The Pharmacist's Legacy and Five Hundred Years of Change

Three months later, in the territory of the Blood Puppet Sect.

Su Min sat cross-legged, her eyes fixed on the cauldron before her, within which flickered a crimson glow. Over the past month, she had fully taken over all of the Blood Puppet Sect's assets. This included three spiritual veins and four spiritual mines—resources that, like secret realms, had emerged after the world's restoration.

Though the heavens suppressed the Great Dao, such resources had remained hidden, much like secret realms. However, their locations could still be detected, making them the most crucial foundations for major sects.

"Grand Elder, an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator has arrived with your token, bringing his entire family to seek refuge."

"A token? Hmm, is it him? If so, then grant his request. We've been planning to take action in the four neighboring provinces, and having a Nascent Soul cultivator stationed there would be perfect."

Su Min was slightly surprised but nodded in agreement. Back when she was still in the Golden Core stage, she had taken in a few followers—three who had undergone the Three-Nine Heavenly Tribulation and one who had endured the Six-Nine Heavenly Tribulation. They had all been wandering cultivators from remote regions, often bullied during the Golden Core stage. But after aligning themselves with Su Min, their lives had improved.

Others might not have respected them for their own sake, but out of deference to Su Min, no one gave them too much trouble in secret realms—as long as they didn't compete for supreme treasures or legacies. When the group eventually disbanded, Su Min had given each of them a fourth-grade pill and a promise. Now, it seemed that one of them had reached the Nascent Soul stage and had come to fulfill that promise, bringing his family along.

For a genuine Nascent Soul cultivator to seek refuge with his entire family was no small matter. Given their current shortage of manpower—with Xie Yingying needed to oversee the Blood Puppet Sect's former territory, and the little Golden Crow and her two guards rarely leaving the Eastern Mulberry Province—Su Min's imminent departure to attend the Buddhist Dharma Assembly meant they lacked a Nascent Soul expert to oversee operations in the four provinces.

This newcomer would fill that gap perfectly. With the little Golden Crow keeping an eye on things, there was no fear of betrayal. Besides, bringing his entire family meant he had staked everything on this—making his loyalty all the more certain.

"Understood."

Tian Yinzi responded cheerfully. Their sect was severely lacking in high-level experts. If not for the Eastern Mulberry Province's isolation, they wouldn't have been able to control such a vast territory. Now, with another Nascent Soul cultivator—and several Golden Core followers from his family—joining them, their strength had grown significantly. No one would complain about having too many Golden Core cultivators.

"Sigh. Reaching the fifth-grade mid-tier alchemist level is proving difficult."

Su Min sighed as she gazed at the cauldron before vanishing from the room and reappearing in the main hall, where Xie Yingying was handling administrative affairs. The aftermath of the sect's destruction still lingered. If not for the Ancient Mansion Sacred City's assistance, they might have spent over a century dealing with the fallout.

"I've finished refining the pills the sect will need for its future development. The Dharma Assembly in the three Buddhist provinces is about to begin, and I plan to attend. There's a Pharmacist's secret legacy there that will be very useful to me."

Su Min handed a spatial ring to Xie Yingying, containing a large stock of pills she had refined over the past few months—enough to last the sect for a long time.

"Those monks?"

Xie Yingying frowned. The Buddhist sects were insular, each keeping to themselves. At most, they sent disciples to various provinces to gather faith offerings, but otherwise, they remained detached from worldly affairs. There was a reason for this. During Buddhism's peak, they had occupied vast territories, eventually provoking widespread backlash—much like the historical "Three Disasters of Buddhism" in Su Min's previous life.

In this world, all the sects had united to crush Buddhism, not once but multiple times. Eventually, the Buddhists learned their lesson and confined themselves to their own realms, only venturing out to collect faith offerings.

Even in the Wei Wu Province, they had merely established a few temples and refrained from further expansion—not out of benevolence, but because they had been thoroughly beaten into submission. They stationed only a few Golden Core cultivators to oversee their temples, recalling any who showed potential to reach the Nascent Soul stage.

As for the Dharma Assembly, it was an internal competition among the three Buddhist schools. Since Su Min had cultivated the Great Sun Tathāgata Sutra, she could be considered an honorary disciple.

"Are you sure it's safe? Those monks are dangerous."

