Chapter 148 The Perfection of Medicine

Joe returned to the poisonous valley the following morning with his measuring instruments and several containers for fresh specimens. He followed the route marked during his previous visit, stopping where ordinary vegetation began giving way to the unfamiliar grasses. The affected area covered only a portion of the valley floor, although the plants grew densely enough in some places to conceal the ground beneath them. He examined several varieties through Acquired Energy. Most were ordinary plants that had developed unusual characteristics. Their tissues contained traces of harmful spiritual properties, but none possessed the concentrated energy he would expect from a genuine spiritual herb. Joe had encountered similar traces in plants growing near deposits of spiritual materials, although the distribution here was less consistent.

One dark-leaved grass contained a relatively weak concentration of harmful properties despite its vigorous growth. Another variety had pale markings along its stems and considerably stronger toxicity. Both grew in similar conditions, yet their internal structures differed. The dark-leaved grass distributed the unusual properties through several tissues, while the pale-stemmed variety concentrated them within narrower channels.

Joe collected specimens from different portions of the valley, recording their locations and examining the surrounding soil. He wanted to determine whether the changes came from prolonged exposure to the environment or from abnormalities the plants had developed independently. The available evidence supported neither explanation conclusively, so he concentrated on documenting their present condition.

Near noon, he continued toward the hollow where he had found the serpent's shed skin. Broad tracks crossed the undergrowth, and several smaller animal trails ended before reaching the exposed roots surrounding the hollow. Joe approached carefully enough to observe the creature without disturbing it.

The serpent lay partly concealed beneath the roots of an old tree. Its body was considerably thicker than those of the ordinary snakes found around Blackwood, and its dark scales formed a dense protective covering. Joe examined it through Acquired Energy and detected extensive changes around several internal structures, particularly those associated with its poisonous secretions. He watched the creature move through its territory. It passed between patches of the dark-leaved grass without hesitation but avoided several clusters of pale-stemmed plants farther downhill. Its movements suggested familiarity with the surrounding vegetation, although Joe could not determine whether it recognized the plants through experience or some heightened sensory ability.

When he approached the hollow, the serpent raised its head and moved toward him. Joe withdrew several paces, expecting it to remain near its shelter, but the creature continued advancing. Its aggression exceeded what he would ordinarily expect from a snake disturbed near its den. When it struck, Joe ended the encounter with a single controlled movement. He examined the body afterward, concentrating on the structures that had appeared abnormal while the serpent was alive. Its poisonous glands had developed considerably, and dense protective tissues surrounded the channels carrying their secretions. The arrangement kept those properties separate from the circulation serving neighboring organs.

Other parts of the serpent remained comparatively ordinary. Its mutation had strengthened particular functions without producing corresponding changes throughout the body. Joe recorded the uneven development and preserved the specimens necessary for further examination.

The surrounding territory contained few signs of other large predators. The serpent had evidently occupied the hollow for some time, and its size and aggression could explain why other animals avoided the immediate area. Joe found no reason to assume that it had eliminated every competing creature in the valley. He returned to camp that afternoon and began comparing the serpent's tissues with the grasses. The specimens showed several ways living organisms could tolerate harmful properties. The serpent relied on specialized structures to contain its poisonous secretions, while certain grasses concentrated their unusual characteristics in tissues that appeared less vulnerable to them. Other plants possessed weaker protective arrangements and showed signs of poor development.

Joe had studied poisonous substances throughout his pharmaceutical research. His usual approach involved identifying harmful attributes, reducing their effects, and retaining whatever medicinal benefit remained. The specimens suggested that he had concentrated too heavily on the substance itself. The condition of the receiving tissue was equally important. The serpent could produce poisonous secretions without damaging its own organs because its body possessed structures adapted to containing them. Other organisms lacked those protections and would respond differently to the same substances.

Joe recorded the observation and returned to the valley the following morning. Over the next several days, he concentrated on a limited number of plants rather than collecting every unfamiliar variety. He examined their living structures, compared specimens growing under similar conditions, and returned to the same patches to observe changes in their development.

The results were uneven. One grass possessed unusually concentrated harmful properties but remained poorly developed. Its supporting tissues had failed to strengthen alongside the altered channels carrying those properties. Another variety contained weaker spiritual traces yet maintained healthier growth because its internal structures continued functioning properly.

Joe found similar relationships among the mutated beasts he had examined during earlier expeditions. The oversized boar possessed powerful shoulders, but its hindquarters had not developed sufficiently to support the additional strength. Other creatures displayed more coordinated adaptations, with changes in circulation, supporting tissues, and sensory structures accompanying their unusual abilities. The poisonous grasses demonstrated the same principle through their responses to harmful substances. An unusual characteristic benefited an organism only when the surrounding structures could support it.

