Including Tuya of the House of Buller, five had fallen to him. Although these five were only midgods, they were respected and renowned figures in the City of Shadows. Their sudden deaths immediately drew the attention of the public.

The Celestial Pearl Pharmacy didn't have its own divine guards, but Erebus had assigned Anito and a small squadron from the Third Corps to patrol the grounds. Anito was quickly alerted to Avery's break-in at Celestial Pearl Pharmacy that night. However, he arrived on the scene even later than Akley and had no idea what had happened.

At dawn, the head of the Third Corps, Erebus, came to see Han Shuo in person.

"Are you sure it was him?" Erebus asked immediately after Han Shuo led him into a secret chamber.

"I am certain. It is Avery! If it wasn't for the fact that Andrina was right next to me, I'm afraid I would have met the same fate as Tuya and the others," Han Shuo said as if he was still frightened by what had happened. He claimed that Andrina had defeated Avery so that he would not attract unwanted attention from the Sainte family.

Even if Han Shuo hadn't given a detailed explanation, Erebus would logically assume that it was Andrina who had defeated Avery. Back at the Kisa residence, Erebus had witnessed Andrina's power with his own eyes. He thought that in the entire Celestial Pearl Pharmacy, only Andrina would have that kind of power.

Erebus nodded and groaned coldly, "How outrageous! It seems that Avery has no intention of staying in the city any longer!"

Han Shuo remained silent. He knew that Avery would have left the City of Shadows that night. Considering how familiar Avery was with the City of Shadows with the help of his confidants, even the House of Sainte would have trouble stopping him from escaping the City of Shadows.

After all, he was once the head of the Fifth Corps!

Erebus did not stay in the Celestial Pearl for long. After questioning Han Shuo about the events of the previous night, he hastily left.

Over the next few days, Han Shuo learned from Anito that the House of Sainte had been searching for Avery with all their might. However, Avery's foresighted planning proved him to be an exceptional escape artist, and their search yielded no results.

All of Avery's confidants left with him that night. As for the divine guards of the Fifth Corps who remained in the City of Shadows, they were released after thorough interrogation and placed under close surveillance.

Soon the House of Sainte publicly denounced Avery, listing all the atrocities he had committed in the City of Shadows, including the fact that he had attempted to assassinate Carmelita. Avery's actions were widely discussed by the citizens of the City of Shadows.

As expected, the Fifth Corps was disbanded. Members of the House of Lavers have been subjected to harsh interrogation. The patriarch of the House of Lavers, Felder, firmly disowned Avery. To ensure the safety of his House of Lavers, Felder placed all the blame on Avery, even going so far as to publicly announce that Avery had been banished from his family clan with immediate effect. Avery would no longer be a member of the House of Lavers.

Felder's decisive action may have saved the lives of his family clan members, but Avery's reckless actions had severely damaged the strength of the House of Lavers. Not only had they lost control to this powerful institution called the Fifth Corps, but with the deliberate and constant oppression of the House of Sainte, the House of Lavers had suddenly become the weakest of the five major family clans.

All of this turmoil in the City of Shadows had little effect on Han Shuo. After a period of preparation, the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy managed to recruit a significant number of talents in various fields. They finally gathered enough manpower to open for business in the City of Shadows.

It was also at this time that Han Shuo encountered another thorny problem. The group of pharmacists led by Gu Li kept coming to Han Shuo, demanding that he teach them the principles behind the refinement of his Rejuvenation Pill, Tranquility Pill and Rebirth Pill!

Gu Li and the pharmacists had travelled thousands of miles to come to the City of Shadows because they admired Han Shuo's skill in refining medicine and wanted to learn from him. When they first started working at Celestial Pearl Pharmacy, as they were busy with mountains of work, they did not bother Han Shuo with such requests, but buried their heads and worked to get Celestial Pearl Pharmacy on the right track.

Now that most of the work was done and everything was in motion, they had more free time and began to question Han Shuo about all sorts of abstruse problems related to the refinement of medicine.

And so began another round of headaches for Han Shuo. He couldn't even understand the problems the apothecaries were asking him, let alone come up with answers to them. All the while, he found excuses to avoid answering their questions. But now that Gu Li and the rest of the pharmacists were coming to him all at once, he knew he had to stop avoiding.

