Han Shuo had months of free time after this sale. Andrina had spent all her time on the third floor eating crystal coins one by one as if they were cookies. She looked much healthier and it was obvious that most of her injuries had healed.
Han Shuo did not leave the city to gather medicinal ingredients, nor did he continue to refine medicines. Instead, he simply meditated on the second floor.
He understood that in the City of Shadows, those who would buy his medicines regardless of the exorbitant prices were members of large family clans. His clientele was a small percentage of the population. If he produced too many medicines at once, his medicines might appear less rare and valuable to his customers.
So instead of continuing to produce medicine, Han Shuo told the world that he was out of medicinal ingredients and needed to rest, so he could not supply them with more medicine.
Three months passed silently. Han Shuo's Death Avatar, which had been persistently cultivating within the Cauldron of Myriad Demon , finally made a breakthrough and advanced to the Early-stage of the Midgod Realm. He familiarised himself with his new realm and focused on mastering several new techniques.
Meanwhile, Han Shuo's Avatar of Destruction had become more and more skilled in the use of the Orb of Destruction. He could manipulate an orb to move in any direction and anywhere he wished at the mere thought of it.
Meanwhile, after being destroyed and rebuilt once again, Han Shuo's demonic body had become even stronger. His body was now able to absorb a portion of the Demon General's energy contained within the Cauldron of Myriad Demon . In other words, Han Shuo could borrow the Cauldron Spirit's power to temporarily boost his own strength.
However, this was very risky as he was pushing his body beyond its limits. If his body was injured in the process, it wouldn't be so easy to recover from the injuries. This was because Han Shuo needed to use his demon infant to increase his strength using the Cauldron Spirit's energy. Injuries to the demon infant would take much longer to heal compared to injuries to his body.
Therefore, Han Shuo could only increase his strength using Cauldron Spirit's energy for a very short period of time. If he exceeded that time limit, both his body and the demon infant would pay the price.
Han Shuo was very happy to learn this from Cauldron Spirit. Being able to boost his strength, even for a very short time, could come in handy in an emergency, such as if Avery attacked him again.
Donna never visited Han Shuo again. Although she did not say it out loud, Han Shuo knew that Donna suspected him. He also knew that there was no way that they could ever be as friendly as they had been in the past. Although Han Shuo didn't want to see their relationship turn into what it had become, there was nothing he could do about it. From the moment Avery made him his enemy, he knew that the day would come when he and Donna would part ways.
In the meantime, Andre came to visit Han Shuo again. Oddly enough, he came to ask if Han Shuo had any information about Carmelita, as she still hadn't returned to the City of Shadows and hadn't sent any messages to the House of Sainte for a month. This made Andre quite worried about Carmelita's safety.
Han Shuo, of course, couldn't help Andre and could only admit that he knew nothing. He was also worried about Carmelita's safety.
Avery of the Fifth Corps seemed to be busy with some foreign affairs and hadn't been in the City of Shadows for more than two months. During the days he was away from the City of Shadows, Han Shuo felt relaxed, as he didn't have to be on constant alert for a sneak attack from Avery.
One day, while Han Shuo was meditating on the second floor, he received an invitation card.
This invitation came from the Godswamp Pharmacy in the City of Shadows, saying that the Godswamp Pharmacy was holding a conference for pharmacists, and Han Shuo was among those invited. Han Shuo was about to decline the invitation, but when he read that the pharmacy was also going to discuss cooperation between the two companies, he hesitated for a bit and decided to go.
Two days later, at nightfall.
"Where are you going?" Andrina asked from the third floor as Han Shuo headed for the exit.
"There's a pharmaceutical conference, I'm going to check it out. You can stay here," Han Shuo replied casually as he started to leave.
"I'll go with you!" Andrina replied in her lovely voice, gently floating down from the third floor. She stepped lightly on Han Shuo's shoulders with her small feet, giggled and jumped down.
My enemy is not in the City of Shadows at the moment, so there's no need for you to follow me. I'll be fine." Han Shuo had asked Cauldron Spirit and was reassured that even if he was suddenly attacked by a Highgod, by borrowing Cauldron Spirit's energy immediately, he would at least have the chance to use Demonic Blood Disassembly to escape.