During his fifth visit, Joe discovered something considerably rarer. He had followed a narrow stretch of exposed stone toward the upper end of the valley, where water seeped through a crack beneath several old roots. Most of the surrounding vegetation consisted of ordinary moss and sparse grasses. However, a single unfamiliar plant grew within the sheltered opening.

Joe initially passed over it while examining the stone, then stopped when his Acquired Energy detected a concentrated spiritual presence. He crouched beside the opening and examined the plant more carefully. Its narrow leaves were dark green, with faint markings near their bases. Unlike the grasses covering the valley floor, this specimen contained genuine spiritual energy throughout its living tissues.

Joe had not expected to find a spiritual plant so close to Blackwood. Such plants were valuable precisely because they were rare. Even established martial families could not depend on finding them within their hunting territories, and most ordinary herb gatherers spent their entire lives collecting medicinal plants without encountering a mature spiritual specimen. The plant's position helped explain why it had survived unnoticed. Thick roots concealed the opening from the trail above, while the surrounding poisonous vegetation discouraged animals and herb gatherers from entering the area. Its limited size also made it easy to overlook without the ability to perceive its spiritual properties.

Joe examined the surrounding ground before deciding to leave the plant undisturbed. He wanted to observe its living condition, and removing it immediately might destroy information that had taken years to develop. Its structure revealed another unusual characteristic. The plant contained concentrated spiritual energy alongside properties that would be harmful to many ordinary organisms. Yet its internal circulation remained stable, and the tissues responsible for new growth showed no signs of deterioration.

Joe examined the relationship between those tissues and the channels carrying the harmful properties. The arrangement was more refined than anything he had observed among the ordinary grasses. Several supporting structures limited the movement of the most concentrated properties, allowing the remaining tissues to maintain their functions. He spent the afternoon recording the specimen and comparing it with the surrounding plants. The rare grass provided a particularly clear example of the relationship he had been investigating, although one specimen could not establish how such adaptations developed.

Joe marked the location privately and returned to camp without removing the plant. The discovery added another example to his research, but his understanding had already begun changing through the ordinary grasses and the serpent. The spiritual specimen allowed him to examine the same relationships in an organism with more concentrated properties. He returned to the valley twice more to verify his observations before reviewing the pharmaceutical records he had brought from Ashbourne.

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Several restorative preparations had produced varying results depending on the patient's physical condition. Joe understood their ingredients and could prepare them reliably, but certain differences in effectiveness had previously required adjustments based on experience.

The forest specimens helped explain those variations. A medicine could contain excellent restorative properties and still produce limited benefits if the receiving tissues could not absorb or distribute them properly. Likewise, a harmful substance affected an organism according to the structures it encountered and the body's ability to maintain its functions.

Joe examined several familiar formulas under that understanding. The results recorded during his earlier treatments became easier to explain, particularly those involving weakened circulation or tissues recovering from prolonged strain. He spent another two days comparing the formulas with the observations gathered in the forest. Whenever an explanation remained uncertain, he returned to his specimens and examined the relevant structures again. His understanding gradually became more complete.

During the final examination, Joe reviewed a restorative preparation he had developed for patients with weakened bodies. Its effectiveness depended partly on carefully processed spiritual nourishment, but his earlier explanation had concentrated mainly on the properties of the preparation. He now understood more precisely how the condition of the receiving tissues influenced the result. The medicine's strength alone could not determine its effectiveness; the body also needed the capacity to distribute and make use of that nourishment.

Joe reviewed the previous treatment records against his revised understanding. The relationships remained consistent across the cases he had documented, including several results that had previously required separate explanations. A notification appeared as he completed the comparison.

Medicine — Lv.5 / Perfection

Joe examined the panel before returning to his records. He had spent years studying medicine, beginning with ordinary treatments before progressing to complex pharmaceutical preparations and spiritual materials. His research into harmful residues, restorative medicines, and bodily recovery had developed through separate investigations. The forest expedition had finally brought those areas of knowledge together.

Medicine Perfection did not grant him knowledge of every substance or illness. Stronger spiritual materials and unfamiliar bodily conditions would still require investigation. However, his understanding of the medical principles he had studied had reached a level he could not have achieved through his earlier methods alone.

The advancement also gave him a new perspective on Innate Transformation. Joe had spent months preparing the supporting structures around each region before converting it with Acquired Energy. The method worked, but his new medical understanding revealed weaknesses in how he selected those preparations. He had sometimes concentrated on the physical connections surrounding a target without fully accounting for the functions those connections needed to maintain throughout the transformation.

Joe reopened his anatomical records and selected a region whose complicated circulation had prevented earlier progress. His previous method had prepared the most obvious supporting tissues, but he now recognized several additional connections necessary for maintaining stable function during the conversion. He spent the following morning preparing those structures. The preliminary work required considerable attention and produced little visible progress, although the smaller transformations settled without difficulty.

