After making his plans, Wang Sheng took immediate action.
A self-disciplined person never delays.
The issue first and foremost was about the medical books, which in this era were difficult to obtain as they were treasures stowed away by doctors, passed only to their chosen successors.
Outsiders hardly ever managed to get their hands on them, of course, unless you had plenty of silver, it was possible to buy them, unfortunately, Wang Sheng did not have that much silver.
As for earning money as a martial artist?
Unless absolutely necessary, he didn’t want to.
Doing business related to martial artists that could make money—just linking these two keywords, Wang Sheng had already sensed danger.
He still preferred to honestly grind skill progression and levels.
And he had already thought of a solution to the issue with the medical books.
His main goal was to identify medicinal herbs, at this stage he didn’t actually need a medical book about medical skills.
Getting that kind of medical book was no longer as difficult.
Li Wenguang, a hunter from his village, had some books on identifying medicinal herbs at home, however, Wang Sheng didn’t plan to approach Li Wenguang.
The best place in Qingshan Village to obtain a medical book about medicinal herbs, was Ji Yang, the barefoot doctor.
People in Qingshan Village generally called him Old Ji.
When he was young, he had worked as an apprentice in a big city pharmacy, learned a bit of simple medical knowledge, and bought some simple medical books himself; by the time he was old, he had returned to Qingshan Village and became a barefoot doctor.
His medical skills weren’t anything extraordinary, but he was quite adept at treating minor ailments, so he was very respected by the people of Qingshan Village.
Wang Sheng knew he had medical books because of the old scholar who used to give people in the village their names.
The old scholar thought that since the people of Qingshan Village lived near mountains, and often went into the mountains, having knowledge about some herbs would be of great help, so he planned to teach some common knowledge about medicinal herbs.
Unfortunately, before he could start teaching, the old scholar passed away.
Naturally, the medical books were returned to Old Ji.
Wang Sheng’s target was this medical book.
Old Ji’s place was some distance from his house. On the way to Old Ji’s house, he encountered quite a few people.
Almost everyone he saw talked with him.
“Wang, heard you gathered enough chrysanthemums and resolved the issue!”
“Haha, you were just one step away from ‘enjoying your fortune’!”
“Yun Sheng, impressive, managing to gather so many chrysanthemums.”
Villagers during small village talks got wind of Li Da and Li Er carting away the chrysanthemums; many had seen the Sun family members leave and Wang Sheng delivering the goods, resolving the troubling issue spread quickly.
Most people thought Wang Sheng was not taken away because he managed to gather 500 kilograms of dried chrysanthemums; no one knew the real reason.
Wang Sheng didn’t explain, just responded with a smile to everyone.
Many of the young girls blushed at such a smile.
When they had heard that the Sun family was going to take Wang Sheng away, they were quite heartbroken in private.
Now that Wang Sheng was staying, did they have a chance?
Even though he was somewhat older, an old man by some standards, one couldn’t deny that he was handsome!
…
By the time he handled all the affairs and fended off the clinging young girls, Wang Sheng spent quite a bit of time reaching Old Ji’s house.
Luckily, Old Ji was home, leisurely lying on a lounge chair and smoking a dry pipe.
Hearing footsteps, Old Ji opened his eyes.
“Firm steps, each step brings a breeze, full of Qi-blood, from the look of it, full of the vigor of a dragon and tiger, a martial artist!”
He stood up immediately, somewhat shocked as he stared at Wang Sheng.
The village wasn’t large, and basically everyone knew each other, Old Ji was no exception, he recognized Wang Sheng.
Of course, he also knew about the predicament Wang Sheng had faced.
He thought it was just like the villagers said, Wang Sheng managed to avoid being taken because he had delivered the goods on time. Now it seemed that was only a small part of the reason.
The real reason was simple, Wang Sheng was a martial artist.
Wang Sheng was slightly surprised when he heard Old Ji’s words. Was his identity that easy to spot?
He said with a teasing tone, “Old Ji, you’re not some hermit master, are you?”
Old Ji shook his head, “What hermit master? My master taught us this method to identify martial artists so that we wouldn’t offend the wrong people.”
A hermit master? He wished, but he was just an ordinary barefoot doctor.
Thinking of this, his gaze towards Wang Sheng was a bit complicated as he said, “So you are a martial artist, quite the hidden one at that. No wonder you could gather 500 kilograms of dried chrysanthemums.”
Old Ji believed that Wang Sheng had gathered the dried chrysanthemums and then used his identity as a martial artist to intimidate the Sun Family into leaving him be.
“Can’t one become a martial artist in a month?” Wang Sheng said jokingly.
“Although I’m not a martial artist, I know that’s impossible. You’re not from some major family. Do you have that many resources? Or is your aptitude exceptional?”
Old Ji didn’t show any significant reaction to Wang Sheng being a martial artist.
At his age, could being a martial artist help him live another hundred and eighty years?
Clearly, it couldn’t.
So he was initially shocked, but then it was business as usual.
However, he was curious why a martial artist would come to see him.
“No one visits a temple without a cause. Tell me, what do you want?”
Wang Sheng cut to the chase and made his request, “Old Ji, could you let me look at your medical book? I want to familiarize myself with some medicinal herbs.”
“No interference Old Ji, but as soon as there’s trouble, it’s Old Ji. Clever boy. I can lend you the medical book, but why do you, a martial artist, need this useless medical book?”
Wang Sheng wasn’t planning to take it by force. A person asking for help ought to be respectful.
“I just want to see if I can find some herbs that could enhance my strength.”
Since his identity as a martial artist had been discovered, Wang Sheng saw no point in hiding it.
Old Ji laughed when he heard this, “You’re using a common man’s medical book to look for resources meant for martial artists? Shouldn’t you be searching in specialized resource records for martial artists? Wait here!”
Old Ji casually said this but obviously didn’t intend to delve deeper. Instead, he went to fetch the medical book.
Soon, he emerged from the house with an ancient book.
“Here it is. Just return it when you’re done without damaging it.”
After tossing the medical book to Wang Sheng, Old Ji lay back down on his recliner, appearing as if the earlier confusion hadn’t involved him.
Old Ji didn’t ask further, and Wang Sheng didn’t explain, simply thanked him and left.
Why not look at the resource records specific for martial artists?
They were not available!
To obtain them, one must enter the circle.
But—
Entering the circle = Risk!
Unless absolutely necessary, he wasn’t going to make contact.
Of course, for now, he didn’t even have a way to get in touch with the circle.
Still, the old saying held; honestly farming was the best choice.
On his way back, he took a different route and didn’t encounter anyone before quickly reaching his house.
Upon entering, Wang Sheng didn’t waste time and started reading the medical book right away.
No matter what, he needed to progress, and then slowly grind!
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