They were in a pharmacy laboratory filled with glass tools and containers. The cabinets were lined with colourful jars, methodically arranged with all kinds of medicinal ingredients. At the centre of the lab was an elaborate looking glass sphere. It sat on a large pile of shimmering energy crystals.

The group of thirteen pharmacists, led by Gu Li, stood around the lab and stared at Han Shuo.

These pharmacists, who had continued to join Celestial Pearl Pharmacy even after hearing rumours of Han Shuo's arrogant and irascible temper, were very much like Gu Li - they were masters in the art of refining medicine. Therefore, it was absolutely impossible for Han Shuo to lie to them. Facing their fiery, knowledge-hungry gazes, Han Shuo felt as if he had built his own downfall.

He knew that he had to solve this problem somehow, or else all these pharmacists would leave the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy with their apprentices. And if that happened, his Celestial Pearl Pharmacy, which was just getting started, would collapse from within, quickly and spectacularly.

"To tell you the truth, the medicine refinement I know is completely different from what you all know!" Han Shuo knew he had no choice but to tell the truth. He braced himself and said, "In fact, I do not know much about the art of medicine refinement you practice!"

The pharmacists in the room looked at Han Shuo with puzzled looks after hearing these words, but they remained silent and continued to listen to Han Shuo. "I don't think any of you have heard or seen the art of refining medicine that my master has taught me. Um, let me demonstrate!" Han Shuo knew that he had to show something or that would be the end of the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy. With a thought, the Nine Tessellation Cauldron entered Han Shuo's palm.

"Your method of refining medicine requires extracting and mixing compounds in glass vessels by changing the temperature. Mine is different in that I mix the medicinal ingredients directly. Then I use special methods to extract the compounds in the ingredients before quickly solidifying them by..." Han Shuo explained slowly.

Han Shuo demonstrated by refining a pelleted medicine as he spoke. He placed a few medicinal ingredients into the Nine Tessellation Cauldron that was spinning in his palm. Immediately, a fragrant scent of medicine permeated the laboratory. The cauldron was spurred on by the red flames coming from his palm, and it began to spin rapidly. The mosaic on it shimmered with a faint halo. It was fascinating.

For these pharmacists, Han Shuo's actions were simply unimaginable. They stared at Han Shuo's demonstration like fools. They couldn't understand how Han Shuo could refine medicine by throwing all the raw ingredients into a single container. Their usual way of making medicine would start by extracting the compounds from the raw ingredients one by one. Then, they would mix those extracts in proportions according to the effect they wanted to achieve. Compared to Han Shuo's "one pot, all the time" method, their approach not only involved a ton of additional procedures, but the end results were not as good as his.

The pharmacy laboratory was filled with a pleasant smell. A few moments later, several dark golden Rebirth Pills flew out of the Nine Tessellation Cauldron. Han Shuo crushed the pellets and placed them in several medicine bottles. He handed them to some of the pharmacists and said with a smile, "Have a taste. It's very good for your body!"

The pharmacists were tempted by the smell alone. They had long heard about the wonders of the medicine Han Shuo had personally refined and wanted to experience it for themselves. Therefore, after Han Shuo's invitation, they only hesitated for a moment before swallowing the medicine in their hands.

As professional pharmacists, these people could immediately tell the effect Han Shuo's medicine had on their bodies. It was clear to them just how powerful the medicine was.

Soon, the pharmacists would have to make urgent trips to the toilet and defecate as if they had diarrhoea. However, they all looked much healthier when they came out of the bathroom. They exclaimed in amazement: "What a wonderful medicine! This medicine is incredible!"

Even the few pharmacists who had not experienced the Rebirth Pill became more respectful of Han Shuo after seeing their colleagues appear to be full of vitality.

Gu Li looked much healthier after a round of solid waste excrement. When she returned from the washroom, she kowtowed to Han Shuo and said, "I admit defeat!"

Of all these people, Gu Li had the most reputation. No one would ever doubt Han Shuo's abilities again with her acknowledging Han Shuo's prowess.

"Since none of you are my disciples, I cannot teach you my method and technique of refining medicine," Han Shuo observed the expressions on his pharmacists' faces. When they showed disappointment, Han Shuo added, "But I can talk to you about the effectiveness of certain unique medical ingredients. You may not be familiar with these medical ingredients, but they have miraculous effects. If you continue to study and experiment with these ingredients, I believe you will learn new things and make great progress.

