Chapter 30
The final round officially began.
Tong Qiuxia’s livestream theme was still entertainment-style medicine making.
“For the finals, I specially prepared even more kinds of medicinal herbs today.” The round-faced young man’s smile remained as harmless and gentle as ever. “There are a total of eighty kinds. Please help choose twenty from among them, and let’s see what the final product will turn out to be today.”
[The streamer is really going big today. I love it. [screaming wildly jpg]]
[I’ve never seen this many herbs in my life. [instantly dazzled jpg]]
[Will Qiuqiu become the biggest dark horse of this season’s Rising Star Showcase?!!!]
[I hope so. Even if he can’t take first, second place would still be great. [rubbing hands in anticipation jpg]]
[Can’t help it, Baby An next door has way too much popularity. I’m honestly torn over who to give my final popularity vote to, hahaha.]
[Report! Baby An just said in the livestream that he’s making medicine today too!]
[I saw it too! The way Baby An’s acting, it’s obvious he’s going head-to-head with Xiao Qiuxia. [completely shocked jpg]]
[Does the streamer have some kind of grudge with Baby An? [came here for the gossip jpg]]
[They even invited a special guest over there, some so-called greatest pharmaceutical master in the whole Empire, someone named He something-ying. Does Qiuxia know him?]
[This move from Baby An feels a little irrational, honestly. [sigh jpg]]
[It feels like the other side just handed him an opportunity. At first I thought Qiuqiu would only have a shot at fighting for second today, but now it looks like first place might not be out of reach either.]
[Go, Qiuqiu!!! I just love watching Qiuqiu make medicine—Qiuqiu, crush the people next door!!!]
Tong Qiuxia saw the barrage comments filling the screen. After a brief pause, he sneered inwardly, though on the surface he still wore the same innocent, childlike expression as before.
“Thank you all for your support.”
“I’m just a new streamer, so I’m not chasing after rankings or anything. I only hope everyone in the livestream room can have fun watching!”
“Baby An next door? Ah, I’ve met him once or twice. A grudge… probably not? But maybe I did something wrong and ended up making someone dislike me, hahaha.”
“Alright, alright, let’s not talk about other things. Let’s get started now.”
Tong Qiuxia finished speaking with a smile, then lowered his head and began sorting through the many medicinal herbs.
Out of reach of the virtual camera, the curve of the young man’s lips took on a faint trace of mockery.
…As expected, still just a cub. So impulsive. And actually trying to compete with him in medicine making?
Over all these years, the herbs and medicines he had dealt with were probably more numerous than the meals that cub had eaten in his life.
On the other side, regardless of the worries from the livestream audience, Lin An’an began sorting herbs according to plan.
Unlike Tong Qiuxia, who had prepared long in advance before coming to Sin Star, Lin An’an didn’t actually have many usable herbs on hand.
Aside from the small number of herbs he had painstakingly collected during this period, there were only the few that He Yinghong had picked in the wilderness of Sin Star before.
But Lin An’an did not plan to use those today.
He took out a ragged cloth bag from his terminal space and dumped all the herbs inside out.
The herbs were dry and jumbled together, and a faint moldy dust smell immediately spread through the air. These were precisely the herbs they had snatched from Tong Qiuxia before—the ones he and Old Master He had already judged as “useless.”
All of these herbs could only be used on aberrant beasts. Since none of them kept aberrant beast pets, naturally they had no use for them.
But now things were different.
Lin An’an typed: [Our final goal today is to make a healing medicine that can treat aberrant beasts.]
[Once it’s completed, we’ll need an aberrant beast to take it on the spot and prove the medicine’s effect for us.]
[May I ask whether anyone present is willing to lend us a pet aberrant beast from home?]
The people in the square looked at one another, all feeling a faint sense of absurdity.
Would anyone really be willing to offer up their own pet aberrant beast? Without being certain of the medicine’s actual effect, having a pet drink it on the spot was basically no different from using an experimental beast.
And besides, even if someone really were willing, who went out carrying their pet aberrant beast with them?
Lin An’an, however, was in no hurry. Borrowing a pet aberrant beast was for the sake of authenticity, to prevent certain people from slandering them afterward and calling the whole thing fake.
But if truly no one was willing to lend one, then Brother Wolf and Brother Bear could always temporarily head into the wilderness and catch an injured aberrant beast to bring back.
With their strength, they could definitely return before the livestream ended.
After a moment, someone in the crowd suddenly called out, “I—I’m willing!”
