Chapter 380: The Cost

"Liu Cheng, President Liu?"

Master Apothecary Hong and Jiang Chen both trembled simultaneously, their bodies shaking.

Although President Liu's reputation had recently surged, almost catching up to the super genius Zhang Xuan, neither of them had ever seen his true face. Initially, seeing him young and trailing behind Master Apothecary Mu, they naturally assumed he was an apprentice. They never imagined he possessed such a high status. The President of the Physician Guild holds a position no less important than that of the President of the Apothecary Guild! Even Master Apothecary Hong, a three-star apothecary, was still far below him. But... wasn't he only skilled in medicine? How could he also practice alchemy, and with just casual guidance, enable a two-star apothecary to refine a grade-three pill?

"Whether in medicine or alchemy, one must have an absolute grasp of medicinal properties to formulate the best prescriptions and refine the finest drugs! Although I am not an apothecary and do not practice alchemy, I have a profound mastery of the medicinal properties of various herbs. I am perfectly clear about the changes each ingredient undergoes within a cauldron. Guiding someone through refining, let alone a grade-three pill, even a grade-four pill would not be difficult to produce!" Knowing their thoughts, Zhang Xuan calmly stated this.

"Knowing medicinal properties allows for that?" Master Apothecary Hongyun felt like he was going crazy. The same herb, at different temperatures in a cauldron, yields different medicinal effects and produces varying reactions. Even a slight error can lead to a massive discrepancy, resulting in alchemy failure. To not even practice alchemy, yet, merely by mastering medicinal properties, be able to guide someone to refine a grade-three pill... was he even human? He had previously thought that President Liu's resolution of nineteen difficult medical cases might have been due to prior preparation and accumulated knowledge. Now he realized... the man genuinely possessed extraordinary skill! Putting everything else aside, his mere knowledge and understanding of medicinal properties were unparalleled by anyone in Tianwu Royal City! Forget him, even their own guild president was far inferior!

"The way of medicine is vast and profound; how can it be fully explained in a single sentence? The alchemy of apothecaries and the prescriptions of physicians both essentially utilize various combinations to concentrate medicinal effects and bring them to perfect fruition. As long as one understands herbs thoroughly, it is actually the same path leading to the same destination, not difficult to comprehend!" Zhang Xuan calmly looked over, his sleeves subtly swaying, like an otherworldly master. Although his words were perfectly coherent and irrefutable, in reality, these things existed only in theory. In other words, they were fundamentally impossible for normal humans to achieve. Even six-star or seven-star physicians, despite their deep understanding of herbs, could not casually guide someone to refine pills based solely on that knowledge. It was like how, based on the length of human developmental stages, it is theoretically normal to live for two hundred years. Unfortunately, almost no one can achieve this. Theory is theory, and there is still a significant gap between it and reality. Cauldron quality, flame temperature, the cultivator's cultivation level, environment, the age of the herbs, their growth state... these are all variable factors. One or two might not matter, but when many are combined, it becomes almost impossible to control. Of course, he had only achieved this level of precision with the unique aid of his Library of Heaven's Path.

"You have enlightened me..." Knowing the difficulty involved, Master Apothecary Hong was filled with admiration.

"Yes!" Zhang Xuan nodded with satisfaction. "Can he now be considered a three-star apothecary? Is he eligible to apply for a pill formula at the Pill Formula Wall?"

"Master Apothecary Mu was able to refine a grade-three pill, and although it was under your guidance, with this experience, future successes should not be difficult. According to regulations, he is now eligible to apply for a pill formula at the Pill Formula Wall!" Master Apothecary Hong hesitated for a moment before replying. Even though Master Apothecary Mu succeeded this time with the other party's guidance, with this experience, it wouldn't be difficult for him to refine it independently with a bit of practice. In other words, it was only a matter of time before Master Apothecary Mu became a true three-star apothecary with a little more practice. Under these circumstances, applying for a pill formula would not be considered a violation.

"If I had known it was this simple, I wouldn't have bothered coming to you; it was a waste of so much time..." Hearing the confirming reply, Zhang Xuan shook his head, sighing. What kind of situation was this? Waiting so long outside, and in the end, they were unwilling, when it was simply a matter of refining a pill... it was a complete waste of time!

He merely mumbled casually, but Master Apothecary Mu heard it, and the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily. This was far too disrespectful, akin to a direct slap in the face. He subtly glanced at Master Apothecary Hong and indeed saw his face twitching, his body convulsing, almost spitting out a mouthful of old blood. "President Liu, you did that on purpose, didn't you? After arriving, you deliberately stayed silent, letting people remain unaware of your identity, just waiting to see a joke... Damn it! If I had known you had this ability, why would I have put on such an act? Now look, instead of showing off, I've ended up looking like a fool! More importantly, by offending such a genius, I won't be able to ask for help in the future, even if I wanted to!"

"Let's go!" Ignoring the exasperated Master Apothecary Hongyun, Zhang Xuan followed Master Apothecary Mu out of the hall and soon arrived at a sealed room. Similar to the Physician Guild's Wall of Difficulties, the room contained nothing else but a massive wall. Master Apothecary Hong and Jiang Chen also followed, curious to see what kind of pill formula Master Apothecary Mu intended to apply for.

