9: Chapter 9: Seeing the Five-Colored Scorpion Again

Zhang Yan took out a slip of paper and handed it to Xia Shaoxin.

"The strength pill is an immortal-grade prescription. To learn it, one must possess the Aptitude, as well as the incantation and hand seals."

Xia Shaoxin opened the slip. At the beginning was a paragraph where he recognized every character, but strung together, he didn't know what they meant.

Below, it described how to hold the talisman paper with both hands and perform the movements.

He thought to himself, "So that's what those gestures are called in the language of immortals—hand seals."

Zhang Yan took the talisman paper back into the box and asked, "May I ask, little brother, do you have a candidate to learn this technique?"

Xia Shaoxin smiled slightly. "Why don't you think I can learn it?"

Ha! Zhang Yan laughed endlessly. "Little brother, you can learn it? Impossible. This isn't an ordinary prescription that just anyone can pick up and make."

"The Gu Bureau only has one Alchemist, and they are all people who couldn't stand in the imperial court and were demoted to Li Family Hollow."

Xia Shaoxin reopened the box, followed what was written on the slip, held the talisman paper, and silently recited the incantation. The talisman paper trembled violently, and a ghostly flame ignited from the center.

It emitted ten thousand rays of golden light, wrapping around Xia Shaoxin.

Countless strange pieces of knowledge poured into his mind, and in an instant, he learned the method to make the strength pill.

The medicinal herbs, the dosage, the alchemy method, the order of adding ingredients, and an incantation.

Zhang Yan seemed to have been immobilized, turning into a statue.

His mouth was agape, as if stuck, his lips trembling slightly, unable to utter a single word.

After a long while, he fell to the ground, saying in astonishment, "Little brother, you actually have Alchemist Aptitude! You truly shouldn't be doing this work; your future is limitless!"

Just for that remark, Xia Shaoxin reached out and pulled Zhang Yan up.

"I want to gather one thousand taels of silver as soon as possible to pay the de-registration fee. Brother Zhang, can you lend me a hand?"

The words were spoken quite sentimentally, but the implied meaning was: Do you have a thousand taels of silver or not, you jerk, to buy my goods!

According to the current exchange rate, one tael of silver exchanges for over nine hundred copper coins. One thousand taels is nearly a million copper coins.

Zhang Yan's face turned red immediately.

Gritting his teeth and stamping his foot, he said, "It's enough. Rest assured."

Xia Shaoxin saw this expression and felt very helpless.

Either find a few more clients, or don't be in a rush; sell slowly, and by next year, it will definitely be enough.

Bidding farewell to Zhang Yan, Xia Shaoxin went to the pharmacy again.

He had thought that the strength pill was a more Advanced medicine than the miasma-repelling pill and that its medicinal herbs would certainly be hard to find.

Looking closely, there were only 19 medicinal ingredients in total, with ordinary herbs accounting for half.

A few ingredients required Poisonous Insects, which happened to be produced in Dawu Mountain, and he had just happened to sacrifice some a few days ago.

He gathered the ordinary herbs at the pharmacy, all sold by the pound.

The other few ingredients that he thought would be hard to buy were also acquired.

Only "Liquan Tongcao" and "Qingshan Baiji" were out of stock.

The names included place names, which meant they were very specific; only Tongcao from Liquan and Baiji from Qingshan were useful.

Fortunately, they were only temporarily sold out.

One of the pharmacies told him that in about seven or eight days, these two ingredients would arrive, and they would definitely set them aside for him.

He had no choice but to go back first and prepare the other medicinal ingredients.

Generally speaking, the cost of the strength pill was lower than the miasma-repelling pill.

Seven days later, he set off early in the morning for Li Family Hollow and successfully obtained the Liquan Tongcao and Qingshan Baiji, enough to make thirty or forty pills.

Walking on the street, he felt wonderful inside.

Everything was ready.

The Shangqing Profound Mirror was responsible for transforming medicinal herbs, the qi and blood pill was for replenishing qi and blood, the miasma-repelling pill allowed him to venture deep into thick miasma, and the strength pill could handle even more dangerous Poisonous Insects and beasts.

It was airtight, a perfect closed loop; it would be impossible not to make a fortune.

After redeeming his freedom and leaving this place, if there was a chance to join a Sect, relying on the Shangqing Profound Mirror and the qi and blood pill, he could at least become an Inner Sect Disciple, right?

