Trash Techniques Are Actually Pretty Efficient - Volume 1 Chapter 49
Lan Xiang sat on the rug, wearing his cloak comfortably.
That was a lie.
It was unbearably f*cking hot under the cloak.
Lan Xiang could only endure thanks to numerous pieces of ice he conjured around his body.
Lu Xifa beside him, on the other hand… not doing so well. Despite wearing less clothing than Lan Xiang, her entire body was full of sweat. In fact, her blouse was now soaked and was seethrough, attracting the sideways glances of some people. They wouldn’t stare for too long once they realize it was a high school uniform.
“Xiang…”
“Shht! I’m Xiang Lan, call me Lan.”
“…Lan. I’ll be leaving. Just call me when you want to go back.” Lu Xifa couldn’t take much more of the heat.
“But you’re my eye candy! Who’s gonna check out my stall when you leave?”
“How about you utilize your newfound appearance then? You’re prettier than me anyway!”
Lan Xiang wasn’t happy with that compliment. In fact, it broke something inside him.
“Ah, okay, fine, you can leave! Thanks for helping me out here.”
“No problem, see you later.” Lu Xifa strolled off to some alleyway.
Lan Xiang was now alone, sitting in a thick mysterious black cloak. He stayed silent for a while, waiting for his first customer.
While it was crowded, not one passerby visited his stall. They would sneak a glance, click their tongue, and run away.
Some even sneered when they saw his stall’s shabby appearance. They would rather opt to visit the stalls beside him. At least, those had better decorations?
Lan Xiang suddenly felt lonely.
“Ah, I thought black was supposed to reduce the heat, to be cool and comfy! Why is it so hot!”
“Because it’s supposed to be blue that’s cool, not black.”
Lan Xiang raised his head. “Qingle? What are you doing here?”
Right in front of him was Ye Qingle, wearing a denim jacket and a casual t-shirt, paired with a skirt made for a surprisingly cute combination. She licked her lollipop.
“Xifa told me you were doing something illegal so I came to check it out. What’s this, The Mysterious Xiang Lan? And why’s your voice so high pitch?”
Lan Xiang suddenly pulled the hood down on his cloak further to hide his face. “Erm, just a little sick.”
“Your voice wasn’t like this two hours ago at school. You suddenly got sick?”
“Uh, yeah, it happens.” Lan Xiang dared not look Ye Qingle in the eye. If I can see her, she can see me! That wouldn’t be good!
“Anyway, what are you supposed to be doing here?”
“I’m making pills for free, as long as the customer provides the ingredients and the recipe,” Lan Xiang proudly proclaimed.
“Oh yeah? Have you gotten any customers?”
“…no.” Lan Xiang was ashamed.
“Yeah, I guessed so.” Ye Qingle expected this outcome. “The offer you’re giving is too good to be true.”
“Too good to be true?”
“Yep. Who’d think that someone offering to refine pills essentially for free would be legitimate? If I was a passerby, I’d think you’re a scammer that’ll run away with the ingredients and the recipe.”
“Hm, you’re right.” Lan Xiang contemplated the matter seriously.
Ye Qingle fanned herself with her hand. “It’s really hot here. How the heck are you enduring it under your cloak?”
She grabbed the cloak to get a feel of its thickness.
Lan Xiang slapped her hand, agitated. “Don’t touch my cloak!”
“Huh? Why?” Ye Qingle massaged her hand. Why is he making such a big deal about this?
“Er, because this is premium, high quality!”
In reality, Lan Xiang did not want her to touch the cloak because there was a possibility of her pulling it off, revealing his current appearance to her. He would hate for that to happen.
“Premium? Xifa said you bought a cloak in one of the stalls here!” Ye Qingle got more and more suspicious.
She recalled the slap on her hand. Lan Xiang’s palm was smoother and smaller than she expected.
“Are you… hiding something under the cloak?” Ye Qingle squinted her eyes.
“Uh, no, I’m not!” Lan Xiang hurriedly pulled his hood down.
Ye Qingle smirked. She was about to snap her fingers…
“Ptui! What’s this stall?”
A punk with spiked blonde hair and a leather jacket walked in front of Lan Xiang’s stall, interrupting Ye Qingle. With a ‘tsk’, she walked back to Lan Xiang’s side and sat there.
The punk had two of his friends behind him, both of them looking more jacked and badass than him and holding a briefcase each. He took off the label taped on the furnace and read it.
“Free pill refining! Hahaha! This is the most hilarious thing I’ve see in my life!”
