Cooperation, mutual loss

Li Shaojun indeed did not trust Zhang Xuezhou's alchemy skills.

But when he saw Zhang Xuezhou pointing out the various materials for refining Law Power -Fortune Pill in the side hall, he couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.

Without further ado, as long as Zhang Xuezhou isn't completely incompetent, succeeding once or twice out of ten attempts at refining is still far cheaper than the cost of hiring someone to refine it himself using the materials.

Li Shaojun felt that the new emperor's support for Zhang Xuezhou's alchemy was almost irrational, as he had actually brought out so many century-old medicinal herbs.

A single century-old medicinal herb is not unusual, but the sheer number of boxes containing it is staggering.

For Alchemist, such a pharmacy, where one can obtain what one desires, is a paradise for alchemy.

"I need high-quality Poria cocos, Bletilla striata, and licorice root," Zhang Xuezhou said. "I need at least one of these for the elixir to develop the property of restoring Law Power!"

"You brought so many herbs, how come you're missing these few?" Li Shaojun asked, his tooth aching.

"The Empress Dowager is a scholar of literature and law; she would never allow His Majesty to dig up the roots of this," Zhang Xuezhou said, shaking his head.

"Hey, you!"

Li Shaojun made a couple of sarcastic remarks about Zhang Xuezhou, and then, seeing Zhang Xuezhou staring into his eyes, his hand couldn't help but reach for the pouch where he kept his secret stash.

Zhang Xuezhou and Li Shaojun first met on Mount Tai, when Li Shaojun was collecting herbs with a basket on his back.

As Technique Method- based cultivator, Li Shaojun would never refuse to collect medicinal herbs that suit his future needs. Moreover, he had obtained medicinal herbs from some high-ranking officials since arriving in Chang'an City.

He did indeed have quite a few spare medicines in his bag.

Most of his medicines overlapped with and conflicted with those supplied by the imperial court, but he also possessed medicines that were not available in the large quantities supplied by the imperial court.

"This old Poria cocos of mine has been stored for a hundred years, don't you dare waste it!"

"Speak like a normal person when you're with me!"

I dug it up in the mountains ten years ago!

Once you take out the first dose of medicine from the pouch, everything else goes smoothly.

As someone who's used to taking advantage of others, even if Li Shaojun knew that Zhang Xuezhou's alchemy was a trap, he still had to jump into it.

After all, he had only a limited amount of medicinal materials available. Even if Zhang Xuezhou failed completely in refining the medicine, he would still have some left in his bag.

"That's too little, take more!"

That's all!

"This little bit is hardly enough! Do you still want to take advantage of the imperial court?!"

"I knew I shouldn't have believed that scoundrel Rong and come here to watch the show. I didn't get to see the show, and all my belongings are gone!"

Reminded by Li Shaojun, Zhang Xuezhou realized that he did indeed need to return to Chang'an City.

Putting everything else aside, Zhang Xuezhou at least needs to find Dong Zhongshu so they can meet up and discuss matters of cultivation.

He lamented that he couldn't be in two places at once like Ren Anran; otherwise, he would have used his Yang Corporeal Soul Incarnation to refine pills while his true body went to reunite with Dong Zhongshu.

"After all these years together, you still don't trust me?" Zhang Xuezhou complained.

"I just don't trust you," Li Shaojun nodded.

"If you don't trust me, then you should at least believe that I won't shortchange myself. I still want half of the Law Power Fortune Pill," Zhang Xuezhou said.

If you put it that way, then I truly believe you!

Li Shaojun thought about Zhang Xuezhou's unreliable character, and then he thought that Zhang Xuezhou wouldn't do anything that wouldn't benefit him, so even if he caused trouble for Zhang Xuezhou, he wouldn't cause trouble for himself. Suddenly, he felt more confident.

"We've got everything we have; if this works out, we'll split it 50/50!"

Having made his purchase, Li Shaojun also took out what little money he had left.

Although he was still being mocked by Zhang Xuezhou, he stubbornly held his tongue.

"Let's try starting one furnace first, and then we'll think of a solution for the rest!"

Even the landlord's family had no surplus grain. Li Shaojun was adept at collecting medicinal herbs and taking advantage of others, but he had very few Demon Core available for enlightenment.

Although Zhang Xuezhou and his group had encountered tiger demons, those were in remote mountain villages, and in areas with larger populations, demons rarely caused trouble.

