Grain Avoidance Powder

"Ginseng, Poria cocos, Atractylodes macrocephala, Polygonatum sibiricum, Polygonum multiflorum, Platycladus orientalis seed, Coix seed, Rehmannia glutinosa, and pine nuts, two ounces of each, please take them!"

Wang Er Ermazi reached into the drawer and expertly grasped various shriveled medicinal herbs.

Zhang Xuezhou needed seventeen kinds of medicinal materials, but the company provided nine of them.

The Grain Avoidance Powder can be made by combining seven kinds of medicinal herbs. Zhang Xuezhou doesn't care about the number of kinds, but he does care about the quantity.

Compared to the amount of medicinal materials worth tens of thousands of yuan that are purchased when refining the Origin-Nurturing Pill in the real world, the amount of medicinal materials in front of us is relatively small.

The total amount of medicinal herbs is eighteen ounces, which is only the material for three portions of Grain Avoidance Powder.

However, this process inevitably involves encountering the problem of failed decoction preparations.

In order to obtain the Feng Shui techniques, Wen Weng and others agreed to provide Zhang Xuezhou with the medicinal herbs needed for his Grain Avoidance fasting) formula, but the quantity of herbs was a bit tight for Zhang Xuezhou.

Even if he succeeds in refining it completely, it will only amount to three doses of Grain Avoidance Powder.

That's it?

Following Wang Er from the prefectural governor's residence to the pharmacy, Zhang Xuezhou picked up a variety of medicinal herbs, weighed them in his hands, and couldn't help but ask a question.

"Yes, it's all here," Wang Er said. "You know what, this is the first time I've ever seen Prefect Wen buy so many medicinal herbs."

"Is there a lot here?"

"It cost a total of two hundred and forty-eight and a half taels of silver, that's definitely a lot!"

The Banliang coin was a currency issued by the imperial court, similar to units such as 'yuan' or 'copper coin'.

Zhang Xuezhou rarely used the "half-ounce coin," having only seen it once when slaughtering pigs in Hibiscus City.

One pound of pork costs one and a half ounces, so this pile of medicinal herbs is worth approximately 248 pounds of pork.

After doing the math, Zhang Xuezhou realized that using Grain Avoidance powder to combat hunger was indeed not worthwhile.

But he couldn't eat ten or so pounds of pork at once and then go hungry for several days.

The Grain Avoidance Powder needs to be refined, and Zhang Xuezhou also needs to figure out how to buy more medicinal materials to refine it.

He patted himself down, but found it difficult to find even a single tael or two in his pockets and pouch.

Do you buy Golden Elixir Sand here?

Zhang Xuezhou touched it for a long time.

Besides the jade bottle containing the Nine Treasures Wine tied to his waist, his pouch also contained two Hongku's inheritance jades, as well as Dong Zhongshu's Law Treasure fan, the Deer-Slaying Blade, and the Golden Crow Great Emperor's feathers. After that, all that remained were the materials Zhang Xuezhou used to practice the "Technique Within the Clouds".

He obtained materials for refining wooden and iron wings from Wu Chao, as well as a large portion of copper wings. By the time he obtained Bodhi fruits from the Buddha's disciple through alms, most of the materials had been used up during the transformation of the copper wings, leaving only a portion of Golden Elixir Sand.

This is the material used for the transformation from bronze wings to gold wings.

Zhang Xuezhou figured he wouldn't be able to practice the "Technique Within the Clouds" again in the future, so exchanging the Golden Elixir Sand for half a tael of money or some medicinal herbs wouldn't be a loss.

"Golden Elixir Sand? What is that?"

Seeing Zhang Xuezhou pull out a small bottle containing black sand shimmering with gold, Wang Er had some difficulty identifying the material.

"Golden Elixir Sand, a very precious material, a top-grade material that even the royal family couldn't obtain," Zhang Xuezhou explained. "Simply put, it's extremely valuable!"

"Royalty, my foot!" Wang Er said. "You cultivators just like to come up with weird and strange things to fool people. If I take them all, who will buy these weird things?"

"Well!"

"If you hadn't come from the Prefect's residence, I would have suspected you were here to scam people."

"How could that be!"

"Two and a half taels of silver. If you're going to sell it, I'll take it out of respect for the Prefectural Governor's office!"

Wang Er Ermazi clearly didn't understand the value of the Golden Elixir.

To be honest, Zhang Xuezhou didn't understand the value of Golden Elixir Sand. Apart from using it to refine the "Technique Within the Clouds," he didn't know of any other situations where it would be useful.

