The Half-Pill Shop

The Qingchuan Chamber of Commerce was packed with shops, making it a bustling area within Qingyuan Ward.

Countless divine ability practitioners gathered here to trade and search for the items they needed.

After being sent off by Lu Qingyan, Lu Ming first bought some of the pastries and snacks that Lu Mengmeng liked. Then, he began to wander around, his gaze lingering on the pill shops, pharmacies, divine ability chambers, and divine weapon smithies. The pill shops, naturally, sold medicinal pills and were the most popular spots. The divine ability chambers were places where divine ability techniques were traded at exorbitant prices, while the divine weapon smithies forged divine weapons.

Lu Ming patted the small pouch in his pocket, which contained three hundred grains of heavenly gold sand that Lu Qingyan had just given him.

This small amount of heavenly gold sand was clearly not enough for Lu Ming to squander in those high-end establishments.

Thus, after wandering around for a long while, he stopped in front of a peculiar shop.

The shop owner was a dark-skinned old woman with a mouthful of yellow teeth, puffing on a pipe. In front of her lay many small boxes, each containing a yellow clay ball.

“Half-Pill Shop.”

Lu Ming glanced at the shop's sign and understood. Inside these yellow clay balls were medicinal pills, but they were only semi-finished products whose medicinal efficacy and grade had significantly deteriorated.

The shopkeeper used a special yellow clay to cover these "half-pills," making them impossible to identify. If customers wanted to buy, they had to rely entirely on luck. Those with poor luck would end up with useless pills that had barely any remaining efficacy. Those with good luck, however, might score a bargain, acquiring a semi-finished pill with decent quality and preserved efficacy at an extremely low price.

It felt a bit like pill gambling.

Many people enjoyed this thrill and wanted to snatch a bargain, so business at the Half-Pill Shop was quite good.

“Thirty grains of heavenly gold sand for any ball of your choice. There are plenty of Bone Refining Pills in there, and even some Dharma Inscription Pills...” the old woman running the shop said casually, casting a glance at Lu Ming.

Lu Ming clicked his tongue. Thirty grains of heavenly gold sand was incredibly cheap. One had to know that a completed Bone Refining Pill was easily worth several hundred grains of heavenly gold sand, while a Dharma Inscription Pill was even more expensive—an item required for the cultivation of Grand Divine Ability Practitioners, valued at over a thousand grains of heavenly gold sand.

Even though these were only semi-finished products, they were still highly cost-effective when discounted like this.

No wonder so many people wanted to try their luck here.

Lu Ming did not have much interest in this, but since he was bored waiting for Lu Qingyan, he followed the crowd's example. He picked up a clay-covered ball and examined it from all angles, putting on a show of scrutiny.

He even circulated his primordial energy, attempting to sense what lay inside.

“Tch.”

The old shopkeeper took a puff from her pipe, blew out a cloud of acrid smoke, and sneered, “Kid, if someone of your level could sense what's inside, how would this old woman even do business? Forget about you—even if veteran Grand Divine Ability Practitioners came, it would be useless.”

The surrounding onlookers burst into laughter.

Lu Ming remained calm, showing no anger. Treating the laughter as background noise, he toyed with a few more clay balls and prepared to leave.

However, just as he was about to set down the clay ball he had just picked up, a subtle, imperceptible shift occurred in his eyes. In that split second, he felt a strange movement coming from his Divine Ability Bone.

With a thought, Lu Ming examined his Divine Ability Bone and quickly located the source of the movement.

The Fire Lotus imprint.

Lu Ming discovered that when he held the clay-covered ball in his hand, a faint flicker of flame seemed to flash across the Fire Lotus imprint, emitting a subtle suction.

Lu Ming was very familiar with this suction. Every time he used a Bone Refining Pill, the Fire Lotus would draw in and refine the medicinal efficacy in this exact manner.

This sudden development made Lu Ming's heart skip a beat.

Could it be that this Fire Lotus imprint possessed a special sensitivity to the pill energy? Even though these pills were covered in a special yellow clay, they still could not escape the Fire Lotus's perception.

Heh, it really is a treasure chest.

Though Lu Ming was secretly delighted, his face remained entirely impassive. Instead of purchasing this clay ball immediately, he put it back and continued to pick through the boxes, maintaining his act.

Over the next few minutes, Lu Ming casually examined more clay balls. The Fire Lotus imprint reacted to several more of them.

Just as Lu Ming was about to make his move, a slender, fair hand suddenly reached out from beside him and grabbed a clay ball. At the same time, a clear, gentle voice rang out: “If I were you, I would choose this one.”

Lu Ming was taken aback. Turning around, he saw three beautiful young women, each with a different style, standing beside him at some point.

The girl who had reached out was dressed in emerald-green robes. Her skin was as white as snow, and she possessed a slender waist and a full chest, her graceful figure drawing the eye.

The other two girls standing beside her were equally gorgeous. Standing together, the trio drew many stealthy glances from the surrounding crowd.

“Miss Zhou?” Lu Ming recognized the girl in green. She was Zhou Fuling, the niece of Ward Master Zhou Xuan.

“We meet again.”

Zhou Fuling smiled faintly at Lu Ming, then pointed to the two girls beside her and briefly introduced them.

“Li Shuang, Yan Zhizhi.”

