In the afternoon, the strange man came again, paid fifty gold coins, and asked a rare question. As soon as the strange man left, Lao Hans came in from outside: "Ge, are you ready?" Ge Zheng was puzzled: "Ready for what?"
"How come you don't know that tomorrow is the annual wishan market in Wishan City?" Lao Hans said with wide eyes. Ge Zheng really didn't know what "Wishan Market" was, so Lao Hans explained: "In the mountains around Wishan City, there are many small villages and some hunters scattered in the mountains. Every year, these people bring special products from the mountains to sell in Wishan City, gradually forming a market, which later evolved into the annual Wishan Market."
"It's your first time participating in the Wishan Market, and you don't know how lively the Wishan Market is," Lao Hans said excitedly. "It's really crowded, so you'd better prepare some more gold coins. Every year at the Wishan market, I can buy a lot of cheap materials." Lao Hans was just a level three alchemist, and most of the products he sold were purchased from elsewhere. He also provided some raw materials to the alchemists who supplied him.
The Liusu Mountain Range stretches for thousands of miles, with steep and dense mountains that are unfathomable. Although the villagers and hunters only live in safe areas outside the monster forest, over the years, they have indeed been able to harvest quite a few good things. Like magic nuclei and beast horns, the villagers naturally understood their value and wouldn't sell them cheaply. However, for some rare alchemical materials, the villagers would sell them for a few copper coins, and alchemists in the city would often take advantage of it to pick up some cheap goods.
Ge Zheng was immediately interested once he heard it. He wasn't happy to buy cheap materials for himself, but was eager to see what materials he could buy. Although the chances of finding the few super rare materials he needed in a small city like Wishan were slim, it wasn't entirely impossible.
With the market, adventurers were also busy searching for some cheap local products. Nobody would come to visit the alchemy shop, so Ge Zheng also decided to close the shop tomorrow and go out with plenty of gold coins.
Ge Zheng stood at the door and looked outside. By this time, there were already many people coming and going on the street. Because tomorrow is the Wishan market, the city's entrance tax will be twice as high as usual, so some poor villagers will arrive in the city a day early, bring dry food, and stay under the city wall through the night to save money and get a good spot.
They originally thought that Emma and the others would come back tomorrow at the earliest, but unexpectedly they came back in the evening. Everyone had a happy expression, especially Emma, who exclaimed when she saw Ge Zheng, "Ge, you're really amazing! That trap worked like a charm. The stupid Yalongsco only had to get into the trap and never came out again. Not only did it seem weak as if it were ill, it couldn't even spit out flames or struggle!"
Ge Zheng thought to himself that the iron chain had three layers of stacked curse magic arrays and a triple gravitational field. Just the triple curse magic array could turn a mammoth into a sickly plant, and with the triple gravitational field, the innards of the Yalongsco felt uncomfortable, so how could it breathe fire or struggle?
Sanil was also straightforward, took out a transparent crystal card from his waist: "This is a gold coin crystal card issued by the Adventurers Guild, it contains two thousand gold coins, and can be easily withdrawn by any branch of the Adventurers Guild." Ge Zheng took it and said, "There is also an Adventurer's Guild in Wishan City, and I have one too."
"We still have things to do and we're leaving soon, but I want to thank you," Sanil said. Although he was cold, his gratitude was sincere.
Ge Zheng's trap was very effective, allowing them to easily kill the powerful Komodo Yalongsco and successfully complete the mission. Not only Sanil, but others in the team were also grateful.
The four of them turned and left, and before leaving, Powell said to Ge Zheng, "Ge, if your weapon could be a bit cheaper, I'll save some money next time to ask you to make a war hammer for me." He scratched his head awkwardly, "I eat more than them, but I earn the same as them, unlike them who are rich people."
Black Bear gave Ge Zheng a wink and a strange smile. Obviously, his words had another meaning.
Even if the orcs didn't deliberately practice, their innate animal instincts made their hearing and sense of smell more acute than humans. Obviously, he had inadvertently heard what Emma last said.
Sometimes, a kind-hearted person's cunning antics can leave you in tears.
Ge Zheng laughed. This big silly guy was really cute. He said generously, "No problem, all of you are high-level members of my Ge's Alchemy Shop, and all items are at a 20% discount!"
...
Early the next morning, Ge Zheng was awakened from his sleep by the lively hawking outside. Opening the door, wow! There were so many people outside; Ge Zheng had never seen so many people on the streets of Wishan City. In this world's cities, due to defense considerations, the main streets are built very wide, and the ground is paved with flagstones for easy horse-maneuvering and transportation of goods during times of war. The road outside Ge Zheng's door was also one of the main streets inside Wishan City; at this time, both sides of the road were completely occupied by vendors, and even the space in front of Ge Zheng's store had become someone else's territory.
