A Second Bout of Extravagant Pill Refining

"The quality of this batch of pills isn't as good as the last one!"

"Your medicinal herbs are of good quality, but the variety is too limited!"

Zhang Xuezhou, the new emperor, Hongku met in a wasteland in the Shanglin Garden.

The two parties exchanged pills and medicinal herbs, with Hongku having already unloaded a bag of goods from his travel bag.

The marching bag is a type of storage bag that can only hold the most basic items, such as food, meat, and medicine. If items such as Law Treasure are put in it, there is a high probability that they will leak out.

This is considered an early version of the storage bag. Due to the high cost of refining and the unbearable drawbacks, it gradually withdrew from the cultivation world, and only some old forces still retain this old treasure.

Using Hongku for transporting medicinal herbs is a relatively appropriate use.

The two teased each other, each finding fault with the other.

Hongku was telling the truth, and Zhang Xuezhou was also telling the truth.

The pills confiscated from Guan Fu's residence were mostly of medium to low quality, which made Hongku somewhat dissatisfied.

Zhang Xuezhou was not entirely satisfied with the medicinal herbs provided by Hongku.

"I want purple Ganoderma lucidum, this is hemlock Ganoderma lucidum, this is thin-skinned Ganoderma lucidum, this is red Ganoderma lucidum, this is green Ganoderma lucidum, and look at this black Ganoderma lucidum, this thing is bitter and poisonous, I would stomp on it if I saw it!"

"Aren't these all Ganoderma lucidum?"

"We're both human, how can you and I be the same?"

"You know the demons around here aren't very cultured. If we take out a Ganoderma lucidum and have them match it to something similar, they'll be lucky if they can find anything that looks alike. We really can't ask for anything more!"

"Don't complain when you take these pills back; we've suffered an even bigger loss this time!"

"I'm not complaining anymore!"

Zhang Xuezhou and Hongku had a conversation.

The two men's dissatisfaction was genuine. Hongku had intended to lower the price, but before he could finish his complaints, Zhang Xuezhou launched into a tirade against the simply packaged medicinal herbs, leaving Hongku speechless.

Zhang Xuezhou was clearly an expert in medicinal herbs, and Hongku couldn't refute him no matter how hard he tried.

He got caught up in explaining, and then realized he had no reason to make any further demands.

"Dongfang Shuo, are you saying that I'm going to suffer another loss this time?"

"A little bit!"

"How much is 'a little bit'? Explain yourself clearly. Five hundred pills, even if it's just a little bit, isn't a small amount. You lost twelve Creation Pills to me last time, but how much are you going to lose this time?"

"Only a tiny loss!"

Hearing Zhang Xuezhou giving vague answers to the Marquis of Pingyang, Hongku quickly packed up.

He summoned the White Bone horse, and Hongku quickly scurried onto its back.

His pack contained at least 5,000 catties of medicinal herbs, some of which weighed over 100 catties. It would be quite troublesome for Zhang Xuezhou and others to carry them, but it would be easy for him to run away. In this kind of place, he was not afraid of being double-crossed and making it difficult to return to the Northern Kuru Continent.

"Dongfang Shuo, the deal is done. See you next time! I'll definitely bring you some good goods next time!"

Listening to Zhang Xuezhou's repeated attempts to deceive the Marquis of Pingyang into believing that he had only suffered a small loss, Hongku laugh and ran away.

The medicinal herbs were prepared by Alchemist invited by the Yedie River Holy Land. While the requirements were met, it was difficult to prepare them into pills. Various combinations were needed to transform the herbs into pills, which would inevitably take a long time.

Hongku didn't care whether the Marquis of Pingyang gained or lost; as long as his work was done, he was fine.

Moreover, next time he won't be making a deal with Marquis Pingyang. He only needs to gather the relevant medicinal materials to invite Zhang Xuezhou refine the pills, without needing to go through Marquis Pingyang.

If the status of the Sacred Land site rises, Hongku believes that it will not be too difficult for him to prepare the medicinal materials, and he will be able to maintain a long-term and continuous cooperation with Zhang Xuezhou.

