Seeing this scene, everyone in this medicine shop could not help exhaling sharply in shock.
Even if there were some who did not know Grandmaster Zhu He Xin, they could tell from the silver emblem hanging on his breast that he was a low level alchemist of the Black Grade.
Black Grade...!
To the common people, this was an indescribably noble identity that could be compared to the high-ranking court officials of the empire! It was even more noble a status than a mayor of a city enjoyed. But someone like this, a Grandmaster, displayed such an expression just because of one word... how could they not be shocked?
And the cause of everything was a young man.
How was this possible!
Many people were driven mad. This fact was something they couldn't accept, even if they shattered their heads!
Ma Da Jun particularly looked quite aghast. This Grandmaster Zhu was an important personage in Heaven's Medicine Pavilion branch in Rain Country. He actually wasn't even able to see such a person normally. He had only heard of some of the other's affairs through rumors. [1]
So how could he not be shocked, seeing this expression on the Grandmaster's face?
Could it be that this brat was not here to cause trouble? Were the medicinal plants he named real?
Ling Han sniffed a little, and said, "Well, you're quite clever, making a few changes to the formula for the Wind and Fire Pill, using Purple Back Bear Pill, Thousand Shred Cane and Black Rock Powder to replace a few of the more valuable ingredients. In this manner, there would not be much difference in the medicinal effects, yet production cost could be greatly lowered."
"How did you know?" Zhu He Xin suddenly turned around and looked at Ling Han in shock, asking in a rough voice. This was his secret! He had planned on publicizing it only after he had succeeded, so as to give a good shock to some of his old friends and rivals!
Ling Han's smile widened, and he said, "Naturally, I used my nose to sniff it out."
Are you a monster? You found out just by using your nose? Pill formulae were an extremely valuable item, and no alchemist would easily reveal their formulae to others. To an alchemist, It was something as important as martial arts skills to a warrior!
The problem was, even Zhu He Xin himself had not yet successfully completed his research on the improved medicinal pill formula, but Ling Han could analyze the formula just by using his nose! How could Zhu He Xin not be completely shocked by this?
"Your improved formula is feasible, but Copper Valley Sand is too strong, and the merging point is too high. So no matter how well ground it is, there will still be remnants within the completed pill, which will affect the quality of the pill. You can try using the teeth of Raging Flames Leopard as a replacement," Ling Han suggested. In his previous life, he had casually corrected a few people, and they later went on to become Grandmaster-level Alchemists.
Zhu He Xin immediately started calculating in his heart, muttering, "Raging Flames Leopard's elemental alignment is fire, which just happens to neutralize the Yin alignment of the Black Rock Powder, and when reaching a specific high temperature, will melt easily, so there won't be any remnants in the medical pill… wonderful, truly wonderful! Why didn't I think of that?"
The old man was dumbfounded. Looking at Ling Han with a fierce gaze, he immediately said: "Young friend, please accompany me upstairs, and allow me to receive you," of course, the reception part was false. He wanted to sneakily hoax him into revealing a few more pill formulae.
From what he's seen, Ling Han should be an heir to some influential family well-versed in alchemical arts.
Ling Han smiled, but said, "I can't!"
"Why not?" Zhu He Xin became frantic. This boy was very possibly a walking encyclopedia of pill formulae!
"Someone told me to get out," Ling Han said in a deliberate tone, glancing at Ma Da Jun.
"Putong!" Ma Da Jun fell onto his knees. At this moment, he really wanted to cry but had no tears.
How should he have known that Zhu He Xin would treat Ling Han this way? Had he known, he would have even respected Ling Han as an elder! Now what was he supposed to do? He couldn't stop the ugly expression on his face from showing.
The other people in the shop were all watching and shaking their heads in their hearts. Had Ma Da Jun been slightly more polite in his speech and not so forceful in his attitude, he would still have a way out now.
He had brought this onto himself!
Zhu He Xin immediately turned his head, his wrinkled face showing a fearsome anger.
How could he not be angered?
