Luo Xiu looked at Li Jiuzhen with some surprise, not expecting his impromptu suggestion to excite the old gentleman so much.

He touched his nose and asked, "Teacher Li, are you sure this will work?"

"Certainly!" Li Jiuzhen's face beamed as he nodded with conviction. "Then let's give it a try."

He decided to go to the pharmacy later and find some scraps for alchemy.

At that moment, Lin Xiyue's voice reached his ear. "Before you go and experiment, drink your medicine first."

Luo Xiu was taken aback. He could tell what this medicine was just by its smell.

The medicine indeed offered some help for his injuries, but it was both bitter and spicy, truly difficult to swallow. And it seemed Li Jiuzhen had added quite a lot of "bitter seed." Not only was bitter seed extremely bitter, but consuming too much could also have adverse effects on one's sense of taste and oral health.

"Uh… I don't think that's necessary. I'm already fine now," Luo Xiu grinned awkwardly, trying to refuse.

But Lin Xiyue's expression was stern. "No, you must drink it."

COUGH, COUGH.

At this, Li Jiuzhen coughed lightly twice before gracefully taking Sun Li, Su Shanyue, and Wu Xin away, leaving Luo Xiu and Lin Xiyue alone together.

The room fell silent. Luo Xiu looked at Lin Xiyue with a bitter expression. "Even your breath smells of medicine. You must have drunk it too, so you should know how terrible it tastes. Why do you insist on tormenting me?"

Lin Xiyue's cheeks flushed slightly. "If it weren't for you, I would never have drunk such nasty medicine."

"What do you mean by that?" Luo Xiu was filled with confusion.

Lin Xiyue stamped her foot. "Never mind that. Just drink it now!"

Luo Xiu suddenly realized something, his gaze shaking with disbelief as he looked at Lin Xiyue. "Don't tell me… while I was unconscious these last few days, you fed me medicine with your mouth?"

Lin Xiyue looked at him coldly. "I just fed you medicine with a straw, so don't overthink it."

Her words were as good as an admission. Luo Xiu looked at her with a strange expression, but in the end, he sighed, took the medicine bowl, and downed it in one go.

Only after watching Luo Xiu finish the medicine did Lin Xiyue praise him a couple of times before leaving, her mind at ease.

Afterward, Luo Xiu got out of bed to wash up and then prepared to go to the pharmacy. Suddenly, Li Jiuzhen approached him, rubbing his hands apologetically. "Uh… Young Friend Luo, could you possibly let this old man also…"

Luo Xiu smiled faintly, naturally understanding his meaning. He waved his hand and mimicked He Dang Gui's tone, saying, "It's nothing, it's nothing."

Li Jiuzhen's face immediately split into a wide grin, as joyful as a seventy-year-old child.

「In the pharmacy.」

Luo Xiu picked up a small brush and meticulously scrubbed the inside and outside of the Pill Furnace.

Li Jiuzhen watched the Pill Furnace with envious eyes. Although he didn't know it was the legendary Three-Legged Golden Crow Furnace, he could tell from its quality alone that it was a priceless treasure, far from ordinary!

After cleaning the Pill Furnace, Luo Xiu gathered some leftover herbal scraps and, after organizing them, thought for a moment before deciding to concoct the lowest-grade Solid Peiyuan Pill.

"Young Friend Luo, what kind of elixir do you plan to concoct?" Li Jiuzhen asked cautiously.

When it came to preparing and boiling medicine, he was quite skilled, but he was completely baffled by Luo Xiu's current procedure.

Luo Xiu answered, "A Solid Peiyuan Pill."

At that, Li Jiuzhen's eyes flashed, and he said with a trembling voice, "That… that… You plan to concoct that type of elixir?!"

Luo Xiu smiled somewhat sheepishly. "I don't have a choice. The medicinal ingredients here are quite limited, so I can only concoct a Solid Peiyuan Pill, the lowest-grade elixir there is."

Hearing this, Li Jiuzhen's expression instantly became peculiar. He wanted to say something but was at a loss for words.

A Solid Peiyuan Pill… damn it, that's a Mysterious Grade elixir! How in the hell is that the lowest grade?! As far as he knew, the elixirs passed down by the reclusive masters of old were classified into four grades: Heavenly, Earthly, Mysterious, and Yellow. Heavenly was the highest, and Yellow was the lowest! In this era, even Yellow Grade elixirs were priceless and almost impossible to find. Many who obtained one would only keep it as a collector's item, letting it gather dust rather than consuming it. As for elixirs of the Mysterious, Earthly, and Heavenly Grades, they existed only in legends! And now, this young man named Luo can refine a Mysterious Grade Solid Peiyuan Pill from a few mere scraps! Is this guy even human?

