Gu Zuo naturally had a reason for searching for the required herbs of these medicinal pills.

He was in a relationships with Gongyi Tianheng where they shared glory and loss together. In any case, when any medicinal herbs were refined, medicinal qi would be produced. Even when he wanted to try refining new medicinal pills, he would choose those that were the most useful to Tianheng.

First of all, the Ageless Pill's name seemed very strange… Ageless — Stopping the aging process? Under this curiosity, he looked up the medicinal pill's description.

With one look, he finally understood. It was the other world's version of cosmetics!

Although the current martial artists aged slowly, when they were at Xiantian or lower, the changes became obvious once their ages pa.s.sed forty. It could be said that the men were indifferent, but for women, it was a big problem!

In the modern era, when Gu Zuo worked as an apprentice at a drugstore, he saw many women purchasing Chinese medicines that would clear their acne or nourish their skin. There were many cosmetics that came and went for one's external appearance. It could be clearly seen that there were no limits for women in the pursuit of beauty and youth!

It could be said that in the modern era, the money women earned was already a forgone conclusion. Even the children understood this.

Thus, when Gu Zuo read about the Ageless Pill, he immediately thought about…the amount of money his big brother could earn using it.

Gu Zuo also used his brains. Similar to the Qi Generating Pill and the Rejuvenation Pill, those kinds of medicinal pills that could contribute to one's cultivation would undermine the continent's recognized standards of medicine refinement. Carelessly unloading huge quant.i.ties would certainly cause social and political unrest. However, the Ageless Pill was different. The Ageless Pill could consistently preserve one's appearance to a particular year.

Also, the Ageless Pill wouldn't hold much importance with martial artists who placed their efforts in increasing their strength. It would only be popular with female martial artists and among the women who wanted to maintain their beauty. Although it was a new variety of medicinal pill, it could still attract some greed. However, regarding the Gongyi Clan, such a Clan basically wouldn't produce too big of a disturbance — Over the course of dozens of years, each of the Five Great Clans could launch several new medicinal pills. The whole thing was very normal.

There was no doubt that the Ageless Pill was very important, but it hadn't reached the point that it would make Gu Zuo anxious.

What made him all tanged up inside was actually the Xiantian Pill.

As the name implied, the Xiantian Pill was a medicinal pill that helped people make breakthroughs in advancing to Xiantian!

Because Gongyi Tianheng was soaking in the Azure Dragon Pool, Gu Zuo was very sensitive to the word “Xiantian.” He saw it while browsing prescriptions, and his heart lurched. As a matter of fact, shouldn't he research this immediately?

And once he studied it, he realized that this thing was the real deal!

Gu Zuo instantly felt incomprehensible: If big brother had this Xiantian Pill, then did he still need to soak in that so-called Azure Dragon Pool?

However, after a careful read-through, he felt that his own thinking was too simple.

The Xiantian Pill had two kinds of refinement methods:

The first kind didn't seem so complex. There were forty nine kinds of herbs needed, but there were three to four among them that he'd never heard of before;

The second kind was very complex. It needed a total of eighty one medicinal herbs. Although the herbs were all common, it still required a primer. That primer was…a Xiantian martial artist's blood.

With the two refinement methods, the former's difficulty needn't be mentioned, so only the latter would be explained. What kind of respectable person was a Xiantian martial artist? Could they be forced to bleed themselves for a person to refine into pills? Moreover, the quant.i.ties used couldn't be considered too low. Each dosage of required Xiantian blood was as much as half a liter. Equivalently, one couldn't draw more than five hundred millimeters in a modern blood donation!

However, if it really could be refined…

Gu Zuo wiped his face.

If it really could be refined, his big brother's Tianlong Guard subordinates might be able to become the Xiantian Tianlong Guard in the future!

To put it briefly, Gu Zuo used this trip to see if he could find those couple of medicinal herbs he never heard of before. He would also offhandedly check on the rarity and price levels of the incomparably complex herbs for the Ageless Pill, and so on.

If his luck was good, then that'd be fantastic.

Gu Zuo maintained this kind of thinking from when he started his search with the first store.

Naturally, he also wasn't searching blindly.

Gu Zuo had read through all of the Gongyi Clan's books pertaining to medicinal herbs. Gongyi Tianheng also raked in some lone or rare books from the markets to give to him. They were all firmly memorized by him. It could be said that, for the endemic herbs of the Cangyun Empire, he was familiar with at least eighty to ninety percent of them. He'd also never forgot to solidify this piece of his foundations. And on the other hand, Gu Zuo also obtained a new book some time ago ent.i.tled >.

It was something that the long-silent system had suddenly given him. This was an indication of the rewards he gained from completing a long-term mission continuously for a year. It contained the morphology of the medicinal ingredients for those three texts [1]. The diagrams and words were especially reliable.

Gu Zuo spent a certain amount of time to completely memorize this Medicinal Ingredient Record. It gave him the confidence to look for treasures while out shopping — Yes, there were many stores and even street stalls where some medicinal herbs would show up, and everyone would overlook the power contained within. Once these medicinal herbs were displayed, it let people view or purchase them for research. Ultimately, one could even give them names.

A world of medicinal herbs was constantly enriched. To a great extent, it was due to the acc.u.mulation over the course of generations.

Under Dragon Two's directions, Gu Zuo walked in front of a corner table.

There were many small boxes on the table, and each small box was packed with something that emitted different odors.

Gu Zuo was a little nervous as he carefully examined those things one by one.

Merely, after he looked through them all, he didn't find the necessary ingredients for the Xiantian Pill. Instead, there were other herbs written down in the Medicinal Ingredient Record that he picked up to save for later.

After the first round of selection, Gu Zuo arrived at the sales counter.

