Of course, it's an exaggeration to say that one simply eats the Qi-Collecting Pills like beans, but given the Elder's skill, as long as the materials are sufficient, producing several dozen such pills for Xiao Yan wouldn't be particularly difficult. However, as soon as he heard the Elder's enthusiastic outpouring, Xiao Yan hadn't even had time to feel elated before being gradually worn down by the one after another material requirements that came out of the Elder's mouth. "Go prepare four five-decade-old Black-Leaf Lotus plants, two mature Snake-Saliva Fruits, one Qi-Enriching Herb of about twenty years' age, and one Water-type二级Magical Core," the Elder said calmly, then turned his head to see Xiao Yan's rigid expression, and was momentarily taken aback, asking, "What's wrong?" "Five-decade-old Black-Leaf Lotus? I believe such a material costs around three thousand coins per plant? And mature Snake-Saliva Fruits?" This is already a top-tier herb among the basic ones—some herbal shops can't even find it to buy, and even if they're lucky enough to encounter it, they'd have to spend at least eight thousand gold coins. Twenty-year-old Juying herbs? Heaven's sake, I only saw them once at an auction last time, and the bid was exactly fifteen thousand gold coins. As for second-tier water-element magical cores, they also require over two thousand gold coins each." Xiao Yan pressed his palm against his forehead, groaning in pain: "Just the cost of these materials alone adds up to over fifty thousand gold coins. How am I supposed to afford that?" "Hmph..." The elderly pharmacist rolled his eyes, palms open, teasingly said: "Those are all your concerns—nothing to do with me. My role is simply to prepare the medicines." "For heaven's sake," Xiao Yan exclaimed, "the costs are simply too high. If we treat this like common beans, even with the Xiao family's financial strength, they'd simply be unable to sustain it." "With a sigh of relief, Xiao Yan pulled out a green card from under the pillow, gently touching it with a sense of worry, and sighed, 'The money from last time's sale of the Foundation Elixir has dwindled down to just ten thousand points—definitely not enough to buy the herbs you mentioned.' The Herbal Elder chuckled lightly, sitting calmly on his chair, as if the matter were entirely unrelated. Rubbing his forehead, Xiao Yan groaned, 'Let's use these points to buy the materials for the Foundation Elixir first, then produce a little more and auction them off at the gathering—otherwise, we'll be short on funds.' The Herbal Elder nodded indifferently; for him, producing a basic elixir like the Foundation Elixir was far from difficult. Seeing the old doctor nodding in agreement, Xiao Yan finally exhaled in relief and once again sank heavily onto the bed, smiling wistfully as he murmured, "Money truly is a source of worry..." The herb master spent nearly an hour to complete the preparation, and upon seeing the seven perfectly arranged white jade bottles neatly placed on the table, Xiao Yan broke into a smile, carefully wrapping each one in cloth and placing them gently into his chest. He patted the liquid in his chest, donned the dark, large cloak, ensuring his body was fully covered, and then stepped out of the inn with a cheerful chuckle. Receiving the white jade bottle, Gu Ni examined it carefully and was slightly surprised, saying, "Indeed, all of them are foundational spirit liquids." Hearing Gu Ni's confirmation, Ya Fei slightly raised her elegant brows, her captivating gaze sweeping over the black-robed man, a charmingly alluring smile playing on her face, radiating irresistible grace. "I didn't expect that in just half a year, Master would bring us such a significant deal at our auction." "When can we hold the auction?" a slightly weathered voice from beneath the black robe asked. "Are you in a hurry to raise funds?" Ya Fei inquired gently, testing the waters. "If not too urgent, Ya Fei suggests we wait a day or two. It's quite rare to find seven foundational spirit liquids appearing together on the market. If we publicize this at our auction, your profit will surely be greater..." On hearing this, the man beneath the black robe remained silent for a moment before finally offering a soft, gentle "Hmm." Seeing him agree, the graceful smile on Yafi’s face deepened further. With a delicate hand, she took the teacup from beside her and personally presented it to him. Now, she was almost certain that the man in the black robe was indeed a Pharmaceutical Master of second or even third rank! "Hehe, Lady Yafu will keep an eye on these several herbs and will promptly notify the elder as soon as there's any update. I wonder, where does the elder reside and how would he like to be contacted?" Lady Yafu glanced at Guini, whose expression had subtly changed, and with a subtle, composed smile, asked the question. "No need to contact me. As soon as these materials are available, they will be deducted directly from the Ji Ji Ling Ye. I will come by whenever needed." The voice, calm and gentle, came from beneath the black robe. "I have other matters to attend to, so I won't stay long. I'll be back in two days." With that, the man in the black robe rose and stepped out of the room. Watching the figure fade into the corner, Lady Yafu narrowed her long, elegant eyes slightly and murmured, "Did anything seem off with those herbs just now, Guini uncle?" Guini nodded slightly, exhaled softly, and chuckled, "If I'm not mistaken, these should be the ingredients for the Jiu Qi San." "Heard this, Lady Ya's face also changed, and she exclaimed, 'Isn't the Qi-Collecting Powder at least prepared by a Fourth-Rank Alchemist?' Nodding, Gu Ni sighed, 'It seems we truly missed something this time. However, the Imperial Court of Jia only has about twenty Fourth-Rank Alchemists. How come we've never heard of this man before?' Lady Ya gently shook her head, her eyes gleaming with interest, softly murmuring, 'Fourth-Rank Alchemist... I must surely bring him on board someday!' "