Chapter 36: Rust Alchemy

Li Banfeng held a candle, searching everywhere for the golden-rimmed glasses and Hu Gaozi’s corpse.

He found no corpses, only some miscellaneous items in the corner.

He found the tattered clothes of both men. From the extent of the damage, it appeared the garments had been forcibly ripped from their bodies by some external force.

The items inside the clothes were still there; Li Banfeng found both their wallets.

The cloth bag containing the serpent-spot lotuses was also present, and the lotuses inside were intact.

Next to the bronze lotus, Li Banfeng also found the golden-rimmed glasses. Beside the glasses was a wooden spectacle case, and next to that, an iron tobacco tin.

However, one item was missing: the golden-rimmed man’s folding fan.

Li Banfeng was intrigued by the fan with its peculiar scent. Its material and craftsmanship were unusual; when closed, it could be used as an iron rod, and when opened, it could serve as both a knife and a shield.

Where did the fan go?

Was it consumed by the bronze lotus?

What about the corpses?

Were they also eaten by the bronze lotus?

It had devoured two corpses and taken the golden-rimmed man’s weapon.

What would the bronze lotus do with a weapon?

Could this lotus possibly fight with a weapon?

Moreover, the bronze lotus had previously consumed serpent-spot chrysanthemums and refined them into serpent-spot pills.

Now that it had swallowed corpses and a weapon, why hadn’t it touched the serpent-spot chrysanthemums belonging to the golden-rimmed man and Hu Gaozi?

Was it because it had meat to eat and didn't want vegetables, saving the fan to pick its teeth later?

This idea seemed quite plausible.

So, what was inside these three lotus seeds?

Had it refined the golden-rimmed man and Hu Gaozi into pills as well?

Li Banfeng carefully peeled the three lotus seeds from the seven-holed lotus core. The lotus immediately closed.

Two of the lotus seeds swelled in his palm. After about ten seconds, they burst open, each revealing a red spherical bead.

These two beads were slightly larger than serpent-spot pills, pure in color, and appeared remarkably crystalline under the candlelight.

What kind of pills were these?

As he pondered, the third lotus seed also burst, containing only one spherical bead, rust-colored.

Not only did its color resemble rust, but its touch also felt like rust, giving an unpleasant, rough sensation in his hand.

Besides the rough sensation, there was a stinging pain. Li Banfeng dropped the rust pill aside and noticed a red mark on his palm, accompanied by a slight numbness amidst the stinging.

Was he poisoned?

Li Banfeng didn't know how to react when he suddenly saw the red mark crack open and a small amount of blood flow out.

After the blood flowed, the stinging and numbness disappeared.

As a Zhaixiu (house cultivator), he possessed strong self-healing abilities within his residence. The bleeding just now must have been an active detoxification process.

However, Li Banfeng hadn't expected such significant harm from a brief contact with the rust-colored bead.

If the contact had been longer, or if he had swallowed the rust-colored bead directly, would he have been savable?

Even as a Zhaixiu in his own residence, he likely wouldn't have recovered.

In the spirit of seeking truth from facts, should he conduct an experiment himself?

At this thought, Li Banfeng suddenly sneered and muttered to himself, "Do I look like I'm crazy?"

Li Banfeng emptied the wallets of the golden-rimmed man and Hu Gaozi, used the tattered clothes on the ground as padding for his hands, placed the two pills into the two wallets, and knelt to study the characteristics of the bronze lotus.

The red spherical beads and the rust-colored spherical bead, for now, he would call them the red pill and the rust pill.

The red pills must have originated from the corpses of the golden-rimmed man and Hu Gaozi.

The rust pill must have come from the vanished folding fan.

The bronze lotus had transformed all of them into pills. Li Banfeng couldn't understand the exact mechanism, nor did he know the purpose of these two types of pills for now.

Li Banfeng's most pressing question now was: what principle did the bronze lotus follow when selecting materials for alchemy?

It had chosen serpent-spot chrysanthemums before, so why was it no longer interested in them?

Would it perhaps develop an interest in him one day and turn him directly into a pill?

