The rattan blood sugar melted into syrup.
Chen Xian poured the Lingzhi powder into the syrup and stirred.
Ever since the medicinal hawthorn skewers had been a runaway hit last time, he had understood exactly where his skewers belonged.
They had to "go downmarket" and break into the lower-end market.
Pills commonly used by cultivators, such as Qi Induction Pills, Realm-Breaking Pills, and even Blood Vitality Pills, were in fact unsuitable for most ordinary people and low-level rogue cultivators.
But ordinary people had just as much need to nourish their qi and blood, strengthen their virility, and refresh their spirits.
Here was the problem: if an ordinary person took a cultivator's pill, it either had no effect or was too potent. At best, they would become seriously ill or disabled; at worst, their bodies would explode.
Alchemists, meanwhile, disdained making pills for ordinary people.
If Jian Shan were asked to make Six-Flavor Rehmannia Pills, for example, he would only think it dirtied his hands and insulted his pill furnace.
So Chen Xian's plan was to make Blood Sugar Hawthorn Skewers with the same effects as pills, but suitable for both cultivators and ordinary people, so anyone could eat them as a snack.
That was why, on his way back from Sect Master Peak yesterday, he had gone out of his way to stop by Pill Peak and ask for a Blood Vitality Pill recipe.
You could tell from the name alone that Blood Vitality Pills were the cheapest pills around. They barely deserved to be called pills at all!
Qi Induction Pills were first-grade pills. Blood Vitality Pills were first-grade too, but in terms of their effects, they were half a grade at best.
If they couldn't help cultivators recover from their injuries faster, they probably would have been kicked out of the graded pill ranks altogether.
Since they were low-grade, that meant their effects could "go downmarket"!
Following the recipe he had memorized, Chen Xian ground one spiritual herb and Lingzhi after another into powder, then poured them into the syrup.
"What is Granduncle doing?"
Watching Chen Xian, Jian Shan, a third-grade Pill Master, twitched at the corners of his mouth.
Who made medicine like this?
Alchemists used spiritual fire and a pill furnace to slowly extract the medicinal liquid from their ingredients, keeping only the essence to refine into pills.
Granduncle was treating the ingredients like seasonings in a dish. His technique was far too crude!
But then his gaze fell on the iron pot, and suddenly it all seemed reasonable. Granduncle was using a pot, not a pill furnace. Of course he was cooking!
"Blood Lingzhi, Qi-Nourishing Grass, Blood-Coagulating Vine... Isn't this the recipe for Blood Vitality Pills?"
Since he had stood nearby for so long without being shooed away, Jian Shan had grown bolder. He took the initiative and struck up a conversation with Chen Xian.
"Yeah, it's Blood Vitality Pills, all right."
Chen Xian smiled without denying it. He didn't mind Jian Shan figuring out what he had added to the recipe.
"Could it be that those hawthorn skewers are just Blood Vitality Pills threaded onto sticks and sold?"
Jian Shan's heart stirred, but when he saw the iron pot, he dismissed the idea.
Alchemists used furnaces, not pots. Whether a pill could even be made in one was another matter.
Besides, there was no way this method of grinding ingredients into powder and haphazardly mixing them together could produce a pill!
He was certain of it!
Chen Xian paid no attention to his little schemes. He focused on adding the last bit of powdered ingredient to the pot.
The syrup, now mixed with all kinds of ingredients, had begun to bubble. He couldn't stir it anymore, or the sugar coating would turn grainy.
As the ingredients fully blended together, a sudden spark of inspiration stirred within Chen Xian.
[Masterful Pill Crafting] was taking effect. That mysterious, ineffable feeling had arrived!
The proportions were perfect, the heat was perfect. In at most thirty breaths, this batch of Blood Vitality Pill–style Blood Sugar syrup would be done!
"Something's not right. Why can I actually smell Blood Vitality Pills?"
Jian Shan suddenly sniffed at the rising steam, his eyes widening. That sweet, fishy scent, with a hint of bitterness and spice, was far too familiar!
