Supreme Emperor of Mist

"What a headache..." a female receptionist complained behind the desk for not able to process the wooden request board on time.

"What's wrong? It's my third time seeing you sigh behind the counter today." her colleague approached to check on her. It was actually Zhang Xue Yue, one of the ten seeded alchemists of the Dan-Xin Dwelling.

"Sister Xue Yue, please help me! That Qin Lan fellow is gone from the Lower-Xuan Room we've assigned for him. What if he left our Dan-Xin Dwelling because we've given him too much work recently?" the female receptionist hugged Zhang Xue Yue and cried.

"What happened? I remember he seems happy from completing all the requests we've allotted for him." Zhang Xue Yue remembered what happened a few days back when she and Qin Lan talked about the Special Appointed Request.

Although Qin Lan didn't accept the offer instantly, that did not hinder Zhang Xue Yue's recommendation to give certain privileges to Qin Lan.

But unfortunately, her recommendation now bites the Pill Request Hall back because Qin Lan is absent from completing the request. Unless Qin Lan personally came to the desk to reject the task, it will be difficult for the receptionist to explain why it wasn't fulfilled to their clients.

"So, did you ask where fellow disciple Qin Lan goes?" Zhang Xue Yue inquired.

"Yes. Qin Lan said he had something to do in the city, so he's likely in the Fuyun City." the female receptionist answered.

"Deliver the request to his room for now and leave him a note. I'll go to the city and look for him." Zhang Xue Yue teaches the receptionist what to do before leaving her position.

"I think sister Xue Yue is using this as a reason to justify her visit to the Fuyun City." another female receptionist whispered.

"Me too. Qin Lan better not be at the Medicinal Manor or the Zhou Treasured Pavilion. Else, his hard-earned contribution points are all going to vanish into thin air when he met Xue Yue."

...

...

"Business owner, I would like to purchase a few medicinal herbs." a cultivator dressed in elegant black clothing asked. Draped on him is a cloak made from the fur of Red Marten Demon Beast. The only inconvenience is the eye cover he's wearing to hide his real identity from the public.

"This expert, how can I help you?" a middle-aged man came forth to attend to his needs.

"I would like to purchase all the Golden Sparrow Flower, Torrential Spirit Fruit, and Crimson Deathberries the shop have." the cultivator said. At the end of his sentence, he placed a pouch carrying about a hundred Flesh Foundation Pills on the cashier table.

"This expert, may I inquire the reason behind your purchase?" the middle-aged man asked. The name Golden Sparrow Flower might sound beautiful, but it was actually a poisonous herb used to refine an antidote.

Similar to the Golden Sparrow Flower, the Torrential Spirit Fruit is also a poisonous ingredient. It was the same with Crimson Deathberries.

Although all three medicinal herbs were poisonous, they're also an irreplaceable ingredient when refining antidotes. But the purchase combination of this expert is unheard of before.

"It was for a research purpose." the cultivator said.

"Then... Please excuse me for a moment." the middle-aged man excused himself and went to the back of the shop. After a while, another fat middle-aged man accompanied him as both of them greets the cultivator.

"Greetings, fellow expert." the fat middle-aged man said.

"Greetings," the cultivator replied. As both of them were at Middle-Attainment Rank, it made questioning his reason for buying a large sum of medicinal ingredients less offensive.

"I've heard about it from my subordinate. Are the three ingredients you're looking for really worthy of research?" the fat middle-aged man asked. As an experienced alchemist himself, there were no recipes that he knows uses them.

"Of course!" the cultivator replied.

"Golden Sparrow Flower is used as antidote, but only a third of them were used. Why? Torrential Spirit Fruit could corrode spiritual energy, but why can it be made into pills after refining? Crimson Deathberries is the least poisonous, but why would we put the word (Death) in its name?" the cultivator started to share the questions in his mind.

What he said sounded common, but deep inside, it was the question many alchemists asked.

For example, Golden Sparrow Flower was a three-petaled flower with an equal poison substance in each petal. But the method of processing was to extract only a third of its medicinal value, leaving the remaining two-thirds went to waste.

To the alchemist refining the antidote, using a medicinal herb this way is indeed a waste of resources. Furthermore, a Golden Sparrow Flower takes close to a year to grow into maturity.

That's also the reason why purchasing these medicinal herbs ended up this way.

"May I inquire this expert's name?" the middle-aged man continued. The reply earlier made him remember his reason to become an alchemist when he was younger.

"You may address me as Pharmacist Lu." the cultivator said.

"Pharmacist Lu... Don't tell me you're the same Pharmacist Lu that introduced the Flesh Mending Pill in Xiyun City?" the fat middle-aged man continued.

"That is indeed a work of mine." Qin Lan smiled. Looks like the act before this using his own family's business had started to spread the rumors around.

"If that the case, then I have no problem selling the three ingredients you've asked for. Old Tao, pack them together and deliver them to this esteemed customer, please!" the fat middle-aged man cupped his hands together at Qin Lan.

"Thank you." Qin Lan returned the gesture the same way.

"Pharmacist Lu, have you considered becoming a member of our small association?" the fat middle-aged man took an association token out from his sleeve pocket. It was a piece of copper token about half the size of an adult male's palm.

The word (Pill Association) and (Yunshan Branch) is engraved on one side of the token. On the back was the name (Luo Yiren) written using Foul Essence Silver Ink.

"Let me introduced myself again this time. I am Luo Yiren, a Lower Xuan-Rank member of the Pill Association. I am also the assistant manager of this Medicinal Manor in Fuyun City. If there's anything our Pharmacist Lu needed, please feel free to look for me." Luo Yiren bowed.

"This surname Lu will consider your offer respectfully." Qin Lan kept the three ingredients inside the Purple-Dragon Spatial Jade in his hand and politely replied Luo Yiren.

(Note: I've used Pharmacist here on Qin Lan's persona because he's more into people's wellbeing. Alchemist is used on the people of Dan-Xin Dwelling because they're more concerned about their cultivation instead. It was, in fact, originated from the same profession named Treasure Master as there are eight branches there)

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