.”

Gongyi Tianheng nodded knowingly. “Those with such divine eyes are not easy to handle. That’s normal.”

Gu Zuo nodded back and added, “Anyway, I’ll figure out their weakness soon. Besides, if I miss this chance, refining the divine eyes will take a lot more effort and resources to trade for.”

Gongyi Tianheng reassured him, “Your brother will make sure this happens for you, Ah Zuo.”

If at first it was just about completing the mission here flawlessly, now that they’d encountered the Blue-Eyed Tribe, he naturally put in even more effort. All of this was to ensure his little pharmacist could smoothly obtain enough divine eyes to cultivate his technique and boost his strength.

Gu Zuo understood his brother’s intentions. After rubbing against him affectionately for a while, the two headed to the City Lord’s mansion together to share the good news about the medicines.

Wu Zhenhuang was, of course, overjoyed. “In just half a month, Pharmacist Gu has already developed multiple medicines. Truly living up to your reputation!”

As he spoke, he took several jade bottles from Gu Zuo’s hands. Each bottle contained a different medicine, and the labels clearly indicated which foreign race each one targeted.

Seeing how meticulous Wu Zhenhuang was, Gu Zuo smiled at him. “I’ve also listed the herbs needed to refine these medicines. City Lord Wu can take the list and gather the materials in the city.”

Wu Zhenhuang understood Gu Zuo’s intent and marveled at his thoughtfulness. “Thank you for your hard work, Pharmacist Gu. I’ll issue orders immediately to have my subordinates select the most suitable prescriptions.”

Gu Zuo, pleased that Wu Zhenhuang grasped his meaning, nodded with satisfaction. “In that case, I won’t disturb you further, City Lord. Once you’ve gathered the herbs, feel free to invite a few skilled pharmacists from the city to my residence. I’ll teach them step-by-step, so we can produce more of these medicines.”

Wu Zhenhuang was even more touched. “Pharmacist Gu, your generosity is admirable. On behalf of the city’s people, I thank you.”

Having clarified everything with Wu Zhenhuang, Gu Zuo left with Gongyi Tianheng.

After their figures disappeared, Wu Zhenhuang waved a hand, summoning his daughter Wu Yingyuan, his son-in-law Chang Heyue, and several advisors.

When they arrived, they naturally found it a bit strange.

Wu Zhenhuang presented the prescriptions and issued his orders: “Each of you take one prescription and investigate in the city. Check which herbs we’re short on here, note them down, and report back to me.”

As the group received the prescriptions and looked them over, their eyes were immediately dazzled by the dense list of herb names scribbled across each one.

Wu Yingyuan couldn’t help but ask, “Father, what are these?”

Wu Zhenhuang then explained how Gu Zuo had been researching these prescriptions earlier.

The advisors sighed in admiration, “Pharmacist Gu’s skills are extraordinary, and he’s truly put a lot of thought into the welfare of our Eight Desolations City.”

Indeed. Even though one prescription per foreign race would’ve been enough—and even if some herbs were hard to find, he could’ve just called it done—Gu Zuo didn’t stop there. Instead, he went out of his way to develop multiple options. If the herbs for one prescription were rare, they could turn to a second or third one. And if one ran out of materials, there’d always be substitutes.

In the fast-paced chaos of the battlefield, this level of preparation was incredibly convenient. Compared to the foreign races, the human side now had several trump cards up their sleeves.

Of course, Gu Zuo’s reputation was renowned, but that had been mere hearsay. Now, having witnessed his capabilities firsthand, they increasingly felt that his talents were truly exceptional.

With that, the group picked up their herb lists and quickly split up to get to work.

Once the herbs were gathered and suitable pharmacists selected, they could immediately start preparing these powerful weapons to arm the warriors of Eight Desolations City!

—-

Meanwhile, Gu Zuo and Gongyi Tianheng returned to their residence. But Gongyi Tianheng didn’t stay idle. He summoned a hundred warriors—fifty Tianlong Guards and fifty Immortal Realm battle slaves—and prepared to leave with them.

Gu Zuo was a bit surprised. “Big Brother, what’s this about?”

Gongyi Tianheng smiled. “Every day now, I lead my subordinates deep into the borderlands to hunt down foreign races. Today, I delayed a bit to welcome you out of seclusion, but it’s time to go now.”

Gu Zuo immediately understood.

He remembered that before he went into seclusion, his brother had already devised and begun executing this plan. Having been in seclusion for over ten days, his brother must have ventured into the borderlands several times by now.

Gu Zuo’s curiosity piqued. “Big Brother, have you killed any of them?”

Gongyi Tianheng nodded slightly. “The Giant Rock Tribe, due to their breeding needs, has many of their young and strong gathered in Giant Rock City for mating. Those who don’t get a turn head into the borderlands to capture women to bring back. There are indeed still some women lingering in the borderlands, so I stepped in and killed a few Giant Rock clansmen.” He paused, then continued, “Then there’s the Demon Wolf Tribe, still colluding with the Giant Rock Tribe. They disguise themselves and assist the Giant Rock Tribe in capturing human women. Fortunately, my qi sea has a unique trait—no matter how they disguise themselves, I can always spot them. So, I’ve killed quite a few of them too. Their bodies are all preserved for you, Ah Zuo, though I haven’t kept any alive.”

Hearing this, Gu Zuo immediately realized that the foreign races’ activities were indeed showing more signs of escalation. But his brother not capturing any alive? With his strength, that didn’t seem likely.

Gongyi Tianheng seemed to sense Gu Zuo’s confusion and answered with a smile, “On those previous trips, I didn’t personally take action. I was just overseeing from the sidelines.”

Gu Zuo understood instantly.

So, Big Brother is training the troops.

His subordinates were limited in their cultivation realms, roughly on par with the foreign races. Without Big Brother stepping in, it was only natural that they couldn’t capture the foreign alive and could only kill them.

At this moment, Gongyi Tianheng smiled warmly and invited, “Now that Ah Zuo’s out of seclusion, would you like to come along with me this time?”

Gu Zuo answered without hesitation, “Yes!”

The smile on Gongyi Tianheng’s face deepened.

Gu Zuo lightly scratched the side of his face.

After being in seclusion for so long, he really missed his big brother…

Afterward, Gu Zuo followed Gongyi Tianheng, leading the hundred-strong team out of the city gates.

The group charged forward without a hint of hesitation, heading straight into the depths of the borderlands. Along the way, they encountered plenty of wild beasts, but most fled far away under the overwhelming presence of the hundred-plus warriors. As for primordial beasts and foreign races, they weren’t so easy to come across.

However, Gongyi Tianheng and the others didn’t lose heart.

With Gu Zuo half-held in Gongyi Tianheng’s embrace, the rest of the group ran freely, racing like lightning toward a stone forest in the southwest.

Gu Zuo paused. “Big Brother, what’s this place?”

Gongyi Tianheng replied, “Scouts reported that something strange is going on here.”

In the borderlands, scouts were invaluable.

Their information couldn’t be ignored, not even in the slightest…