Bai Mo was well-fed and satisfied at the dining hall inn, exchanging pleasantries with Chairman Chen Shu and others before parting ways.
Stepping out of the inn, he passed by the dining hall entrance and noticed Fang Xiaoyu and a group of female secretaries eagerly chatting in line, seemingly waiting for something.
Bai Mo greeted them and casually asked, "What are you guys up to?"
Positioned among the secretaries with a joyous expression, Fang Xiaoyu showed Bai Mo the thermos cup in her hand.
"We're lining up for the medicinal waste beauty soup!
"The Medical Department brews a lot of immortal elixirs every day, and the waste residue left has strong medicinal power.
"Every day Fangyue uses medicinal waste to brew a big pot of beauty soup.
"It has a rose fragrance, can be mixed with water for drinking, or applied externally to the face!"
Bai Mo curled his lips.
Wang Fangyue?
Using medicinal waste?
Brewing beauty soup?
Making full use of resources, huh? That's quite nice!
A group of female secretaries chattered around and recommended it to Bai Mo.
"Expert Bai Mo, you should take some home too!"
"Look at my face, isn't it as smooth as egg whites, hehehe."
"This soup is great; if you can't use it all, you can sell it on Xianyu. I sold mine for more than five hundred bucks last time."
"Even better than fairy water!"
"Absolutely amazing!"
Bai Mo waved his hand, "I don't need it."
The secretaries paused and took a good look at Bai Mo's face, ending up understanding. Expert Bai Mo was perfectly handsome, not needing external items for beauty.
The secretaries began gossiping again.
"Not just us, all the staff in the association love this soup!"
"Hehe, even Master Chong asked me to get him some soup."
"Master Chong? At his age, does he still need beauty care?"
"What are you saying, Master Chong is indeed old. But his wife..."
"His wife is young?"
"His wife is also old.
"But his girlfriend is young!"
The secretaries giggled.
Bai Mo chatted a bit and then turned away and left.
Suddenly a thought struck: why not further develop the medicinal waste from Fox Mountain?
No, wait...
When Fox Mountain conducts alchemy, the efficiency is high, all substances are transformed into the medicinal soup, leaving no waste.
So, there's no way around it.
…
At night, the Immortal Technique Committee was quiet.
Many members of the committee lay in deep sleep on their beds, but their dreams had taken them to the Immortal Realm.
Wang Fangyue was among them. Under the dim sky, amidst the palace ruins, this graduate student meticulously listened to her master's teachings.
"...The seventy-plus attributes of the Fire Downy Flower are roughly like this.
"The variations derived from them are also quite complex..."
Her Ancient Immortal Master was a thin old lady, wearing an enormous hat for some reason, completely covering her forehead and hairstyle. At this moment, she gestured around a broken stone slab, explaining the crafting of "Fire Moon Soup" to Wang Fangyue.
After a while, the old lady smiled bitterly, stopped, and sat down next to Wang Fangyue.
"Let's stop here, it's of no use. You can't understand it at all."
Wang Fangyue wiped her eye dust, rubbed her numb face, stayed silent, lowered her head, her eyes moist, filled with loneliness between her brows.
The old lady patted her shoulder.
"Don't be despondent.
"Fire Moon Soup itself is a vast subject, many people spend their lives researching and still fail to grasp it.
"Even in our time, ninety-nine percent of alchemists were blocked at this step, never making progress.
"This is not about effort, but talent."
Wang Fangyue took out a Fire Downy Flower, looked at its blooming flower, its snow-white downy stamens, the more she looked, the more she felt anxious.
She had finished all the Sequence Nine training, just waiting for the Fire Moon Soup as the final stepto enter Sequence Eight and become a [Soup Man]. But this Fire Moon Soup seemed like a towering cliff, rising before her, blocking her path, making it impossible to advance!
Is it true that she would never be destined to become a [Soup Man], always remaining as a Sequence Nine [Medicine Person]?
But how could that mysterious person from Fuqing Hotel advance to Soup Man?
And Professor Zhang Ye, he is obviously dull, how could he advance to Soup Man?
Is this fair?
The more Wang Fangyue thought about it, the more she felt uneasy, unknowingly exerting more and more force, gripping the flower stalk tightly!
Suddenly, she heard her master speak.
"No need to be so upset.
"There is... a shortcut in this matter.
"In our time, someone studied a special type of Fire Downy Flower, with red petals, red stamens as well.
"It's called, Blood Downy Flower.
"Unlike the ordinary Fire Downy Flower, its medicinal property is simpler.
"Using it to craft Fire Moon Soup, the difficulty sharply decreases, perhaps to less than a tenth of the original difficulty.
"Your birthday is coming soon, right? Master will plant a Blood Downy Flower to give you as a birthday gift."
Huh?
Wang Fangyue raised her head, looked at her master.
Heart itching with joy, yet feeling it's unbelievable.
Is there such a good thing?
But the Immortal Dao must balance, right? Would gains come with losses?
With shortcuts in crafting Fire Moon Soup, would there be another price to pay?
The old lady seemed to understand her doubts.
"Naturally, a price must be paid. But those costs are unrelated to you, master will resolve them."
The old lady and Wang Fangyue sat shoulder to shoulder, the master and pupil no longer spoke about Fire Moon Soup, but instead sat by the campfire, discussing the fun topics of the Immortal Technique Committee.
"Did you try the method I taught earlier, using medicinal waste to brew beauty soup?"
"I did, the secretaries at the Immortal Technique Committee said it was great!"
"Hahaha, I really envy you young girls, back in the day when I was also a young girl, I loved beauty too."
"Master, you're still not old! You look good!"
"Haha, you're good at cheering up your master! But this old lady even forgets how many years she's lived.
"I'll teach you another beauty formula, but it's quite different, after brewing you need to drink it while hot. Share it with your girlfriends."
"Sure, Master!"
The old lady used a branch as a pen to write and draw on the dusty floor, explaining the new beauty recipe to Wang Fangyue.
"...This Vermilion Powder is actually quite important, when adding it, you need to carefully watch the heat..."
Wang Fangyue suddenly interrupted.
"Master!
"What is Vermilion Powder?
"I've never heard of it, and I don't have this medicine."
The old lady furrowed her brows and giggled.
"Haha, this old master is muddle-headed, I forgot you haven't learned this medicine.
"I have a pack of Vermilion Powder here, would you like it?"
Wang Fangyue hugged her master's arm.
"I want it!"
Now in the West State Immortal Technique Committee, she was quite close to the leaders and secretaries and might remain in the West State branch. She doesn't need to follow Professor Zhang anymore, basically being her own boss. Building relationships with the women in the committee will make future work much easier!