Chapter 10 Strange Phenomena Appear Suddenly
Zhong Guanlin slowly exhaled and gradually gathered his thoughts.
He truly hadn't expected that this little sixth child could open the secret treasure on his own and summon a pill furnace—most pill masters' companion treasures are not actually pill furnaces, but rather their companion treasures are not very offensive, or have some connection to the Dao of Alchemy, or they become pill masters because of family background, their own interest in the Dao of Alchemy, or other reasons.
Cultivators who can truly summon a pill furnace are rare. Their talent in alchemy is often stronger than that of ordinary alchemists, and if nothing unexpected happens, they will be able to successfully produce pills sooner or later.
This made Zhong Guanlin somewhat regretful.
Xiao Liu'er's inheritance is at least level four, which is quite remarkable among cultivators of his kind. However, he married off his guaranteed alchemy master for the sake of a few family businesses, which is truly regrettable.
However, there's no going back now.
Of course, there was some good news as well. The inheritance contained quite a few pill formulas—Zhong Guanlin thought to himself. The inheritance was a private matter; Xiao Liu'er was married off, and Wu Shaogan's bodyguards were always by her side, so naturally she wouldn't tell him the details. But telling him the numbers was already a favor. Besides, those life-extending pills alone were enough for him to maintain a good relationship with Xiao Liu'er.
Moreover, she had only been married into the Wu family for a short time, and Xiao Liu'er had already brought him a very rare level three pill. She was both filial and capable, so he should be even more loving towards her.
·
Zhong Guanlin carefully put away the Tiger and Leopard Breathing Pill and gave Zhong Cai a smile.
"Little Six, now that you've received such a wonderful inheritance, you must study it diligently from now on." His tone was very gentle. "You've been trying to refine Qi-replenishing pills lately? There's nothing I can do to help you, but I can prepare some medicinal herbs for you so you can practice more."
"Why not take advantage of a good deal?" Zhong Cai happily agreed and immediately said, "Father, don't worry, I'll be able to refine the pills soon. I've already overcome most of the most difficult hurdle in making the Qi-replenishing pill! With the medicinal herbs you gave me, I'll share in your good fortune and give you a few pills after I refine them!"
Zhong Guanlin immediately smiled and said, "Then I'll be looking forward to it."
Next, he ordered his guards to procure the ingredients for 20,000 doses of Qi-replenishing pills. Many people knew the recipe, and people regularly collected such ingredients, so preparing them was not difficult.
Zhong Guanlin invited Zhong Cai to have lunch at his place.
Zhong Cai was happy to show off her cheap father's face. After finishing her delicious meal, she wiped her mouth, put away a large pile of medicinal herbs, and left the Zhong family under Xiang Lin's protection.
Zhong Guanlin watched Zhong Cai leave, his gaze sweeping over the blue mustard pouch at his waist, his smile deepening.
This was something he had never seen before.
After stepping out of the gate, Zhong Cai turned a corner.
"Xiang Lin, let's go to Ningsi Street."
"yes."
·
Kunyun City has many streets, and Ningsi Street is a relatively bustling main street with a wide variety of shops.
Zhong Cai came over to buy some ingredients.
His friend wasn't feeling so bad anymore, but his cultivation level had dropped significantly, and his body needed time to adjust. He was still quite weak and needed to replenish his nutrition. Although his friend's furniture and clothes had been moved over, his food and drinks were still being fetched by servants at the beginning of each month. The treatment was different now than before, and the ingredients were very ordinary, which Zhong Cai didn't think was very good.
With that in mind, Zhong Cai walked into a general store on the street.
The shop was fairly spacious, with stalls spread out on both sides, divided into many different compartments. The left compartments contained different kinds of vegetarian dishes, while the right compartments were filled with fragrant fruits, exuding a relatively abundant energy.
The walls of the shop were covered with hooks, on which hung fresh meat from different wild beasts, arranged according to different grades, and filled with a faint smell of blood.
Zhong Cai went straight to the area with level one savage beasts and began to carefully select them. Since he started refining pills, he had also been learning a secret method to identify energy, and he had no problem checking the condition of level one ingredients.
A short while later, Zhong Cai called the shopkeeper over and said to him, "We need three rows of lean ribs from the Snowflake Barbarian Pig, fifty catties each of tender and tough meat from the Golden-Eyed Barbarian Bull, three five-foot-long Lightning Barbarian Snakes, and eight Brocade Cloud Barbarian Chickens weighing over twenty catties each."
