The daily life of a genius who enjoys gossip and cultivates immortality

Chapter 209 Badger Family

"It's getting late, they should be here soon!"

Cheng Jiu estimated the time; she had gotten up a little early today and had been waiting here. The other party should be arriving soon.

"Lord Cheng Jiu," Mei Jun said as she entered, "there is a demon outside who wishes to see you! May I ask if he is your guest?"

“They are my guests, let them in!” Cheng Jiu instructed Mei Junzhen.

"Yes! I'll bring them in right away!" Mei Jun didn't ask any more questions, turned around and walked towards the door, leading the two demons who were waiting outside in.

Besides the familiar Huanhe, standing next to him was a woman dressed in soft armor and official robes, looking heroic but somewhat fierce.

The other woman walked ahead with an air of elegance, while Badger He lagged behind. It was clear that of the two demons who came to pick her up, this woman held the dominant position.

"Master Cheng! This is my elder sister, Huan Zi, a clerk in the Demon Affairs Department. Elder sister, this is the Master Cheng I was talking about, a highly accomplished disciple of the Guiyuan Sect!"

Badger He took the initiative to introduce the two to each other, and unlike his unruly demeanor when they first met, the other party behaved quite obediently and docilely in front of this Badger Purple Sister.

"My name is Huan Zi, and I have long admired Master Cheng's name." Huan Zi bowed respectfully.

“Cheng Jiu, you don’t need to be so polite, Huan Zishi.” Cheng Jiu helped the other man up.

"Upon hearing that Master Cheng is willing to refine Qi and Blood Pills for our clan, the entire clan is extremely excited and grateful. They specifically asked me to take leave to come and invite Master Cheng to come. Please, Master Cheng, step outside the palace; a carriage will be ready to escort you."

Huan Zi treated Cheng Jiu with great respect and kept her own status low.

With both flattery and enthusiastic invitations, the badger clan's attitude was perfectly demonstrated.

Cheng Jiu felt very comfortable with her attitude: "You're too kind, Attendant Badger Purple! Let's go now!"

"Master Cheng, please!"

Badger Purple breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she agreed without making any unreasonable demands. It seemed that the alchemist his little brother had befriended this time was a person of excellent character.

"These are my senior brothers, and they're coming along too! Badger Purple Attendant, is that alright?"

Although Cheng Jiu was easily coaxed into a good mood by her few words, reason still pulled her back in time, reminding her of the senior brothers she had promised to but had forgotten.

"Master Cheng, you flatter me. This is an honor for my clan! Of course!"

Huan Zi readily agreed. She thought there might be some request, but it was nothing. Since he was the senior brother of our distinguished guest, of course it was fine!

Outside the Demon Emperor's Palace, eight black and white, tall, and different kinds of demonic beasts were lined up and pulling a very luxurious palanquin, waiting for something.

As soon as Cheng Jiu stepped outside, he saw the magnificent palanquin and the powerful demonic beast, which looked quite like something out of a demon race.

Cheng Jiu was invited to ride alone in this magnificent carriage. In addition to the demonic beast pulling the carriage, the coachman driving the carriage was also a Dao Integration Realm expert.

Besides the coachman, there were two small seats on either side, with two very pretty maids sitting in the middle. These two maids were there to serve Cheng Jiu and give her orders.

Judging from his cultivation level, it's not low either; he's at the Nascent Soul stage!

Golden tassels hung down, partially obscuring Cheng Jiu's face, making it impossible for outsiders to see the person inside the carriage.

However, those sitting in the palanquin could clearly see what was happening outside, which was also a reflection of the owner's status.

Gongcheng Gongyu and the other two followed Huanzi, while Huanhe sat on the monster used for travel at the back.

It was rather strange that the three of them were sitting on a demon beast at the Dao Integration Realm.

Although the carriage was pulled by eight different demonic beasts, Cheng Jiu did not feel any bumps along the way.

To prevent her from getting bored on the journey, the maidservant thoughtfully offered her some spiritual fruit.

The ornate palanquins moved along the way, and pedestrians on the sidelines made way for them, watching the motorcade with curiosity.

"That looks like the Badger family's, right? It's not a big day, why are they making such a big fuss?"

"Is that the head of the Badger family?"

"Not really!"

"Look, there are a few humans sitting in the back."

"I remember now, the cultivation world sent people to our demon realm. Could it be human alchemists?"

"Those are truly distinguished guests! The Badger family is so cunning! No, I must go back to the family and speak with the patriarch."

The Badger family is located in the royal city, and even within its inner perimeter, a rather advantageous location. Those who reside in the royal city are all renowned nobles of the demon race, so it seems the Badger family isn't as despicable as Badger He described.

"The patriarch's convoy has arrived!"

"They've arrived! Go and greet them!" A dignified figure stood up and walked out of the reception hall surrounded by people.

As soon as the convoy stopped, the gate to the Badger's Cave opened wide, and a demon quickly walked out and placed a soft chair under Cheng Jiu's feet before Cheng Jiu could get down.

