Star Farming, the eldest lady relies on alchemy to counterattack

Chapter 409 Precious Medicinal Herbs
She had been learning alchemy since childhood and had collected many precious medicinal herbs and several alchemy furnaces over the years. However, seeing so many treasures, including medicinal herbs that she had been searching for for a long time but had not found, still shocked Ning Xuan.

Fu Rong gently patted Ning Xuan's shoulder: "Of course you can. During the competition, you can take anything you want here. Come on, let me show you some of the rare and precious medicinal herbs first."

Ning Xuan nodded and followed Fu Rong toward the first crystal display case.

A pure white Ganoderma lucidum lay quietly in the cabinet, its surface covered with a layer of glistening frost, radiating a faint chill even at room temperature.

"This is a thousand-year-old snow lingzhi, which grows in the glaciers of the far north. It is extremely rare. It is said that many people have sacrificed their lives in the search for this lingzhi." Fu Rong lowered her voice a few decibels.

“This snow lingzhi is indeed hundreds of years old; it would be perfect for refining into a pill.” Ning Xuan looked at the snow lingzhi with excitement in her eyes.

She was preparing to refine the Nine-Turn Holy Healing Pill, but it was still missing a main ingredient. This thousand-year-old snow spirit mushroom was very suitable as the main ingredient for the Nine-Turn Holy Healing Pill. Since she could take it away as long as she could refine the pill within three hours, she wouldn't be polite.

Ning Xuan reached out and took out the thousand-year-old snow spirit mushroom.

Upon seeing Ning Xuan's actions, Fu Rong's expression changed. "What are you doing with it? Put it back immediately."

"Didn't they say we could choose any medicinal herbs? I plan to use it to refine pills." Ning Xuan held onto the thousand-year-old snow spirit mushroom, showing no intention of putting it down, and said in a somewhat innocent tone.

"Heh, Master Fu, since she doesn't appreciate it, why bother trying to persuade her? You're only thinking about taking advantage, without even considering whether you have the ability," Lan Shuiyu sneered from behind.

"It's my fault, Ning Xuan. I just told you that you can take any of these herbs and refine them into pills to take away. But I haven't told you about some special cases yet. This row of cabinets contains herbs that are over a thousand years old, extremely rare and precious. Because they are so valuable, if you take them and can refine them into pills, of course you can take them away. But if you fail and waste the herbs, you will have to pay for them at the original price. Look at the prices on the bottom row, they are all astronomical. If you damage even one, you'll have to sell it to the association for the rest of your life." Fu Rong explained anxiously to Ning Xuan.

Although the Alchemist Association is wealthy and powerful, it's one thing to waste relatively common medicinal herbs, but it would be too heartbreaking to see these precious and rare herbs go to waste.

Therefore, these precious items are only displayed here for exhibition purposes; no one has ever really intended to take any of these medicinal materials.

Because the older the medicinal material, the greater the energy it contains, making it very troublesome to process and refine. If not careful, the energy can surge, damaging the medicinal properties and thus destroying the medicinal material.

"Don't worry, Sister Fu Rong. I know that medicinal herbs of this age are very difficult to process. Don't worry, I won't fail," Ning Xuan said confidently, and then put the thousand-year-old snow lingzhi into her special space button for exams.

To prevent cheating and strengthen management, all candidates are only allowed to carry this one space button.

"Ning Xuan, this is no joke. I've been a master alchemist for over 40 years, and I can only handle herbs under 500 years old. This is a thousand-year-old herb, precious and rare. Don't make a big mistake because of a moment of impulsiveness; it will be too late to regret it then." Fu Rong was genuinely anxious, trying her best to persuade Ning Xuan to take out the herb. "I'll look at others. If there's one more suitable for me, I'll put it down." Ning Xuan said this purely as an excuse to avoid listening to Fu Rong's nagging.

However, when she turned her head to the side, she saw a fist-sized, bright red fruit displayed in the adjacent cabinet. "Sister Fu Rong, look, what is that red herb? Is it the Crimson Flame Fruit?"

Ning Xuan pointed to the fruit with golden patterns on its surface, her eyes sparkling.

"It's the Crimson Flame Fruit, which, according to legend, only grows deep within the magma of a volcano. Look at the golden patterns on its surface; they seem to be flowing. They are actually formed by the accumulation of natural energy," Fu Rong explained to Ning Xuan.

Seeing Ning Xuan's interest, Fu Rong carefully opened the cabinet door, and immediately felt a wave of heat rush out. Ning Xuan could feel a scorching heat, but strangely, the heat did not make her feel uncomfortable. Instead, she felt a sense of intimacy.

"Don't touch it. Direct contact with the Crimson Flame Fruit will burn your meridians. Don't touch it." After Fu Rong finished speaking, she personally closed the cabinet door and pulled Ning Xuan to the next precious medicinal herb.

They continued on their way, and Ning Xuan's gaze was drawn to a medicinal herb that resembled ginseng but was entirely black. Its roots were twisted like a dragon, and three silvery-white leaves grew at the top, emitting a faint glow.

“This is Netherworld Ginseng,” Fu Rong explained before Ning Xuan could ask. “It grows in ancient battlefields or mass graves with extremely heavy Yin energy, absorbing the soul power of the dead to survive. It is one of the main ingredients for refining Life-Sustaining Pills, and can repair damaged souls.”

Ning Xuan looked at the Netherworld Ginseng and really wanted to take it with her. However, she was not familiar with the recipe for the Life-Sustaining Pill, and she really didn't know how to refine and use this rare and precious treasure.

These precious items were only displayed in one row of cabinets. After Fu Rong led Ning Xuan around to look at them, Ning Xuan took a fancy to several more medicinal herbs.

Not only did she have no intention of putting the thousand-year-old snow lingzhi back, she was even planning how many batches of pills she should refine.
"Ning Xuan, let's go take a look at the alchemy furnace," Fu Rong said to Ning Xuan.

Ning Xuan nodded and followed Fu Rong inside. Suddenly, her attention was drawn to a pill furnace in the distance. The furnace was dark blue-black, with an ancient and simple design. Intricate cloud patterns were carved on its surface, and a faint radiance emanated from it.

"This is Qingmang, it looks extraordinary, doesn't it? This alchemy furnace has a long history and its energy transmission is very sensitive, so it is not easy to control and is prone to exploding," Fu Rong explained.

Ning Xuan nodded somewhat perfunctorily, but in reality, her attention had been drawn to a magnificent alchemy furnace in front of her. The furnace was entirely golden, with nine phoenixes with outstretched wings carved on its lid. Each phoenix's eyes were inlaid with rubies, which shone brightly under the light and were very beautiful.

"That's the 'Nine Phoenixes Facing the Sun Furnace'," Fu Rong explained, following her gaze. "It's suitable for fire-attribute spirit controllers. When a fire-attribute spirit controller uses this furnace to refine fire-attribute pills, the success rate can be increased by about 20%. However, it requires a high level of spiritual power from the controller, and the furnace can explode if one is not careful." Fu Rong explained dutifully once again.