As an alchemist, the one thing he sought in his entire life was to raise his own level in the arts of alchemy and obtain more pill formulae. Now, here was an obvious "Encyclopedia of Pill Formulae", and that guy actually asked him to get lost? Did he bore some hatred towards him?
"Fool!" He shouted in anger, "What's going on here? Explain to me!"
Ma Da Jun wanted to die; under the interrogation of Zhu He Xin, he did not dare not to answer, so he just recounted the incident that happened previously while stammering. Although he did not attempt to distort the facts, the insulting words he spoke to Ling Han were naturally not repeated. He wasn't that much of an idiot.
"What great authority you have!" Zhu He Xin immediately gave him a hearty slap, causing Ma Da Jun to spin around on the spot three times before finally stopping, completely silly from the beating. "You haven't heard of them so that means they don't exist? Should all the hundreds of thousands of medicinal plants you haven't heard of be removed from this world then? Let me tell you, these five medicinal plants indeed do exist!
Violet Lotus Grass can be found in Eaglewood Valley, Blue Branch Fruit can be found in one of the valleys in Hundred Linked Mountains, Hundred Year Vermilion Bamboo grows in areas of extreme Yang, Red Leafed Potato is found underneath volcanic ash! Only Rotted Leafed Dried Tree Roots is rarer, it can only be found underneath the old roots of a tree that has rotted for more than one hundred years!"
"I was wrong! I was wrong!" Ma Da Jun kept apologizing in panic. What else was there to suspect if even Zhu He Xin himself had said so? He stretched out his hand and slapped himself, saying, "I shouldn't have been conceited, I shouldn't have behaved like a snob!"
Zhu He Xin once again turned to Ling Han, and said, "Young friend, many apologies, many apologies."
He suddenly started, because he recalled that before he left his master, he had heard his master mention a particular formula. That was a medication used for healing injuries inflicted on the Spirit Base, and it required the five types of medicinal plants that Ling Han had wanted to buy.
That time, his master had sighed with regret and said that although this formula did not require to be refined into the form of a medicinal pill, the effects were unexpectedly excellent. Unfortunately, possibly due to passage of time, only the names of some of the main ingredients were known, yet the actual method of creation was long lost.
As such, it left a very strong impression on him, and now he had suddenly recalled everything.
Could it be that Ling Han was buying these medicinal ingredients to concoct the Element Heart Recover Spirit Powder?
The old man couldn't help the increasingly rapid beating of his heart. If he could get this formula and burn it as an offering to his late master, then his esteemed master would feel happy in the afterlife!
"Young friend, the medicinal ingredients you're buying, could it be that you want to concoct-"
"Element Heart Recover Spirit Powder," Ling Han nodded, and truthfully said, "My Spirit Base has been slightly injured."
"Pu!"
Ma Da Jun immediately puffed in shock. Damage to the Spirit Base was fatal to any martial artist; from what he knew, there was no way to completely recover from it! But Ling Han's words seemed to show that coming up with a remedy for it was a piece of cake for him!
Liu Yu Tong's eyes brightened as well. She was Liu Clan's princess, and although she herself was not an alchemist, she knew that there were a lot of extremely valuable medicinal pills, like the Permanent Moon Pill, that could heal injuries to the Spirit Base.
The problem was, the value of the Permanent Moon Pill was indescribably high. Even the Liu Clan would need to sacrifice colossal wealth to get merely one of them… and they might not be able to buy one even then!
Ling Han, ah, Ling Han, how many secrets are you hiding?
She was getting more and more curious about Ling Han. Now, even if Ling Han said that he didn't want her as a follower anymore, she reckoned her personal curiosity would make her stay.
[1] ED/N: It's unclear whether the Yellow grade alchemist guy is surnamed Zhu or Ma. Sometimes raws say Zhu 朱, sometimes they say Ma 马, and yet they clearly refer to the same person… Ma appears more often, especially in the previous chapter (fifty-fifty in this one) and was first, plus while this Zhu is different than the higher-ranked alchemist's surname, it has exactly the same pronunciation, including the tone, hence it is possible that author confused their surnames and even then made a typo or something.