The imperial city had just experienced a rain shower, and the soil by the roadside still bore fresh wet marks. At this moment, the sky had just cleared, the dark clouds dispersed, and the bright blue sky shone down, casting a layer of radiant golden light over everything in sight.

The formation of the procession was very swift, and the crowd at the city gate didn’t have to wait long. The neatly arranged soldiers and their fine steeds lined up in an orderly fashion, and soon, all eyes were focused on the blue royal carriage at the front.

The prince of the core nation had a remarkable military record and had successfully commanded several important battles before. However, he was low-key in his actions, rarely participating in public celebrations. Today was the first time he was involved in the welcome back after a victorious campaign.

With the exhilarating news of successfully repelling the Lianchi fruit, the enthusiasm of the crowd was quickly ignited. They eagerly anticipated a close encounter with this prince.

The guards opened the carriage door, and the expectant crowd finally got to witness the glory of the hero’s return. The handsome prince with golden hair and blue eyes stepped down from the carriage, his striking aura making him even more dazzling than in portraits and on screens. His crisp military uniform accentuated his already extraordinary presence, making him utterly captivating.

Cheers and shouts erupted as soon as the prince appeared, and when he stood by the carriage and waved to the crowd, the delighted screams reached a peak.

The prince’s beloved horse was already brought over, and everyone was just waiting for him to ride into the city. However, to everyone’s surprise, this revered prince did not mount the horse. Instead, he turned around and bent down to return to the carriage.

Before the bustling crowd could react, another elegant young man appeared before them—what they didn’t expect was that this somewhat unfamiliar young man was actually being carried out from the back seat of the carriage by the prince.

Some sharp-eyed individuals noticed the bandaged wound on the young man’s right leg. The initial shock quickly dissipated. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the golden-haired prince was indeed careful and treated the young man with utmost care.

He first helped the young man onto the saddle, ensuring he was seated securely before mounting the horse himself.

Unlike the other ability users who shared the carriage with the pharmacist, the prince allowed the young man to sit in front while he took the rear position. He reached out to take the black riding whip handed to him by a guard and affectionately patted the neck of the white horse. The horse moved instinctively, leading the entire procession toward the city gate.

Aside from the soldiers clearing the way, the two passengers were almost at the front of the line. As the snow-white horse entered the city gate, the crowd spontaneously parted to create a clear path without the need for guards to maintain order.

Admiration, adoration, longing… countless bright and hopeful eyes were fixed on them, as if they were gazing up at a deity who would save them. In the short distance of just a few steps, the cheers and screams had already changed three times, and every time the two on horseback responded, it ignited even more excitement.

The welcoming crowd included not only ordinary citizens but also some reporters eager for firsthand news. Since Lan Luohai rarely participated in public celebrations and seldom accepted interviews, they certainly didn’t want to miss this rare opportunity.

However, with so many people gathered to welcome them, the core nation could not arrange for interviews just as the procession entered the city. To grab a scoop, the reporters had to squeeze in with the excited crowd, trying to raise their voices to catch Lan Luohai’s attention.

This method was quite challenging; many shouted hoarsely to ask questions, but their voices were drowned out by the cheers and screams of others. It wasn’t until they had walked through two whole streets that someone finally seized the opportunity to ask amidst the cheers.

“Your Highness, has the Lianchi fruit been completely eradicated?”

The person on horseback turned to look, seemingly trying to identify the speaker. Then, he pressed his palm down slightly, and the surrounding noise gradually quieted down.

“The Lianchi fruit that once plagued the borders will not return,” the prince’s voice was cold and magnetic, making people feel even more favorable toward him. “Everyone can rest assured.”

Seeing the opportunity was so favorable, the reporter quickly asked a second question.

“Did you personally eradicate the Lianchi fruit, or was it the previous marshal from Country A?” he inquired, “Where is that marshal now, and why haven’t we seen him?”

The core nation’s previous treatment of Yuan Xiaoxiao was well-known, and the citizens were puzzled by the royal family’s respect for a marshal from a small country. This question was bound to attract attention, and the reporter was ready to make a big news story, having even prepared a draft, just waiting for Lan Luohai’s response.

However, after hearing the question, Lan Luohai glanced at the young man in front of him.

“The one who successfully eradicated the Lianchi fruit this time is neither Yuan Xiaoxiao nor myself.”

He paused for a moment, then, under the curious gazes of the crowd, he spoke the name.

“It is this esteemed pharmacist, Ji Xuanran.”

The crowd gasped in astonishment, turning their gazes toward the person riding with Lan Luohai.

“The specific details of the eradication will be released later by the royal spokesperson,” Lan Luohai explained before continuing to ride forward.

Although he didn’t use his abilities to amplify his voice, his words spread quickly among the crowd, and during the latter part of the journey, the public began to pay more attention to this extraordinary pharmacist. Coupled with the obvious injury on his right leg, his image instantly grew a hundredfold in the hearts of the people.

With so many fervent gazes upon him, Shi Jingxian didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. After all, he had completed many missions, and each one often involved being admired by thousands.

So, despite being somewhat surprised by the prince’s actions, Shi Jingxian accepted it calmly. Moreover, this was all something Ji Xuanran deserved.

The only thing he found a bit uncomfortable was the two arms of Lan Luohai wrapped around his waist.

The horse could only be driven by an ability user, and with Shi Jingxian sitting in front, Lan Luohai, who was riding behind, naturally had to rest his arms against his waist.

