Divine Level Witch Doctor

Zhao Yuan and his friends first walked the four girls back to their dormitory, then headed back to the men’s dorms with their arms slung around each other’s shoulders.

After washing up, the four of them lay down on their beds.

Liu Zhu couldn’t contain his curiosity and asked, ”Third Brother, since when are you a boss? What’s going on?”

Zhao Yuan knew they would ask, so he’d already prepared an answer. He smiled and said, ”When I was little, I learned a few medicinal formulas from a Daoist at a small temple in my village. A little while ago, I met Brother Fang. He’s the owner of Hundred Herbs Hall and a well-known medicinal merchant in Rongcheng City. I showed him the formulas, and he immediately thought they were valuable and could be used to produce health supplements—which are the Soul-Stabilizing Incense, Vitality Pills, and Beauty Pills you saw today. As for me, you could call me a boss, but I’m not involved in the management. I just collect a share of the profits.”

”I get it, so Third Brother contributed the tech for a stake in the company!” Wu Yan said. Although he thought the story about the formulas sounded like something out of a novel, he didn’t doubt it.

Wang Rongfeng’s eyes lit up with understanding. ”No wonder you’ve had money lately, Third Brother. So that’s why.”

As the oldest, Liu Zhu was also the most thoughtful. He said in a serious tone, ”Third Brother, now that you’re making money, don’t forget to send some home to your family.”

Zhao Yuan was touched by the well-intentioned reminder. ”Thanks for looking out for me, Boss,” he replied. ”I’ve already sent some money back. I didn’t send too much because I was afraid it would worry my parents. I’m planning to tell them everything in person when I go home for New Year’s and give them a larger sum then.”

”That’s good.” Liu Zhu nodded, finally feeling at ease.

Wu Yan, who was lying on his bed playing on his phone, suddenly yelled, ”Holy crap, you’ve got to be kidding me! Third Brother, you and Lin Xue are in the news!”

”What news?” Zhao Yuan was taken aback. Liu Zhu and Wang Rongfeng were just as puzzled and quickly crowded onto Wu Yan’s bed.

A glance at the phone revealed that someone had taken pictures of Zhao Yuan giving his gift today and posted them online. Not only had it become a hot topic, but it had also made headlines on several news sites.

Fortunately, due to the angles, the photos didn’t capture a clear shot of Zhao Yuan’s or Lin Xue’s faces. Anyone who hadn’t personally witnessed the day’s events wouldn’t necessarily be able to recognize them from the pictures, even if they knew them.

But even so, the photos were still driving people wild.

For the past couple of days, the Moonlit Stars Necklace had already been a hot topic online. Countless people were captivated by it, offering astronomical prices to buy it. But today, the necklace had actually been given to a girl as a birthday present. The sheer extravagance of the gesture was simply jaw-dropping.

Netizens, recovering from their shock, flooded the comments section.

”A Moonlit Stars Necklace worth tens of millions, a genuine and priceless treasure, was actually used to woo a girl... I’ll never understand the world of the rich!”

”I’m so jealous of that girl! Why can’t I ever meet a rich guy like that?”

”If someone gave me a necklace like that, I’d marry them in a heartbeat!”

”To the person above me, your profile says you’re a guy, right?”

”So what if I’m a guy? Can’t I get married? The opposite sex is just for procreation; the same sex is for true love!”

Besides being shocked by Zhao Yuan’s ”extravagance,” many were also captivated by Lin Xue’s stunning beauty. Although none of the photos were from the front, her figure, her aura, and the glimpse of her profile were enough to take one’s breath away. And that was on top of the bonus effect from the Moonlit Stars Necklace!

In an instant, Lin Xue became the goddess and dream girl for countless people online!

Aside from the buzz created by the Moonlit Stars Necklace, the four characters Zhao Yuan had given to Lin Liangzhe were also photographed and posted online.

The sensation caused by these four characters wasn’t as widespread as the one for the necklace, but in terms of influence, it was far greater!