Upon hearing this, the innkeeper realized that although they were all level-one savage beasts, the quantity requested was quite large. He then politely quoted the following prices: "Snowflake savage pig ribs are 30 silver each, forty-two ribs in total (three ribs); tender meat of golden-eyed savage bull is 35 silver per pound, and tough meat is 32 silver per pound. Five-foot lightning savage snakes are 80 silver each. Twenty-pound brocade cloud savage chickens are 100 silver each. The total price is 56 gold and 50 silver. The savage snakes and savage chickens are not included in the price of beast cores; if the customer requires them, the price will be calculated separately."
Zhong Cai waved his hand: "I don't want the beast pills." After saying that, he took out sixty gold coins and handed them to the shopkeeper, and then said, "I have three gold coins and fifty silver coins left. I want two gold coins worth of green fern grass, nine-layer incense, and lotus root... and another one and a half gold coins worth of sweet fragrant fruit. Shopkeeper, you can decide the weight and amount. Just spend all of these."
With a beaming smile, the shopkeeper quickly prepared all the ingredients Zhong Cai had ordered, separating the meat and vegetables into two bamboo baskets.
Zhong Cai packed up the bamboo baskets and said with a smile, "Thank you, goodbye."
The shopkeeper politely said goodbye and saw the man out. Then he beckoned to a quick-witted waiter and instructed him, "Quickly write down this guest's appearance. If he comes again in the future, be extra attentive to him."
The waiter readily agreed, saying, "Don't worry, this is a big customer."
—For a general store, a customer who can spend tens of gold coins in one visit is definitely a big spender, right? Some wealthy families might spend tens or even hundreds of times that amount, but they don't buy from general stores. They're small businesses, and they need to maintain good relationships with generous individual customers.
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After leaving the general store, Zhong Cai continued walking with Xiang Lin. As soon as they looked up, they saw the pharmacy.
We have enough medicinal herbs at home, but...
Zhong Cai decided to go in and check the situation.
The pharmacy is divided into a main hall and side rooms.
The main hall was quite bright and spacious, where all kinds of medicinal herbs were sold, laid out in sections for guests to inspect.
Rare and precious medicines are also available, hidden in small drawers within several large medicine cabinets against the wall, each labeled with the name of the herb. If a customer wants one, a clerk will press the drawer handle to make the drawer transparent, allowing them to easily see the contents.
The side room was much narrower, with several large shelves against the wall, each containing medicine bottles of various sizes, gourds, bottles of different necks, and various small boxes.
A thin, middle-aged man approached and asked, "Young friend, what do you need?"
Zhong Cai immediately looked embarrassed and asked in a low voice, "Excuse me, what are the prices of the first-grade pills here?"
The lean middle-aged man stroked his short beard. Although he felt that the customer might not actually buy, he still replied, "Most commonly used pills suitable for your level are generally around one hundred taels of silver for low-grade, one hundred and one taels for mid-grade, and one hundred and two taels for high-grade."
Zhong Cai looked around and asked, "Does the shopkeeper have any recommendations? I want the most effective and rarest medicine."
The thin, middle-aged man thought he might have misjudged the person. This was probably a wealthy and competitive young master. He then looked at the solemn-faced guard following closely behind, whose attitude became more sincere. The guard smiled and introduced, "Young friend, at this level, you should be about to temper your skull. Most people use precious medicines to protect their skulls, and only a few can use pills, which are all quite rare. My shop has some resources, so we have three kinds of pills suitable for protecting the skull: the Guardian Pill, the Neck Strengthening Pill, and the Head Protection Pill."
Zhong Cai thought for a moment; he had all of these prescriptions.
The lean middle-aged man slowly explained: "Among them, the most precious is the Head Protection Pill, which is the most difficult to refine and has the best medicinal effect. All three types of pills are not cheap, and only low-grade pills are available. My shop can get three to five Guardian Pills and Neck Strengthening Pills each month, each costing five gold coins. My shop sometimes gets one or two Head Protection Pills each month, and sometimes none at all, each costing eight gold coins. You are lucky, young friend, that my shop has just received a few. If you had come a day later, they would probably have been sold out."
Zhong Cai nodded secretly, then paused and asked in a low voice, "Aren't there any mid-grade ones?"
The thin, middle-aged man shook his head slightly: "No."
It's not that they don't exist, but they're even rarer. Any that are refined are absorbed internally by the forces behind the pharmacies. Even if a few leak out, it's all done through private transactions, never made public.
Zhong Cai could sense the trickery involved, so she didn't ask any more questions, readily bought one of each of the three types of pills, and quickly paid.
