The princess nodded. "Yes, I am running out of it. Due to not having the healing crystal anymore, we have to make a slight adjustment to our policies so that we healed the Lightsworns every time they were injured."
"Because of how simple the pastes were, everyone started coming by to get pastes for even the simplest of cuts."
"As such, we quickly ran out of it," the princess said.
"I'm sorry," Alex said. "I should have known. I started this clinic and there were so many customers that I got overwhelmed and didn't know what to do."
"Well, if you don't have the time, you can teach me too," the princess said. "I remember someone telling me they would be willing to teach me about the pastes once they learned it."
Alex sighed and gave a small smile. "I did, didn't I?" he asked.
He thought for a moment and brought out a mortar and pestle before bringing out more ingredients to show the princess.
* * * * *
Guyang walked out of his weekly alchemy session. Due to having been sent to work for Alex, his daily alchemy session had been reduced to weekly.
In the past month, he had been with Alex, he had only had 4 such sessions. As such, there was almost 0 improvement in his Alchemy. His cultivation base was in an even worse situation.
As he was about to walk away, he saw his brother walk out of the room next to his.
"Good morning, brother," Guyang greeted his brother.
"Hey, I haven't seen you in a while," Zhou Ren said. "How is your work at the clinic going? Any progress?"
"Yes brother, I've learned to become humble now. I won't use my name or my family's name to bully the others," Guyang said with a serious face.
Zhou Ren's face went blank with surprise and confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?" he asked.
"Uhh… my progress? You wanted to know how I was doing with my punishment, right?" he asked.
"You idiot," Zhou Ren cried out so loud that the nearby house servants ran away in fear.
"Who the hell cares if you bully people or not? Who the hell cares about your punishment? I'm asking have you made any progress on getting the recipes for the pastes? How they are made?" Zhou Ren asked.
It was Guyang's turn to be confused now. "You didn't send me there to be punished?" he asked.
"Of course not, you dumbass. What do I care about how you go about your day? Do you think I would have shown up and bowed to a goddamn nobody if I didn't want something out of it?" Zhou Ren asked.
"Uhh…"
"If you don't get those recipes by tomorrow, I will break your goddamn legs myself," Zhou Ren said. "Now, leave!"
Guyang swallowed heavily and nodded before rushing away.
Zhou Ren walked away and was soon called by his father, the head of the Zhou family.
"Any information on the pastes?" Zhou Tianqiu asked. Tianqiu was a man with thin hair and short height. He didn't even reach the shoulder of his tall son.
However, the fiery demeanor he carried made everyone look up to him even when he was below them.
"I put idiot Guyang up to the task, but it seems me being subtle about it didn't help at all, father," Zhou Ren said. "I've told him that I will break his leg if he doesn't bring the paste recipe by tomorrow, so we should be seeing it soon."
"Hmm," Tianqiu said nothing for a while as Ren waited for him to speak again.
"Son, you know how important this paste is, don't you? For years, we have had pastes come out again and again from the Demon Realm, and yet not once has a recipe come out."
"Now there's someone with a recipe and we absolutely need it," Tainqiu said.
"Why aren't we just going and getting it from the man, father? He is quite young and not very strong. I could just go and beat him up to get the recipes you need," Zhou Ren said.
Tianqiu took a deep breath and asked, "Why do you think I haven't done that already?"
Zhou Ren thought for a moment. "That kid has backing?" he asked.
"That kid is a personal guest of the Emperor and is directly working under princess Xumei. Our people have noticed him going in and out of the palace. He practically lives there," Tianqiu said.
"What? Is this information public?" Zhou Ren asked.
"It's public to those that are willing to look," Tianqiu said. "The kid hasn't tried hiding it or anything."
"So force is not going to work on him," Zhou Ren said. "I understand father. We must be first before everyone else. I will make sure that little brother gets the recipes within in week without mistake."
"Good," Tianqiu said and smiled. "I know I can always depend on your son."
Zhou Ren smiled and walked away.
* * * * *
Alex returned back to the clinic the next day with a new sense of purpose.
After having a little talk with the princess the other day, he had come to a small revelation for himself that he didn't think he would so soon.
Shurin was confused at his happy mood but didn't say anything as Alex hadn't been in this mood for nearly a month now.
The patients were already lined up at about 10 different people, but the ones that were here to buy the pastes were over hundreds of people.
That was understandable. After all, Pastes were far superior to pills for most the injuries.
Guyang was already in the store and was thinking of how to approach Alex for the recipes. When he saw Alex walk in, he jumped and tried to say something, but nothing came out.
How did one ask for someone's secret that made them rich and famous?
Guyang racked his brain but the only way for him to get those recipes were either to sneak into the room and watch Alex make those pastes, or try and steal the recipes from him.
Neither of those ideas was any good in his mind. However, when he remembered that his leg would be broken today if he didn't bring back the pastes recipes, he would start having the same bad ideas again.
He felt tortured the whole day.
He watch Shurin sell the pastes in vials and jars one after another and even asked her if she knew how they were made.
However, he got no straight answer.
In the end, he was left with no choice. He had to do what he could to get those recipes.
So, when the time came for the clinic to close, and Alex walked out of the room, Guyang confronted him.
Alex looked at him weirdly. "Do you need something?" he asked.
"Yes," Guyang said. "I was wondering if you could teach me how to make those pastes as well. I really want to learn it."
"I'm sorry, I don't have the time," Alex said. "I—"
"No please, I beg you. Here, I will get on my knees," Guyang said as he really did fall on his knees. "Please teach me! I will call you my master if I have to."
Alex sighed. "I told you, I don't have the time," he said.
"Please—"
"But," Alex continued. "You don't really need me to teach you anything."
Guyang felt something touch his head, so he looked up and saw a talisman in front of him.
"Here! These are the recipes for the different pastes to heal and cure illnesses, disease, and poisons," Alex gave them to Guyang.
Guyang looked shocked, even a little bit skeptical.
"This… this is your recipe?" he asked with an untrusting voice.
"Yes," Alex said.
Guyang quickly read through the recipe, and while he couldn't tell if they were real or not, he could tell that most of these ingredients were indeed ingredients necessary for healing.
The truth matched up.
"Thank you," Guyang said and bowed again before taking off.
He didn't wait to see a single person on the street as he ran all the way to his massive house on the southern side of the capital.
He quickly entered and found his brother.
"Brother, I did it!" Guyang said proudly as he handed the talisman to his brother.
Zhou Ren quickly checked the talisman and his eyes went wide as well.
"Come on. Let us go show father this," Zhou Ren said. "He will be proud of you."