Li Banfeng, carrying the bag of serpent-spot chrysanthemums, approached the bronze lotus, but it showed no reaction.

Then why did the serpent-spot chrysanthemums he had collected earlier turn into serpent-spot pills?

He tried to recall what was different about the situation when he returned last night.

As he pondered, Li Banfeng's head began to feel dizzy again.

This was a normal reaction after inhaling the poisonous mist; dizziness was followed by nausea.

Vomiting!

Li Banfeng remembered something: the first thing he did upon returning to his portable residence was to vomit. Unable to find a suitable spot, he had vomited directly into the cloth bag holding the flowers.

Before that, Li Banfeng had directly emptied the serpent-spot chrysanthemums from the cloth bag.

Could it be that the bronze lotus didn't react to the serpent-spot chrysanthemums through the cloth bag?

Li Banfeng opened the cloth bag and poured the forty-plus serpent-spot chrysanthemums collected by the golden-rimmed man near the bronze lotus.

The moment the serpent-spot chrysanthemums landed, the petals of the bronze lotus began to tremble.

Hiss~ Hiss~

A sound of metal friction arose, and the lotus's seven petals unfolded one by one.

Li Banfeng was once again awed by this intricate mechanism. He couldn't comprehend which was more advanced: modern civilization or these strange technologies.

After the seven petals unfolded, Li Banfeng clearly saw the seven-holed lotus core.

Li Banfeng felt the air in his portable residence moving in an unusual direction.

The air was swirling, forming a vortex, and at its center was the seven-holed lotus core.

The forty-plus serpent-spot chrysanthemums on the ground gradually lifted with the vortex, flying up and down in the room.

This scene must have occurred last night too, but he had slept so soundly that he hadn't noticed at all!

Li Banfeng instinctively stepped back two paces from the bronze lotus, worried he might be sucked into its core.

A total of forty-three serpent-spot chrysanthemums were sucked into the lotus, and its petals closed once more.

Indeed, only when directly exposed to the bronze lotus's "sight" would it react.

Sight?

That word seemed a bit inappropriate. Could the bronze lotus actually "see"?

As he pondered, Li Banfeng suddenly heard a crisp sound. Holding the candle, he looked down for a while and found that the rust pill had fallen onto the ground.

Hadn't he put it in the wallet?

Li Banfeng picked up the wallet and examined it. There was a hole in the bottom of the leather wallet, surrounded by bluish-black scorch marks.

Was it corroded?

The rust pill actually had corrosive properties?

What would happen if he swallowed the rust pill?

Not to mention a Zhaixiu, even a Duxiu (poison cultivator) would likely not be able to withstand it!

Li Banfeng grew even more curious!

Using a piece of tattered cloth from the ground as padding, he carefully put the rust pill into the iron tobacco tin.

An iron box, could it withstand corrosion?

It couldn't!

The corrosive effect was even more pronounced than on the wallet.

The moment the iron tobacco tin touched the rust pill, it began to rust rapidly. By the time Li Banfeng took the rust pill out, the tin was covered in rust, its original appearance no longer visible.

An iron box wouldn't work, but what about a wooden box?

Li Banfeng placed the rust pill into the spectacle case, observed it for a moment, and finding that it did not corrode wood, he safely placed the spectacle case in the corner of the room.

Li Banfeng waited silently by the bronze lotus, estimating about half an hour had passed before the lotus petals opened again, revealing another lotus seed.

Li Banfeng held the lotus seed in his hand; once separated from the lotus core, it rapidly expanded.

Bang! After a muffled sound, a black and white pill burst forth.

This was a serpent-spot pill!

Li Banfeng counted them; there were ten pills in total.

Previously, he had refined eight pills from thirty-seven plants. By this calculation, the bronze lotus's refining ratio was one pill per four and a half plants, which was more efficient than the methods of major pharmacies.

This time, even fewer serpent-spot chrysanthemums were consumed, and the yield rate was higher, likely due to the larger size of the chrysanthemums collected by the golden-rimmed man.

