Chapter 244: Crazy Plundering

Even after using the all-consuming Jin Zhao Tian Yan to thoroughly clean the third floor of Ling Cang Ge, Xu Xiaoshou still felt a persistent and unending lingering aftertaste in the air.

He opened the window for ventilation and breathed in some fresh air, finally feeling a bit better.

Looking back at the two who were gradually recovering their spirits, Xu Xiaoshou slowly handed over the honey in his hand and asked with concern:

“Did you vomit until you were exhausted?”

“Top it up?”

The two froze simultaneously, their faces turning even paler.

“Received curse, passive value, 2.”

“Shut up!”

Sang Lao said weakly, “This topic ends here—no one is to mention it again!”

Mu Zixi was equally listless; she deeply regretted why she had provoked Xu Xiaoshou in the first place and nodded vigorously in agreement.

Xu Xiaoshou almost burst out laughing—this was self-inflicted trouble, and there was no escaping it!

“Alright, we won’t talk about that.” He withdrew the honey and changed the subject: “So, about that Chi Jin Ye, you’ve both tried it—how effective is it?”

Sang Lao: “…”

His face turned green, and he nearly vomited again.

Damn it, who even started this? It was supposed to be a great creative breakthrough!

Sang Lao glared fiercely at Mu Zixi beside him, but she innocently blinked her big eyes, having already plugged her ears and chosen to ignore him.

“The effects are excellent—it completely surpasses tenth-grade dan medicine, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it ninth-grade!”

After calming his emotions, Sang Lao finally returned to the topic of Chi Jin Ye and asked, “Besides this, have you developed the spiritual liquid for any other dan medicines?”

Xu Xiaoshou was overjoyed to hear Sang Lao say that.

He had anticipated that his spiritual liquid might break through the grade levels, and it turned out to be true.

“Yes, yes, I have.”

He responded eagerly and explained, “The stewing soup method of alchemy is a broad technique, not limited to Chi Jin Dan—I’ve also successfully experimented with it for Lian Ling Dan!”

As Xu Xiaoshou spoke, he retrieved the Lian Ling Ye from his ring and took it out.

The two opposite him stiffened simultaneously, then instinctively hunched over, covering their mouths and noses.

“Ugh!”

Chi Jin Ye was one thing—even if it looked like thick snot, at least it was gold-red, and they could barely tolerate it.

But…

What was this green liquid supposed to mean?

Sang Lao felt so disgusted that his legs went weak.

He immediately felt nauseous, but relying on his powerful physical control techniques, he managed to suppress the urge to vomit at the critical moment.

“Ugh!”

Mu Zixi on the other side couldn’t hold back.

That sound was like a hard kick to Sang Lao’s stomach—he couldn’t stop it anymore.

“Ugh!”

Yellowish-white liquid spewed out again, leaving Xu Xiaoshou stunned. What the hell was going on?

Was it really that bad? So dramatic?

“Received curse, passive value, 1, 1, 1, 1…”

It took a good while for the two to recover.

“Spiritual liquid is a good thing, it’s just that…”

Sang Lao said while taking some unknown dan medicine to recover, “The storage method definitely has issues.”

“Mm.” Xu Xiaoshou nodded, glancing at Mu Zixi, who was also popping beans into her mouth while glaring at him fiercely, and asked, “So, what’s the solution?”

“How could it be that easy?”

Sang Lao rolled his eyes and continued, “Only your bizarre stewing soup method of alchemy could produce something like this, but I still haven’t figured out the principles behind it.”

“The flames, the heat, the medicinal liquid… all these factors are different. Give me some time to study it thoroughly, and I might come up with a result.”

“After all, your bizarre creation completely discards the condensing dan method…”

At this point, he felt a headache coming on and sighed, “That’s one of the most important steps in alchemy.”

Xu Xiaoshou seemed to understand and said, “In simple terms, you don’t have a solution either?”

Sang Lao: “…”

“Received curse, passive value, 1.”

