Chapter 6: The Lowly Peasant

The next day, after completing his guard duty, Chen Fei went to find the apothecary’s alchemist.

“You want the pill formula for Blood-Qi Pills?” Zeng Defang looked at Chen Fei with some surprise.

“Is that possible?” Chen Fei asked, cupping his hands in a salute.

After thinking about it all day yesterday, Chen Fei had finally decided to try his hand at alchemy. After all, that had been one of his original intentions for staying at the medical hall. As for medical skills, they were a complete system, and Chen Fei didn’t know if the panel could simplify them.

Even if it could, the cost would likely be an astronomical figure, and Chen Fei was currently short on money.

Therefore, alchemy was more suitable. As long as Chen Fei learned to refine one type of pill, he would have a relatively stable income, and he could then seek out higher-level pills, forming a virtuous cycle.

“You are a guard of the medical hall; it’s nothing to give you a Blood-Qi Pill formula.”

Zeng Defang nodded and said, “But it is only the most common Blood-Qi Pill formula. It does not include some of the medical hall’s unique techniques. Furthermore, if you want to start a furnace to refine them, you must pay for the medicinal herbs yourself. The medical hall will not provide them for free.”

“I understand this.”

Chen Fei nodded. Before proving he had the ability to refine pills, the medical hall would not provide herbs for nothing. And even if he proved he could refine pills, it would depend on the quality and texture of the final product; the medical hall would not accept anything too poor.

“Hmm, take it. Just return it to me in three days.”

Zeng Defang stood up, rummaged through the cabinet behind him, took out a small booklet, and handed it to Chen Fei.

“Many thanks, Elder Zeng!” Chen Fei bowed in gratitude.

“It’s nothing.”

Zeng Defang waved his hand, no longer paying attention to Chen Fei. Chen Fei was sensible and quietly left the pharmacy.

Zeng Defang looked at Chen Fei’s back and shook his head slightly. He had seen many people like Chen Fei who wanted to learn alchemy and acquire a specialized skill, but very few were truly able to get started and refine pills that were satisfactory.

In Zeng Defang’s view, Chen Fei was likely just another one of those mediocre people.

Chen Fei returned to his room and carefully looked through the pill formula in his hand.

An incense stick’s time later, Chen Fei put down the formula and closed his eyes, recalling the content he had just read.

The content recorded in the formula was not complicated; it introduced the herbs needed for refinement, as well as some of the properties of the herbs and the precautions to take during the process.

The formula was only a few thin pages, so many things were explained very briefly. To rely on such a formula to successfully refine a Blood-Qi Pill, one would have to fail at least dozens, if not hundreds of times, to have even a slight chance.

And that was only if you had decent talent.

If you weren’t cut out for this line of work, you probably wouldn’t be able to get started even after failing hundreds of times. Because alchemy was actually just like practicing martial arts—it was especially dependent on one’s talent.

Sometimes you can do it, and sometimes you can’t.

【Alchemy: Blood-Qi Pill (Not Started)】

A new entry appeared on the panel, and at the same time, new simplification information flickered. A smile couldn't help but appear on Chen Fei’s face, because the simplification of the Blood-Qi Pill only cost one tael of silver.

Chen Fei chose the Blood-Qi Pill for his first alchemy attempt because he valued the fact that it was basic enough. The more basic it was, the less silver was needed for simplification; this was an experience Chen Fei had recently figured out.

Moreover, although the Blood-Qi Pill was basic, it had a large audience.

Whether it was martial artists who had just come into contact with cultivation techniques or those in the Skin Tempering realm like Chen Fei, the Blood-Qi Pill had impressive effects, allowing people to have vigorous blood and qi, which helped them practice martial arts techniques better and faster.

Even those in the higher-level Meat Tempering realm would buy Blood-Qi Pills to take when they were short on funds; the effect was still there, just slightly weaker.

Therefore, if Chen Fei could refine Blood-Qi Pills, he would have no trouble selling them. After all, among the community of martial artists, the lower levels were always the most numerous.

“Panel, simplify Blood-Qi Pill!”

“Simplifying Blood-Qi Pill… Simplification successful… Blood-Qi Pill → Stir-fried Pork Liver!”

“……”

Chen Fei blinked, almost thinking he had misread it. After the Blood-Qi Pill was simplified, it actually turned into a stir-fry dish, and stir-fried pork liver at that?

Was there any inevitable connection between the two?

Both replenished blood, and both required the use of fire?

Chen Fei couldn't quite grasp the logic behind the panel’s simplification, but since the process had changed from refining pills to stir-frying, Chen Fei’s confidence suddenly increased. Stir-frying was something most people could do; it was just a matter of the difference in taste.

As Chen Fei was planning to go to the market tomorrow to buy some pork liver, rumors about him began to circulate within the medical hall.

There was nothing particularly special about it; it was just that the news of Chen Fei getting a Blood-Qi Pill formula from Zeng Defang had spread, becoming a topic of conversation for many during their leisure time.

Two days ago, Chen Fei had just had a conflict with Pu Liao and was seen as a hotheaded fool. Now, he had turned around and gone to get a pill formula, delusional about becoming an alchemist, which made many people laugh heartily.

It wasn't just the other guards who were mocking Chen Fei; even the handymen who heard about these two things felt that Chen Fei was overestimating his own abilities.

Those handymen had originally been jealous and envious of Chen Fei, who had been a handyman like them but had now become a guard. Now that such a thing had happened, they were naturally happy to mock him.

“Not practicing martial arts properly, yet dreaming of becoming an alchemist. Is an alchemist something a mud-legged peasant like him can aspire to? It’s simply ridiculous.”

At a wine table, Pu Liao tossed a few peanuts into his mouth, his words filled with extreme disdain for Chen Fei.

“Just because he was a mud-legged peasant before, he’s now trying to climb up desperately because he has a chance. It’s a pity, though; he doesn’t know that sometimes a mud-legged peasant really can only be a mud-legged peasant for life,” his companion said with a laugh.

“I originally thought he might be sensible, and I wasn't opposed to showing him the ropes. But he actually asked me directly for a secret manual. If we hadn't been inside the medical hall at the time, I would have wanted to slap him across the face,” Pu Liao said coldly.

“Brother Pu has such good self-restraint. If it were us, we probably wouldn't have been able to hold back!”

“Let’s not talk about him; he’s just a laughingstock.”

Pu Liao waved his hand and said, “There will be plenty of ways to deal with him in the future. Does he really think the secret manual I gave him is so easy to accept!”

The gossip in the medical hall had not yet reached Chen Fei’s ears. At this moment, Chen Fei was in an abandoned courtyard, starting a fire to stir-fry pork liver.

The pork liver was very fresh, just bought from the market. After he finished stir-frying it, Chen Fei planned to eat it himself; after all, it counted as meat.

After becoming a guard at the medical hall, the food provided by the hall had improved a lot. Every meal had some minced meat, and every few days there was even some larger portions of meat.

But for a martial artist, especially one as extremely strapped for cash as Chen Fei, he couldn't let any bit of meat go to waste.

After a moment, a hint of meat fragrance wafted from the pot. In his previous life, Chen Fei actually knew how to cook. Although he could only make simple home-cooked dishes, handling a plate of stir-fried pork liver was naturally a piece of cake.

Stir-fry, take it off the heat, and plate it.

The steaming stir-fried pork liver was completed just like that. Chen Fei looked at the panel.

【Alchemy: Blood-Qi Pill (Entry 1/100)】