Chen Xuan focused his attention on Pill Medicine Study.
To say there are quite a few useful pill recipes in here… Things like Longevity Pill, Rejuvenation Water, and Strength Pill all seem to have significant market potential just from the names alone. Take the Strength Pill, for example. According to Pill Medicine Study, it can increase a person's strength by five to six times instantly. If a weightlifter took one, the results would be unimaginable.
As for the Longevity Pill, which can truly extend life, it would likely be highly sought after by the world's wealthy.
However, the materials required for them are also quite diverse.
Things like Nine Heavens Spiritual Flower, Moon Vine, Dragon Blood Grass… there just aren't any equivalents here.
This makes sense.
The two worlds obviously have discrepancies; it's a wonder if the recipes could be universally applicable.
But this doesn't mean Pill Medicine Study isn't useful.
It's akin to a specialized discipline; adapting to local conditions and applying remedies appropriately are the underlying principles. If you encounter materials not included in Pill Medicine Study, you can completely record them yourself.
Chen Xuan searched the tea cabinet for a while and found a bag of wolfberries, then poured out two and put them in his mouth.
Indeed… the core technique of Pill Medicine Study is tasting the hundred herbs!
Once it enters the mouth, Liu Shuyue could roughly identify the Five Elements attributes and pharmacological effects of the material. Now that this ability belongs entirely to him, he should be able to do the same.
And facts proved his assumption was correct.
"Hmm… Three parts Yang, one part Metal fracture, no medicinal properties, no spirituality... Medicinal value... auxiliary material of the ninth grade."
As soon as he bit into the wolfberry, Chen Xuan immediately knew the characteristics of this "medicine."
The lack of medicinal properties indicates it cannot be a primary ingredient.
The absence of spirituality means it's basically unusable for Alchemy.
Although wolfberries aren't very effective, at least he knew this method works.
With the plan set, Chen Xuan immediately called a car to take him to the largest pharmacy nearby, Hundred Herbs Hall.
This store is located next to a Hospital of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, situated in a bustling street area. Not to mention that six stone lions are stationed at the entrance, the building inside is adorned with red bricks and green tiles, with wisps of incense smoke curling from the incense burner—quite an impressive sight. In the center of the lobby inside is a herbal display area, where thousands of types of Chinese herbal medicines are placed in glass boxes, appearing clean and aesthetically pleasing. Around them are rows of Chinese-style maroon wooden cabinets for the staff to retrieve the herbs.
Moreover, there are quite a few customers here to buy medicine. At a glance, there are at least thirty or forty people, with long lines at both the cashier and decoction room.
"Hello, do you have a prescription?" a salesperson greeted with a smile.
"No," Chen Xuan shook his head, "Do you have to have a prescription to buy medicine?"
The salesperson looked puzzled but still responded politely, "Otherwise, we couldn't let patients concoct their own medicine, right? If you're unsure about which medicine to get, you can consult with our in-store doctor."
"Then… can I try a taste?"
This time the other party was stunned, "You mean, try a package to see the effect?"
"I want to taste the herbs directly... like the ones in the boxes."
The smile on the salesperson's face disappeared, "Are you joking? The herbs need to be decocted before consumption; you can't eat them raw, you'll get poisoned."
Chen Xuan didn't expect that trying the herbs would be so troublesome, so he had to find the in-store doctor to prescribe a heat-clearing detox soup for colds.
With the prescription slip, the salesperson then helped him get the medicine.
Looking at the description on the slip, this soup contains six ingredients: Isatis root, reed rhizome, rehmannia, turmeric, anemarrhena, and acorus gramineus. Although it's a small sample compared to thousands of herbal medicines, it was an opportunity to taste it immediately.
Once the salesperson finished gathering the herbs, she wanted to go and brew them, but Chen Xuan quickly stopped her.
"No rush, let me check them first."
He took the medicine package to the side, pretending to check whether the herbs were sufficient. After about two minutes, when the salesperson finally diverted her attention to other customers, Chen Xuan quickly grabbed a piece of dried herb and stuffed it into his mouth.
Isatis root… no medicinal properties, no spirituality.
Rehmannia… the same.
He quickly tasted all six piles of herbs.
