CHAPTER 41: CHAPTER 41: IDENTIFYING HERBS BLINDFOLDED

Cheng Sufeng glanced at the clothes and the silver token, and said slowly, "Send them to the room."

The middle-aged man bowed respectfully and agreed, not daring to say more. After delivering the black clothes and the silver token to the room, he came out and said, "Sir, did that Bronze State Official disturb your cultivation just now?"

Cheng Sufeng shook his head and replied, "No harm. The practice of the Heart Method requires experiencing all facets of a healer; he counts as one of them. It’s just amusing."

The middle-aged man was slightly taken aback.

Amusing?

It was rare to hear the word "amusing" from Mr. Cheng’s mouth.

Cheng Sufeng extended his finger and flicked a silver needle. "The people of the Evil Extermination Bureau love fighting and killing. It’s interesting they come to learn medicine. Send me his information later."

The middle-aged man hurriedly agreed.

He didn’t understand.

Why would a mere Bronze State Official draw the interest of a Silver State Official? But since his superior said so, he had to comply.

The gentle-looking man before him was someone who made many demons and Pseudo-Gods in Lingzhou tremble in fear.

Only because his Heart Method had hit a bottleneck did he change his appearance and open this East Dawn Hall.

On the surface, he seemed as gentle as a spring breeze, but in truth, he acted decisively and ruthlessly.

The middle-aged man didn’t know what fate awaited the Bronze State Official who had caught Cheng Sufeng’s attention.

Cheng Sufeng yawned and walked outside, saying, "Don’t overthink it, just interested. I’m off to treat patients."

As Cheng Sufeng left, the courtyard returned to silence.

...

After returning to the Evil Extermination Bureau from the East Dawn Hall, Qin An shut his door and began reading the Initial Understanding of Herbs.

The Initial Understanding of Herbs contained not only text but also brief illustrations for each herb.

According to Cheng Sufeng, memorizing it marks the first step.

Qin An, with his scholarly talent, read at an impressive speed.

However, the content of the Initial Understanding of Herbs was obscure and difficult to grasp. Even with his professional aptitude, it took him until nightfall to memorize it all.

Outside, darkness had already fallen.

After calming himself slightly, a line of smoke appeared before Qin An’s eyes.

[Healer lv.1 (0/100): You have a slight effect when treating patients]

"It really appeared."

Qin An hadn’t expected it to be true, just as Cheng Sufeng had said – memorizing the book initiated him into the path.

During the memorization process, Qin An gained an understanding of the healer profession, especially deepening his knowledge of herb identification.

"I’ll first raise the healer profession to level three and then discuss acquiring the healer’s talent."

Qin An contemplated for a moment before making his decision.

To enhance the healer talent, one must naturally learn, and Qin An planned to visit the East Dawn Hall the next day to practice herb identification using the methods from the Initial Understanding of Herbs.

Given the late hour, Qin An lay down to sleep without changing clothes.

...

The next day.

When the morning sunlight shone in, a knock on the door interrupted Qin An’s nap.

"Mr. Qin, there’s been a problem with your assignment. It won’t be determined for the next few days."

An Internal Affairs Department official stood at the door, hands tucked in his sleeves, speaking softly.

Qin An got up and opened the door, "What problem?"

Once promoted to Bronze State Official, one gains the authority to recruit State Officials and joins the forces of the Silver State Official they belong to.

Each Silver State Official manages a hundred Bronze State Officials, and each Bronze State Official supervises a varying number of State Officials, ranging from a dozen to over a hundred.

These complicated intersections formed the network of the Lingzhou Evil Extermination Bureau.

According to protocol, there was supposed to be a distribution today, so he thought this development wasn’t trivial.

The Internal Affairs Department official shook his head, "I don’t know, but there should be results in a few days."

Qin An nodded, "Understood."

Since he couldn’t get any information, he set it aside for now.

He had no tasks today, and he still needed to go to East Dawn Hall to practice his healer proficiency.

If a task came, the Evil Extermination Bureau had two methods of contact.

The first was verbal communication.

The second was through the Token.

If outside the Evil Extermination Bureau, the Token would vibrate slightly, indicating an incoming task requiring immediate return.

As for the principle behind the Token’s vibration, Qin An had no time to investigate.

After informing him, the Internal Affairs Department official left alone.

Qin An went out, had breakfast, and headed to East Dawn Hall.

East Dawn Hall was as crowded as ever.

Upon seeing Qin An, Cheng Sufeng waved, "Over here."

Qin An walked over, "I want to identify herbs."

The room had rows of medicine cabinets, conveniently facilitating Qin An’s task.

Cheng Sufeng slightly nodded, "Alright, sir, feel free to identify them."

Qin An rubbed his chin, "You’re quite straightforward."

Cheng Sufeng smiled, "I’m just a commoner, can’t afford to offend the Evil Extermination Bureau, so compliance is my only choice."

Qin An shook his head, "I won’t interfere with patients or disrupt your treatments. Here’s some silver coins for the time I’m occupying."

Cheng Sufeng accepted the silver coins, a glint flashing in his eyes.

He was a Silver State Official and had seen many colleagues.

He initially thought Qin An was impulsively coming over, but today he even offered money.

An official offering him money was indeed a novelty.

Cheng Sufeng couldn’t help but be curious.

...

For the next two days, Qin An shuttled continuously between East Dawn Hall and the Evil Extermination Bureau.

Until this afternoon, Qin An observed the smoke before him, picked up a white cloth from the side.

[Healer lv.1 (100/100): You have a slight effect when treating patients]

[Promotion Condition: Identify a herb with eyes closed (0/1)]

This was the condition for breaking through to level two.

Qin An happened to be in East Dawn Hall now, just able to try it out here.

Cheng Sufeng had just sent off the last patient and was about to speak with Qin An when he saw Qin An covering his eyes with a white cloth, reaching out towards the medicine cabinet.

"What are you doing?"

Qin An picked up a herb, "Identifying herbs with eyes closed."

Cheng Sufeng was slightly stunned, then shook his head, "You haven’t studied for long. Such a skill can’t be learned."

He had entered the path of medicine, learned the Heart Method at the Evil Extermination Bureau, and considered himself to have made significant achievements in medical skills in Lingzhou.

Learning herb identification required at least three months and innate talent.

To identify herbs with eyes closed, one must know the taste of each herb and, amidst the influence of numerous herbs, remain clear-headed.

Qin An hadn’t been here long; it was impossible.

Cheng Sufeng approached, "In learning medicine, you must not be impatient. Take it step by step."

He had finally encountered someone so intriguing that Cheng Sufeng naturally didn’t want to shake Qin An’s confidence.

He wanted to see what happened next, perhaps even how Qin An would react to being dissuaded.

"Angelica." Qin An suddenly spoke, placing the herb back in the cabinet.

Cheng Sufeng stopped in his tracks, eyes widening, "What did you say?"

Qin An removed the white cloth and said, "Nothing."

In front of him, there was a change in his healer profession.

[Healer lv.2 (0/200): You have a slight effect when treating patients]

Condition fulfilled, Qin An successfully advanced.

Next was to practice until level three, awakening the talent before considering further steps.

With that in mind, Qin An decided to return to the Evil Extermination Bureau to rest.

Then, a hand reached over, holding the white cloth.

"Cover your eyes again, let’s try a different herb."