Matt moved into the building, it was quite large and had more than one level. There was enough space to bring in multiple patients if the need arose. The shop had a bit of a different look than the other establishments around the area, sticking out due to the large glass door that slid apart when someone stood at the entrance.
This was something Matt made in his free time, wasn’t all that hard just required a pressure plate and some technical knowledge that he now had. The electricity for things like that could easily be replaced by spiritual energy and it didn’t really take much out from a lower graded spirit stone to run those doors for multiple months on end.
After you went through the sliding door and heard a chime you could see a large reception area, a cute lady was sitting there also hired by the Zhang Clan as they didn’t really have many family cultivators to spare for tasks like these. There were a couple of junior members in here though and guards but no one really strong.
They didn’t really think anyone would attack their shop in here, Zhang Zhi would be stationed in this city for now acting as the de facto governor. His lovely buff wife and their child would be joining them soon, the man was a bit apprehensive about this mostly due to not wanting to be separated from his man crush that was the Patriarch.
Next to the reception area was the waiting area, there were a couple of long benches next to the walls for people to sit in but also a wider area with some tables where they could enjoy some tea while they waited for their order.
There was a little window in which some apothecary workers were inside, they would be responsible for selling pills and elixirs. There wasn’t anything like a need for prescriptions in this world, anyone could just say which pills they wanted and if they had the money for it they would buy it. But, physicians still gave them out to people that didn’t know what they needed as a service.
The way things worked in her were similar to modern times. People would go take a plaque with a number on it and then the lady at the desk would call it out, signaling that they were next in line. This was also why the small tea area existed so people could nicely spend their waiting time. Matt would like to have a digital counter and something that just automatically printed your spot in the line, but for now, this would have to do.
There were some stairs to the side, they leading up to the second level of the building and into the physician corner of the clinic. There were more waiting areas there, beds all around and some lovely ladies dressed in white Chinese styled robes and nurse hats on their heads, also forced upon them by the Patriarch’s peculiar tastes.
He would be stationed on this level, he had his own room with a bed to the side where he could treat patients one by one. There was also an open area with many beds outside, making it look like one of those military hospitals with just some drapes separating the patients.
“Yaaawwwnnn…”
Matt was sitting in his chair, slumping forward a bit. A crooked posture was one of his special abilities, this he managed to bring over from his old gaming days. So he was sure that no one would see through his elderly man disguise.
‘Sure is quiet around here, no one showed up. Did that news lady deliver the message correctly?’
Matt expected the sick people to claw their way in, demanding free healthcare as they did back in his earthly days. The waiting lines in his home country were always so damn long and you had to wait for hours to receive your checkup. But here, there was no one there. Everyone was just lazing around now, all the items and resources were already moved inside.
‘Maybe the news needs to spread further, or we need to send someone to advertise in the streets.’
He rubbed his beard, thanks to the disguise art he could grow it out quite nicely. He even had a nice fu manchu mustache to go with his beard.
‘Well, I guess I’ll go make some pills if I don’t have anything to do now.’
There was another reason for making this shop, his pill concocting was lagging behind his crafting skills quite a bit. He only needed some items to and he could create a heaven grade item, that he could absorb to push his body into the nascent soul. He had worked his actual crafting skills to the very top of core formation he just lacked the necessary resources to go further.
‘Yeah, those sect bastards really double down on anything related to heaven grade materials.’
It was ill-advised to create items in the nascent soul stage, whenever a practitioner fashioned an item of that level a peculiar aura would be produced. This aura could be felt by the nearby cultivators by miles upon miles, you would have sect uncles knocking on your door demanding you to cough the item up for some chump change in no time.
‘Those sects sure are scared about their position aren’t they?’
The same thing would happen if a person reached the nascent soul stage and was discovered. The only option for someone like that was either to run from the leading sect in the area or have enough backing to fight them off. If you were a renegade cultivator or came from a weak family, you would be chased down. Either killed by the sect uncles or recruited by them and closely watched, have some slave-like contracts forced upon you while they slowly brought you over to their side, one way or the other.
He was somehow able to make lower graded earth pills at the moment, but even this feat was something that would make him into a master pill maker in this world. Anything that reached to the earth realm would be considered a treasure, the families would fight each other to get their hands on a pill of that grading.
There was a logical explanation as to why, a low-grade earth pill was able to help someone reach the core formation early stage. This was enough for a weaker clan to be able to duke it out with the big boys, the Cheng Clan was in that category having spent quite a fortune for a pill like that which allowed their Patriarch to finally reach the core formation-level before the other three families in the area.
This was also how Zhang Zhi managed to burst through his bottleneck. Matt managed to create a pill that pushed him into the core formation stage and that didn’t have that many side effects. But this caused the already nutty junior of his, to worship him even more.
