Wild Dogs

Wang Mazi led Yang Fan to the two rows of wooden frames.

"I see these medicinal herbs. Every few days, someone delivers herbs from the herb field."

"Pick out all the unwanted herbs and put the good ones on this shelf."

"Every day when the immortals come to refine elixirs, they will tell you what medicinal herbs are needed. You must deliver the herbs in a timely manner, without shortchanging them or sending the wrong herbs."

Wang Mazi looked at Yang Fan with lingering fear.

"More than a month ago, the handyman responsible for delivering medicinal herbs was killed by the grandmaster with a single palm strike because he delivered the wrong herbs."

Yang Fan's heart tightened.

I heard about this from Senior Brother Chen when I went up the mountain. It seems that there really were servants who died at the hands of immortals.

After giving instructions on the situation here, Wang Mazi led Yang Fan towards the alchemy furnace.

"This alchemy furnace needs to be cleaned every day, and all the ashes and poison pills inside must be removed."

As he spoke, Wang Mazi took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it around his mouth and nose.

Then, he pulled out a drawer filled with black slag from under the alchemy furnace.

"This is the slag left over from refining pills every day. You must clean it up promptly."

Slag?

Yang Fan reached out to pick up a piece of slag to examine it, but Wang Mazi quickly removed it.

"Kid, are you crazy? This stuff is poisonous!"

What?

Yang Fan was startled and quickly took two steps back, looking at the thing nervously.

"You don't know, do you? Our senior uncles and grandmasters all have recipes for refining pills."

"If it's successfully refined, it will naturally become an elixir of immortality; but if it's not, it will become something poisonous."

"Our job as menial workers is to clean up these toxic slags in time so as not to affect the immortals."

No wonder Wang Mazi covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief; he couldn't even stand the smell.

"Here, I'll take you to where the furnace ash is disposed of."

Wang Mazi handed the drawer containing furnace ash to Yang Fan with a look of disgust.

Yang Fan had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow Wang Mazi out with the ashes from the furnace.

A pungent smell emanated from the pill.

Smelling the odor, Yang Fan frowned.

Following Wang Mazi out of the front hall, the two arrived at the foot of the mountain and, after winding their way around, came to the outside of a valley.

A thin layer of mist shrouded the valley, which looked ominous.

"Look, it's inside. Go in and pour all this ashes in."

Wang Mazi gave the instructions.

Yang Fan could only cover his mouth and nose with one hand and carry the drawer inside with the other.

The deeper you go into the valley, the thicker the fog becomes.

A pungent smell wafted from the surroundings.

Needless to say, these smells must be coming from the ashes in the furnace.

Yang Fan was about to throw away the ashes and then hurriedly left.

But just then, his gaze shifted, and he stared intently at a pile of furnace ash.

There seemed to be some kind of elixir in that pile of furnace ash.

"I've long heard that the elixirs made by immortals are incredibly powerful; eating them can grant the ability to ascend to heaven in broad daylight."

Yang Fan excitedly walked over, carefully scraped open the drawer to remove the ashes, and was immediately disappointed.

There was indeed a pill in the furnace ash, but it was charred black and had obviously become a useless pill, and it was emitting black smoke.

"It turned out to be a useless pill. What a disappointment."

Yang Fan hurriedly covered his mouth and nose, and was about to leave when a thought suddenly struck him.

The small cauldron can improve the quality of medicinal herbs and steamed buns; I wonder if it will work on these poisonous pills.

If it could turn into an elixir of immortality, maybe I wouldn't need to go looking for that old Taoist priest.

Thinking of this, Yang Fan wrapped his hands with his clothes, carefully picked up the pill, and then carefully put it into the small cauldron.

"Yang Fan, why haven't you emptied the furnace ash yet?"

Outside the Poison Valley, Wang Mazi hurriedly urged Yang Fan on.

"Why!"

Yang Fan agreed and hurriedly came out from inside.

Wang Mazi was startled to see that Yang Fan's sleeves were covered in furnace ash.

"Did it get on you?"

"This slag is extremely toxic; even a tiny bit on the skin will cause pain for a long time."

Wang Mazi kept shaking his head as he spoke.

"Don't be too honest. Once you're inside, just find a spot and dump the ashes. It'll save you trouble and it'll be safer."

After giving his instructions, Wang Mazi took Yang Fan back to the mountain.

After they reached the top of the mountain, Wang Mazi gave him a few more instructions, telling him to come early the next day to report for duty, and then he was sent back.

The sun was setting in the west.

When Yang Fan arrived at the back of the mountain, the servants were having their meal.

"Remember, we Dan Tang servants only get one meal a day, and we won't serve you if you miss it. Don't be late."

Zhou, the foreman, put down the pig's trotters and patted Yang Fan on the shoulder with his greasy hand, signaling Yang Fan to go eat.

When Yang Fan arrived at the cafeteria, he received his dinner.

Although there wasn't much meat, it was rich in oil.

Yang Fan hadn't eaten such juicy food in a long time, and he wolfed down several large bowls in one go.

After wandering around the cafeteria, Yang Fan found an unwanted iron basin, filled it with some food, and brought it back to his room.

"Woof!"

Little Black jumped happily into Yang Fan's arms and licked his face.

"Eat up!"

Yang Fan put down the iron basin and carefully took out the small cauldron.

