I Just Won’t Play by the Book - Chapter 107

After spending about two hours, Jiang Beiran went through the entire mystic square’s trading area and discovered that the items sold here were all relatively common items. Take spirit herbs as an example, spirit herbs of tier 6 and above were usually considered rare, but the best spirit herbs sold here were mostly only tier

Not to mention weapons, Jiang Beiran would probably make a better weapon than those displayed on the wall.

However, there were actually some good items, but the price was completely unreasonable. Probably only some rich fools would buy them.

“Too weak… It’s that all to the number one mystic square in Fengzhou?’

However, Jiang Beiran understood after thinking for a while. After all, a cultivation market like the mystic square mainly provided a trading platform for the disciples of various sects. If one sold a peerless tier weapon here, not many of them would be able to afford it. After realizing that there was nothing interesting in the trading area, Jiang Beiran went to the area of various professional guilds to see if there would be any unexpected gains. He originally thought that compared to the bustling trading area, there would be slightly fewer people in the professional guilds area. However, he didn’t expect there were more people here. Compared to the bustling trading area, the professional guilds were surrounded by circles and circles of people. It was obvious that they were here to watch some stuff.

After walking around for a while, Jiang Beiran understood the reason behind it.

It turned out that the professional guilds had far more projects than he had imagined. There were all sorts of evaluations, such as grading, appraising treasures, refining spirit herbs, and so on.

“There’s really a lot of business…”

Walking in front of an alchemist guild, Jiang Beiran’s nose twitched, and his eyes immediately lit up.

“There are actually some good things here.”

Wu Qingce, who was following not far away, saw Jiang Beiran entered the alchemist guild, so he waited at the entrance for a while before following him in.

Walking into the guild, Jiang Beiran found that the space inside was quite big, and all kinds of services had corresponding counters. The outermost counter was for alchemy. It was the place where you brought the medicinal herbs, and they helped you refine them with a labor fee.

Further inside was the place to help identify the medicinal herbs. For example, if you wanted to buy a spirit herb, but were worried that the spirit herb was fake, you could bring it here and let them examine.

Walking further inside, Jiang Beiran saw the thing that piqued his interest.

Mystic Sun Immortal Herb.

The compatibility of this precious material was very strong. It could allow many medicinal herbs with completely different medicinal properties to fuse together, thus refining a series of spirit herbs with unique medicinal effects. It was an extremely useful and rare material.

Those who would come to the alchemist guild basically all knew a little about alchemy. Therefore, many people recognized the Mystic Sun Immortal Herb hanging on the hanging beam and surrounded it. From the conversations of the people in front of them, Jiang Beiran knew that if he wanted to obtain that precious herb, he had to pass the challenge set by the alchemist guild. Naturally, these onlookers didn’t pass it.

At this time, another person came to the counter and slapped out a low-grade wood spirit stone, saying, “I’ll try it once!”

The steward behind the counter accepted the wood spirit stone and pointed at the table at the side, saying, “Just pick the real one out of the fifty energy recovery pills.”

That person nodded and stared at the fifty energy recovery pills on the table for a long time. Finally, he pointed at one of them and said, “This one!”

“Wrong answer,” the steward replied expressionlessly, as if he was used to saying these three words.

“Sigh…” the man sighed deeply and retreated into the crowd.

The steward rearranged the 50 energy recovery pills to prevent anyone from guessing.

When the steward returned to the counter, Jiang Beiran took a step forward and took out a low-grade wood spirit stone and placed it on the table. “I’ll try it once.”

Putting away the wood spirit stone, the steward repeated what he had just said like a machine.

Realizing that the system did not give him any option, Jiang Beiran took a step to the right. After scanning the fifty green spirit pills several times, he pointed to the one closest to him and said, “This one is real.”

“Wrong…” just as the steward was about to reflexively say, “Wrong answer,” his eyes suddenly widened. He looked at Jiang Beiran in surprise and said, “Very good, you got it right. It’s this one.”

“Wow!”

The crowd immediately cried out in surprise. It had been an entire morning, but none of them got it right. They even thought that it was a scam, but they didn’t expect that someone had actually did it.

“Then can I take it away?” Jiang Beiran pointed at the Mystic Sun Immortal Herb and asked.

“No, you still have to pass a few more stages. It’s written on the sign below.”

Following the direction that the steward was pointing at, Jiang Beiran saw the wooden sign that was covered by the crowd. It clearly stated that one had to pass five rounds to obtain the herb.