Wei Hung smiled at the bowing clinic workers as he headed out from his office, he looked around the empty rooms no patients coming in at all. But he wasn’t that surprised, he knew that people were naturally suspicious and untrusting in this world. Even more in this kind of town where you might be robbed in broad daylight. He already knew that his small police force was having trouble in keeping up with the reports, there was just too much shady stuff happening around here.
There was a cellar into which he headed, this was a designated brewing room for him. No one would bother him here even if someone was on death’s door as cultivators were really serious about their pill making. They were quite afraid to anger a pill making master during his or her work.
‘Well… let me get to work…’
He looked at the items spread out here and smirked, he wouldn’t actually be using these second-hand goods for his work. He had his crafting fortress for that and a designated brewing and pill forging area in there. This crafting abode had somehow integrated itself into his system, he could upgrade it even without having to buy the next version at the cash shop like before.
He closed the door behind him and put up the sign that he shouldn’t be disturbed. He then closed his eyes, his body began to glow slightly and then vanished from the spot he was standing in. Matt appeared in the center of his crafting abode, the air around here was surprisingly refreshing. He had a similar copying device for his pills, but it wasn’t as upgraded as the one that he used for weapon crafting. Each crafting related profession required a different one which really pained him when he had to spread his crafting points out.
‘Hope it won’t blow up in my face like last time…’
Crafting pills required a pill furnace, they came in various shapes and sizes. The one that he had in this room was a green jade-looking one. It was standing on three legs and had an oval shape. It had the yin and yang symbol on it from four sides and a lid with which you could close it. If you wanted to make elixirs, you needed a cauldron instead. He had one of similar quality in another part of this room, it was quite large and golden.
“What should I practice on today… think the people would really love more of those Core establishing pills.”
He had made a Water Core Founding Pill for Zhang Zhi, but he went through quite a bit of exploding furnaces. The things liked to burst open and hit his face whenever the temperature was off. It was even harder to fashion this pill as it had the greater Dao of Water truths inside of it, it would be a lot easier to make one that gave a cultivator a lesser Dao core instead.
‘Good that it worked, but it was probably more due to the superior cultivation manual…’
He had upgraded Zhang Zhi’s cultivation method, thanks to the library from that secret ground Matt could combine the heaven graded manuals with the ones that his clan members used and derive better cultivation methods. This was also another feature of the new system, well more of this crafting abode that had a library section a certain magical item with which you could combine texts.
It didn’t look like much, it looked like a desk with many smaller drawers in it. You put the text in there and then a popup window would appear in front of the contraption. You could spend points to combine the two techniques, add more so that the grade would improve. The costs were decreased if you put in a lower graded item and a higher graded item to receive a middle graded one from the combination.
For instance, if you grabbed a mortal grade Zhang Clan staple technique and popped a heaven graded one into the drawer. The system would show you if the techniques were compatible, and if they were you could cheaply receive an earth graded manual from it. You even could play around with the settings, letting the system improve the attacking potential or defensive potential of the skill. The inserted books would be lost in the process, but for Matt, that wasn’t a problem as he could write them all down again anyway.
‘Come to think of it, that feels a bit like cheating… but not my fault that they left so many techniques back there.’
This worked only to a certain point, it depended on how good the best technique that he had for combining was and if it vibed well with the other technique manuals in the mix. From what Matt understood the system checked if there were faults in the techniques in reference to the other ones used in the process. So if he threw in hundreds of similar technique manuals, the system should work out some kinks and he would receive an improved version. But there was also a margin of error and he could receive an utterly trashy technique, that would kill you the moment you tried cultivating in it.
Matt was now sitting opposite his pill furnace, some herbs already in it as he heated up the crafting utensil with his Qi. The purer your spiritual energy was, the better your crafted pills came out and Matt had one of the best Qi purities around. The various herbs and spices circled around the pill furnace, jumping into it while the cultivator focused. He was past the stage in which he had to insert items by hand, his mind doing all the work while he focused.
‘Keep the temperature stead… now comes the chilling star mushroom… d-damn added it too soon… need to add the inferno spirit grass to counter its effects now…’
You could see the sweat running down his forehead, one of his hands touching the furnace while the other was pointing at the circling herbs above the furnace. Soon it started rumbling which made the young pill maker’s brows quiver, he inserted more Qi into the furnace trying to slow down the explosive chemical reaction that was taking place but to no avail. The lid suddenly popped upwards and black goo shot out in all directions, Matt’s face all black and his clothes ruined and stinky.
“God damn it!”
He looked at the mess in this room, he would have to either clean it by hand or spend his crafting points on it. This new system was truly without mercy for its current owner.
‘Should I make some low graded elixirs to gain some crafting points… or clean it myself…’
While the elderly man was focusing on scrubbing the stinky black residue from his pill furnace, someone burst through the sliding doors of the clinic. Some time had passed since it was opened and it was now closing hour, but the screeching woman rushed in while holding a little boy in her hands.
“Please save my child, I have nowhere else to go!”