Starting with the creation of the Immortal Clan through the compilation of the family genealogy.

Chapter 39 "Benefit-the-People Pharmacy"

Returning to the small courtyard in Yunni Township that held the hopes of the Meng family, Meng Xihong carefully reviewed the resources he now possessed, and a clear plan gradually took shape in his mind.

After returning from the fierce battle amidst the remnants of the Mysterious Valley, he developed a strong interest in rune formations.

Although he has not yet formally entered the Qi Nourishing stage of his literary cultivation, he knows from the ancient books he has collected that when his literary cultivation reaches the Qi Nourishing stage and his righteous energy grows strong enough to be released outward, his words will have a spiritual influence. At that time, he will be able to write "righteous energy talismans" that have the effect of suppressing evil.

This made him realize that the path of talismans had many similarities with his future cultivation of literature, and that talismans were also related to rune formations. Although the road ahead was long, he knew the importance of proceeding step by step.

His gaze involuntarily fell on the stones he had brought back from the stream, especially a few special stones whose spiritual energy flowed like an undercurrent of a river.

To find out the origin of these stones, he searched through all the ancient books in the village, consulted the local gentry, and even asked Ji Beichuan to inquire about them during his travels.

Finally, a record was found in a tattered ancient book that described the stone as "black in color, heavy as black iron, with its own spiritual essence, and is the mother of blue-black stone." After careful comparison, it was confirmed that this was indeed the rare "mother of blue-black stone".

What surprised him even more was that ordinary blue-green stone could carry simple rune arrays and produce subtle effects, so wouldn't this blue-green stone mother be an excellent rune carrier?

Meng Xihong had read ancient texts and witnessed firsthand the mysteries of rune array masters who could conjure runes with a wave of their hands, creating arrays that could trap enemies and protect themselves. He had long yearned for such a skill. Now that he had acquired such a talented individual and was in a period of leisure, if he could master this art, it would surely provide an additional layer of protection for his family.

However, knowing its name is easy, but mastering its methods is difficult. The art of runic arrays cannot be achieved through mere conjecture.
Before starting to carve, Meng Xihong made thorough preparations.

He first sent Ji Beichuan to a large county in Qingzhou, where he used the money he had earned from selling herbs over the past two years, along with travel expenses brought from Wufeng County, to purchase numerous records and diagrams of basic runes. Ji Beichuan then studied and pondered these materials day and night until he had them memorized.

The text was difficult to understand, and the diagrams were incomplete. He would often sit for half a day, staring at the direction of each stroke and the markings of the strength of spiritual power, trying to deduce the mysteries within.

Then, using ordinary ink and yellow paper, he repeatedly copied the structure of the "Gathering Spirit" rune, his wrist suspended in the air, his brush moving like dragons and snakes, striving to make every arc, turn, and spacing accurate to the diagram.

Within days, discarded paper scraps had piled up like a mountain in the corner of the quiet room.

Only when the runes he wrote began to possess a divine charm, and spiritual power could be faintly present with the slightest thought, did he decide to give it a formal try.

Only when he felt that the runes he was writing had acquired a certain charm, and that his spiritual power could flow subtly with the slightest thought, did he finally decide to put them into practice.

Inside the quiet room, Meng Xihong held his breath and focused his mind, his fingertips wisping the most inconspicuous blue-green stone with his spiritual energy for the first time.

As soon as he tried to inject his spiritual sense and spiritual power at the same time and follow the trajectory of the runes, he felt an unprecedented resistance.

The texture of the agarwood is tough and denser than imagined. Injecting spiritual power into it is like carving jade with a dull knife, extremely difficult. It requires an extremely high degree of concentration of spiritual consciousness and micro-management of spiritual power.

The runes he visualized in his mind were clear, but the output of his spiritual power was difficult to synchronize precisely. Every slight loss of control left charred marks on the stone surface and rapidly depleted his already meager spiritual power reserves.

Sweat quickly soaked his temples, but his eyes grew sharper. Each failure was a correction to his understanding of the "sharpness" and "penetration" of spiritual power, and he was experiencing the subtle "feel" of guiding spiritual power with his spiritual consciousness.

"Pfft!" The third piece of azure stone shattered with a soft sound, its spiritual power completely dissipating.

