Chapter Six: Mud Leg

The next day, after Chen Fei finished his guard duty, he went to find the Medical Hall's Alchemist.

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

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

After thinking about it for the entire previous day, Chen Fei had ultimately decided to try the Pill Refining Art. After all, that had been one of his original reasons for staying at the Medical Hall. As for medicine, it was a complete system, and Chen Fei did not know whether the Panel could simplify it.

Even if it could, the cost would probably be astronomical. Chen Fei was still short of money.

Thus, the Pill Refining Art was 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 pills of a higher level, forming a virtuous cycle.

"You're a Guard of the Medical Hall. Giving you a Qi Blood Pill Recipe isn't a problem."

Zeng Defang nodded and said, "But it's only the most common Qi Blood Pill Recipe. It doesn't include any of the Medical Hall's unique techniques. And if you want to fire up the furnace and refine pills, you'll have to buy the Herbs yourself. The Medical Hall won't provide them for free."

"I understand."

Chen Fei nodded. Before he proved that he possessed the ability to refine pills, the Medical Hall naturally would not provide Herbs for nothing. Even after he proved that he could refine pills, they would still have to see the quality of the finished pills. 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 rose and rummaged through the cabinet behind him for a while before taking out a small booklet and handing it to Chen Fei.

"Thank you, Old Zeng!" Chen Fei cupped his fist in gratitude.

"It's nothing."

Zeng Defang waved his hand and stopped paying attention to Chen Fei. Chen Fei took the hint and quietly left the pharmacy.

Zeng Defang watched Chen Fei's back and shook his head slightly. He had seen many people like Chen Fei who wanted to learn alchemy and acquire a skill, but those who could truly enter the field and refine pills that satisfied others were few and far between.

In Zeng Defang's view, Chen Fei should also be one of those mediocre, unaccomplished people.

Chen Fei returned to his room and carefully studied the Pill Recipe in his hands.

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

The contents recorded in the Pill Recipe were not complicated. They merely introduced the Herbs needed for refinement, some of their medicinal properties, and the matters requiring attention during the process.

The Pill Recipe was only a few thin pages, so many things were explained very briefly. To rely on such a Pill Recipe to completely refine a Qi Blood Pill, one would have to fail dozens, or even hundreds, of times before having the slightest chance.

And that was assuming one had decent talent.

If one was unsuited for this line of work, then even after failing hundreds of times, one might still be unable to enter the field. After all, refining pills was actually much like practicing martial arts, especially when it came to a person's talent.

Sometimes, if you had it, you had it. If you didn't, you didn't.

Pill Refining Art: Qi Blood Pill (Not Initiated)

New words appeared on the Panel, while new Simplification information flashed as well. A trace of a smile appeared on Chen Fei's face, because simplifying the Qi Blood Pill only required one tael of silver.

Chen Fei had chosen the Qi Blood Pill as his first Pill Refining Art because he valued how foundational this pill was. The more foundational something was, the fewer Silver Taels were needed to simplify it. This was experience Chen Fei had recently gathered through trial and error.

Although the Qi Blood Pill was basic, it had no shortage of customers.

Whether they were martial artists who had just begun learning cultivation methods or people in the Skin Refining Realm like Chen Fei, the Qi Blood Pill had a respectable effect. It could invigorate their qi and blood, allowing them to practice martial arts and cultivation methods better and faster.

Even those in the next realm, the Flesh Refining Realm, would buy Qi Blood Pills to take when their finances were tight. The effect was still there, though it was somewhat weaker.

Thus, if Chen Fei could refine Qi Blood Pills, he would have no trouble selling them. After all, among martial artists, there would always be more people at the bottom.

"Panel, simplify the Qi Blood Pill!"

"Qi Blood Pill simplifying... Simplification successful... Qi Blood Pill → Stir-fried Pig Liver!"

"..."

Chen Fei blinked, almost thinking he had seen it wrong. After the Qi Blood Pill was simplified, it had actually turned into a stir-fried dish—and Stir-fried Pig Liver, at that?

What inevitable connection was there between the two?

They both replenished the blood, and both required the use of fire?

Chen Fei could not quite understand the essence of the Panel's simplification, but when refining pills turned into cooking, his confidence immediately soared. Anyone could generally cook a dish. At most, the difference lay in the flavor.

Chen Fei was planning to go to the market the next day to buy some pig liver when rumors about him began circulating through the Medical Hall.

There was nothing special about them. It was simply that word had spread that Chen Fei had asked Zeng Defang for a Qi Blood Pill Recipe, and it had become a topic of conversation for many people during their idle hours.

Only two days earlier, Chen Fei had clashed with Pu Liao and been treated as a hotheaded fool. Now he had turned around and gone to get a Pill Recipe, foolishly dreaming of becoming an Alchemist. Many people found it enormously amusing.

It was not only the other Guards who mocked Chen Fei. Even the Handymen felt that Chen Fei did not know the height of the heavens or the depth of the earth when they heard about the two matters.

The Handymen had already been envious and jealous of Chen Fei, who had once been a Handyman like them but had now become a Guard. With this added incident, they were naturally happy to mock him.

"Instead of properly practicing martial arts, he still dreams of becoming an Alchemist. Does he, a Mud Leg, really think he can become an Alchemist? He truly has no idea what he's talking about."

At the drinking table, Pu Liao tossed several peanuts into his mouth, his words filled with utter disdain for Chen Fei.

"He was a Mud Leg before, so now that he has an opportunity, he's scrambling to climb upward. What a pity—he doesn't know that a Mud Leg can sometimes only remain a Mud Leg for his entire life," his companion said with a laugh.

"Originally, I thought he might be sensible enough, and I wouldn't have minded taking him under my wing. But he actually asked me directly for a Secret Manual. If we hadn't been inside the Medical Hall at the time, I would have slapped him across the face." Pu Liao's voice turned cold.

"Brother Pu certainly has good restraint. If it had been any of us, we probably wouldn't have been able to hold back!"

"Forget about him. He's nothing but a laughingstock."

Pu Liao waved his hand and said, "There will be plenty of ways to deal with him in the future. Does he really think the Secret Manual I, Pu Liao, gave him was so easy to accept?"

The rumors within the Medical Hall had yet to reach Chen Fei's ears. At that moment, he was in an abandoned courtyard, starting a fire and stir-frying pig liver.

The pig liver was very fresh, having just been bought at the market. After stir-frying it, Chen Fei planned to eat it himself. After all, it counted as meat.

After becoming a Guard of the Medical Hall, the food provided by the Medical Hall had improved considerably. There was some minced meat at every meal, and every few days there was even a larger portion of meat.

But for a martial artist—especially an extremely impoverished martial artist like Chen Fei—not a scrap of meat could be wasted.

Before long, a faint meaty fragrance wafted from the pot. In his previous life, Chen Fei had actually known how to cook. Although he could only make simple home-style dishes, handling Stir-fried Pig Liver was naturally no problem.

Stir-frying, taking it out of the wok, plating it.

The steaming Stir-fried Pig Liver was completed just like that. Chen Fei looked toward the Panel.

Pill Refining Art: Qi Blood Pill (Initiated 1/100)