After buying the pills, Zhong Cai subtly inquired about other popular types of pills, whether pharmacies bought pills, and how to buy them. He would buy one of each of the familiar pills he saw, so the thin, middle-aged man didn't suspect anything.
Zhong Cai had a general idea of the market price and knew what to expect, so she left the pharmacy with the pills in her hands.
Next, we'll find a tailor shop. Anyway, he won't be leaving the yard anytime soon, and he doesn't need to be all dressed up every day. His buddy doesn't have that kind of sense at all. Luckily, there's a bundle of decent quality fabric in his bag. We should find a good tailor so that the guy can be more comfortable while he's recuperating...
While thinking, Zhong Cai searched for a clothing store.
Suddenly, the sky darkened, with rolling black clouds, lightning, and thunder, as if a torrential downpour was about to begin.
Zhong Cai was suddenly startled and involuntarily looked behind her.
At the same moment, Xiang Lin also looked in that direction.
In the direction where the Wu family was located, a beam of purple light shot into the sky, and a black single-edged halberd floated in the light, emitting a dazzling radiance.
Zhong Cai's pupils contracted.
Someone has unlocked the secret treasure of the divine soul and summoned a low-grade companion treasure!
Moreover, the purple light was extremely intense, indicating that the quality of this halberd should have reached the eighth-grade top quality!
In other words, it has top-tier quality.
·
Not only Zhong Cai and Xiang Lin noticed the scene over there, but the crowd on the street also noticed it, stopping to look and discussing it.
"That's...it looks like the Wu family?"
"Top-tier quality! The best quality in Kunyun City!"
"Young master is the best candidate, it's just a pity..."
"There's no need to mention those who are already ruined. The one with the best potential right now is this one. I wonder who it is?"
"Who else could it be? Just check all the children in the Wu family under the age of three, and we'll find out."
"The Wu family just crippled a top-tier Heaven-rank expert, and now they have a top-tier Earth-rank expert. Of course, the latter is not as good as the former, but he is not as feared as the former."
"The Wu family is truly lucky!"
Zhong Cai was furious after hearing all this. He cursed under his breath and immediately gave the order: "Xiang Lin, get me back as quickly as possible!"
His buddy was crippled, and then a member of the Wu family came out to replace him. Isn't that just ripping his buddy off?!
Xiang Lin obeyed the command and directly summoned his companion treasure—the Crimson Wind Leopard, a rare beast spirit of the seventh rank and fourth stage.
The Crimson Wind Leopard's body was somewhere between half-illusory and half-real. When Xiang Lin injected profound energy into its body, the Crimson Wind Leopard solidified.
Zhong Cai leaped up and mounted the Red Wind Leopard on its back.
The Crimson Wind Leopard instantly dashed towards Wuyang Street, and Xiang Lin also used his movement technique to closely follow beside it.
Like lightning, the two people and the beast rushed forward.
Before long, they arrived at the Wu residence.
·
The Wu family mansion is very grand, with a main gate, two side gates and many small gates.
Because of the large population and the many people coming and going every day, it's impossible for them all to crowd into the main gate.
The main gate is usually used by elders and guests; the side gate is used by younger members of the family; and the smaller gates are located in inconspicuous places such as corners or backs of the courtyard walls, and are mostly used by servants or some clansmen living deep inside the Wu family mansion.
Zhong Cai didn't intend to attract attention, so she came out through a secluded side gate, and now she was going around to the back of the Wu residence again.
Xiang Lin put away the Crimson Wind Leopard and, together with Zhong Cai, avoided the other members of the Wu family, passing through several side gates to enter the small courtyard where they lived.
The second door was closed. Zhong Cai took a deep breath, pushed the door open, and secretly peeked inside.
Inside the courtyard, an extremely handsome young man looked up, carefully observing the mysterious phenomenon that lingered in the sky.
Zhong Cai ignored the strange phenomenon and quietly observed Wu Shaogan's expression.
His buddy... his face was expressionless. Was he in pain, or was he in pain?
Wu Shaogan was, after all, a cultivator who had once reached the Enlightenment Realm. He had already noticed Zhong Cai's return when Zhong Cai pushed open the door. However, at the time, he was focused on the strange phenomenon in the sky, and his mind was blank, so he didn't greet him immediately.
However, Zhong Cai's subsequent actions instantly dispelled his melancholy.
That furtive behavior...
Wu Shaogan turned his head helplessly, and his eyes met Zhong Cai's.
Zhong Cai was clearly startled and shrank back.
Wu Shaogan couldn't help but burst out laughing.
