The Extreme Alchemist of the Mighty Cauldron

Chapter 527: Troubles Caused by the Fox

The reason these pills caught Fang Lin’s attention was due to the odor they were releasing.

Normally, pills emit various scents, some strong, some subtle, and others outright repugnant.

A pill’s scent could greatly reflect its quality.

However, the scent emanating from these few pills was very odd, unlike typical pill fragrances. Rather than a scent, it was a disgusting smell.

Although numerous medicinal herbs in the Pill Refining Room mixed together, making it difficult for an ordinary person to distinguish the aromas, Fang Lin, as a Pill Sovereign, had a more acute sense of smell than any other Pill Refiner and could easily identify the scent released by these pills.

“Elder Gongsun, did you refine these pills?” Fang Lin pointed at the pills and asked.

Gong Sun Mo grunted and wrinkled his brows, “Indeed, I refined these pills, but I don’t know where I went wrong. Although the pills were successfully refined, their medicinal effects are very weak and they have a strange smell.”

Fang Lin moved closer, picked up a few of the pills, and examined them carefully.

There were seven pills in total, and although Fang Lin recognized all of them, just as Gong Sun Mo had said, the quality of these seven pills was quite poor and they had an unpleasant smell.

By all accounts, Gong Sun Mo, as an Alchemy Master, shouldn’t have been able to produce such inferior pills.

Gong Sun Mo couldn’t figure it out either. After many attempts, the problem persisted and he was utterly unable to resolve it.

Fang Lin pondered for a moment, sniffed the pills again in more detail, and then looked at the pile of many medicinal herbs stored in the Pill Refining Room.

“The medicinal herbs are fine, I’ve already checked them,” Gong Sun Mo said.

However, Fang Lin disagreed, walked over to the medicinal herbs, and began to examine a few of them randomly.

Indeed, the herbs themselves weren’t problematic, but under closer scrutiny, Fang Lin detected a few subtle indicators.

While these herbs appeared normal, Fang Lin, being the possessor of the Reviving Dead Wood Body and armed with the rich experiences and deep knowledge of his past life as a Pill Sovereign, noticed that although these herbs looked normal on the outside, they were deficient in internal potency and vitality.

Their normal appearance was merely an illusion. It was no wonder that the pills refined from these herbs, lacking in vitality and potency, were not of high quality.

However, the question was, why were these herbs lacking in vitality?

If the environmental conditions here were harsh, it might be understandable that the potency of the herbs had been drained.

But this place was Xuan City, where the soil was fertile and spiritual energy abundant. Leaving the herbs here for decades wouldn’t lead to their potency dissipating.

Frowning, Fang Lin felt that something was amiss and began to inspect the Pill Refining Room more closely for any signs of abnormality.

Gong Sun Mo watched Fang Lin’s actions with an odd expression, wondering whether this youngster had truly discovered something or was merely pretending to be knowledgeable and playing tricks.

No wonder Gong Sun Mo was doubtful. After all, Fang Lin was very young, and he was only a Three Cauldrons Pill Refiner. Would he be able to identify a problem that Gong Sun Mo, a respected Master of Pill, had failed to find?

Gong Sun Mo’s doubts were not because he looked down on Fang Lin, but because anyone in the same situation would have doubted Fang Lin.

After carefully circling the Pill Refining Room several times, Fang Lin eventually found some leads.

In the corner of the wall, Fang Lin found a few strands of soft red hair emitting an extremely faint unusual smell.

Fang Lin held the red hair in his hand and showed it to both Gong Sun Mo and Gongsun Xiao.

Upon seeing the red hair, Gongsun Xiao was confused, but Gong Sun Mo frowned and said, “This seems to be the hair from a Three-eyed Red Fox.”

Upon hearing this, Gongsun Xiao remembered, “Indeed, there has been a Three-eyed Red Fox kept in the house!”

Gong Sun Mo was taken aback, he had considered his Pill Refining Room as a treasure trove, only allowing himself in.

To his surprise, his Pill Refining Room had been stealthily entered by a fox. The thought of his medicinal herbs being crawled on and possibly licked by a fox made Gong Sun Mo very angry.

“The damn fox! Dares to sneak into my Pill Refining Room, I’m going to skin it alive!” Gong Sun Mo said angrily.

Fang Lin laughed and said, “The Three-eyed Red Fox loves to suck the potency from medicinal herbs. The potency of most of the herbs here has been drained, resulting in severe deficiency, which is why you couldn’t refine any good pills.”

Gong Sun Mo finally understood the situation. So it turned out that the entire upheaval was caused by the Three-eyed Red Fox, and he had thought his skills had deteriorated.

“Go, bring me the fox!” Gong Sun Mo said to Gongsun Xiao.

Gongsun Xiao did not dare delay and went out straight away. Very soon, Gongsun Xiao returned dragging a wholly red-colored fox that had three eyes. It was trembling in fear, seemingly aware that its secret actions in the Pill Refining Room had been discovered, its eyes full of horror and panic.

Gong Sun Mo slapped the fox on its head. Although he didn’t use much force, it was enough to scare the fox and make it scream.

“Beast, I’ve been feeding you at home, but you’ve been secretly ruining my medicinal herbs, watch me stew you today!” Gong Sun Mo said angrily.

The Three-eyed Red Fox, although it couldn’t talk, understood human language. Upon hearing Gong Sun Mo’s threat, it almost fainted from terror, and its body was shaking violently.

Fang Lin stood aside without saying anything. Now that he had helped Gong Sun Mo identify the problem, how to deal with the Three-eyed Red Fox was Gong Sun Mo’s issue.

In the end, Gong Sun Mo didn’t harm the Three-eyed Red Fox. After all, he had personally raised this fox since it was a cub and had grown fond of it. Although the fox had ruined his medicinal herbs, he wouldn’t kill the Three-eyed Red Fox over mere herbs.

“Remember this, if you sneak in and harm the herbs again, I’ll break your legs!” Gong Sun Mo yelled, and the Three-eyed Red Fox nodded repeatedly, showing submission.

After resolving the issue, Gong Sun Mo was in high spirits and discussed alchemy matters with Fang Lin.

Fang Lin was not at all intimidated and held his own in the discussion with Gong Sun Mo, leaving Gongsun Xiao, who didn’t know much about alchemy, a bit embarrassed as he wasn’t able to contribute to the conversation.

“My young friend, your insights into alchemy are truly impressive, causing me to admire you deeply.” Gong Sun Mo sincerely expressed his admiration, his face full of respect.

Fang Lin was about to respond modestly when he suddenly heard a voice outside.

“Master Wu, someone from the Crown Prince’s residence is here.”