"That won't be enough. I'm your bodyguard, so I have to be near you at all times!" Andrina disagreed and shortly after, she let out a very soft laugh and said softly, "Are you going to do something bad like... fornicate with a woman? Hehe... even if you are, I still have to follow you!"
"As you wish," Han Shuo didn't mind if Andrina followed him.
But suddenly, Han Shuo stared blankly for a moment as if he remembered something. He turned to Andrina and asked, "Now that your injuries are mostly healed, will it be a problem for you to get rid of an Early-stage Highgod?"
Andrina did not answer Han Shuo's question right away. She thought carefully for a moment and replied, "I have not fully recovered. If this guy doesn't run away and stays in the fight, I can definitely finish him off. But if he tries to escape immediately after being injured, then I cannot kill him."
"In that case..." Han Shuo felt his chin before he put on a mischievous smile and asked, "Little Andrina, there's a man who wants me dead. How about we join forces and get rid of him together? If you get hurt in the fight, I will give you crystal coins to heal for free. What do you say?"
Instead of staying on the defensive, Han Shuo thought he might as well go on the offensive. After learning from the Cauldron Spirit that he could temporarily increase his strength, he came up with a bold idea to sneak up on Avery and use Andrina to assassinate his greatest enemy of the hour.
Han Shuo had a rough idea of Andrina's strength. He calculated that by combining his strength with the instant boost the Cauldron Spirit could give him, they would have an eighty percent chance of successfully assassinating Avery.
"That won't be enough. My job is to protect you, not to help you kill people!" Andrina refused straight away. When Han Shuo's expression turned sour, she giggled and said, "However, I can be there to cheer you on when you do the deed yourself. If you fail, I can carry you safely away. How about that?"
Han Shuo rolled his eyes and said no more. He walked in the direction of the Godswamp Pharmacy, completely ignoring Andrina. Han Shuo did not have the confidence to kill Avery even with his Cauldron Spirit enhanced strength. Without Andrina's promise to help, Han Shuo would definitely not attempt such a dangerous act.
Andrina chuckled softly after seeing Han Shuo's annoyance. She did not take offence, but cheerfully caught up with Han Shuo and continued to chat and talk nonsense with Han Shuo.
Then, when they arrived at the front gate of the Godswamp Pharmacy, the vibrant and lively Andrina suddenly turned icy cold. She stared uninvitingly at the strangers. Her rosy little face was no longer adorable, but would make people feel uncomfortable.
Godswamp was the largest pharmacy in the City of Shadows. Han Shuo had learned a little about the pharmacy before coming here. He found out that Godswamp was renowned not only in the City of Shadows, but in the entire Dominion of Darkness. They had shops in every other major city in the Dominion.
Han Shuo also heard that the overall power that Godswamp Pharmacy possessed throughout the Darkness Dominion could give the family clans in the City of Shadows a run for their money, with the exception of the House of Sainte. Han Shuo was quite surprised by what he learned, as he had not expected a small pharmacy to have such an influence.
It was also thanks to this information that Han Shuo felt that the Godswamp Pharmacy had set an ideal to strive for. He became even more curious about the Godswamp Pharmacy.
The pharmacy was huge and consisted of several buildings. Each and every one of the buildings was much taller, bigger, and wider than Han Shuo's Celestial Pearl Pharmacy. The decorations were also much more magnificent.
Han Shuo handed the servant his invitation card. The servant was very polite after learning that Han Shuo was a pharmacist from Celestial Pearl Pharmacy. He even personally led Han Shuo to a tall building at the back of the campus to receive guests, all the way to the top floor.
It was a banquet hall of around one thousand square metres. There were some aesthetically pleasing drawings on the wall, a soft, colourless carpet on the floor, and all kinds of glazed containers. There were a lot of grey-haired pharmacists, chatting happily with wine in their hands.