"Master Cheng, please, guests!" Badger Purple gracefully landed on the demonic beast, walked quickly to Cheng Jiu, and gestured for him to enter.

Cheng Jiu landed on the ground. The badger's family was built around a mountain, with a standard layout of one large, two medium, and two small entrances.

The largest opening is a huge, semi-elliptical hole in the very center, flanked by doors made of demonic gold weighing tens of thousands of kilograms each. The opening is larger than the adjacent openings, occupying half of the entire cave.

As you walk along, you'll find that the main entrance to the cave is never open; it's basically sealed off and can only be opened to honored guests and distinguished visitors.

The two slightly less impressive cave entrances on the side had doors made of refined iron. Compared to the two simple and unadorned golden doors of the main cave entrance, the two side entrances were much more ornate, with many lifelike mythical beast patterns carved on the refined iron doors.

The last two small openings are simply a single piece of stone, and you might not even notice them if you don't look closely.

Compared to the other three gates, which had patrolling and guarding demons, these two gates were completely bare, with no demons guarding them at all, making them look extremely shabby and unsightly.

Upon reaching the main gate, there was another sedan chair, carried by eight demons—four in front and four behind.

"Lord Badger Purple, Lord Badger He!" Upon seeing their two masters arrive, the eight demons bowed respectfully to them.

"Did Grandmother send you here?"

"Yes, Lord Badger Purple, the clan chief was worried about neglecting the guests, so he asked us to wait here early this morning."

“Then please, Master Cheng! Grandmother should be waiting for you inside!” Huan Zi turned to Cheng Jiu and said.

"Junior sister! This is quite a generous gift!" Gong Yu whispered to Cheng Jiu.

Although it was a low voice, none of the demons present could not hear it, and this was precisely what they wanted to hear, to let them know that Cheng Jiu knew they had given him high-level treatment.

After all, the other party's question was meant to let Cheng Jiu know that they valued him highly.

"Yes, senior brother."

Hearing Cheng Jiu's response, the badger demons were all satisfied. Taking it seriously was one thing, but none of them wanted to give a blind man a flirtatious look.

After passing through the dry and open cavern, the path becomes more complicated as you go further in. You can see tunnels leading to various places from time to time, and cave dwellings that are faintly visible above these tunnels.

The further you go in, the more you see glowing spiritual materials embedded in the acupoints, making it less dark.

The entire environment is dry and warm, maintaining a very comfortable temperature.

Occasionally, Cheng Jiu could see little demons running around everywhere, various cute badger-like little demons that hadn't yet transformed into human form.

Presumably because their parents had warned them, these little demons, though very curious about Cheng Jiu and his companions, did not approach them.

After walking for a long time, the road ahead became even more open and flat.

It should be two or three more floors down. The whole flat building has a cave in the middle, and outside is a courtyard-like flat area.

Standing on the flat ground, a woman with a calm demeanor, a full head of hair, one side white and the other black, and round eyes that made her face look rather fierce.

Judging from the other person's attire, the white inner lining paired with the gorgeous outer robe gave him a dignified yet noble appearance.

It was obvious that the other party was the head of the Badger family.

"This must be Master Cheng! He is truly a young man of great talent. Thank you for coming to the Guan family to help refine the Qi and Blood Pill. I am the head of the Badger Clan, Badger Zhuo!"

"Hello, Team Leader Badger! Who can help with alchemy? You've all contributed, so this is really too much for me," Cheng Jiu said sincerely, reaching out to grasp the hand extended by the other party.

Badger Zhu carefully examined the young man in front of him, looking somewhat surprised. They had invited alchemists before, but those alchemists were all incredibly arrogant.

Not only were they picky, but they also demanded more benefits, yet the final result was not entirely what they wanted. Even so, it was still a rare occurrence.

After all, elixirs are precious and rare in the demon realm.

Especially for races like theirs that only need one type of pill, obtaining a sufficient amount of Qi and Blood Pills is extremely difficult.

However, it seems that this alchemist is a rare find with a good temperament!

Thinking about it this way, her attitude became even gentler.

“Master Cheng, we all know the rules for alchemists.” Huan Zhu clapped his hands, and a purple-clad maid behind him presented a tray to Cheng Jiu, which contained a storage bag.

"This is a small token of our appreciation for Master Cheng's alchemy skills. Please accept it."

"Then I won't stand on ceremony!" Cheng Jiu unceremoniously stuffed the storage bag on the tray into his ring.

Seeing that the other party accepted it, Huanzhu clapped his hands again, and another maid in green stepped forward to present the brocade pouch on the tray.

"Master Cheng, there are 1,200 portions of medicinal herbs inside. Please check them." Huan Zhuo said to Cheng Jiu.

"So many?" Cheng Jiu took the brocade pouch.

"The Qi and Blood Pill is extremely beneficial to the growth of our clan's young cubs, hence the increased demand. Please forgive us! Master Cheng, please refine it as you see fit, and we will leave the rest to our clan to learn from you, our genius alchemist!"

