“Appraiser Lin!” Shi Wenjun looked somewhat haggard. But that was normal. As a woman, it must be difficult for her to shoulder an entire family on her own. Now that she had divorced her husband, this matter would no doubt be known and give rise to gossips, giving her great pressure.
However, Shi Wenjun would probably be fine with her strong perseverance.
“Lord Shi, why have you come personally?” Lin Jin got up and saluted her.
Following Shi Wenjun was a white deer. Although it wasn’t the largest beast around, the creature exuded great charm. It must be Shi Wenjun’s pet beast.
Whenever Lin Jin saw pet beasts, he’d have the urge to record them in the Museum of Deadly Beasts. Hence, he reached out and beckoned the deer over. “What a beautiful white deer. Come, let me touch… No, let me take a look at you!”
Seeing Lin Jin wave at it, the white deer surprisingly went over and affectionately nudged its antlers against Lin Jin’s palm in a docile manner.
A glint flashed in Shi Wenjun’s eyes when she saw this. She refrained from asking but smiled instead. “I just happened to be visiting this branch and I heard that Appraiser Lin is here so I came over.”
After a pause, Shi Wenjun took out two items and placed them on the table.
“This is the darkflower and level one prime beast soul that you asked for. As Appraiser Lin didn’t designate the beast soul’s attribute, I took the liberty to decide and bring over a dark attribute beast soul. Will this do?” Shi Wenjun said with a smile.
Lin Jin was surprised.
This Shi family was truly something else.
They actually gathered the materials he needed in such a short time. Moreover, due to his negligence, Lin Jin indeed forgot to mention the attribute of the beast soul he needed. This dark attribute beast soul Shi Wenjun had brought over just happened to be what he wanted.
After deeper consideration, Lin Jin came to understand.
The Shi family’s point of strength wasn’t their medicine hall business but pelletization. This was common knowledge. And since they were knowledgeable on the topic, it wasn’t strange for Shi Wenjun to know the relevant pharmacology.
Lin Jin patted the white deer on its head before the creature trotted back obediently to Shi Wenjun’s side.
The deer was indeed a rare breed. It was also amazing. Despite being a Rank 2, it had incredible capabilities and also an innate ability to seek out herbs. An owner of a medicine hall and this deer was a perfect match.
Then, Shi Wenjun added, “My pet beast, Bai’er is a sibling of Duo’er. But since we can only form blood pacts with one beast, I chose Bai’er. I thought of getting Duo’er a good owner but who knew, the person I picked almost got him killed instead. We’re fortunate that Appraiser Lin’s benevolence rescued him in the end. If I may, I’d like to let Bai’er meet Duo’er.”
Could Lin Jin say no?
Of course he wouldn’t say that.
Neither of them mentioned Wu Chenwei. One was reluctant to talk about him while the other felt contempt at the mention of him. Hence, they quickly moved on to another topic.
“Do you know happen to know pelletization as well, Appraiser Lin?” Shi Wenjun asked.
While she looked nonchalant, Shi Wenjun was quite interested to know. Lin Jin smiled. “Only a little.”
And it was a little. Lin Jin genuinely didn’t know much about pelletization. He only performed it according to the detailed instructions given by the Museum of Deadly Beasts.
For example, when creating the six sun beast soul pill, Lin Jin only had to follow the instructions step by step and that was it.
As for the pharmacology and complex pelletization techniques, he need not learn any of them.
Just like exams, some people study a thousand books just to answer one question, but Lin Jin didn’t have to read them all because he already had the answer to that one question.
Both produce results so those who had no idea might just assume that Lin Jin was ‘knowledgeable’ and ‘skillful’.
Shi Wenjun continued, “Appraiser Lin is truly knowledgeable. I’ve been learning pelletization all my life but I’m only average at it. My standard might not even be twenty percent of my father’s.”
Rumors had it that Shi Wenjun’s father was an amazing alchemist, and Lin Jin was impressed.
After some thought, Lin Jin said humbly, “It’s a pity that your father passed so soon. Otherwise, being able to seek his guidance would be a most fortunate thing.”
Shi Wenjun smiled. “But our Shi family still has a few experienced alchemists to support us. If there’s anything you’d like help with, Appraiser Lin, just make a request. If it’s within our capabilities, the Shi family will lend a hand.”
Help?
Lin Jin needed it.
Because even now, he still didn’t have a pellet furnace.
When he last performed pelletization, Lu Xiaoyun had secretly stolen Lu Yunhe’s cloud crane furnace to lend it to Lin Jin. Now that he had the required materials gathered and could create the pill, he didn’t have a pellet furnace.
If Shi Wenjun hadn’t mentioned it, Lin Jin would have to figure out how to get one. But now that she had, he would try asking for her help.
“Uhm, Lord Shi, may I borrow your pellet furnace?” Lin Jin asked sheepishly.
Shi Wenjun was dumbstruck.
‘You know pelletization but you don’t have a furnace?
‘What kind of joke was that?
‘Even the Shi family children had to have their own pellet furnace when they started learning, because without one, how would they learn?’
These questions would never come out of the educated, sensible, and gentle Shi Wenjun’s mouth. Despite her curiosity, she chuckled and said, “The Shi family has an abundance of two items. One is herbs and the other is pellet furnaces. Forget lending you one, we can even give you one, Appraiser Lin.”
How generous!
Lin Jin was delighted.
As expected from the lord of a prominent family. Shi Wenjun was very straightforward.
He superficially rejected the offer while Shi Wenjun insisted. Finally, Lin Jin accepted her generosity.
“Appraiser Lin, there’s a furnace hall in our Shi Manor with various pellet furnaces. In fact, we have over a hundred of these furnaces. You can just head inside and pick one.” Shi Wenjun was clearly trying to get on good terms with Lin Jin.
After all, Lin Jin was a Rank 2 beast appraiser.
On the way to Shi Manor, Lin Jin asked, “Uhm, do you have furnace fire?”
At Shi Manor.
Lin Jin was actually visiting this place twice on the same day. However, unlike before when he was here for trouble, this time, he was here to take something from them.
Even Lin Jin realized how ‘shameless’ he was acting.
“Of course we do. Our Shi family has burners in three locations within Maple City. They all contain the five elements, suitable for pelletizing pills of various attributes. In addition, we also have furnace fire amulets but this requires skill and experience to invoke. Even some of the veteran alchemists couldn’t use the amulet to lead fire into furnaces for the pelletization process,” Shi Wenhun explained as she led the way.
Lin Jin nodded. The museum had a relevant record of this as well, though obviously in the form of pelletization instructions.
For example, there were many ways to pelletize a pill. These methods were divided into the usage of internal fire or external fire and each method had its own set of instructions.
For Lin Jin, nothing was difficult if a step-by-step guide was given.
Both of them arrived at the Shi Manor’s furnace hall.
This place was locked by a metal gate and Shi Wenjun had to personally unlock it to gain access. This was obviously an important place for the family with Shi Wenjun being the only person who held the key.
In addition, Lin Jin could sense the aura of beasts in the vicinity. They were probably reared by the Shi family to guard this place.
The hall was filled with various types of furnaces. Some were placed on racks while others were placed on the ground. There were even those with unique traits that couldn’t come in contact with the floor. Hence, they were being held up by special ropes to dangle from the beams above.
The Shi family indeed had a profound background. No average family could possibly build such a great furnace hall.
“Many of the furnaces here were once used by our Shi family’s ancestors. Some even contain spiritual power after continuous usage,” Shi Wenjun supplemented.