When he heard Ma Xuefeng's praise for Alex, Guanyu's eyes gained a hint of admiration for the foreign god.

Then, the young man cleared his throat, and asked her, "Junior Sister, are you heading somewhere?"

Ma Xuefeng's expression turned sour and worried when she heard his question.

She bit her lips, and replied weakly, "The villagers in Luoxi have health problems, I was on my way to Martial Aunt Zhen Lingxin to commission a few pills for the commonfolk..."

Guanyu frowned and commented, "Again? The health situation for children and the elderly has worsened more and more,"

The atmosphere turned somewhat heavy, and Guanyu coughed and said in an unnaturally cheerful tone, "Junior Sister, let's show Sir Alex the pharmaceutical might of the Kunlun Mountain Sect!"

He winked at her, and she understood his intent.

Ma Xuefeng smiled awkwardly and exclaimed, "Yes! Let's go!"

'Come on, you two, I'm not a child, you don't need to hide the troubles of the region from me...' Alex shook his head sneakily.

After that, the three navigated uphill towards a wide building.

Unlike most of the low-lying buildings around, this one did not center around a courtyard, and instead, the interior occupied the entire plot of the structure.

When they opened the sliding doors and entered, an aggressive smell assaulted their noses.

It reminded Alex of the sterile smell of hospitals.

'That makes sense, considering they refine medicine in here,' He remarked internally.

The building had a main hall in the center, and around it, a corridor led to many rooms.

A middle-aged woman approached them.

She wore light-gray robes, and her face had signs of aging.

"Martial Aunt!" The two bowed, hence Alex followed them and did the same.

"Guanyu and Xuefeng, what brought on your visit to our medicinal center?" 

Ma Xuefeng cupped her hands and replied, "Ten more citizens of Luoxi have developed thyroid problems, they require pills."

The middle-aged woman placed a hand on her cheek and lamented, "Ever since they fully closed the southern road, this problem has only gotten worse."

'Thyroid problems? Mountainous regions? Ony among the elderly and the young...' Alex formed a sudden hypothesis, but he kept silent for now.

"Follow me," Zhen Lingxi greeted Alex and led them to the corridors of the structure.

Then, she opened one of the sliding doors and a herbal aroma instantly enveloped their senses.

The room was only lit by a few candles, and inside, the only utilities were a cabinet, a cauldron, a tabletop, and a wood furnace.

"Let's see..."

"You said they have thyroid problems? They'll need a laxative, a blood-thickening agent, a fatigue remedy, and a nutritional herb," As she spoke, the woman took out various ingredients.

"I don't think that will help," Alex interjected.

The middle-aged woman frowned and replied, "Are you doubting an immortal's pharmaceutical skills?"

"Not at all, you seem quite professed," Alex waved his hand and cleared up the misunderstanding.

This time, Guanyu asked him, "What is it, then, Sir Alex?"

'Clearly iodine deficiency,' He thought internally.

Earlier, when Ma Xuefeng mentioned that the citizens had thyroid problems, he immediately recalled that they lived on a raised plateau entirely surrounded by mountains.

On modern Earth, he lived near the sea, so no one had such problems, but the problems caused by iodine deficiency were very well explored.

"This problem will only worsen if there is no prevention, a cure will only be akin to pacing a small bandage upon a bleeding slit."

"What do you mean?" Zhen Lingxi was curious, and her eyes were questioning, yet open to this discourse.

Alex found out that there wasn't any exact word for 'iodine', in all of the ancient languages, so he had to explain it another way.

"I live near the sea, and there, people don't have thyroid problems, because they eat foods that have a special substance required for proper thyroid development," Alex fabricated a story to illustrate it.

"I don't think it's a coincidence that where people eat a lot of sea salt, fish, and dairy, thyroid problems are almost inexistent."

The middle-aged woman's eyes glowed, and she nodded and said, "Go on, go on..."

Alex pointed his finger at her, and sternly asked, "Where do the people get their salt from?!"

Ma Xuefeng was knowledgeable on the affairs of commonfolk, so she replied, "There are salt lakes up nort- wait, I think I understand what you're saying, Sir Alex!"

Their discourse was reaching a climax, and Guanyu asked Xuefeng, "What do you think, Junior Sister?"

"Before the southern roads were closed off, the people of Luoxi used to eat a lot of pink salt from the Himalayas, and if I follow Sir Alex's rhetoric, it seemed that the salt had a special substance that prevented thyroid problems!"

Zhen Lingxi had a look of reverence, and she commented, "You concluded that just from a few sentences, you're very smart..!"

Guanyu also smiled and seemed to share that opinion.

'Truthfully, my hypothesis didn't go as far as the pink salt, so that's a fortunate coincidence," Alex rubbed his head, concealing his inner thoughts.

Then, the middle-aged woman attracted everyone's attention and placed a hand on her chin.

"I will ask of Martial Father to give a verdict on this situation," 

Now that this was out of the way, Alex wished to ask about something else.

"Lady, can I see the process through which you refine medicine?" 

Zhen Lingxi nodded fervently, "Of course, stand by the sides with the Junior Disciples, I'll show you every step of the way."

Following that, she ignited the wood furnace and placed the wide cauldron over it.

"This is distilled water, it prevents the plants from burning while also reaching a temperature that releases their medicinal properties," She showed him a wide flask full of water.

However, she first took out a few dry-looking herbs and placed them in the searing hot cauldron.

"Pill refinement is quite similar to cooking, I'll toast some herbs to tap into their properties while trying not to burn them," She turned down the heat of the furnace.

Then, the plants inside started producing a sizzling sound and released some oils into the cauldron.

"Now, I'll add the water in!" 

She spilled a very precise amount of distilled water, and most of it boiled off at the point of contact.

Zhen Lingxi then added a few more herbs and a strange salt.

"This is emulsion salt, it will allow the oils and the water to mix together to unleash the power in the plant."

Alex nodded and observed attentively.

She let the 'soup' cook for a bit, and then, she put on gloves, and unexpectedly, her hands went into the extremely hot soup.

"This is where an immortal apothecary's job comes in."

"You put in Reverence Qi very carefully."

The 'soup' gradually turned thicker and thicker.

Zhen Lingxi then immediately brought the cauldron off the heat.

She took a clump of the end product in her hands and placed it under a press.

She brought it down, and the press molded the medicine into a pill shape.

"Look at this," She passed the dry pill to Alex.

Alex examined it closely.

_____________________

(Pill)

Quality: Great

State: Excellent

Additional Information: A medicinal pill that targets the symptoms of the thyroid gland.

_____________________

"Martial Sister Zhen Lingxi, Martial Father has called for your presence in his pagoda," An unfamiliar voice interrupted his examination.