“If it hurts too much, just tell me, and I will take you out.” My mother seemed to be in more pain than I was. At least her wounds were visibly healing. The salve I made worked wonders. It did help that I added a bit of Soothing Mist Grass. It was a fundamental herb for refining rank 1 healing pills.

“I can endure. I will meditate for a while. Wake me in the morning.” I had no choice but to meditate anyway since I needed to concentrate on allowing the herbs' effects to do their job. The pain was so great that if I did not concentrate, I felt like I would pass out. Not only would this reduce the effects of the herbs, but also worry my mother.

By the time I came out of my meditative state, a strong sour smell attacked my nose. “Eh… I knew it was coming, but still, this is just…” I was currently surrounded by black water. This was all the toxins that had been purged from my body.

“Ruo’er. Are you okay?” My mother looked like she had just gotten up from a restless sleep. Luckily, she could rest from now on or else I would feel really bad about worrying her. 

“I’m fine. The smell must be bad. Do we have enough water for me to rinse off with?” I did not know if I would need to go to the river or not to clean off or what. But I do know I will need to get more water later. 

Luckily, my body felt full of energy. I could feel that my strength was much greater than it was yesterday. The ironback leaf had really done a good job. But the effects seemed a little too potent. It made me wonder just what kind of spirit root I had. 

Spirit roots are what allow a person to cultivate. They are what connected your meridians to your dantian. The quality of the spirit root also contributed to how fast one could cultivate as well. In this case, I used the ironback leaf to bring spiritual qi into my body. This spiritual qi would circulate around my body, but spiritual qi could not just enter a person’s muscles from the outside. It had to be taken in through the meridians. Every person was born with a single meridian opened.

But to take in spiritual qi it was not easy. But because I soaked in the ironback leaf, I was able to use it as a means of refining my muscles because as I soaked in its medical properties, it would force spiritual qi to enter my body at the same time. This spiritual qi with a low-grade spirit root would only be a small amount, but with a high-quality spirit root, it would be a much larger amount. So for me to feel as good as I do I had high hopes for the future. But what I find strange besides my knowledge of this subject is that the village chief never mentioned anything about spirit roots. It makes me wonder if he had a means of testing them or what. Or if he did not know about them at all.

In any case, with my current strength, I should be fine lugging buckets of water all day from the river to fill up the water barrel and also a bath for the second round of soaking.

“There is plenty of water here. Let me get rid of this wate…” I stopped my mother, who was about to try to move the tub and shook my head. “Mother, I will do it. Can you just help me wash up first? I want to get the sludge off my body before we do anything. We can do it out back where no one can see.”

My mother nodded her head and smiled: “Okay, we will do as Ruo’er says. But Ruo’er, will you be able to move this on your own?” 

“Mm… It should be no problem with me dragging it outside. The herbs I used last night helped me to strengthen my body by allowing me to absorb some spiritual qi along with the medicinal effects of the herbs. The ironback leaf I used was for this purpose. Although painful, it was worth it.” No matter what pain I have to endure, as long as it allows me to grow stronger, I will endure it all.

I rolled up my sleeves and began pulling on the tub. Sure enough, it moved easily under my new strength. However, I did need to be careful not to slush the water around too much, or it might splash all over, and the last thing I wanted was this tub full of goop to be all over the floor. 

It took a bit but after about thirty minutes, I had pulled the tub outside and dumped it away from the house. The only time we will smell it for the time being would be when the wind blows in the direction of the house. 

After handling the water tub, my mother helped me wash up, and only then did I feel refreshed. My clothes were set outside, and my only other pair were now on my body. They were all made of rabbit hides, so they were actually quite soft and warm. And since the rabbits around here were quasi-rank 1 demonic beasts, they were quite durable, too.

After breakfast, I decided it was time to set out. “Mother, I will be going into the forest to hunt for herbs and whatever else I can find. If I can I will kill a few birds for us to stew up later. I will take care of the water in the afternoon. That tub needs to be fully scrubbed out before it can be used again. That does not mean I want you to do it. You are on rest duty today. I will handle the rest.” 

“Ruo’er… alright…” My mother sighed as she smiled at me. Her wounds were now gone, but she still looked much older than she really was. This was my next task. I had to find herbs today so I could concoct a solution for her to drink to help rejuvenate her body. If I had a pill cauldron, I could just make some Beautifying pills, but for now, I had to use what I could find to help at least get her energy back. With everything set at the house, I set off towards the forest.