About an hour later. Nie Kong finally felt completely at ease when he saw the usually wilted and dimmed roots, stems, and leaves of Xiangxiang gaining a noticeable sheen. By this time, however, a stack of thirty empty boxes lay beside him. These thirty herbs, when combined with others, could have yielded at least fifty Grade Five Spirit Medicines, but the little creature had greedily devoured them all in one go. If Nie Kong had continued feeding it, the little one could likely have absorbed the medicinal power of another thirty herbs without breaking a sweat.

Of course, this extravagant consumption was largely due to the little creature expending a great deal of its life essence while utilizing the "Aroma Perception for Medicine" technique; otherwise, the results wouldn't have been so exaggerated. Fortunately, he had the Red Chamber as his herb repository; otherwise, no matter how reluctant Nie Kong was, he would have had to sacrifice that rare "Eight-Starred Conch" to satisfy the little fellow.

He carefully withdrew the nine golden needles one by one, slipping them into his pet storage pouch as he tucked them away. Nie Kong patted his belly, swollen taut from the sheer volume of herbs, and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Enough?" Long Xuechan inquired.

"Plenty!"

Nie Kong nodded slightly. "Sister Chan, please prepare some paper and a brush for me."

Long Xuechan’s heart stirred, and she smiled radiantly. "Little Brother Nie Kong, it seems you’ve already managed to sample the powder of that 'Jade Leaf Glazed Pill'?"

"Indeed!"

Nie Kong made no attempt to hide it. Nor could he.

Besides the White Ram Grass, Earth Dragon Lotus, Ten-Thousand-Year Sword Leaf, and Eight-Starred Conch, Nie Kong still had three medicinal powers he couldn't identify. The Fairy Bell Orchid Seed was manageable; finding and tasting that specific herb would reveal which of the three unknown energies belonged to it. The other two, however, presented a real difficulty.

To identify those, he would need Long Xuechan's expertise. Revealing the formula for the "Jade Leaf Glazed Pill" wasn't out of the question; it could serve as repayment for her many past assistances, especially for those thirty rather precious herbs just consumed.

"Follow me!"

Long Xuechan beamed, hooking her arm through Nie Kong's and stepping into the void. When their figures reappeared, they were in a different room. The rush of incoming medicinal scents, the muffled voices from outside, and the solid feel beneath his feet confirmed to Nie Kong that they were on the first floor of the Apothecary Hall.

A ready set of brush, ink, paper, and inkstone lay on the table in the room.

Under Long Xuechan’s eagerly expectant gaze, Nie Kong sat down before the desk, picked up the brush, briefly sensed the three unknown medicinal energies within his acupoints, and began sketching their properties onto the paper. Within mere minutes, Nie Kong had successfully documented the nature of those powers.

Setting down the brush, Nie Kong gave Long Xuechan a slight nod.

Long Xuechan, who had been unable to sit still, flicked her slender fingers, and the paper floated lightly into her waiting palm.

"Based on the properties you described, this first one is the Fairy Bell Orchid Seed," Long Xuechan read aloud. "As for the second and third..." As she spoke, her pupils suddenly widened in surprise. With an excited gasp, she exclaimed, "Little Brother Nie Kong, are these the final two ingredients in the 'Jade Leaf Glazed Pill' formula? You truly managed to taste and identify them?"

Nie Kong nodded. "Sister Chan, you're only half right. It is true that these two ingredients are in the Spirit Medicine formula, but they aren't the last two; there are three ingredients in total."

"There are three?"

Long Xuechan paused, staring at Nie Kong in astonishment.

Nie Kong chuckled. "I haven't encountered the properties of the two written here. Can you identify them based on the descriptions?"

"That..."

Long Xuechan hesitated slightly, rereading the descriptions on the paper, then furrowed her brow faintly. "These remaining two are described a bit vaguely; an accurate judgment will be difficult. But don't worry, wait here a moment; I'll be right back."

Before her words faded, Long Xuechan's figure vanished from the room. A few minutes later, she returned, holding quite a few small paper packets.

She divided them into two piles on the table. Long Xuechan smiled sweetly. "The eleven packets on the left share similarities with the second type you wrote about, while the eight on the right resemble the third. If those two required ingredients are among these, you should be able to distinguish them immediately upon tasting."

"That's a straightforward method."

Nie Kong laughed heartily and began working with Long Xuechan to open all eleven packets on the left, spreading their contents on the tabletop. He then pinched a bit of powder from the first packet and placed it in his mouth.

These samples had all been meticulously processed and were dry and astringent. Tasting them in this state was naturally less pleasant than consuming the thirty live herbs upstairs.

Distinguishing their precise medicinal properties would also be significantly harder.

