Chapter 527 - Seven Leaf Grass
Wilkinson hesitated for a moment and stole a glance at his friends, all of whom seemed to be gloating over his misfortune. One of them even mouthed the words “let me do it if you don’t dare to”.
Gritting his teeth, Wilkinson said, “Master Felic, here’s what happened. Teacher once mentioned to me a herb store called Seven Leaf Grass before we headed to the Breezy Plains, and instructed me to help him find some medicinal herbs. Look, do you think I can…”
“Seven Leaf Grass?” asked Lin Li as he placed his teacup down, interested.
Wilkinson nodded profusely, and said, “Yes, Teacher told me that there is a wide variety of herbs available at this store, and they’re always in stock. This store has lots of rare herbs that can’t be found elsewhere.”
“Alright then. Since I don’t have anything else to do, I’ll go check it out together with you. I shall see what’s so special about the store that Master Balbo has recommended.” Lin Li did not probe any further, and instead resolutely stood up to get ready to leave. Actually, he was well aware of Wilkinson’s intentions. If Balbo really needed some herbs, he would have a million ways to obtain them. He wouldn’t have to resort to getting his student to search for them on his behalf.
However, Lin Li had only agreed to go explore with him out of boredom. There was nothing much to see in the castle, and there was nowhere for him to practice magic, nor was there a pharmaceutical lab. He couldn’t possibly spend the entire afternoon having tea.
“Let’s go. What’s wrong with them?” Lin Li asked upon sight of a few other pharmacists, who were hanging their heads low dejectedly and doing nothing.
“Hah, they’re just tired and don’t wish to go out. We’ll just let them stay behind to get some rest,” Wilkinson said smugly while staring at his several friends.
“Well, they have to pay the price for losing. Let’s go, then,” Lin Li said smilingly.
Wilkinson smiled wryly and followed Lin Li.
After thanking the butler of the castle and turning down his offer to provide them with a carriage, Lin Li and Wilkinson left the castle, and headed to the address given by the butler on foot together with the two Undead creatures.
Along the way, Wilkinson told Lin Li the legendary stories about Seven Leaf Grass.
In the myths of Anril, there was once a bunch of Seven Leaf Grass that grew on the Tree of Eternity. It had the ability to resurrect a dead person due to the fact that it had been grown with the essence of eternity.
It was said that the queen of the High Elves had once got injured by a magical beast named Sphinx that had a goat’s head and a lion’s body. The claws of the Sphinx carried a poison that was more intense and lethal than the poison of vipers. It was said that even the gods couldn’t resolve this poison.
However, just as the Queen of the High Elves was about to choose her successor, a powerful figure that was like the incarnation of a god picked some Seven Leaf Grass from the tree, which he then used to formulate a detoxifying potion for the Queen. The poison was finally removed.
“Powerful like the incarnation of a god…” Upon hearing the description, Lin Li immediately thought of two individuals—the Immortal King and Geresco. The first person who gave the Queen an antidote could very likely be the Immortal King, he reckoned. Apart from the fact that the chronological order was accurate, the Immortal King was also an all-round individual who could use the remains of the Dragon of Destruction to build the Sky Castles for the High Elves. Hence, it was not surprising that he could formulate a potion like that.
The Seven Leaf Grass was located at the side of a small plaza in the southern corner of Roland City. The three-storied building with a white dome had seemingly gone through more vicissitudes than the buildings surrounding it. There were no words written on the signboard of the store, and there was only a picture of the legendary Seven Leaf Grass. It seemed to show the confidence of the store owner.
The entrance of the store was rather small. After all, pharmacists were much rarer than mages and warriors. Besides, pharmacists were the target consumers of herbal stores; hence, there would obviously be very few customers.
When they entered the medicinal store, they didn’t smell the kind of mixed herbal scent that would usually be found in a common medicinal store. That just meant that the staff of the store had conducted appropriate management of the herbs. The scent indicated the diffusion of energy, and the mixed medicinal fragrance indicated that there was a problem with the preservation of multiple medicinal materials. When high-level potions were formulated, a minor change would lead to failure.
