Wait a minute, where is my master?

"How about I have someone bring over a few prisoners from the death row?"

Seeing the Taoist's worried expression, Xia Yunzhao sat by the table and tenderly suggested.

"Yunzhao, the seven Strengthening Pills have different colors, which likely means they have varying effects. Even if you let a death row inmate take one of them, it's highly probable that we still won't be able to determine the effects of the remaining six pills."

Before Jin Xu could say anything, the authority in alchemy, Yu Yaoer, spoke up to veto the idea.

"Then find seven death row inmates and have them take all the pills; then the effects will be clear."

The Empress of Great Xia spoke up again.

"Well, that would make the effects clear, but then the pills would be gone."

"Then, when the time comes, we could have Mr. Jin refine more..."

Halfway through her sentence, Xia Yunzhao suddenly realized something and stopped speaking.

She stealthily glanced at the small Taoist next to her and put on a face that said, "I didn't say anything, and you didn't hear a thing."

"Ahem, Miss Yunzhao, the method you mentioned is indeed inappropriate. Let's think of another solution."

Jin Xu tactically coughed and intervened to smooth things over.

He had almost bought up all the alchemy furnaces in Great Xia and had nearly caused a disaster in the capital for the sake of one batch of Strengthening Pills.

If there wasn't a special circumstance, Jin Xu felt he probably wouldn't touch alchemy again in his life.

"If we really can't figure out the properties of these pills, these seven Strengthening Pills will just be a monument to my journey in the Alchemy Dao."

The small Taoist thought this to himself.

Yu Yaoer, sitting next to him, clearly had something on her mind and was about to speak.

But she was interrupted by Little White, who was playing with her new weapon.

"Temple master, Little Yu, smell, it's Little Hong's scent!"

Everyone: "?????"

...

Just then.

Husky was pondering.

"The temple master doesn't let me call them Frost Sorrow and Fire Joy, so what if I call them Frost Joy and Fire Sorrow?" while suddenly, a faint aroma wafted into her sensitive nose.

"The scent of wheat flour, it should have pork filling, and it's drizzled with some kind of spice-infused oil. The smell has a slight warmth to it; it must have just left the pot, or perhaps it's still in there.

This aroma is accompanied by the smell of the bun seller at the door. She must have brought over some buns. Judging by the intensity of the scent, there should be five steamer baskets of buns.

Hey, that's strange...

Mixed in with it is a peculiar fragrance, very familiar to me.

!!!!"

These thoughts flashed through Little White's mind, and then she blurted out the phrase that puzzled everybody.

"Little White, what's with the surprise? What about Little Hong's scent?"

Jin Xu looked at the husky with glowing eyes and asked, puzzled.

"Temple master, did you buy some buns at the front gate?"

"Yes."

"Were there five steamer baskets of buns?"

"That's right."

"Then there's the scent of Age Chicken in the buns. Temple master, did you finally give in and use Little Hong as the bun filling!"

Before the small Taoist could reply, the husky spoke out, looking distraught.

"Temple master, you're confused, how could Little Hong's meat be used for buns? It should have been stewed... slurp~

No, we should've let it lead us home instead."

Speaking, Little White couldn't help but swallow the saliva that formed in her mouth.

"..."

"What are you talking about, Little Hong is living well within the twenty-four Mystic Treasure Pearls. Little White, did you steal some of Little Yu's leftovers again?"

Jin Xu felt some existential doubts, thanks to his demon pet's remark.

He used his Spiritual Sense to glance at the Age Chicken leisurely pecking at the Spiritual Liquid in the magic storage, and did reassure himself that he hadn't actually let anyone turn it into steamed bun filling.

"The buns outside have Little Hong's scent, could it be that you, temple master, ordered it to be wrapped up?"

Seeing Jin Xu's denial, Little White had an expression of both relief and faint disappointment on his face.

During this exchange,

The bun-selling lady had already been led in by the guards, carrying five tiers of buns.

"Uncle of the nation, Your Majesty, and all the officials, your buns have arrived. Where should I put these?"

Since the Taoist boy had specifically instructed her to deliver them to the hall,

And because buns right out of the steamer were the most delicious, the lady boss didn't let the guards carry them and instead insisted on delivering them personally.

"Just put them on the table,"

Jin Xu stood up, pointed to the tabletop, and casually picked up a plate that was a testament to his journey in the Alchemy Dao, making room for the buns.

At this moment, with the five tiers of buns laid out in front of him, the other two women in the room could also smell the faint aroma unique to the Age Chicken.

The scent seemed to have been diluted somewhat, but still made one's mouth water uncontrollably.

However, it did not have the same crazed allure to living creatures as the chicken itself.

So everyone present behaved rather well.

Well... aside from Shiqi, who was swallowing so frequently it nearly matched her breathing.

"Please take your time, and just let the guards know when you're done. I'll come back to take the steamers away,"

After placing the buns down, the lady bowed and planned to leave.

But Jin Xu called her to a halt.

"Wait a moment."

He had roughly guessed why the buns carried the scent of the Age Chicken, suspecting the High Grade Spirit Stone he'd given away might be the culprit.

But how exactly the bun-selling lady achieved this was what the Taoist boy, who was not savvy in culinary arts, was very curious about.

Surely she hadn't smashed the Spirit Stone and stuffed it into the buns.

"Sir Uncle of the nation, what is it?"

The boss was startled when called, and countless scenarios from idle readings flashed through her mind.

At thirty-something, she was known as the prettiest girl on the nearby streets in her youth.

"Could it be that Sir Uncle..."

"Boss, how did you get this unique fragrance on your buns? Does it have anything to do with the Spirit Stone I left with you earlier?"

"...So it's about the buns."

With her fantasies shattered, the bun-selling lady patiently explained.

The principle was actually quite simple. Once she smelled the exotic fragrance from the Spirit Stone, her innovative spirit led her to place it in the bottom layer of the steamer.

Spirit Stones are extremely pure, and even if they didn't improve the taste, they wouldn't be toxic. Plus, this Spirit Stone was given by the Uncle of Great Xia.

And with this experiment, the pork buns imbued with the scent of the Age Chicken were created.

While listening to her explanation, Jin Xu nodded slightly, lifted the lid of the steamer, took out a bun and stuffed it into his mouth.

He found that this bun, tainted with the Age Chicken's scent, was a bit like the instant noodles he ate in his previous life – fragrant to the nose but not as tasty to eat.

Overall though, the buns were indeed a lot more delicious than before.

Thus, he took another High Grade Spirit Stone from his magic storage and handed it over to the lady in front, telling her that they would cover the buns for the next three days.

Such a generous move made the bun-selling lady leave very happily.

After all, having made more money in one day than she could in twenty years, the lady was already contemplating whether to buy a small shop after these three days.

Meanwhile, Yu Yaoer, after hearing the lady's explanation, had an excited sparkle in her clear eyes.

Holding a half-eaten bun in her hand, she leaned close to Jin Xu's ear with her greasy little mouth and said,

"Mr. Jin, can you give me some of those Spirit Stones? And, I might have a way to help you identify the properties of the Strengthening Pills~"