On the way to the guest room, Lin Rong asked the young man leading the way:
"I've heard that your family has a comprehensive knowledge of various herbs, and your herbal compendium records an extensive variety of plants."
"I've been interested in herbs since I was young. Would it be possible for me to have a look at the compendium of herbs your family keeps?"
The young man, upon hearing Lin Rong's identity, thought for a moment before responding:
"Ordinary herbal compendia are no problem, but if it involves the rare, one-of-a-kind manuscripts we keep in the family's collection, that requires the permission of the family head."
"Given your status, the compendium you wish to see is likely one of our rare treasures."
"At the moment, the family head is in the alchemy room, and it's not appropriate for us to disturb him."
"Please wait until the family head finishes refining the antidote, and then you can personally speak with him about your request."
This was indeed the case. Legendary and immortal herbs were not listed in ordinary herb compendiums; they were instead recorded in the rare, one-of-a-kind books in the family's collection.
Lin Rong had specifically requested White Crane to write a letter of recommendation because he wanted to use White Crane's influence to gain permission to view the rare compendium containing records of immortal herbs.
Only by learning how to harvest and preserve those immortal herbs would the task become much easier.
If he couldn't obtain the information, he would simply have to dig up the immortal herbs, roots, and all.
After all, Lin Rong still remembered the methods for using those immortal herbs.
Meanwhile, in the alchemy room...
Yang Wudi was fuming after being doubted by a seven-year-old child about his alchemy skills.
To prove himself, he threw himself into refining the antidote to this poison, determined to use all his alchemy expertise to create the perfect solution.
For this, Yang Wudi used some of his rarest and most treasured herbs.
Snakeberry, Deadly Nightshade, Snakebed, Chilling Glories, Half-Leaf Lotus…
The flame beneath the cauldron blazed fiercely.
Yang Wudi carefully added the herbs one by one into the cauldron, controlling the process with his soul power and mental strength.
The raging flames illuminated his face, casting it in a red glow.
At this moment, as he entered his alchemy trance, the fierce and sharp look in his eyes was replaced with pure obsession and passion for refining.
In this state, the process of creating the antidote proceeded smoothly and steadily.
The golden crow sank in the west, while the jade rabbit rose in the east.
Stars hid in the sky, and the eastern horizon began to lighten.
The next day.
Lin Rong and the old butler were invited to the guest hall early in the morning, where they were informed that the antidote had already been completed.
As soon as they entered the hall, they saw Yang Wudi, who appeared disheveled. His appearance indicated that he had been up all night working on the antidote.
"Here! This is the antidote you wanted."
Yang Wudi pointed at three porcelain bottles on the table as he introduced them:
"Once you take the antidote, its effect will last for one hour."
"During this time, the poison won't affect anyone who takes it."
"I've made three bottles—each contains ten pills. That's thirty pills in total."
"The price is a flat thirty thousand Soul Coins!"
Thirty thousand Soul Coins?
Thirty pills in total, so one pill is one thousand Soul Coins. It was quite expensive, but it was worth the price.
Lin Rong thought for a moment and then took out three gold Soul Coin cards, placing them on the table. Each card was worth ten thousand Soul Coins.
"Of course, payment upon delivery. Although I'm young, I understand how these things work."
Then, Lin Rong took one pill from a porcelain bottle and swallowed it. He then took a deep breath, placing a bottle of the toxic gas under his nose.
As the toxic gas entered his body, he remained unharmed, confirming that the antidote was effective.
Lin Rong's innate domain allowed him to convert the toxic gas into pure life energy.
The reason he had come to Yang Wudi to make the antidote was that his soul power was currently too low, and converting the poison would take time.
The vast area of toxic gas outside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eyes could not be crossed with his current soul power.
But with just a small amount of poison from the outer edge, he could convert it in a few seconds, so there was no need to worry about whether the antidote would work.
As he tested the antidote's effect, Lin Rong had no psychological burden at all.
However, Yang Wudi didn't know this, so Lin Rong's actions made him feel both angry and impressed.
He was angry that Lin Rong didn't trust him and needed to test the antidote himself, but at the same time, he admired Lin Rong for daring to take the risk and personally test the antidote's effect.
After testing the antidote, Lin Rong carefully stored the three porcelain bottles containing the antidote. He then turned to Yang Wudi and said:
"Yang Clan Leader, to be honest, I came to the Broken One Clan for two things."
"The first is to have you refine the antidote for the toxic gas, and the second is to request to borrow your clan's treasured herbal compendium."
"The herbal compendium? The rare one?" Yang Wudi squinted his eyes at Lin Rong upon hearing this.
"What do you need it for? Are you looking for some rare herbs and need to confirm their properties?"
"Or perhaps, the area surrounded by that toxic gas contains many valuable herbs?"
Yang Wudi didn't immediately think about immortal herbs.
For centuries, those immortal herbs had only existed in the Broken One Clan's compendium, and no one had ever encountered them.
"Yang Clan Leader, you guessed correctly," Lin Rong replied, using the excuse he had prepared earlier:
"The place was discovered by one of my family's soul king-level guards."
"He accidentally ventured into the toxic gas area and found several herbs growing there. Some of them, he couldn't identify."
"Due to his martial soul, this guard has a high resistance to toxins, which is why he was able to escape the poisonous area."
"Although the toxins have been suppressed, there are no skilled doctors in Tiandou City who can fully neutralize the poison."
"Thus, my purpose for coming here is twofold: to save my guard, and to be able to enter that toxic gas area and harvest herbs."
"However, most of the rare herbs require special harvesting and preservation methods, so I thought to ask to borrow your clan's herbal compendium."
"I wonder if Clan Leader Yang would be willing to let me view it?"
"Well..." Yang Wudi hesitated.
Logically, he should refuse outright, but this person had been recommended by White Crane, and it wasn't right to go against the wishes of his good friend.
He found himself in a dilemma.
After much hesitation, Yang Wudi finally relented and said:
"Seeing as this request comes from old White Crane, I'll make an exception this time."
"However, you can only view it here, and you'll have only half an hour."
Lin Rong's face lit up with joy upon hearing this, and he responded:
"Thank you, Clan Leader Yang. I understand!"
He took the ancient book from Yang Wudi's soul tool with both hands and began flipping through it.
If not for the fear of Yang Wudi noticing something, Lin Rong would have directly flipped to the pages that recorded the immortal herbs.
But since Yang Wudi was right there, Lin Rong could only patiently turn through the pages, reading each one.
In a rush, he managed to finish flipping through the entire compendium within half an hour and successfully memorized the details of the immortal herbs.