They needed to create a prescription in such a short amount of time. This had high standards and strict requirements. When these people said this, there was an uproar in the audience:
“This is too strict.”
“How can this be done?”
“The time is too short. It’s impossible!”
“If it’s like this, how can anyone do it? If someone can do it, why would they still want to apprentice themselves…”
Everyone was in a flurry of discussions.
Another person hurriedly said: “It’s not necessary to determine a prescription, but to find a feasible direction. Pill King Han is testing whether our reasoning is sharp and capable of creating medicinal prescriptions.”
To put it bluntly, the prescription didn’t have to succeed. Rather, it needed to have the possibility of succeeding to persuade the other party. These pharmacists who came out either went in the wrong direction, produced a completely worthless medicinal pill, or had rigid thinking processes. As a result, all of them failed.
After listening to this person’s explanation, the crowd of people said: “So that’s how it is.”
But even though it was like this, it was still quite difficult. If their nerves got the better of them, they wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything. As a result, there were only a few people left.
Gu Zuo also heard these words. Soon after, he became a little worried.
This was only a single step away from success. It would be terrible if one was intercepted by someone else at the final junction. While he had confidence in Senior Sect Brother Xu, the others who remained were certainly very strong, too. It would be hard to beat them. However, maybe luck would play a big role…
Considering this, Gu Zuo restrained his train of thought, and continued to wait.
A little more than an hour passed, and two more people came out.
Then, having reached this point, Pill King Han finally showed up with three figures in front of everyone.
Among these three people, Xu Lingxiu was standing somewhat closer to the front. He was barely a golden-level pharmacist. The two people behind him were probably a bit older than Xu Lingxiu. They were both at the Core Psyche Realm and were genuine golden-level pharmacists.
Gu Zuo was confident now.
Sure enough, Pill King Han held Xu Lingxiu’s hand, guided him one step forward, and proclaimed: “Today, this Han has accepted an apprentice. The name of this gentleman is Xu Lingxiu, and he shall be this Han’s personal disciple.”
Following this, he gestured to the other two, and allowed them to step forward: “These two shall be this Han’s nominal disciples.”
Soon after, the two nominal disciples introduced themselves on their own.
From this, one could see the gap in favor between personal and nominal disciples.
Hence, many gazes fell upon Xu Lingxiu one by one. Only after scrutinizing him from head to toe did they look at the two nominal disciples and take note of them — Who knew if the nominal disciples could become personal disciples in the future? When one was given the option, it was always better not to offend the other party.
Of course, these three disciples were all at the golden level. On the contrary, no one felt that this was strange.
— For any disciple, it was only natural that the lower the realm, the easier it was to train them, and the more malleable they were.
The pill king’s experiences were explained and the disciples were accepted, so everyone who participated in the Pill King Conference ought to say their goodbyes. During this grand assembly, many pharmacists sat together with fellow enthusiasts of equivalent realms. Within that long stretch of time, there had been more than one exchange of information in private. Following many exchanges, they felt that their points of view were compatible, and were reluctant to stop. After the conference ended, these people went to look for another place to continue their conversations.
At the same time, there were lots of martial artists who established good relationships with some pharmacists. They were just waiting to continue getting to know one another. This was a two-way selection. The martial artists strived to secure their own personal pharmacist as soon as possible to prevent their enemies from taking advantage of them in the future.
Xu Lingxiu came down to meet Gu Zuo and the others.
Gu Zuo showed a heartfelt smile: “ Congratulations, Senior Sect Brother Xu.”
He knew that this little prince, who had been admired in Qingyun Sect like the stars around the moon, would be able to let his own brilliance shine sooner or later after coming to the Central Continent!
This time around, Xu Lingxiu didn’t laugh coldly, sneer, or reply sarcastically. Instead, a gentle look flickered across his eyes: “Thanks for your help, Junior Sect Brother Gu.”
Gu Zuo quickly shook his head: “Nonsense. I didn’t provide much help to Senior Sect Brother Xu.”
Xu Lingxiu didn’t say anything else, and only gave a slight signal to Tianheng. Then, he continued speaking to Gu Zuo: “In the future, I’ll probably have to stay here for a long time to study with master. If you guys want to find me, just use this thing as proof.”
While he spoke, Xu Lingxiu gave Gu Zuo a white jade token with green patterns.
