Being a knight is not easy

Chapter 28: Advancement
Robin was secretly delighted, but pretended to be nonchalant. He casually flicked out a silver coin and handed it to the old man: "These plants look good. I'll take them back and plant them. I won't take advantage of you. Is this silver coin enough?"

When the old man saw the silver coins, he immediately smiled and nodded repeatedly: "That's enough! Sir Knight is really generous!"

Robin understood that the old man not only did not know the effects of these herbs, but he also did not know their prices.

Obviously, he was just an ordinary person who did hard labor, responsible for collecting these weeds and sending them to the lord's mansion. As for the value of these weeds, he had no idea at all.

Eric, Lily, and the others were a little puzzled by Robin's behavior, but seeing that he looked calm, they didn't ask any further questions. Thomson leaned over and whispered, "Robin, what are you doing with those weeds? Are they anything special?"

Robin smiled and lowered his voice, saying, "These are not ordinary weeds. I'll explain it to you when we get back."

The four of them said goodbye to the old man and continued walking towards the military camp.

On the way, Robin was in an exceptionally cheerful mood. He had not expected that this trip to the city would yield such an unexpected gain.

Although dragon blood grass and Cattleya root were not particularly precious herbs, they still cost them three gold coins to buy.

This shows the importance of knowledge monopoly.

After returning to the barracks, Robin immediately called several people to his room. After closing the door, he took out the herbs from his pocket and placed them carefully on the table.

"Is this the weed you just picked up?" Lily asked curiously, reaching out to touch it, but was stopped by Robin.

"Don't touch them. These aren't ordinary weeds." Robin smiled mysteriously, then explained, "These are dragon's blood grass and cattleya root. Dragon's blood grass can significantly increase blood and energy, while cattleya root strengthens bones. We need these two herbs for our leopard bone soup!"

Eric and Lily's eyes widened with shock when they heard this.

Thomson was so excited that he almost jumped up: "Really? Then we are going to be rich!"

Robin nodded, but then reminded him, "These herbs aren't rare, yet they're sold at such a high price in the market. The profits involved aren't something we, knight apprentices, can meddle with. So, next time we see that old man, we can only buy a small amount to avoid attracting the attention of the people in the lord's mansion."

Eric and Lily nodded quickly.

In this way, they are taking advantage of the main mansion.

"These are crude drugs, different from the ones they sell, so I need some time to figure out how to blend them."

Lily said excitedly, "Robin, you're amazing! You can actually find these treasures from a pile of weeds!"

Eric also smiled approvingly: "It seems that we are really lucky this time. With these herbs, our strength will increase much faster."

Robin smiled, but he didn't feel relaxed.

While the discovery of these herbs was a pleasant surprise, how to use them is the key.

He decided to start studying the recipes in the book tonight and try to prepare a medicinal soup suitable for them as soon as possible.

As night fell, the military camp gradually became quiet.

Robin sat at the table, carefully reading the ancient book by candlelight, and occasionally writing and drawing on the paper with the pen in his hand.

There was a concentrated light in his eyes. He wanted to finish reading the whole herbal documentary, but if he read it hastily, the system would not record it, so he had to read it carefully.

This means that for some time to come, his cultivation speed will have to slow down.

Half a month passed in a flash, and Robin finally finished reading the book "Herbal Documentary" carefully from beginning to end.

The contents of the book not only deepened his understanding of herbs, but also enabled him to master several new medicinal soup recipes. All of this was thanks to the unexpected dragon's blood grass and cattleya root.

With a stable and cheap source of herbs, Robin and his three companions would go to the Black Forest every week to hunt high-level beasts.

With the materials obtained from hunting wild beasts and the medicinal soup carefully prepared by Robin, their cultivation began to advance by leaps and bounds.

Robin had a clear assessment of the three people's progress in cultivation:
Lily's Breathing Skills experience had already reached over 340, putting her just one step away from reaching the mid-level Knight Apprentice level. However, she had hit an invisible bottleneck, preventing her from advancing as quickly as before.

This bottleneck can only be broken through through the accumulation of time and continuous practice, and cannot be rushed.

This is the benefit brought by the system. There is no bottleneck at all. He just needs to work hard to gain experience.

Eric's training speed is astonishing.

His breathing experience has exceeded 500 points, and he has not encountered any bottleneck restrictions for the time being. He is practicing like a fish in water and making rapid progress.

Robin speculates that Eric might be more talented than they thought.

Thomson's situation was somewhat intriguing. Despite his diligent practice, his progress lagged far behind Lily and Eric, with only around 120 Breathing Skill experience points, representing almost half the effectiveness of the former two.

Robin felt a little helpless about this, but he also knew that everyone's talents and physiques were different, so the speed of cultivation would naturally be different.

Although Thomson lagged behind, his efforts and persistence are still worthy of recognition.

What surprised Robin the most was himself. Although he had spent a lot of time studying the "Herbal Chronicle" in the past two weeks, his breathing experience had continued to increase steadily, even surpassing Eric, reaching 520.

This made him realize that his understanding and application of breathing techniques seemed to be deeper than others, and his practice efficiency was also higher.

"It seems that the combination of herbs and cultivation can indeed bring about a huge improvement." Robin thought to himself.

He decided to continue to delve into the application of herbal medicine and help his partners break through their respective bottlenecks.

One evening, the four of them sat around the campfire, and Robin distributed the prepared medicinal soup to everyone.

Lily took a sip and frowned slightly: "Why does the medicine soup taste a bit strange this time?"

Robin smiled and said, "I've added some new herbs this time. The effect will be stronger than before. However, the medicinal properties are also more potent. You must start practicing immediately after drinking it to avoid wasting the medicinal properties."

Eric nodded, drank the medicine in one breath, then sat down cross-legged and began to practice breathing techniques.

Thomson and Lily followed closely behind and entered the state of cultivation.

Robin looked at the three people's focused expressions, his heart filled with anticipation.

He knew very well that as long as they continued to persevere, breaking through the bottleneck was only a matter of time.

And he will continue to study the combination of herbs and cultivation to lead everyone to go further.

The night breeze blew gently, and the light of the campfire reflected on the faces of the four people, making them look particularly warm.

Robin took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and prepared to start practicing breathing techniques.

The city bells rang twelve times.

(End of this chapter)