Huanzhuo generously explained that it wasn't that she wanted to make things difficult for Cheng Jiu, but the demand for Qi and Blood Pills was simply too great, and since a pill refiner had finally agreed, she naturally wanted her to refine more.

Of course, only 1,200 portions of medicinal herbs were nothing to the Badger Clan.

Cheng Jiu accepted the medicinal materials from the other party, 1,200 portions, which meant she only needed to deliver 400 pills. If each batch contained nine full pills, then she would need to refine 45 batches.

This kind of commissioned alchemy basically doesn't require high-quality pills. It's a pity that Little Green Flame hasn't woken up yet, but with Mo Yu's help, it will be faster.

"Master Cheng, the alchemy room is ready. Would you like to take a look? If you need anything, please feel free to let us know!" Huan Zhu led Cheng Jiu to the alchemy room they had specially prepared.

The furnace was quite standard; not only was a ground fire ignited, but a protective array was also set up around it to prevent it from exploding.

In addition to the incense burning, the room was clean and had a calming array, showing how much care the Badger Clan had put into setting up such an alchemy room.

"Take the incense away, I'm not used to having incense! The alchemy room is very well made, I'm very satisfied!" Cheng Jiu said.

"Master Cheng is too kind. I will have my disciple take them away right away." Looking at Cheng Jiu who was walking in, Huan Zhuo called out to Cheng Jiu hesitantly, "Master Cheng, if you have any extra pills that you have refined, could you sell them to the Badger Clan? We are willing to pay two to three times the market price to buy them."

“No problem!” Cheng Jiu had no objections. The other party had entrusted her to refine it, and she didn’t need a large quantity of this kind of pill. It would be great if the other party was willing to buy it.

"I need to go into seclusion to refine pills! I hope you will take good care of my senior brothers!"

"Junior Sister, focus on refining pills! Don't worry about us!" Gong Yu said in a reassuring voice.

Cheng Jiu was not worried about her senior brothers, but she still had to do the necessary tasks, since they had come with her!

"Please rest assured, Master Cheng, we will definitely treat your senior brother well."

Badger Purple patted his chest and confidently told Cheng Jiudao.

"I trust the Badger Clan!" As soon as Cheng Jiu finished speaking, the Badger Clan demons were overjoyed, feeling that this alchemist had good judgment.

Cheng Jiu closed the door to refine pills, and Gong Cheng, Gong Yu, and Li Weixin felt as if they had fallen into a rice jar.

Putting aside everything else, the Badger Group is truly thriving in martial arts, and they possess unique advantages that belong to the demon race, with each member having extremely strong physical strength.

Anyway, during their time with the badger clan, the three of them had no shortage of fights!

The badger clan also had a good impression of these three people; to be precise, they had a good impression of anyone who could fight.

Inside the alchemy room, Cheng Jiu took out his medicine pouch and arranged all the spiritual herbs inside, sorting them out neatly. Not to mention, the Badger Clan processed these spiritual herbs very well, keeping them clean and without losing much of their medicinal efficacy.

The most important ingredient in the Qi and Blood Pill is the Qi and Blood Flower, and the best one is the seven-petaled Qi and Blood Flower. However, very few Qi and Blood Flowers can reach the seven-petaled level, but nearly two-thirds of the Qi and Blood Flowers given to her by the Badger Clan are seven-petaled.

This is unthinkable in the cultivation world. As expected of the demon race, their resources are truly abundant!

These top-quality seven-petal Qi-blood flowers are available at wholesale prices.

The Seven-Petal Qi-Blood Flower is not only highly effective, but the pills refined from it are also of a high grade. More importantly, one Seven-Petal Qi-Blood Flower can be used as the main ingredient for two to three batches of Qi-Blood Pills, which means that Cheng Jiu can intercept more spiritual herbs than he imagined.

A sweet fragrance filled the entire alchemy room. This was the result of the effects of the Seven-Petal Qi and Blood Flower. Only two or three petals were needed to achieve this effect, and the medicinal effect was much better than Cheng Jiu had imagined.

Then comes Blazing Stone Powder, Seven-Star Lily Dew, Snake Heart Grass, Heavenly Stone, Blood Essence of Seventh-Rank and Above Monsters, and Ten Drops of Ancient Dragon Tree Blood Juice.

The originally black pills rolled in the flames and turned into a blood-red color.

The little black dragon controlled the flames according to Cheng Jiu's wishes, while Cheng Jiu jumped back and forth in front of the two alchemy furnaces.

A sweet fragrance wafted from the alchemy furnace, mellowing the cloying sweetness of the Qi and Blood Flower; success was achieved.

Five top-grade pills and thirteen superior-grade pills.

Cheng Jiu carefully categorized and stored the top-grade and superior-grade pills.

After the medicinal fragrance in the room dissipated somewhat, Cheng Jiu continued to refine the second batch.