Having studied for a hundred years, why do you call me the Martial Saint?

"I'm so bored, I'm deliberately keeping you waiting." Chen Wenyan said, both amused and exasperated.

"I ran into Junior Brother Gu, whom I told you about before, and we chatted for a bit."

"Come, let me introduce you. This is Junior Brother Gu Shuxian. At such a young age, his understanding of 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes' is so profound, it's unbelievable! He's destined for greatness!"

Chen Wenyan praised, and then pointed to Zhou Ji and introduced him to Gu Shuxian.

"This is Zhou Ji, my roommate. He's from the Pill Hall, but all he does is concoct useless, worthless medicines every day."

"Senior Brother Zhou," Gu Shuxian said, clasping his hands in greeting.

At this moment, Zhou Ji took a closer look at Gu Shuxian beside him, sizing him up from head to toe.

The handyman was young and had fair skin.

He remembered that Chen Wenyan had mentioned in a casual conversation that there was a handyman disciple who loved reading and could chat with him.

So that's the kid.

Zhou Ji's lips twitched.

Another one who's gone mad from reading too much.

Old Chen doesn't care about anything, he just spends all day reading a tattered book.

Why would I talk to this errand boy about some damned legend of heroes? It's like a turtle looking at a green bean.

Zhou Ji nodded, which was considered a greeting.

He then stepped forward, grabbed Chen Wenyan, and dragged him back.

"Alright, alright, enough of this nonsense. You need to help me clean up the waste medicine; I need to start the furnace again!"

"Why should I clean it up? You ruined it yourself!" Chen Wenyan raised an eyebrow.

"Stop talking nonsense and come over here right now!"

The two of them were arguing and pulling at each other.

"Alright, alright, stop pulling, Grandpa will help you."

Chen Wenyan turned to Gu Shuxian apologetically and said:

"Junior Brother Gu, please look after the books on my bookshelf in the room. I'll help this good-for-nothing prepare his medicine first."

With that, he went into the house with Zhou Ji.

Gu Shuxian hesitated for a moment, but still felt that he should be bold enough to borrow books when he could, so he walked to the door.

The interior is roughly divided into two areas.

One side has a bed and a bookshelf, and the furniture is complete.

The other half is relatively empty, with a bronze alchemy furnace about half a person's height in the center and a makeshift bed on the floor next to it.

This is the first time I've seen the outer disciple's room; it's quite unique.

Chen Wenyan stood by the stove, using a shovel to remove the dregs of medicine, then sweeping them away with a broom, all the while muttering curses.

"You surnamed Zhou, you spend all day indoors making poison, I'll be poisoned to death by you sooner or later!"

"Get lost! I'm a master alchemist, I concoct elixirs that prolong life, you're already being too kind as to just let me smell them every day!"

"Master alchemist, where are your pills?"

"Next batch!"

Zhou Ji responded confidently, grabbing a handful of medicinal herbs from a cloth bag in the corner and laying them out one by one on the low table next to him.

After entering the room, Gu Shuxian first glanced at the bookshelf.

Two rows of bookshelves, completely full.

They were mostly martial arts novels and travelogues.

However, Gu Shuxian only looked at it but did not touch it.

Although Senior Brother Chen told me to just look around, I couldn't be so overly familiar with him.

If there are some things mixed in that are not suitable to share with others, and you happen to see them, that would be too presumptuous.

Gu Shuxian planned to borrow the book after Chen Wenyan finished his work.

So, glancing sideways at the two people busy working by the alchemy furnace, he quietly became their supervisor.

He noticed Zhou Ji placing the herbs on the table.

I don't know if I don't see it, I'm startled when I see it.

Angelica sinensis... can nourish blood, promote blood circulation, regulate menstruation, and relieve pain... This plant has a dark color, loose texture, and insect damage to the roots...

Astragalus membranaceus, sweet in taste and warm in nature, enters the lung and spleen meridians... This plant has a hollow cross-section, is dry and has little moisture...

Aconite leaves...the fibers are too coarse, a very low-grade product...