Of course, Han Shuo wouldn't teach the pharmacists his techniques for refining medicine, as it required demonic yuan. Even if Han Shuo did, they wouldn't be able to produce pelleted medicine because they hadn't cultivated in the demonic arts. However, Han Shuo was willing to teach them the special effects of certain medicinal ingredients as a way of thanking them for working so hard for the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy.

The pharmacists expressed their gratitude upon hearing these words. They were satisfied with this guarantee from Han Shuo, even if they did not want to learn Han Shuo's out-of-this-world medicine refining technique.

Han Shuo then took out some medicinal ingredients that he had personally collected, placed them in glass jars, and proceeded to explain their uses. Han Shuo used all sorts of technical terms, giving the pharmacists the impression that his knowledge was deep and profound. Their gazes at Han Shuo were filled with admiration and respect.

These pharmacists listened to Han Shuo with eager ears and made notes in their notebooks. They could not wait to experiment with the new medical ingredients they had just learned from Han Shuo. They seemed inexplicably excited, like children with new toys.

"Alright, I have explained all the functions and compounds in these medical ingredients. What comes next is up to your own understanding and ability. You may or may not be able to come up with new medicines using these medical ingredients, but this is all I can do for you!" Han Shuo then left the pharmacy laboratory. Thinking that he had averted a crisis, he secretly heaved a sigh of relief.

In the time that followed, everything went smoothly. Some of Han Shuo's pharmacists, inspired by him, even managed to invent several new types of medicine from the medical ingredients they had never heard of before. Although the effectiveness of their medicines was still far behind Han Shuo's pellet medicines, the pharmacists were very pleased and excited to have made such progress so quickly.

With everything falling into place at Celestial Pearl Pharmacy, Han Shuo then began to recruit staff to manage the warehouses so that these pharmacists' apprentices could collect even more medicinal ingredients. He was ready to open the brand new Celestial Pearl Pharmacy in the City of Shadows.

It was at this time that Donna went to the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy out of the blue to look for Han Shuo.

At first glance, Han Shuo could tell that Donna looked much more haggard than before. Her eyes showed an intense, impending gloom, as if she was facing an insurmountable problem. She only forced a smile when they met.

"Long time no see, Donna!" Han Shuo sighed in his mind after greeting Donna. He had heard a thing or two about the recent conditions in the House of Laver. Avery's actions had severely affected the House of Lavers. As the House of Sainte lost confidence in them, the Lavers family began to decline in the City of Shadows.

In contrast to the miserable state of the House of Lavers, Han Shuo's Celestial Pearl Pharmacy was rapidly growing and flourishing, even showing early signs of budding into a new family clan. Donna's mood sank deeper and deeper into sadness as she remembered what it had been like when Han Shuo had first arrived in the City of Shadows.

"Congratulations, Bryan. It looks like Celestial Pearl Pharmacy is going to be a new powerhouse in the City of Shadows!" Donna forced a smile.

"Thank you, Donna. Is there anything I can help you with? Haha, if you need medicine, given our relationship, I will give you the best price!" Han Shuo assured and patted his chest. He said it as if they were still the best of friends.

Donna shook her head with a smile and replied, "I've come to say goodbye. I'm leaving this place for a long time. We won't have much opportunity to meet in the future."

"Why so suddenly? Where are you going?" Han Shuo was shocked.

"It is unlikely that our House of Lavers will achieve much in the City of Shadows. Rather than stay and be harassed, we might as well leave. Bryan, I'm glad to have met you. I was right about you. Truly, I am very proud of you for establishing yourself in the City of Shadows in such a short time," Donna said with a smile.

Han Shuo sighed again after hearing these words. Given the current situation, the House of Lavers did indeed have a bleak future in the City of Shadows. Han Shuo did not know how to comfort Donna who was wearing a sad face. After a long moment of silence, he sighed and said, "Bon voyage, Donna. I will never forget the kindness you showed me!"

"Goodbye. I hope that by the next time we meet, your Celestial Pearl Pharmacy will have replaced our House of Lavers' place in the City of Shadows and become one of the five great family clans!" Donna waved her hand and walked away.

Han Shuo was astonished, sensing a veiled resentment in her words. He thought to himself, "Does she think that Celestial Pearl Pharmacy has risen by stepping on the House of Lavers?

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