Chapter 121: Tricking Fama
Before Xiao Se could knock on the door, Fama's old and familiar laugh rang out from inside the door, "Haha, just come in."
Xiao Se pushed the door open and entered, and what came into view was a relatively spacious and quaint room with several rows of bookshelves against the walls and an antique table in the middle.
"Please sit down." Sitting behind the desk, Fama smiled at Xiao Se.
Xiao Se nodded slightly, pulled out a wooden chair from under the table, and sat down casually, smiling calmly, "I don't know why President Fama wants to see me so late at night, but I will not refuse within my ability."
"Haha, you are a smart kid. I believe you can guess why I am looking for you. But before that, I still have a question in my mind." Fama said with a smile.
Xiao Se frowned and waved his hand, saying, "President Fama, please speak."
Fama said sternly: "Although you have a special secret method to cover up your appearance, even a Douhuang peak powerhouse like Jia Xingtian cannot see through it, but I can see that you have changed your appearance."
"You have a keen eye indeed. So, what is President Fama going to do with me now?" Xiao Se shrugged slightly, took off the ice silkworm mask on his face, and said with a smile.
Looking at Xiao Se's handsome face, which was even younger than before, Fama was slightly stunned. A look of surprise appeared in his cloudy old eyes. He then smiled and said, "Haha, I didn't expect Xiao Huohuo to be younger than I thought. Don't worry, I won't do anything to you. As long as you have no ill will towards the guild, I don't care whether you hide your identity or not."
Changing the subject, Fama said seriously, "I think Xiao Huohuo is no older than fifteen, maybe even as old as the girl from the Nalan family. How come he is so skilled in refining medicine without any unnecessary movements? Even that shameless old man Holden is inferior to him. This cannot be made up by talent alone. It takes years of accumulation."
Hearing this, Xiao Se fell silent. After a moment, he sighed and said helplessly, "Well, it's not a big deal. I wonder if President Fama has ever heard of the Danhuang Podocarpus?"
"Dan Huang Podocarpus?" Fama's pupils shrank suddenly, and the memories of a hundred years ago suddenly flooded into his mind. His voice trembled and he asked, "You mean Dan Huang Podocarpus?"
Xiao Se nodded slowly.
"Are you his disciple?" Fama asked excitedly.
Xiao Se said solemnly: "I guess so!"
"Where is he now? How is he doing recently?" Fama asked two questions in a row and then muttered to himself: "It's a long story. Dan Huang Podocarpus was once a highly respected elder in my Alchemist Guild. A hundred years ago, I was just an apprentice alchemist. I had the honor of meeting him once. But then he suddenly disappeared. Some people said that he went into seclusion to break through to Dou Zong, and some people said that he went to travel. But no one has seen him since then."
Xiao Se sighed and said, "Senior Podocarpus has passed away. By chance, I found the cave where he passed away. Before his death, he poured his lifelong experience in alchemy into a trace of his residual soul. After passing the residual soul test, the residual soul turned into a stream of soul information and poured into my mind. As a result, my alchemy skills improved rapidly and saved a lot of study time. This is the suicide note he left behind. President Fama can take a look. The reason why he left behind a residual soul before his death was that he didn't want his alchemy skills to be lost, and at the same time, he didn't want future generations to forget him."
As he spoke, Xiao Se took out the letter left by Podocarpus.
When receiving the information from Podocarpus's residual soul, Xiao Se vaguely saw Podocarpus giving a lecture inside the Alchemist Guild, but he didn't pay much attention to it at the time. It was not until he participated in the internal test and saw the familiar layout of the Guild Hall that he recalled it. Xiao Se then learned that Podocarpus had a deep connection with the Alchemist Guild of the Jia Ma Empire.
The reason why Xiao Se gave this letter to Fama and told him that he had obtained his experience in alchemy was not only to fulfill Podocarpus's last wish and prevent him from being forgotten by future generations but more importantly to gain Fama's trust and prepare to obtain the recipe for Rong Ling Dan.
Fama took the letter, looked at it tremblingly, then took the letter to the wall bookcase and searched through it. After a while, he took out a worn parchment scroll, compared it with the other two, and found that the handwriting was the same.
"Alas, it is indeed the handwriting of Lord Podocarpus." Fama sat back in his seat, sighed, and looked at Xiao Se again. His previous doubts and the only trace of vigilance disappeared, replaced by care for the younger generation. He sighed and said, "Although the credit of Lord Podocarpus's residual soul is indispensable, you were able to hone your alchemy skills to such a level in such a short time. Even if it was Gu He, that kid, it would be far from being able to do it."
"Thank you for the compliment, President Fama. For some special reasons, I do not want to expose myself to the public. I hope you can keep this secret for me." Xiao Se begged.
"Haha, don't worry, you are the successor of Lord Podocarpus. In terms of seniority, I'm afraid I have to call you uncle-master." Fama said with a smile.
"President Fama, you are too polite." Xiao Se smiled helplessly.
Fama nodded with a smile, "Since it has been confirmed that you are not an old fellow like Holden who has seriously violated the Alchemist Conference, I will get straight to the point."
As he spoke, Fama raised his hand, and a black scroll and three wooden boxes appeared on the table. He then motioned for Xiao Se to open the scroll.
Xiao Se took the scroll with both hands and spread it out carefully. A warm stream of soul information instantly flowed into his mind. After a while, Xiao Se smiled a little.
Just like in the original book, it is the recipe for the fourth-grade elixir, the Three-Pattern Qingling Pill.
Xiao Se put away the scroll and three wooden boxes. Two foxes, one big and one small, smiled strangely at the same time.
"Go back and have a good rest. I'm looking forward to your game tomorrow." Fama said with a smile.
"I won't let you down." Xiao Se responded with a smile.
Fama didn't say it clearly, he just gave him the recipe and three herbs. Xiao Se didn't ask in detail, he was going to make the Fuling Purple Pill tomorrow, which was more advanced than the Sanwen Qingling Pill, so he just wanted to get the recipe and herbs for free. Anyway, Fama wanted him to win the championship, so he didn't care what he made, as long as he could win.
After getting the prescription and herbs for the Three-Pattern Pure Spirit Pill, Xiao Se began to work on the Queen's affairs. "President Fama, I have something to ask of you. Does the Alchemist Guild have a prescription for the Rong Ling Pill? I have a friend who has suffered a spiritual injury and needs urgent treatment."
"Soul-Relieving Pill?" Fama frowned, pondered for a moment, and sighed, "Originally, this recipe for the Soul-Relieving Pill was the prize I prepared for the champion of the Alchemist Conference, but due to unexpected circumstances, it was replaced. Well, if you can win the championship, I am willing to give it to you along with the championship reward on behalf of the guild."
Xiao Se was delighted when he heard this, and said gratefully, "Thank you very much, President Fama."
Now, the trip has come to a successful conclusion. As for the champion reward, it can replace the recipe of the sixth-grade Rongling Pill, which must be extremely extraordinary.