Li Banfeng poured out all the serpent-spot chrysanthemums, including those of Qin Xiaopang, You Tao, Cao Ye, Old Smoker, Hu Gaozi, Baldy, and his henchmen...

A total of three hundred and thirty-two flowers were all drawn into the lotus core by the bronze lotus.

After another half an hour, the petals bloomed again. This time, there were three lotus seeds in the core.

Li Banfeng peeled the lotus seeds and quietly waited for them to burst one by one.

A few minutes later, Li Banfeng picked up the scattered burst lotus seeds, collecting a total of seventy-six serpent-spot pills.

Including the eighteen serpent-spot pills he and the golden-rimmed man had refined earlier, the total came to ninety-four pills.

Money!

This was stacks upon stacks of money!

Li Banfeng had bought two cloth bags at the general store, but he had only used one to hold the pills; the other contained his vomit.

He put the pills into the remaining clean cloth bag and, while he was at it, also tidied up the belongings of the golden-rimmed man and Hu Gaozi.

The golden-rimmed man had 2,613 yuan in cash, and Hu Gaozi had 3,528.5 yuan on him.

Li Banfeng, at this point, didn't care much for these small sums of money. He collected them out of respect for the two deceased men.

After all, they had met and even formed a temporary alliance, so he had to properly keep their personal effects!

After resting for over two more hours in his portable residence, Li Banfeng left Bitter Mist Mountain and went to the gathering point of the various pharmacies.

The cultivators carrying serpent-spot chrysanthemums were still arguing with the pharmacies. They claimed they wouldn't sell, yet they hadn't walked far away.

If not to the pharmacies, then to whom could they sell?

They simply hoped that through this struggle, they could negotiate for a slightly better price, as one middle-aged cultivator put it: "Even if it's thirty, it's better; twenty-five is too much of an insult."

Li Banfeng wasn't interested in watching their wrangling. Xiaopang and the others were still waiting for him in a secluded spot.

Li Banfeng had been gone for almost three hours, which had Xiaopang extremely worried!

"I shouldn't have let him go alone! Where would I find that old woman all over this mountain? He was also up all night on the mountain; isn't this asking for his life?!"

Xiaopang paced back and forth, wringing his hands.

Cao Ye said, head bowed, "If Big Brother Baisha really gets the pills, I'd be happy with half..."

You Tao murmured to herself, "What kind of old woman is she? Could he have met a lucky star..."

When they saw Li Banfeng's figure, everyone was overjoyed. Li Banfeng wasn't in the mood to hear their thanks or engage in pleasantries; he immediately began distributing the pills.

"You Tao, you had thirty-eight flowers, which exchanged for four pills."

You Tao was surprised: "Weren't there two fewer plants?"

Li Banfeng replied, "I made up the difference for you, to round it out."

You Tao looked at Li Banfeng, feeling both gratitude and shame.

Li Banfeng then took out six more pills: "Cao Ye, you had sixty-one plants. The number is too far off, so I can't supplement it for you; I can only round down."

Cao Ye was overjoyed and quickly checked the authenticity of the pills.

Next was Xiaopang.

His calculation was a bit complex. Xiaopang originally had twenty serpent-spot chrysanthemums, which would yield two pills.

After splitting the serpent-spot chrysanthemums from Old Smoker and Baldy's group, Xiaopang had eighty-four plants.

Together, that was one hundred and four plants. Considering Xiaopang's care along the way, Li Banfeng gave him eleven pills.

Xiaopang held the pills, his hands trembling uncontrollably.

"One pill is ten thousand yuan! Come on, let's go sell the pills now!"

Cao Ye stopped Xiaopang, saying, "Brother Pang, where do you plan to sell them?"

"To the pharmacies, of course! They're right here!"

Cao Ye shook her head, "We can't sell them to the pharmacies. The origin of these pills can't be explained."

Xiaopang frowned, "Why can't their origin be explained? Isn't this, isn't it, that thing..."

Indeed, the situation was hard to explain; even if he did, no one would believe it.

Cao Ye explained, "I used to be an apprentice at a pharmacy. They won't accept pills with an unclear origin. If they start asking too many questions, it could cause us trouble."

