Great Demon King

GDK 726: I admit defeat

News of the deeds that Avery committed on that night spread through the City of Shadows after the sun rose.

Including Tuyas from the House of Buller, five had fallen to him. Although these five were mere midgods, they were prestigious and renowned characters in the City of Shadows. Their sudden deaths immediately attracted the public’s attention.

The Celestial Pearl Pharmacy didn’t have their own divine guards but Erebus had assigned Anito and a small squadron from the Third Corps to patrol around the campus. Anito was quickly alerted about Avery’s intrusion into the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy that night. However, he arrived on the scene even later than Akley and had absolutely no clue what happened.

At dawn, the Chief of the Third Corps, Erebus, personally came to visit Han Shuo.

“You sure it was him?” Erebus immediately asked after Han Shuo led him into a secret chamber.

“I’m certain. It is Avery! If it wasn’t for the fact that Andrina was just beside me, I’m afraid that I would have fallen to the same fate as Tuyas and the others,” Han Shuo said as though he was still frightened by the event. He claimed that Andrina had defeated Avery lest he attracts unwanted attention from the Sainte Family.

Even if Han Shuo hadn’t provided any detailed explanation, Erebus would logically assume that it was Andrina who beat back Avery. Back at the Kisa Residence, Erebus had witnessed Andrina’s power with his own eyes. He thought that in the whole of the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy, only Andrina would possess that kind of strength.

Erebus nodded and coldly groaned, “How outrageous! It seems that Avery has no intention of staying in the city any longer!”

Han Shuo remained silent. He knew that Avery would have left the City of Shadows that night. Given how familiar Avery was to the City of Shadows, with the help of his confidants, even the House of Sainte would have trouble stopping him escaping from the City of Shadows.

To these pharmacists, Han Shuo’s actions were simply unimaginable. They stared at Han Shuo performing the demonstration like fools. They couldn’t understand how Han Shuo could refine medicine by throwing all the raw ingredients into a single container. Their usual way of producing medicine would begin by individually extracting the compounds from raw ingredients. Then, they would mix those extracts in ratios according to the effect they wished to achieve. Compared to Han Shuo’s one-pan-cooks-all method, not only did their approach have a ton of additional procedures, the end results were not as good as his.

The pharmacy lab was filled with a pleasant scent. A few moments later, several dark-gold Rebirth Pills flew out from the Nine Tessellation Cauldron. Han Shuo crushed the pills and placed them in several medicine bottles. He handed them to some of the pharmacists and said smilingly, “Have a taste. It’s very beneficial to your body!”

The pharmacists were tempted just from the scent alone. They had long heard about the miraculousness of the medicines Han Shuo personally refined and had wanted to experience it for themselves. Hence, after Han Shuo’s invitation, they merely hesitated for a moment before they swallowed the medicines in their hands.

As professional pharmacists, these people could immediately detect the effect Han Shuo’s medicines had on their bodies. It was clear to them just how potent the medicine was.

Soon enough, the pharmacists had to make urgent trips to the bathroom and defecate like they had diarrhea. However, they would all look much healthier after coming out of the bathroom. They exclaimed in admiration, “What a miraculous drug! This medicine is unbelievable!”

Even those few pharmacists who did not get to experience the Rebirth Pill became more revering of Han Shuo after seeing that their colleagues appeared to be filled with vitality.

Gu Li appeared much healthier after a round of solid waste excrement. Upon returning from the washroom, she kowtowed towards Han Shuo and uttered, “I admit defeat!”

Of these people, Gu Li had the greatest reputation. No one would ever again doubt Han Shuo’s capability with her acknowledging Han Shuo’s prowess.

“As none of you are my apprentices, I cannot teach you my method and technique of refining medicine,” Han Shuo observed the expressions on the faces of his pharmacists. When they displayed looks of disappointment, Han Shuo added, “But, I can talk to you about the efficacy of certain unique medical ingredients. You may not be familiar with these medical ingredients but they carry miraculous effects. If you proceed with investigating and experimenting with those ingredients, I believe you will learn new things and make great advancements.