"Hey, you Hong Hu merchant, why are you running so fast, you son of a bitch..."

Cursing and swearing came from behind, Hongku's white skeletal horse had already dashed into the forest and galloped away.

"Honghu merchant's prized horse is truly magnificent!"

The new emperor was somewhat envious of Hongku's bone horse, but when Zhang Xuezhou informed him that the bone horse would continuously consume his body's Law Power while running, the new emperor, who was already quite exhausted from being tormented by the Spirit Silk Jade Lotus, quickly gave up his little idea.

"These medicinal herbs look unusual. Are we really going to lose money this time?"

Only after Hongku's figure disappeared did the new emperor ask a serious question.

"It's worth it, it's actually quite profitable, but it's troublesome and time-consuming!"

Zhang Xuezhou picked up the black Ganoderma lucidum that he had previously tried to kick away, and he clicked his tongue in amazement.

What he said to Hongku was not wrong. This black Ganoderma lucidum is poisonous, but the poison is so potent that the strong medicinal effect when taken can cause poisoning-like symptoms.

Simply put, if a medicinal herb is too potent, it can easily be mistaken for a poison.

However, the medicinal materials that Hongku brought were indeed very mixed and chaotic, including all sorts of different types of medicinal materials.

If one is not skilled in the Yin-Yang School Pill Formula of balancing Yin and Yang, it is extremely difficult to make proper use of these medicinal materials.

"I'll try out a few batches of pills at Shanglin Garden to see if I can produce anything useful," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"What medicine do you need to prepare?" the new emperor asked.

"Yi Shuo previously prescribed me a Pill Formula. This formula is more potent than the Pill Formula Tonic Pill, but the toxicity of the pill is extremely strong. It's very likely that only high-quality ingredients will be available to avoid the toxicity taking effect," Zhang Xuezhou said. "The varieties of medicinal herbs in this batch are quite mixed. The success rate of refining the Ten-Ingredient Tonic Pill is similar to that of this Pill Formula. I want to refine eight or ten batches to try it out. We definitely need to replenish some medicinal herbs!"

How much stronger is the drug?

The new emperor's expression changed slightly, as he sensed that the mountain of medicinal herbs before him would soon turn into a pile of dregs.

While this batch of medicinal herbs is of high quality, their specifications are quite varied, and proper adaptation will require an extremely long time to make good use of them.

With the Empress Dowager and others on the verge of death, the new emperor could not afford to wait any longer.

He not only needed to support Zhang Xuezhou's extravagant alchemy practice, but he also needed to meet any special requests the other party might have to a certain extent.

Clearly, Zhang Xuezhou had been preparing to refine even stronger pills for a long time. He not only consumed them himself but also refined them in advance using a small Pill Furnace. At this moment, he was simply communicating with him.

The new emperor didn't care whether Zhang Xuezhou had any ulterior motives, but he was very concerned about the efficacy of the elixir.

"I've only refined a low-grade pill so far, but its effects are ten times stronger than a similarly graded 'Perfect Tonic Pill.' The effects of higher-grade pills should be even stronger," Zhang Xuezhou said. "I'm counting on this pill to save my life, not just keep me hanging on!"

"High-grade pills are very difficult to obtain," the new emperor cautioned.

"The more you take the 'Ten-Ingredient Tonic Pill,' the less effective it becomes. No one can stay alive forever!"

Zhang Xuezhou added that the new emperor would no longer stop him, but he hoped that Zhang Xuezhou would not gamble everything and that he could refine one or two batches of the Ten-Ingredient Tonic Pill for future use.

I'll try as many as I can!

Zhang Xuezhou nodded.

He didn't go too far while doing his own thing. He didn't use all of Hongku's thousands of kilograms of medicinal herbs to refine the Life Creation Pill. He would indeed try other types of pills, not just one.

Even if Zhang Xuezhou wanted to refine a single type of elixir, these medicinal materials would be insufficient to meet his needs.

After some discussion, Zhang Xuezhou's second extravagant alchemy session got down to business.