Meng Xihong took a deep breath, suppressing the restlessness in his heart and the fatigue in his body, and picked up the fourth, and last, slightly inferior stone.

This time, he completely abandoned all his eagerness for quick success. His mind was clear and his spiritual awareness was highly concentrated like a precision carving knife. His spiritual power was compressed and condensed into an extremely thin and stable "line". He completely followed the guidance of his spiritual awareness and slowly and firmly advanced along the rune trajectory that had been practiced thousands of times.

As the stone chips fell almost imperceptibly, a spirit-gathering rune, though crooked and clumsy in its strokes, was finally formed on the stone surface with great difficulty. Every stroke was infused with perfect spiritual meaning and the structure was stable.
A faint fluctuation of spiritual energy emanated from the center of the rune, like a newborn heart, beginning to beat slowly and steadily.

Success! This was not achieved overnight, but rather the first breakthrough that came naturally after countless theoretical studies and failed practices.

"Yunniang!" Meng Xihong's voice was hoarse with a hint of weariness and barely suppressed excitement as he solemnly buried the talisman, which carried his hopes and sweat, in the core soil of the medicinal garden in the corner of the courtyard.

Bai Muyun, who had been waiting nearby, immediately closed her eyes to sense it.

Bai Muyun, who had been waiting nearby, closed her eyes to sense the energy. After a moment, she opened them in surprise, her eyes gleaming with a green light: "It's done! Xi Hong! Although the spiritual energy is as weak as a stream, it is indeed gathering. Especially around these few Tranquilizing Flowers and Hemostatic Vines."

She gently stroked the faint light that was clearly visible on the edge of the leaves. "They seem to be cheering, and their growth seems to have sped up a bit." This slight effect of gathering spiritual energy is already a life-changing effect for ordinary herbs.

"Excellent! If I further refine my rune array skills, using 'Azure Amber Mother Stone' as a material will yield even better results!" Meng Xihong's eyes gleamed with excitement. This was not only a breakthrough in rune array skills, but also a solid step towards creating a "cradle of spiritual plants" for the Meng family!
"Xianghua!"

"Master!" Zhang Xianghua's burly figure appeared instantly outside the door.

"Take the two Liu brothers, who train with you the most, and explore the various streams near Old Immortal Mountain again," Meng Xihong said in a low voice.

"Remember, only take the rootless pumice scattered on the streambed, never dig deep; avoid all strangers, and leave immediately if you encounter them; after taking the stones, take them directly to the quiet room, where I will personally remove any impurities. It is better to return empty-handed than to attract attention!"
"Understood! Don't worry, Master!" Zhang Xianghua nodded emphatically, then turned and pointed at the people as he left.

After that, Meng Xihong began frantically practicing talisman making.

He spared no effort in using his spiritual energy to practice basic runes on ordinary rocks, such as those for gathering spirit, strengthening, warding off dust, and repelling insects. Each inscription was a tempering of his spiritual awareness and control over his spiritual power. He knew that if he wanted to inscribe more complex and powerful runes on the azure stone, such as small protective arrays or intermediate spirit-gathering arrays, his foundation was far from sufficient.

Meanwhile, Bai Muyun's "Benefit-the-People Pharmacy" plan is entering the practical stage.

In ordinary medicinal gardens, the calming flowers and hemostatic vines, thanks to the well water introduced by the water-gathering talisman drawn by Meng Xihong, although diluted, already have a trace of spiritual spring quality. With the addition of a slight spiritual gathering effect, they grow exceptionally well, and their medicinal properties are far more mellow than ordinary similar plants.

Bai Muyun did everything herself, personally picking, drying, grinding, and mixing the ingredients. Her techniques were skillful and gentle, and she unconsciously incorporated the nourishing water elemental energy and the enriching earth elemental energy, making the final medicine powder more effective and of higher quality.

A few days later, the "Huimin Pharmacy" quietly opened on the main street of Yunni Township.

There was no commotion, only the couplets personally written by Meng Xihong, the vigorous strokes of ink proclaiming the foundation of the Meng family's character:
A gentle breeze nourishes the countryside, and fine medicines help people with sincerity.

The owner of "Huimin Pharmacy" was Ji Fu, a relative of Ji Beichuan, who was highly recommended by him.

