The shopkeeper was an old, yet tall and strong orc. Even in the heart of cruel winter, he just had on a thin shirt. Thick hair covered his coarse skin as he lazily rested in his shop.
There were many exotic plants everywhere in the shop. These strange flowers and grasses came in vivid colors, and the shop was filled with a refreshing scent.
Han Shuo only flicked a slight glance at the old orc as he walked in and started looking amongst the plant life himself, identifying them, and looking for what he needed.
In Chu Cang Lan's memories, he'd spent a lot of time researching the methods of pill refinement. He'd also refined some pills himself.
However, apart from a pill cauldron and a recipe being of the utmost importance in pill refining, the next most important thing were the ingredients. The more precious the pill, the rarer the ingredients. Most of them were heavenly treasures, and one needed them in sufficient quantity to refine the pills.
This time, the leaves glittering with a golden color in front of the old orc's shop with roots like rock had attracted Han Shuo's attention.
Using the methods in his memories, he began to closely examine the fauna in order to identify them. After careful scrutiny, he was able to confirm that these strange plants were the ones that only grew in caves with stalactites. These were Goldmarrow Grass that had formed after absorbing the rock essence within the caves for a hundred years as well as the yin qi of the heavens.
Goldmarrow Grass was a heavenly treasure of great yin. If combined with a couple of other ingredients, one would be able to refine the transformative Reform Pill—a pill that would thoroughly excavate all of a mortal's bones and meridians, completely transforming their body to make it suitable for demonic and magical cultivation.
There was also a small ruby-colored tree with several red fruits on its branches. The flaming fruits were round and translucent, sparkling with a faint crimson light beneath the sunlight. They each seemed to be like a miniature sun.
When Han Shuo looked at them closely, he grew even more certain that these were the fire attribute treasures, Sunblaze Fruits. If someone cultivating the fire attribute ate this fruit, then their strength would increase immensely for a short amount of time thanks to the power of the sun filtering down to them.
However, if someone not inclined towards the fire attribute ate the fruit, they wouldn't be able to hold up under the fiery power within and would be burned to a crisp by the fruit. When he turned to cinders, the spirit power of the fruit would slowly dissipate into the skies.
Apart from the Goldmarrow Grass and the Sunblaze Fruit, Han Shuo also discovered other treasures such as the Dragonfly Fruit, Hundred Year Vine Heart, and Extreme Frost Grass in this shop. These were all precious materials that pill refiners needed. Han Shuo naturally wouldn't let them easily out of his sight now that he'd discovered them.
After a while, Han Shuo laid out all the exotic spirit plants he knew on the counter in front of the old orc. He smiled, "Elder, how much do these go for?"
The old orc had been long since keeping an eye on Han Shuo's movements as he lazily sat there. He finally stood up when Han Shuo placed these items in front of him.
Contrary to Han Shuo's expectation, the stocky old orc didn't immediately name a price. He looked at Han Shuo with interest instead and asked, "Do you recognize these items and know what they're used for?"
The old orc's voice was raspy and resonant, seemingly a bit awkward when he formed the syllables of human speech. His two nostrils huffed with air as he spoke, looking a bit odd.
"No, I just think they're a bit strange and wanted to take them home for some further study." Han Shuo smiled. The old orc was a bit disappointed when he heard that Han Shuo didn't recognize them. He muttered self deprecatingly to himself, "Of course. So many pharmacists had no idea what this is, how would you know what they are?"
Pointing at the Sunblaze Fruit, the old orc said to Han Shuo, "Curious human youngster, these things aren't fun at all. They grew out of an area of poor dirt in our home and no one dares play with them. For instance, this red fruit? Even if some fierce beasts eat these fruits, they'd be burned to death by poisonous flame."
"And, these strange flowering grasses. You'll be able to feel a bone deep chill if you place your hand on their leaves. Whoever eats them freezes into ice cubes. You're not a pharmacist, so you should probably not try to mix them up. According to what I know, some pharmacists suffered great harm when they tried mixing these."
It was obvious that the old orc didn't know the marvelous effects of these heavenly treasures and treated them as scary poisonous grass. The Sunblaze Fruit and Extreme Frost Grass were treasures of utmost heat and cold. Ordinary people would indeed be injured if they ate them since they couldn't digest the spirit power within. It was normal for him to have this kind of misconception.
Laughing lightly, Han Shuo smiled, "Don't worry, I'm not using these myself. It's just that I know a good pharmacist who's good with exotic plants. I just want to give these to him. Of course, I'll remember your reminders and tell him the peculiarities of these plants."
"Then alright. It was very difficult for my children to bring them over from the far barren wastelands. Give me a hundred gold coins for all of these. This is a fair price. Some pharmacists would be greatly interested in them and be willing to spend a great deal of money to buy them." It was obvious that the old orc didn't know what these items could be used for in the hands of someone like Han Shuo. A hundred gold coins wasn't even enough to buy one of their leaves.
In consideration of the orc's kind reminders, as well as the possibility of obtaining more of these plants in the future, Han Shuo generously threw down five hundred gold coins. "Thank you for your reminder, elder. Your kindness was worth four hundred gold coins. Otherwise, my friend might've ended up in trouble. Mm, if you have more of these plants, please bring them from the barren lands. I'll come over when I'm free and purchase them for high prices."
"Oh, honored guest, your generosity will be rewarded. Thank you!" The old orc emotionally accepted a bag of five hundred gold coins. His gaze at Han Shuo was quite different as he spoke happily.
"Wait a second." A clear shout suddenly came from outside the door as a beautiful girl, one that made all three guys sigh, sashayed in.
She had a tall and slender body that was covered by a light purple dress. Her brown hair flowed like a waterfall as a pair of limpid eyes lay gently beneath her delicately arched brows. She had a charming nose, and small red lips that dotted her face. Her flawless, tender skin and oval shaped face rounded out all the elements that a beauty should have.
She looked only in her early twenties, but had the air of one used to holding power and having weathered many a disaster. Although she wasn't purposefully revealing it, she had a natural gravitas to her bearing, as if she could easily decide someone's life or death.
"Hi, beauty, talking to me?" Gilbert blew a sharp whistle and looked at the lady with excitement as he flirted with her.
"Not you!" She flicked a glance at Gilbert and responded calmly without looking at him again. She walked towards Han Shuo and raised a slender finger finger to point at the Extreme Frost Grass. Her limpid eyes looked at Han Shuo as she said, "Can you sell that poison grass to me?"
Shaking his head, Han Shuo smiled, "I'm sorry, no!"
The beauty looked askance at Han Shuo after hearing his rejection. She hadn't thought that Han Shuo would reject her so decisively. Her pretty brows knit together as she asked again, "I can pay a hundred gold coins just for this blade of grass!"
He shook his head again and confirmed, "I'm sorry, not selling!"
Having met with rejection twice, she knew that there was no chance she would be able to obtain the grass. She looked meaningfully at Han Shuo and said with disdain, "A man with no chivalry. It looks like Emily's words weren't that true." It was Han Shuo's turn to be surprised after hearing those words, "Are you Mistress Cecilia?"
Nodding her head coldly, Cecilia threw her head back and looked at Han Shuo, speaking proudly, "That's me. Mister Bryan, what will it take for you to give me the grass?"
"Nothing!" Han Shuo responded and smiled, "It's very nice to meet you, Mistress Cecilia. Good day!"
Han Shuo didn't even look at Cecilia after he finished speaking, circling past her to unhurriedly walk outside the shop.