If they couldn't even touch it, there was no need to talk about killing the demon and getting the core. Besides, Li Shaojun's fighting skills were just so-so, and killing a demon wouldn't be easy for him.

After much deliberation, Zhang Xuezhou had no choice but to empty his savings.

"If you had done this earlier, I would have believed you!"

Seeing Zhang Xuezhou constantly reaching into his waist and taking out one high-quality Demon Core after another, Li Shaojun couldn't help but swallow hard. He felt that Zhang Xuezhou had taken out quite a few of his own private items to refine the Fortune Pill, and the value of the items he took even exceeded that of him.

We have way too many materials!

Li Shaojun looked around and then watched Zhang Xuezhou continuously grinding the Demon Core, realizing that Zhang Xuezhou would inevitably spend a long time refining pills again.

In terms of diligence, Li Shaojun felt he was definitely not as good as Zhang Xuezhou.

The more diligent the other party is, the higher their skill level in refining pills will be, and they will eventually be able to produce some Fortune Pill.

After thinking about it, he couldn't help but feel a little pleased with himself, and then asked Zhang Xuezhou if he needed any help.

"You know nothing about refining Inner Core, what can I expect from you?" Zhang Xuezhou laughed. "If you can grind and crush these Demon Core, I'll start a furnace beforehand!"

"Alright, Uncle Li will do this for you!"

After Li Shaojun successfully refined the Eight Steps to Immortality Pill, his tone changed, and he confidently took on the task of grinding the pills.

"This cauldron holds a considerable amount of medicinal herbs at once!"

Seeing Zhang Xuezhou pour in a large amount of water, and even add bundles of dried medicinal herbs, Li Shaojun couldn't help but marvel. He felt that the methods of refining Inner Core and Outer Core were indeed different, and that the Qin Furnace No. 8's ability to store medicinal herbs was truly worthy of being a fine Pill Furnace from the Great Qin Dynasty era.

"Absolutely, this batch yields two hundred Fortune Pill," Zhang Xuezhou said. "Very few Pill Furnace can handle this large-scale refining!"

"This is outrageous!" Li Shaojun exclaimed. "Anyone else would have to refine it thirty times over. It seems this giant Pill Furnace is really good; it saves so much trouble!"

"Absolutely!"

Zhang Xuezhou nodded.

He possesses ample physical strength and stamina.

Without Gao Qiang physical combat, he would never have exhausted his strength.

Another batch of pills was produced, which made Zhang Xuezhou work with great enthusiasm and energy.

He pondered the refining of the Qi and Blood Fortune Pill, and roughly replicated the pill refining process, trying his best to forge the Law Power Fortune Pill.

"You actually want to grind two hundred Demon Core? How long will it take to refine them bit by bit?" Li Shaojun said, "Is it inappropriate for me to be here? What if we run into other people?"

"No way!"

"No? Are you all alone here? Then I'm relieved!"

Zhang Xuezhou's alchemy technique was very steady; he even went so far as to perform a ritual around the Pill Cauldron, praying to the ancestral master for blessings.

Li Shaojun couldn't help but chime in with a few questions.

Although Zhang Xuezhou's response was brief, Li Shaojun's anticipation of the elixir's completion was quite natural.

It wasn't until Zhang Xuezhou poured all the ground Demon Core powder into the medicine inlet of the Pill Cauldron that Li Shaojun realized something was wrong.

"Hey, Mr. Dong, when you refine pills, don't you divide the medicinal liquid and then apply it in batches according to the liquid?"

"I have a feeling this is a bit unreliable?"

"How are you refining pills? I just can't understand it!"

"Don't tell me you want to complete the enlightenment all at once!"

Li Shaojun thought about how he could refine ten or eight portions of the Eight Steps to Immortality Pill at a time, and then about what Zhang Xuezhou had done. His expression turned somewhat grim.

The probability of success in alchemy is completely different whether you try thirty or forty times or only once.

The former always has a chance of hitting the mark, while the latter is doomed after just one failure.

Li Shaojun thought Zhang Xuezhou might be dabbling in alchemy, but he never imagined Zhang Xuezhou would go this far.

"Why am I so unlucky? This lousy pill..."

Zhang Xuezhou did not respond to Li Shaojun, but instead continued to pour his Law Power into the constantly swirling pills, accompanied by continuous methods of guiding and transforming the pills.

When Zhang Xuezhou's low, gritting curses reached Li Shaojun, his heart sank completely.