Chapter 198: Preparation
Li Lang found himself inside the Alchemy Hall within The Orchid Covenant in no time.
Facing him was his Alchemy mentor, Zhao Longwei. He was currently scrutinizing the pill in between his fingers. Then he brought it closer to his face and sniffed it. He even then proceeded to lick it.
“This—is a candied layer?” he asked, turning to Li Lang with a frown.
“That’s correct, Senior. I’ve only made minimal changes to the pill recipe to ensure it stabilized with this layer so that the whole pill won’t go bad.”
“That can hardly be called a variant pill, Li Lang. I’m not sure if we can buy this. Why don’t you just refine normal Nourishment Pills? They’re tried and true.”
“Senior Zhao, normal Nourishment Pills work perfectly fine, but their taste—is hard to be satisfied with. I believe these flavored Nourishment Pills are much more palatable.”
“While I don’t doubt your claim, cultivators like us have no need to care about such details. If we wanted good food, we would eat real food, not pills. Everyone knows what they’re getting into when they take Nourishment Pills.”
“Senior, cultivators are still human. They can’t possibly complain that the taste of their pills got better.”
“Nonsense! The pain of cultivation is a thousand times harder to bear, and yet we do so anyway. These little tricks you employed are for children, not serious cultivators.”
“The sense of taste is something people of all ages have. There are also plenty of children among the younger disciples. I’m sure there’ll be a demand for these Nourishment Pills once people have tried it.”
Zhao Longwei sighed upon realizing how persistent his student was. He was a traditional man who dedicated a great portion of his life to the pursuit of alchemy. He expected serious alchemists like him to be advancing their great craft together. He thought it was blasphemous to waste time, creating a variant of an existing pill that only improved something that didn’t matter.
Many cultivators were like him, proud of their dedication and their ability to endure hardship.