Chapter 18: The First Encounter

  Sacred artifact? A divine weapon used by the gods? Wouldn't that be incredibly powerful, and there are four of them? However, judging from the tone, these Four Elemental Divine Weapons seem too elusive.

  Bai Youyou said, "In the past, the Four Symbol Divine Soldiers were born with the Four Symbol Divine Art. Our master only obtained the Four Symbol Divine Art, but the Four Symbol Divine Soldiers all lost their voices. It's said that only those who cultivate the Four Symbol Divine Art can gain the recognition of the Four Symbol Divine Soldiers!"

  Su Mei Yao waved her hand and said: "Although I also cultivate the Four Symbol God Technique, but I never thought of going to find that Four Symbol God Soldier, I'm not interested."

  Shen Xiang chatted with two women for a while and learned a lot about the world of martial arts from them.

  Shen Xiang borrowed 10,000 Grand Spirit Coins from Shen Tianhu and hastily arrived at the Spiritual Dan Pavilion. He wanted to seize the time to refine a mortal-grade middle-quality dan, not only to defeat that pharmaceutical genius but also to rapidly increase his own strength.

  "What? The price has actually tripled!" Shen Xiang stood at the counter, frowning as he looked at the master of Ling Dan Pavilion.

  The host of Lingdan Pavilion stroked his beard and said, "This is the price that has just been set. If you have any questions, you can go ask the landlord."

  Lingdan Pavilion still has a master! This is the first time Shen Xiang heard of it. Doesn't what the pavilion master says go?

  "From today on, anyone from the Shen family who comes to buy medicine will be charged five times the price." Just then, a haughty voice came over, and Shen Xiang knew at once that it was Yao Tianhua.

  Lingdan Pavilion was actually acquired by Yaojia!

  The hall of the Lingdan Pavilion suddenly fell silent, and everyone quietly watched the young man walking down from the stairs. This young man was extremely handsome, with fair skin and wearing luxurious golden clothes, followed by two elderly men with piercing eyes. His arrogant gaze swept across the crowd, finally stopping on Shen Xiang's body.

  This young man is the genius of the Medicine Family, Yao Tianhua!

  Lingdan Pavilion is the only one in Wohu City that sells elixirs, and they have the final say on prices. Whatever price they quote, you can either take it or leave it. Now that Lingdan Pavilion has been taken over by the Medicine Family, Yao Tianhua, who harbors a grudge against Shen Xiang, will certainly use this to deal with the Shen family.

  "What you're buying is the medicinal material for the Refining Hair Washing Dan, and it's even a sprout. You can't be planning on refining the dan yourself, can you?" Medicine Heaven Huahua said with disdain on his face.

  "What's so special about that? Are you the only one in the world who can refine elixirs?" Shen Xiang sneered.

  "I've heard that you can release a decent True Qi flame, but having True Qi flame doesn't mean you can refine pills. Refining pills is extremely particular! If a poor wretch like you can refine pills, then there wouldn't be so few pill refiners in the world." Yao Tianhua sneered.

  Shen Xiang's eyes lit up as he thought of a clever plan, and he sneered: "Genius of the Medicine Family, this poor guy really knows how to refine elixirs. How about we make a bet? I wonder if you dare not to bet."

  Yao Tianhua burst out laughing: "You know how to refine pills? This isn't something that can be made by just bragging, okay... what do you want to bet? I'll accompany you to the end."

  Seeing the fish on the hook, Shen Xiang was delighted. He took out a bright red, blood-like lingzhi mushroom, about the size of a face plate, emitting a strange and pungent smell. This was the thousand-year-old Blood Lingzhi he had won from Shen Haohai.

  As soon as the Blood Spirit Mushroom appeared, everyone in the Spiritual Elixir Pavilion couldn't help but be moved, even Medicine Heaven's Expression changed to one of shock. As a descendant of a medicine family, he could tell at a glance that this Blood Spirit Mushroom was over a thousand years old, an extremely precious and priceless spiritual medicine.