“So, this group of people can’t even pass the first round, yet they’re still here watching the show for half a day? They really have nothing to do…”

After grumbling in his heart, Jiang Beiran looked at the steward and asked, “Then may I ask what the second round is?”

The steward first sized up Jiang Beiran. Finally, he stopped on his smiling face mask and asked, “May I ask what rank of alchemist you are?”

“Do I have to answer?”

“Oh, there’s no need for that. It’s okay if you don’t want to answer.” The steward waved his hand and removed the fifty energy recovery pills. Then, he took out a copper box with air holes on it and said to Jiang Beiran, “The second stage is to tell the names of all the medicinal ingredients without opening the lid.”

When they saw the title of the second stage, the onlookers started to discuss.

“Isn’t this too simple?”

“Yeah, isn’t sniffing medicinal ingredients the most basic ability of an alchemist?”

“Isn’t this giving them away for free?”

But at this time, a deep voice roared, “What are you arguing about! In the morning, you guys also boasted shamelessly that discerning the authenticity of medicinal pills was the most basic ability of an alchemist. Guess what? It’s already noon! I didn’t see any of you pick the right one, you guys caused me to waste a spirit stone!”

As soon as these words were said, the person who had spoken earlier instantly fell silent.

That was indeed the case. For an alchemist, discerning the authenticity of medicinal pills was the most basic ability. For example, a common first-grade medicinal pill like the energy recovery pill was the most basic foundation. However, they couldn’t tell any difference from these fifty energy recovery pills. Whether it was the smell, or the spiritual power contained within the fake ones, they were no different from real energy recovery pills. That was why they failed one after another.

Although the second stage of smelling the fragrance and identifying the medicine sounded very simple, it was probably the same difficulty as the first stage. There was another gimmick to it.

When the noise stopped, the steward behind the counter said to Jiang Beiran, “Please go ahead.”

Although Jiang Beiran had already smelled the herbs in the copper box when the steward took it out, he still picked up the copper box and pretended to smell it for a while. The expression on his face kept changing.

After a while, Jiang Beiran opened his eyes and said, “The herbs in this box are…”

“Wait a moment.” the manager took out a pen and paper and said to Jiang Beiran, “Brother, just write it on this paper.”

“Okay.” Jiang Beiran nodded. He took the pen and wrote all the medicinal herbs he smelled on it, then handed it back to the steward.

The steward took it and read it for a while. He revealed a shocked expression. He was stunned for a while before he said to Jiang Beiran, “A… Correct answer.”

“Wow! He passed two stages in a row. This person has some ability.”

“I told you that guessing the medicine was very easy.”

Hearing this, Wu Qingce, who was mixed in the crowd, was instantly enraged. How dare that person question his senior brother? Just as he was about to drag this person out to fight, he heard another person shout.

“If it’s easy, then go ahead! You can’t even pass the first stage.”

“Don’t tell me you think the second stage is easier than the first stage? How can he be dumber than you?”

The person who got criticized could only shut up and keep his head down without saying a word.

Seeing that the person stopped bluffing, Wu Qingce finally gave up. After all, if he gave this person a beating, he would most likely be scolded by Jiang Beiran.

The steward at the counter wanted to scold this group of people who did not have good eyesight. This person with a smiling face mask was not only capable, but he was also simply too strong! The smell of the twelve medicinal herbs in this copper box complemented each other. As long as they were put together, they would form a hundred different combinations. In addition, the copper box would make the smell even more pungent. Even a level three pharmacist would not be able to answer correctly. However, the person in front of him only smelled for a short while before he could tell.

“Is he an elder of a sect and come here to cause trouble?’

Naturally, they did not think of giving the Mystic Sun Immortal Herb away, because they didn’t anyone could win the challenge. Aside from earning some spirit stones, they mainly used it to show off the strength of their guild, telling the others that their guild had a big treasure. It could also be considered as a form of publicity.

However, they didn’t expect that there would really be someone who could easily clear two stages in a row. This was definitely not something that an ordinary disciple could do, not even an elite disciple could do it as well!

