Chapter 43: Gathering Herbs

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After just over an hour, Ethan finally descended the long staircase leading to the sect.

Although he had finally awakened, and thus could climb the long staircase much faster and with much less effort, he had to admit that he still hated this staircase.

An interesting thing Ethan had noticed was that although he was at the first level of body refining, already halfway to the second level, his speed was comparable to that of Da Shu, who was already a cultivator at the second stage.

He thought it was one of the benefits of having a special physique and didn't dwell on it much.

Now that he was finally down, he needed to go to the places where the three herbs he needed to make the pill grew.

The three herbs he needed were:

the Refreshing Herb, the Vitality Flower, and the Reinforcement Root.

These three herbs were not too difficult to find, or at least 2 out of 3 were not.

The reason the pill recipe Ethan was using was low-level was also due to the materials used in that recipe. Sёarᴄh the Novёlƒire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

If the quality and rarity of a material were low, the recipe it was usually associated with was equally low-level.

For example, in this case, the Vitality Flower and the Reinforcement Root were quite common in nature, therefore easy to find.

These two herbs alone had little or no effect, but if combined with the third herb, the effect that characterized the Basic Recovery Pill could be obtained.

Because of this, Ethan had no trouble finding these two herbs.

After spending a dozen minutes reaching the edge of the forest, Ethan started searching for the various herbs.

He didn't have to look long to find the first herb, the Vitality Flower.

Ethan wasn't sure why a flower that commonly grew in open places like this had such a fancy name, but as the name suggested, the herb in question was a flower.

More precisely, a six-petaled pink flower that grew in groups of three and was no taller than 30 cm.

Ethan ended up in a field of these flowers, and although he still had some left at home, he took almost all of them.

Ethan, of course, left their roots intact so they could regrow in the future.

Gathering herbs might seem simple, but it wasn't.

It took very little to ruin an herb during its collection.

Ethan, of course, didn't have this problem.

Among the many things he had learned about basic alchemy, there was also knowledge about herbs, which not only gave a basic explanation of the herb and its properties, as well as the effects it could produce in various mixtures, but also how to collect them.

In a short time, Ethan filled a box in his storage with many Vitality Flowers.

Then, he moved to another area not far from the previous one.

This area, unlike the previous one which was open, was inside the forest.

The next ingredient he needed was the Reinforcement Root.

This ingredient, as common as it was, was very easy to miss by the eyes of a beginner, and this was because, as the name itself suggests, it was a root, and therefore it was underground.

As problematic as it was to search underground if you didn't know the exact location of the object, in this case, it was very simple.

These roots were known to always grow near a tree, and the spot where they grew was always a denser green color than the rest of the field.

So, just look around and see near which tree an area was a bit more densely colored green.

With just a quick glance around, Ethan managed to identify several areas that had these characteristics.

With effort, Ethan took out a tool specifically for pulling out the roots and rolled up his sleeves.

After almost an hour, he had finished gathering a good amount of Reinforcement Root.

Now he only needed to find the third and last herb.

But the third herb was a bit more problematic to obtain.

Ethan would have much preferred to buy this herb directly from the market, but luck was not on his side.

The reason the Refreshing Herb was problematic to obtain was not because it was in short supply in the forest or because it was difficult to find, but because it was highly adored by animals.

This herb was like tasty food for animals, more precisely herbivores.

Although it had a refreshing effect on the body of any creature, those who benefited the most from this property were the herbivores.

This herb only grew during the summer, and if not harvested immediately, it would end up being eaten by the animals of the forest.

The reason this herb often ran short even at the market was because, due to its properties, it was useful for refining various pills.

Therefore, combined with the fact that it was not only highly sought after by animals but also by alchemists, it often ended up being scarce.

It didn't take Ethan long to get the information on where to find it, and after searching for about half an hour, he finally spotted a small field of blue flowers in the distance.

These flowers, although very simple in appearance, had a light blue color that was very pleasing to the eye.

Unfortunately for Ethan, this beautiful sight was currently being destroyed by an unwanted intruder.

In the area of the forest that had this small field of Refreshing Herb, a four-legged animal was currently having its meal.

This animal was no more than a meter tall. It was covered in thin grayish-white fur and had a pair of large coiled horns on its head.

Seeing this animal, Ethan couldn't help but approach the nearest tree and hide his presence.

Ethan immediately recognized the animal in question.

From behind the tree, peeking out a bit to look at the animal again, Ethan muttered something.

"Heavens, how unlucky do I have to be to encounter this here," he said to himself.

"Of all the possible beasts I could have encountered, why did it have to be him?" he said with a bit of regret.

The beast a few meters away from him was a mountain goat.

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FRANK_LEE_JUNIOR:

Here's today's chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.

As usual, if you have any comments, suggestions, or errors to report, you know where to do it.

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