Anshi Hall

Near Jiangcheng Third High School, at a window seat on the second floor of a restaurant.

Several middle-aged men were sitting there, drinking and chatting.

A fragrant roasted lamb leg sat on the table, but none of them touched their chopsticks. They merely kept raising and exchanging cups.

Knock, knock, knock!

Someone knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

A short young man in coarse cloth hurried in anxiously.

"Boss, just now, Luo Xiuwu and Jiang Fan..."

He had only gotten halfway through before realizing there were other people in the room. He hurriedly moved to lean close to the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man waved his hand.

"No need. Say it directly!"

"Everyone here is one of us!"

The young man hesitated before saying,

"Just now, Luo Xiuwu found Jiang Fan at the entrance of Jiangcheng Third High School. The two ate at the bun shop by the gate, and then Jiang Fan..."

The middle-aged man frowned.

"Get to the point!"

The young man hurriedly gave the conclusion.

"Luo Xiuwu should have reached an agreement with Jiang Fan. I suspect Luo Xiuwu has already recruited Jiang Fan into Fifth High School!"

The middle-aged man nodded and waved his hand.

"Fine, I understand. You can leave first!"

After the young man left, the middle-aged man turned back with a smile.

"Luo Xiuwu took the bait!"

At once, everyone in the room burst into laughter.

Jiang Fan left Jiangcheng Fifth High School and turned toward a certain direction.

More than ten minutes later, he stood before a pharmacy.

Anshi Hall, one of Jiang City's three major chain pharmacies.

Aside from selling all kinds of medicinal supplements for Martial Artists' cultivation, it also sold a wide array of Chinese medicinal herbs.

The Spirit Turtle Blood Replenishing Soup Jiang Fan had obtained from the space required Chinese medicinal herbs to brew. Such herbs were difficult to buy elsewhere, so he chose the nearest of the three major chain pharmacies.

Anshi Hall was enormous, spanning three floors.

Each floor served a different purpose, but ordinary medicine purchases were generally handled on the first floor.

When Jiang Fan entered, people streamed endlessly in and out of the first-floor hall.

"Those in the back, line up properly!"

"One at a time!"

At the counter on the left, a pharmacist dressed in white was directing the queue.

Jiang Fan looked around. The medicine shelves behind the counter were filled with a dazzling array of products.

The left section contained prepared blood-replenishing potions, the middle section held gene potions of different grades, and the right section sold everyday medicines for ordinary people.

He shook his head and looked elsewhere in the hall, but after searching for quite some time, he still found no place selling Chinese medicine.

Jiang Fan walked over to the service desk in the hall.

"Hello, where can I buy Chinese medicinal herbs?"

The receptionist was a pretty young woman. When she saw Jiang Fan, she gave him a professional smile.

"Hello. This way, please follow me!"

Jiang Fan followed behind her, winding through several turns before finally arriving at a narrow counter.

The space behind this counter was tiny. In that limited space sat an old man who was dozing off.

His hair was gray and white, and his skin was withered like dried bark.

Jiang Fan could clearly see a puddle of drool on the wooden counter before the old man.

The receptionist smiled at Jiang Fan.

"This is the place!"

"Purchases of Chinese medicinal herbs generally go through this door!"

Following her gaze, Jiang Fan discovered that there was a tiny side door beside the Chinese medicine counter.

At once, Jiang Fan understood.

In this world, medical technology was advanced. Aside from the medicinal supplements Martial Artists needed to replenish their blood and vitality, even the medicines ordinary people required for everyday illnesses could be treated with remedies formulated from various refined extracts.

Thus, things like Chinese medicinal herbs had long since fallen into neglect!

Only major pharmacies such as Anshi Hall retained this line of business in order to preserve the tradition.

Jiang Fan and the receptionist's arrival seemed to wake the old man.

He rubbed his eyes and stretched lazily.

"Old Xu, there's a customer!"