However, since arriving on the Tianling Continent, Nie Kong had sampled a vast array of herbs. Even without the little creature's "Aroma Perception for Medicine," he could generally ascertain the properties, though it required more effort and the resulting identification wouldn't be as detailed or complete.

One by one, Nie Kong tasted the herbs. The room became exceptionally quiet, the only audible sounds being the soft rhythm of his chewing and swallowing.

Long Xuechan felt an inexplicable tension growing.

When she noticed a subtle change in Nie Kong's expression after he tasted the third herb, her heart fluttered. Could this be it? Yet, Nie Kong continued sampling the others. After several more tries, Long Xuechan's initial disappointment slowly morphed into a dull numbness.

After testing all eleven packets, Nie Kong noted that while the medicinal properties were indeed very similar, minute differences existed between them.

After a moment of deep thought, Nie Kong suddenly pinched another small mound of powder from the third packet, squinted his eyes, and tasted it again, his brow knitting more tightly. Long Xuechan had intended only to await his final judgment, but seeing this action, her mind began racing with speculation.

"Sister Chan, this is the one!"

After a full five minutes, Nie Kong's tightly furrowed brow suddenly smoothed. He opened his eyes and pointed excitedly at the third packet.

"Qu Rui Silk Threads!"

Long Xuechan's face lit up with joy.

Nie Kong was equally pleased and began opening the eight packets on the right one by one. This time, there were fewer types of herbs, yet Nie Kong spent a longer period discerning them. Nearly half an hour passed before Nie Kong's wandering gaze settled upon the fifth packet, his expression growing increasingly resolute.

"Bo Dao Flower!"

Nie Kong and Long Xuechan exchanged a look, both seeing a wave of relief in the other's eyes. Indeed, if those two ingredients hadn't been among the nineteen packets on the left and right, no amount of effort would have allowed them to definitively identify what they were in such a short time.

Fortunately, the worst-case scenario had not materialized.

"White Ram Grass, Fairy Bell Orchid Seed, Earth Dragon Lotus, Ten-Thousand-Year Sword Leaf, Qu Rui Silk Threads, Bo Dao Flower..." Long Xuechan murmured the sequence of ingredients.

"Eight-Starred Conch."

Nie Kong picked up where she left off, naming the final herb in the formula. Simultaneously, he drew out the "Eight-Starred Conch" from his pouch—its stem having two branches already plucked. "This herb is similar to the 'Coiling Serpent Blood Lotus'; it is both a spirit herb and a poisonous herb, making it incredibly rare."

"Oh? It contains potent poison?"

The word 'poison' made Long Xuechan's eyes sparkle brilliantly. "Eight-Starred Conch? Little Brother Nie Kong, where did you find this? I've never even heard of such an herb."

"It was quite a coincidence," Nie Kong smiled slightly, recounting the situation during his trial sampling that day.

"You are truly fortunate," Long Xuechan chuckled, pursing her lips. "Logically, such an herb should never appear in the 'Apothecary Trial Hall,' yet it did. If I'm not mistaken, someone intentionally tried to use the 'Eight-Starred Conch' during that Grade One trial to harm you, never expecting that you would not only survive unscathed but also use it to identify the final ingredient of the 'Jade Leaf Glazed Pill' formula."

"I suspected that possibility as well. After the Eight-Starred Conch, quite a few other poisonous herbs appeared consecutively," Nie Kong chuckled.

"Then you must be more cautious in the future," Long Xuechan cautioned, gazing at the "Eight-Starred Conch." "The Spirit Apothecary who created the 'Jade Leaf Glazed Pill' must have discovered this herb long ago, but they kept it a secret. That's why, after the formula was lost, no Spirit Apothecary could ever crack the recipe."

"Yes. Based on my assessment, the toxicity of the Eight-Starred Conch causes the medicinal properties of the Qu Rui Silk Threads and Bo Dao Flower to change drastically, making them nearly impossible to recognize under normal circumstances," Nie Kong agreed.

Long Xuechan nodded lightly, her beautiful eyes flickering with a charming smile. "Everyone assumed the 'Jade Leaf Glazed Pill' was made from only six ingredients, yet you discovered seven. I didn't believe the Head Steward when he said your skill at discerning spirit medicine formulas was supreme, but now I see you are even more formidable than he described. Little Brother Nie Kong, I am becoming increasingly intrigued by you. What should be done about this?"

As she spoke, Long Xuechan rested one hand on the table while lightly hooking her other hand beneath Nie Kong’s chin, leaning down to look at him from above. Her cheeks were faintly flushed, her eyes full of suggestive warmth, and the seductive aura radiating from her was captivating, making anyone’s heart race.

"That’s easy to handle!"

Nie Kong seized Long Xuechan's soft, smooth hand, sprang to his feet, and flirtatiously hooked his thumb under her delicate, fair chin. He chuckled, "As it happens, I'm also growing more interested in Sister Chan. We must truly communicate with each other sometime soon."

