"You know the Cow's Tail Flower?" A hint of surprise crossed Granny Yao's face. This herb was nearly useless, unless one caught a chill at night, developed a fever, and felt dizzy—then it could be used in medicine; otherwise, it was practically waste. Even if someone did catch a chill, other medicines were usually substituted, as the Cow's Tail Flower was ineffective in treatment. Moreover, it was extremely rare. In the eyes of apothecaries, it was nothing more than a useless weed; many wouldn't even bother to learn its name or medicinal properties. Qian Jin nodded vigorously: "It is," he whispered, "where did you find this?"

Granny Yao sighed, shaking her head repeatedly. It seemed this was the descendant of some wealthy family who enjoyed collecting rare herbs and flowers, but whose judgment was truly appalling! After searching for so long, all he found was this?

"Young man, this herb has little effect, and it won't help your friend's injury much." Granny Yao kept shaking her head. A young man who showed more interest in finding a rare herb than worrying about his companion clearly didn't have much of a character! She would have to find time soon to persuade Hua Yan Bujian to give up on him.

Qian Jin echoed Granny Yao's sigh. The Cow's Tail Flower indeed had few uses, but in this world, there existed something called a companion plant—meaning that near certain plants, some special varieties would grow, living exclusively alongside the original. Hence, they were called companion plants.

Luckily! The Cow's Tail Flower was a medicinal herb with a companion plant: the Cockscomb Grass, an excellent material for knitting bone. However, its efficacy could only be fully activated when combined with the Cow's Tail Flower.

Simultaneously! Where the Cockscomb Grass grew, there was usually a companion animal as well: the Bird Demon Snake! Half a foot long, as thick as a thumb, with venomous fangs. When medicated alongside the Cockscomb Grass and Cow's Tail Flower, the bone-setting effect was doubled, and the snake's gall bladder could be used to repair meridian channels.

"You really want to know? Suit yourself." Granny Yao waved her hand. "Leave the encampment, walk five li to your right. Near there is a..."

"A stinking ditch full of sludge, right?" Qian Jin turned and walked toward the door, pausing to say over his shoulder, "Thank you, Granny Yao. Oh, and one more thing—in your Brute Bull Potion, you're short by fifteen grams of Golden Corn, and you haven't included any Purple Cabbage at all. A potion made like that will end up being nothing more than a potent laxative..."

"Nonsense!" Granny Yao glared at the door through which Qian Jin had disappeared, slamming her hard, black wooden staff onto the ground. "Bujian, while this boy's appearance is tolerable, he is too impetuous. He's a warrior, yet he wants to study pharmacy, and he acts as if he's an expert, even daring to lecture an apothecary! I am a certified apothecary of the Divine Capital Apothecary Guild, personally verified by Master Apothecary Cromwell!"

Hua Yan Bujian’s eyes were filled with confusion. In the past two days, Qian Jin hadn't seemed impetuous at all. Why act so rashly today? Could it be? Is it my attire that made him want to show off in front of me?

"My Brute Bull Potion will be successful shortly!" Granny Yao, still fuming, climbed back up to the high platform. "Find me two bandit lads. Make them drink it and compare with that impetuous boy. I'll show him! I'm not some ordinary apothecary who can only brew one Grade Five potion! I am an apothecary capable of brewing ten different Grade Five medicines! This will be my eleventh potion!"

At the entrance, the bandits vigorously cranked a winch resembling a well pump, causing the ground covering the entrance to slowly ascend. The sound of the torrential rain pounding the earth resumed.

Qian Jin stepped out into the downpour, listening to the muffled sound of the floorboards closing behind him. He summoned [Moon-Shooter] from his Dou Realm, hung a quiver of arrows at his waist, and moved cautiously around the area.

Granny Yao's location was not hard to find. Qian Jin walked five li and quickly located the spot Granny Yao had mentioned amidst the rain curtain.

Cockscomb Grass, growing in dark, damp ditches, would certainly be accompanied by the Cow's Tail Flower. Used separately, their effect was negligible; used together, they possessed bone-knitting properties.

As Qian Jin reached out to pluck the Cockscomb Grass, a lump of black mud suddenly erupted from the wet soil, "like an arrow loosed from a string, it shot through the air, two faint points of fluorescence flickering within the mud."

