novelraw Chapter 354: Honored Guests
Chapter 354: Honored Guests
Half a month later, Long Xuan finally returned to the familiar City of Sin.
However, he did not immediately return to Master Song's Insect Armor Shop but instead disguised himself as Master Wei and went back to Wei's Pill Shop.
As soon as he entered the shop, a young boy immediately came out to greet him.
“Master, you’re finally back! There are many customer orders in urgent need of your attention.”
Long Xuan looked at the boy. Judging from his demeanor, he knew the boy was unaware that Master Wei had already passed away.
Having been neighbors with Master Wei for so long, Long Xuan was well-acquainted with his affairs. Master Wei had over fifty apprentices working under him.
These apprentices served as laborers, and most of the low-grade pills sold in the shop were crafted by them.
This particular boy was one of the fifty apprentices, and he had the best alchemy talent among them.
Many Grade 2 pills sold in the shop were crafted by this boy, earning him great favor from Master Wei.
However, because of this close relationship, those around Master Wei must have been very familiar with him. There was a risk they might recognize Long Xuan as an imposter.Long Xuan’s eyes narrowed immediately, and a surge of killing intent rose in his heart. But it quickly subsided. Killing such a valuable workforce would be a waste—it was better to keep them alive to serve him.
These low-level Gu cultivators posed no threat to him. Even if they discovered his true identity, it wouldn’t matter. He could divide fifty soul clones and attach them to these apprentices, allowing him to monitor and eliminate them at a moment’s notice.
“The accumulated orders will be handled later. During my trip, I encountered a fortunate opportunity and acquired many pills. You are responsible for selling these pills as quickly as possible,” Long Xuan said.
“I’ll be heading upstairs to cultivate in seclusion. Unless something major happens, do not disturb me.”
With that, Long Xuan placed eighty bottles of King Surging Pills on the counter and headed upstairs.
The more he said, the greater the risk of exposure. Thus, he kept his words brief before going upstairs.
The apprentice didn’t yet suspect Master Wei’s identity. Instead, he was astonished when he saw the eighty bottles of King Surging Pills on the counter.
As an alchemist, he naturally understood the incredible value of these eighty bottles.
If all eighty bottles were sold, it would generate an enormous fortune.
“Did Master Wei eliminate a genius alchemist during this trip?” the apprentice couldn’t help but wonder.
...
Once upstairs, Long Xuan entered the space inside the Heaven-Devouring World Toad’s body, formally beginning his secluded cultivation.
The shop’s business would be managed by the apprentices, and to avoid exposing himself further, Long Xuan decided not to show himself for the time being.
Meanwhile, across the street, Master Song’s Insect Armor Shop reopened as well. Long Xuan now effectively operated two shops simultaneously. Both thrived, with profits pouring in.
During this time, Long Xuan focused on researching the formula for the Blood Lotus Pill while using the two shops to rapidly gather the required ingredients.
Six months passed unknowingly.
On the main island, in a small pavilion, Long Xuan looked at the pill recipe in his hands with satisfaction. Stretching lazily, he smiled.
“The exclusive formula for the 300-year Sou Gu Longevity Pill is finally complete. Once the Sou Gu evolves after consuming this pill, it should be capable of transporting Gu cultivators at the Spiritual Sea stage.”
Long Xuan smiled as he neatly signed his name on the recipe and placed it in a small box.
This formula was inspired by Master Sun’s 300-year Longevity Pill recipe.
From Master Sun’s recipe, Long Xuan gained valuable insights, solving numerous challenges he previously struggled with. As a result, he successfully developed his own recipe in just two months.
The original recipe was obtained from Master Sun’s storage ring, which also contained many of the required materials.
Thanks to this, Long Xuan didn’t need to search for most of the ingredients himself. Even the rarest material for the Longevity Pill was readily available in the ring.
With minimal effort, he gathered the remaining materials, saving him considerable trouble.
Now, the evolution of the Sou Gu was no longer an issue. It was only a matter of time before it could transport Spiritual Sea-Stage cultivators.
Long Xuan then retrieved another recipe from the box and focused his attention on it.
At the top of the recipe, the bold characters read Blood Lotus Pill, with three smaller characters underneath: "Written By Long Xuan." The handwriting was neat and precise.
The Blood Lotus Pill recipe had been completed two months ago, and since then, he had been gathering the necessary ingredients.
From the moment he wrote down the first ingredient for the pill, he instructed the two shops to collect the materials. Over six months, most of the ingredients had been gathered.
After quickly scanning the list of materials and reviewing the inventory collected by the shops, Long Xuan found that the recipe’s ingredients were nearly complete—except for the main ingredient: the Blood Lotus.
The thought of the Blood Lotus gave Long Xuan a headache.
The first material he guessed correctly was the Blood Lotus. However, despite searching for half a year, he had yet to find it, highlighting how difficult it was to collect.
The Blood Lotus is a rare spiritual herb that only has a chance to form when a specific location is contaminated with the blood of high-grade spiritual beasts.