"Hee hee, you little sly fox," Long Xuechan replied with a delicate laugh. "When you manage to catch up to me, then I'll have a good talk with you. Alright, Sister has to go back now. I’ve already instructed the Apothecary Hall manager outside; you just need to ask him for the herbs required to refine the 'Jade Leaf Glazed Pill.'"

Seeing Long Xuechan vanish directly into the void, Nie Kong shook his head with a wry smile, tucked the "Eight-Starred Conch" back into his pet storage pouch, and quickly left the room...

Evening.

"Medicine Cauldron Phantasm!"

Nie Kong commanded silently, and an exquisite miniature medicine cauldron materialized before him. After half a day of rest and absorbing the blood-red liquid beads from two poisonous herbs, Xiangxiang's spirit had fully recovered. Nie Kong no longer had any reservations about refining medicine at this moment.

Since reaching Rank Three, the cauldron manifested by Xiangxiang had undergone significant changes compared to before. The Rank Two cauldron was only three fingers wide, whereas the current one was the size of Nie Kong's palm. Furthermore, the pale purple on the cauldron's surface had deepened to dark purple, and the hint of green on the lid had completely disappeared.

The cauldron rotated slowly. The "Purple Luo Illusionary Spirit Incense" patterns etched into its body seemed to come alive, faintly emitting a mysterious aura.

Ten-Thousand-Year Sword Leaf, White Ram Grass, Fairy Bell Orchid Seed, Earth Dragon Lotus, Qu Rui Silk Threads, Bo Dao Flower, Eight-Starred Conch...

His gaze swept over the seven herbs laid out on the table before him, and Nie Kong’s mind gradually calmed. Except for one leaf of the "Eight-Starred Conch," Nie Kong had acquired the other six herbs from the Red Chamber Apothecary Hall, taking a full jin of each. Normally, even as an assistant in the Six Courts of the Hall, Nie Kong couldn't obtain so many herbs for free, but with Long Xuechan's instruction, the situation was different.

After these past few days, Nie Kong had already discovered that within the Red Chamber, while Long An held the title of Head Steward, Long Xuechan's status seemed even higher.

Now that all the herbs were prepared, the "Jade Leaf Glazed Pill" could be achieved as soon as the exact required quantities were confirmed. As for the order in which the herbs should be added, Nie Kong already knew it—he simply needed to follow the sequence in which the little creature separated the medicinal powers.

"Xiangxiang, ready!"

"Ah-ya-ya..."

The little creature’s sweet cheers instantly reached Nie Kong's mind from the cauldron's location. Seeing its high spirits, Nie Kong delayed no longer. He picked up a small pinch of "Ten-Thousand-Year Sword Leaf" and placed it into the cauldron, then with a thought, his acupoints vibrated, and emerald spiritual energy slowly flowed out from his right palm.

Ten-Thousand-Year Sword Leaf was considered a good spirit herb. It wasn't just a Grade Two Spirit Medicine; several Grade Three Spirit Medicines also required its inclusion in their refinement. Most wonderfully, this herb possessed a very pleasant aroma and the function of refreshing the mind. Even without refining pills, brewing it into tea for drinking was an excellent choice.

The spiritual energy began to burn slowly like a flame, the intense heat scorching the bottom of the cauldron. The cauldron gradually heated up, and soon wisps of delicate fragrance began to spiral out from the small holes in the lid.

Nie Kong's eyes remained fixed, his consciousness completely immersed in the cauldron, closely observing the changes in the "Ten-Thousand-Year Sword Leaf's" medicinal power. Simultaneously, the spiritual energy emanating from his palm surged, and the flame created by its combustion leaped up fiercely. The emerald green fire gradually enveloped the body of the cauldron.

About two minutes later, the fragrance escaping the holes condensed almost into substance. Under Nie Kong's control, the heat of the fire began to gradually recede.

"Clack!"

With a mental command, the cauldron lid snapped open with a low, resonant chime. Nie Kong swiftly scooped a small pile of finely crushed White Ram Grass from the table, enveloping it in spiritual energy, and sent it into the cauldron. The instant the White Ram Grass contacted the power of the Ten-Thousand-Year Sword Leaf, the fire in Nie Kong’s palm suddenly intensified.

The flame rising from the burning wood-elemental energy instantly enveloped the tiny cauldron, followed by a sharp hissing sound, as if a red-hot iron piece had suddenly been plunged into ice-cold water. Wisps of green smoke inevitably began to curl up from inside the cauldron.

"Clang!"

The sprung lid slammed shut quickly, forcefully pressing the green smoke back into the cauldron. After a long while, only a faint thread of subtle green smoke could be faintly seen spiraling out of the lid's small holes, yet before it could even drift away, it was instantly scorched out of existence by the intense heat of the flame.

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