This time, the steward was a little flustered. However, his expression was still indifferent as he said to Jiang Beiran, “This third stage is very difficult. If you give up the challenge now, you will be able to obtain a tier 3 medicinal pill. May I ask if you want to continue the challenge?” “Good heavens… This alchemist guild member has probably watched a variety show before, right? This is really cringe.” Jiang Beiran hadn’t even spoken when the surrounding spectating disciples began to boil with excitement. After all, a tier 3 medicinal pill was already a very extravagant thing for them. However, they were just watching the show. They began to clamor for Jiang Beiran to continue clearing the stages. Their words implied that compared to the Mystic Sun Immortal Herb, a tier 3 medicinal pill was just trash.

On the other hand, if the system didn’t give any option, Jiang Beiran naturally wouldn’t give up the chance to obtain the Mystic Sun Immortal Herb.

Thus, he smiled and nodded his head, “I choose to continue.”

After hearing this, although the steward became even more panicked, he still smiled and said, “Okay, but we need to make some preparations for the third stage. Please wait a moment.”

Jiang Beiran nodded. “Alright, I’ll wait.”

After the steward pushed open the door and left, a group of people immediately surrounded Jiang Beiran and cupped their hands.

“Brother, you’re amazing! I wonder if you can spare some time to give me some pointers later. I have a great gift for you.”

“I wonder which sect you’re from. I…”

“Why you ask. He’s already wearing a mask and hasn’t revealed his rank. It’s obvious that he doesn’t want to talk about it.”

Seeing that there were still a few reasonable people, Jiang Beiran turned his head and politely said, “Thank you for your support. If everyone really has a problem, it’s better to ask the guild for advice.”

At this time, the steward who had already come to the inner hall quickly found the vice president of their guild.

“He passed two stages in a row! ?” the vice president said with some surprise.

“Yes, but it wasn’t easy for him to pass the second stage. He smelled it for a long time before answering, but to be able to pass it is already very powerful. Do you think he’s here to cause trouble?” The vice-president shook his head, he said, “This is the Sect of Masked Moon. who dares to cause trouble here? He’s probably a disciple with exceptional talent. After all, all the powerful sects in the entire Fengzhou have come here. It’s not strange for one or two monsters to appear.”

“Then what should I do now?”

“Just let him challenge the stages.”

“Yes!”

After the steward left the room, the vice-president stroked his beard and sighed. “I didn’t expect that we would really attract talents.”

Then, he walked out of the room.

Returning to the lobby, the steward, who was holding a pile of herbs, said to Jiang Beiran, “Sorry to keep you waiting. Now, Let’s start the third stage.”

Jiang Beiran nodded, “Okay.”

The steward nodded, threw all the herbs into a cauldron, and said, “Please complete the purification process of all the herbs in the cauldron.”

“Wow… the third stage is much harder! I think you guys don’t intend to give this Mystic Sun Immortal Herb away at all.”

“That’s right! Return the spirit stone to us!”

“Your guild is too evil!”

The steward looked at the disciples after hearing that and said, “Did I force you guys to challenge? Or are you guys trying to cause trouble?”

The group of people immediately became speechless. That’s right, there was indeed no one who forced them to participate. They were mesmerized by that Mystic Sun Immortal Herb, so they wanted to give it a try.

However, the thing that stopped them from speaking was the second half of the sentence. Causing trouble in the Sect of Masked Moon was not a joke. They were just some small disciples, so they could not bear this crime. After scaring the surrounding disciples, the steward turned around and said to Jiang Beiran, “Brother, you still have the chance to change your mind. If you give up the challenge now, you can still get that tier 3 medicinal pill.” Jiang Beiran shook his head and asked, “Since I have already this stage, there’s no harm in trying again. Shall we open the cauldron here?”

Seeing that Jiang Beiran had no intention of backing down, the steward could only answer, “Yes, we’ll open it here.”

“Then, can you help me exchange for some charcoal? There’s not enough charcoal under this cauldron.” “No problem. What charcoal do you need?”

“Fiery Beard Charcoal. I wonder if your guild can provide it?”

“An expert…” upon hearing the name Jiang Beiran mentioned, the steward knew that he must have met an expert. “Yes, of course. Please wait a moment.”

Soon, the steward had prepared everything that Jiang Beiran needed. Jiang Beiran thanked him and sat in front of the cauldron to begin purification.

The meaning of purification was simple. It was to remove the impurities in the medicinal herbs and leave the most essential part. The difficulty of purification was varied for different medicinal herbs.

Compared to the difficulty of purification of a single medicinal herb, it was more difficult to purify multiple medicinal herbs because they would affect each other. How to separate them was a test of an alchemist’s grasp of accuracy.

But for Jiang Beiran… “Easy-peasy.”