The speaker was a young girl holding a small aberrant beast in her arms. It looked extremely weak.
The people in front parted for her, allowing the brown-haired girl to come all the way to the front.
“Qiuqiu got its leg broken a few days ago,” the girl said. “There’s no aberrant beast hospital in the outer city of C City. I contacted a pet aberrant beast doctor in the inner city, and they said Qiuqiu’s leg was injured too badly—it has to be treated with a treatment pod for pets. But there aren’t any treatment pods for pets on Sin Star right now.”
“The doctor said the only option was amputation to save its life. I had actually planned to go straight into the inner city, but I just happened to pass by here…” She gave a bitter smile, her voice full of heartbreak for her beloved pet.
“If it can’t be healed, then I can only take Qiuqiu to have the leg amputated. I trust Baby An. Even if the medicine doesn’t work, it won’t put Qiuqiu’s life in danger, right?”
[Don’t worry.] Lin An’an patted his chest in assurance. [It will definitely be cured!]
[Cubby sounds so certain. Then I’ll trust cubby too!]
[Baby An has already brought us so many miracles—one more won’t hurt! [cubby charge on! jpg]]
[What do I do, mommy’s still so worried. If something goes wrong, cubby will definitely get scolded, wuwuwuwu. [crying cat jpg]]
[Quietly saying this, but those herbs cubby took out… they really don’t look that good. They can’t compare at all with the ones next door. [frowning jpg]]
[Maybe they just weren’t fully prepared? Herbs are rare to begin with, and cubby hasn’t livestreamed medicine making before.]
[I can’t bear to watch. I don’t want to see cubby suffer, and I definitely don’t want to see cubby get scolded. [crying jpg]]
Naturally, Lin An’an saw the doubt in the barrage comments, but the little cub didn’t pay them much attention.
Xiong Yingjun let the girl inside the security line and even thoughtfully brought out a soft-backed chair for her to sit and wait.
Lin An’an bounced over to her side and carefully examined the injury in the pet aberrant beast’s leg.
Sensing someone nearby, the small aberrant beast weakly opened its eyes and let out a faint whine. The little cub gently patted it twice with a tentacle, and it quickly quieted down again and closed its eyes once more.
The girl looked surprised. “Qiuqiu is usually the most afraid of strangers, but this time it actually…”
Lin An’an blinked and gave her a signature cub smile.
What surprised people even more was that the little cub did not immediately set up the pot and start boiling like Tong Qiuxia next door. Instead, he took out an enormous earthen planter and placed it in front of the medicine table.
[Today we’re starting from extracting seeds and growing the herbs.] the little cub typed in explanation. [Let’s give everyone an immersive experience of the entire process of ancient medicine making.]
[!!! Extracting seeds!]
[Starting from farming, hahaha, as expected of cubby. [thumbs up jpg]]
[This is absolutely not what I expected, hahaha.]
[No wonder cubby used those messy herbs. So he’s going to re-grow them with his ability. Cubby’s plant-type power is amazing—instantly feeling reassured now. [then it’s fine jpg]]
[But the finals only have a three-hour livestream limit! Can cubby really make it in time? [worried sick jpg]]
[Three hours! He still has to extract seeds, grow the herbs, and even with powers, the herbs definitely need time to mature. Then there’s boiling the medicine and treating the beast… help, I’m panicking again. [terrified cat jpg]]
Lin An’an hopped onto the medicine table. Sitting beside him was He Yinghong.
He Yinghong smiled and watched the little cub, treating himself like nothing more than a spectator—until the back of his hand was suddenly poked twice by a soft little tentacle.
Seeing the tools the cub handed him, He Yinghong looked surprised. “I’m helping too?”
Lin An’an nodded firmly and, without giving him a chance to object, stuffed the tools into Old Master He’s hands, then distributed several herbs to him as well.
The herbs “kindly provided” by Tong Qiuxia came in many varieties, and almost all of them were meant for aberrant beasts. Quite a few among them had the effects of mending bone and reconnecting tendon.
When checking the injured leg of the pet aberrant beast, Lin An’an had secretly used the tiniest bit of healing power. The amount was so small that not even a green glow showed on his tentacle tips, but it was enough for him to understand the internal condition of the injured leg.
The injury really was severe. But if the correct medicine were used, it could slowly recover.
Lin An’an had thought over the herbs currently in his possession and ultimately decided to make a beast-use Bone-Renewing Elixir.
