Previously, Aoki had thought that the Six-Flavors Hall was a place of scarcity, where even the slightly rare materials required for many pill formulas were hard to gather. But after arriving in the mountain village, he finally understood what true remoteness and poverty meant.
Although he could leave the village to purchase materials from nearby towns, a large portion of what he needed was simply unavailable.
However, this also had much to do with his alchemy knowledge—there were many materials he didn’t even recognize, and the sellers couldn’t explain much either.
He had some talent for pill-making, but the previous head of the Six-Flavors Hall had treated him merely as a tool; the title of apprentice was nothing but an empty word.
This left Aoki feeling helpless as he guarded a crude alchemy furnace outside the cave.
The furnace had been made by a blacksmith, but after it was completed, he realized he was like a skilled cook without rice.
It had been a month since he first came to the mountain village, and progress in making pills to heal Nongli had completely stalled. At this rate, who knew when Nongli would grow her second tail?
If things continued like this, the Phantom Sword Immortal would surely find them.
For now, they were hiding in the secluded mountain village, but both Aoki and Nongli felt the Phantom Sword Immortal wouldn’t let them off so easily. Especially Nongli—although she couldn’t say why the Phantom Sword Immortal was after her, she was absolutely certain they would come again.
It had been two days since the alchemy furnace arrived, and Aoki had been frowning the entire time. Nongli naturally noticed his worries and, as always, stayed by his side waiting for him.
Before, she waited for the pills to be ready; now she simply waited for Aoki’s attention to fall on her.
When Aoki looked her way, she would smile brightly and call out, “Master.”
But even this only made Aoki more anxious.
“Sigh…”
Aoki let out a long sigh, walked back into the cave, and lay down on the stone bed staring up at the cave ceiling. Nongli stretched her head through the leaves at the cave entrance, secretly watching Aoki.
It seemed like it had been a while since she returned to the real world. Who knew how things were over there?
He had been busy running around all this time, but now that things had settled somewhat, Aoki thought he should go back and check. And when he thought about someone in the Deepwood District, a bold idea formed in his mind.
So, he closed his eyes and sent his consciousness back to the real world.
It was just about time for Cuihua’s arrival, and now he no longer needed his Qi Resolve to maintain awareness because waking up meant he was in the “strong” half-paralyzed state.
He waited on the jade bed for more than half an hour before Cuihua walked in from outside. Seeing Aoki open his eyes and look at her, she smiled softly and asked, “Awake?”
“Yes. Has there been any news from Yue Lan’s side?”
“There was an attack incident in Rose King’s capital, if that counts.”
“An attack incident?”
“Yes. There was a gang fight in a tavern residential area in Rose King’s capital. It’s said… it’s related to the Church?”
“Related to the Church?”
Aoki sat up and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Could this be connected to the medical record? Had Yue Lan and the Saintess candidates started moving already?
But wasn’t this progressing a bit fast?
“There’s also some good news you’ll like.”
“Hero selection?”
“Canceled!”
Cuihua made a scissors gesture, and Aoki clapped his hands, pleased.
After a brief verbal celebration, Aoki suddenly asked, “How’s Doctor Maxie doing lately?”
“Ah, he’s cooperating better than I thought.”
Cuihua looked somewhat apologetic when Maxie was mentioned.
“I want to see Maxie. Take me to him a bit later?”
“All right!”
After sunset, Cuihua led Aoki out of the Sanctuary to Maxie’s clinic, which was closing for the day.
Seeing Aoki and Cuihua arrive together, Maxie’s expression grew serious, and the dog nurse Bruce beside him did the same.
“Doctor Maxie, please don’t look so wary. I just have a few questions for you.
And Nurse Bruce, you don’t need to be so nervous either.”
Aoki said this to Maxie, glancing at Bruce as well.
“Woof!”
Bruce barked disapprovingly, as if it understood how annoying Aoki and Cuihua were.
“Please, feel free to speak, Brave Advisor.”
Maxie shrugged.
“I want to ask about alchemy knowledge, more precisely, herbalism.”
Aoki believed that the magical reality and the two Immortal Cultivation simulation worlds shared an infinite similarity in cultivation systems, both in magic and spiritual energy.
And from his previous experiments, some alchemical and pill ingredients had similar effects in both worlds.
In this world, doctors must master herbalism, so Maxie was an expert in this field.
Wood Elves had long lifespans, and their scholars were experts among experts.
Seeking Maxie’s help was a good idea.
Perhaps Maxie could identify herbs in this world that corresponded to the abstract herbs Aoki described and tell him their effects.
“Oh? Herbalism?”
“Yes.”
Aoki nodded and pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket. On it were detailed drawings and information of many materials.
Cuihua, seeing Aoki hand over this abstract collection, found it confusing.
But after looking at the drawings, Maxie actually nodded and said, “I think I recognize some similar herbs.”
“Is that even possible?”
Both Cuihua and Aoki exclaimed, and Cuihua now understood that Aoki was gambling on this.
She had long noticed that Aoki’s dreams during sleep had substance, but she had never asked for details.
“If it’s by appearance… let me see.”
Maxie grew interested as he examined the drawings. “Interesting, very interesting. This matches possibilities shown in certain herbals about other forms herbs might take. Where did you get these?”
“Uh…”
Aoki was momentarily at a loss for words, but Maxie was already lost in his thoughts.
“Here, I’ll show you!”
Soon, Maxie brought over a box filled with herbs, explaining one by one how each might correspond to the ones in the drawings.
Honestly, Aoki was overwhelmed; much of the information Maxie gave him he couldn’t verify and could only quietly take notes to cross-check later back in the simulation world.
This “research meeting” lasted a long time. Before they knew it, Cuihua and Nurse Bruce had fallen asleep, while Aoki and Maxie were still locked in a passionate exchange of ideas.
After a while, Maxie coughed dryly, realizing his throat was parched. He went to pour water for himself and Aoki.
Out of the corner of his eye, Aoki spotted many books about Beastmen on the shelf, and on the desk was a book about Eastern fox-girl tribes.
He asked tentatively, “Doctor Maxie, how much have you studied this book?”
“This one? I think you have a copy too, right?”
Maxie pointed at the book and said, “I think I might be an expert on fox-girls now!”
“Expert?”
Aoki raised his brow, and another bold idea stirred in his mind.