novelapdf Chapter 555 The Eighth Elder Has Arrived! The Reason!
Chapter 555 The Eighth Elder Has Arrived! The Reason!
Chen Fan took out a list of alchemy materials from his storage bag, listing out the medicinal materials needed to refine the fourth-order Rejuvenation Pill, Spirit Cleansing Pill, and Mind Concentration Pill.
Although these medicinal herbs are not particularly rare, with his current stock, he can only refine them for two or three batches.
Thinking of all this, Chen Fan remembered the green wooden token in his sleeve.
Baicaotang is the largest medicinal herb merchant in Tiannanxing, and the medicinal herb reserves of its imperial city branch are far superior to those of ordinary pharmacies.
Since the eighteenth elder took the initiative to invite him, he probably wouldn't be stingy with a few medicinal herbs. Moreover, he has cooperated with Baicaotang for many years, from the sealed land to the desolate city and then to the imperial city, so the two sides can be considered old acquaintances.
It wouldn't hurt for him to go and take a look.
As dawn broke, Chen Fan changed back into his gray robe and cloak, covered himself with a human skin mask, and quietly left the inn.
The Baicaotang Imperial City Branch is not far from Zhuque Street, occupying a five-story building.
In the dim morning light, the green wooden signboard engraved with the image of a nine-leaf lingzhi mushroom stood out prominently.
The store had just opened, and several employees were wiping the counter. When they saw someone enter, they immediately came to greet them.
"Fellow Daoist, are you here to buy medicinal herbs or..." The one greeting the guest was none other than Manager Sun from last time. He recognized Chen Fan halfway through his sentence, and the smile on his face instantly changed from professional politeness to genuine enthusiasm. "So it's you, Fellow Daoist, who has graced us with your presence! Please come in!"
He personally led Chen Fan to a private room on the third floor and then instructed the waiter to brew the best spiritual tea.
Before long, Manager Qian hurried over, cupping his hands in greeting as he entered, and said with a smile, "Fellow Daoist, you've arrived very early! I was wondering when you would come, but I didn't expect you to arrive so early. Please, have a seat!"
Chen Fan sat down in the guest seat, took a sip of the spiritual tea served by the waiter, and got straight to the point: "Manager Qian, I've come today for two reasons: first, to visit Elder Eighteen, and second, to purchase a batch of medicinal herbs for alchemy."
Upon hearing this, Manager Qian's smile widened even further: "Fellow Daoist wishes to purchase medicinal herbs? Why bother! You are a distinguished guest personally requested by the Eighteenth Elder; a few herbs are nothing to you. Just name your request, and I'll take charge—it'll all be provided!"
As he spoke, he asked the waiter to bring him pen and ink, and wrote down all the medicinal herbs that Chen Fan had mentioned.
Among these medicinal herbs were quite precious items such as four- or five-hundred-year-old Ganoderma lucidum and the inner core of an eighth-order demon beast, but Manager Qian didn't even blink and directly ordered Manager Sun to go to the warehouse to get the goods.
In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Manager Sun returned carrying a storage bag.
Chen Fan took a look and found that there were 30% more medicinal herbs inside than he had reported, and all of them were of superior quality.
"Manager Qian, you're too kind." Chen Fan put away the storage bag and thanked him with a cupped hand.
Shopkeeper Qian waved his hand, then suddenly became serious and took out a communication jade talisman from his sleeve, infusing it with spiritual power.
A moment later, he put away the jade talisman and smiled at Chen Fan, "The Eighteenth Elder is on his way and will arrive in half an hour at most. Please wait a moment, Fellow Daoist."
Chen Fan nodded, but a slight thought flickered in his mind.
They realized that the Eighteenth Elder wasn't at the Imperial City branch, but had come from out of town!
This important figure from Baicaotang actually went to great lengths to meet me personally; this level of importance is a bit excessive.
He asked himself why a Nascent Soul cultivator, whose interactions with Baicaotang were limited to buying and selling spiritual plants, would attract the attention of an elder of Baicaotang.
Half an hour later, steady footsteps sounded outside the private room. The door was pushed open, and an elderly man with white hair and a youthful face walked in.
