Chapter 2

C2 – A Heavendefying Ability!(1)

At the counter on the first floor of Wei’s Pharmacy.

“Boss, I’ve got some medicinal herbs here. Do you purchase such items?” While Wei Lulin was steadying his mind and continuing to wait for customers, a middle-aged farmer in a crumpled, patched outfit approached him with a stuttering inquiry.

“Let me take a look at the herbs first to decide whether I’ll buy them.” Despite the farmer’s modest attire, Wei Lulin treated him with respect and warmth.

“Sure thing.” The farmer then produced a peculiar grass resembling human meridians.

“Meridian Grass!” Wei Lulin’s eyes lit up with a flicker of delight as he examined the herb in the farmer’s hand, his voice tinged with excitement.

Wei Lulin’s meridians had been damaged from the residual effects of a battle, rendering him unable to practice cultivation. This was his greatest concern. To repair his meridians and resume cultivation, he would need top-tier Celestial Materials And Earthly Treasures, as well as Pills of at least Grade Six—items far beyond his reach.

Yet, the world is full of possibilities. Aside from those esteemed materials and pills, certain rare medicinal herbs could also mend his meridians.

Only aged herbs would suffice, and he would need a substantial quantity. Moreover, such herbs were not commonly found on the market.

Meridian Grass was one such herb.

A single piece of Meridian Grass aged ten thousand years could fully restore his meridians, while several hundred stalks aged five years might also suffice.

Nevertheless, Meridian Grass was exceedingly rare.

“Uncle, this herb is quite uncommon. I’m definitely interested. But how much Meridian Grass do you have?” Wei Lulin inquired, maintaining his composure despite his inner joy.

As a store clerk, it was crucial to stay calm in the face of unexpected treasures to maximize potential gains.

“I’ve got eleven of them. How much are you willing to pay?” The farmer asked, his earnest expression marked with anxiety, upon hearing Wei Lulin’s interest in his herbs.

“You only have eleven?” Wei Lulin said with disappointment upon hearing the middle-aged farmer’s words.

Given his current predicament, he would need several hundred five-year-old Meridian Grass to mend a mere one percent of his meridians. What’s more, these eleven Meridian Grass didn’t belong to him but to the Wei family.

“Not enough, and too mature,” Wei Lulin mused with a hint of regret. “One Meridian Grass goes for fifteen copper coins, so for eleven, that would be one hundred and sixty-five copper coins. Does that work for you?”

A five-year-old Meridian Grass typically fetches around ten silver coins on the market, and one silver coin is equivalent to one hundred copper coins. Therefore, the markup on this deal was astronomical. Wei Lulin offered a lower price not just out of business acumen but also due to personal interests.

“Absolutely!” The middle-aged farmer was just a local cultivator from the outskirts of Lindorin Town, subsisting on agriculture and the occasional catch from trapping ordinary wild beasts. Even so, three copper coins were enough to sustain his family for a day, and one hundred and sixty-five copper coins could cover nearly two months of living expenses.

What mattered most was that he had stumbled upon the eleven Meridian Grass by chance while weeding. Essentially, this money was found money.

“Uncle, since it’s your first time here, I’ll round up the amount for you.”

“Here are 170 copper coins. Please count it carefully!” Wei Lulin said as he retrieved the coins from the cabinet and handed them over to the middle-aged farmer. He added warmly, “If you come across more herbs like these in the future, bring them straight to me. You’ll always get a fair price.”

Despite being a peripheral member of the Wei family, with a status diminished by his lineage and health, Wei Lulin was still a Wei’s disciple and an employee at a shop in Lindorin Town. He earned a monthly wage of ten gold coins, along with profit-sharing and an annual bonus, making his overall income quite respectable.

To Wei Lulin, five copper coins were trivial, but to the middle-aged farmer, they represented a gesture of goodwill. This act of kindness was sure to make Wei Lulin the first person the farmer would think of when encountering any medicinal herbs in the future.

After conducting a few more transactions, Wei Lulin realized it was getting late and unlikely that any more customers would come by. He took inventory of the goods, locked up the shop, and retreated to his loft in the backyard.

“Behold, the Meridian Grass!” he marveled, examining the odd-looking plant in his hand, as thick as chopsticks and shaped like the meridians of a human body.

Earlier that day, when he was dealing in Meridian Grass, Wei Lulin had intentionally lowered the price. His aim wasn’t callousness; he wanted to secretly keep a stalk for himself.

​In his past life, Wei Lulin had been a homebody, content with a simple existence. Even after being transported to this new world, he harbored no ambitions of domination, desiring only a peaceful life. But a newly acquired set of memories had made it clear that in this world, strength was the only guarantee of safety. Ordinary folk were mere targets for oppression, so he was determined to find any means to cultivate his strength and secure his place in this world.

The Meridian Grass exuded a faint, unusual scent. As Wei Lulin inhaled it, he was startled to feel a slight pain threading through his meridians. It was effective!

​Yet before he could revel in this discovery, the sensation vanished without a trace.

“If only I had hundreds of Meridian Grass stalks,” Wei Lulin sighed, contemplating the lone specimen before resolving to ingest it.

​Just then, an unexpected thought flashed through his mind, suggesting he could replicate the Meridian Grass. “How could that be?” He shook his head forcefully, trying to dismiss the ludicrous idea.

In his previous life as a programmer, copy and paste were the most basic yet powerful functions he knew. Anything on a computer could be replicated, but that was the realm of virtual reality. The notion of such abilities manifesting in the physical world was unfathomable.

​However, he paused to reconsider. If an event as fantastical as transmigration from online novels could occur to him, then perhaps it wasn’t so far-fetched for a computer program to cross over into his current reality. S~eaʀᴄh the NôvelFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Perhaps it was divine compensation!

After finding some mental solace, Wei Lulin didn’t hesitate for a moment. He silently recited, “First copy, then paste.” As he initiated the process in his mind, he noticed a shadow of a new Meridian Grass slowly forming beside the one in his hand.

Simultaneously, he felt a pulling sensation in his mind, targeting his blood, bones, and flesh. His once robust body began to wither with the emergence of this force. His already pale complexion turned even more ashen.