Dressed in snow-white robes, Li Shuang nodded calmly at Lu Ming. She shared a close relationship with Jing Yi in her family, and Jing Yi often spoke of Lu Ming. Although she had rarely seen him before, she was naturally quite friendly toward him by association.

Yan Zhizhi, on the other hand, had a lazy demeanor. She merely raised her chin slightly with a touch of arrogance. Disciples of the Divine Ability Clans generally looked down on the common disciples of the Divine Ability Halls. If they hadn't discovered earlier that Lu Ming possessed a High-grade Divine Ability Bone, she wouldn't have bothered to come over and greet him at all.

Hearing these two surnames, Lu Ming immediately understood their identities. No wonder they were so proud; they were scions of the two major Divine Ability Clans of Qingyuan Ward.

He cupped his hands slightly, then looked at the clay ball in Zhou Fuling's hand. He was somewhat surprised, as this was indeed one of the clay balls the Fire Lotus imprint had reacted to earlier. From Zhou Fuling's tone, could she actually perceive the pill energy through the yellow clay as well?

“Miss Zhou, do you believe the pill inside this clay ball has stronger medicinal efficacy?” Lu Ming asked curiously.

“I have been studying pill refinement with my uncle, so I am quite familiar with the fragrance of pills. This clay ball isn't completely sealed, allowing me to detect a faint trace of it. If you want to score a bargain, you can choose this one,” Zhou Fuling said with a smile.

Lu Ming understood. So she had smelled it... Her sense of smell was remarkably sharp.

“What? You don't believe me?” Zhou Fuling raised an eyebrow.

Before Lu Ming could reply, she tossed the clay ball to the old shopkeeper and said, “I'll buy it. Strip off the yellow clay for me.”

This special yellow clay had to be cleaned by the shop owner. If customers handled it themselves, any slight mistake could damage the already imperfect efficacy of the pill.

At the same time, Zhou Fuling flicked her finger, and thirty grains of glittering, sand-like heavenly gold sand flew out, landing in front of the old woman.

The shopkeeper hurriedly caught them, placed the clay ball into a nearby basin, and quickly washed it with a special solution. A few breaths later, as the yellow clay was washed away, a relatively intact pill appeared before everyone's eyes, radiating a faint pill fragrance.

“Whoa, it's a Mid-grade Bone Refining Pill! It's in pretty good condition—it's worth at least over a hundred grains of heavenly gold sand.” As soon as the pill was revealed, many onlookers gasped in admiration, looking at Zhou Fuling with newfound respect.

Li Shuang and Yan Zhizhi were also quite surprised. With their status, they naturally looked down on such a semi-finished Mid-grade Bone Refining Pill, but Zhou Fuling's demonstration of pill-identifying skill was still impressive.

It seemed the newly appointed Ward Master was indeed an alchemist skilled in pill refinement.

Zhou Fuling took the Mid-grade Bone Refining Pill, which had fairly decent efficacy, and handed it to Lu Ming, saying with a hint of pride, “How about that?”

Lu Ming gave her a thumbs-up but did not take the pill. “Miss Zhou selected this. I cannot accept a reward for doing nothing.”

“If I refined a pill of this quality, my uncle would scold me to death. I don't want it,” Zhou Fuling said, directly stuffing the pill into Lu Ming's hand with an overbearing attitude.

Lu Ming had no choice but to accept it. Well, this thing was worth over a hundred grains of heavenly gold sand after all. Even if he didn't use it himself, he could hand it over to Lu Qingyan.

“Can you smell the others as well, Miss Zhou?” Lu Ming asked, pretending to be curious as his eyes swept over the clay balls in the boxes.

Based on the reaction of the Fire Lotus imprint just now, there was still some profit to be made from this shop. Although Zhou Fuling and the others looked down on it, Lu Ming did not mind. After all, even Lu Qingyan had to personally step forward just to salvage the cooperation between the hall and the Qingchuan Chamber of Commerce. He felt that he should also do his part for his family.

Hearing this, Zhou Fuling shook her head. “I can't smell any others, and I don't want to try.”

Beside her, Yan Zhizhi giggled. “You sure are greedy.”

Lu Ming smiled and ignored them. Instead, he turned around and pulled several clay balls from the boxes—ten in total. Among these ten, some had triggered a reaction from the Fire Lotus imprint, while others were chosen completely at random. After all, picking only the correct ones would be far too conspicuous.

“I'll buy these. I feel like my luck is pretty good today,” Lu Ming said with a smile to the old woman, tossing over the small pouch filled with three hundred grains of heavenly gold sand.

“Oh my, you're quite generous!” Seeing Lu Ming act like a sucker, the old shopkeeper's mouth curled into a wide grin. After all, foolish customers who bought so many at once were rare. Did he really think her place was a gold mine for bargains?

At Lu Ming's behavior, Li Shuang frowned slightly, while Yan Zhizhi curled her lip in a quiet sneer. He really was just a commoner from a Divine Ability Hall; scoring a single bargain had instantly triggered his greed, making him crave even more.

Zhou Fuling remained silent, but the smile on her beautiful face faded slightly. She had originally wanted to make his acquaintance because he possessed a High-grade Divine Ability Bone, but she hadn't expected that despite his young age, he would have such a strong gambling streak and lack self-control. With such a temperament, even with a High-grade Divine Ability Bone, his future achievements would likely be limited.

Thus, she shook her head, took half a step back, and watched coldly from the sidelines.