They're all junk!

Seeing Zhou Ji expressionlessly and quickly pick out these rotten medicines from the cloth bag, Gu Shuxian couldn't help but sigh:

There are countless heroes in this world, and the heroes of the world are as numerous as the people crossing the river!

I was able to discover these bad herbs so quickly thanks to my own divine eyes, but I never expected that Senior Brother Zhou could pick them out so quickly just by relying on his experience. It's truly admirable!

There's such a skilled herb expert among the outer disciples!

What about the whole world?

Gu Shuxian admonished himself that he must never underestimate himself or be arrogant in the future.

Gu Shuxian looked at Zhou Ji with admiration.

But soon, that admiration turned into surprise and uncertainty.

He witnessed Zhou Ji putting those rotten medicines into a mortar and pestle and starting to grind them.

Gu Shuxian couldn't help but ask:

"Senior Brother Zhou, can these spoiled medicinal herbs still be used to make medicine?"

"What kind of spoiled medicinal herbs?"

Zhou Ji stopped pounding, looked up, and stared blankly.

Gu Shuxian hesitated for a moment, then pointed to the medicinal herbs that Zhou Ji had picked out on the low table and tentatively began to speak:

"These medicinal herbs... um, they don't look very good, they seem to be spoiled. Won't using them in the medicine affect its efficacy?"

Zhou Ji frowned and looked at Gu Shuxian with a strange expression.

It's like when a rocket expert hears an amateur scientist say that rockets need to be burned with firewood—that kind of weird expression that I don't know how to explain to you.

This made Gu Shuxian feel insecure.

"Do you understand, or do I?"

"These medicinal plants may not be top-tier, but they all have medicinal properties. If combined properly, they can still be used. If you don't understand, don't give me pointers."

Zhou Ji's tone was very displeased.

Chen Wenyan was sweeping the floor when he saw this and quickly came over to smooth things over:

"Alright, alright, Junior Brother Gu, although Zhou Ji's skills aren't great, he's still a formal disciple of the Pill Refining Hall. We laymen shouldn't show off our skills in alchemy."

Gu Shuxian thought to himself that although he could recognize herbs, he didn't know how to make medicine and was basically clueless about it.

Perhaps these inferior medicinal herbs can be transformed into something miraculous by a master alchemist?

Thinking about it this way, I realized I might be showing off my limited skills before an expert.

So he apologized, saying, "I'm sorry, Senior Brother Zhou, I was too talkative."

Seeing that his attitude was good, Zhou Ji's expression softened.

"Where did you learn to judge the quality of medicinal herbs?" Zhou Ji asked casually.

"I learned it from a book," Gu Shuxian answered truthfully.

Zhou Ji nodded. No wonder.

The knowledge you learn from books is static and useless. Authentic alchemy masters emphasize hands-on practice. One batch can produce ten thousand pills. Pounding, refining, and condensing are all indispensable.

Although he was only half-baked, he was still Old Chen's friend, so Zhou Ji thought to himself, "I can't very well offer some advice."

"Since you're interested in this, it wouldn't hurt for me to give you a few pointers."

Zhou Ji adopted a senior's demeanor, casually picked up a medicinal herb from the low table, and placed it in front of Gu Shuxian:

"Come, since you've read a few books on medicine, tell me, what do you think of this medicine?"

Gu Shuxian took it, examined it carefully, and gave his judgment:

"This astragalus root has sparse roots, a mediocre cross-section, and is dry and lacks moisture. It is also not old enough, so its medicinal properties are probably less than 30%."

Zhou Ji smiled and shook his head, with the certainty of a master alchemist:

"You've observed quite carefully, but your conclusion is completely wrong!"

"This is Astragalus membranaceus, and the cross-section naturally has cracks, which is not due to drying out. As for the sparse roots, that is precisely a sign of its longevity!"

"In my opinion, this astragalus plant is highly medicinal and of superior quality!"

Having said that, he took a small knife, preparing to cut open the astragalus root to prove his judgment.