He couldn't help but smile, then went back to wash up and carried a bag of gold coins to go out.
In this world, healing of injuries is reliant on the sacrificial priests of various temples using their main gods' healing magic along with some medicinal remedies. Two villagers were coaxing a white-robed priest at the roadside and trying to sell their own herbs. Ge Zheng, with the knowledge from Paracelsus' "Intelligence Storehouse," immediately recognized that the herbs were just common medications for stopping bleeding and relieving pain, but the villagers exaggerated their effects, causing the priest to smile wryly.
Even though there were many people, there were hardly any good things to be found. When Ge Zheng finally found some good alchemical materials, either the prices were too high, or someone else had already taken an interest in them, haggling over the price. Ge Zheng didn't want to get involved in the competition and let the buyers push the prices up, so he didn't have any gains all along the way. On the way, he met Lao Hans, who was very experienced, and had already made quite a good haul by now, making Ge Zheng envious.
Good stalls meant good business, so those who arrived late or were timid could only cower in a corner and silently pray for someone with a discerning eye to see their goods.
Next to a tavern, an honest villager stood by the door. The people entering and leaving the inn were all bloodthirsty adventurers, and the tavern door occasionally hit the villager. The adventurers all carried knives and swords, and he didn't dare provoke them. Everywhere else had already been occupied, so he could only crouch here quietly.
Even so, he was still mocked. A villager not far away laughed, "Honest Dunk, did you bring out those worthless beads again?" In front of Dunk, there was a rabbit skin with most of its fur gone, with only a few things placed on it: a yellow stone, a black piece of metal, and a dark purple bead.
The person who recognized Honest Dunk as his fellow villager knew his circumstances. Dunk had both hands stuffed in his tattered sleeves, muttering, "This bead is a treasure, it's just that I haven't found someone with a discerning eye yet."
Someone passing by happened to hear his words, and as soon as he picked up the bead, a foul smell wafted through, causing the passerby to quickly drop the bead, pinch his nose, and walk away in a hurry, saying, "What kind of treasure is this, dug out of a dung pit?" Laughter erupted around, and Dunk's face turned red, but he still insisted, "This bead is a treasure, a treasure..."
While there was a constant stream of people at the market, someone would occasionally stop by Dunk's stall, but they would shake their heads and leave. The yellow stone was just an ordinary yellow iron ore that was worth a few copper coins. The black piece of metal looked like a peasant's pot bottom, and the bead, not to mention, no one could withstand its smell.
Ge Zheng walked around the entire city and had no gain, sighing that he was too "green." If he had known, he wouldn't have slept in and would have gone out early.
Since his shop had no way to open for business today, Ge Zheng decided to relax and go to the tavern for a glass of Elf Fruit Wine.
Where there were adventurers, there were taverns. There were plenty of taverns in Wishan City, and Ge Zheng just happened to arrive at the entrance of the tavern where Honest Dunk was squatting. Seeing someone about to enter, Honest Dunk quickly moved aside to avoid being hit by the wooden door again. Ge Zheng caught a whiff of a foul smell and looked down to see that dark purple bead.
He thought he was seeing things: how could such a thing exist in this world? Ge Zheng squatted down, and Honest Dunk's eyes lit up with hope: "Sir, take a look, these are all good things!" Ge Zheng focused on the bead and picked it up with two fingers: "Where did you get this?"
Honest Dunk was excited: "Finally met someone with a discerning eye like you, sir, this is definitely a treasure!" Ge Zheng remained unmoved: "I'm just asking you, where did you get this thing?" "This, three years ago, I was lost when I entered the mountains to chop wood. I don't know how; I ended up getting lost. I was stuck there until dawn; the lightning and thunder in the middle of the night were terrifying! I curled up in a tree all night; the next morning, right outside the forest, I saw a scorched monster corpse. Unfortunately, the magic nuclei inside the corpse had been taken by someone, and all I found was this bead inside its body. But that monster looked very powerful, so this bead must be a treasure!"
The bead Honest Dunk found was unrecognizable, and it emitted a foul smell. He had been trying to sell this "treasured bead" at the Wishan market every year to marry a daughter-in-law, but no one had been able to recognize it.
After hearing this, Ge Zheng nodded and asked, "How much are you selling it for?" "This...” Honest Dunk always thought it was a treasure, but he had never been able to sell it, which was quite a blow to his confidence. This time, he had brought it again, but didn't set a price in his heart. When Ge Zheng asked, he hesitated, crossing his fingers several times before tentatively saying, "One gold coin?"
Ge Zheng didn't say much, took out a gold coin and gave it to him.
Honest Dunk, an honest man all his life, made a living by chopping wood and had never seen a glittering coin. Having a gold coin in his hand made him feel a heavy sense of happiness!
