Chapter 124: Found a Solution

The High-Level Archives of the Alchemist Guild were not far from where they had held the pill debate. They walked for a while and soon arrived.

“The Alchemist Guild in Tianxuan Royal City only has about ten official alchemists in total,” Ouyang Cheng explained as he pushed open the large door. “These people only come to consult books when they encounter truly difficult problems. It’s usually very quiet here, so feel free to choose any book you want!”

Zhang Xuan acknowledged him and looked into the room. Although the Tianxuan Kingdom Alchemist Guild didn’t have many official alchemists, it housed a considerable number of books. While not comparable to the hundreds of thousands of books in the Elementary Archives, there were still tens of thousands. They were densely arranged on more than a dozen shelves.

“Just look around,” Ouyang Cheng said, gesturing casually. “If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask me. I’ll be in a room not far from here!”

“Thank you, Guild Master Ouyang!” Zhang Xuan nodded with a smile. “It’s no trouble at all,” Ouyang Cheng chuckled, then turned and walked out. “You’re an official alchemist now; I might have many questions to consult you about in the future!” He knew that Zhang Xuan likely had his own purpose and secrets for wanting to visit the archives, and it wasn’t convenient to disturb him.

“Time to search!” Seeing Ouyang Cheng leave, Zhang Xuan smiled faintly, approached the bookshelves, and began flipping through books from the first row. Simply searching would take a lot of time, and since he was going to be delayed anyway, he might as well record all these books into the Heaven’s Path Library. This would make it easier to view them later and allow him to learn more about alchemy. *Whish! Whish!* A series of rustling sounds of turning pages once again echoed through the High-Level Archives.

After an unknown period, Zhang Xuan stopped, his eyes gleaming. “As expected...” Hard work pays off; he had indeed found books detailing special physiques and pills.

“In the 373rd year of the Tianxuan Calendar, Princess Shen Qiu, daughter of His Majesty King Shen Ling, possessed a Pure Yin Physique. She successfully activated it by consuming a Grade-3 Po-Yin Pill...” “A Po-Yin Pill?” Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up. He continued to flip through the pages.

“In the 126th year of Tianxuan, a case of Dragon Rhinoceros Bloodline appeared. Pills could not activate it; instead, it required the fresh blood of a Dragon Rhinoceros Beast to be applied all over the body for activation... However, the success rate was very low!” He found the method for activating the Dragon Rhinoceros Bloodline in another book.

“Let’s see if this is correct!” Taking the two books to a copying area, Zhang Xuan recopied the two entries. With a thought, the Heaven’s Path Library displayed the copied content along with its flaws.

“Pure Yin Physique: Can be activated with a Po-Yin Pill. Drawback: Only about ten percent of the physique can be activated, preventing its full power from being unleashed...” “Dragon Rhinoceros Bloodline: Can be activated with the blood of a Giant Rhinoceros Beast. Drawback: Only about ten percent of the physique can be activated, preventing its full power from being unleashed...” Seeing the drawbacks noted in the library, Zhang Xuan couldn’t help but be stunned. “Only ten percent activation for both?” He had previously thought that any suitable pill would lead to full activation, but he hadn’t expected only ten percent.

“However, even ten percent is enough!” Zhang Xuan smiled faintly. Special physiques were incredibly powerful; even a mere ten percent activation would allow for rapid advancement, making it easy to deal with a small freshman competition!

“Now, I just need to find a Grade-3 Po-Yin Pill and the blood of a Giant Rhinoceros Beast!” Having found what he wanted, Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. He finished flipping through the remaining books before exiting the archives and heading towards Ouyang Cheng’s room. As the Guild Master of the Alchemist Guild, Ouyang Cheng was likely the only one who could help him acquire these two items. After having scanned all the books in the High-Level Archives of the Alchemist Guild, Zhang Xuan also had a rough idea of the elixir Wang Ying needed and the pill Liu Yang required, so he could purchase them all together.

“Alchemist Zhang Xuan!” Seeing him approach, Ouyang Cheng quickly stood up.

“Guild Master Ouyang, I might need to trouble you with something!” Zhang Xuan got straight to the point without any pleasantries. “I’d like to purchase a few items, and I may need your assistance, Guild Master!”

“Oh? What items do you need? If the Guild has them, it’s no problem!” Ouyang Cheng nodded.

“I need a Po-Yin Pill, a Warm-Meridian Pill, a portion of Giant Rhinoceros Beast blood, and a portion of Body-Nourishing Elixir!” Zhang Xuan listed what he wanted. The Warm-Meridian Pill was for Liu Yang; his insufficient cultivation had led to the wilting of the meridians in his right hand from over-practicing martial arts, requiring the pill for nourishment. The Body-Nourishing Elixir was for Wang Ying; though her injured legs had now recovered, they were not yet back to normal, and this elixir was needed to help them heal faster.

“The Warm-Meridian Pill and Body-Nourishing Elixir are easy to find; I can get those for you. However, the Po-Yin Pill and Giant Rhinoceros Beast blood... those are a bit more difficult!” Ouyang Cheng hadn’t expected Zhang Xuan to request so many items at once, and his brow furrowed involuntarily.

“Difficult to find? Can they be found?” Zhang Xuan looked at him. Knowing the solution but being unable to acquire the items would be truly frustrating.

“Our Guild doesn’t have these items, but if I apply to the headquarters, I should be able to procure them!” Ouyang Cheng replied.

“That’s good then...” Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief.

“However...” Ouyang Cheng’s brow furrowed again. “The headquarters are quite far from here. Even with special methods, acquiring them from other kingdoms would likely take at least ten days!”

“Ten days?” Zhang Xuan was momentarily stunned, then said, “Alright, ten days it is!” The freshman competition was still fourteen days away, so even if it arrived in ten days, it would still be in time, though a bit urgent.

“Very well, I’ll apply to the headquarters now. You can pick them up in ten days. As for the Warm-Meridian Pill and Body-Nourishing Elixir, I can get those for you right away!” Guild Master Ouyang said with a smile.

“Understood, thank you, Guild Master!” Zhang Xuan nodded. “How much will these four items cost in total? Should I pay now or wait until everything has arrived?” He had taken over a million gold coins from the swindler Yang Mo, making him quite wealthy. Buying a few medicinal ingredients for his students to help them improve their strength was nothing. It would also be a good opportunity to demonstrate his greatness as a teacher! Just a small sum, was he a stingy person?

“The Warm-Meridian Pill and Body-Nourishing Elixir aren’t expensive; together, they’ll be 400,000 gold coins!” Ouyang Cheng calculated. “The Po-Yin Pill and Giant Rhinoceros Beast blood are a bit pricier. The former is considered a top-tier Grade-3 pill, and the Giant Rhinoceros Beast is an Innately Gifted Beast, a full level higher than a Savage Beast!” He continued, “Since you are now an alchemist, you can enjoy special privileges, so I’ll give you a discount. The Po-Yin Pill is roughly 20 million gold coins, and the Giant Rhinoceros Beast blood is 3 million gold coins! How about this, I’ll round it down for you; just give me 23 million.” Ouyang Cheng finished his calculation and stated the price.

After speaking, seeing no response from the other side, he couldn’t help but look up, only to see Zhang Xuan had, at some point, already walked more than ten meters away, frantically waving his arms. “I was just asking about these things casually; don’t take it seriously...”

“...” Ouyang Cheng was speechless.