Wen Xue was a receptionist at the front desk of the Apothecary Guild. Her greatest wish was to become an apothecary. However, it was a pity that she was lacking in talent and even after numerous tries, she still had yet to pass the examination to become an apprentice.
Helpless, she could only work at the front desk while trying her best to study.
Working as a receptionist at the front desk of the Apothecary Guild might seem like nothing, but the income was truly not bad. She would get a commission on every pill sold and while the commission isn’t a large sum, the more pills were sold, the more she would earn. Thus, her salary in a single year tend to be six or seven times of those working in the same job.
However, despite the generous pay, she didn’t want to stay in this job for a single day longer. It wasn’t because of the difficulty of the job but rather… her outer appearance.
She was in her early twenties, the pinnacle of her youth and beauty. Furthermore, her parents had gifted her with a spectacular face. While it might not be top-notch, it could be considered as one in a hundred.
Being beautiful should have been a blessing. As long as one was a woman, one would be proud of it. However, it would be a totally different matter if the woman were to work here. Often having to stand in the frontlines in receiving customers, countless young masters of distinguished families would intentionally run over here to chat her up, coming up with all kinds of ridiculous demands.
There were even a few who were incredibly persistent, visiting her every single day and using every single trick in the book, leaving her incredibly annoyed.
However, as a salesperson, she wasn’t allowed to chase them away. If she were to do so and her pursuers claimed that they were only here to purchase pills, she would be in for a lot of trouble!
“Let’s hope that I will not meet those shameless flies today!”
Muttering under her breath, she tidied up her uniform and stood at the reception with a smile. Soon afterward, a young man walked over.
This young man didn’t seem too old, probably below twenty. His complexion was well-maintained, smooth and radiant even when compared to hers.
“Mister, is there anything that you need?”
Wen Xue flashed a business-like smile at him.
“Do you all… sell books here? Those kind about the effects of pills that awaken unique constitutions!” the young man said.
The young man was Zhang Xuan.
As his previous self had never been here, he didn’t know how the Apothecary Guild worked, so he could only inquire at the front reception.
“Please head to the bookstore if you wish to purchase books, this is the Apothecary Guild!”
Upon hearing the other party’s words, the smile Wen Xue was hanging on her face collapsed and her complexion turned awful.
[Even if you want to hit on me, you should be more professional about it!
Asking about books at the Apothecary Guild… Why don’t you buy shoes at a restaurant?]
“No, that’s not it. I am here to look for books on the effects of pills, such books surely cannot be found in the bookstore!” Not noticing the sudden changes that have occurred with the attitude of the female receptionist, Zhang Xuan contemplated for a moment before asking again.
[Since you want to put on a show, I will quietly watch your monologue!]
With her arms akimbo, Wen Xue’s eyes emanated cold intent.
Seeing the other party remaining silent to his words, Zhang Xuan thought that she did not understand his words. Thus, he continued explaining, “Actually, I want to look for pills that can awaken unique constitutions. However, I am unsure of the herbs that are compatible with them so I would like to browse through some books. Do you have any of them here? I am willing to buy them off you, or else… just borrowing them to take a look is fine as well!”
“I have already said, there isn’t any!”
[Now that I’m ignoring you, you become even more aggressive?
Buying books and borrowing books… Do you think that you can fool a girl with such old lines?]
Wen Xue has already decided that this fellow is here to cause trouble to attract her attention.
Otherwise, who would run to the Apothecary Guild to buy books? Wasn’t he looking for a beating like this?
At this moment, Zhang Xuan noticed the snappish attitude of the other party. He couldn’t help but be bewildered by her queer actions.
He didn’t offend her, so why would she behave like this?
“It might be menopause!” Shaking his head, he didn’t allow the issue to linger in his mind. As a civilized and wise transcender, he couldn’t be bothered to squabble with a woman over such a minor affair.
If Wen Xue were to know of his thoughts, she would surely be driven mad.
[I am just 20, okay! You are the one who is having menopause…]
“How about this, the Apothecary Guild should have a book collection vault right? Can you bring me over to take a look?”