Xie Yingying's expression darkened. She had participated in one of the anti-Buddhist campaigns and held no favorable views of them. Moreover, the Buddhists possessed a unique secret technique—reincarnation.

When their lifespan neared its end, they could reincarnate, purifying their souls. Cultivators had both physical and soul lifespans. Aging bodies could be replaced through possession, but souls could not be altered. So far, reincarnation was the only known method to extend the soul's lifespan—but at a great cost.

After reincarnation, one would retain memories and insights from past lives, but whether they remained the same person was debatable. No one could say for sure. But the Buddhists didn't care. They had special artifacts to guide reincarnated souls back to their realms, where they were known as "reborn ones."

Whether these individuals were truly the same as before didn't matter. Influenced by their past lives, they would naturally resume Buddhist practice, cultivating with even greater speed and combat prowess than before. Even players who reincarnated in-game exhibited this trait—beyond the advantages of their constitutions, their second lives were invariably stronger.

But in a game, it didn't matter—it was just a character. In reality, however, the implications were unsettling. Xie Yingying wanted nothing to do with it, nor did she need to. But since she didn't understand the specifics, she found the whole practice eerie.

Additionally, the Buddhist inheritance system was the most complete, almost self-sufficient—so much so that they didn't even need the Golden Core Avenue.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'm going alone, and if anything goes wrong, I'll use your blood essence to escape. No big deal."

Su Min chuckled and shook her head. This trip was crucial—it concerned the legacy of the Medicine Buddha, something she absolutely had to obtain. If she needed to flee, she could do so easily. No matter how powerful the Buddhists were, they were still bound by the world's restrictions. The strongest among them now were only at the Divine Transformation stage.

Su Min had developed a unique skill by combining the Lunar Sovereign and Solar Sovereign ancient scriptures—Yin-Yang Escape—which allowed her to traverse multiple realms in an instant. The cost was minimal, but the conditions were strict. She could only activate it in a specific state—but once she did, no one could stop her. Since that was the case, going alone wasn't a problem.

Moreover, the Medicine Buddha, or Bhaiṣajyaguru, held an extremely high position in Buddhism. In the final chapter of Journey to the West, he was ranked second among all Buddhas—surpassed only by the Ancient Lamp Buddha and above even Tathāgata Buddha. In this world, he was one of the most renowned alchemists in recorded history. Su Min was deeply eager to obtain his legacy.

"Fine, go ahead."

Seeing her determination, Xie Yingying relented. With Su Min's current abilities, few could stop her if she chose to flee. If anything, Xie Yingying's presence would only hold her back.

"Then I'll leave things here to you. As outsiders, we still need time to firmly establish ourselves."

With a smile, Su Min turned and flew into a spatial rift in the sky. Her destination—the Lingxi Province—was extremely far away. Rather than traveling directly, it was faster to return to the Eastern Mulberry Province, cross through Wei Wu, and then enter Lingxi.

A century had passed since she last visited. In a way, she even felt grateful to the foolish emperor of Wei Wu. If not for him, she might not have been able to leave so freely. Facing the cycle of life and death among mortals was something even Su Min couldn't change. Back then, she might have been forced to endure the emotional turmoil that many sect disciples now faced.

When she left, she had been a Golden Core cultivator. Now, returning to Wei Wu as a Nascent Soul expert, she couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy as she gazed upon the bustling cities.

"It's a shame. Probably none of the people I knew back then are still alive."

With a sigh, she teleported to an abandoned temple, where traces of familiar energy lingered—faith power.

"To think even my temple has fallen into ruin after all these years. If I had pursued the Path of Divine Fire, this would have been devastating."

Su Min rubbed her temples. Aside from her brief return to retrieve Xie Yingying, she had been gone for over four hundred years. With her absence and the world's barriers cutting off her influence, the protective blessings she had left behind had long since faded. It was only natural for the temple to decay, though it still felt strange to see.

As for the people she once knew—they had all passed away. As pioneers of their era, they had been fortunate to receive Su Min's pill assistance. Without it, their paths would have been even harder. None of them had reached the Golden Core stage, and even if they had, their lifespans would now be nearing their end. The thought was sobering.

Yet, thanks to her help, the Wei Wu Province had become the strongest among the three human provinces, now boasting ten Golden Core cultivators. The other two provinces combined had only thirteen or fourteen.

"Time to head to Lingxi."

With that thought, Su Min swiftly departed.