"Go ahead and apply for the Grade-four Cold Yin Pill formula!" Zhang Xuan transmitted his voice. "Understood!" Master Apothecary Mu nodded, embedded his apothecary badge, which represented his identity, into the wall, fully activating it. With a sweep of his hand, he wrote three characters on the Pill Formula Wall: "Cold Yin Pill."

Using the Pill Formula Wall was quite simple: one only needed to activate the wall and write the name of the desired formula on it. As long as it wasn't overly ambitious, the headquarters would approve. For a guild in Tianwu Kingdom, possessing a three-star apothecary, applying for a grade-four formula was not a problem. However, applying for a grade-five formula would be impossible! The same logic applied to other guilds.

*Buzz...*

After the name was written, the wall vibrated for a moment, and a line of text appeared... "Reward: Three spirit stones or one Easy Bamboo Grass!"

"This is... the required cost?" Seeing the text, Jiang Chen couldn't help but ask. "Yes, applying for a pill formula from headquarters requires a fee. Otherwise, if everyone applied, wouldn't headquarters be swamped?" Master Apothecary Hongyun replied, then revealed his confusion: "But... other grade-four pill formulas usually cost at most one spirit stone. This one actually requires three, or one Easy Bamboo Grass. Isn't the cost a bit too high?"

"What is Easy Bamboo Grass?" "It's a rare medicinal herb, very difficult to find. Even in Xuanyuan Kingdom, it's hard to acquire, let alone here!" Master Apothecary Hongyun shook his head, his face full of regret: "This cost is truly too great. Master Apothecary Mu will have great difficulty affording it. Even with the eligibility to apply, he likely won't have the money to pay for it!"

Indeed, just as he had guessed, upon seeing the text, Master Apothecary Mu's face turned ashen and looked very grim. He had thought the price wouldn't be high and he could easily help pay for it, but three spirit stones... that was simply too expensive. Although he was a peak two-star apothecary, he couldn't afford that. As for Easy Bamboo Grass, he had only heard rumors of it; it was impossible to find, let alone possess.

"President Liu, I am truly sorry..." Turning around, Master Apothecary Mu's face was full of apology. The other party had come to the Apothecary Guild to find a way to help his daughter improve her strength, and he had thought that with his status, he could assist. In the end, he hadn't been able to help with anything.

"This is the reward to be paid? How do I provide the spirit stones?" Realizing this, Zhang Xuan was utterly puzzled. A pill formula was information that could be transmitted via the Pill Formula Wall, but spirit stones or Easy Bamboo Grass were physical items. How could they be sent over for the other party to confirm receipt?

"It's simple. As long as you agree to pay, someone will specifically come to collect it within half a month. Once they confirm the items are correct, the pill formula will be transmitted!" Master Apothecary Mu explained. "Half a month?" Zhang Xuan was speechless. What was the difference between this and simply purchasing a four-star pill directly? Purchasing a pill would also take half a month. He had requested the formula because he couldn't wait, and now, after all this, it had come full circle.

"If you want the formula immediately, you can also leave the badge here and not retrieve it! This way, it's like guaranteeing payment with your professional career. After the formula is transmitted, they will likewise send someone to collect the reward within half a month..." Master Apothecary Mu hesitated. "Using my badge as collateral is fine, but... I simply can't produce these items. If they come to collect... there will be nothing I can do!" If he could produce three spirit stones, mortgaging his badge wouldn't be a big deal. However... he didn't have them on hand. If they came to collect and he couldn't pay, the trouble would be immense. It would mean years of hard work would be wasted, and his career as a peak two-star apothecary would be lost.

"Just a grade-four pill formula... that's too expensive!" Understanding the situation, Zhang Xuan looked disgruntled. He didn't even know who to ask for spirit stones, and three at once... Leaving aside the fact that he didn't have them, even if he did, he needed them for his own cultivation. To use them to buy a pill formula, what a joke!

"Is there no other way?" He couldn't help but look over.

"Besides physical payment, you can also pay with knowledge or information. As long as you can provide something the other party deems valuable, it can also serve as a reward!" Master Apothecary Mu shook his head with a bitter smile: "However... those on the other side of the Pill Formula Wall are generally four-star or five-star apothecaries. We are far inferior to them, and any knowledge or information we possess would be of little value to them!" The lowest-ranked apothecaries on the other side of the Pill Formula Wall were four-star, and individuals of that level already possessed an unfathomable understanding of alchemy. How could a two-star apothecary like him provide any information or knowledge that would interest them?

"You can pay with that too?" Zhang Xuan was startled, then his eyes lit up. "Really?" "Yes!" Seeing his expression, Master Apothecary Mu and the others were taken aback. Could he, a physician and an outsider to alchemy, really produce information that would interest a four-star apothecary?

"Alright then, I'll do it!" Ignoring everyone's surprise, Zhang Xuan thought for a moment, picked up a brush, went to the Pill Formula Wall, and with sweeping strokes, wrote a line of text. Upon seeing what he wrote, Master Apothecary Hongyun stumbled, almost spitting blood and passing out. Master Apothecary Mu swayed, and tears welled up in his eyes. "This was activated with my badge, and my name is on the other side, President Liu, you wrote this thing... You're trying to kill me... Wuwu, you shouldn't trick people like this..."