The people nearby saw someone willing to spend a gold coin to buy Honest Dunk's foul-smelling bead, and their eyes widened. Some envied Honest Dunk's good luck, while others felt that Ge Zheng must be sick. One gold coin was enough for a family of five to live without worries for a year, and for them, it could sustain a household for a year and a half.
Honest Dunk pulled Ge Zheng aside, “I've finally found someone with a discerning eye; take a look again, these two things are also treasures! I picked them up from the Desolate Ridge.”
Honest Dunk normally made a living by chopping wood and was much stronger than the average villager. He was neither married nor had children, and his only hobby was climbing mountains. The Liusu Mountain Range stretched for thousands of miles, with numerous steep cliffs that the villagers called "Desolate Ridge." There were more than a dozen steep ridges around the village, and Honest Dunk had the "magnificent" ambition to conquer each one of them. Having conquered four ridges, he had found these two items.
The yellow stone wasn't very appealing; it was just an ordinary yellow iron ore. This taste of ore, if taken to Feiore, the smith at the city's weapon shop, a master dwarf, would not appreciate it and might even feel insulted.
But the black piece of iron beside it caught Ge Zheng's eye—this was meteorite iron! Ge Zheng was very familiar with it. In ancient China, the Xiongnu people often found these things in the grasslands. They were considered gifts from heaven and were exchanged for silk by artisans from the Central Plains. When added to weapons, they could produce far superior swords compared to ordinary ones.
Unlike ordinary craftsmen, the alchemists had specifically studied different meteorites and knew that while they all came from outer space, their compositions were actually different. These records were also recorded in the genealogy of the Ge family.
Ge Zheng picked up the meteoric iron and flipped through it, asking, "Can you find more?" Honest Dunk was excited, "I can't promise, but I can try." Ge Zheng nodded, "I want this, name your price." Dunk dared not ask for too much, bit too less and he'd regret it, so he hesitated and tentatively said, “I don't know the value of this, but you are a noble sir and have a broad knowledge, so please give me a price.” Ge Zheng smiled, "I'll give you fifty silver coins for this. If you find the same thing again, you see, here under that flagpole is my shop; you can find me there."
"Deal!" Honest Dunk was excited, quickly handed the meteoric iron to Ge Zheng, fearing that he might change his mind.
"Take another look, these are really treasures too, all found on the Desolate Ridge!" Honest Dunk wasn't so honest this time; the Desolate Ridge was just a little steeper, hard to climb, but not that significant. If all the treasures were on the Desolate Ridge, everyone would strive to climb up and loot them, and the word "Desolate Ridge" wouldn't exist.
Unable to refuse to save face, Ge Zheng took a look at the items. A beam of hope appeared in Dunk's eyes. The meteoric iron might fetch twenty or thirty silver coins, or even more if he was lucky, but the yellow iron ore wasn't worth much. Ge Zheng gave him a silver coin for the ore, which was worth no more than ten copper coins.
Honest Dunk had a very successful trip to the Wishan market this time, as he sold all his goods and earned fifty gold coins and fifty silver coins, which equaled his income from chopping wood for three years. With this money, the plan to marry a wife could make progress.
Having bought the items, Ge Zheng had no desire to drink anymore. He hurried back to the shop, bumping into several people along the way, apologizing repeatedly.
At the shop door, old Hans happened to return as well, and upon seeing Ge Zheng, the old alchemist, he excitedly exclaimed, "Ge, how's your harvest? Haha, I only spent two gold coins and bought a packet of lacquer tree gum, what a great deal!"
Lacquer tree gum is a precious secretion of a rare tree species, forming a large ball like a silkworm cocoon, with a soft and tough rubbery exterior and a transparent, gel-like liquid inside. In alchemy, lacquer tree gum is known as "philosophical sealing gum" and is used to seal the interface between two alchemical vessels, with extremely good airtightness. It is used only in higher-level alchemical equations, while in general formulas, clay is used at most to seal, but its effect is far inferior to lacquer tree gum.
Generally, a packet of lacquer tree gum costs around thirty gold coins, so Old Hans had indeed struck a big bargain, no wonder he was so excited.
When Ge Zheng first met him, the old alchemist had a rich harvest but had not bought any lacquer tree gum. Just two hours later, he had managed to buy a packet of it again, such was his good fortune. However, Ge Zheng didn't have time to be jealous of him and after exchanging a few words, he returned to his own small shop.
Old Hans, however, remained complacently pleased for a long time. He placed the rubbery lacquer tree gum ball on the table, sitting in the yard, carefully examining it, feeling quite content. Suddenly, a voice came, "Old Hans, do you have live chicken at home?"
