Chapter 31: The Potent Truth of the Melting Nitre Fruit

“You fundamentally misunderstand the medicinal properties of the Melting Nitre Fruit. This particular medicine is highly unusual; it withers twenty-four hours after being separated from its plant. Yet, the creation of Ramanda Potion demands that the Melting Nitre Fruit must retain its vitality.

This is because Ramanda Potion reverses the curse-generating process of the Tragic Clawed Beast, transforming the fruit’s medicinal properties into an opposing, vitality-cleansing effect. It is this very property that grants it the power to heal the wounds inflicted by the Tragic Clawed Beast. Yet, you remain ignorant!”

“The supposed ‘withering twenty-four hours after separation’ of the Melting Nitre Fruit is not due to being removed from the soil. Rather, it’s because it loses the potent Fire Element it requires for growth.

Only the borderland volcanoes, at least a two-day journey from here, possess the potent Fire Element essential for the Melting Nitre Fruit.”

A hush fell over the crowd, a shiver running through them. Ramanda Potion was indeed an obscure concoction, its rare uses meaning few had ever bothered to study it in depth.

The Tragic Clawed Beasts typically roamed the desolate volcanoes beyond their kingdom’s borders. As such, these pharmacists, cocooned within their ivory towers, possessed scant knowledge of such matters.

Now, as Lu Yuan elucidated, the truth finally dawned upon them.

Lu Yuan swept a hand through the air, his gaze blazing with indignation as he addressed the black-faced youth. “But what about you! Tell me, was the Melting Nitre Fruit you used transplanted from the borderland mountains less than twenty-four hours ago?!”

The black-faced youth reeled, his body swaying as if he had seen a ghost. His face instantly drained of all color. “You… you…”

“Though a Melting Nitre Fruit tree can indeed survive after being removed from the Fire Element and replanted in other soil, without the Fire Element’s sustenance, its medicinal properties will change dramatically. It will evolve much like the curse within a Tragic Clawed Beast.

While it won’t become the beast’s curse itself, it will lose its ability to treat curses and instead transform into a unique form of fire poison.”

“You used such a Melting Nitre Fruit to refine a Ramanda Potion! Was it meant to be a healing medicine, or a poison?!”

Lu Yuan’s words were powerful, resonant, each syllable a pearl of truth! Every phrase struck the black-faced youth’s chest like a heavy hammer blow.

He stumbled back a few steps, trembling violently, before collapsing to the ground.

Yet, Lu Yuan showed no mercy. He continued, “As a pharmacist, you understand nothing of even the most fundamental medicinal properties. You neither ponder, nor investigate, merely following the pharmacopoeia by rote. What good is skilled technique or swift production when you are nothing more than a machine for concocting medicine? You are unworthy of being called a pharmacist!”

Silence descended upon the entire hall.

‘Was this the prodigious Grand Pharmacist, scornfully dubbed the ‘Poison Pharmacist’?’ the onlookers mused. Indeed, his discerning eye and imposing demeanor were truly ‘poisonous.’

To possess such detailed knowledge of even an obscure medicine like Ramanda Potion, and to deduce so much merely from the concoction presented by another, was truly astonishing.

Ruolin’s lips parted slightly, unable to utter a single word.

Her initial intention had merely been to cause Lu Yuan a minor embarrassment. She never anticipated that what should have been a promising rookie pharmacist’s moment to shine would be entirely overshadowed by Lu Yuan, who had stolen all the thunder.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Applause suddenly echoed from the dais.

It was Risdo, seated at the examiner’s platform, who had initiated the applause. “Well said! Extremely well said!”

He slowly rose to his feet. “The pharmacists’ ability to refine medicines, compile pharmacopoeias, and create new remedies is entirely owed to the countless explorations of our predecessors—their understanding, analysis, and reconstitution of medicinal properties. Only through their efforts have we pharmacists achieved our current brilliance.”

“A mere machine for concocting medicine, one who parrots from books without even grasping the fundamental properties of ingredients, has no right to stand here. You are dismissed.”

These words were directed at the black-faced youth.

His face ashen, the youth scrambled to his feet, pleading frantically, “I was wrong! Master Risdo! I was wrong! Please, give me another chance!”

But Risdo was merciless. He bellowed, “Drag him out!”

Several burly guards, receiving their orders, hoisted the pharmacist’s slender body and dragged him away.

“Pharmacists, please continue,” Risdo announced, his demeanor returning to its usual cold indifference as he resumed his seat at the examiner’s platform.

At once, the pharmacist assessment, briefly interrupted by the incident, recommenced.

However, the movements of the assembled pharmacists became noticeably more cautious, each fearing they might commit another rudimentary error and be expelled.

Below the stage, Dutaine wore a disgruntled expression. While he genuinely hadn’t known the intricacies of Ramanda Potion, his annoyance stemmed from the fact that his attempt to embarrass Lu Yuan had not only failed but had also allowed Lu Yuan to spectacularly steal the limelight. It felt as though he had thrown a punch, missed his target, and instead cramped his own muscle.

Lu Yuan himself, however, seemed entirely unaffected. Once Risdo had spoken, he simply sat down quietly, his eyes fixed on the bridge of his nose, his focus turned inward. He began to meditate, regulating his breathing in silent contemplation.

He had already gauged the caliber of the individuals below; there was no need to observe further.