He Yinghong already knew how to extract seeds. It was just that the hand tremors caused by his disordered ability slowed him down somewhat.
The Bone-Renewing Elixir required a total of eight kinds of herbs. Together, the two of them spent half an hour and finally succeeded in extracting all the complete seeds.
[Watching this made me so nervous. I kept being scared the seeds would get damaged by accident and they’d have to start all over again. [covering mouth and crying jpg]]
[I’m getting anxious. They’ve already been making medicine next door for half an hour, but cubby still hasn’t even started growing the herbs. The live viewer count has dropped a lot too. It used to be over eighty million, and now it’s under fifty million…]
[Don’t panic, don’t panic! We need to trust Baby An. Baby An is really smart—he definitely already budgeted the timing properly!]
[Exactly! We just need to watch quietly! [cubby charge on! jpg]]
After the seed extraction was finished, He Yinghong quietly let out a sigh of relief.
His hands had behaved decently today. They hadn’t trembled too badly, and the seed extraction process had gone fairly smoothly.
The little cub lightly patted the back of He Yinghong’s hand, his beady eyes blinking mischievously twice. Then, carrying the seeds with him, he jumped down from the medicine table.
For Lin An’an, the planting step was as easy as eating. The little cub lightly and quickly bounced twice inside the soil planter, and all the seeds were neatly buried in the earth.
[I’ve never seen Baby An directly force-grow seeds before. Does anyone know how long that usually takes?]
[At least an hour, right? I remember watching some plant expert force-grow roses on-site once—it took nearly an hour and used up all his power. At the end people had to help him off the stage.]
[Not necessarily. Cubby’s plant-type power is stronger than everyone else’s. Maybe it won’t take that long. [starry-eyed cat jpg]]
[I’m betting it only needs half an hour.]
[Half an hour to extract seeds, half an hour to grow the herbs, and that should leave about two hours for making the medicine. [confident jpg]]
…
[HOLY SHIT—WAIT!! Have they already sprouted???!]
On everyone’s light screens, the palm-sized little black dumpling had his eyes tightly closed, his two slender, soft tentacles resting lightly against the soil. A gentle, glowing green light spilled from their tips, quickly covering the entire planter.
Some sharp-eyed viewers saw that beneath the green glow, several fresh green shoots pushed through the soil and began growing rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Some sprouted clusters of pale purple-and-white blossoms. Some formed strings of blue-green fruits. Others simply grew into long vines, climbing swiftly up the wooden stakes that had been inserted earlier…
In only a few short minutes, the bare pot of soil was completely filled with fresh-colored medicinal herbs.
Everyone in the livestream was utterly stunned.
[Th-this is over already? [blank-faced jpg]]
[How long was that? Did it even take ten minutes? [pupil earthquake jpg]]
[No. It wasn’t even three minutes…]
[HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT!!! THREE MINUTES!!! HOLY SHI——!!!]
[Help, I thought cubby was only in the juvenile stage of becoming a future big shot. I never expected cubby already IS the big shot. [screaming madly jpg]]
[What big shot?! This is basically a deity! [rolling on the floor gif]]
[I recorded it! I’m posting it to StarBlog right now! I refuse to let anyone not know about immortal Baby An. [ahhhhh jpg]]
[So when cubby goes all-out with his ability, he’s this insanely powerful! [cubby, mommy loves you——!! jpg]]
[Wuwuwuwu I was wrong, I shouldn’t have left the stream! I actually missed such an epic scene completely. [ugly crying jpg]]
[The livestream viewers are coming back! Baby An, goooo——!!!]
[We’re back to seventy million! Almost eighty million again! [excited hand-rubbing jpg]]
[Let me make a bold bet! Can Baby An’s livestream break one hundred million viewers today?! [shouting at the top of my lungs jpg]]
The barrage count exploded, but Lin An’an had no time to care about any of the comments.
He lightly curled the tips of his tentacles and felt extremely satisfied with the still-abundant power remaining inside his body.
It was all thanks to the Scarlet Spirit Fruit Grandpa He had brought back for him. Compared to the pitifully tiny amount of ability he had before, his current reserves had finally recovered to a level worth showing off!
At the side, seeing that the little cub was still lively and bouncing around, Feng Wu subtly turned his wrist and slipped the ability-restoration medicine back into his terminal space.
Lin An’an waved to Grandpa He, signaling for him to come over and harvest the herbs together.