Standing in the lobby of the medicinal store, they could see a neat medicine cabinet that was made of neatly arranged crystals. The transparency of the cabinet allowed others to see what was inside, but sunlight could not penetrate it, and thus wouldn’t destroy the medicinal herbs inside. The design could be regarded as meticulous, for the visitors could carefully pick the herbs that they wanted without wasting any. However, there was a hefty price to pay for such a meticulous design. Hence, no one dared to use crystals for storing herbs.
Lin Li formed a good impression of the Seven Leaf Grass medicinal store. The only issue was that the middle-aged man who was manning the shop did not once stand up or even speak up to welcome them. He felt that the middle-aged person had to be the manager because he could tell from the decor and layout of the store that the owner should be one who cared about the feelings of the shop’s customers. In that case, how could it be the same person who had remained still even after seeing the customers enter?
They were in Seven Leaf Grass medicinal store, which was well-known throughout the entire Breezy Plains. Although it was always compared to the Time Consignment Store, Seven Leaf Grass did seem rather noble and prestigious because its main clientele comprised mostly lofty aristocrats. The manager felt that the Seven Leaf Grass was prestigious for serving only esteemed pharmacists, while the Time Consignment Store was cheap in his opinion because it peddled potions or magic weapons and equipment, and served warriors and mages.
As the manager looked up at the four people who had just come in, his heart turned numb. Who would be willing to give you a free meal!?! Although the four of them were all wearing magic robes, mages weren’t significant here, let alone the ones who were dressed shabbily.
Wilkinson and the other pharmacists were now the stars of the Breezy Plains, whom all the forces knew about. Hence, they had deliberately disguised themselves as mages on this trip out with Lin Li.
Lin Li only cared about his own well-being, and was not bothered about what others thought of him. Before he came to Anril, he’d been just a homebody who didn’t care about his appearance at all.
It was much worse for Ujfalusi and Norfeller. Due to the fact that they were Undead creatures, their strong Undead aura could not be hidden at all. Hence, they seemed distasteful regardless of how well they were dressed.
After confirming their identities with a glance, the manager who despised the Time Consignment Store felt nothing but disdain for them. He was planning to let them take a look and scram, and could not be bothered to waste his time talking to them at all. The manager humphed coldly in displeasure and lowered his eyelids as if he were going to sleep.
Wilkinson wasn’t an oblivious and unscrupulous nerd. He could obviously tell that the manager was looking down on them with contempt. After joining the Pharmacist Guild, he was accepted as a student by Teacher Balbo all thanks to his hard work and talent. Who would dare to despise Balbo’s student in such a disrespectful manner? He had gotten to where he was today based on his own talent, hard work, and stellar performance. Those who were jealous of him did not have anything to say at all.
Although calmness was the basic requirement for a pharmacist when preparing a potion, Wilkinson was still in his twenties, after all. Being young and vigorous, how could he tolerate letting others look down on him? However, when he was about to react, he discovered that Master Felic was looking at the medicinal herbs nonchalantly, while the two Undead creatures remained calm and unfazed.
The Undead obviously wouldn’t have any emotional fluctuations, for they had already lost their lives, and were nothing but empty shells. Hence, why would they care about the opinions of others? To Ujfalusi and Norfeller, their only concern was the safety of their master. Unless someone threatened Lin Li’s safety, nothing had anything to do with them.
Lin Li was not bothered by the manager’s lack of enthusiasm. He was just there to buy medicinal herbs anyway, not to perform a stand-up comedy. He didn’t have the time to teach the manager a lesson, either. He walked along the rows of crystal medicine cabinets in the hall, after which he realized that he was in need of several kinds of medicinal materials.
Lin Li took the time to study and analyze the formulae that William had given him. The Divine Potion was difficult to formulate, and even though he was a pharmaceutics Guru, he still wasn’t that confident. Besides, the required medicinal materials were not that easy to gather.
Staring at the different medicinal materials that were to be used for other formulae, Lin Li felt that the formulae were not mixed randomly. It seemed that formulating the other formulae, one would very possibly be enlightened, and then have more confidence in preparing the Divine Potion.
Although the crystal medicine cabinets were arranged like supermarket shelves, the medicinal materials in them were not easy to obtain. Lin Li wrote down some of the medicinal materials required by the formula on paper, after which he walked towards the middle-aged person, and said, “Please help me get these medicinal materials.” He then slid the piece of paper towards him.