Hiss! The fluorescence in the black mud emitted a fierce hiss. Qian Jin pinched the flying mud between his thumb and forefinger, a happy smile spreading across his face: "Companion beast. The companion beast of Cockscomb Grass and Cow's Tail Flower, the Dark Demon Snake. Half a foot long, as thick as a little finger, with two fangs serving as natural armor. Used with the grass, the bone-setting effect is pronounced."

Qian Jin squeezed his fingers hard. The Dark Demon Snake writhed twice and went limp. Its two fangs automatically detached; only upon death would the fangs fall out; otherwise, they would stay with the snake its entire life.

Holding the snake up by its tail, Qian Jin used his middle and index fingers to gently squeeze toward its mouth, causing two spherical objects inside its soft body to undulate and move forward.

"Twin snake gall bladders?" Qian Jin laughed. His luck today was truly extraordinary! Twin gall bladders in a Dark Demon Snake were rare; if present, one of them would certainly be golden!

A golden Dark Demon Snake gall bladder, when taken alone, could quell internal heat and reduce fever. If medicated with the gall bladder of the Demon Beast Armored Python and the antler and blood of the Demon Beast Silver-Scaled Elk, it could form the Dou Yuan Potion.

The cultivation of Dou Qi was always a gradual process. Some people, however, stimulated enormous potential within themselves during moments of life-or-death crisis, achieving astonishing leaps in an instant. This inspired many apothecaries to seek a shortcut for cultivating Dou Qi through potions. Thus, various potions designed to stimulate Dou Qi were born, yet nearly all carried varying degrees of side effects. The most severe side effect was that after taking most of these potions, while Dou Qi would surge rapidly in the short term—sometimes even allowing one to reach a higher realm overnight—the consequence was a permanent stagnation in future progress!

The efficacy of the Dou-less Potion was not as fiercely potent as many others. It could temporarily accelerate a warrior's growth speed in Dou Qi cultivation, but it was a potion entirely free of side effects. The only issue was that the formula was always kept secret, and the requirements for precise ingredient measurement, timing, and temperature were extremely high.

"If I could find a Half-Dragon Fire Lizard, I could even formulate the more ferocious yet even more miraculous Swift Jaguar Dou Yuan Mystical Potion!" Qian Jin broke out in a cold sweat, wiping the rain from his face as he shook his head repeatedly. "Forget it. Never mind the Mystical Potions. Any slight error in procedure with those things immediately turns them into deadly poisons."

Qian Jin straightened his perpetually stooped back. "Granny Yao’s Grade Five ointment is indeed decent, but I'm truly pressed for time; I still need to return for the assessment. Even a mid-to-upper tier Grade Five ointment isn't quite effective enough, as apothecaries should ideally be able to concoct up to Grade Seven potions."

Grade One is Apprentice; Two, Three, Four—those are for Novice Apothecaries. Grades Five, Six, and Seven are the domain of a true Apothecary.

Qian Jin mocked himself with a chuckle. "Having spent so much time with Adams, my standards have gotten too high. Usually, if an apothecary can manage just one Grade Five potion, they are considered a true Apothecary. Mastering all Grade Five potions is likely the insane standard Adams sets. I truly wonder if I am a beneficiary or a victim... Only by mastering all seven grades can one begin to study the entry-level potions needed to become a Master Apothecary..."

The damp earth suddenly squirmed. Qian Jin chuckled as he saw a red rat the size of a human head emerge from the ground. "Hard-Tooth Rat? This is truly fortunate. With a few more common medicinal herbs, plus some from Granny Yao's stock, I should be able to brew a Grade Seven bone-setting potion. Fortunately, I have Granny Yao's dispensary; otherwise, even with the materials, the resulting potion would only reach Grade Six standards without the proper tools."

The Hard-Tooth Rat let out a couple of miserable squeaks, and a blood-stained tooth fell from its mouth. Qian Jin gently loosened his grip, and it drilled back into the muddy pit without looking back.

