Saint Maiden

According to the study of pills, a pill was the essence of Spiritual Essence.

If all Spirit Herbs were used, then once the Five Elements were balanced, the refining could begin directly. Pills made this way had the highest purity, almost no impurities, and the best effects. But Spirit Herbs were hard to come by, and using them to refine low-grade pills was simply wasteful. So there was an alternative method: using the spirituality of other Living Beings to make up for the herbs' shortcomings.

The longhorn beetles and ladybugs Chen Xuan had casually caught were meant to supplement the spiritual properties.

Pill refinement required an Alchemy Furnace capable of enduring extreme heat. The store had Pressure Cookers.

GOOGLE searched TWKAN

Pill refinement required a flame with adjustable temperature. The store had a Gas Stove, one with twelve precise heat settings.

"Since the equipment meets all the requirements, it's time for the practical part."

He rolled up his sleeves and, following the Five Elements neutralization method described in the study of pills, divided the eight herbs into two batches. After soaking and washing them, he put them into two Pressure Cookers. Once that was done, he poured the live insects inside as well, then sealed the lids, lit the fire, and began refining. When the flames burned fiercely, he activated the Heart Calming Incantation and guided the spiritual properties inside the cookers to gather.

The process was rather marvelous... If the final step were omitted, it would be no different from Dark Cuisine. What came out would most likely be Wild Grass Stewed Insects. But with the guidance of Spiritual Energy, subtle changes began to occur. Chen Xuan found it hard to describe exactly what was happening inside the pots. Yet he could vaguely sense the various ingredients soaking into one another, merging together, and ultimately becoming a seamless whole.

It was clearly his first time refining pills, yet it felt as though he had done it countless times before.

Everything proceeded as naturally as water flowing into a channel.

Through the blue flames, he seemed to see the figure of a girl. She sat cross-legged before an Alchemy Furnace, repeating the pill-refining process over and over, while piles of failed pills surrounded her. Above the furnace, the sky shifted from hazy dawn to golden dusk, from lush green growth to snow-covered white.

"Screech! Screech! Screech!"

The Pressure Cooker's valve screamed.

The time had come!

Chen Xuan rose unhurriedly, released the pressure, and opened the lid in one smooth motion. The instant the lid came off, a sharp medicinal fragrance burst out with the steam. Once the vapor dispersed, only a little residue and seven or eight brown pills the size of marbles remained at the bottom.

The pills refined in the left cooker were Sweet Jade Clear Pills. They were useful for dispelling cold and clearing the lungs—in modern terms, they treated respiratory illnesses.

The ones in the right cooker were called Blood Oranges. They shared a name with the fruit, but could disperse blood stasis and stop bleeding, making them quite effective against external injuries.

Both types were entry-level pills. They did not demand much from the ingredients and were relatively easy to refine, the sort of medicine every Cultivator would carry several of in his pocket. Even so, the requirement that only those who cultivated could make them greatly limited their availability. They could still fetch a considerable price among ordinary people.

That was true in Liu Shuyue's world, and it was true here as well.

Chen Xuan took out the pills and examined them carefully in his palm. Their surfaces were moist and glossy, their shapes smooth, as though they had been polished by the passage of time. Logically, he should test their effects next, but he had a faint confidence that these finished pills were all of excellent quality and could fully achieve the effects described in the study of pills.

Just then, a burst of chaotic footsteps interrupted Chen Xuan's inspection.

Customers had arrived.

"Welcome..."

He looked up, and the smile that had only just begun to form froze on his face.

Because it was not one person who entered the store, but four!

And that was not even the most troublesome part.

The troublesome part was that every one of them wore full metal armor, looking like ancient knights who had stepped out of a museum. The surcoats and cloaks covering their armor were dusty, with dark red bloodstains faintly visible in patches. As for the spears and short swords in their hands, there was no need to mention them—their blood grooves were full of fresh blood, which continuously dripped from the tips onto the floor.

I just mopped this floor yesterday!

These newcomers were clearly not good people.

If Liu Shuyue's killing intent had been restrained, then these four strangers made no effort whatsoever to conceal theirs. Through the gaps in their helmets, Chen Xuan seemed to see the ferocity in their eyes. It felt as though they would draw their swords and cut someone down the moment a word displeased them.

There was no doubt that these four were not here to buy cigarettes.

Chen Xuan was not too worried about his safety. Since they had not come to browse the general store, that meant they were special customers.

The four of them were also somewhat uncertain. They looked around in every direction, apparently astonished by how unusual the shop was.

After several seconds of this stalemate, Chen Xuan decided to break the awkward silence himself and take control of the situation... After all, Shopkeeper's Rules said that one should "warmly receive every customer."

"Hello, what can I help you?"

That one question contained more than twenty years of his English proficiency.

His reason for speaking English was simple. Full plate armor had never been popular in China, so asking in Chinese would probably have been pointless. Had they not shown no reaction at all to his earlier welcome?

To Be the Store Manager, one had to adapt to circumstances.

"Dammit, he's an Englishman!"