Once the supporting functions remained stable, Joe directed Acquired Energy into the larger region. The energy moved through the prepared tissue with considerably less resistance than during his previous attempts. Circulation continued through the surrounding structures, and the transformed region began functioning alongside its neighbors without requiring extensive corrections.

Joe completed the session and examined the result through controlled circulation and movement. The newly transformed tissues responded properly, so he recorded the sequence and allowed his body to recover before continuing.

Over the following three days, he applied the revised approach to several connected regions. He prepared the functions required to support each transformation, completed the smaller changes, and then advanced into the larger tissues. The work still consumed substantial Acquired Energy, but his preparations reduced the effort wasted on unstable boundaries. His progress accelerated.

Innate Transformation — 83.72%

Joe examined the completed regions and found that they had integrated successfully with the structures transformed earlier. His improvement came from better preparation rather than any increase in his available energy. He continued exploring the forest when particular anatomical questions required additional observations. The poisonous valley had supplied the knowledge necessary for Medicine Perfection, but the surrounding territories contained other organisms whose development could help resolve his remaining cultivation problems.

Near the northern ridges, Joe observed a large animal whose unusually powerful muscles were supported by corresponding changes in circulation. Another creature possessed enhanced sensitivity through its limbs, accompanied by alterations in the nerves serving those regions. He watched the creatures move before examining their physical characteristics. Their behavior revealed how the altered structures functioned together, providing information he could not obtain from preserved specimens alone.

Joe returned to camp with those observations and revised several additional transformation sequences. His methods had become more efficient, particularly where circulation, structural support, and recovery depended on the same connections.

Once he established a reliable sequence, his extraordinary talents allowed him to complete substantial cultivation within comparatively few sessions. He still needed time to restore his Acquired Energy and allow the transformed tissues to settle, so he alternated demanding cultivation with research and martial practice. After another period of steady progress, the panel showed:

Innate Transformation — 87.16%

Joe noticed the improvement during his movement training. Force traveled through his increasingly transformed body with fewer small corrections, and his circulation responded more naturally when he changed between rest and demanding activity. He had already possessed exceptional control through his Foundation, but the transformed structures strengthened that advantage. His spear and movement practice gave him opportunities to examine how the changes affected his coordination without requiring additional cultivation.

The following week brought further progress. Joe concentrated on regions whose functions he now understood well enough to transform safely. Medicine Perfection allowed him to recognize relationships that had previously escaped him, especially among structures responsible for circulation, recovery, and physical support. His weekly supplies continued arriving from Blackwood. Simon included occasional letters concerning the family, confirming that Mike and Lily remained occupied with Vale Provisions and that Joseph and Pam continued responding well to their treatment. Joe replied when necessary and continued his research without interrupting the expedition. Several additional cultivation sessions followed. Joe completed the prepared regions, allowed them to settle, and returned to his anatomical records whenever the remaining structures presented unfamiliar dependencies. His progress continued until the panel reached:

Innate Transformation — 92.08%

Joe examined the remaining mortal portions that evening. Most of the structures he could approach through established anatomical methods had already been transformed. The remaining regions included delicate tissues within the brain, spinal cord, marrow, and complicated nervous pathways. Their functions depended on connections extending throughout the body, leaving little room for an uncertain transformation sequence. Medicine Perfection allowed him to understand those functions with exceptional clarity. However, understanding how a mortal structure worked did not necessarily reveal the ideal arrangement of its transformed counterpart.

Joe selected a delicate neural pathway and considered several possible methods. Each could preserve part of its existing function, but he could not determine which arrangement would integrate properly with the surrounding transformed systems. He postponed the attempt and returned to the records of several regions completed earlier that week. Their final structures differed slightly from the arrangements he had originally planned. Certain connections had settled into more efficient positions, while circulation through several transformed tissues had improved beyond what his instructions alone required.

Joe compared the measurements recorded immediately after transformation with those taken following recovery. The refinements had occurred during the settling period, without further cultivation directed at those structures. He had encountered similar improvements during Foundation training and repeated bodily tempering, although he had never examined them with his present medical knowledge. Now he could recognize their significance. His methods explained the transformations he had performed, but they did not fully explain the adjustments that followed. Those adjustments consistently improved the integration of structures he had already transformed.

Joe examined several more records and confirmed the same pattern. He had spent months improving his ability to direct Innate Transformation, yet some of the most effective refinements occurred after he stopped guiding the process. The remaining structures might require him to understand that natural adjustment rather than continue relying exclusively on anatomical methods. Joe closed the records and decided to investigate the process during his next cultivation session. He would begin with completed regions whose functions he understood and examine how they responded as the body settled, before attempting another transformation involving the delicate nervous system.