Sun Huanzhen: "Your foundation is good, even better than mine was back then. But the Human Immortal Tribulation sometimes depends on luck, so I can't really answer your question."
Ye Tian: "Grandpa Sun, how long did your Human Immortal Tribulation last?"
"Three and a half months," Sun Huanzhen replied. "Fortunately, I knew a friend who was skilled in medicine, otherwise, I might not have lasted until the end. Even if I hadn't died, I would have become a cripple."
Ye Tian: "I do understand medicine, but I'm still not confident."
Sun Huanzhen: "You don't need to overthink it. I can see you're not someone with a short lifespan, so try to be more cheerful."
Ye Tian smiled: "I'm not too worried. At worst, I'll just go back to being an ordinary person."
Sun Huanzhen: "That's the right attitude. Cultivation is inherently going against the heavens, fraught with danger."
Now that Ye Tian had lost his cultivation, he felt surprisingly relaxed. He didn't need to cultivate or worry about too many things.
Sun Huanzhen: "Little Ye, actually, after many years, you might even miss the time of the Human Immortal Tribulation."
Ye Tian smiled: "I hope I'll have the chance to miss it."
Sun Huanzhen laughed heartily: "You're still so young, and your foundation is better than mine. You shouldn't speak so discouragingly. I'll cook a few dishes tonight, and we'll have a few drinks, father and son."
Ye Tian: "That sounds great. I have many things I want to ask you about."
After sitting with Sun Huanzhen for a while, Ye Tian drove to the medicinal field. He hadn't been there for some time and wanted to see how the herbs were growing.
As his car arrived at the medicinal field, the person managing it recognized him and quickly came forward, smiling, "Boss Ye, you're here."
This man was in his fifties, named Xu, whom Ye Tian called Old Xu.
"Old Xu, the herbs are growing well. You've worked hard," Ye Tian said with a smile.
Old Xu replied, "It's not hard. It's quite relaxing here."
After exchanging pleasantries, Ye Tian went to the patch of land where the Lithospermum was planted. It covered about five mu of land. At a glance, he could tell that nearly half of the Lithospermum had mutated.
He walked into the field, found a mutated Lithospermum plant, plucked a leaf, and chewed it to feel its medicinal properties. Although his cultivation was gone, his ability to identify herbs remained. Mutated herbs would show more noticeable changes in their leaves, veins, and color. After seeing enough, he could distinguish which plant had mutated at a glance.
After tasting the herb, he discovered that this particular Lithospermum had gained two beneficial medicinal properties and one harmful one. He took out his notebook and recorded this information. Currently, being in the Human Immortal Tribulation, his mind wasn't as sharp and he was prone to confusion, so he had to record everything meticulously to avoid forgetting or misremembering.
In this Lithospermum field, Ye Tian found three types of mutations. One was the most common, accounting for ninety percent. The other two were less frequent, one making up a little less than ten percent, and the last one having only seven plants! The mutation in these seven Lithospermum plants pleased Ye Tian the most, as it had gained six additional beneficial medicinal properties without any harmful mutations. He asked Old Xu to thin out some of the Lithospermum around these seven plants and tie a red string to their branches.
"Old Xu, when they produce seeds, please collect the seeds from these seven Lithospermum plants."
Old Xu nodded, "Boss Ye, don't worry, I've noted it down."
After working for a while, Ye Tian felt a bit tired. He sat on the ridge to rest and asked Old Xu, "Old Xu, you seem very familiar with medicinal herbs?"
Old Xu smiled, "I studied Traditional Chinese Medicine for fifteen years, and practiced with my master for two years. I'm familiar with all sorts of medicinal herbs. Later, I started learning to cultivate herbs and made millions in the first few years. But then, all my money was swindled away. Now that I'm older, I just help people manage medicinal fields."
Ye Tian was somewhat surprised, "You studied TCM, why didn't you continue practicing medicine?"
Old Xu replied, "I still occasionally see patients now, but I don't charge any money. Actually, my medical skills are quite good in this field, but I don't have a practicing license, and I'm too lazy to get one, so I just stopped."
Ye Tian: "If you still want to be a doctor, I can help you apply for a license."
Old Xu smiled, "Thank you, Boss Ye, but I haven't practiced in years, and I've become rusty."
Ye Tian nodded, "That's fine. Working here is also a good fit for your expertise."