Han Shuo naturally wouldn’t teach the pharmacists his techniques of medicine refinement as it required demonic yuan. Even if Han Shuo was to do so, as they did not cultivate in demonic arts, they wouldn’t be able to produce pelleted medicine. However, Han Shuo was willing to teach them about the special effects that certain medicinal ingredients had as a way of thanking them for having worked so hard for the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy.

The pharmacists expressed their gratitude upon hearing those words. They were contented with that guarantee from Han Shuo, even though they would not learn Han Shuo’s out-of-the-world medicine refinement technique.

Han Shuo then took out some medical ingredients he had personally collected, placed them in glass containers, and proceeded with explaining their uses. Han Shuo used all kinds of professional terminologies which left the impression on the pharmacists that his knowledge was deep and profound. Their gazes towards Han Shuo were filled with admiration and respect.

These pharmacists listened to Han Shuo with eager ears and took notes in their booklets. They could not wait to experiment with those new medical ingredients they just learned from Han Shuo. They seemed inexplicably excited as like children with new toys.

“Alright, I have explained all the functions and compounds in these medical ingredients. What comes next is all up to your own understanding and capability. Perhaps you could come up with new medicines using these medical ingredients, or perhaps not, but this is all I can do for you!” Han Shuo then left the pharmacy lab. Thinking that he had evaded a crisis, he secretly heaved a sigh of relief.

Everything went without a hitch in the following period of time. A few of Han Shuo’s pharmacists, inspired by him, actually managed to invent several new types of medicines from the medical ingredients they had previously never heard of. Although the efficacy of their medicines was still far behind compared to Han Shuo’s pelleted medicines, the pharmacists were very delighted and excited to have made such progress so soon.

With everything about Celestial Pearl Pharmacy falling into place, Han Shuo then started recruiting staff to manage storage facilities to allow the apprentices of those pharmacists to collect even more medical ingredients. He was ready to open the brand-new Celestial Pearl Pharmacy for business in the City of Shadows.

It was at this point in time that out of the blue, Donna went to the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy to look for Han Shuo.

Han Shuo could tell from first glance that Donna appeared much more haggard than before. Her eyes revealed an intense looming gloom as though she was facing an unsolvable problem. She only forced a smile when they met.

“Long time no see, Donna!” Han Shuo sighed in his mind after greeting Donna. He had heard a thing or two about the recent conditions in the House of Lavers. Avery’s deeds had severely affected the House of Lavers. As the House of Sainte lost their trust in them, the Lavers Family began to decline in the City of Shadows.

Contrary to the miserable state of the House of Lavers, Han Shuo’s Celestial Pearl Pharmacy was rapidly growing and flourishing, even showing early signs of budding into a new family clan. Donna’s mood sank into deeper and deeper sadness when she recalled how it was back when Han Shuo had just arrived at the City of Shadows.

“Congratulations, Bryan. It appears that the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy will become a new powerhouse in the City of Shadows!” Donna forced a smile.

“Thank you, Donna. Is there anything I can help you with? Haha, if you need medicines, given our relations, I will give you the very best price!” Han Shuo assured and patted on his chest. He said it as though the two were still the best of friends.

Donna shook her head smilingly and replied, “I have come here to say goodbye. I’m going to leave this place for a long time. We won’t have much opportunity to meet in the future.”

“Why so sudden? Where are you going?” Han Shuo was shocked.

“It’s unlikely that our House of Lavers will accomplish much in the City of Shadows. Rather than staying and getting harassed, we might as well leave. Bryan, I’m glad to have known you. I was right about you. Truly, I feel very proud of you that you could establish yourself in the City of Shadows in such a short time,” Donna said with a smile.

Han Shuo sighed again after hearing those words. Given the current situation, the House of Lavers indeed had a bleak future in the City of Shadows. Han Shuo did not know how to console Donna who was wearing a saddened face. After keeping silent for a long while, he sighed and said, “Bon voyage, Donna. I will never forget the kindness you have shown me!”

“Goodbye. I hope that the next time we meet, your Celestial Pearl Pharmacy would have replaced our House of Lavers’ place in the City of Shadows to become one of the five major family clans!” Donna waved her hand and left.

Han Shuo was astounded because he felt a veiled resentfulness in her words. He thought to himself, Is she thinking that the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy has risen by stepping on the House of Lavers?