Gu Zuo didn’t stand on ceremony, and accepted the token. After that, he suddenly thought of something: “That’s right. After Senior Sect Brother Xi came with us, he said that he was going to look for you. I don’t know if he—”
For the first time, there were no sounds of ridicule or pride in Xu Lingxiu’s tone of voice. It had become much warmer: “I already met with Senior Sect Brother Xi. At his request, I let him go out on his own. Before he left, he mentioned that he wanted to find a sect that suited him. However, I don’t know where he is right now.”
As he said this, he took out something that looked like a sheet of letter paper: “Senior Sect Brother Xi’s farewell words are written in here, and it refers to what I just said.”
Gu Zuo expressed his understanding: “It’s fine so long as Senior Sect Brother Xi is doing what he wants. I think that with his capabilities, he’ll definitely have made a name for himself the next time we meet.”
Xu Lingxiu and Xi Yangyun had always been friends. Having heard what was said, Xu Lingxiu naturally nodded his head, too.
After he was done talking about Xi Yangyun, Gu Zuo asked about the testing done during the apprenticeship. At this time, the test was over, and none of the test takers were forbidden from speaking about it. Of course, some pharmacists who were good at communicating weren’t stingy with “sharing” these experiences. As for those who were too self-absorbed&#k2026; On the whole, this kind of person’s future achievements would be limited to just this.
Afterwards, Gu Zuo, Gongyi Tianheng, and He Zizhang all left the building.
However, even though they departed, Prince Zhou stayed behind. The other people in the pill king’s Rising Mountain Pavilion didn’t stop this, either. It seemed that it was originally Pill King Han’s intention to keep Prince Zhou here.
Shaking his head, Gu Zuo didn’t think about it anymore, and simply walked out.
Outside, he naturally purchased loads of medicinal ingredients in this city, and stored them away. After that, he went to the villa to rest for a while before swiftly leaving at night.
— Following the showcasing of Gu Zuo’s medicinal pill, it went without saying that there were many people who tried to secretly get in touch with him.
The refined medicinal pill was too popular. This was also a strange type of annoyance.
After returning to Ten Ultimates Sect, Tianheng trained as usual. Meanwhile, Gu Zuo started occupying himself with refining medicine for He Zizhang.
Previously, what he said to He Zizhang was the truth. As early as after he researched the Realm Breaking Pill, he deliberately thought about replacing the medicinal ingredients in it to create a new kind of pill that could help with breakthroughs.
It was also because of his experience with the Realm Breaking Pill that Gu Zuo quickly researched the Golden Flame Pill and the other four types. However, due to the softer attributes of wood and water, during the process of refining, he inevitably discovered that the medicinal properties weren’t strong enough and the efficacy of breaking through was insufficient. As a result, the currently finished products were limited to only three types, which were the Golden Flame Pill, the Purified Gold Pill, and the Star Soil Pill. As for the other two types, such as the Clouded Tree Pill and Yielding Waters Pill, he still needed to consider several kinds of auxiliary ingredients.
Hence, Gu Zuo started another round of secluded cultivation.
After going on that trip to the pill king conference, he gained many new realizations in medicine refinement. Although lots of pharmacists had their own deficiencies, some ideas were still quite novel, which brought him new ideas in return. Coupled with some impressions he got from watching Pill King Han refine medicine, as well as certain concepts that Pill King Han divulged, an unending stream of inspiration welled up inside of him.
After approximately three to four days of this, Gu Zuo came out of seclusion.
This time, all five pill prescriptions based on his Realm Breaking Pill, which worked from the Celestial Realm to the Noble Realm, had been ascertained. It wasn’t only the Yielding Waters Pill and Clouded Tree Pill. Certain ingredients among the other three medicinal pills had been replaced with better substitutes by him — With his present foundations, these five types of pills were the best versions he could create. When he progressed further along his path of medicine refinement in the future, maybe he could develop even more ideas and conduct various improvements!
After that, Gu Zuo sent a letter to He Zizhang’s base of operations, telling him that everything was ready.
He Zizhang’s mentality also seemed to be quite eager. Once the letter was received, he arrived at Tianheng’s manor in less than an hour.
Because Tianheng was in the middle of secluded cultivation due to the Prodigy Monument, Gu Zuo handled the matter of welcoming He Zizhang by himself.
It was just that the people who arrived this time weren’t limited to only He Zizhang. In addition, there was Huai Tianhe who came before as well as a young man with a handsome appearance and slightly cold temperament.
