Just when Han Li had thought the overcast weather would persist for several more days, the sun finally reappeared in the sky, and the weather cleared. This marked nearly two weeks since Han Li had uncovered the secret of the green liquid—he had been eager to see a change for some time now. That very evening, he witnessed the remarkable phenomenon he had first seen four years ago: a dense cluster of glowing points forming a large luminous sphere around the bottle. As soon as Han Li saw this sight, the stone of uncertainty that had been hanging over his heart finally settled—he was now confident that this small bottle was not a one-time consumable, but rather a remarkable item capable of repeated use. After another seven days of waiting, a fresh drop of green liquid finally appeared within the bottle. Though Han Li had already been quite certain of the outcome, he was still profoundly delighted—this clearly indicated that he would have a continuous supply of rare medicinal herbs, no longer needing to worry about their availability. To put it simply, the value of medicinal herbs is largely determined by their age—the longer the years, the stronger their therapeutic properties. Likewise, the older the herbs, the harder they are to find, and they typically grow in deep mountain forests or on steep cliff faces. Without taking significant risks, one would hardly even consider such a pursuit. Although some pharmacies and physicians today cultivate certain herbs themselves, these are usually common ones that can be harvested and used within a short period—often just a few years. Most households would not bother cultivating herbs that take ten or even several decades to mature and become effective. However, some wealthy and noble families, in anticipation of unforeseen emergencies, designate specific individuals to grow rare herbs for life-saving purposes. These particularly precious herbs generally do not begin to show their full therapeutic effects until they have reached a substantial age. After all, more ordinary herbs can easily be purchased with the family’s current wealth, so there’s little reason to invest the time and effort into cultivating them specifically. Moreover, these noble families have passed down their wealth through generations and thus do not mind the lengthy time required to cultivate medicinal herbs—no one knows when they might actually need them. As a result, the herbs they typically cultivate are often top-tier specimens that take well over a century to mature, or rare, one-in-a-million unique varieties. Ordinary people simply lack both the financial means and the resources to undertake such long-term cultivation efforts. Occasionally, some rare herbs from the wild make brief appearances on the market, but are invariably acquired by these noble families, leading to a steady rise in prices and, at times, a situation where there is demand but no supply. Han Li does not hold much optimism about Mu Doctor's upcoming journey—he expects little return from it. Yet now, he no longer worries about this matter. With this vial, he can now rapidly develop high-quality herbs within a short period of time. Han Li conducted several further experiments on accelerating the maturation of medicinal herbs over the following several weeks, each one carrying a sense of anticipation. Once, he diluted the green liquid and sprinkled it over numerous herbs, but by the next day, he only obtained ordinary herbs with only one or two years of growth enhancement—far less effective than those from the first trial. From this experiment, Han Li began to gradually grasp certain patterns. In the next trial, Han Li completely omitted the dilution step and directly dripped the green liquid onto a single ginseng plant. To his astonishment, when he woke up the next morning, he found a hundred-year-old ginseng plant—indistinguishable from a wild, naturally grown hundred-year-old ginseng. This experiment left Han Li deeply delighted, not because he had obtained a rare herb, but because he had now roughly mastered the method of using the green liquid. Subsequently, Han Li conducted several experiments on the preservation of the green liquid, transferring freshly drawn samples into various containers—such as porcelain jars, jade vases, gourd vessels, and silver bottles. He found that regardless of the container used, the green liquid could not be preserved beyond fifteen minutes. As soon as it was drawn from the mysterious small bottle, it had to be consumed within that fifteen-minute window; otherwise, it would gradually vanish, leaving no trace. The diluted liquid exhibited the same behavior, though it could remain for a slightly longer period. However, after a certain duration, only the surrounding liquid would remain in the container, while the essence of the green liquid itself would completely disappear. After conducting several such experiments, Han Li lost all confidence in preserving the green liquid in other containers. It appeared that large-scale storage of this enigmatic liquid was no longer feasible. He therefore decided to proceed with another test involving the combination of medicinal properties. Han Li dripped a drop of green liquid onto a green Sanwu grass, transforming it into yellow Sanwu grass with a century of medicinal properties. A few days later, he dripped another drop of green liquid onto it, and its age increased by another hundred years. Seeing that this method proved effective, Han Li repeatedly performed the same action for over two months. Every time a fresh drop of green liquid emerged from the small bottle, he dripped it onto the Sanwu grass, which responded faithfully—its leaves gradually shifting from yellow to dark yellow, then to black, and finally, once all its leaves had turned deep, lustrous black, it became a rare thousand-year-old Sanwu grass. The test was a great success, and it appears that with sufficient patience, the age of the Sanwu grass could be further extended. However, for Han Li, this was entirely unnecessary—once he knew the method was indeed viable, he had no need for the much older herbs. The century-old or even millennium-old medicinal plants were already sufficient for his own use. After completing this series of lengthy experiments, Han Li finally found himself able to relax and take a well-earned rest. It had now been some time since the Master Mu had descended from the mountain. He now felt entirely devoid of the joy he had first experienced when he first obtained this trio-herb, instead carefully weighing the benefits and dangers this small vial now brought him, and planning for his future safety. From the various books in the ink doctor's study, Han Li had seen numerous cases of "being guilty of possessing a precious treasure." This very vial in his hands was truly priceless. Should outsiders learn of such a treasure, he would surely not survive until morning. Like many others before him who had been "guilty of possessing a treasure," he would be overwhelmed and consumed by a wave of greedy seekers. Even among his own peers, if the several senior masters of his sect discovered the secret of this vial, they would certainly not spare him. They would surely devise schemes to eliminate him and seize the treasure, leaving him with a tragic fate of "the treasure taken, the person extinguished." "Absolutely no one must be informed about the bottle—even on the mountain, one must use it with great care. The bottle absorbs light and its subtle movements are too noticeable; with the slightest oversight, outsiders will discover its secret." Han had made up his mind to keep the matter strictly confidential, never revealing a single word to anyone outside. "Yet, at present, I am in urgent need of medicinal herbs for my cultivation. If I don't use the bottle, I shall be wasting a great opportunity. I must therefore find a way that serves both purposes." He recalled his stagnant progress in cultivation, and felt a growing sense of melancholy. Regardless of the reason, the advancement of his cultivation techniques could not be delayed. He wasn't merely cultivating under Doctor Mo's encouragement—he had already begun to sense subtle, unexplained changes in himself over the past few years, changes that seemed inextricably linked to this unnamed cultivation technique.