The Herbal Spirit Compendium

The Unending Herbal Path is a fantasy xianxia novel set in an imagined world. It follows Su Weiyang, a young medicinal cultivator who seeks the truth behind his father's disappearance as he follows the path of the Dao through medicine, awakens herb spirits, and travels across Herbal Isle.

A thousand years ago, the ancient Medicine God Shenyao transformed himself into an isle, imbuing countless plants with spiritual life. After a great calamity befell Herbal Isle, herb spirits fell asleep in the wilderness, the evils of the Six Plagues returned time and again, and the remnants of the Seven Emotions Demon Lord stirred in the shadows. A thousand years later, evil winds rise in Qingping Town, in the Eastern Azure Realm. On a rainy night, with his father missing and the medicine bell ringing on its own, Su Weiyang, young heir to the Su family's apothecary, awakens to his gift as a medicinal guide and accidentally rouses the sleeping honeysuckle spirit, Rendong. Thus begins his journey as a medicinal cultivator.

Guided by a bronze medicine pestle, he befriends herb spirits such as Zisu, Bohe, Shengjiang, and Jiegeng. As he solves medical mysteries and thwarts the schemes of evil cultivators, he learns through failure, delays, misdiagnoses, and helplessness that the art of medicine cannot do everything, but someone must still carry the lamp and press on.

The cold epidemic in Qingping Town is only the beginning. Summer dampness in Yunmeng Marsh, dry winds in the Northern Black Realm, fire poison in the Southern Vermilion Realm, and deficiency in the Western White Realm... As clues to Shenyao's remnant soul gradually surface, the true purpose behind the Seven Emotions Bureau's search for sealed objects draws closer. Su Weiyang will grow from a young apothecary in a small town into a medicinal cultivator who travels across the four realms, joining countless herb spirits to reclaim Herbal Isle's lost heritage.

This is an epic tale in the Chinese fantasy tradition, about traditional Chinese medicine, bonds with herb spirits, a young man's growth, and the desire to heal the world.

Herbs have cold and warm properties; evil comes in six forms. People have seven emotions; the Dao lies in the herbs.

Once the bell rings, the journey never ends.