Gu Zuo recognized that this slightly cold young man was a senior brother of his family’s big brother. If he remembered correctly, this ought to be Third Senior Brother Yuan Zang. This person wasn’t fond of talking, but his power was phenomenal. He was ranked third place, and so too was his strength. He was originally at the peak of the Celestial Realm, but now, his body carried the faint qi emissions of source power. It was clear that he had taken the Realm Breaking Pill. Moreover, his strength had also broken through to become the third Noble Realm powerhouse under the Blood Transformation Palace Master.
After Yuan Zang arrived, he took the initiative to speak: “Many thanks for the Realm Breaking Pill.”
Gu Zuo smiled, and waved his hand: “This is what my big brother wanted to give.”
In any case, it was all for big brother.
Yuan Zang nodded, but didn’t say anything else.
Instead, Huai Tianhe spoke up: “I heard that Pharmacist Gu shined brightly at the Pill King Conference, but I haven’t congratulated Pharmacist Gu yet.”
Gu Zuo hurriedly said: “There’s no need for that. I just went there as a formality. In that place, the many geniuses on the path of medicine refinement really opened my eyes.”
Each of them said a few words out of courtesy.
After that, Huai Tianhe talked about the reason why they came this time.
It was nothing else but to seek medicinal pills.
At first, He Zizhang didn’t publicize this matter. However, Huai Tianhe happened to know that they had returned, and went looking for He Zizhang out of concern. Meanwhile, Yuan Zang coincidentally broke through, and intended to find his eldest senior brother to verify what he had learned.
In the end, they found out that He Zizhang was going to meet with Gu Zuo. After they asked, He Zizhang didn’t hide anything, and revealed the purpose of this trip.
Gu Zuo heard this, and nodded his head: “According to the rules, there’s naturally no problem.”
Outsiders were one thing, but Tianheng’s senior brothers and sisters were categorized as half their own people. When they were at the Pill King Conference, the reason why Gu Zuo told He Zizhang that fellow disciples could get a discount was so that He Zizhang could inform the other seven people about these medicinal pills.
After all, his big brother was currently part of the Blood Transformation Palace Hall. The palace master was also a protective and accomplished teacher. Based on the handful of senior brothers and sisters, it could be seen that they were all good people. Since it was like this, it was only natural that the stronger one’s own people, the better. Only when his big brother and his master’s personal disciples all had formidable martial strength would the Blood Transformation Palace Hall be rich and powerful. And the stronger the Blood Transformation Palace Hall became, the better it could shelter them.
Although Huai Tianhe and Yuan Zang had already heard about this matter from He Zizhang, Gu Zuo was certain that he could refine for them, which made them very happy.
Following this, both of them said: “The spirit medicines have already been brought over. When Pharmacist Gu can refine them, we’ll listen to your arrangements.”
Gu Zuo smiled and said: “To help big brother’s senior brothers and sisters, what arrangements should we make? Senior Sect Brother He was the earliest to mention it, so why don’t I refine for him first. After that, I’ll refine for Senior Sect Sister Huai and Senior Sect Brother Yuan. How about that?”
Of course, these couple of people replied: “This would be perfect. Thank you for the trouble, Pharmacist Gu.”
Gu Zuo’s tone was still polite and amiable: “Since it’s like this, I’ll have to ask everyone to give me the spirit medicines first, and let me see if they can be used.”
He Zizhang spread out his hands. Quite a few large jade boxes appeared in the center of his palms, and formed a stack from the bottom to the top. Meanwhile, he opened his mouth to say: “According to Pharmacist Gu’s requirements, I brought stalks of spirit medicine for each of the five elements. They have a yang affinity and spiritualities of forty percent.”
Gu Zuo took those jade boxes, and placed them on the stone table beside him. Then, he inspected each stalk one by one.
Flaming Sheep Grass, Silver Mist Honeysuckle, Earthen Vitality Fruit, Golden Creek Bark, and the taproot of a Rock Dragon Tree…
Indeed, all of them were partially yang and could be used.
In fact, these five types of medicinal pills had a special characteristic. Concerning the spirit medicine used as the main ingredient, he only needed to extract the yang aspect and attributes of the five elements from within the medicinal power. As for what kind of spirit medicine it was, the requirements actually weren’t high — So long as it didn’t conflict with the auxiliary ingredients, it would work.
But even though it was like this, Gu Zuo still gave He Zizhang a list of spirit medicines. Recorded on the list were thirty to forty types of usable spirit medicines, which were also divided among the attributes of the five elements.
The things that He Zizhang found this time were all on this list.