This shop's owner was middle-aged and fat. He cordially welcomed Gu Zuo over: “Does little brother have something to show to me?”

Gu Zuo pushed two wooden boxes forward, and turned his head to look at Dragon Two.

He already returned the golden banknotes he received on that trip back then. Now, however, he didn't have any money on hand…

Dragon Two was calm and collected.

As befitting of an outstanding Tianlong guardsman, he had the authority to transfer a portion of funds into his hands. Immediately and without the slightest hesitation, he handed over one golden banknote: “This should cover it [2].”

The moment the middle-aged fat man saw the banknote's denomination, a smile promptly spread across his whole face: “So much! This small shop will return the change!”

While he was talking, he fumbled around in a drawer to make some calculations. He was long-winded as he gossiped with Gu Zuo, “I must say, little brother. Do you know anything about the two medicinal herbs you chose? If you do, so long as you're willing to sell the information to this small shop, I can give you a good price…”

Gu Zuo forced a chuckle: “This is… Ahem, I'm not familiar with them. They just look very interesting, so I wanted to take them back for my collection. I'll slowly research them later on.”

The middle-aged fat man was still calculating, and his smile was still enthusiastic: “Aiya [3], so it turns out that little brother is a pharmacist? How rude of me. Sorry!”

Gu Zuo's heart shuddered, and a guarded feeling rose up.

He secretly thought: At last, it's time to test my acting skills!

After that, Gu Zuo slightly bowed his head, his eyes a little sad: “En, it's impossible for me to become a pharmacist.”

The longer he spoke, the smaller his voice became. It was raising a topic that deeply grieved him.

In the back, Dragon Two's acting was also very good and his facial control was particularly strong. At this time, he didn't have any expression, but within that blank face was something that could make a person realize that there was a bit of sorrow.

The middle-aged fat man also knew not to inquire further. Currently, he made change for the small golden banknote and offered it with both hands: “If there's anything else that strikes little brother's fancy, don't hesitate to pick it up.”

Gu Zuo shook his head: “There's nothing else.”

Apart from looking for diamonds in the rough, the discounted medicines in medicine shops were definitely more expensive than those that were sold wholesale. Only a fool would buy them outside!

“Then, take care little brother!~”

“Goodbye.”

While they were talking, Gu Zuo and Dragon Two left the shop.

It seemed that there were many of these kinds of treasure hunters. Previously, the middle-aged fat man didn't know how to properly investigate, and simply tested the waters. However, now he felt that he was overthinking things and didn't pay too much attention to them.

At this time, Gu Zuo went to the second shop just adjacent to the first one. And as before, he made a beeline for the corner table.

He didn't find what he needed this time around, and just collected a few rarities…

Unwittingly, an entire morning pa.s.sed as he continuously searched for treasures.

Without delay, Dragon Two stepped forward: “Little master, you should eat.”

They had to keep up their disguises while they were outside.

Gu Zuo looked on distractedly, but responded by nodding his head: “Where should we eat? I don't want to go back first…”

Returning in the afternoon when he still had to get results was too troublesome.

Dragon Two said: “There are places nearby where you can grab a bite. I'll have to ask little master to follow this subordinate.”

Gu Zuo naturally agreed.

As a result, it wasn't too long before Dragon Two brought Gu Zuo to the largest restaurant nearby.

Dragon Two intended on going to a private room.

However, Gu Zuo felt that, although his surrogate big brother was very wealthy, it wasn't necessary for two people to eat in a private room. He could handle this casually. So, the final choice was a place next to the railing of the second floor.

When he lowered his head, he could see the lobby below. When he turned his head, he could see the distant scenery outside some windows.

Gu Zuo felt it was very suitable. After sitting at the table, he ordered several of this place's signature dishes.

To tell the truth, the standards of the medicinal cuisines he refined were pretty good, but real cooking was out of the question. The flavors of his previous medicinal cuisines were good, but that was part of his refinement techniques. Yet, he didn't find this satisfactory. Medicinal cuisines were also meals. His big brother was filthy rich, so since he could study more, he would just do so.

It was also called making the most of one's time for self-improvement.

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It was very lively below. While waiting for the dishes, Gu Zuo watched several things with rapt attention.

Perhaps the reason why the majority had the finances to spend here was due to all of them being martial artists. Many of the rough men down there had their spittle flying as they talked about their own or another person's hunts and adventurous tales.

Gu Zuo listened to them and had a kind of relaxed feeling.

Sure enough, the location didn't matter. Everyone liked to chat around a table and share in that emotional connection…

Soon, the dishes arrived. Gu Zuo had Dragon Two come over to sit and savor the food himself.

At this time, he suddenly heard a familiar name. After he blanked out for a second, he p.r.i.c.ked up his ears.

The aforementioned was precisely the Gongyi Clan's Gongyi Tianheng.

The content of the talks were that Tianheng recovered from his incurable disease and succeeded in practicing martial arts. Moreover, there was a rumor that he also received the recognition of the Cangyun Emperor. As for the reason why Gu Zuo could hear them so clearly from the second floor — It was because the people below began to argue.

For instance, they argued about how strong Tianheng was compared to the other four great young masters, the specifics on when he could start practicing martial arts, and so on.

During this argument, someone suddenly brought up a point. Gongyi Tianheng's complete recovery was due to a prescription. As for which specific prescription, this led to the curiosity and investigations of countless people…

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[1] I think the author is referring to the three ancient texts the system gave Gu Zuo at the beginning of the story. Each text was specialized for medicinal cuisines, decoctions, and pills.

[2] 多退少补 - Duo tui shao bu, after a sum has been paid in advance, to either refund in case of overpayment or be reimbursed in case of underpayment.

[3] 哎呀 - Ai ya, an interjection for shock or wonder, similar to Wow!

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