Chapter 177 Alchemy

Fang Yan silently looked at the Buddhist sect, which should have been a peaceful place, but now it had become a bustling market in the Loose Cultivator League. He didn't know what feeling was stirring in his heart, but his shock was evident.
The items sold in front of the temple's main gate are rare birds and mythical creatures, and the second and third gates sell everyday items, somewhat resembling an open-air flea market from a past life. The ground is lined with colorful tents selling low-level talismans, flying swords, time fruits, preserved fruit, and more.
Close to the temple, even Daoist disciples are doing business, wearing Daoist robes and selling preserved fruits on stalls.
On both sides of the corridor are stalls operated by nuns from various temples, selling embroidered works, scarves, flowers, jewelry, and headdresses.
Some places at the back of the Buddhist temple are stalls selling books, antiques, calligraphy and paintings. As you go further inside, there are places where wandering cultivators who often travel in the Central Plains sell local specialities, spices and medicinal herbs.
The rear corridor is a place where divination and fortune-telling are done, with dozens of stalls crowded together, often arguing over a deal.
What's even more peculiar is that there is a certain type of business here, specializing in organizing wedding banquets and funeral arrangements for monks.
Dialects Suddenly thought that such a place is the place for the life of a cultivator. There are no grudges between rivers and lakes, no conflicts of interest between powers, and no fighting and killing, but rather an atmosphere of tranquility and serenity surrounds everything.
So, Fang Yan exclaimed from the bottom of her heart, "It's really spectacular!"
Lian Er, not understanding, scratched her head and said, "Why is it considered spectacular?"
Fang Yan snapped, "If you don't understand, then be quiet!"
Instead, the naive fat cat looked at the delicious food on the street and drooled, saying, "They all look so tasty!"
On this day, Fangyan woke up early and prepared to open the store.
The name of the pharmacy is Jiren Hall.
There are five doctors in the store, divided into five counters named Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, and Xu. These five doctors are known as 'Heaven's Gift, Precious Medicine, Magic Medicine, plus Fang Kening.' As for dialects, they usually sit in corners or wander around doing nothing productive, like lazy snakes. In simple terms, they don't focus on their work.
Let five ghosts see a doctor. Perhaps dialects are breaking new ground here.
As a result, after five months, business is not good. As soon as I think about it, it becomes clear that the reason is that the people living here are cultivators. Although they are low-level cultivators, they are still cultivators and cannot be treated as ordinary people. Except for life and death situations, it is unlikely that they will have any headaches or illnesses.
So, after some thinking, Fang Yan decided to expand his business and have Lian'er put up a sign that says 'Low-level Alchemy Services' with a small note underneath that says, 'For every furnace of pills you practice, you will receive another furnace for free. As long as you have all the necessary materials, you will only be charged for one furnace of pills.'
In this way, business immediately came to the door, and it was a low-level casual repairman who lived here all year round. According to him, it seemed that he couldn't afford the pharmaceutical specialty area ahead because the charges there were too expensive, so he could only come to our place and try his luck.
When this person arrived, the local dialect was not even in the shop. At this moment, he is in the neighboring blacksmith shop observing and learning from Uncle Wang's iron forging. They are exchanging experiences and insights. Although the cultivators living here are not very wealthy, or one could say they are at the bottom of the Loose Cultivators Alliance, it cannot be denied that such places often hide masters.
Fang Yan feels that the neighbor, Mr. Wang, is such a person. His techniques are refined and his skills are proficient. Despite practicing with low-level equipment, he gives snakes the feeling of thunder in the silent air. One would almost think that Mr. Wang is a peculiar master from somewhere, who enjoys hiding in this chaotic place and pretending to be weak while secretly being strong.
The fat cat bounced and jumped its way to the door, and the surprised person exclaimed, "Boss, there's business coming!"
It seems that they are very satisfied with the boss's decision. Just a sign brought business to the small store that had been deserted for months.
The dialect was also amazed and surprised, saying, "Did someone really come to the door?"
Fat Cat nodded quickly, "Yes!"
Uncle Wang laughed heartily. This snake demon brought a group of monsters to the neighboring pharmacy. At that time, he laughed at her as foolish. Who would have thought that business would actually come now? But it seems that things are not that simple. Jokingly, he said, "Go quickly! This is your first business in five months. Don't miss this opportunity."
The dialect was a little excited and smiled, saying, "Uncle, did you see it? Our method is still effective. The sign we put up yesterday already brought in business today. So, as I said... as long as you find the right path, you won't worry about not having business."
Uncle Wang chuckled and said, "Go on with your business! Don't come here wandering around all the time and distract me from my work."
Fang Yan put down the iron block and said impatiently, "Hey! We've helped you with a lot of things. You should think carefully before you speak!"