Many calligraphy masters and famous experts were drawn out by these four characters, and they all began posting comments on Weibo.

”With this work’s appearance, no calligrapher in the world will dare to write the four words ’Vigorous in Old Age’ ever again!” the famous calligrapher Lan Wenbin posted on his Weibo. He even excitedly exclaimed things like, ”I bow to this divine masterpiece!”

The renowned calligraphy Grandmaster He Junwu also gave the four characters his highest praise: ”These four characters have already reached the realm of Unity of Heaven and Man! The moment you look at them, you’re hit with a wave of unyielding spirit that refuses to bow to old age. Perhaps young people won’t feel it, but for someone of my age, it stirs up old ambitions and lofty aspirations!”

Wang Zhe, not to be outdone, quickly published his own comment: ”Vigorous in Old Age! What a magnificent ’Vigorous in Old Age’! Today, I will not comment on the technique or brushwork of this piece, because I am not qualified. I believe no calligrapher in the world today has that qualification! I only want to say that after seeing these four characters, I had only one thought in my mind: to fight on for another five hundred years!”

It wasn’t just calligraphers in China who were getting excited and fired up. Photos of the four characters were also spread to Japan and South Korea.

Both of these countries have a thousand-year history of studying Chinese calligraphy. Before this, they had always believed that the true inheritance of the Dao of calligraphy resided with them, and that calligraphers from China simply couldn’t compare.

But when they saw the four characters for ”Vigorous in Old Age,” they were collectively stunned.

”Who wrote these four characters?”

”I heard it was a Chinese calligrapher!”

”What? A Chinese calligrapher? How is that possible! How could a Grandmaster Level calligrapher suddenly appear in China? No... the level of these four characters has already surpassed that of a Grandmaster! This is a stroke of divine inspiration! How can such a person be Chinese?”

”Investigate! I want you to find out who wrote these four characters! What is his nationality!”

In an instant, calligraphers from both Japan and South Korea were in an uproar, and they began making inquiries everywhere about the origin of these four characters.

Zhao Yuan could only smile wryly at the commotion he had caused. The only silver lining was that it wasn’t without its benefits. Although the people online didn’t know he was the one who gave the necklace and wrote the calligraphy, the Wish Power generated by their admiration was still flowing into his body in a steady stream.

’Well, I never thought I’d end up earning Wish Power this way.’

Faced with this situation, Zhao Yuan truly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

The next day, Zhao Yuan woke up early and went to his rented apartment. After swallowing a medicinal meal of Snake Gallbladder meticulously prepared by Hao Li, he began his Cultivation.

With the help of the Wish Power he had accumulated over the past few days and the medicinal properties of the Snake Gallbladder meal, he successfully broke through to the Mid Stage of the Marrow Cleansing Realm and stabilized his new level all at once!

After entering the Mid Stage of the Marrow Cleansing Realm, Zhao Yuan discovered a new technique had appeared under the Cultivation Technique section of the Information Leaf: the Creation Technique.

Entering the Mid Stage of the Marrow Cleansing Realm signified the end of the initial Marrow Cleansing. The next step was to refine the marrow, and that was precisely the effect of the Creation Technique.

In addition to the new Cultivation Technique, a new formula also appeared in the Elixirs section: the Bone Marrow Refining Pill.

The previous Marrow Cleansing Pill helped a cultivator cleanse and replace their marrow. This Bone Marrow Refining Pill, however, helped a cultivator refine their marrow, allowing them to advance toward the final stage of the Postnatal realm: the Qi Listening Realm!

Besides these two new gains, Zhao Yuan also found that his vision had improved dramatically! It was now exceptionally clear, especially when tracking high-speed objects, which would be an enormous help in a fight!

Zhao Yuan contacted Fang Yi to gather the necessary medicinal ingredients and crafted the Bone Marrow Refining Pills. In the days that followed, he was free of trivial matters and spent his time on Cultivation, his studies, and tending to his Chinese medicinal herb garden.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, the New Year’s Gala was just a few days away.