Chapter 27

However, alchemists are scarce in the Eastern Continent of the Huaxia mainland, where you might not find a single apothecary among one hundred thousand martial practitioners. Generally speaking, it is already quite remarkable if a city with a population of around one million has a few alchemists. A small city like Lincang City would hardly ever see an alchemist if it weren't situated on the edge of the Tieshi Mountains, let alone Tieshi City, which is even smaller than Lincang City. Coupled with the current decline of the alchemy profession in the Eastern Continent of the Huaxia mainland, and the fact that alchemy is extremely time-consuming, pills are even scarcer. This has caused pill prices to remain artificially high. Most low-tier alchemists spend most of their time concocting medicinal powders—which simply means refining Spirit Medicines into liquid form and slightly removing the impurities from the spiritual liquid. Although their effectiveness cannot compare to actual pills, this is still the prevailing practice across the Eastern Continent. Consequently, low-tier alchemists are treated like treasures by various major families and influential factions, and even royalty cannot necessarily secure an unlimited supply of pills. For instance, Hua Tianli, the current Crown Prince of the Great Qin Empire, became a Martial Master at the age of fifteen. Before reaching that rank, he relied on a massive quantity of pills to advance his cultivation, yet he was only allotted te…