Little Apothecary

Two days later.

After many days, Long Xuan returned to this bustling market, his face covered once more.

He had come to gather materials for the Hundred Flower Pill, and while he was at it, buy an alchemy furnace to take back.

That was right. Old Long had spent ten years failing to complete the pill formula, yet Long Xuan had finished it in only two days. Just ask—was that infuriating or not?

Especially since he had spent most of that time researching the Divine Ice Flame Formula.

He could tell that the Divine Ice Flame Formula was another massive undertaking. Who knew how long he would have to grind away at it?

This was unlike a Gu Recipe. As an entomologist, he had a keen nose for which Spirit Insects were suited to fusion and could find certain patterns.

But he had no experience at all with Spirit Flame formulas. He had no clue which materials were suitable for refining flames and could find no patterns. He could only guess entirely by luck, which meant another round of sleepless grinding.

The moment the Hundred Flower Pill Formula was completed, he could not wait to try alchemy. He did not want to wait even one more day. After all, this concerned his cultivation speed, and cultivation speed always came first.

The materials for the Hundred Flower Pill were easy enough to gather. Every spirit flower planted in Old Long's Medicine Garden was a material for it.

Hundred Flower Pill, Hundred Flower Pill—naturally, all its ingredients were flowers. That was why Old Long's Medicine Garden was planted entirely with flowers.

This made gathering materials convenient for Long Xuan. Everything was readily available; the only things he needed to collect were the three newly added main ingredients.

Though the main ingredients were expensive, they were only the lowest-grade first-rank spirit medicines. They could absolutely be found in this market—as long as one had Spirit Stones, one could certainly trade for them.

The only troublesome thing was the alchemy furnace.

Alchemists were rare, so alchemy furnaces had naturally become scarce as well. They were by no means easy to acquire. He had come today purely to try his luck.

There were especially many people in the market today, and it was far livelier than usual. Perhaps someone really was selling an alchemy furnace.

"Little Apothecary? I'd say you've gone mad for Spirit Stones! You're even bringing out useless pills to sell? Tell me, what use could useless pills possibly have!"

"You even stole the useless pills Ancient Alchemist ruined and brought them out to sell. You really will steal anything!"

"Don't slander an innocent man out of thin air! How can this be called stealing? I merely took the things my master did not want. What is wrong with that?"

"Even if I don't take them, these things will be thrown away. Wouldn't that be a waste for nothing?"

"And who told you useless pills are useless? They can poison people to death. Can't they be used as poison?"

"Some people are born with strong poison resistance, and some even possess poison-immune constitutions. Wouldn't they be perfect for eating useless pills?"

"Many Spirit Insects and Gu Insects also possess strong poison resistance. They can completely treat useless pills as food—who knows, they might even transform because of them! Who says they are useless!"

"Besides, perhaps some heaven-blessed genius has the ability to turn waste into treasure. Useless pills may be worthless to others, but to such a person, they are treasures."

"My useless pills have plenty of uses. You're simply too ignorant to see them!"

As Long Xuan wandered among the various stalls, a quarrel in the distance caught his attention.

Hearing someone called Little Apothecary, he knew it had to be related to alchemy. Perhaps the boy had an alchemy furnace Long Xuan needed, so he curiously went over.

When he drew near, Long Xuan saw that one of those arguing was a Rogue Cultivator with a face full of scars and a vicious expression.

The other was a bald youth of thirteen or fourteen, also called Little Apothecary. He seemed to be studying Alchemy under Ancient Alchemist, though Long Xuan did not know whether he was a true disciple or merely someone assigned to watch the furnace.

The youth was quite eloquent, sharp-tongued and quick-witted. Clearly worthless ruined pills, yet he had forcefully described them as rare treasures.

Long Xuan was intrigued. He stepped forward, casually picked up several useless pills, and examined them in his palm.

The useless pills varied in size, smell, and color. They seemed to cover every kind, but their exact effects were unknown.

