Spiritual Pill Workshop.
3 large words hung high above the door.
Although there were many locals in the Big Ruins, in terms of combat power alone, they were even better than the powerhouses in the Spiritual Realm. This was because the various races in the Big Ruins had Bloodline Powers. Once they were activated, the effects they would bring out were often unexpected.
Nonetheless, other than combat power, the Big Ruins seemed to lag in other aspects.
Taking alchemists as an example, there were not many of them in the city. Therefore, when Ou Yangming’s pill workshop opened, it immediately attracted the curiosity and attention of countless people.
On the first day of opening, before Ou Yangming could even pull in customers, someone had already come to his door.
Before Ou Yangming entered the Big Ruins, he had collected a large number of medicinal herbs. Most of them were ordinary herbs, but they were more than enough to refine ordinary pills. Of course, with his standard at the moment, the pills he refined would only be of the most ordinary grade.
Even so, in the Big Ruins, what was most needed was precisely this type of pill.
Qi-replenishing Pills, Qi-condensing Pills, Healing Pills, Poison-cleansing pills, and so on.
Ou Yangming had read through the refining methods of these ordinary pills in the Beast King Sect’s library and memorized them well in his heart. Nevertheless, he had not studied them carefully before because he felt that pill refinement and equipment smithing were completely different. Moreover, both studies were broad and profound. Investing all of his time in any one of them might not be enough, let alone cultivating them at the same time.
Despite that, after entering Zhangzhou, he absolutely could not reveal his identity as a blacksmith. Therefore, he disguised himself as a caster and showed his identity as a formation master in front of outsiders.
Now, after entering the Big Ruins, perhaps it was a spur of the moment, perhaps he subconsciously did not want to use that identity, or perhaps he wanted to find a place for Lil’ Man to settle down. In the end, by chance, he began to learn alchemy techniques.
At this moment, the person who entered the pill workshop was a tall and big man.
His gaze was cold. Even though the aura on his body was not strong, it was filled with a sense of invasion. His gaze swept across the shelves, and he immediately asked, “Healing Pills and Qi Replenishing pills, how much is a set each?”
Ou Yangming smiled slightly and answered, “They’re not expensive. Each bottle costs 30 spirit ores, and there are 3 pills per bottle.”
This price was not high.
The man frowned slightly and responded, “Alright, 3 bottles each.” He glared at Ou Yangming and added, “I hope the quality of your pills won’t disappoint me.”
There was a faint hint of threat in his tone, but how could Ou Yangming take this person’s threat to heart?
While the man carried a strong murderous aura, which was obvious that he was an experienced battle veteran, his cultivation had not even reached that of a Spiritualist. He was just an Extreme Grade cultivator that was on the verge of breaking through.
How could Ou Yangming care about such a person?
If Ou Yangming had not intentionally suppressed his strength, the man would not have dared to be presumptuous in front of him.
With a flick of his finger, Ou Yangming sent 6 bottles of pills over. The man took the bottles and paid them with spirit ores in a straightforward manner without trying to seize the pills by force. He just left in a hurry as if he had something important on his body.
After having the first customer, there was soon a second and third customer.
Once they saw the pill workshop’s plaque, they entered to inquire about the prices and quickly bought the medicinal pills that they liked. One of them opened a jade bottle and after identifying the pills, he even bought 2 more bottles right away. From the looks of it, if he did not have insufficient spirit ores on him, he would not have stopped there.
Ou Yangming was quite satisfied with this. The medicinal pills were his creations, but they had the enhancement of the Heavenly Phoenix Fire, after all. He did not want to end up in a situation where no one would visit his store at all.
In the first few days, the business of the pill workshop was only minimal. Passersby would enter and conveniently buy 2 bottles. Having said that, on the sixth day, Ou Yangming’s first customer suddenly brought along a middle-aged man, whom the customer followed behind. All of the violent aura on his body had been curbed. That submissive manner of his caused people to look at him with a sidelong glance.
Ou Yangming raised his head and glanced at the man. He quickly sensed the man’s true strength.
This was actually an Intermediate Spiritualist. Furthermore, judging from the energy fluctuations on his body, he could be considered an outstanding figure even among those of the same rank.
Cultivators in the Big Ruins were born with a very high starting point, but it would still not be easy for them to become Spiritualists. To be able to cultivate to an Intermediate Spiritualist, one could be considered to be above others. Even Ou Yangming never thought that the first customer of his pill workshop would be able to bring such a powerhouse here.
After all, though there had been quite a number of customers these past few days, almost all of them were in the Extreme Grade.
As for true Spiritualists, they should have a fixed channel to obtain spiritual pills.
The 2 men entered the shop and scanned through the jade bottles one by one.
In actuality, Ou Yangming also knew his limits, where the pills he refined were only of ordinary quality. After all, this was the first batch of pills he refined. It would be a lie to say that there was something amazing about them.
However, judging from the men’s expressions, they seemed to think highly of the pills.
The eyes of the Intermediate Spiritualist flickered as he said slowly, “I’m Fang Ming. May I know how I can address you, boss?”
