Chapter Thirty-Three: Earnest Entreaty

  Back in the pharmacy, Lin Baode ordered that no one was allowed to disturb him, and then took Zhao Rui directly to his own home on the third floor.

  He placed the precious ginseng on the tea table and Lin Baode cleared his throat twice, asking: "Young brother, what's your surname?"

  "My surname is Zhao."

  "Ah." Lin Baode nodded, stroking his beard and said, "Little Zhao, let me tell you, this ginseng of yours is no ordinary product, but a rare treasure that's hard to come by, called the Thousand Year Ginseng Emperor. It absorbs the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, the essence of the sun and moon, and after going through thousands of years, it forms this appearance. If used as medicine, it has the effect of reviving the dead."

  "This thing that can bring people back from the dead is probably a bit exaggerated, but using it as medicine to treat all sorts of terminal illnesses is not an exaggeration at all. I've been practicing medicine for decades and this thousand-year-old ginseng is something I'm seeing for the first time!"

  Zhao Rui listened to him and suddenly felt that this old Chinese doctor was indeed famous for nothing, with a very good character. Facing such a treasure, if someone had a little greed, they would probably think about how to deceive the thousand-year-old ginseng from their own hands, but this old doctor told the truth without any concealment. This kind of quality is extremely precious in today's society.

  "It seems I'm quite lucky, and I actually got such a treasure." Zhao Rui said with a smile.

  Lin Baode didn't say a word, he just stroked his beard, his eyes fixed on the thousand-year-old ginseng emperor on the tea table, and no matter what, he wouldn't move away. After hesitating for a while, he finally spoke up:

  "Xiao Zhao, I want to discuss something with you."

  "Hmm? What's up?"

  Lin Baode said: "Can you sell me a little of this thousand-year-old ginseng? Don't need too much, just a small piece will do. Of course, this thousand-year-old ginseng is a rare treasure, and the price won't be cheap either. You can name your price, I'll do my best to meet your requirements."

  Zhao Rui didn't know about Mrs. Lin's stroke, so when Lin Bao De told him this, he felt that he seemed willing to risk everything to get a piece of the thousand-year-old ginseng king. He couldn't help but feel a little strange and probed: "This thousand-year-old ginseng king is precious, but after all, it's just one root of ginseng. You wouldn't stake your entire family fortune on it, would you?"

  Lin Baode smiled wryly: "In order to treat my wife's illness, our family has already been exhausted, and there is not much left. That little money will definitely not be enough. However, I have been a doctor for many years, and I still have a few friends who can help me make up the difference."

  "Is your wife ill?" Zhao Rui was somewhat surprised. With Lin Baode's medical skills, he couldn't even cure his own wife, which meant the problem was quite serious.

  Lin Baode let out a deep sigh, his voice sounding desolate: "My partner suffered a severe stroke a year ago. Although I managed to save her life, the damage to her brain and blood vessels left her with hemiplegia, and at times she's not even clear-headed. She completely lost the ability to take care of herself. To cure her, I've racked my brains, and finally came up with a prescription that would be beneficial for her condition. However, one crucial ingredient - Thousand-Year-Old Ginseng Emperor - is impossible to obtain, even with money. Without it, the prescription is useless, and I'm burning with anxiety over this!"

  However, Little Zhao, you brought this thousand-year-old ginseng and made me see hope in despair. This thousand-year-old ginseng is incredibly miraculous. As long as I use a small piece of it to make medicine and treat my wife's illness slowly, it should be curable.

  So I hope you can sell me a little ginseng, don't need too much, just a small piece will do!

  At this point, Lin Baode's expression became somewhat agitated, his face full of expectation as he gazed at Zhao Rui, his tone carrying a hint of entreaty, hoping he would agree.

  This old Chinese doctor... is a good person.

  Zhao Rui thought so in his heart. From Lin Baode's words, he could feel the old man's deep affection for his wife.

  Lin Baode's wife is no longer able to take care of herself, but the old Chinese doctor has not abandoned her. He has spared no effort and expense, even going so far as to exhaust his family's resources, in order to help his wife recover her health. This persistence, this deep affection, has already quietly moved Zhao Rui.

  "After some consideration, Zhao Rui spoke up: 'Professor Lin, since this thousand-year-old ginseng is so important to you, it's actually no big deal to give the whole root to you.'"

  "Huh? The whole thing is being sent... sent to me?"

  Lin Bao De's eyes widened in shock, almost thinking his ears had misheard!

  Even a small piece of thousand-year-old ginseng is far more valuable than gold and diamonds. If sold as a whole, it would definitely be sought after by many wealthy officials and would sell for a sky-high price without any problem. But this young man casually gave away this treasure to himself!

  He is really unbelievable!

  "This... this is really too precious..." Lin Baode's words were somewhat stuttering, although he desperately needed the Thousand Year Ginseng Emperor, but deeply understood the value of the immortal ginseng, and didn't dare to take it without paying a single penny for such a precious treasure.

  "My words are not finished yet." Zhao Rui smiled, "I'm not unconditional. I need your help to identify one more thing, if you can identify it, then this thousand-year-old ginseng will be given to you as a reward for this identification. If you can't identify it, well, I'll also leave a piece of the thousand-year-old ginseng for your wife's illness, but the rest will have to be taken away. What do you think?"