As he spoke, he disregarded the puzzled Wang Dashu and stood up eagerly, taking the chubby cat back to the medicine shop.
The wandering cultivator, who had been waiting for a long time, couldn't believe his eyes when the protagonist arrived. The protagonist's face was dark, with rust spots all over his body, and there was a strong smell of rust. He rolled up his sleeves high on both sides, and no matter how you looked at it, he didn't resemble an alchemist, but rather more like a blacksmith forging iron.
Dialect said: "Are you going to refine elixirs? Bring the medicinal materials, our store is currently running a promotion, one-for-one, two furnaces of elixirs will only cost the price of one furnace."
The wandering cultivator replied: "You, you, do you know how to refine elixirs? Don't ruin my medicinal materials, it's not easy to gather them all at once."
Dialect has her hands on her hips, and with her current appearance, she looks like a rural woman who scolds others. She says in a grumpy tone, "Hey! Can you still not trust me? Let's have a meal based on my skills, and afterwards you can see the results."
Seeing the situation, the wandering cultivator immediately turned around and wanted to leave. He felt like he had entered a shady store, as this woman faintly emitted the aura of a Nascent Soul cultivator and had a fierce and wicked appearance. No matter how one looked at her, she didn't seem like a good person.
The dialect realized that the hard-earned business was about to run away, so it quickly took a step forward and blocked the way, and after thinking for a moment, asked, "Don't you believe it?"
The wandering cultivator was so frightened that his legs were shaking, not knowing whether to nod or not, feeling as if he had accidentally stumbled into a den of snakes and tigers.
Dialect raised his head and said, "Alright! I will start refining alchemy right away. You are allowed to observe, and if you are satisfied, we can discuss business."
The wandering cultivator: "......"
Without giving the other party a chance to speak, Dialect pulled the wandering cultivator over and hurriedly ran towards the nearby pill refining room. Upon arriving at the room, Dialect took out the tattered alchemy furnace and threw it onto the ground. He quickly carved out the inscription and prohibition, saying, "You just watch!"
The wandering cultivator doesn't know how it feels in his heart, he can only focus on this dilapidated pill furnace, wondering if it will explode while he's practicing.
"Herbs!" Fangyan reached out and said.
Soon after, the wandering cultivator saw a ghost suddenly appear in the empty space next to him. He was startled and took two steps back. He noticed that this ghost seemed... quite beautiful. He shook his head and quickly dismissed this strange idea.
Mystical medicine used spiritual energy to carry several medicinal herbs to Fangyan, and then disappeared silently.
Fangyan sequentially put the medicinal herbs into the alchemy furnace, seemingly calm and collected, not at all like refining pills, it looked more like cooking noodles, and he even had time to chat with casual cultivators.
"Let me tell you, alchemy is all about controlling the heat, apart from the combination and quality of herbal ingredients. The type of herbal ingredients used determines the type of elixir produced. Speaking of this, I have to educate you on a point: stay away from those people outside who use lead and mercury for alchemy. They are all scammers. Alchemy with lead and mercury is toxic and can kill!"
The wandering cultivator: "......"
However, the dialect did not care about what the wandering cultivator really thought. It pretended not to see the fearful and distrustful expression on the other person's face, and continued to babble and ramble on about a bunch of nonsense.
"Furthermore, let's talk about the medicinal properties of this elixir. It is not only related to the quality of the herbal ingredients, but also to the alchemist's own skill. For a novice alchemist, the elixirs they produce, to be honest, unless they possess extraordinary talent, most of them are just average. It requires a large amount of herbal materials and diligent practice. We worked hard back in the day, during the great battle..."
Fangyan suddenly stopped speaking, almost revealing his identity, but fortunately the pill had already been refined.
So, Fangyan opened the furnace to collect the pill, pretending to exclaim, "Oh! The quality of this pill is even better than usual, come, take a look!"
Speaking, Fang Yan handed a few pills to the other party and smiled, "What do you think? Our Yangyuan Pill is pretty good! It is of high quality, and the medicinal materials used are ordinary ones."
Sanxiu could not believe it and took it over to carefully examine it, secretly amazed. This pill was even better than the ones made by the masters in the medical section.
Finally, Sanxiu believed what Fangyan had said. Looks can indeed be deceptive!
The masters are among the common people, and the ancients never deceive us!
The wandering cultivator hurriedly took three steps and made two steps, offering his own medicinal materials and said excitedly, "True gold fears no fire. I just made a mistake earlier. Please don't be angry, master. I will entrust these medicinal materials to you!"
The dialect happily took the medicinal materials and said, "You better take a good look! I will only charge you for one furnace of the elixir, not a penny more. If you are satisfied, please help us promote our small shop."
After saying that, he began alchemy.