When Zhong Cai saw him smile, he was initially relieved, then his eyes widened in disbelief—this bastard! He was worried, that's why he was like that, and now he's laughing at him?!
Wu Shaogan quickly composed himself after being glared at, though the smile in his eyes hadn't completely faded.
Seeing this, Zhong Cai rolled her eyes and strode in.
Wu Shaogan quickly went to greet him, his annoyance completely gone.
Zhong Cai muttered, "That's more like it."
Wu Shaogan also had a gentle demeanor.
Seeing this, Xiang Lin, who had been secretly worried, breathed a sigh of relief.
As expected of Young Master Cai.
The other servants didn't dare to show their faces. Apart from Zhong Da, who was truly dull-witted, the others knew how to protect themselves. To avoid being blamed, they had no curiosity whatsoever.
·
Wu Shaogan pulled Zhong Cai to sit at the table, and together they admired the beautiful sight of the long halberds soaring through the air.
Zhong Caiyang called out, "Zhou Lin, go and get some good dishes! Dong Jin, go and help."
Zhou Lin and Dong Jin immediately obeyed, hurriedly entering from the outer courtyard. After quickly bowing, they both hid in the kitchen.
Zhong Cai snorted lightly, feeling that they had underestimated Lao Wu.
Wu Shaogan didn't mind, but said to Zhong Cai, "It's a good thing. Judging from the direction, it still belongs to the Ninth Branch." He thought for a moment, "The Ninth Branch has a large population, and there are quite a few children under the age of three. I just don't know if they are from the main branch or the collateral branch, or if they are my nephews or grandnephews."
Zhong Cai thought for a moment and said to Xiang Lin, "Go and find out quietly."
Xiang Lin obeyed the order and left. Not long after, he returned and reported, "It is Young Master Shaoshan's youngest legitimate son, Young Master Dongxiao."
Zhong Cai recalled the family genealogy of the nine branches that she had seen before and suddenly realized, "Your little nephew."
Wu Shaogan nodded and smiled slightly: "It seems that Father and Mother will be happy again."
Zhong Cai pursed her lips.
Wu Shaogan knew that his friend was standing up for him again, and a slight warmth appeared in his eyes.
·
The strange phenomenon lasted for a long time, and Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan watched it while eating, paying little attention to it.
After the meal, Zhong Cai called Zhou Lin over, handed him the ingredients she had bought earlier, and instructed him on when to cook and how many meals a day to prepare for Wu Shaogan.
After giving the instructions, Zhong Cai stretched and pulled Wu Shaogan to the cultivation room.
After closing the door, he took out a large box of Qi-Nourishing Fruits, three large bags of Green Spirit Grass, and another large bag of White Imperata...
Wu Shaogan couldn't help but chuckle and said, "Did you go back to the Zhong family to buy goods today?"
Zhong Cai casually said, "I gave my cheap father a level-three pill, and he only gave me 20,000 portions of medicinal herbs. Isn't that what I should do? You do the math. The medicinal herbs look like a lot, but they only take a little time to collect, and they're only worth 400 gold. A level-three pill, on the other hand, costs over 100,000 gold." As he spoke, he quickly recounted how he had tricked Zhong Guanlin at the Zhong family, "...Now we've basically won him over. Whenever we need him in the future, we shouldn't hesitate to use him."
Wu Shao chuckled dryly, "You can only open the furnace twenty times a day at most, so these medicinal herbs are more than enough for you." He added mischievously, "Once you've 'finded' it in a month or two, you can take a few pills back to the Zhong family and swindle even more... right?"
Zhong Cai raised an eyebrow smugly: "Old Wu, I knew you knew me best."
While joking with Wu Shaogan, Zhong Cai's hands were also working quickly.
First, set up the alchemy furnace, then clean the main furnace cavity again, and then fill the furnace chamber with green firewood... still refining Qi-replenishing pills.
Wu Shaogan watched with a smile, then walked to the other side and helped Zhong Cai pack the medicinal herbs.
It's impossible to refine so many in a short time. It's better to put the ones you don't need right now back into your storage bag.
·
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
"Bang! Oops, this doesn't feel right."
"Success this time! Two low-grade and two mid-grade!"
"Success again! Three low-grade and one mid-grade!"
"Bang!"
"Four low-grade and one mid-grade..."
Wu Shaogan remained hardworking and conscientious, always taking charge of cleaning the alchemy furnace after Zhong Cai finished refining the pills.
·
Inside the Wu family home, everyone in each room was looking up at the sky.
The Wu family has produced another prodigy.
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