"Next is the treatment for the meridians..." Qian Jin stored the materials in his Dou Realm, raising a hand to wipe the rain streaming down his dark hair. "The true injuries sustained by the three of them are to their meridians. If this isn't completely healed now, any lingering issues will severely impede future advancement." It's a pity we are out here in the borderlands; it would be much easier to find things in Mountain Village Sci-Tech.

Qian Jin crept cautiously through the rain, his mind constantly reviewing the knowledge he had learned from the Endless World. Occasionally, he paused to search for useful herbs among the weeds, a look of helpless amusement always lingering on his face. The borderlands were truly barren; even the herbs were far less plentiful than those in the Four Seasons Valley. If he hadn't studied pharmacy for two years, he would have been forced to rely on Granny Yao's idiosyncratic Grade Five ointment.

Qian Jin wandered in the rain for five hours, burying himself in the mud ditch to evade two patrols of searching bandits. While he could have killed them, exposing his position was simply not worth the risk.

Returning to the ruins, Qian Jin instantly relaxed mentally and physically. He looked with some curiosity at Granny Yao, who was dressed in coarse cloth and carrying a dark wooden staff, clearly waiting to greet him.

Four incredibly strong bandits, whose muscles strained their clothes, stood behind Granny Yao with bitter, helpless smiles. Each held a vial containing a pungent blue potion bubbling with movement.

"Boy, didn't you say Granny’s Brute Bull Potion would be a potent laxative?" Granny Yao swept her wooden staff toward the four bandits behind her. "Wait until they drink this and compete with you in strength..." Qian Jin, clutching his herbs, shrugged. "Is that really necessary..."

"How could it not be necessary?" Granny Yao’s yellowish eyes bulged. "It's one thing to insult a great apothecary, but I must show you that although you might be clever, every discipline is vast and immeasurable. Bujian seems set on never looking back, so I must teach you a proper lesson so you understand not to scatter your focus. Otherwise, whatever you do in the future will fail, harming Bujian!"

Qian Jin let out a long sigh. What was all this nonsense? Why was Granny Yao so certain that Hua Yan Bujian had taken a liking to him? Besides... "Drink it quickly! What are you waiting for?" Granny Yao glared at the bandits. "Do you want me to poison you when you get hurt next time?" "Don't laugh!" Qian Jin raised his hands, feigning nervousness. "Really, don't drink it! Or it will make you defecate yourselves to death. Without an anti-diarrheal medicine, you'll be sleeping next to the commode tonight." "You dare to challenge me again..." Granny Yao slammed her staff heavily on the ground. "Drink! The potion works better when warm!"

Qian Jin raised his hands to cover his eyes, unable to bear watching the four bandits meet their tragic fate. The potion did work better warm, but the issue was that it was a potent laxative; the stronger the effect, the more miserable the consequence. Gulp—gurgle—gurgle—

Qian Jin listened to the sound of the bandits’ throats moving as they downed the potion, sighing helplessly once more. "How is it? Do you feel anything?" Granny Yao looked at the bandits with expectant eyes. "Do you feel a surge of heat rolling in your lower abdomen?"

The bandits nodded in unison. Qian Jin also nodded; the first reaction to this particular formula was naturally a churning heat inside. "Do you feel filled with strength?" Granny Yao's excitement shone on her face.

The bandits shook their heads blankly in unison and said, "We only feel the rolling heat in our lower abdomen growing stronger." "Stronger and stronger?" Granny Yao’s right eyelid twitched. "How can it be getting stronger?" "Do you feel a slight downward pulling sensation in your lower abdomen?" Qian Jin asked quietly. "Like the heat is rushing toward your rear ends?"

The bandits all nodded. Qian Jin held up one index finger, then another middle finger, muttering, "One... two... three... Can you still hold on?" "Aiyee! My stomach hurts!" "Not good! I think I'm about to let loose..."

The four bandits shouted chaotically, clutching their rear ends, and fled toward the distance without looking back. "No good, no good, I really can't hold it anymore..."

In the blink of an eye, only Qian Jin, Granny Yao, Hua Yan Bujian, and the bandit in charge of opening and closing the ruins entrance remained.

The four stared at each other, casting an immense silence over the scene. Except for Qian Jin, no one had anticipated that the outcome would actually be this way. Granny Yao had spent a month preparing and another day concocting the [Brute Bull Potion], only for it to turn into a potent laxative. Thud. The entrance to the ruins was so quiet that the sound of an ant crawling could be heard.