Blood Lotuses exist in grades ranging from five to twelve, but notably, there are no Blood Lotuses below grade four. This frustrated him greatly. Due to the thin spiritual energy in this world, spiritual herbs above grade five simply do not grow here. Where could he possibly find a Blood Lotus?
The only potential place where Blood Lotuses might exist in this world was in ancient tombs from a distant era.
During those ancient times, spiritual energy was abundant, and Blood Lotuses could grow naturally. If one was sealed in a tomb with the deceased, it could have survived until today.
But the chances of discovering one were minuscule.
He had thought about substituting the Blood Lotus with another material or creating a new pill recipe with a similar effect.
However, he quickly realized this was impossible.
The pill used to enhance the success rate of devouring Heavenly Fire was simply too extraordinary. The pill's grade was far beyond four, meaning its primary ingredient also had to surpass grade four to be successfully refined.
He could only lower the pill's grade by using large amounts of subpar materials, just as he had done when refining the Heaven Mending Pill, allowing him to refine it at his current cultivation level.
In other words, while the supplementary ingredients for an extraordinary pill could be compromised, the primary ingredient's grade had to be high and could not be skimped on.
To research a pill similar to the Blood Lotus Pill, the primary ingredient had to be a high-grade spiritual herb exceeding grade four. Using herbs below grade five as the primary ingredient was impossible for developing such a pill.
And collecting other high-grade spiritual herbs surpassing grade four would be no easier than finding the Blood Lotus.
Long Xuan had no choice but to persist in collecting the Blood Lotus. Whether he could eventually succeed depended entirely on luck. He had no other options.
While Long Xuan was fretting over the Blood Lotus, the black storage ring on his finger suddenly trembled. Long Xuan gently touched the storage ring and quickly retrieved a message talisman.
After reading the talisman's content, his eyes widened, and he stood up quickly, his face lighting up with joy.
He couldn't help but marvel at his luck—when it came, it was unstoppable.
The message talisman was sent by a medicine apprentice managing business downstairs.
Earlier, he had told them he was entering closed-door cultivation and was not to be disturbed. So, the apprentice didn’t dare to knock on his door and sent the message talisman instead.
The talisman contained just one concise sentence: a customer wanted to purchase the shop’s most prized treasure.
For such a significant matter as selling the shop's treasure, ordinary employees could not make decisions. Naturally, they had to notify Master Wei, who was cultivating upstairs.
After reading the talisman, Long Xuan couldn’t wait to exit the spatial body of the Heaven-Devouring World Toad and hurried downstairs.
The shop's prized treasure was a Polar Ice-Fire Pill. When refining the Polar Ice-Fire Pill for Yang Zhan, he had successfully refined three pills in total.
After giving one to Yang Zhan, he decided to keep the remaining two pills, placing one in the shop to attract customers.
The transaction condition for the Polar Ice-Fire Pill was a single Blood Lotus. Since someone had come to trade for the pill, it must mean they had obtained a Blood Lotus, much to Long Xuan's delight.
...
At this moment, in Master Wei's Shop, a chubby man was staring intently at a pill bottle on one of the shelves.
The shelf was crafted from precious white jade, flawless and exquisite. It was protected by a barrier, making it difficult for anyone to take the bottle within.
The pills on such an extraordinary shelf were naturally not ordinary. The best materials in the store were used for this shelf, and the pill on it was undoubtedly the shop's most prized treasure.
The chubby man stared at the pill with greedy eyes, his breathing slightly hurried.
"Unbelievable, truly unbelievable! Someone actually managed to refine the Polar Ice-Fire Pill. It's simply miraculous!"
"This is one of the few spiritual pills capable of triggering anomalies. Its refinement difficulty is famously high—any minor mistake can lead to an explosion, killing the alchemist. Even grade-four alchemists struggle to refine it."
"How on earth did your shop's owner refine this Polar Ice-Fire Pill? Such alchemy skills would rival the best in all of Central Lands. Who would have thought a place like this so-called Sin City could hide such talent?"
The medicine apprentice remained silent in response to the chubby man's incessant chatter.
He knew Master Wei's alchemy skills well enough. It was impossible that Master Wei had refined the Polar Ice-Fire Pill.
Recalling how Master Wei had previously brought out a batch of King Surging Pills that were clearly not his own creations, the apprentice deduced that the Polar Ice-Fire Pill and those pills were likely obtained through killing and plundering.
When Long Xuan descended the stairs, he saw the chubby man circling the Polar Ice-Fire Pill with excitement, clearly interested in it.
"The sign clearly states that the shop's prized treasure can only be exchanged for a Blood Lotus. Do you have a Blood Lotus?"
Feigning composure, Long Xuan asked as soon as he stepped down the stairs.
"Of course. The Cao family is a tomb-raiding clan. While Blood Lotuses are rare elsewhere, they pose no challenge for us."
"This Blood Lotus was retrieved from an ancient tomb by my Cao family five hundred years ago. However, because this world lost all pill recipes involving the Blood Lotus long ago, we have kept it until now."
"I’ve brought the Blood Lotus here. Let’s proceed with the transaction now!"
Cao Shuang's gaze returned to the Polar Ice-Fire Pill, and he stared at it with immense excitement.
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