  "I'll bet this thousand-year-old Blood Spirit Mushroom, I don't know if the young master of the Medicine House can keep up with my bet?" Shen Xiang smiled lightly and said: "As long as I can refine the elixir, it's considered a win, if not, it's a loss. How about it? Do you dare to bet?"

  Looking at Shen Xiang's appearance, this priceless thousand-year-old Blood Spirit Mushroom seemed to be worthless, and he actually took it out to gamble casually.

  Yao Tianhua was a proud person who loved to save face, and he would never refuse no matter what. However, the stakes were too high this time, so high that even he couldn't keep up. Although he was a genius of the Yao family and had a lot of money with him, it was still not comparable to this Blood Lingzhi.

  Shen Xiang surprisingly had the thousand-year-old Blood Lingzhi, which made many people look at him with new eyes. However, no one dared to have any ideas about him, after all, in Wohu City, the Shen family was very prestigious.

  Now Shen Xiang's father has become the head of the Shen family, and Shen Xiang's status can be imagined. The thousand-year-old Blood Spirit Mushroom is a testament to that.

  Shen Xiang saw that Yao Tianhua's face was extremely ugly, and he secretly felt pleased. He picked a small piece from the thousand-year-old Blood Lingzhi and said: "Medicine Young Master came to Wohu City for the first time, I just made a joke with you, let's bet on this! If I win, I only want three portions of refined marrow-washing dan materials, mature ones."

  A piece as big as a fingernail was indeed enough to exchange for three materials, and Yao Tianhua's face looked much better. He also let out a sigh of relief in his heart and said, "No problem, let's start!"

  Shen Xiang put away the Blood Lingzhi, and immediately took out that inferior alchemy furnace to let the master of the Spirit Dan Pavilion inspect it. After confirming there was no problem, he then took out some processed medicinal materials.

  At this time, everyone was staring at Shen Xiang with their eyes fixed on him. Many people who came here were more or less eager to refine the elixir, and it was rare to witness the process of refining the elixir with their own eyes. Who would let go of this opportunity, especially when it was a young man refining the elixir?

  When the true fire emerged, the old face of the Lingdan Pavilion master was a mixture of disappointment and regret. Shen Xiang refused to become his apprentice, but he could see that this flame was indeed the best flame for refining elixirs. When Yao Tianhua saw Shen Xiang's flame, he couldn't help but furrow his brow, his expression extremely stern. In his heart, he cursed: "Damn kid, so you've been hiding your true self all along."

  Watching Shen Xiang's skilled movements and calm expression, Yao Tianhua gritted his teeth in secret. At this moment, he had already confirmed that Shen Xiang had some experience in alchemy, and was no worse than him.

  Shen Xiang refined the Quenching Body Pill, which was his specialty. This pill not only had a high success rate in refinement but also required fewer materials. With good control, one furnace could produce many pills.

  Everyone saw Shen Xiang's relaxed face and was amazed. They had never seen anyone refine a pill so leisurely before. An hour passed unknowingly, and when everyone saw Shen Xiang's serious expression disappear, they knew he had already passed the most critical point.

  "It's done!" Shen Xiang opened the lid of the alchemy furnace, and a fragrant aroma wafted out, filling the great hall. The crowd immediately gathered around, their eyes wide with wonder as they stared at the contents of the furnace, where five pure white elixir pills were surrounded by a misty white vapor.

  The crowd gasped in unison - Shen Xiang had actually refined the Tempering Body Pill!

  The face of the master of the Spiritual Elixir Pavilion solidified, looking at the five pellets of Tempering Body Dan in disbelief. He himself was an alchemist and could identify the quality of the pellets from their color and fragrance. This was a top-grade pellet, and it had been refined in such a short time, in such a low-quality furnace! What was even more unacceptable was that this was achieved by a sixteen-year-old youth!