When the punk laughed, so did the two guys behind him. “What kind of obvious scam is this?? Why don’t you give me a pill right now?”
Lan Xiang breathed slowly. “Sir, if you aren’t going be providing me with the recipe and the ingredients, I won’t be able to refine any pill.”
“Hah? What kind of bullsh*t is that? There’s no free sample?”
Ye Qingle rolled her eyes. The pill refining is literally free, and you’re asking for a sample?
At the same time, she got curious. Will Xiang really be able to refine pills? Weiwei told me that he’s always demotivated because of his severe lack of talent.
The punk touched the pill furnace all over, feeling its grooves. “And what kind of pill furnace is this? It looks old and ancient! Don’t you know there’s hi-tech furnaces that turn on and off automatically?”
Ye Qingle couldn’t hold herself back anymore. She stood up and groaned. “Are you stupid? Those are rice cookers you’re talking about, they can’t refine pills!”
The punk shrunk back, his two friends stepping in front of him. They cracked their knuckles to threaten Ye Qingle.
She simply raised her eyebrow and ignored both of them. “Xiang, let me be your first customer, instead of this douche.”
“Ha? Who’re you calling a douche?”
Ye Qingle glared at the punk, who ran back behind his two friends. Well, now they seemed less like friends, and more like personal bodyguards.
“Here, a pill recipe, and some ingredients.” Ye Qingle took out some herbs and other rare items from her storage ring, as well as a piece of paper.
Lan Xiang took the paper from her and read it.
Elementary Pill Recipe
White level technique
Requirement: Level 1 (Elemental Awareness Realm)
Pill effect: None
Founder: Niu Bi (888 years ago)
Advance: 10 t-pts.
Sell value: 20 t-pts.
Lan Xiang looked at the number of years ago. “What a f*cking awesome number.”
But he frowned when he saw that it was a white level technique. Of course, he had no idea what the Elementary Pill actually did, but he couldn’t get rid of it now. Even if he sold it, it still took up a space in his inventory. It was more like he was pawning it instead of selling.
“I already have too many white level techniques that I can upgrade. What I need now isn’t more of the same, but techniques that have a higher grade to get more tech points, especially purples and golds. There’s basically no chance of red, anyway.”
“Um, Qingle, what does this pill do?” Lan Xiang scratched his head.
Ye Qingle froze. “You don’t know?”
The Elementary Pill was the first pill taught in a pill refining class. In fact, it was probably every single pill refiner’s very first pill. In a way, it was both the easiest and hardest pill to refine.
It didn’t have a function, it only served to tell the pill refiner their talent. Once refined, the Elementary Pill would exhibit a different color depending on the overall talent of the one that refined it.
A dirty black color would be considered a disaster, while a pure white color would be the most desirable result. There was also the legend regarding a transparent Elementary Pill, similar to that of a water drop. Of course, no one had seen it for centuries.
Ye Qingle had given Lan Xiang the ingredients to the Elementary Pill so that he could show off his talent to this skeptic. The pill recipe was only a formality, every single pill refiner knew about it after all.
And yet, he didn’t even recognize what the Elementary Pill was?
Ye Qingle started to have doubts too. Maybe he really was planning to scam some people…
Beside her, the punk laughed hard. “Ha, hahaha! A pill refiner, offering to make pills, doesn’t even know the most basic pill! Hahaha, my stomach hurts, haha, ahem, ahem… My stomach hurts…”
He fell to the ground in suffocation.
Lan Xiang pursed his lips. This is the most simple pill recipe? My ignorance truly bit me in the back this time.
“I, I was just joking, of course I know about the Elemental Pill-”
“Elementary.”
“-Elementary Pill. I’ll start now.” Lan Xiang took the ingredients in a hurry and read the recipe at record speeds.
He peeked to check on Ye Qingle and the punk, then he widened his eyes. The spectators consisted of not only them, but of a whole new host of passersby that got interested when they heard the punk’s guffaw. Even the other shop vendors’ interest came back.
If his reputation was sullied here, he wouldn’t be able to steal—ahem, receive the recipes of other potential customers!
He also took another glance at the system.
“Ai, look at that pill effect stat. It says ‘none’, did Qingle give me a dud recipe? I’ll just upgrade it quickly…”
Elementary Pill Recipe
Purple level technique
Pill effect: Very high
Founder: Lan Xiang (8.88 seconds ago)
Advance: 500 t-pts.
Sell value: 200 t-pts.
“Much better. I’ll follow this recipe instead.” Lan Xiang had a glint in his eyes. He had to prove himself.