Long Xuan suddenly thought of the Eye of Heavenly Secrets, which could magnify all things. Could he examine the microscopic form of these useless pills and thereby crack all their pill formulas?

He dearly wanted to try. It seemed he had to buy at least some of these useless pills.

Little Apothecary had not been entirely wrong. Useless pills really might be useful to certain small groups.

Seeing someone intensely studying his useless pills, Little Apothecary's eyes widened slightly. He opened his mouth and asked, "You're interested in useless pills? Don't tell me you have the ability to turn waste into treasure!"

"Uh!" Long Xuan was stunned by the question. Had this kid read too many novels? What an imagination. If others mistook him for having some golden finger that could turn waste into treasure, that would be disastrous.

"I heard you are Ancient Alchemist's apothecary. I need an alchemy furnace. Do you have one?" Long Xuan asked calmly.

The smartest thing to do at a time like this was to change the subject. Never explain.

Explaining was concealing, and concealing was proof.

The more one explained, the more others suspected something.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Little Apothecary no longer dwelled on the earlier question. He replied, "I do have an alchemy furnace, but I need it myself. If I sell it to you, what will I use?"

Hearing that this apothecary really had an alchemy furnace, Long Xuan silently praised his good fortune. He had found news of such a difficult-to-acquire item the moment he entered the market.

"Anything can be sold. If it cannot, it is only because the price is not high enough."

"Since you are Ancient Alchemist's apothecary, you must have connections to obtain another alchemy furnace. Out with the old, in with the new. How about letting this one go to me?"

"I'll pay ten thousand Spirit Stones."

Considering that he was merely a little apothecary, even if he possessed an alchemy furnace, it would be of the lowest quality. Thus, Long Xuan did not offer too high a price.

Long Xuan had guessed correctly. Little Apothecary had a friend who was an apprentice artifact refiner, and he could get a discount from him when refining artifacts.

Ten thousand Spirit Stones would not only be enough to replace it with a new one, but would also leave him with quite a profit.

"Fine, but I don't want Spirit Stones. I want your Cockroach Gu."

Seeing his familiar attire, Little Apothecary recognized him as the masked stall owner who often sold Cockroach Gu. After pondering for a moment, he said this.

Long Xuan paused, then said, "You plan to form a blood contract with Cockroach Gu too? The people who usually come to trade Cockroach Gu with me are all burly men with tiger backs and bear waists. They enjoy charging into battle with their flesh and blood, and their fighting style suits Cockroach Gu very well."

"Your build is not suited for charging into the fray. Raising several External Gu as bodyguards would be the fighting style most suited to you."

Little Apothecary shook his head. "Thank you for your advice, but personally, I do not like hiding behind External Gu. Let us trade for Cockroach Gu instead."

Little Apothecary looked like he could not take advice, yet inwardly he sneered. This man's imagination still isn't deep enough.

Of course he did not want to form a blood contract with Cockroach Gu because he liked charging into battle with his body. He was only in his teens; his body had not even fully grown. He would have to be crazy to rush forward and ask to be beaten.

His imagination was running wild. Since Cockroach Gu was said to nullify all ordinary damage, and the toxicity of useless pills was not strong, nullifying the poison of useless pills should not be a problem at all.

If he could ignore the toxicity of useless pills, then he could enjoy their medicinal effects for free.

As Ancient Alchemist's apothecary, he had piles of useless pills as high as mountains. Then he could eat spirit pills as daily meals every day—wouldn't his cultivation speed soar?

At that point, he would truly take flight. He could leave those his age far behind and become a famous genius here. The very thought made him excited.

Of course, he would not reveal this idea. He was not stupid.

Imagination was the most valuable thing in this world. Once this idea was exposed, the price of Cockroach Gu would skyrocket in an instant. Even if its price rose tenfold, countless people would still want it.

By then, useless pills would truly become treasures. He would never again be able to enjoy them for free, nor would he be able to dream of becoming some genius.