Chapter 279 Sun Mo? A Grandmaster Herbalist?

“Why is it impossible?”

Sun Mo continued to ask, “From a genius that’s admired by countless people, Cai Tan fell and became an insignificant piece of trash. The disparity has impacted him too much. His urge to commit suicide back then is proof!”

Ruan Yun fell silent but there was a hint of relief in her expression. She thought that Sun Mo would say that Cai Tan’s ‘illness’ was incurable and he was about to die.

Actually, Sun Mo was intentionally lying to Ruan Yun. He would give different explanations based on Ruan Yun’s reaction.

“However, even if he doesn’t commit suicide, he wouldn’t be able to live on much longer.”

Sun Mo observed Ruan Yun’s expression and activated Divine Sight.

Ruan Yun, third-year student, 15 years old. Spirit-refinement realm, 2 acupoints opened!

Strength: 12, average! Intellect: 15, just passable!

Agility: 12, average!

Potential value: average!

Note: A girl with mediocre talent in cultivation. However, she has quite a potential in herbology.

Sun Mo suddenly understood Ruan Yun’s worry somewhat. Compared to Cai Tan’s dazzling stats, she was truly insignificant.

Ruan Yun stared into the distance.

“Indra (herb) is a type of vegetation from the Darkness Continent. After its rhizome is ground into a powder and processed, it can be used as an analgesic and can alleviate nerve pain. Usually, there would be no side effects.”

Sun Mo had detailed knowledge of 1,400 types of plants on the Darkness Continent. Among them, there were records of the indra herb. Even though information about this herb wasn’t recorded in the books and other herbalists hadn’t discovered it, he knew about it.

“Teacher, you want to give me a lecture on herbology?”

Ruan Yun smiled. There was a look of pride on her face. (I might not be able to make it in terms of cultivation, but speaking of herbology, no one is better than me.)

“I’ve checked your herbology results. They are pretty good!”

Sun Mo looked at Ruan Yun. “I heard that you would frequently act as an assistant for Teacher Li and help her out with her experiments. Hence, you should have discovered this information by chance – under extremely low temperatures, the medicinal properties of the indra herb would change. It means that when the indra herb is frozen and introduced into the human body, signs of spirit qi rejection would appear.”

Ruan Yun was a young girl, and her ‘acting’ skills weren’t that good yet. Hence, after hearing this, her expression changed drastically and her limbs started trembling.

“This isn’t a piece of knowledge recorded in books. If you reported it, you would be able to get a reward from the school.”

Sun Mo sighed. Not only the school, but even the Saint Gate would give her a scholarship. Because their store of knowledge was built gradually upon bits and scraps like this.

With regard to new discoveries, any schools and the Saint Gate would be exceedingly generous.

“Since this is not recorded in the books, why would Teacher know about this?” Ruan Yun counter-asked.

Sun Mo didn’t reply immediately. He wrinkled his nose slightly as he sniffed. “Teacher, don’t you find your actions a little impolite?”

Ruan Yun frowned and took a few steps back.

“Don’t misunderstand. I’m only interested in the smell your body is exuding.”

Sun Mo explained.

“Teacher, did you make up a lie so you can smell me to your heart’s content?”

Ruan Yun was a little angry. Could this be considered sexual harassment? However, she said this because she wanted to threaten Sun Mo, wanting him to mind his own business.

“The flower juice you sprayed on yourself is a mixture of niuman flower, four-colored leaf, and thousandfall flower. The niuman flower can enhance the fragrance and act as the top note* (perfumery), while the four-colored leaf acts as the base note, which increases the duration of the fragrance. Lastly, the thousandfall flower can be used to repel bugs.” Sun Mo sighed emotionally. “Your concept is very good. If you were to become a perfume maker, you would surely earn a lot of money!”

Ruan Yun’s mouth was wide open. Her gaze was filled with shock as she looked at Sun Mo. (How did you know this?)

All women loved beauty, and this had been so since ancient times. There were also various cosmetics available in the Middle-Earth Nine Provinces. Among them, the perfumes that used the juices of flowers were the most popular ones.

Ruan Yun’s clan was an ordinary one. Because of her living expenses and the money needed to buy various medicinal herbs for Cai Tan, she couldn’t even afford the cheapest perfume. However, it was fine. She could make her own perfume!

Ruan Yun’s talent in herbology was very impressive. Through research, she had discovered this type of perfume that had no side-effects. In addition, this fragrance was something she owned alone. When she thought of it, she felt that it was very cool.

When Ruan Yun had been experimenting with making perfume, when she had wanted to add the indra herb into the mix, she accidentally discovered it creating an effect of spirit qi rejection when it was under extremely low temperatures.

However, Ruan Yun had never told anyone before. How did Sun Mo learn of this?

“You investigated me?” After Ruan Yun spoke, she shook her head. Wrong, even if Sun Mo had investigated, there was no one he could ask. She did the experiment in secret. Even the perfume she made had been used by her; there wasn’t even a drop of it left. So, even if Sun Mo wanted to study the flower juice, he wouldn’t have a sample.

(Could he have determined the plants merely by sniffing the smell from me? But…this is impossible, right?)

“Based on the concentration of the fragrance, you should have used it three days ago.”

Sun Mo sniffed and gave an accurate number. Speaking of which, this smell was pretty pleasant. Moreover, it was a mixture of perfume and insect-repellent. This concept wasn’t bad.

Ruan Yun fell silent, but her heart was filled with shock. This was because Sun Mo’s words were completely correct. Ding!

Favorable impression points from Ruan Yun +100. Prestige connection unlocked. Friendly (100/1,000).