It was true, they couldn't sell them to the pharmacies.

Li Banfeng remained silent, quietly observing everyone's intentions.

Hearing this, Xiaopang was quite dejected: "What do we do then? We've got the pills, but now we're stuck with them."

You Tao laughed, "How could you be stuck with them? There are so many people who want these pills, and they're all wealthy. Ten thousand yuan might not even be enough to buy one.

"You'd earn their money, and they'd still be grateful to you. Such a good business is something you can only dream of."

Li Banfeng's brow relaxed; there was still a way.

It's just that this method wasn't quite suitable for him.

You Tao meant selling through private channels to those who desired them.

Li Banfeng was unfamiliar with this place and couldn't find suitable buyers. He wondered if Xiaopang had a sales channel.

Xiaopang scratched his scalp: "But these can't be sold overnight."

You Tao asked, surprised, "Why are you in such a hurry? The pills won't spoil overnight!"

"That's true..."

You Tao didn't bother arguing with Xiaopang. She turned and cupped her hands towards Li Banfeng, saying, "A great kindness doesn't need thanks. These pills, and my life, I owe to you.

"In the future, if you ever come to Mazhu Village in Waigou, just ask for You Xuetao, and you'll find me. If you ever need anything, just say the word; I'll go through hell and high water without batting an eye!"

You Xuetao, You Tao – her nickname and name were quite similar.

She had provided her address. If Xiaopang couldn't find a way to sell the pills, it wouldn't be too late to seek out You Tao then.

Cao Ye bowed to Li Banfeng: "Big Brother Baisha, my name is Xue Yingying. If you ask for the old Xue family in Sanpuzhuang, Waigou, you'll find me."

You Tao took out two pills and said, "This kindness, my sister and I can't repay right away. Please take these pills as a token of my gratitude."

Cao Ye also took out two pills: "I, too, have a token of my gratitude."

Li Banfeng waved his hand, refusing their pills.

The two women expressed profuse thanks. However, if they knew Li Banfeng still had sixty-five pills in his possession, he wondered what they would think.

You Tao looked at Li Banfeng, indeed having a slight idea.

The Huanxiu (joy cultivator)'s thoughts were quite straightforward.

Perhaps his appearance was not at all inferior.

Cao Ye's thoughts were more complex.

Although she hadn't clearly seen the scene at the time, Baldy and his gang had indeed died at his and Xiaopang's hands.

This was a man capable of great things!

With his support, a pharmacy truly could be established!

The two women then said their goodbyes. Li Banfeng remained standing, pondering his journey back to Yuezhou.

Logically, with so many pills, he certainly wouldn't lack money.

However, until the pills were sold, they couldn't truly be considered money.

How could he quickly sell the pills?

Li Banfeng looked at Xiaopang, who also seemed to be in urgent need of money.

Yet, after sitting in silence for some time, Xiaopang, who had just been anxious, slowly calmed down.

He realized You Tao was right: "There's no need to rush selling the pills. That woman was right, these are valuable items.

"Not only can I sell them for a good price, but I can also make many good friends through these pills. So, there's absolutely no need to hurry!"

"You're not in a hurry anymore?"

"That won't do!"

"I am in a hurry!" Li Banfeng said, sitting beside Xiaopang. "I need money urgently."

Although Li Banfeng had also found a good amount of money on the golden-rimmed man, these pills seemed to have no use if brought back to Yuezhou.

Xiaopang was curious: "What do you need money for in such a hurry? Should I lend you some first?"

Li Banfeng waved his hand: "I don't want to borrow money; I just want to sell the pills as quickly as possible."

"Sell them as quickly as possible..." Qin Xiaopang could understand Li Banfeng's thoughts. Li Banfeng was from another province, unfamiliar with Yaowanggou (Medicine King Gully). He barely knew any ordinary people, let alone wealthy or influential figures.

After a moment of thought, Xiaopang rubbed his chin and said, "There is a place where you can quickly sell the pills, but the price will be discounted."

Li Banfeng's eyes lit up: "How much of a discount?"