However, to his disappointment, none of these six herbs met the requirements for Alchemy. Not only was their spirituality zero, but their medicinal properties were practically nonexistent; at most, they could only be used as auxiliary materials to adjust the Five Elements.
It seems that just buying a heat-clearing detox soup isn't enough.
But Chen Xuan vaguely felt something wasn't quite right.
He could understand the lack of spirituality. According to Pill Medicine Study, Spiritual Medicine is something that has absorbed the essence of the sun and moon over many years, sometimes to the point of becoming sentient. The herbs sold in the shop are processed semi-products through drying and baking, so naturally, their Spiritual Qi had dissipated completely.
But the lack of medicinal properties was unexpected.
It's not that Hundred Herbs Hall was selling fake products—these traditional Chinese herbs could surely be made into soup to drink, but they couldn't pass Pill Medicine Study's identification.
Why is that?
Is it because the definitions of "medicine" differ?
If these six herbs don't work, then other herbs might encounter the same issue.
Then the salesperson approached again, "Have you finished checking?"
Not wanting to wait for the medicinal soup to be decocted, Chen Xuan handed the medicine package back to the salesperson and walked out of Hundred Herbs Hall.
Since the traditional Chinese medicine shop didn't work, should he try Western medicine?
The thought of using aspirin for Alchemy seemed absurd!
Suddenly, he saw a fruit shop across the street, where a staff member was promoting a sampling activity at the entrance.
Gazing at the freshly cut fruit trays, Chen Xuan paused. After a moment of contemplation, he crossed the street to the fruit shop, pointed at the sliced watermelon, and asked, "Can I try this?"
"Sure, the toothpicks are on the table," the staff member replied.
Chen Xuan picked up a piece of watermelon with a toothpick and carefully tasted it, and his tongue surprisingly transmitted corresponding feedback—two parts Water attribute, one part Wood, no medicinal properties, and one part spirituality.
That's it! I was thinking about it wrong from the beginning!
Chen Xuan suddenly saw the light.
The herbs sold in the pharmacy were selected according to this world's medical expertise, while the tasting in Pill Medicine Study follows an entirely different set of standards. Limiting his aim to ready-made herbs meant he artificially restricted the potential of his ability.
As long as it's a plant or fruit that can be eaten, it might have the potential for Alchemy!
Coupled with the conditions of being "fresh" and having a "long age"… the place he should go is not a pharmacy, but the wild, where diverse natural plants thrive!
Luckily, there's such a place nearby: Lu Mountain.
As a mountain, it's somewhat famous, and the vegetation and trees on the mountain are protected accordingly, with some ancient trees that have lived for thousands of years. It's also a tourist spot, making hiking very convenient, so there's no need for him to venture into remote mountains like an ancient Medicine Farmer, risking his life to find rare herbs.
Once he decided, Chen Xuan took a car straight to the foot of Lu Mountain and then walked along the paved mountain road, picking whatever plants he could find along the way—flowers, grasses, vines, barks, and leaves—all were tested, even if they were plant parts. Of course, to follow nature protection guidelines, he only picked pieces the size of a fingernail.
"Mommy… that person is eating grass…" a little girl exclaimed, holding her mother's hand.
"Shh!" The woman quickly pulled the child away, "Be careful, that person has a mental problem."
Chen Xuan couldn't help but laugh.
However, his curiosity had been fully piqued, and no gazes could stop him.
He continued tasting for an entire day.
Until the sky was completely covered by night and the time pointed to 8:30, he found a secluded spot by the roadside to pause.
In the next second, he had returned to that mystical little shop.
It's a mandatory card swipe, huh…
At least it saved him a return fare.
Chen Xuan poured all of his day's harvest onto the table—a couple of plastic water bottles filled with grass leaves, with a few bugs still visible at the bottom. Some of these leaves came from camphor trees, others from ginkgo, and some from unnamed roadside weeds. They weren't particularly rare, yet they met Alchemy's medicinal property requirements. Plus, he made an additional discovery: even the leaves from the same type of tree, though similar, differed in properties; leaves from one tree could be useful, but not necessarily those from another.
He rubbed his hands excitedly; now that the ingredients were ready, he could finally begin his Alchemy!