This elderly man, over fifty years old, had weathered his face, but his eyes revealed the simplicity of a farmer and the shrewdness of a merchant.

He had worked as an apprentice in a large pharmacy in the county for ten years in his early years. He was proficient in identifying medicines, recognizing people, and running a business. What was even more remarkable was his integrity, which was ingrained in his very being.

Ji Beichuan privately told Meng Xihong, "Uncle Fu offended the shopkeeper back then because he refused to pass off inferior goods as superior ones, so he returned to his hometown. He is trustworthy."

From the moment the pharmacy opened, it established itself by offering "genuine ingredients and honest service to all, young and old." This success was inseparable from Bai Muyun's meticulous preparation.

As soon as the pharmacy opened, it established itself by offering "genuine ingredients and honest service to all customers."

This reputation is inseparable from Bai Muyun's meticulous pharmaceutical work.

Through her years of studying medical books, Meng Xihong discovered that Bai Muyun had a talent for the properties and pharmacology of medicines. This time, she put a lot of effort into refining the calming powder and the hemostatic powder.

The calming flower buds are taken only when they are about to open. They are slowly ground in a blue stone mortar with a jade pestle to retain their essence and remove their dryness. The hemostatic vine is made by carefully selecting old and tough roots and stems. They are first roasted over a low fire, then finely ground with a copper mill, sieved to obtain powder, and finally a fine, dark red medicinal powder.

Under her focused operation, the medicinal herbs were naturally nourished by her innate water and earth elemental spiritual energy, further improving their quality and efficacy.

Therefore, the calming powder and hemostatic powder sold by Huimin Pharmacy are not only remarkably effective, but also nearly 30% cheaper than those sold at the local "Jishetang" pharmacy!

Word of mouth spread like wildfire, quickly reaching Yunni Township and the surrounding villages.

"The Meng Family Pharmacy has a conscience!"

"Uncle Ji is honest and kind; his medicine is good and the price is low!"

"After using hemostatic powder, the cut my husband got while chopping firewood scabbed over in just two days!"

"You know what, that calming powder is the best. After using it, my headache disappeared, and I slept soundly through the night."

The money flowed in like a trickle, which Meng Xihong cleverly planned: 60% was used to exchange for necessities such as grain, salt, and cloth to improve people's lives; 20% was used for the turnover of the pharmacy and the replenishment of medicinal materials; and the remaining 20% ​​was used by him in the name of "Meng Family Charity Hall" to regularly purchase rice, grain and cloth, which were then used by Ji Fu to provide precise relief to the widowed and poor in Yunni Township and the surrounding villages.

"The Meng family is kind and righteous. When they moved here, I felt they were extraordinary. I even gave them chickens. I'll see if I can build a relationship with them and get a discount."

"Xihong is a really good young man; he genuinely cares about our village!"

Intangible prestige, like seeds in spring, quietly takes root and grows deep in the simple hearts of the villagers.

As Meng Xihong walked through the countryside, he was met with sincere greetings and respectful glances. The gratitude he received was heartfelt, warm, and profound.

This growing sense of popular support is like the most fertile soil after deep cultivation, becoming the most solid and unshakable support for him to build the foundation of his family.

However, there is always a shadow under the sun. Time flies, and a year has passed in the blink of an eye. Meng's pharmacy is thriving, while Manager Qian of "Jishetang" on the same street sees his shop deserted while Huimin Pharmacy is bustling with customers. His face grows gloomier day by day.

He had been running a pharmacy for over twenty years and had connections in the village and even the county government. How could he allow a young upstart and an old farmer to ride roughshod over him?

"Hmph, a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger! Does he really think the medicinal herb business in Yunni Township is so easy to run?" A sinister glint flashed in Manager Qian's eyes as he summoned his trusted assistant.

"A-Gui, go and do a few things: First, spread the word that the medicine from Huimin Pharmacy works fast but is mixed with dangerous drugs, and that long-term use will harm your health and deplete your vital energy!"

Second, find out exactly where their medicinal herb garden is, what kind of fertilizer they use, and whether they've used any unorthodox methods!
Third, go to the "Hundred Herbs Hall" in the county and find Manager Li. Tell him that I, Old Qian, have a business deal to discuss with him..."

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(End of this chapter)