He wanted to see if the poison pills inside the cauldron had changed.

Yang Fan peeked over and froze on the spot.

Inside the cauldron was a bright green pill, and a rich fragrance wafted out from it.

This smells like medicine!

Yang Fan's heart was pounding wildly.

What was once a charred black poison pill has now turned into a bright green, healthy medicine!

"My darling!"

Yang Fan was so excited he could hardly breathe.

This is an elixir made by immortals.

If I eat it, will I become like an immortal?

Yang Fan hesitated for a moment, but after thinking about it, he decided not to eat it and instead put the pill back into the small cauldron.

"It's best not to take this medicine before figuring out what kind of pill it is."

However, the elixir certainly cannot be hidden outside.

Such a strong medicinal fragrance would be troublesome if others discovered it.

But Yang Fan was already excited.

With such a wonderful baby, he's sure to turn his life around!

The next morning, Yang Fan went to the front hall at the crack of dawn.

If he was worried about doing odd jobs in the front hall before, he is now looking forward to cleaning the alchemy hall in the front hall.

"You're here pretty early!"

After Yang Fan cleaned the main hall, he was arranging the medicinal herbs when Wang Mazi walked in, yawning.

He lives much closer to here.

"Senior Brother Wang, good morning. Senior Brother, what should we do with these medicinal herbs?"

Yang Fan picked out the medicinal herbs that were not of good quality from the wooden shelf.

"Oh, you mean these medicinal herbs!"

Wang Mazi casually tucked the medicinal herbs into his hand, then chuckled.

"According to the rules of our sect, these inferior medicinal herbs cannot be used for alchemy and must be disposed of. Let me handle them."

As he spoke, he quietly stuffed the medicinal herbs into his pocket.

It seems that these less-than-ideal medicinal herbs will be "processed" in this way.

Although he had only been on the mountain for a short time, Yang Fan was already used to it.

"Alright, from now on, work hard for Brother Wang, and I'll make sure you get your share of the benefits."

Wang Mazi patted Yang Fan on the shoulder with a smile, finding the young man more and more pleasing to the eye.

"Senior Brother Wang, what should we do next?"

"What's next? All we have to do is wait. We just need to serve them whenever they come to refine pills."

As he spoke, Wang Mazi pulled Yang Fan to sit down to the side, ready to brag to him.

"Senior brother has been in the alchemy room for so long, you should know exactly what kind of pills your grandmasters and uncles are refining."

Upon hearing this, Wang Mazi patted his chest smugly.

"Of course, I've been in this alchemy room for three years, so of course I know all this."

"What kind of pills did your senior uncles and grandmasters refine?"

Yang Fan excitedly licked his lips.

He still didn't know what the pills inside the cauldron were, but perhaps he could find out by asking this Senior Brother Wang.

"Most of the senior brothers refine low-grade pills, such as the Rejuvenation Pill which is useful for those in the Qi Refining stage, and the Detoxification Pill which removes toxins."

"Most of the pills refined by my senior uncles are mid-grade pills, mainly pills that enhance mana, such as the Spirit Recovery Pill, which is the most common."

"The grandmasters refined top-grade pills, such as Spirit Ascension Pills and Foundation Establishment Pills."

......

After listening to Wang Mazi's explanation, Yang Fan gained a basic understanding of elixirs.

Seeing Yang Fan's respectful and adoring attitude towards him, Wang Mazi's vanity exploded.

He took a small booklet from his pocket and handed it to Yang Fan.

"Here, take a look. These are the pill formulas that my senior brother has compiled over the past three years."

"A prescription?"

Yang Fan looked at Wang Mazi in astonishment.

"Didn't they say that we menial servants aren't qualified to handle pill formulas?"

Wang Mazi nodded and then shook his head.

"That's right, we menial servants aren't allowed to access the pill formulas, but what can we do when these old men are so lazy!"

Wang Mazi pointed to the wooden frames on both sides.

"Although the prescription is in the hands of the masters, they always send us to fetch the medicinal herbs."

"Don't we already know how many kinds of medicinal herbs there are, and how much of each herb is needed?"

"Once they've finished refining it, I'll flatter them a bit, and they'll even tell me about the pill's effects and properties."

Wang Mazi was somewhat smug, while Yang Fan held the booklet with a slightly aching tooth.

"Anyway, they don't treat us like human beings, so even if we find out, they won't care."

Yang Fan was at a loss for words.

He picked up the booklet and immediately started flipping through it.

After a while, his eyes lit up.

"Rejuvenation Pill".

The elixir depicted in the booklet was the same as the one he saw in the cauldron.

Yang Fan immediately examined the Rejuvenation Pill carefully, and after looking it over, he felt a sudden pang of fear.

This pill is actually a pill that enhances spiritual energy. It can only be taken by those who have reached the third level of Qi Refining, or they will explode and die!

Fortunately, I didn't take that pill at the time.

Yang Fan felt a surge of relief.

"By the way, senior brother, can this antidote only cure ordinary poisons?"

"Can the poison be cured?"

Yang Fan looked at Wang Mazi with anticipation in his eyes.

"That won't do. Gu poisons are created by evil practitioners; antidotes won't work."

Wang Mazi shook his head repeatedly.

"However, I've heard of a kind of pill that might work, but only our Pill Hall's Grandmaster Qingyang knows exactly what it is."