The old man looked to be about seventy or eighty years old, but he was in good spirits, with a rosy complexion like a baby and clear, bright eyes.
He was wearing a blue Taoist robe, embroidered with the logo of Baicaotang, the Nine-Leaf Lingzhi.
His aura was as deep as an abyss, clearly indicating that he was at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm.
Manager Qian and Manager Sun stood up at the same time and bowed respectfully: "Greetings, Eighteenth Elder."
The old man waved his hand, signaling the two to step back.
His gaze had been fixed on Chen Fan ever since he entered the room. He looked him up and down a few times, his eyes flashing with a complex mix of emotions: relief, emotion, and above all, a sense of relief and joy.
"Young friend Chen, how have you been?"
Chen Fan stood up, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Greetings, Eighteenth Elder."
The Eighteenth Elder sat down in the main seat and sighed, saying, "The last time I contacted you was through the communication jade talisman from Li Fugui. At that time, the seal on the Sealed Land was still intact, and although I wanted to lend you a hand, I was powerless to help. Later, I heard that you had left the Sealed Land and were besieged by the Nascent Soul Ancestor of the Wang Family in the Red Land, and I was worried for a while. I didn't expect that after only a few months, you would not only be safe and sound, but also infiltrate the Great Yu Imperial City. Even I was ashamed of my own abilities back then."
Chen Fan's expression remained unchanged, but his heart was in turmoil.
The eighteenth elder knew his whereabouts perfectly, clearly having been watching him ever since he left the sealed land.
The depth and breadth of Baicaotang's intelligence network far exceeded his imagination.
"Elder, you flatter me," he said calmly. "I was merely acting out of self-preservation, and it all happened by accident. May I ask what brings you here, Elder?"
The eighteenth elder smiled and said without beating around the bush, "To be honest, I've come to see you for three things: spirit rice, radishes, and sweet potatoes."
Chen Fan was slightly taken aback.
These three items were indeed the agricultural products that were piled up the most in his bowl.
Back in the sealed land, Old Li would buy a batch of goods from him every few days to resell. But he thought those were just things low-level cultivators used to make a living, and were nothing rare on Tiannan Star.
Why would this elder of Baicaotang, who is at the Nascent Soul level, make a special trip to discuss this kind of deal?
"Elder, you jest," Chen Fan shook his head. "These are merely low-grade spiritual plants; many people on Tiannan Star cultivate them. Why would the elder need to personally come to find me?"
The smile on the Eighteenth Elder's face turned somewhat bitter.
He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and slowly said, "Young friend, you are unaware of the situation. You are right, second-grade spirit rice, white marrow radish, and sweet potatoes are indeed abundant on Tiannan Star. Not to mention Hundred Herbs Hall, even a random cultivator could cultivate several acres. However..."
He put down his teacup, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes: "Our Hundred Herbs Hall's sacred beast only eats what you grow."
A sacred beast?
Chen Fan was stunned.
The Eighteenth Elder continued, "The Hundred Herbs Hall has a sacred beast that guards the hall. It is a descendant of the ancient auspicious beast Bai Ze, possessing the innate supernatural ability to identify all the spiritual plants in the world. Many of the spiritual herbs and elixir formulas accumulated by the Hundred Herbs Hall over thousands of years were perfected thanks to the sacred beast's supernatural abilities. This beast is gentle in nature, but it is extremely picky about what it eats. From a young age, it has only eaten spiritual plants of the third rank or higher, refusing to even smell lower-rank ones. But strangely enough, ever since Old Li brought back the first batch of spiritual rice you planted from the sealed land, the sacred beast tasted it, and since then, it has refused to eat any other spiritual rice. It only eats the radishes you plant, and the sweet potatoes you dig."
He shrugged and said with a wry smile, "When you were in the sealed land, Old Li would collect a batch of spiritual plants from you every few months, which was barely enough to keep things going. But since you left the sealed land and the supply stopped, the sacred beast has stopped eating and hasn't eaten much for almost two months. Although it's an auspicious beast and won't die from hunger for several months, its temper is getting more and more irritable. A few days ago, it even ransacked the Hundred Herbs Hall's herb garden. If I don't feed it soon, I'm afraid it will tear down the Hundred Herbs Hall headquarters."