Truly otherworldly

Chapter 174 Truly otherworldly

"hot pot!"

"What?"

Fang Shi's sudden voice startled Zhu Ehuan. What was a hot pot? Was it another name for an alchemy furnace? She had never heard of it before, and the word "pot" must be related to food.

Having understood what she meant, Zhu Huan'e said with a smile, "I thought you were studying so intently because you were so studious, but it turns out all you could think about was food. You just finished breakfast, and you're hungry again already?"

"It's okay for now."

Fang Shi patted his stomach, which he ate seven or eight times a day, and guessed that it was almost time for his second breakfast. He ate three breakfasts a day, except for the first one which he ate with someone else. The rest he would take things out of his backpack and ring to eat.

But he didn't know what taboos were in his master's alchemy room, so he could only sit obediently until the gurgling sound started.

There were only two people in the room, and the rumbling of their stomachs was particularly noticeable. Zhu Huan'e frowned slightly, her eyes thoughtful as she looked at Fang Shi's stomach.

"Master, you know me well. My constitution is rather unique—is it okay to eat in the alchemy room?"

Driven by hunger, Fang Shi's five senses became acute, and the dried medicinal herbs that used to smell strange suddenly became palatable.

He originally just wanted to get some spiritual fruit to satisfy his craving, but the aroma of the dried spiritual herbs immediately banished the spiritual fruit from his mind.

Zhu Huan'e noticed the change in his eyes and, thinking of his extraordinary senses, immediately seized the opportunity: "It seems that your extremely sensitive sense of smell for drugs can only be activated when you are hungry."

She raised her fingertip to touch her lips, a sudden inspiration striking her.

"I can't let you eat too much from now on."

"ah?"

Fang Shi felt like the sky had fallen. What kind of situation was this? As one of the stores with the best benefits in the entire Emerald City, the Pill Shop should at least provide meals and accommodation, right? How come I, the dignified eldest disciple, am not even getting any food?

Fang Shi's dejected appearance amused Zhu Huan'e, who laughed, "Little Fang, you're so easy to fool! I haven't even started teaching you how to identify medicinal herbs, so why won't you eat them?"

"So, you can't eat it once you start teaching?"

"That depends on your aptitude. If you really are like that, don't blame your teacher."

After saying that, Zhu Huan'e continued to concentrate on refining the elixir, while Fang Shi, who was standing to the side, was so frightened that he quickly took out a spiritual fruit to eat.

The collection of enchantments a few days ago consumed a lot of his profound energy, which caused his appetite to increase dramatically in the past few days. He needs to replenish it quickly, otherwise eating so much every day will not be a good thing.

He also realized that his outer circle of energy was the cube-shaped man's experience bar, where all the profound energy he absorbed was stored, and it would be released when needed.

No wonder he has no bottlenecks when breaking through; that's how experience bars work. But from another perspective, his cultivation level can also regress due to the use of Xuan Qi.

He is the number one person in the Xuan Realm in terms of dynamic cultivation.

After Fang Shi devoured a spiritual fruit in three bites like a hamster, piling up a high heap of kernels on the table, Zhu Huan'e could no longer ignore it.

"Where did you get so many spirit fruits?"

Fang Shi, with his full cheeks, mumbled, "It's what I found during my travels in the mountains a few days ago."

Zhu Huan'e's eye twitched. "How come I've never heard of any orchards near Emerald City?"

"I was born and raised in the mountains, so I naturally have the skill to find fruit."

But Zhu Huan'e attributed this to Fang Shi's unusual five senses. She saw a pile of fruit pits on the table, and since her hands were getting sore from grinding medicine, she got up and sat down to rest for a while.

"Master, would you like some?"

"No need, I just had breakfast and I'm still full."

However, the wood-type spiritual fruit is actually a very good food for Zhu Huan'e, who is associated with the fire element.

"Are you really not going to eat it?" Fang Shi found another, even plumper spiritual fruit. Although it wasn't of a high grade, it looked so good that even Master couldn't help but swallow.

"No need," she refused.

So Fang Shi didn't look in the ring, but instead took out a spirit fruit from his backpack. This spirit fruit was the same variety as the previous one, but it was an item fruit that he obtained with a very small probability after dissolving the tree monster. Just like those meat chops, after being processed by the power of dissolving, this spirit fruit was shaped into the most perfect and plump shape.

He then presented the fruit again and asked tentatively, "Master, are you really not going to eat it?"

"Really not—" Zhu Huan'e closed her eyes and turned her face away, annoyed by the boy. But the next second, she was blinded by the full arc of light on the spiritual fruit and couldn't help but exclaim, "What a good fruit, a rare medicinal herb."

She hurriedly asked where he had picked it, and Fang Shi only said that he had wandered around looking for it himself. He even embellished the story, saying that he had fought with a guardian beast, but in reality it was just a tree monster that he had dealt with in a few swings of his axe.

"Alright, we can't waste good fruit."

Zhu Huan'e finally took the fruit, but instead of eating it, she put it into another alchemy furnace and breathed on it to send in a wisp of warm fire.

"Master, what are you doing?"

"Naturally, it is made into medicinal materials. Pills are divided into yin and yang. Yang pills are made by refining flesh and spirit medicines, while yin pills require a combination of various spiritual objects to exert their powerful effects."

Fang Shi felt it was a waste, as the fruit should be eaten directly. The breakfast he had just eaten was also bland and tasteless, which made him ask Zhu Huan'e how long it had been since she had eaten normal food.

"Well, it's been a few years."

In Zhu Huan'e's view, good things should naturally be made into medicinal materials. It would be a waste to simply cook them into dishes. However, Fang Shi strongly disagreed with this idea. It is a natural and proper thing for people to eat herbs, fruits and flesh. Even if they are processed for the sake of taste, there is no reason to grind them all into powder.

He took the spiritual fruit out of the alchemy furnace and put it back in his master's hand, letting her eat it as is.

The smoked spiritual fruit had a slightly wrinkled skin, but fortunately, it was still full of spiritual energy.

"Good fruits are dried before eating, which helps with absorption. Eating them the usual way results in very low efficiency in absorbing Xuan Qi."

"Master, I may not know as much as you do about alchemy, but I am quite good at food. Humans are born with the ability to refine external things. Fresh fruits enter the stomach and absorb their unbalanced energy, but yin and yang are needed to buffer them. If everything we eat is refined into dried medicine, losing yin and yang, wouldn't the unbalanced energy disrupt our own circulation?"

"Oh? I didn't expect you to actually read the book."

Fang Shi's words surprised his master, but he also persuaded him. Perhaps it was because he had taken on a disciple that his mindset had changed. Zhu Huan'e was not as stubborn as before and took a bite of the spiritual fruit.

The sweet and crisp fruit flesh still carried a trace of its former warmth, thankfully without ruining the flesh inside, making her realize that her sense of taste had been dormant for too long.

This is different from the aroma of elixirs; it is a more distinct and simple flavor that naturally harmonizes with the taste buds, bringing a subtle impact to the heart.

"Ouch!" Unexpectedly, Zhu Huan'e's teeth suddenly hit the fruit pit.

Fangfa scratched his head and asked, "Master, how long has it been since you've had fresh fruit?"