‘The ignorant are fearless’. However, since Ruan Yun was someone who specialized in herbology, she could sense how terrifying Sun Mo was. The standard of his knowledge could probably be ranked within the top three of the Central Province Academy.

No, it was even possible for him to be ranked first!

Ruan Yun didn’t understand something. Since Sun Mo had such high attainments in the field of herbology, why didn’t he start a class on it?

What a waste of heavenly talent!

“You only know that the indra herb would reject spirit qi, but you have no idea that it would also injure one’s nerves. As time goes by, one’s limbs would feel numb. They would begin to tremble and in the end, the victim would be paralyzed. They wouldn’t even be able to control their urination and passing motion. When the damage to their nerves continues to fester, it would eventually lead to their death!” Sun Mo explained.

“No, this is impossible!”

Ruan Yun’s countenance turned pale.

“I believe you didn’t know about the latter points.”

Sun Mo cast his gaze into the distance. “After all, you love Cai Tan so much!”

If Sun Mo had angrily berated Ruan Yu and wanted to report her, Ruan Yun would argue all the way to the end and refused to admit it. But now that Sun Mo spoke to her in such a gentle tone, it actually pierced the defense of her heart.

Putong!

Ruan Yun knelt and covered her face with her hands. “I also didn’t wish for this!”

Sun Mo waited as Ruan Yun cried. After her emotions were stabilized, he spoke in a soft voice, “Why don’t you tell me the story between you both?”

This was a story of childhood sweethearts!

As she gradually grew up and understood the world, Ruan Yun grew increasingly afraid as Cai Tan’s talent began to manifest while she remained mediocre and had no redeeming quality.

Ruan Yun did her best to catch up, but no matter how much effort she put in, she was unable to catch up with that youth. She was worried that she would be abandoned. Hence, she added an ingredient to Cai Tan’s food.

Every day during meals, Ruan Yun would be the one to scoop a bowl of rice for Cai Tan. As his girlfriend, she had too many chances to act.

“You don’t believe in him?”

Sun Mo frowned.

“I do, but what is the use of belief? Cai Tan would eventually reach the longevity realm or even the legendary realm. As for me? Even if I really can break through to the longevity realm, I will most probably be stuck at the first or second level…boohoo!”

Ruan Yun cried sorrowfully.

Sun Mo fell silent. That was right.

One must know that the earlier you entered the longevity realm, the slower your body would age. In this case, Cai Tan would still be a strapping young man while Ruan Yun would become a wrinkled old lady. Who would be able to endure this?

If you were to sleep with an old granny, let alone making love to her, you wouldn’t even be able to get hard. “If you love Cai Tan, you shouldn’t hold up his future!”

Sun Mo could only say things this way.

“The future? I don’t hope for my husband to be world-famous and win an empire for me. I only want him to be with me forever!”

Ruan Yun spoke in a just and forceful tone. Many women hoped their husbands could become a dragon; hence, they wished to marry a supreme general or a high official. However, she wasn’t the same. She was willing to marry an ordinary Cai Tan. “What if he wants to be world-famous?”

Sun Mo asked.

“Eh!”

Ruan Yun started. After that, trepidation and fear appeared on her face.

“You always felt that you were very accepting of Cai Tan. But have you considered his dreams?”

Sun Mo sighed.

Ruan Yun broke down. She had always been looking for a reason to comfort herself, and it was precisely this. She didn’t force him to work hard and was willing to remain ordinary with him. But what if Cai Tan himself wanted to work hard? Wouldn’t that mean that she was killing his dreams?”

“Teacher, I was wrong, please punish me!”

Ruan Yun finally understood her selfishness.

Sun Mo no longer spoke. He sat by the lakeside and waited for Ruan Yun to finish crying. He was thinking about how he should handle this matter.

…

On the second day, the weather was drizzling. The signs of autumn became more obvious.

Cai Tan went to the villa for the living blood treatment. After it was done, he felt much more relaxed.

“Teacher, if you have any instructions, feel free to tell me!”

Cai Tan felt very embarrassed. Should he give some money? Sun Mo didn’t lack money at all and also wouldn’t accept it. However, it wasn’t a solution if Cai Tan kept accepting Teacher Sun’s massages for free.

Ding! Favorable impression points from Cai Tan +50. Friendly (245/1,000).

“You are a student of the Central Province Academy. It’s only natural for me to take care of you.”

Sun Mo smiled. “Do you have something on later? If you are free, why don’t you have a little chat with me?”

“It would be my honor!”

What a joke. What status did Sun Mo have? Since Sun Mo wanted to chat with him, Cai Tan naturally would be happy to agree. Even if he had an important matter on, he would reschedule it.

“You are poisoned.”

After pouring a cup of tea for Cai Tan, Sun Mo returned to his seat. “This was done by your girlfriend.”

“It isn’t Ruan Yun!” Cai Tan immediately denied it.

“Oh? From your words, it seems that you know who the suspect is?”

Sun Mo was curious.

“I don’t know who it is, but it is definitely not Ruan Yun!”

Cai Tan’s gaze contained a hint of pleading. He put his teacup down and knelt. “Teacher, I believe that Ruan Yun is innocent.”

“Are you worried that I would report this to Headmaster An and expel Ruan Yun?”

Sun Mo asked. If this matter was reported, Ruan Yun’s entire future would be ruined. Not only would she be expelled, but she would also be sent to the Darkness Continent for mining.

Because poisoning a fellow student was an extremely vile behavior.

“Speak truthfully, or I will make a report immediately and capture Ruan Yun!” Sun Mo’s tone grew cold.