The receptionist reminded him. After nodding to Jiang Fan, she left.

Old Xu glanced at Jiang Fan and asked through a yawn,

"What medicine are you buying?"

Very few people came here. The occasional visitors were all poor people.

These poor people could not afford technological potions or medical treatment, so they chose to try folk remedies and ancient prescriptions.

Old Xu subconsciously categorized Jiang Fan as one of them.

Jiang Fan handed over the slip of paper in his hand.

"Do you have these herbs?"

"Also, if you have equipment for brewing medicine, I'd like to buy a set."

Old Xu accepted it and lazily scanned it a few times.

When he saw precious herbs such as wild ginseng listed on it, he looked at Jiang Fan in surprise.

"These herbs aren't cheap!"

Jiang Fan nodded indifferently.

"As long as you have them."

"Help me calculate how much each batch on this list costs."

Seeing how calm Jiang Fan was, clearly looking like someone who did not lack money, Old Xu's eyes lit up and he immediately perked up.

"Wait for me!"

With that, he found a calculator at his side and began rapidly pressing its buttons, completely shedding his earlier lazy demeanor.

"One batch costs 5,266 Blue Star Coins!"

"If you want them, I'll round it down for you. Five thousand Star Coins per batch!"

Jiang Fan inwardly relaxed.

The herbs were far cheaper than he had imagined.

He had inherited Qing Yue's knowledge of pharmacology and knew that quite a few of these herbs were precious. He had originally estimated that his one hundred thousand Blue Star Coins might not even buy many batches, but now it seemed things were better than expected.

Jiang Fan looked at the dilapidated counter and immediately understood.

It seemed this world's advanced medical technology had instead given him plenty of opportunities!

"I want ten batches!"

Jiang Fan said calmly.

"Also, if you have brewing equipment, get me a set as well!"

At once, a sharp gleam burst from Old Xu's eyes.

"Good, good! I'll go get your medicine right away!"

After taking only a few steps, he stopped and looked back at Jiang Fan, his gaze becoming much gentler.

"Our pharmacy also provides a medicine-brewing service, and the equipment can be rented as well. If you need it..."

Jiang Fan was stunned.

"Oh?"

"How does that work?"

Seeing Jiang Fan's interest, Old Xu hurriedly came around the counter to his side.

"Come, come, let me explain it all to you!"

Medicine brewing, as the name implied, meant the pharmacy would brew the herbs purchased by the customer before handing the finished medicine over, for which it charged a certain fee.

Renting meant that the customer paid a deposit and could directly use the pharmacy's equipment to brew the medicine themselves. Naturally, there was also a fee.

Neither fee was particularly expensive, but both services were quite troublesome, so Old Xu generally did not recommend them to customers.

The reason he recommended them to Jiang Fan today was mainly because he had seen how generously Jiang Fan spent and wanted to keep him as a customer.

If Jiang Fan bought equipment and brewed medicine at home, there was no guarantee he would return here to buy herbs next time.

But if he rented the equipment here to brew medicine, then once he got used to using it, would he not have to come back here whenever he brewed medicine in the future?

Jiang Fan understood Old Xu's intentions, but he did not care much.

Because he happened to need exactly such an environment and equipment.

More than ten minutes later, Old Xu had prepared the herbs Jiang Fan bought. After thoughtfully explaining how to use the medicine-brewing room, he happily left the room.

Jiang Fan had just paid more than fifty thousand Blue Star Coins, enough for Old Xu to complete this month's sales target.

Business had been bleak for the past few months, grinding him down until he had become free of desires and demands.

This month, Jiang Fan, this major customer, had helped him complete his target. It was truly a surprise within a surprise!

After Old Xu left, Jiang Fan locked the door from the inside.

Then, according to their classifications, he laid all the herbs out on the floor.

After thinking for a while, he started the brewing equipment and began adding the ingredients bit by bit according to the steps in Qing Yue's inheritance!