The Immortal of Plague begins by establishing the root of lung fire.

The booklet had a worn cover and no title. Song You flipped through a few pages and found it contained miscellaneous notes about local customs, landscapes, and geography, interspersed with some unofficial historical anecdotes.

"Do you want these miscellaneous books?" Song You asked Jiang Yangge.

Jiang Yangge glanced at them and shook his head, saying, "I've already read all these books. Take them if you like."

Song Youzheng needed to understand the whole picture of this world, so he rolled up these miscellaneous books and stuffed them into his pocket.

The search continued, and Song You pulled out several familiar, hard objects from the lining of Li Bin's belt. He took them out and held them out in his palm; they were a few copper coins.

Just like the copper coins in his clothes, he still has more than thirty buried under his bed.

Jiang Yangge's eyes widened when he saw the copper coin in Song You's palm, and he swallowed hard.

Noticing Jiang Yangge's reaction, Song You tossed the copper coins in his hand a couple of times and asked, "Senior brother, are these copper coins very precious? I see that the disciples in the temple are quite interested in them?"

Jiang Yangge looked up at Song You: "Junior Brother Song, this is common knowledge in the cultivation world. Don't you know what this thing is used for?"

Song You held the copper coin in his hand: "I was just selected from a rural village. I'm new here and haven't figured out many of the rules yet."

After considering it for a moment, Jiang Yangge nodded and said, "That's right. You're a beginner, and no one has taught you these things. These aren't ordinary copper coins; they're the official copper coins, silver, and gold issued by the Great Qian Dynasty—the hard currency of the world."

Song You raised a question: "Since this thing is so useful, and our temple has so many powerful immortal masters who have cultivated lung fire, why don't they just go down the mountain and rob those villages and towns? Mortals simply can't stop them."

Jiang Yangge sighed: "What you steal is useless. I only heard about the rules. Money that cultivators plunder from the people is just a pile of scrap metal to them. Only money that mortals willingly trade or give away, or that is collected as taxes, is useful."

"Of course, this applies to elders who have fiefdoms; we disciples rarely see them."

The elders also had fiefdoms, so Song You suppressed his doubts and continued to ask, "What exactly is the effect of this? Can it be used to buy elixirs or cultivation techniques from the temple?"

Jiang Yangge shook his head: "It can indeed be used inside the temple, but there's something else more important."

Jiang Yangge lowered his voice and leaned closer to Song You: "Every year around the middle of the year, the elders of the temple will select a group of qualified disciples and take them out for trials. There are many qualifications for going out, the most stringent of which is that one must have a sufficient amount of clean money."

Song You listened quietly.

Jiang Yangge continued, "Any disciple who went out with the elders and returned alive brought back some treasures, and their cultivation level increased greatly. Some even broke through to a higher realm."

"Does Senior Brother know about other qualifications?" Song You asked curiously, as he needed to seize this opportunity to become stronger.

Jiang Yangge sighed and shook his head: "I don't know much either. They were all taken away directly by the elders. Their other qualifications have not been revealed to outsiders. I only remembered that someone once said that money is important."

Song You gripped the copper coins in his hand, his mind racing as he considered the thirty-odd copper coins he had buried under the bed. Qing San's behavior at the time indicated there was no problem, but he had simply taken the coins directly.

Could it be that he was considered half a mortal back then? Song You kept these thoughts in mind and would verify them later.

Song You looked at Jiang Yangge: "Senior brother, how many copper coins are needed specifically for the qualification to go out?"

"There's no fixed price. In previous years, it was a hundred coins when it was less, and three hundred when it was more." Jiang Yangge stood up, supporting himself with his right hand, and resisted looking at the copper coins. "I don't think you're any ordinary person, so you can take it."

"Thank you, senior brother. You can come to me if you need anything in the future."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yangge's eyes lit up, and he nodded in agreement.