A large amount of embarrassment crept across Granny Yao's wrinkled face; her sallow skin flushed a faint red. The Brute Bull Potion, brewed with such confidence, had ended up as a powerful laxative—that alone was humiliating enough! But the most embarrassing part wasn't just that! It was that a young warrior, who looked less than twenty years old, had guessed it correctly just offhand!

Without approaching the cauldron to observe or even taking a drop of the liquid to analyze, simply by standing in the pharmacy filled with a mixture of various medicinal odors, he had called it correctly!

The embarrassment on Granny Yao's face slowly turned into astonishment. Recalling Qian Jin's calm demeanor in the room, she grew increasingly amazed!

To distinguish the dosage of ingredients in the cauldron just by sniffing the air a few times! This... this was impossible without decades of constant contact with medicinal materials, without extremely strong analytical ability, and without a profound foundation of stored knowledge about herbs. It was absolutely, positively impossible!

"Y-young man, did you grow up soaking in medicinal vats?" Granny Yao stared at Qian Jin with a slightly dazed look. "Or was what you said back then just a casual guess? Or did you already know that a failed Brute Bull Potion easily transforms into a violent laxative, so you took that gamble?"

Grew up soaking in medicinal vats? Qian Jin shook his head. For the past two years, he had been constantly consuming memory potions to engage with various elixirs, and he had been taught by a teacher like Yaso, who possessed deep knowledge and was extremely strict. It was hard not to learn well! If he didn't learn well, Teacher Adams would transform into a demon and secretly slip him a laxative or something similar.

That laxative was far more ferocious than a misformulated Brute Bull Potion. It would absolutely require someone to dig a hole in the ground, squat down, and not need to pull up their trousers or stand up for the entire day—just squat there all day long. "Boy, say something." Granny Yao asked anxiously, habitually tapping the ground with her black wooden staff.

"This... Granny Yao," Qian Jin muttered sheepishly. "Fortunately, your temperature control wasn't precise, and you stirred occasionally to release some heat. If the temperature had risen even five degrees more, those people wouldn't be rushing for the commode; they would have passed out right there. Your Brute Bull Potion would have become a Sleeping Potion mixed with a potent laxative. Of course, such a concoction would also have severe side effects: they would wake up extremely lethargic. Once excited, they would immediately fall asleep. If they went out robbing in the future, they'd likely fall asleep just as the blade was about to strike the enemy."

"Is that true?" Granny Yao was somewhat disbelieving. Misformulated potions usually just lacked efficacy; it was rare for them to manifest other effects.

"If you mix it with wine brewed from wheat..." Qian Jin clicked his tongue twice. "If a mage were to ingest it, perhaps it could temporarily grant them a slight increase in magical power—enough for maybe one extra Fireball?" Granny Yao scrutinized Qian Jin strangely. The more she listened, the more fantastical it sounded. Was he just boasting?

"Ahem... Simply put," Qian Jin coughed dryly, "your potion mixture is leaning a bit toward the direction of a Mystical Potion. Of course, this is partly because the purity of your Golden Corn is insufficient. It should belong to corn that was slightly crossbred with common corn in pursuit of higher yield."

This time, it was Hua Yan Bujian who stared at Qian Jin with strange surprise. The Golden Corn was indeed impure! Nowadays, to pursue greater profits, pharmacies often made minor alterations. However, since these alterations were only to boost yield, they usually only reduced the original potency of the herb, requiring only an additional small amount of material. Since pure Golden Corn couldn't be procured at the time, they used this hybrid strain, and Granny Yao had assured them it was fine.

Hua Yan Bujian regarded Qian Jin strangely. He could actually tell the Golden Corn was impure? He stated it with such calm confidence, as if he had witnessed the entire process himself. What kind of background did this young man, whom she had picked up from outside, actually possess? Not only did he possess the Nine Demon-Slaying Battles common to warriors, but he could also slay an Iron-Arm Mantis Bloodline Warrior, retreat unharmed after killing a two-star Dark Division operative, and now, he appeared to know medicine too!