Mud-Leg

The next day, after completing his guard duty, Chen Fei went to find the Medical Hall's alchemist.

"You want the Blood Qi Pill formula?" Zeng Defang looked at Chen Fei in surprise.

"Would that be possible?" Chen Fei asked with cupped hands.

After thinking it over all day yesterday, Chen Fei had ultimately decided to try alchemy. After all, that had been one of his original reasons for staying at the Medical Hall. As for medicine, that was a complete system, and Chen Fei did not know whether the panel could simplify it.

Even if it could, the required amount would likely be astronomical, and Chen Fei was still short on money.

Alchemy was therefore more suitable. As long as Chen Fei learned to refine one kind of pill, he would have a relatively stable income. After that, he could seek out higher-level pills and form a virtuous cycle.

"You're one of the Medical Hall's guards, so giving you a Blood Qi Pill formula is no great matter."

Zeng Defang nodded. "But it's only the most common Blood Qi Pill formula. It doesn't include any of the Medical Hall's secret methods. And if you want to fire up a furnace and refine pills, you must pay for the medicinal ingredients yourself. The Medical Hall won't provide them for free."

"I understand."

Chen Fei nodded. Before he proved that he had alchemical ability, the Medical Hall would not hand over medicinal ingredients for nothing. Even if he proved he could refine pills, it would still depend on the final pill's quality and grade. If they were too poor, the Medical Hall would not accept them either.

"Mm, take it. Return it to me in three days."

Zeng Defang stood and searched through the cabinet behind him for a while. He took out a small booklet and handed it to Chen Fei.

"Thank you, Elder Zeng!" Chen Fei said with cupped hands.

"It's nothing."

Zeng Defang waved a hand and stopped paying attention to Chen Fei. Chen Fei knew better than to linger and quietly left the dispensary.

Zeng Defang watched Chen Fei's retreating back and shook his head slightly. He had seen many people like Chen Fei, wanting to learn alchemy and acquire a skill to make a living. Yet those who could truly get started and refine pills that satisfied others were few and far between.

In Zeng Defang's eyes, Chen Fei was likely just another member of that mediocre crowd.

Chen Fei returned to his room and carefully read through the pill formula in his hands.

After the time it took an incense stick to burn, Chen Fei put down the formula and closed his eyes, recalling what he had just read.

The contents recorded in the formula were not complicated. They merely introduced the medicinal ingredients needed, some of their properties, and the matters requiring attention during refinement.

The formula was only a few thin pages, so many things were explained in great brevity. To rely on such a formula to completely refine Blood Qi Pills, one would have to fail at least dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of times before having the slightest chance of success.

And that was only if one had decent talent.

If someone was not cut out to eat this bowl of rice, even failing hundreds of times would likely not let them enter the door. Alchemy was actually just like martial arts—it depended greatly on one's talent.

Sometimes, if you could do it, you could do it. If you couldn't, you couldn't.

Alchemy: Blood Qi Pill (Not Initiated)

A new line of text appeared on the panel, and new simplification information flickered. A smile could not help appearing on Chen Fei's face, because simplifying the Blood Qi Pill required only one or two taels of silver.

Chen Fei had chosen the Blood Qi Pill as his first alchemical art precisely because this pill was basic enough. The more basic it was, the less silver simplification required. This was an insight Chen Fei had recently figured out.

And although the Blood Qi Pill was basic, its audience was by no means small.

Whether they were martial artists who had just come into contact with cultivation methods or Skin Tempering Realm martial artists like Chen Fei, the Blood Qi Pill had considerable effects. It could make one's qi and blood flourish, allowing them to cultivate martial techniques better and faster.

Even those in the next realm, the Muscle Tempering Realm, would buy Blood Qi Pills to take when they were strapped for cash. They still had some effect, though somewhat weaker.

Thus, if Chen Fei could refine Blood Qi Pills, he would not need to worry about selling them. After all, among martial artists, there were always more people at the bottom.

"Panel, simplify the Blood Qi Pill!"

"Simplifying Blood Qi Pill... Simplification successful... Blood Qi Pill → Fried Pig Liver!"

"..."

Chen Fei blinked, nearly thinking he had seen wrong. After simplification, the Blood Qi Pill had actually turned into a stir-fried dish—and Fried Pig Liver at that?

What inevitable connection was there between the two?

Both replenished blood, and both required fire?

Chen Fei could not quite understand the deeper meaning behind the panel's simplification, but changing from pill refinement to cooking instantly gave him much greater confidence. Most people knew how to cook; the only difference was in the taste.

As Chen Fei planned to go to the market tomorrow to buy some pig liver, rumors about him began circulating through the Medical Hall.

There was nothing particularly special about them. It was simply that Chen Fei had asked Zeng Defang for a Blood Qi Pill formula, and the matter spread, becoming the subject of many people's after-meal chatter.

Just two days ago, Chen Fei had clashed with Pu Liao and been regarded as a hotheaded fool. Now he had turned around and obtained a pill formula, dreaming of becoming an alchemist. Many people found it endlessly amusing.

It was not just the other guards mocking Chen Fei. Even the menial workers, upon hearing these two matters, felt that Chen Fei was ignorant of heaven and earth's thickness.

Those menial workers had already felt jealous and envious of Chen Fei, who had once been one of them but had now become a guard. With this new matter added to the mix, they were naturally happy to ridicule him.

"Instead of properly practicing martial arts, he dreams of becoming an alchemist. Is an alchemist something a mud-leg like him can even dream of becoming? He truly knows neither heaven nor earth."

At the wine table, Pu Liao tossed several peanuts into his mouth, his words filled with contempt for Chen Fei.

"Precisely because he used to be a mud-leg, he claws desperately upward now that he has an opportunity. What a pity—he doesn't know that sometimes, a mud-leg can only be a mud-leg for his entire life," his companion said with a laugh.

"I originally thought he might learn to behave, and it wasn't as if I couldn't have taken him under my wing. But he actually asked me directly for a manual. If we hadn't been inside the Medical Hall at the time, I would have wanted to slap him across the face." Pu Liao's voice was cold.

"Brother Pu truly has fine restraint. If it were any of us, we probably would have lost our tempers long ago!"

"Forget him. He's nothing but a joke."

Pu Liao waved a hand. "There will be plenty of ways to deal with him later. Does he really think the manual Pu Liao gave him was so easy to take?"

The Medical Hall's gossip had yet to reach Chen Fei's ears. At that moment, he was in an abandoned courtyard, building a fire and frying pig liver.

The pig liver was very fresh, bought from the market just moments ago. After frying it, Chen Fei planned to eat it himself. After all, it still counted as meat.

After becoming a Medical Hall guard, the meals provided by the Medical Hall had improved greatly. There were bits of minced meat in every meal, and every few days there would be a proper serving of meat.

But for martial artists—especially martial artists as strapped for cash as Chen Fei—not even the slightest bit of meat could be wasted.

Before long, a hint of meaty fragrance drifted from the wok. In his previous life, Chen Fei had known how to cook. Though he could only make a few home-style dishes, handling Fried Pig Liver was naturally no challenge.

Stir-fry, remove from the wok, plate it.

The steaming Fried Pig Liver was completed just like that. Chen Fei turned his gaze to the panel.

Alchemy: Blood Qi Pill (Initiated 1/100)