Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 196 - Sneer

Talisman papers were the same as pills with strict gradings. The fifth-grade talisman paper could only be refined by those with cultivation in the True Core Realm, which was the same for fifth-grade pills.

If Liu Wuxie had enough materials, refining fifth-grade talisman papers wouldn’t have been a problem. However, due to the scarcity of resources in the Great Yan Dynasty, he couldn't gather them anytime soon.

Fifth-grade talisman papers were as common as dirt, like garbage, in the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion. However, it was a different story in the Great Yan Dynasty, and they could be considered treasures.

“If you can’t find one, you can also prepare some fourth-grade talisman papers for me.” Liu Wuxie had no other option but to settle for the second best. If required, he would just use fourth-grade talismans to smash Qin Shi to death. But this meant it would be hard for him to catch Qin Shi by surprise, and the odds of killing the latter wouldn’t be high.

So if Liu Wuxie wanted to catch Qin Shi by surprise, he could only rely on fifth-grade talisman papers, as fifth-grade talismans were comparable to an attack from someone in the True Core Realm. Even if Qin Shi were in the Quasi-True Core Realm, only death would await him.

“Rest assured, I’ll handle this. I’ll secure a fifth-grade talisman paper for you in as little as ten days, or at most, half a month,” Mu Yueying stated after a moment of consideration. She must have devised a plan, albeit a potentially challenging one. However, given that Liu Wuxie had helped her, she was willing to take the risk to help him as a token of gratitude.

“Thank you, Lady Mu!” Liu Wuxie expressed his gratitude and took his leave, allowing Mu Yueying to rest.

Mu Yueying personally escorted Liu Wuxie out of the ninth floor and instructed a maid to guide him around the Treasure Pill Pavilion to familiarize him with the place.

As the chief alchemist of the Treasure Pill Pavilion, Liu Wuxie naturally had his independent alchemy chamber.

“Master Liu!” When Liu Wuxie came to the fourth floor, Master Mao greeted Liu Wuxie. The Treasure Pill Pavilion had been facing troubles recently, and Liu Wuxie’s return brought them hope.

“Master Mao, you’re being too courteous. In the future, just call me Wuxie; it feels more comfortable to me that way.” Liu Wuxie replied promptly with a bow. At the headquarters of the Treasure Pill Pavilion, most alchemists generally treated him with respect, and none of them showed any signs of rejection.

Despite Liu Wuxie taking over his position as the chief alchemist, Master Mao harbored no resentment towards him. Instead, he showed genuine respect, which Liu Wuxie could sense was heartfelt. This respect was further solidified when Master Mao learned about Liu Wuxie’s successful refinement of the fourth-grade Soul Converging Pill after struggling with the Golden Spirit Pill himself.

In the realm of alchemy, precedence didn’t matter; it was all about skill. Given Liu Wuxie’s evident alchemy skills, Master Mao didn’t find it embarrassing to address him with the honorific ‘Master’.

“Alright. I’ll be honored to address you as Wuxie in the future.” Master Mao was understanding and wore a hearty smile. The two looked like friends despite their age as they walked towards the alchemy chambers. The quality of the alchemy chambers in the Treasure Pill Pavilion far exceeded the Imperial Academy. After all, they had to refine large quantities of pills daily.

“Master Mao, I must visit the warehouse to pick some herbs. I’ll have to trouble you to lead the way.”

After Mu Yueying’s maid had escorted Liu Wuxie, she left, knowing that he could ask around to find the warehouse. With Master Mao present, he was the best guide.

“My pleasure!” They ventured deeper into the fourth level, where the warehouse was situated. This warehouse stored herbs that the Treasure Pill Pavilion had accumulated over a century.

The Treasure Pill Pavilion had humble beginnings as a small herbal store over a hundred years ago. Its current status was a testament to the efforts of their predecessors.

The person guarding the warehouse was an old man who sat on a rattan chair with his eyes closed. When he sensed someone’s arrival, he opened his eyes slightly and glanced at Liu Wuxie.

“Old Mao, you’re here for herbs again. I remember that you already came once in the morning,” the old man addressed Master Mao as Old Mao. From this alone, anyone could see they had a good relationship.

“Elder Wen, let me introduce you. This is our newly appointed four-star alchemist in the Treasure Pill Pavilion, Liu Wuxie...I mean Master Liu.” Master Mao introduced. Since Liu Wuxie would visit the Treasure Pill Pavilion frequently in the future, he had to understand this place well. That was especially the case for the elder guarding the warehouse because Liu Wuxie might have to interact with him daily.

“I’ve heard of him. I didn’t expect our new four-star alchemist to be so young. Old Mao, are you really ready to hand over the chief alchemist’s position to him?” Elder Wen asked, his close relationship with Master Mao allowing him to speak freely in front of Liu Wuxie.

“Elder Wen, we’ve been friends for decades. Let’s not bring this up again, or I won’t be so cordial next time. Now, let me take Master Liu into the warehouse to select some herbs,” Master Mao responded, his irritation clear. While he could tolerate Elder Wen’s comment once, he wouldn’t stand for it being repeated, as it could affect his relationship with Liu Wuxie.

Throughout the exchange, Liu Wuxie remained silent, offering only a faint smile.

"Elder Wen said, “You’re welcome to select herbs, but you’ll need the lady’s approval first.” He didn’t unlock the warehouse. Every alchemist needed authorization from Mu Yueying to retrieve herbs from the warehouse, a strict protocol to prevent wastage.

This was mainly because Mu Yueying needed a grasp on the daily production of pills.

“Wuxie, do you have the lady’s authorization?” Master Mao asked, looking at Liu Wuxie.