  He has now entered the mid-term of his cultivation, and the Millennium Ginseng Emperor is no longer of great help to him. On the other hand, that unknown Snow Ginseng can greatly increase the true energy in his body, so he wants to figure out the origin of this strange Snow Ginseng very much. Even if it means giving up a Millennium Ginseng Emperor for it, it's worth it.

  Lin Baode was extremely surprised in his heart. Although he didn't know what treasure Zhao Rui wanted him to appraise, one thing was certain: this treasure was even more precious than the Millennium Ginseng Emperor, otherwise Zhao Rui wouldn't have used the Millennium Ginseng Emperor as payment.

  Anyway, Zhao Rui's proposal was very tempting and he couldn't help but agree.

  "Alright, Little Zhao, bring out that treasure that needs to be appraised and let me take a look."

  Zhao Rui nodded, placing his hand under the tea table, which was a blind spot for Lin Baode's line of sight. Then he quietly took out a snow ginseng from the Qian Kun ring and placed it on the tea table.

  Lin Baode saw the snow ginseng and couldn't help but furrow his brow, feeling that this snow ginseng was extremely strange, yet somehow familiar, as if he had seen a record of it in some medical book before.

  Suddenly, he remembered that when he was young, he had seen a description of snow ginseng in an out-of-print ancient medical book:

  In ancient times, there was a thousand-year-old ginseng that absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, the essence of the sun and moon. After going through thousands of years, it transformed into human form, with a snowy white body and an unusual fragrance wafting around, like clouds and mist. It is the most precious treasure of the immortal family, which can be encountered but not sought after. After consuming it, one can revive the dead and return to youth. If used to refine the elixir of immortality, one's cultivation will make great progress, with spiritual powers that communicate with the divine.

  All along, Lin Bao De had always been skeptical about whether the legendary "Wan Nian Xian Cen" was real or just a myth.

  After all, he has been a doctor for decades and has seen quite a few things, but he has never seen the Millennium Ginseng, not even heard anyone mention it. The Thousand-Year-Old Ginseng Emperor is already the best of the best.

  Unexpectedly, today someone actually put a thousand-year-old ginseng in front of me!

  Lin Bao De stared with his eyes wide open, extremely shocked as he looked at Zhao Rui. Suddenly, he felt that the young man sitting in front of him was shrouded in a layer of mist, making him feel mysterious and unpredictable.

  He finally understood why Zhao Rui didn't care about the thousand-year-old ginseng, a rare treasure. It turned out that he possessed the ten-thousand-year-old immortal ginseng, a legendary item that only appeared in myths!

  "This... where did this thousand-year-old ginseng come from? This is a legendary treasure that only exists in myths!"

  "It was a coincidence, I happened to get it." Zhao Rui replied vaguely.

  "What a coincidence?" Lin Baode's shocked face turned into a bitter smile. To be able to obtain such a divine object, what kind of luck was that?

  He carefully sized up Zhao Rui's eyes and found that he didn't show any particularly surprised expression when he knew that the treasure was a thousand-year-old ginseng, as if he wasn't particularly concerned. Lin Baode couldn't help but feel some doubt in his heart, wondering if this little Zhao had more than one thousand-year-old ginseng in his hands.

  "Xiao Zhao, the ginseng in your hand, I'm afraid it's not just this one root." He asked tentatively.

  Although Zhao Rui thought Lin Bao De was a very nice person, they had only met for the first time today and didn't know each other well, so he didn't want to reveal too much.

  However, he didn't want to deceive the old man in front of him, so he didn't answer directly, but just smiled and said: "I accidentally ate one raw yesterday."

  Zhao Rui's words are ambiguous. They can be understood as, there are only two roots of the thousand-year-old ginseng in total, and after eating one, only this one is left; or they can also be understood as, he has a lot of thousand-year-old ginseng in his hands, and even if he eats one, it's not a big deal. As for how to understand it, it depends on the individual.

  "What? Raw? You ate the ginseng raw!"

  Lin Baode's blood pressure suddenly soared, and he was so heartbroken that he almost fainted, as for how many Wan Nian Xian Cans Zhao Rui had in his hands, he didn't even have the energy to think about it.

  "That's not some ordinary radish, but the legendary ginseng of immortality! Just a small piece can cure terminal illnesses and bring people back from the dead! This is something that even super-rich tycoons and high-ranking officials dare not dream of, yet you're eating it raw! Raw! You really are... really are..."

  He was almost out of breath by then.

  Finally able to let out a sigh of relief, Lin Baode looked up and let out a long sigh: "What a waste of heaven's gift! Such a precious treasure was actually eaten raw by you!"

  After sighing, Lin Baode quickly put away the thousand-year-old ginseng on the tea table. He really needed this ginseng and was afraid that Zhao Rui would mess it up again.

  Even if it's a thousand-year-old ginseng king, he wouldn't care about it.

  Zhao Rui didn't think he was wasting anything, the Millennium Ginseng enhanced the true energy within his body and accelerated his cultivation speed. For a cultivator, this was what mattered most.

  As for what cures terminal illnesses and brings people back from the dead, it has little to do with him.

  Besides, there are many in Qiankun Ring. Even if you eat ten or eight more, it's not worth worrying about. Not eating is a waste.

  Of course, Lin Baode is not a person from the Cultivation World and has no understanding of cultivation at all. Zhao Rui thinks he's heartbroken and furious, which is also understandable.