The next day, the Captain made his arrival but he was more haggard than the last time he saw him. His clothes were torn in numerous places and wounds yet to heal covered his person. His eyes were muddled and that calm and cool Captain they were used to seeing was no more. Instead, what they were looking at was a tired, dirty young man.
Under the persuasion of Luo and Grey, he ate breakfast and slept off the next second. When he woke up, his eyes were much brighter and he seemed to regain his usual nonchalance hidden behind a calm persona.
"Don't worry, I will not go out anymore. I have gotten what I wanted." He said as he brought out a small bottle. Inside it, was a small ship.
Grey looked at the Captain, puzzled. Ange was the same only Luo's eyes held a strange glint. Seeing their puzzled expressions, she explained.
"This is a treasure ship. It was made with special materials that have special properties that can make it fly. It is most useful to cultivators who are in the foundation establishment realm as they require a large amount of spirit essence to fly, but the one the Captain has here is special. It can use spirit stones instead." She then further explained spirit stones and treasures.
"Spirit stones as a source of spiritual energy or a vessel for souls. They can be used as a form of currency, a power source for cultivators or magic users, or even as a means of preserving a soul after death.
Spirit stones are stones that have absorbed a large quantity of spirit energy. Sort of like spirit coins. Some of them are used as power sources for treasures like Magic boats and have three tiers- Low, middle and high tier, depending on the amount of spirit energy stored.
In this part of the continent, spirit stones are hard to come by but go to populated places like Heaven Star City or other huge cities and they are very common." She then continued on to explain treasures.
"Treasures are rare and powerful items or substances that enhance a cultivator's abilities and strength. These treasures can range from physical objects like herbs and weapons to more abstract concepts like unique body constitutions or spiritual cores. There are two types of treasures, natural treasures and artificial treasures.
Natural treasures are stuff like spiritual herbs, rare metals, special fruits that are cultivated in special locations and sometimes some natural treasures grow to the level of having divinity. Then there are artificial treasures, things like artifacts that come in the form of weapons, armor or tools imbued with spirit energy and medicinal pills that are refined from natural herbs.
And then there are some heavenly treasures that their appearance can shake the entire continent. Those treasures are usually ground breaking and posses divine might. All in all, the treasure ship that the Captain is holding is an artifact and one in the middle tier." Luo finished and looked at the duo.
Grey blinked his eyes a few times but felt like he had gotten some crucial information that would help him on his path of cultivation. He unconsciously touched his chest where the purple crystal was and said inwardly.
'Is the purple crystal maybe a treasure? If it is, then it should be a heavenly treasure capable of shaking the world if it is found out. I better hide its existence if not...'
Luo's explanation of treasures seemed to have broadened Grey's horizon on how he looked at things, but Ange seemed unfazed.
The Captain was satisfied with Luo's explanation as well and gave a curt nod at her before he turned to Grey and Ange.
"This particular Magic artifact once belonged to a powerful cultivator in the Higher levels of Foundation Establishment, but since his death no one has been able to use this treasure so it has been passed from hand to hand until it reached mine." The Captain.
"Okay, but if no one has been able to use it what makes you think you can?" Grey asked with a confused expression.
A strange glint appeared in the Captain's eyes for a split second but that split second was enough to give Grey shivers. He tried to identity what that strange glint was but he couldn't.
"Because naturally I have a way to make it work." He said with his usual calm tone but Grey could hear some small arrogance and pride.
"Alright then, what do you need a powerful treasure for that you had to go through so much trouble to get it?" Ange was the one who asked this time and her head was tilted a bit.
"Don't worry, you'll find out in a few weeks at most." The strange glint appeared in his mind again and this time Grey successsfully identified what that strange glint was. It was the sharp glint that normally showed up when one wanted to do some heaven defying things. Not exactly heaven defying, just mad.
'What is the Captain up to? And why does he have that mad glint in his eyes?' Grey said inwardly and felt a sense of foreboding.
After his explanation, the Captain put back the magic ship and stood ready to leave. But he turned to Grey and said in low voice.
"Stay with Luo and learn the Dao of medicine, it will come in handy to you later in the future." The Captain said and Grey nodded curtly. With that, he turned and left in a flash.
After a short while, Luo and Ange were ready to go and together they went to the shop. In the shop, Grey paid more attention to the art of medicine and Ange willingly taught him.
Hearing the Captain say that it would come in handy for him in the future, ignited the burning flame within him and it further increased his desire to learn medicine.
"The art of medicine is like the second side of a coin, with the first side being poison. You cannot go far in medicine if you have not learnt some fundamental poison. Unlike what people say about poison being the opposite of medicine, it us not. Poison can actually also be used as medicine as well and there are some diseases that cannot be treated with medicine but poison can eliminate them.
While some people may not be gifted in the art of medicine, some are most gifted in poison and one of the requirements is to have a body that can heal you from poison better than most.
But that doesn't mean that with just a strong body you can learn poison, it's just one of the requirements as poison can be very volatile and unpredictable. There are even some powerful cultivators who walk the path of poison and further mastered how to kill their enemies with strong poison they have concocted.
As I said before, poison and medicine are not opposites, instead they are just both sides of a coin. The real enemy of medicine is death while it's goal is life. And the real enemy of poison is life while its goal is death. Once you have truly understood this are you truly ready to walk the path of medicine and poison. " Ange said.
Grey couldn't hep but give her another look. Her explanations gave him the impression that she had already begun to walk on this said path. Because of this, his view if her subconsciously changed in his mind to one of respect. But Ange was not done yet.
"Ah, don't forget that you could try as much as you can to learn one but you will come out with nothing. To master the art of poison also requires comprehension and medicine needs even more of that. Without comprehensive abilities, how is it supposed to cute poison.
Although there are lots of professions out there in the continent, the Dao of medicine and poison and Forging are the most widely known. If you have no talent in either one, then you will have to choose a lesser profession."
Grey feel into a pensive mood at the sound of this. He felt that he understood most of this and nodded his head while still thinking.
"The best way to find out if you are talented in medicine or not is to try it out. If you can't, then it means its not for you." Ange said.
"Same thing with poison, but I would not recommend you try to find out if you are talented in that. Most people are not and just trying may get you killed. Poison is a volatile art, which means it doesn't differentiate friend from foe and even the owner of the poison will be harmed. So don't go creating poison you can't handle, if not you'll die a slow and excruciating death." Ange ended with that.
Grey's view of her changed once again. He never knew there was so much out here in this world that he transmigrated to. In the end, living was still hard.