Ou Yangming said in a neither servile nor overbearing manner, “I’m Yu Tianrui. Greetings, Brother Fang.”
Fang Ming frowned slightly. Naturally, he could not see through Ou Yangming’s true strength. He thought that the cultivation of the young boss in front of him was inferior to his. That said, on account of the many pills on the shelves, he would not mind such a small matter.
“Uhm, Brother Yu, are all the medicinal pills here personally refined by you?”
Ou Yangming smiled slightly and replied to him, “That’s right.”
Fang Ming’s eyes flashed with a bright light as he asked, “Brother Yu, you shouldn’t be too old, right?”
Ou Yangming could not help but laugh and said, “Yes.”
“Heh, at such a young age, you’re already a potent alchemist. It’s truly… enviable,” Fang Ming remarked without batting an eyelid.
The corners of Ou Yangming’s mouth twitched slightly, and even his expression appeared rather strange.
‘A potent alchemist?
Is he praising me or mocking me?’ Nonetheless, looking at Fang Ming’s expression, as well as that submissive first customer who did not dare to speak, Ou Yangming somewhat understood what was going on.
Fang Ming’s expression became serious, and he expressed, “Brother Yu, to tell you the truth, we came here today to confirm something.”
Ou Yangming smiled faintly. “Please go ahead, Brother Fang.”
“If the medicinal pills here are really refined by you, Brother Yu, we’re willing to buy them over a long period of time.” He paused for a moment and continued, “If we cooperate well, we could also hire you to be our clan’s alchemist in the future to avoid the trouble of those trivial matters.”
When he mentioned the clan’s alchemist, the man behind him could not help but reveal a look of envy.
Ou Yangming looked up in surprise and questioned, “Brother Fang, this is the first time we’ve met, right? Do you trust me so much?”
If an ordinary alchemist wanted to stand out in the path of alchemy and gain some mastery, one would have to constantly refine pills. It would be fine if the pills were familiar ones; no matter how they were wasted, the losses could eventually be made up. On the other hand, if an alchemist wanted to refine new pills, the initial investment would be a bottomless pit.
Therefore, becoming the exclusive alchemist of a powerful sect was the best choice for most successful alchemists.
In the Big Ruins, being a clan alchemist was undoubtedly a win-win situation. At the initial stage, the clan would be responsible for the investment. At the later stage, the alchemist would return the favor to the clan. Both sides would take what they needed, and it could be considered a mature mode of cooperation.
Of course, due to the benefits, if the relationship between both parties was ruined from time to time, there would be no need to mention that.
Nevertheless, for an alchemist who had not reached the great success stage, becoming an alchemist in a sect or clan would unquestionably be the most cost-effective thing.
Even so, Ou Yangming did not believe that such an opportunity would be given to him for free.
Fang Ming chuckled and commented, “Brother Yu, you have a talent that’s difficult for ordinary people to reach when it comes to alchemy.” His face was full of sincerity as he explained, “For example, while these pills are the simplest spiritual pills, their medicinal effects are outstanding. They have a bit more vitality than ordinary pills.”
“Vitality?” Ou Yangming was startled. He was dubious as he wondered, ‘What’s going on?’
Fang Ming nodded with a solemn expression and said, “That’s right. Vitality.” He stared at Ou Yangming and said in a deep voice, “I’m also not sure if this has anything to do with you But… This is already worth trying.”
Ou Yangming pondered for a moment and nodded slightly. After discussing some details of the pills with Fang Ming, he closed his shop.
That night, he once again opened the furnace to refine pills. This time, he had become much more skillful. Not only did he refine many ordinary pills, but he also refined some high-grade pills.
However, the consumption of refining high-grade pills was far higher than that of low-grade pills. Whether it was the consumption of medicinal ingredients or the expenditure of mental power, they were not on the same level. In spite of that, looking at the finished high-grade pills, his heart was also burning with passion.
This was because he had found the so-called vitality.
In actual fact, the vitality came from the Heavenly Phoenix Fire.
A phoenix was an undying bird that could be reborn from the flames. Therefore, after using the Heavenly Phoenix Fire to refine the pills, they naturally carried a faint trace of vitality. The vitality was not very strong but in the eyes of a normal person, it was an ability that could not be underestimated.
Ou Yangming understood the reason and did not take it to heart.
After all, from this little bit of vitality, there was no way that one could find out about the Heavenly Phoenix Fire no matter what.
For several days in a row, Fang Ming continuously visited and took away all the pills Ou Yangming refined. He also looked more enthusiastic than before.
Finally, one day, Fang Ming hesitated for a long time and asked in a low voice, “Brother Yu, can you refine a medicinal pill that can extend one’s lifespan?”
Ou Yangming was slightly startled and thought of the Eternal Pill at once, but he knew that the other party would not be able to see through his identity.
After pondering for a moment, he answered, “There are only some low-grade longevity pills but…”
Fang Ming’s eyes dimmed at first, then they lit up as he asked, “What is it?”
“But I can try and see if I can refine something more powerful.”
Fang Ming’s expression changed slightly. He looked at Ou Yangming deeply and nodded heavily. Then, he turned around and left.