Song You stood up and put the copper coins into his pocket. Now he had nearly forty coins, but he was still far from the minimum of one hundred. He had to get more copper coins before the middle of the year.

Maybe we should ask our master later to see if there's any way to get in touch with him.

I wondered if I could bring something back from the world of light, but that would be too dangerous. The items there are completely different from those here, and it would easily attract unwanted attention.

The methods used here are too bizarre; even if they are detected, the person themselves might not realize it.

Song You was determined that he would never bring anything from that side here unless it was absolutely necessary and he was facing certain death.

"Let's go, senior brother." Song You pointed to Li Bin on the ground. "Plant him in there. We still have to go back and report. Master is waiting for us in the inner hall."

The two successfully settled Li Bin in the medicine cellar, closed the door, and prepared to leave.

"And then?" Song You stretched his arms and turned to look at Jiang Yangge.

Jiang Yangge caught his breath and said, "After that, you don't need to worry about it. The soil in this medicine cellar was fed by the elders of the temple with countless medicinal residues and dead flesh. Li Bin has a good foundation. If he is planted here for a few months, he will grow into a cultivator ginseng."

"Cultivator ginseng," Song You noted down the term, intending to look it up later.

"Let's go back and report." Jiang Yangge turned and walked out. The passage was still dark. The two returned to the inner hall of Baicaotang along the same route.

Inside the inner hall, the eerie green flames of the medicine furnace still flickered, and the outer disciples were diligently working, fanning the flames with palm-leaf fans.

Jia Chunfang sat cross-legged on the wooden couch at the back, her eyes closed and her chest rising and falling very little.

Song You and Jiang Yangge stopped about ten feet away from the wooden bed. Jia Chunfang didn't move, and neither of them dared to make a sound to disturb her. They just stood there quietly and waited.

Time passed slowly, and Yang Ge's left arm was still dripping blood. His face grew paler and paler, and his body swayed slightly, but he gritted his teeth and stubbornly refused to fall.

Song You slowed his breathing and observed Jia Chunfang on the bed. Jia Chunfang had been crying and laughing just now, but now she was so still, which indicated that her mental state was extremely unstable.

After the time it takes for two incense sticks to burn, Jia Chunfang's withered fingers twitched, and he opened his shriveled eyelids, his gaze falling on the two of them.

Song You stepped forward, clasped his hands together, and pressed his back down: "Master, it's planted."

Jia Chunfang nodded and shifted her gaze to Jiang Yangge.

"Brother Jiang Yang," Jia Chunfang said, her voice hoarse.

Jiang Yangge mustered his strength and knelt on one knee: "Disciple is here."

"You're quite efficient. I just thought about it, and I think you did a good job protecting the pharmacy today." Jia Chunfang tapped her withered fingers in the air. "Once it's easier for you to get your hand healed in a few days, continue managing the pharmacy's accounts. Don't let anything go wrong."

Upon hearing this, color returned to Jiang Yangge's pale face, and he kowtowed heavily: "Thank you for your kindness, Elder. This disciple will certainly keep a close watch on the pharmacy and will not delay anything!"

He stood up, bowed, and stepped back, turning to go to the medicine cabinet to process the accounts.

Song You stood there, knowing that he would recover in a few days, which meant he couldn't be cured now. It seemed the punishment wasn't over yet, and he wondered if Brother Jiang Yang would be fully recovered by then.

Song You pondered his situation. He was currently under the title of Jia Chunfang's disciple, which temporarily shielded him from some open and covert attacks.

But Jia Chunfang is by no means a pure mentor or friend. Once he loses his usefulness, his treatment won't be much better than Jiang Yangge's.

He must speed up the collection of copper coins, use all available resources to replenish his physical deficiencies, and improve his cultivation.

Jia Chunfang coughed twice, spitting out a mouthful of blood, and turned to stare at Song You.

"Song You." Jia Chunfang patted the wooden couch beside her. "Come here and sit down."