Once Gu Zuo looked everything over, he was quite satisfied: “These can all be refined. Senior Sect Brother He has worked hard.”
He Zizhang smiled and replied: “It’s good that they can be used.”
Gu Zuo didn’t favor one and discriminate against the other. After checking He Zizhang’s ingredients, he promptly turned to Huai Tianhe and Yuan Zang.
Both of them quickly took out several jade boxes, and handed them over for Gu Zuo to inspect the spirit medicines inside.
These spirit medicines were divided among various attributes. And one of the types that Huai Tianhe provided wasn’t even on He Zizhang’s medicine list. But after Gu Zuo considered it, he also gave Huai Tianhe an affirmative answer: “This stalk can also be used.”
Huai Tianhe breathed a sigh of relief.
While she had seen that list, the timing was too short. Even if she mobilized her subordinates, the spirit medicines with forty-percent spirituality they obtained hadn’t been completely consistent. As a result, she could only give this stalk a try.
Fortunately, there weren’t any problems. This allowed her to have one more attribute of medicinal pills.
Once Gu Zuo inspected all of the spirit medicines, he collected them one by one: “To refine these kinds of Realm Breaking Pills, what the main ingredient requires is the pure medicinal juice extracted from the spirit medicine. If there’s a lot of juice, there will naturally be lots of pills. Likewise, the less juice extracted, the fewer pills produced. From the spirit medicines these senior brothers and sister brought, the quantities of medicinal juice I can obtain will be different. You probably won’t get the same number of pills in the future either… I ask that these senior brothers and sister to be prepared for this.”
He Zizhang and the others immediately said:
“This is only natural.”
“There will be no dissatisfaction because of this.”
“Pharmacist Gu can rest assured.”
Gu Zuo believed in the moral qualities of these people, and was only discussing things beforehand. With the spirit medicines in hand, he ought to start refining right away.
After slightly pondering, Gu Zuo asked: “Does everyone want to watch me refine pills and stay here for a few days, or go back first and pick up the medicine later?”
As soon as these words were uttered, all three of them fell into deep thought.
To be honest, they were very interested in Gu Zuo’s medicine refinement. However, if they stayed in this place to watch, would it make Gu Zuo feel that they didn’t trust him?
Upon seeing this, Gu Zuo knew what they were thinking. Thus, he smiled and said: “Don’t worry about anything else. If you want to watch, it’ll save me from the loneliness of refining pills by myself.”
He really wouldn’t be unhappy because of this.
He Zizhang and the others felt relieved after hearing this, and said: “We’re incredibly interested in the scene of refining these pills.”
Gu Zuo boldly waved his hand: “In that case, all of you can stay and watch!”
Sure enough, they all chose to stick around afterwards.
Gu Zuo candidly decided to refine medicine out in the open. He just looked for a giant tree with a larger canopy, and sat down cross-legged for the afternoon.
Then, a pill furnace appeared in front of him. When a wondrous fire squeezed its way into the furnace, it rapidly ignited.
He Zizhang and the others sat on the side, and watched Gu Zuo’s smooth and flowing movements. They only felt that every movement was filled with boundless mysteries and carried faint but magical rhythms that the martial artists couldn’t understand.
Within these rhythms, silken strands of medicinal fragrance overflowed, causing everyone present to detect a kind of scent that gladdened the heart and refreshed the mind.
Subconsciously, several people sat in cross-legged meditation, and began to carefully take in these medicinal fragrances.
While they didn’t come here to casually absorb anything, they could feel that these fragrances contained traces of medicinal properties, which were incomparably pure. If these fragrances were allowed to dissipate into the air just like this, it would be too wasteful.
Yet, He Zizhang and the others were somewhat surprised in their hearts.
They only heard that, when pharmacists at the earth level and above refined certain medicinal pills beneficial to martial artists, the emanating fragrances wouldn’t contain any impurities. They didn’t expect the profound-level pharmacist they encountered today would possess this kind of ability — Didn’t this mean that, so long as Gu Zuo worked a little harder, it was possible for his spirit body to break out of its egg and for him to become a genuine earth-level pharmacist?
If this really was the case, then they had to admire the good fortune of their youngest junior brother, the all-star prodigy Gongyi Tianheng.
From such a remote location, he could still meet this qualified, young pharmacist. Moreover, he was able to cultivate this level of trust and develop such a profound friendship from the very beginning… An all-star prodigy was worthy of being called an all-star prodigy.