Pharmacists did not need to be particularly skilled in cultivation. In fact, most of them only considered cultivation as a supplement to their practice. Most of them cultivated in the elemental energy of fire and water, because the energy of fire allowed them to dissolve medicines better, while the energy of water helped them to extract the compounds in medicines.
They could perform almost any procedure in the refinement of medicines after reaching the Lowgod Realm. Therefore, almost every pharmacist stayed in that realm. They would spend all their time studying and researching the refinement of medicines.
After glancing over the pharmacists in the hall, the servant who had led Han Shuo over announced his name. The originally noisy hall suddenly fell silent. The pharmacists, who had been in the midst of their own chatter, all looked at Han Shuo at the same time. Their eyes were filled with curiosity and shock.
During this time, Han Shuo's Celestial Pearl Pharmacy had been in the spotlight of the City of Shadows. The name 'Celestial Pearl Pharmacy' had been frequently mentioned by almost every member of the large family clans at various conventions. As fellow pharmacists, they could not help but hear Han Shuo's name.
So when the young Han Shuo suddenly appeared and stood in front of these old pharmacists, all their eyes were fixed on him. They wanted to see the person behind Celestial Pearl Pharmacy whose fame was growing so rapidly.
"This young man is the owner of Celestial Pearl Pharmacy?" an old woman with green hair and a pale face, dressed in colourful clothes, exclaimed in surprise.
"Master Gu Li, he is the owner of Celestial Pearl Pharmacy - Bryan!" The servant who led Han Shuo into the hall then pointed to the old woman dressed in quaint and colourful clothes and introduced her to Han Shuo, "This is the famous Master Gu Li of our City of Shadows. In the City of Shadows, Master Gu Li's talent in refining medicine is second to none. Even big family clans wouldn't get a bottle of her medicine if she wasn't in the mood!"
Gu Li looked at Han Shuo with arrogant eyes. After a long time, she coldly groaned, "Mix Heavenly Flower with Green-Silver Fruit and boil it at five hundred degrees for three hours. What compound do you get?"
Han Shuo smiled and ignored Gu Li. He actually had no idea what the product of the reaction was because he wasn't a pharmacist at all.
"Right, where is your owner? My invitation card says he wants to talk business with me," Han Shuo said calmly to the servant.
"Hmph, just a pharmacist who is outdated and only knows how to take crystal coins. From the looks of it, he seems to have no solid foundation," Gu Li sneered, "Who knows, maybe he just stole the medicine formulas from somewhere else."
"Firecloud Grass, Frost Jade and Boundless Aqua. Mixed at high speed and then frozen to negative one hundred and thirty degrees. What compound do you get?" Han Shuo shot a cold glance at Gu Li and asked her in an equally arrogant manner.
"What? I have never heard of those ingredients! You're talking nonsense, aren't you?" Gu Li stared blankly for a moment before she sneered.
With a scornful face, Han Shuo said coldly, "Never heard of these ingredients? How shameless you are to call yourself a pharmacist second to none in the City of Shadows. In fact, I think you have wasted your time living to this age. If I were you, I would be too ashamed to show my face at a pharmacist conference!" Han Shuo taunted her mercilessly. Then, completely ignoring Gu Li who was so angry that she almost fainted, Han Shuo said to the servant, "Please take me to your business owner or I will leave this place immediately. I feel it is an insult to my dignity to be around such mediocre people."
"Yes... Yes..." The servant hurriedly led Han Shuo across the hall to a dwarf. "He is the owner of our Godswamp Pharmacy - Steiss!" the servant introduced the dwarf to Han Shuo.
Han Shuo was stunned. He had not expected the owner of the largest pharmacy in the City of Shadows to be such a nondescript and even slightly abnormally shaped person. Han Shuo banished the doubt in his heart, smiled and asked urbanely, "Hello, Mr Steiss. Are you the one who wants to discuss business with me?"
Steiss nodded with a warm smile on his face and replied, "I am. It is a pleasure to meet such a young pharmacist from the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy. If you don't mind, let's find a quieter place to talk!"
"Of course!" Han Shuo gladly agreed.
"This way please!" Steiss led Han Shuo to a room behind the banquet hall.