“Is this sufficient for authorization?” Liu Wuxie asked, presenting the medal he had received from Mu Yueying to the two men.

Upon seeing the medal, Master Mao nearly lost his balance, while Elder Wen’s face contorted as if he had swallowed a fly. The usual authorization only allowed for limited access to the herbs in the warehouse. However, this medal granted Liu Wuxie unrestricted access to any herb in the store, bypassing the need for higher-up approval.

“This is the General Medal of the Treasure Pill Pavilion. Its presence is equivalent to the presence of the pavilion master. With this medal, you have unrestricted access to any herb in the warehouse,” Master Mao explained, a bitter smile on his face. He appeared to age significantly in that moment, as he hadn’t anticipated Mu Yueying placing such high value on Liu Wuxie.

“May I proceed now?” Liu Wuxie asked, eager to expedite the process. His goal was to refine fifth-grade pills and ascend to the seventh level of the Spirit Cleansing Realm in one attempt.

This would increase the success rate of his engraving fifth-grade spiritual runes. After all, a fifth-grade talisman paper was precious, and he couldn’t afford any failure.

“Please!” Elder Wen opened the gate to the warehouse, welcoming Liu Wuxie inside.

As the three went in, Master Mao and Elder Wen followed behind Liu Wuxie, eager to see what herb he would pick. Master Mao had a learning attitude, while Elder Wen had a supervising attitude.

The warehouse was larger than Liu Wuxie had anticipated, housing a vast array of herbs from first to fourth grade, all neatly arranged. There were also dried herbs, and without guidance, it could take days to locate specific herbs.

In the Treasure Pill Pavilion, the pill sales were fixed. For instance, Master Mao only refined fourth-grade pills, and the required herbs were almost identical, allowing for easy daily collection.

If Liu Wuxie were to continue to search for herbs without assistance, he might not have found the herbs he needed in a day. As a result, he employed the Ghost Eye technique to expedite the process.

With the Ghost Eye, Liu Wuxie’s gaze penetrated the herbal shelves, bringing all the herbs into view for swift analysis. The effects and components of each herb were laid bare before his eyes, ready for evaluation.

Neither Master Mao nor Elder Wen disturbed Liu Wuxie, understanding the challenge of selecting from the vast array of herbs. Elder Wen, who was in charge of organizing the herb warehouse, would himself require half a day to make such a selection.

As the minutes ticked by, Master Mao found himself on the verge of speaking several times, but he held his tongue. Liu Wuxie remained stationary, seemingly deep in thought.

An hour later, Liu Wuxie let out a long breath.

“Wuxie, have you decided on the herbs?” Master Mao asked eagerly.

“I’ve made my decision!” Liu Wuxie declared, striding towards the shelves that housed the fourth-grade herbs. Over the next few days, he would need to concoct several types of pills. His earlier analysis of the herb components was also a consideration for which pills would expedite his attainment of the seventh level of the Spirit Cleansing Realm.

The shelves were brimming with tens of thousands of fourth-grade pills, meticulously sorted by type. Some types boasted hundreds of samples, while others had only one or two.

Liu Wuxie seized this golden opportunity, swiftly transferring the herbs into his interspatial pouch.

Elder Wen watched with a pang of regret, as typically only Master Mao was permitted to use these fourth-grade herbs daily, while the other alchemists were tasked with refining third-grade pills.

In a flash, Liu Wuxie had gathered thousands of these valuable fourth-grade herbs, showing no signs of stopping.

This gradually made Master Mao impatient, who feared Liu Wuxie might deplete the entire stock of fourth-grade herbs.

Elder Wen, armed with paper and brush, diligently recorded the herbs that Liu Wuxie was taking.

Fifteen minutes later, Liu Wuxie finally paused after collecting nineteen thousand herbs, yet his expression suggested he was far from satisfied.

This sight made Elder Wen’s lips twitch and his heart ache. After all, the Treasure Pill Pavilion’s herb collection, painstakingly accumulated over a century, had been halved in an instant.

“How much are the herbs worth?” Liu Wuxie turned to ask Elder Wen. The herbs could no longer be valued with gold coins.

Elder Wen didn’t take long to calculate, and he said, “20,000 spirit stones.”

Liu Wuxie was taken aback by the high value of the herbs. He hadn’t anticipated that they would be worth twice the amount that Blood Bat had managed to accumulate over half a century. The realization explained the grim expressions on Master Mao’s and Elder Wen’s faces earlier.

“Master Mao, how many fourth-grade pills are required to offset the 20,000 spirit stones?” Liu Wuxie didn’t want to owe the Treasure Pill Pavilion any favor. Since he had taken half of the fourth-grade herbs from their warehouse, this would be a significant blow to the Treasure Pill Pavilion, and the best way was to fill up the gap.

“About five thousand!” Fourth-grade pills were rare in the market, and Master Mao could only refine ten-odd pills daily. He would need at least a year to refine five thousand spirit stones.

“That’s about right. I’ll help you all refine five thousand fourth-grade pills for free to offset the losses of the herbs.” Liu Wuxie calculated briefly, and the herbs could be used to barely refine seven thousand pills. If he handed five thousand pills to the Treasure Pill Pavilion, he would still have two thousand for himself. He didn’t lack fourth-grade pills, but he required fifth-grade pills to increase his cultivation.

Elder Wen couldn’t contain his skepticism any longer, scoffing, “Who doesn’t know how to boast? I doubt you could refine five thousand fourth-grade pills even in three years.” He had never encountered such audacity before.

Master Mao also wore an expression of disbelief. After all, Liu Wuxie was scheduled for a death match in twenty days. Where would he find the time to refine fourth-grade pills?

“Who said that I’ll need three years? One day is enough for me!”