Blood-Qi Pill Recipe

Only now did Jiang Feng truly catch Song Huai's eye.

Song Huai turned and pulled a crumpled sheet of paper from a nearby shelf, casually handing it to Jiang Feng. His tone remained as cold and hard as ever:

"This is the most basic Blood-Qi Pill recipe. Memorize every material, every quantity, and every step on it without missing a single word.

"Before I start the furnace, you will have all the materials ready. During the refining process, whenever I need something, you will hand it over at once.

"This will be your work here from now on. Do you understand?"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over Jiang Feng with unquestionable severity:

"If you have questions, ask them now. Once the pill refining begins, I do not want to hear a single sound in this room besides my own."

Jiang Feng accepted the pill recipe with both hands, his heart surging beyond control, his eyes brimming with undisguised excitement.

He had never imagined that on his very first day in the Alchemy Hall, he would get his hands on the recipe for Blood-Qi Pills. What he lacked most in order to improve his strength right now was Blood-Qi Pills. If he could learn how to refine them, would that not mean he could achieve Blood-Qi Pill freedom directly?

He could not help recalling the lovely figure who had shared a night of spring passion with him not long ago. She seemed to be in urgent need of Blood-Qi Pills as well. If he truly managed to refine this pill, then might his Bedchamber Arts have a chance to advance once more?

Naturally, Song Huai had no idea about Jiang Feng's little schemes. Nor did he care what a servant was thinking. As long as the servant was useful, that was enough.

The reason he handed over the recipe without any guard at all was because he knew that this recipe alone was utterly incapable of producing Blood-Qi Pills.

The recipe listed only the materials and rough steps. It did not record any specific refining techniques whatsoever.

To become a true Alchemist, one needed more than recipes and medicinal ingredients. What truly mattered were the experience and knowledge accumulated over countless years. That was the foundation upon which an Alchemist made a living.

But how could he have known that Jiang Feng was not merely someone with a good memory? This kid was a genuine cheat.

For the entire day that followed, Jiang Feng remained in the Alchemy Room, never leaving Song Huai's side for even a step.

While briskly assisting him, he focused all his attention on observing every one of Song Huai's pill-refining techniques.

There were many techniques he could not understand at first glance, but he could memorize them by rote. Useful or useless, intentional or unintentional, he swallowed them all whole and crammed every last bit into his mind.

If he could not remember it after one time, then twice. If twice was not enough, then three times.

Since he had no talent, then he would repeat it again and again!

In the blink of an eye, the sky gradually darkened. The sun slowly sank behind the western hills, and lamps lit up one after another, casting the entire Medicine Hall beneath a hazy yellow glow.

The second round of personnel screening had already ended. Compared to the last time, the result was still no different. They had found nothing.

Though several suspects had been identified, no substantive evidence could be found on any of them.

Xue Zhao and Fan Qingyang gathered with several lackeys in a small courtyard, drinking wine, eating meat, and enjoying dinner.

With Second Young Master Wu Han back in charge of Benevolent Heart Medicine Hall, the status of the two lackeys naturally rose with the tide, returning to what it had been before.

Moreover, they had been ordered to conduct an internal investigation, giving them greater authority than usual. They could even command some of the Medicine Hall guards. Although the case had made no real progress, that did not stop them from feeling smug.

After three rounds of wine and five flavors of dishes, the atmosphere in the courtyard grew increasingly lively.

With one half of his still-swollen face puffed high, Fan Qingyang sidled up to Xue Zhao with a shameless grin, as though nothing had happened before and the injury on his face had nothing to do with Xue Zhao.

"Steward Xue, I just heard something from the apprentices. I think I ought to tell you."

Xue Zhao raised a brow and tipped back his cup, draining the wine in one gulp. "What is it?"

"It's... that Jiang Feng. He was transferred to the Alchemy Hall today."

Xue Zhao's eyes flew wide open, his face full of disbelief:

"What? He has not even reached the second level of the Blood-Moving Realm. What right does he have to enter the Alchemy Hall? Who arranged it? I'll go find him right now!"

No matter what, he could not allow Jiang Feng to live a good life.

Wu Han's order was hanging over his head. If Jiang Feng truly gained a foothold in the Alchemy Hall, what would Wu Han think of him? Would he still be able to enjoy such comfortable days?

Seeing that he was about to charge off, Fan Qingyang hurriedly stopped him with a smile.

"Steward Xue, calm down, calm down. Rest assured, Jiang Feng will not have an easy time in the Alchemy Hall either. The person he is following is Alchemist Song—Song Huai."

At the mention of that name, Xue Zhao's tightly furrowed brow immediately relaxed. He roughly understood what was going on.

"So no one wanted the job, and it was forcibly dumped on his head?"

"Exactly! That's exactly it!"

Fan Qingyang nodded eagerly, the two lumps of fat on his face trembling along with the motion. "From what I know of Alchemist Song, in three days at most, Jiang Feng will be driven out with his tail between his legs."

Xue Zhao nodded in deep agreement, but before long, his brow creased again.

"But our own days are not easy either. Second Young Master seems to have developed some problem with his body, and his temper has become terribly violent.

"For now, we are living fairly well, but if we keep failing to catch that sneak attacker, then once Second Young Master erupts, we may be the ones he uses as punching bags."

The moment those words were spoken, the courtyard's formerly warm atmosphere turned cold in an instant.

They knew perfectly well what they were. Put nicely, they were Wu Han's loyal subordinates. Put bluntly, they were just a pack of dogs raised by Wu Han.

Once they lost their usefulness to Wu Han, being kicked aside would be the least of their worries.

Fan Qingyang lowered his head and pondered for a long while. Then his eyes suddenly lit up, and he leaned forward. "Steward Xue, I do have an idea. I'm just not sure whether I should say it."

Xue Zhao shot him a sidelong glance, looking at that large, swollen, gleaming face.

"What, you want to find a scapegoat and force a confession through torture?

"Hmph. Do you think I have not considered that? Young Master Wu Han wants the item, not a person."

Fan Qingyang gave a heh-heh laugh and shook his head.

"Of course I understand that. What I mean is, we actually have a more reliable method. We just need to find a way to shift this blame elsewhere."

Xue Zhao froze, not understanding. Fan Qingyang lowered his voice and continued.

"If we arrest someone inside the Medicine Hall, we need both the culprit and the evidence. But once we are outside the Medicine Hall, there is no such requirement.

"We can simply find someone at random, disguise him as that thief, then have a few brothers serve as witnesses and put on a show of 'fleeing out of fear of punishment, only to be accidentally killed.'

"After we return, the few of us can compare our testimonies and make sure our stories match. Even if Young Master Wu Han does not believe us, he will have no choice but to."

"Hiss—"

Xue Zhao sucked in a cold breath, his eyes slowly narrowing. He felt that this idea truly had some merit.

Most importantly, he could remain completely uninvolved from beginning to end, without getting even the slightest stain on himself.

He stared at Fan Qingyang and asked in a low voice, "What excuse do we use to leave?"

Without even thinking, Fan Qingyang blurted out, "The end of the month is coming. By the old rules, we need to send people outside town to collect medicinal ingredients. This is a heaven-sent opportunity."

Xue Zhao asked again, "Then who will play this 'thief'?"

This "thief" was naturally the unlucky person who would be put to death. The two exchanged glances, then spoke the same name in unison.

"Jiang Feng."