Every time He Yinghong picked one herb, the little cub typed that herb’s medicinal effect into the livestream screen.
Some herbs had very simple, singular effects, but others might possess several different medicinal properties at once. Depending on how they were used, they could treat entirely different conditions.
[This is so magical. I always thought one herb could only treat one illness.]
[Me too! This is the first time I’ve heard that there are herbs where the leaves can stop diarrhea, but the fruits they bear can cure constipation instead. [my horizons have been broadened jpg]]
[Baby An is so amazing! He can actually remember all this stuff. Auntie bows down, wuwuwuwu.]
[Taking out my little notebook and writing this all down—what if I need it someday? [scribbling furiously gif]]
When the ingredients were ready and it came time to boil the medicine, the explanation duty was handed over to He Yinghong.
He explained everything in extraordinary detail, from why different leaves had to be sliced into fine pieces or crushed in different ways, to how to judge herb quality, to how the amount of each ingredient affected the final medicine…
Every detail was covered without missing a thing. It was enough to show just how deep his knowledge was in this field, as well as how much he truly loved ancient pharmaceutical techniques.
Even though some of what he said was very advanced for the viewers in the livestream, nearly everyone listened with complete absorption.
Lin An’an was the same.
Even though everything He Yinghong was explaining was stuff Lin An’an had long since known and memorized thoroughly, he still listened with relish, as though he had gone back to those days when he was first learning medicine making.
[Master He is really so professional. [starry eyes jpg]]
[Baby An’s movements are so practiced! Is this what a max-level cub looks like, wuwuwuwu?]
[I want to ask if it’s possible to learn ancient pharmaceutical arts without healing-type powers. This is honestly so fascinating. [nervously rubbing hands jpg]]
[Me too! I never even knew such a field existed before. If I’d known earlier… wuwuwuwu. If I start learning now, is it too late? [covering mouth with tears in eyes jpg]]
[I checked! You don’t need healing-type powers to make medicine!]
[Then I’m going to go buy herbs and equipment right now—I’m charging ahead!!!]
[Writing in blood to beg Master He to start streaming. People around me know nothing about ancient pharmaceutical arts, and there’s nowhere to learn even if we want to. Master, please open an online course—any tuition is fine. [do you see the sincerity in my eyes jpg]]
[Same here! Master He, please look at us—— [very loud jpg]]
Seeing the barrage, He Yinghong’s voice faltered for a moment, and his eyes grew slightly warm. “Start a stream and teach? No problem. Once I go back, I’ll ask Baby An to help me open a livestream account.”
“No fee, of course no fee. As long as everyone comes, I’ll already be very happy.”
Seeing so many people suddenly develop interest in pharmaceutical arts, He Yinghong was overjoyed.
He didn’t care about money. He had long since earned enough for this lifetime. His only wish was to carry ancient pharmaceutical arts forward and let the technique continue to be passed down.
This livestream, quite obviously, was a wonderful opportunity.
In the past, He Yinghong had never believed that in his lifetime he would see a scene where ancient pharmaceutical arts became known to the public and loved by the masses.
But now, it seemed he might actually still have a chance to witness such a flourishing age of ancient medicine.
Second by second, time passed. While He Yinghong conscientiously explained everything, Lin An’an finally completed the Bone-Renewing Elixir.
Eight kinds of medicinal materials, each of a different color, had been added to the pot for boiling. The final product was a beautiful pale pink.
The brown-haired girl who had been waiting nearby instantly brightened. She murmured without realizing it, “So pretty…”
The little cub filled a small basin, let it cool slightly, then had Xiong Yingjun carry the basin over to the girl.
“Do I just feed it directly to Qiuqiu?” she asked. “It’s so much—does all of it have to be drunk?”
[No.] Lin An’an shook his head. [This is for external use. Soak the injured leg in the medicine for ten minutes every day, and it will be completely healed after one week.]
The girl looked very surprised. “One week? It’ll recover that quickly?”
The little cub nodded with complete certainty. [That’s right. Just one week.]
As he spoke, he also took a low little table out from his terminal space and guided the girl into gently soaking the aberrant beast’s injured leg into the medicine.
The Bone-Renewing Elixir was slightly irritating. When it touched the exposed wound, it caused a faint sting, making the aberrant beast whimper and instinctively try to pull its leg back.
Just as the girl was feeling a bit helpless, in the next second, a big bright-red tomato was placed right in front of the small beast’s face.
Lin An’an: “Yingji!”