Know that it was impossible to explain his way through the matter, Zhang Xuan mused for a moment and arrived at a solution.
Regardless of whether it was the Teacher Guild or Apothecary Guild, they were established for the convenience for of the respective occupations. Thus, it was natural for them to have a book collection vault in the buildings so that those treading on the path of these unique occupations and continue to study and improve.
Even if the other party was unwilling to sell these books to him, as long as he was able to take a look around the book collection vault, he should be able to achieve his goals.
“Book collection vault? You still wish to enter the book collection vault?”
Seeing how the request of the fellow before her was getting more and more ludicrous, Wen Xue spoke in a sharp tone, “If you aren’t here to buy pills, please leave!”
“Why, you are banning people from entering the book collection vault? How much money does it take to enter it? It is not like I am unwilling to pay for the entry!” Zhang Xuan was displeased.
Was there something wrong with this woman?
He was just here to inquire about some matter, and yet the other party reacted as though she had eaten gunpowder or something.
Upon hearing the other party acting haughtily the way young masters of distinguished families do, viewing money as though dirt, Wen Xue was even more repulsed. “So what if you have money! Do you think that money makes the world go round? Let me tell you the truth, the Apothecary Guild does have a book collection vault and it is split into basic and advanced tiers. Even the basic tier book collection vault requires one to be an apprentice apothecary before he is able to enter. Are you an apothecary? Or are you an apprentice apothecary?”
“Apprentice apothecary?”
Zhang Xuan was stunned for a moment before coming to a realization.
He didn’t know much about the Apothecary Guild, but at the very least, he knew about the situation in the academy. The students have a Compendium Pavilion of their own and the teachers another one of their own, and the latter required a teaching license to enter.
Otherwise, if everyone was allowed to browse through as they please, then those secret manuals could no longer be referred to as such.
Furthermore, browsing through them was one thing, but if a student were to fancy a cultivation technique written in one of the books and cultivate it on a whim, who could they push the responsibility to if his cultivation were to go berserk?
The Apothecary Guild should be the same as well. The rationale behind splitting the book collection vault into the basic and advanced tier and limiting the access to it to only those who have reached a certain standard was to prevent people from getting greedy and only pick out bits and pieces of it to form incomplete knowledge, which could prove to be dangerous. At the same time, they could also prevent the secret manuals from leaking out.
“Apprentice apothecary… I am not it, but can anyone take the examinations?”
He was just an ordinary teacher who had never learned pill forging before. As such, it was impossible for him to be an apprentice apothecary. However, these were all just titles which one could take a test for, and to become a master teacher, he needed to accumulate even more knowledge.
“Examination? You wish to take the test to become an apprentice apothecary?” At this moment, Wen Xue, who was absolutely certain that the other fellow is here to hit on her, seethed in anger. Seeing how the other party was continuing on with his facade and even declaring his intention to take the examination to become an apprentice apothecary, she could no longer suppress her rage any further. “Fine! The test is over there, I will take you over right now!”
[Aren’t you good at acting?
I will bring you over right now, let’s see whether you can continue acting like this!]
Even though it was just an examination for an apprentice apothecary, it was similar to an assistant master teacher selection in the sense that it required one go through numerous trials, assessed on all kinds of basic knowledge an apothecary had to know. She had already taken the test for numerous years now, only to fail dismally. [Yet, you, a playboy who has never gone for any lessons for the apprentice examinations or read any books on medicinal herbs or pill forging, hope to take the test as well?
What kind of joke is this?
Hmph, if I don’t expose your fraud and humiliate you in public, you might just take me as an easy target!]
Wen Xue’s lips pouted as she harrumphed coldly.
“The test is over there?”
“Why? Chickening out?”
Wen Xue sneered coldly.
“Great!” Seeing the other party behave as though she had eaten gunpowder, Zhang Xuan shook his head. Just as he was about to follow behind her, he suddenly looked over with an awkward expression. “Examination… What contents are tested in the apprentice apothecary examination? Do I have to read any books?”
