This young Taoist was about fourteen or fifteen years old. Since he became a guest-receiver, when people came here, they would directly call, "Young Taoist, come here for a moment."

The one calling him "Taoist Master" was the first.

Even though Su Que was wearing a cloak at this moment, giving him a grim appearance, the young Taoist felt that Su Que was much more amiable than some people.

So, he patiently and thoroughly described the route to find Elder Qingxuan to Su Que.

After listening, Su Que walked out of this palace and headed towards Elder Qingxuan's location.

The young Taoist mentioned that Elder Qingxuan should be in the Pill Palace practicing alchemy right now.

The Pill Palace was situated in a secluded area, far from the main hall where devotees worshipped, deep within the Purple Sun Temple.

Following the young Taoist's description, Su Que passed by rows of houses with green tiles and white walls, gradually losing the noise of the main hall.

Before long, he arrived in front of a palace.

According to the young Taoist's description, this was the Pill Palace where Elder Qingxuan practiced alchemy.

Though the Pill Palace was not as grand as the main hall's Daoist Palace, it was still quite impressive.

With red walls and vermilion tiles, the four corners had flying eaves, resembling birds spreading their wings.

The doors and windows of the Pill Palace were slightly open, and a wave of heat wafted out, hitting his face.

Su Que thought to himself, this heat should be from the fire of the alchemy furnace.

In front of the Pill Palace stood two Taoists in their twenties.

They wore dark green Daoist Robes and had wooden crescent-shaped Daoist crowns on their heads.

Even though their Daoist Robes were loose, they couldn't hide the sturdy physiques beneath them.

Looking at the sharp look in their eyes, one could tell these two had martial arts skills.

This morning, Su Que learned that the Observatory Master of Purple Sun Temple, Elder Cang Yuan, was among the top ten martial arts experts in Jiannan Prefecture City.

Naturally, the martial arts skills of these Taoists wouldn't be bad either.

However, according to Ou Tianhao, the Meridian Opening Realm experts in Jiannan Prefecture City were estimated to be only about thirty people.

These two gatekeeping Taoists were unlikely to be at the Meridian Opening Realm and probably couldn't defeat him.

"Layman, are you here to seek alchemy from Master Qingxuan?"

As Su Que approached, a Taoist stepped forward, bowed to Su Que, and asked.

Su Que returned the gesture with a cupped fist, "Indeed!"

"Please present the elixir recipe, and I will hand it over to Master Qingxuan for inspection."

The Taoist extended his right hand, waiting for Su Que to hand over the elixir recipe.

Su Que was instantly baffled.

They hadn't started alchemy yet, and they already wanted the elixir recipe.

Wouldn't that directly leak the elixir recipe?

With his cloak on, the Taoist couldn't see Su Que's expression clearly.

However, seeing Su Que remaining silent, he asked, "Is this your first time here, Layman?"

"Yes, may I know the rules behind this?"

Su Que asked.

The Taoist replied immediately:

"For alchemy with Master Qingxuan,"

"First, the materials are provided by you, but given that we conduct a lot of alchemy here, we usually purchase herbs in bulk. You can also buy materials from us."

"Second, we cannot guarantee that every set of herbs will succeed in forming pills. If the alchemy fails, we will not bear responsibility."

"However, with Master Qingxuan's extensive alchemy experience, as long as he sees the elixir recipe, he can estimate the probability of forming pills."

"After Master Qingxuan reviews the recipe, I will convey the probability of success to you, and you can then decide whether to proceed with the alchemy here."

Listening to this, Su Que felt a stir in his heart.

According to this Taoist, Elder Qingxuan must have refined numerous elixirs.

He probably even refined elixirs with better efficacy than the Essence Enhancing Pill.

He could simply buy better elixirs here instead of bothering with refining the Essence Enhancing Pill.

So Su Que cupped his hands and said, "May I purchase elixirs here?"

The Taoist, understanding Su Que's intention, replied.

"Layman, I'm sorry but…"

"Any elixir recipe that comes into our possession will not be disclosed."

"We will also not use recipes obtained from other laymen to refine and sell elixirs externally."

"This is our policy."

"Layman, you wouldn't want your elixir recipe to be leaked or mass-produced and sold, right?"

'If I could buy better elixirs, I wouldn't mind leaking the Essence Enhancing Pill's recipe,'

Su Que thought but didn't say out loud.

'If that's the case, I guess I have to give him the recipe.'

'But still, these Taoists might just be lying.'

'He might leak the recipe after obtaining it and then claim it can't be refined…'

'Or he might intentionally underestimate the success probability to embezzle my alchemy materials…'

In a flash, various possibilities arose in Su Que's mind.

Of course, the chances of these happening were slim.

If such things happened, Elder Qingxuan wouldn't maintain a good reputation in Jiannan City.

'Alright then…'

Thinking he had no other option, Su Que retrieved the recipe from his garment and handed it over.

In his heart, he hoped these Taoists wouldn't deceive him.

If they did, they'd lose all the pills in this Pill Palace.

The Taoist respectfully took the recipe without even glancing at it.

He simply said, "Please wait here a moment," then turned and entered the Pill Palace.

Before long, the Taoist returned, handing the recipe back to Su Que:

"Layman, Master Qingxuan has reviewed the recipe. He stated that the elixir you wish to refine has a success probability of ninety-nine percent."

'Ninety-nine percent?'

This was beyond Su Que's expectations.

He did not know whether it was Elder Qingxuan's high alchemy skill or that the Essence Enhancing Pill was simply low-level and easier to refine.

Regardless, with such a high success probability, he didn't need to worry about being deceived by these Taoists.

The Taoist continued, "Master said he has the necessary herbs, and if you trust us, there's no need to buy them elsewhere."

"Alright then," Su Que responded, "How much will it cost in Silver Coins?"

The Taoist replied, "To refine one batch, resulting in three pills, the total is 250 taels of Trust Money."

"You may pay 180 taels now as this amount covers the cost of the materials."

"After pill formation, pay the remaining 70 taels."

'Trust Money…'

Su Que thought; it sounded like the payment was for the gods they worshipped.

Since they phrased it this way, Su Que didn't argue.

"Fine, please proceed with refining three batches of materials for me."

After all, he hadn't tried Elder Qingxuan's pills, so he was a bit skeptical.

He'd let them refine three batches first.

After arranging this, Su Que immediately paid for three batches of materials, leaving other expenses to be paid after the pills were formed.

After accepting the money, the Taoist said, "Layman, please come back the day after tomorrow."

"Alright,"

Su Que agreed and left the Daoist Temple.

Afterward, he headed to Zhang Bengen's residence.

He intended to meet with the Tang Sect's contact as his alter ego, "Greedy Wolf."

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