If you soak obediently in the medicine, this tomato is yours to eat!
The little cub was trying to communicate with the aberrant beast. Of course the beast couldn’t understand monster-cub language, but it could vaguely sense the cub’s intention.
The pain from the medicine wasn’t actually very strong. A little while had already passed, and the beast had gradually begun getting used to the mild sting.
After hesitating for only a few seconds, it stretched out its paws, hugged the tomato, and began nibbling slowly, its entire face soon getting smeared with bright red tomato juice.
[Not only is the treatment free, it even gets to eat tomatoes personally grown by cubby. How can there be treatment this good? [who’s jealous, I’m not saying jpg]]
[Never thought there’d come a day when I’d envy an aberrant beast pet. [drool drool jpg]]
[Who wouldn’t envy this?! It gets head pats from Baby An and food from Baby An. I refuse to believe anyone could resist that temptation. [washing-machine-style spinning tears gif]]
[Raising the banner high—when is cubby finally putting the produce up for sale in the livestream room, wuwuwu?]
Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye.
The girl carefully lifted her pet out of the basin, accepted the towel the little cub handed her, and gently wiped away the remaining medicine from its body.
Lin An’an typed: [Today was the first treatment. The amount of Bone-Renewing Elixir I made today is just enough for one week of treatment. Pack up the rest and take it home with you. Just make sure to soak the leg for ten minutes every day!]
The girl nodded. “Okay!”
[I’m really curious about the effect. [nervously rubbing hands jpg]]
[This was only one treatment, right? Full recovery takes a week, so we probably still can’t see anything obvious yet?]
[What’s the big sister’s StarBlog account? I want to follow for updates, qwq.]
[Qiuqiu looks a bit more energetic already. Has it stopped hurting as much? [curious jpg]]
The girl stroked her pet’s head. “Qiuqiu, how do you feel?”
Qiuqiu had just finished the tomato and still had tomato juice all over its face, making the whole beast look slightly messy and pathetic. Hearing its owner’s voice, it instinctively opened its mouth to respond.
The girl’s eyes lit up. Qiuqiu’s voice sounded far more spirited than before!
In the next second, the small aberrant beast in her arms suddenly moved.
The girl failed to hold on in time, and Qiuqiu jumped out of her arms onto the small tea table in front of them.
“Qiuqiu!” the girl cried in alarm. “Your leg isn’t healed yet!”
She was terrified that this might worsen the leg injury, so she instinctively reached out to pick Qiuqiu back up—but suddenly let out a startled sound.
The little aberrant beast on the tea table had stood up.
And it had even taken two steps.
Its gait was still limping somewhat, and it moved very slowly, but… it was standing and walking without any external support at all! It had taken two steps entirely on its own!!
The girl was stunned. The viewers in the livestream were stunned too.
[You can literally see it getting better with your own eyes!!!]
[At first it couldn’t move at all, right? And after soaking just once, it can already walk! [help I’m seriously so excited jpg]]
[Wuwuwu, even though I’m not the one who made the medicine, after watching the entire process, I honestly feel almost like I made it myself. Cubby is way too amazing. [screaming jpg]]
[So this is ancient medicine?! Even if it isn’t as effective as a treatment pod, in an emergency it really can save a life! Qiuqiu’s leg was saved!!!]
[Why do I suddenly feel kind of emotional, wuwuwu?]
[I hereby declare that I’m in love with ancient pharmaceutical arts! [excited hand-rubbing jpg]]
The rest of the medicine in the pot was packed up by Feng Wu and handed to the girl.
The girl thanked the little cub over and over. By the time she stepped out of the security line, her eyes were already red, and she kept stroking the head of the beloved pet in her arms.
She was incomparably grateful for the bold decision she had made two hours earlier.
Lin An’an typed: [This is what true ancient pharmaceutical arts are.]
[Ancient pharmaceutical arts were extremely popular back in the era of Old Earth. Although they later declined for various reasons, and to this day very few people still pay attention to the field…]
[Even so, ancient pharmaceutical arts are still something solemn.]
[You may not understand this field. You may choose not to like it or pay attention to it. But you absolutely must not casually waste medicinal herbs—which are already so scarce—and treat ancient medicine like a toy for attracting traffic, playing around with it recklessly, and using it for cheap spectacle.]
The livestream room and the people at the scene alike all fell silent.
Not a single word in those lines mentioned Tong Qiuxia’s name.
And yet every single sentence condemned exactly what Tong Qiuxia had done.
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