"By the way, have any of you ever taken a medicinal bath? I've never tried one before, so I was wondering what it feels like."
Xiao Yexuan turned to the three girls and asked.
The three exchanged different looks. Clearly, they had all tried medicinal baths.
Ning Rongrong was the liveliest of the group. She immediately grabbed Xiao Yexuan's hand and said,
"A medicinal bath is made by boiling all kinds of herbs into a liquid."
"You use it to soak in a bath. It's very good for your body, but the medicinal smell can be hard to put up with."
As Ning Rongrong spoke, she pinched her nose, looking rather disgusted.
"Sometimes, when you soak in a medicinal bath, your body stings like it's being burned by fire..."
Zhu Zhuqing nodded and chimed in gravely.
Beside them, Xiao Wu seemed to remember something and quickly explained,
"I think medicinal baths are such a waste!"
"You put so many herbs in a huge pot and dissolve them all into the water."
"When you bathe, your body only absorbs a tiny fraction of them."
"Most of the good stuff either vanishes into the air or loses its nutrients while it's being boiled."
"Honestly, I think it'd be better to just eat the precious herbs instead of taking a medicinal bath!"
Xiao Wu had once been a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast who had taken human form, and she still had a Soul Beast's instincts deep in her bones. Whenever she saw an herb, she wanted to gobble it down.
Using a whole pot of herbs for a medicinal bath, then dumping them all out afterward, seemed like an outrageous waste to her.
"Xiao Wu, that's easier said than done. The medicinal power of those herbs is still too strong for our bodies."
"If we ate them directly, they'd have a harmful effect on us."
Ning Rongrong took medicinal baths regularly, and immediately argued back, reasoning her case.
Zhu Zhuqing nodded slightly, then added,
"I do think it's a bit of a waste."
"Back in the Star Luo Empire, some people have been researching how to make pills."
"They neutralize the medicinal properties of the herbs and use them in separate doses, so the herbs won't directly harm the body."
"But those pills are incredibly difficult to make. If you get it wrong, a whole pot of herbs goes to waste!"
"And the herbs and time it takes to develop a pill are both enormous investments."
"That's why even in the imperial capital of the Star Luo Empire, those pills are as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns."
After listening to the three women, Xiao Yexuan showed little surprise.
After all, on the Douluo Continent, people generally just ate herbs raw.
That went especially for the Immortal Herbs in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Such precious herbs ought to be carefully refined into pills, yet people simply chewed them up and swallowed them. What an outrageous waste.
If each Immortal Herb were refined alongside a variety of other herbs, the resulting effects would surely be a hundred times more powerful than eating it raw.
Since Xiao Yexuan had already steered the conversation in this direction, he nodded slightly and changed tack.
"Medicinal baths do waste some of the herbs' effects."
"It'd be great if we could develop better pills that put every herb to good use."
"I happen to know quite a lot about herbs, and I like tinkering with strange things."
"I think I could try refining these herbs and turning them all into pills."
"Then people on the Douluo Continent would have another way to improve their cultivation speed."
Xiao Yexuan looked completely serious, his eyes full of hope, as if he had already become a famous alchemy grandmaster whose name resounded across the continent.
If anyone else had stood before Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu and said they wanted to refine herbs into pills to benefit every Soul Master on the Douluo Continent, they would have laughed themselves silly.
Who could be so selfless?
And pills weren't exactly easy to make.
They didn't even have Soul Tools capable of precisely controlling temperature.
Fire-type Soul Masters spent most of their time devoted to cultivating their Martial Souls. Where would they find the time to use their Martial Soul's flames to refine pills?
As for everyone else, there was even less to say.
But the person standing before them was Xiao Yexuan.
Xiao Yexuan had a unique charm about him. No matter what he said, it seemed to come wrapped in a dazzling halo in other people's eyes.
When Ning Rongrong heard that Xiao Yexuan wanted to research pills, she sprang up from her chair.
She hurriedly grabbed his sleeve and said, her voice brimming with excitement,
"Master, you're... you're simply too great!"
"You'll surely have to spend a lot of your cultivation time researching pills."
"The importance of Soul Power to a Soul Master goes without saying, and time is money!"
"Master, your willingness to do this makes you a role model for all of us!"
"Master, you're making a contribution to every Soul Master on the Douluo Continent!"
"My Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect is the second-largest sect under heaven, with thousands of Soul Masters."
"On behalf of every Soul Master in our sect, I want to thank you, Master!"
"When you start refining pills, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect will supply you with every herb you need—and we'll do it for free!"
"Master, go ahead and refine as many pills as you like!"
Ning Rongrong was as lavish as ever, and her admiration for Xiao Yexuan knew no bounds.
She practically treated him as a living bodhisattva who saved people from suffering, or perhaps the sun hanging high in the heavens and shining upon the whole world.
In short, in her eyes, Xiao Yexuan was no different from a god.
Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu saw Ning Rongrong get in first and offer such generous support. Their feelings turned into a muddle.
Xiao Wu clenched her fists and spoke up, unwilling to be outdone.
"The herbs you can buy in the markets are all common junk."
"The real treasures are hidden deep in the Star Dou Forest!"
"The higher the grade of the herbs, the better the pills you can refine."
"Master, if you want to make top-tier pills, I happen to know a few good friends who often roam the Star Dou Forest."
"They have plenty of precious herbs, and they know of secret herb gardens guarded by powerful Soul Beasts."
"Master, once we split up later, I'll get in touch with them."
"It won't be long before they bring back loads and loads of precious herbs."
"Then you can use as much as you like. Don't feel bad about it."
"Master, you're making a contribution to all the Soul Masters in the world!"
"And I'll need pills to improve my strength, too!"
"I'm sure you won't let us down, Master. You'll definitely refine incredibly precious pills and help us all grow much stronger!"
Ning Rongrong had the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect behind her and enough wealth to buy countless rare herbs.
Xiao Wu had two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Forest and could find top-grade herbs that had grown for ages.
Together, the two of them offered crucial support for Xiao Yexuan's great alchemy undertaking.
Seeing this, Zhu Zhuqing grew as frantic as if her heart were on fire.
When it came to family wealth, she couldn't compare with Ning Rongrong; when it came to connections, she couldn't match Xiao Wu.
What she could offer was nowhere near as precious as what the other two had put forward.
Suddenly, she gritted her teeth as if she had made up her mind, then hurried forward and said,
"Master, someone needs to test the pills."
"When the time comes, I'm willing to be your little white mouse."
"Whatever you ask me to eat, I'll eat. I won't complain about a thing."
After hearing Zhu Zhuqing's words, Xiao Yexuan's eyes turned strange, and his thoughts couldn't help wandering in an odd direction.
So if I feed you what's down below, you'll eat that too, right?
Of course, I mean noodles.
Xiao Yexuan had already figured out what the three girls were thinking, and his heart was practically dancing with joy.
His idea of refining pills had been nothing more than a sudden inspiration, something he'd come up with on the spot.
He hadn't expected that offhand remark to win him so much support and praise.
But happy times were always short-lived.
The group chatted eagerly about how to become stronger and how to refine pills.
Time slipped quietly by before they even noticed.
Soon, it was time for Xiao Yexuan to go back and take a medicinal bath with Liu Erlong.
Before you continue