However, Golden Elixir Sand was undoubtedly a relatively precious material. If Wang Er Ermazi offered three to five hundred and a half taels of silver, Zhang Xuezhou felt that he would sell it in order to refine Grain Avoidance Powder.

Two and a half taels of silver were useless; they couldn't even buy one tael of medicinal herbs. This made him dejected as he put the Golden Elixir Sand back.

Upon returning to the Han Kingdom territory, Zhang Xuezhou discovered that not only was his cultivation level decreasing, but the environment he faced had also been reduced to its original state.

This environment doesn't contain any strange or unusual heavenly materials and earthly treasures, nor does it involve trading in high-end or rare materials.

If he wants to obtain materials through normal channels, he must use currency obtained through normal channels.

After years of struggling, Zhang Xuezhou Zhang Xuezhou never felt like a poor man. Only now, in his current predicament, has he realized his predicament.

He didn't have a single coin or two on him; he seemed to be as poor as he could possibly be.

This inevitably reminded him of Zhang Qian almost ended up sleeping on the streets of Chang'an City.

"His Majesty appointed me as a spy, but didn't even give me a hundred thousand or eighty thousand half-taels of silver. How can I be a good spy? What spy would think about making money for himself first!"

The powerful figures Zhang Xuezhou could rely on were somewhat distant.

Given his current physical condition, Zhang Xuezhou felt he couldn't hold on until he reached the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains to find the Venerable One.

He even needs to refine the Grain Avoidance Powder as soon as possible, and then check the success rate and quality of his refining before making any further plans.

If his refining of the Grain Avoidance Powder is of high enough quality and has a high enough success rate, Zhang Xuezhou feels that the price he pays for sleeping for seven days is about eighty catties of pork.

If the quality of the Grain Avoidance powder is mediocre, the cost will increase rapidly.

However, if the success rate is average, the cost will tend to increase linearly.

"Dr. Wang, do you sell any Grain Avoidance- related medicines here?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

"We can't even afford food, who has the money to buy Grain Avoidance medicine? If no one buys it, no one sells it, and I certainly don't have any left!"

Wang Er glanced at Zhang Xuezhou, then at the medicinal herbs Zhang Xuezhou was carrying.

"Besides, those aren't pills that an old man like me can handle. Only those high-ranking nobles refine them," Wang Er said, his eyes darting around. "Cultivator Zhang, are these medicinal herbs for refining Grain Avoidance pills?"

"Yes," Zhang Xuezhou nodded, "But I'm worried I won't be able to refine it well. I'd like to ask if there's anywhere I can buy it. If the price is cheaper than refining it myself, then I'll definitely buy the finished product."

"I've heard that Grain Avoidance pills are like swallowing gold; I'm afraid a single dose of Grain Avoidance pills would cost at least three to five taels of gold!"

"It seems a bit expensive!"

Zhang Xuezhou glanced at the medicine bag he was carrying, then pondered the price.

One gold coin corresponds to one thousand and a half taels of silver, and three to five gold coins correspond to almost several thousand and a half taels of silver, which is equivalent to more than ten pigs.

He eventually realized that Alchemist was a lucrative profession and gave up the idea of buying Grain Avoidance medicine.

"As a successor of the Yin-Yang School, I cultivate the alchemy technique that I am most skilled in, how could I possibly go to buy medicine!"

Stubbornly encouraging himself, Zhang Xuezhou borrowed a mortar and pestle from Wang Er and began the tedious process of grinding medicinal herbs.

"Is this how Grain Avoidance medicine is made?"

Zhang Xuezhou's grinding of medicinal herbs piqued Wang Er's interest, causing him to linger in the pharmacy, even becoming somewhat distracted while treating patients.

But Wang Er Ermazi's curiosity quickly vanished completely.

"They can't even afford to eat, who has the money to buy Grain Avoidance pills from you? Learning this is useless for them!"

Zhang Xuezhou lazily repeated what Wang Er Ermazi had said earlier, Wang Er Ermazi wholeheartedly agreed.

The materials needed to learn alchemy are numerous, and Wang Er cannot afford to waste them. Even if he learns the skill of refining Grain Avoidance medicine, no one will come to buy it from him.

It may seem sophisticated and high-class, but for him, it's nothing more than a dragon-slaying technique.

As the ingredients for the Grain Avoidance Pill were ground and boiled, Zhang Xuezhou couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the fact that the Grain Avoidance Powder had failed three times in a row.