Among these three people, Huai Tianhe’s expression was even more subtle.
Whenever her youngest junior brother really took action, he was fast, accurate, and held nothing back.
After taking in a certain amount of medicinal properties, the three slowly stopped absorbing. It was because, at this time, they sensed unusual changes inside the pill furnace. This was clearly a sign that the pills were about to be formed.
Originally, they found that Gu Zuo’s pill refining was extremely stable. There were basically no situations that were out of his control. But during this final hurdle, if they recklessly absorbed too much, it could disturb the smooth flow of qi, which would negatively affect Gu Zuo — Although the possibility was very small, this would only bring trouble to themselves.
After a short while, the high-pitched sounds inside the pill furnace became more and more urgent. Without the slightest hesitation, Gu Zuo performed the pill receiving seal!
In a split second, three fiery-red pills with golden patterns burst out. They were drawn back by his outstretched hand, and were instantly caught in the hollow of his palm!
Shortly thereafter, Gu Zuo smiled: “Fortunately, I didn’t disgrace myself.” He handed over these three medicinal pills to He Zizhang, “Senior Sect Brother He, take them.”
He Zizhang held the three pills in his hand, and looked them over. All of a sudden, he was stunned: “Three flawless pills?”
Gu Zuo smiled: “In any case, this is a kind of medicinal pill that I created. As a result, under normal circumstances, the product grade will be somewhat higher after refining.”
He Zizhang took a deep breath. His eyes were filled with joy: “Pharmacist Gu’s words are reasonable.”
Gu Zuo was also quite glad, and immediately started the second batch of refinement — The fire-type spirit medicine that He Zizhang brought had enough medicinal juice to refine three furnaces’ worth of pills. And there were still two batches left. He needed to work harder.
A beginner in the first round would become an expert in the second round. After Gu Zuo warmed up with refining the first furnace, the speed of the second furnace was even faster. The number of pills that came out of the furnace still reached three, and they were all likewise flawless pills.
Immediately following that was the third furnace. The results were exactly the same. There were no differences, and not a single mistake was made.
Just one stalk of Flaming Sheep Grass, which didn’t have that much medicinal juice, produced a total of nine flawless Golden Flame Pills. He Zizhang and the others couldn’t help but feel that they were taking advantage of him.
He Zizhang said: “…This He has already obtained many medicinal pills. Pharmacist Gu, please refine the Golden Flame Pills for Junior Sister Huai and Junior Brother Yuan first.”
Gu Zuo nodded his head: “That’s fine, too. It’ll be very convenient.”
After he finished speaking, he took out the stalk of fire-type spirit medicine that Huai Tianhe delivered, and started this round’s refining.
Matters didn’t go beyond He Zizhang and the others’ expectations. Several hours passed, and the quantity of medicinal juice extracted from Huai Tianhe’s spirit medicine was enough for a little more than four furnaces. Originally, only four furnaces were supposed to be refined. But for whatever reason, besides refining four batches, Gu Zuo also managed to cannibalize the other pills during the fifth batch to produce an extra Golden Flame Pill. This meant that the final result was thirteen Golden Flame Pills!
Huai Tianhe accepted them with mixed feelings.
The last one was Yuan Zang. The quantity of fire-type spirit medicine that he provided was even bigger, so he obtained more Golden Flame Pills. The final number reached sixteen pills. It was simply a huge profit…
Once all of the fire-type medicinal pills were refined, He Zizhang spoke with a wry smile: “Pharmacist Gu, you’d better deduct several pills. Otherwise, this He will be too ashamed.”
Huai Tianhe and Yang Zang also had similar thoughts.
Gu Zuo was exasperated. How could there be such a thing?
After that, he shook his head and said: “There’s no need to go that far. Since we made an agreement, it’s only natural that we follow through. When the next time comes, I will take one pill for every furnace I refine for you guys. That’s already a good deal.” He smiled at them, “As a pharmacist, I must also be held accountable to my words.”
He Zizhang sighed: “In that case, when the refining for the next type of attribute begins, that’ll be counted as the second time.”
Huai Tianhe and Yuan Zang also voiced their approval.
Gu Zuo’s expression became even more exasperated: “There’s really no need… These few types of medicinal pills are all my creations. Because you guys came looking for me to refine those things, it will deepen my understanding of them, which is also beneficial to me.” He said with a slightly helpless tone, “You guys truly don’t have to be so polite.”
T/N: Thanks for the corrections, Charysa.
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