Even if the Sect didn't accept him, going to the capital to open a pharmacy, benefiting the common people, and incidentally becoming wealthy, would not be a wasted life.

The more he thought about it, the happier he felt. Passing by a tavern, he went inside to treat himself.

Just as he was drinking happily, the sound of two people greeting each other drifted in from the street.

"Yo, isn't this Brother Li? Seeing you at this time of year is truly rare."

...

"Aren't you supposed to be going into the mountains to catch Poisonous Insects? Haven't you left yet?"

...

"Ah, forgive my poor eyesight. You must have obtained a treasure and are in a hurry to deliver it, right?"

...

He could only hear one person's voice; the other person's voice was very soft and unclear.

From those few sentences, he knew that this person was also a Bug Catcher.

Xia Shaoxin was sitting by the window and leaned out. He couldn't help but be stunned; he recognized that Bug Catcher. He didn't know his real name, but his nickname was Li the Toad.

He was curious. It had been many days since the beginning of summer, and Bug Catchers had basically all gone up the mountains.

He had a special reason for not going yet, but why wasn't he going?

Li the Toad clearly didn't want to chat with that person and left after a few perfunctory words. He happened to pass by the tavern and saw Xia Shaoxin inside the window.

Their eyes met. Li the Toad froze for a moment, then quickened his pace.

Xia Shaoxin clearly saw a trace of panic in Li the Toad's eyes.

Then he saw a small bamboo cage tied to his waist, bound with red rope on the outside—the standard equipment for Bug Catchers, soaked in talisman water, specifically for holding Poisonous Insects.

When the market opened at the beginning of summer, Xia Shaoxin was the first to go to the Gu Bureau to deliver goods, carrying a large burlap sack.

Li the Toad, however, only brought one small bamboo cage, which meant the goods inside were very Advanced.

Unable to suppress his curiosity, he followed quietly.

Li the Toad indeed entered the Gu Bureau, and Xia Shaoxin followed closely behind, fearing he might miss something.

"Why are you following me?" Li the Toad finally noticed him and was a bit annoyed.

"I just want to see what you are delivering." Xia Shaoxin was also straightforward.

Li the Toad frowned tightly and turned to walk outside.

The Gu Bureau's Liu Xinglong happened to see this and yelled strangely, "Hey, what are you doing coming to my place? Leaving without saying a word, what is the meaning of this?"

The Gu Bureau's bailiff stepped forward to block him.

"Are you here to deliver goods?" Liu Xinglong asked in a deep voice.

"Ah, no, just passing by, just came in to take a look." Li the Toad's expression was very unnatural.

Liu Xinglong had already seen the bamboo cage hanging at his waist and pointed at it coldly, saying, "What is stored in there?"

Li the Toad reached out and pressed down on the bamboo cage: "It's empty inside."

Because the movement was too large, a hissing sound came from inside.

Li the Toad was instantly dumbfounded.

Liu Xinglong stepped forward personally and untied the bamboo cage. Li the Toad did not dare to stop him and glanced at Xia Shaoxin with suspicious and uncertain eyes.

Liu Xinglong channeled energy into his palm, gently lifted the lid of the bamboo cage, and took a glance.

"Ah, this is a Five-colored Scorpion!"

Xia Shaoxin stepped forward quickly and forced his way over.

"What are you doing!" Liu Xinglong shouted, pushing him away with one palm.

Just from that one glance, Xia Shaoxin was stunned.

This was actually the Five-colored Poisonous Scorpion he had raised all winter!

Although he only saw it for a glance, to be precise, he only saw the tail and the back.

This Five-colored Scorpion was the same size as the one at his home, with a thread-like red stripe on the tail stinger and purple markings the size of a small fingernail on its back.

The markings and colors of every Five-colored Scorpion were different.

Even if there were similar patterns in the same area, there would be differences.

Because these markings and colors were not natural, but mutations that occurred under the erosion of the miasma.

He had raised his own Five-colored Scorpion for an entire winter; he remembered its characteristics clearly and definitely wouldn't mistake it.

Xia Shaoxin stared fixedly at Li the Toad.

Li the Toad changed from his guilty expression just now, glared viciously back at Xia Shaoxin, and roared, "Don't you scare my Five-colored Scorpion."