Startled, Old Hans turned and saw Ge Zheng's head peeping over the wall, gazing in his direction. Old Hans regained his composure and replied, "Yes, wait, I'll catch one for you." Feeling eager, as he kept many chickens and rabbits at home and was craving for some, he decided to slaughter one for his satisfaction.
Old Hans caught a live chicken and handed it over to Ge Zheng, who thanked him and promised to buy him another one tomorrow.
With the chicken in hand, Ge Zheng came down from the bench by the wall, and the laboratory was already prepared: a row of eight wooden bowls.
With a swift cut, the live chicken's head rolled aside, and the chicken blood accurately flowed into the wooden bowls. Each bowl was filled about a quarter full, and Ge Zheng quickly moved on to another bowl. There were a total of eight wooden bowls, and not a single drop of chicken blood was left, with each bowl filled to a quarter of its depth.
He then disposed of the dead chicken, and picked up a jar of orc-brewed strong liquor, pouring it into the eight bowls. After mixing it evenly, the chicken blood liquor presented a striking bright red hue.
Ge Zheng took out a purplish-black bead and carefully rolled it into one of the wooden bowls. As soon as the bead fell into the chicken blood liquor, it emitted a "hiss" and began to bubble vigorously, with fine bubbles covering its surface. The chicken blood liquor seemed to be boiling, emitting a pungent stench.
When the white smoke gradually disappeared, Ge Zheng used two bamboo sticks to pick out the bead and placed it into another wooden bowl. Another "hiss" followed, with another wave of white smoke...
This process was repeated eight times, and by the eighth bowl, the surface of the bead had finally shed its purplish-black color and turned into a clear, bright yellow. Ge Zheng sighed in amazement: what a potent "poison pill," taking eight bowls of blood bath to cleanse.
This bead should be called "poison dragon pellet" on Earth, but it actually does not refer only to the internal pellet of a "poison dragon," but to the pellets of all poison beasts that have reached the level of a "poison dragon." According to the alchemist's explanation of that evening, it seemed that a poison beast had suffered a catastrophe. However, beyond alchemy, his knowledge of this world was limited, and he couldn't explain what had happened.
But he deduced that this pellet should be a further refinement of the poison beast's magic core. Whether it was a pellet or a magic core, it was a condensation of energy within the bodies of beasts. Dunk said that the magic core of the magic beast had been taken away by someone, but it wasn't really taken away - it had just changed form and he didn't recognize it.
But in any case, the pellets of poison beasts were antidotes. Aside from the pellet, each one was enveloped in a layer of "poison clothing." Although this layer of poison clothing was highly toxic, it only emitted a foul smell most of the time and did not disperse its poison. To obtain a pure pellet, it had to be soaked in blood wine for a "blood bath." After this blood bath, the blood wine became highly toxic!
The thicker the poison clothing, the more blood baths were needed. Ge Zheng had seen his master, Ge Yuan, perform a blood bath on a poison dragon pellet before, but it only took four bowls of blood wine to cleanse, and his master was very satisfied, saying that the pellet could be considered a high-quality product. With this pellet requiring eight bowls of blood wine, it could be considered superior even among high-quality ones!
The poison clothing is the final barrier that the poison beasts use to protect their pellets. The thicker the poison clothing, the more powerful the poison beast, and the better the detoxification effect of its pellet.
Playing with the warm poison dragon pellet in his hand, Ge Zheng chuckled to himself: Dunk was really lucky to have obtained two treasures like this. He thought for a moment and then felt that it was not appropriate to say this, as it was essentially insulting himself as well.
Since coming to this world, Ge Zheng had not yet practiced alchemy, only crafting some alchemical tools. To be honest, he had been looking forward to it for quite some time, and having obtained this poison dragon pellet, he had great materials available to him, so he could really make a difference.
Although the imperial drug is good, it also requires ministerial drugs to complement it; this is the way of alchemy. Ge Zheng felt a little worried because he didn't have suitable materials at hand to assist this poison dragon pellet.
Suddenly, he had an idea: Dunk honestly said that the inaccessible crags were full of treasures, although it was to boast his own goods, there was some truth in it. With few people venturing into the inaccessible crags, precious materials were preserved there. Why not find him and ask him to guide the way, and explore those inaccessible crags?
Having made up his mind, Ge Zheng took some money, locked the door, and went out to find Dunk. However, Dunk was no longer to be found near the bar. Having sold his wares, he naturally hurried back early, asking someone to tell anyone looking for him that he had gone to see his wife.
Feeling somewhat disappointed, someone nearby said, "Sir, are you looking for Dunk? It seems you bought his 'trash' for one gold coin but now realize you've been deceived?" Ge Zheng asked, "Do you know where he's gone?" "We're from the same village, so of course we know." The person stopped there. Ge Zheng threw a silver coin and said, "Lead me to find him, and this silver coin is yours."