However, thinking of Luo Xiu's background, Li Jiuzhen suddenly felt it was within the realm of reason. Although Luo Xiu had never revealed his origins, from the moment Li Jiuzhen met him and learned he knew the Creation Thirteen Needles, he had already made a guess.

Ghost Valley Mountain! If that legendary place truly existed and Luo Xiu came from there, then it wouldn't be surprising at all for him to refine a Mysterious Grade elixir.

As Li Jiuzhen's thoughts churned, Luo Xiu had already begun the alchemy process.

Li Jiuzhen braced himself and watched with rapt attention, not daring to make a sound that might disturb him.

Time ticked by. About an hour later, Luo Xiu waved his hand, extinguishing the cyan Pill Fire. He then retrieved two pearl-like white elixirs from the Pill Furnace. To the uninformed, they would look just like two white pearls.

Luo Xiu smiled. "Quite a surprise. I didn't think these scraps could yield two pills."

Li Jiuzhen, however, stood there dumbstruck, as if petrified, not yet having recovered from the shock. Although he couldn't fully comprehend Luo Xiu's fierce and skillful technique, he was still deeply shaken. It had looked simple and effortless—just lighting a fire under the furnace, tossing in various ingredients, and then the elixir was made… but Li Jiuzhen knew the knowledge involved was profound.

"Teacher Li?" Luo Xiu called out.

Li Jiuzhen returned to his senses and looked at Luo Xiu with admiration. "Young Friend Luo, it is truly my good fortune to have met you."

Luo Xiu said, "I'll entrust these two elixirs to you. Please handle the communication with Tianbao Residence."

"No, no, no!" Li Jiuzhen quickly waved his hands, his gaze fixed feverishly on the two elixirs in Luo Xiu's hand. "These are far too precious. I dare not handle them. If they were damaged in the slightest, I couldn't bear the responsibility."

"How about this, Young Friend Luo? Why don't you accompany me?"

Luo Xiu was rather puzzled. I used to eat these things like candy as a child. Are they really that precious? These city folk really haven't seen the world.

"Alright, let's go together then."

Li Jiuzhen glanced at the time. Seeing it was already past three in the afternoon, he said, "There's no time to waste. Let's get moving."

Afterward, the old man and the young man hailed a cab to Tianbao Residence.

「Tianbao Residence.」

In the spacious and luxurious reception room, a plump middle-aged man was sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed, looking at Li Jiuzhen with a hint of impatience. The man's name was Qin An, and he was the owner of Tianbao Residence.

"Now, Teacher Li, you should know the rules of my Tianbao Residence. We don't just accept anything."

Qin An also harbored a grudge against Li Jiuzhen. A year ago, a friend of his was critically ill, and he had personally brought him to Li Jiuzhen for help. However, Li Jiuzhen had refused to treat the man because he was from the underworld. Since then, Li Jiuzhen had been on Qin An's bad side, and the two hadn't spoken until today.

Li Jiuzhen smiled. "Owner Qin, why don't you take a look at the items first?"

Qin An smirked and lit a cigarette. "Teacher Li, let me be frank. I'm meeting you today out of respect for you as a senior. Let's just consider it a chance to catch up."

"You might as well take your things back. I won't bother looking. The auction starts the day after tomorrow, and all lots have already been logged into inventory. We won't be adding any new items."

Li Jiuzhen smiled and shook his head, sighing, "What a shame. It seems a peerless treasure like this is not fated to appear at Tianbao Residence."

Hearing this, Qin An frowned. "Listening to you, it sounds like you've really brought something extraordinary?"

Li Jiuzhen turned to glance at Luo Xiu, who was sitting beside him.

Luo Xiu understood the cue. He took the two Solid Peiyuan Pills from his pants pocket and placed them on the coffee table. The two Solid Peiyuan Pills were wrapped in nothing more than a piece of tissue. This crude presentation hardly matched the word "treasure."

Qin An glanced at them and scoffed, "Just two white pearls? Teacher Li, I'm not bragging, but the pearls on my bathroom curtain are worth more than these."

"Teacher Li, if there's nothing else, I'll be heading back. I'm really quite busy right now."

...

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