"Watch out for an ambush!"

To his surprise, they instantly reacted as if facing a great enemy. The weapons they had barely been holding back were raised with a swish, aimed at Chen Xuan from several angles!

But what Chen Xuan found even more unbearable was that these people were speaking fluent Chinese—complete with a Sichuan accent!

Are you all blind?

I'm a proud Descendant of Yan and Huang. How do I look anything like a foreign devil?

Besides, since you're wearing Western armor, shouldn't you be speaking a foreign language? After all this back and forth, I'm the foreigner now?

"Stop!" The person standing at the front suddenly raised his right hand.

The voice was not loud, but the command was obeyed immediately. The three armored warriors beside him halted at once and did not continue advancing toward the counter.

Only then did Chen Xuan notice that the leader was actually the shortest of the four.

"He has yet to defend himself. I would like to hear his explanation before making a judgment," the other party said again. "Are you an English spy?"

Though Chen Xuan dearly wanted to curse them out, he could not say it that way. They were customers, after all. "You must be joking. Of course I'm not."

This time, he smoothly switched to his native tongue.

"Hm... Then this must be a misunderstanding. Put away your weapons." The leader waved a hand, then apologized to Chen Xuan. "My apologies for frightening you. We are being pursued by enemies, so we have no choice but to act cautiously."

You believed me that easily?

That has nothing to do with being cautious!

What surprised him even more was that the others did not object either. They simply accepted their leader's judgment.

"Aren't you afraid I'm lying?" Chen Xuan could not help asking curiously.

"The Lord God told me that you were not deceiving me." The other party then removed her helmet, revealing her true appearance. She was actually a young woman with dazzling short blond hair. Her emerald eyes resembled uncut gemstones, their brilliance contained within, though heavy exhaustion had veiled that light in gray. Her voice was somewhat hoarse and neutral in pitch, which was why it had been difficult to determine her gender while she wore the helmet.

She spoke with great confidence, as though she firmly believed in that reason. Nor was she alone—the other three seemed long accustomed to such an answer.

"Then what country are you from?" Chen Xuan had wanted to ask why they spoke Chinese too, but he soon realized that was not the case. The shapes their mouths made did not match the sounds he heard, as though he were watching a dubbed film. Their ability to communicate normally had nothing to do with speaking the same language. Rather, some power had altered their perceptions of speech and hearing.

After a little thought, this was probably another effect of the legendary ability. If the shopkeeper could not even communicate with customers, how could he deal with guests from all kinds of places?

"We are, of course, Frenchmen." The answer came quickly, with undisguised pride in her tone.

Frenchmen... No wonder they reacted so badly to English. Were they not natural enemies?

"I see. My name is Chen Xuan, and I'm the shopkeeper here. May I ask your name..."

"Jeanne d'Arc," the girl replied calmly.

Oh? That sounded familiar.

Chen Xuan casually searched the name on the computer and found that it had another translation.

One far more widely known and famous—

"...Joan of Arc?"

"Yes. Is there anything strange about that name?" she asked, puzzled.

To her, he had probably only repeated the name in another form.

But to Chen Xuan, the name Joan of Arc carried far greater significance! Even with the influence of Broadly Read Through the Ages, he only knew that she was a legendary hero who had saved France in its time of crisis. He could no longer remember the details of her deeds clearly, but such a small issue could not stump him. He could simply look up her biography later and understand everything.

Joan of Arc did not pay attention to his odd reaction. Instead, she continued pleading, "Though I do not understand why you opened a shop in a place like this, we urgently need help. Hot water, soft cloths, bandages, strong liquor... If you can provide these things, I guarantee in the name of the Saint Maiden that you will receive suitable compensation in the future."

"Someone among you is injured?"

She nodded.

"Let me see."

"You... know medicine?"

"Yes." Chen Xuan answered without hesitation. "I am especially skilled with external injuries."

Of course he did not know medicine, but what did that matter? Did he not happen to have several freshly refined pills in his hands? Joan of Arc's active years had basically been spent leading troops into battle against England. The injuries suffered by her subordinates were surely sword and spear wounds, which made them perfect for testing the effects of the Blood Orange.

"That's wonderful!" Joan of Arc exchanged delighted looks with her subordinates, then turned around. "Please follow me."

The moment he stepped outside, Chen Xuan was slightly startled.

Moving torches were everywhere outside the shop. In the darkness of night, the frantic figures of people and horses moved in and out of view. He roughly counted the ones nearby, and there were at least a hundred people.

Could this ridiculous shop door have directly teleported to the battlefield between England and France?

Even if it was trying to attract customers, it could not be this absurd!

He also noticed that most of the soldiers were filthy and exhausted. Their gazes toward Joan of Arc were filled with anxiety and unease, which surprised Chen Xuan somewhat.

He vaguely remembered that Joan of Arc was famous precisely because she had been invincible on the battlefield, charging from victory to victory and winning wherever she went, having suffered almost no defeats.

Yet the army before him did not look at all like one that had always emerged victorious.