“Pfft!” Mu Zixi spat out the dan medicine in her mouth.

She looked at Xu Xiaoshou in shock—how dare this guy joke about his master?

“Received admiration, passive value, 1.”

Disgusted, Xu Xiaoshou picked up the dan medicine that had saliva on it from his clothes and stuffed it back into the girl’s mouth.

Mu Zixi: ???

“Received resentment, passive value, 1.”

Sang Lao was too lazy to deal with these two and said, “There’s a temporary solution—if you just want to preserve the medicinal properties, use Zi Cang Yu.”

“Zi Cang Yu?” Xu Xiaoshou asked, puzzled, as he wiped his hands on his green robe.

Sang Lao nodded: “Ordinary dan medicines already have the condensing dan method, so their properties don’t lose much efficacy. Unless you want to store them for many years, regular spiritual jade dan bottles will do.”

“Zi Cang Yu is a premium spiritual jade that protects medicinal properties extremely well. It’s generally used for high-grade and rare dan medicines.”

Xu Xiaoshou suddenly understood. While holding back Mu Zixi’s charging head, he got straight to the point: “Is it expensive?”

“Of course.”

“It can match high-grade dan medicines, and even as a spiritual jade dan bottle, it’s very rare.”

As he spoke, Sang Lao made a clattering sound as he pulled out a large pile of purple jade dan bottles.

A rough glance showed there were no fewer than several thousand.

Xu Xiaoshou: “…”

“Didn’t you say it’s very expensive?”

“Expensive doesn’t mean I don’t have any.”

Xu Xiaoshou was once again stunned by the old man’s wealth. He casually picked up one of the dan bottles and found that not only was the carving exquisite, but the quality was also top-notch.

It was full of spirituality, warm and gentle, as if it naturally had a nurturing power.

Just based on that, it was the finest carrier for dan medicines.

Any dan medicine placed inside might not lose its properties over the years—in fact, it could even improve slightly.

“Good stuff!” Xu Xiaoshou praised.

“Take it all!” Sang Lao waved his hand dismissively. He knew Xu Xiaoshou’s personality well.

Just from the way he handed out honey in jars, it was clear the boy would need a lot of Zi Cang Yu.

Xu Xiaoshou unceremoniously took everything, then fell silent for a moment before asking, “Do you have more?”

Sang Lao: “…”

He had expected the demand to be high, but clearly underestimated the boy’s appetite…

“Heh heh.”

Xu Xiaoshou scratched his head: “This is for experiments, after all! I need to have all the tools ready to keep going with the stewing soup method of alchemy research. It’d be such a shame if it got interrupted because of a lack of tools.”

“None left!” Sang Lao said irritably.

This batch was almost his entire stock—did he think Zi Cang Yu was that common?

Xu Xiaoshou wasn’t convinced. If Sang Lao could pull out this much, he must have better ones hidden away.

After all, as an alchemist himself, how could he not have more superior dan bottles?

If he didn’t dig them all out, that wouldn’t be like Xu Xiaoshou at all!

“There must be something better than Zi Cang Yu!” he said confidently.

Seeing the old man’s expression change slightly, Xu Xiaoshou quickly added, “Lian Ling Ye might not seem like much, but what about Yuan Ting Ye?”

Sang Lao had no response to that.

Yuan Ting Dan was seventh-grade, and if Yuan Ting Ye could upgrade it, that would make it sixth-grade…

The value would be completely different!

“Here you go!”

Reluctantly, Sang Lao took out a small, uncarved black spiritual jade block from his ring and said, “This is Jing Zhu Yu, one of the top-grade spiritual jades…”

“Thanks!”

Before the jade even left his hand, Xu Xiaoshou had already stashed it away—this thing was clearly premium!

Sang Lao’s face twitched. This kid…

“Oh, right!” Xu Xiaoshou said, stepping back a bit as if he’d just remembered something, slapping his thigh.

“To develop Yuan Ting Ye, I absolutely need Yuan Ting Dan, and that means I don’t even have the dan formula for it!”