It was exactly the same as Blood Vitality Pills!
"Could you really make pills in an iron pot?"
He would sooner believe his nose was broken than believe the thick syrup in front of him was Blood Vitality Pills.
"Done!" Chen Xian suddenly exclaimed, then quickly scattered a handful of white powder into the pot.
Jian Shan didn't have time to make out what ingredient it was.
More importantly, all the ingredients required for Blood Vitality Pills were already in the pot, so whatever Granduncle had added was extra!
"A secret recipe! Damn it, it's definitely a secret recipe!"
Jian Shan roared inwardly. Eyes wide, he stared at the white powder slowly disappearing into the pot, his mind racing, but he couldn't figure it out.
Jian Shan was dumbfounded. There were ingredients even he couldn't recognize, and he was a third-grade Pill Master?
Chen Xian glanced at his frozen face and curled his lips in smug satisfaction. The brat had wanted to steal his secrets. Luckily, he had prepared some Qi Induction Pill powder in advance.
With that, the upgraded Blood Vitality syrup was finished.
Chen Xian brought out the various fruits he had bought from the Dining Hall and set them in front of Jian Shan. "Since you've got nothing to do, pit eight hawthorns and thread them onto each skewer. Hull five strawberries per skewer. I'll leave it to you."
"Huh? What about Junior Brother Duan?"
Jian Shan gaped, turning to look at Duan Cui.
To his surprise, Duan Cui was sweeping fallen leaves in the courtyard with a broom. When he saw the two of them looking his way, he grinned warmly.
Jian Shan: "..."
stroking his beard, Chen Xian watched Duan Cui with a smile. "That kid's dependable. More honest than Jian Shan, too."
Half an hour later, Chen Xian looked at the neatly arranged hawthorn skewers on the stone slab and nodded in satisfaction.
He had made a full one hundred and eighty this time. If he sold them all with the buy-five-get-one-free deal, he'd make at least 1,400 Contribution Points after costs.
Even after giving Jian Shan and Duan Cui forty percent of the profit, he'd still take home more than eight hundred.
Life was getting richer by the day!
Chen Xian beckoned to Duan Cui, who quickly set aside the broom and jogged over.
"The skewers are all done. I'll leave the selling to you two. We'll stick to our agreement and split the profits sixty-forty. This old man won't short you by a single coin."
As he spoke, he picked up two skewers and put one in each of their hands. "Try them. These are even better than last time. I improved the recipe."
"Thank you, Granduncle!" x2
Jian Shan carefully examined the hawthorn skewer, its sugar coating somewhat mottled, then bit hard into the topmost hawthorn.
The first taste was sweet and sour—the natural flavor of hawthorn.
But as the sugar coating cracked and melted, an incredibly pure force of qi and blood flowed down his throat, then began nourishing his five viscera and six bowels, and even his dantian.
That wasn't all. A cool energy slipped into his sea of consciousness, lifting his spirits. Even the Dao Consciousness he had expended over the past few days while refining pills was slowly recovering!
More astonishingly, the two forces had no side effects at all. The medicinal properties had blended together perfectly.
That meant even ordinary people could eat them, without any need to worry about the medicinal effects harming their bodies.
"This... This...! Is this really a snack? These are absolutely Blood Vitality Pills—and perfect-quality ones that even ordinary people can take!"
Jian Shan was stunned, completely at a loss for words.
Grinding medicinal ingredients into powder and tossing them into an iron pot had actually produced a batch of perfect first-grade pills. Surely no alchemist would believe it if he heard that!
"Granduncle truly is incredible. Once these hit the market, people will fight over them."
Duan Cui had eaten a strawberry skewer. Feeling the nourishing power slowly taking effect within him, he too voiced his sincere admiration.
"Could Granduncle have an extraordinary talent for alchemy?"
Jian Shan stole a glance at the white-haired, white-bearded Granduncle beside him, guessing silently.