Ji Xuanran’s side waist was quite sensitive; the pain was bearable, but this unintentional brushing was quite difficult to endure. Shi Jingxian straightened his back several times but couldn’t avoid the unintentional disturbance. Additionally, with the two of them so close, the faint scent from Lan Luohai enveloped him like a fine fishing net, trapping him within, making it impossible to escape.

In front of such a large crowd, Shi Jingxian couldn’t possibly turn around to voice his concerns to Lan Luohai. He had to wait until the procession entered the palace, and everyone dismounted, before he finally let out a sigh of relief.

The wound on his right foot was actually not a big deal anymore, but Lan Luohai insisted that they couldn’t let others think the royal family was neglectful. In the end, Shi Jingxian was still carried down from the horse.

When he stood firm, Shi Jingxian couldn’t help but grip Lan Luohai’s wrist.

“…Thank you, Your Highness.” He subtly pulled the person’s hand away a little.

Don’t touch there, it tickles.

However, Lan Luohai seemed completely unaware of this, his gaze lingering on the wrist that Shi Jingxian had held.

Shi Jingxian released his grip and sat down in the wheelchair that the guards had pushed over.

Lan Luohai stared at his wrist for a moment before refusing the guards’ offer and pushing the wheelchair himself.

The post-war commendation was crucial, but for Shi Jingxian, he had more important matters to attend to. Not meeting the king with the procession, he went directly to the internal laboratory of the palace, where he began the production of the antidote for the Lianchi fruit with Des and the others who were waiting there.

Although there were plenty of Lianchi fruit seeds, the other materials needed for the antidote were quite expensive. Moreover, this kind of potion could only be made by high-level pharmacists, which significantly increased the cost of the medicine.

All the high-level pharmacists that the core nation could mobilize worked together, and it took about a week before they finally produced enough medicine to treat the injured.

Since the operation to eradicate the Lianchi fruit was initiated by the core nation, after the successful production of the antidote, the core nation purchased all the antidotes at standard market prices. Participants injured during this operation, whether from the core nation or other countries, would receive the antidote for free.

Busy with the production of medicine, Shi Jingxian hardly had any time to rest for an entire week. When he finally had a moment to leave the laboratory, he heard some new news regarding the antidote.

Along with it came the system’s notification sound.

【Ding——Task repair progress, 55%】

Stubborn as ever, Shi Jingxian had long anticipated this.

When Ji Xuanran had exhausted himself and fallen into a coma, he lost all his abilities. Those who had changed their attitudes toward him included not only Yuan Xiaoxiao but also some other ability users who were similarly poisoned.

They had initially thought that Ji Xuanran, who had awakened miraculous abilities, could help them with the antidote, but unexpectedly, he only treated two people before he stopped. Although everyone received compensation distributed by the core nation, some still blamed Ji Xuanran for everything and relentlessly pursued him.

With deliberate incitement, rumors about Ji Xuanran escalated. Some claimed he deliberately refused to treat others, while others said he lacked the ability and falsely claimed to have awakened. A few unscrupulous ability users, under the guise of victims, gathered a group of incited individuals and brazenly pressured Ji Xuanran to provide a large quantity of mid-level antidotes as a substitute.

All the potions Ji Xuanran had made were in Yuan Xiaoxiao’s hands, and having lost his ability to produce medicine, how could he respond to such unreasonable demands? He had already been emotionally unstable due to losing his abilities, and being subjected to public verbal abuse had once plunged him into despair.

In the end, it was Yuan Xiaoxiao who stepped in and provided a batch of mid-level antidotes, driving the crowd away. For this, Ji Xuanran was quite grateful to Yuan Xiaoxiao.

What he didn’t know was that those antidotes were still the ones he had made himself.

However, this was not the end of the matter. After the instigators obtained the antidotes, they did not distribute them to the other poisoned individuals as promised. Instead, they hoarded the antidotes for themselves and even sold them on the black market.

At that time, many poisoned ability users had gathered in the core nation’s imperial city, and with the legitimate pharmacies unable to supply enough, they had no choice but to buy at high prices on the black market. Ultimately, when Ji Xuanran was killed, these few ability users were still thriving on the antidotes they had extorted, even raking in a fortune.

Shi Jingxian had always remembered this incident, so when the effective antidote for the Lianchi fruit was just beginning to be produced, he specifically sought out Lan Luohai to make sure he paid attention to the distribution of the medicine.

These targeted antidotes were uniformly purchased by the core nation, but the distribution was strictly controlled, requiring the injured to use them on the spot and not take them away. With this prior preparation, they indeed caught a batch of ability users who intended to resell the antidotes.

Shi Jingxian had looked over the profiles of those ability users, and they matched perfectly with a few people from Ji Xuanran’s memories.

Nothing happens by chance; most accidents are the inevitable result of circumstances. Just like even with the Lianchi fruit antidote, this group of people would still make the same choice.

After the resellers were discovered, the military immediately reclaimed their antidotes and drove them out. Due to their malicious reselling behavior, the pharmacist association stripped these individuals of their purchasing rights at pharmacies.

Their poison was still not cured, and to survive, they had to go to the black market to buy alternative antidotes at high prices. They reaped what they sowed, and thus Shi Jingxian received the new task progress update.

However, these were just minor skirmishes; what Shi Jingxian truly cared about was Yuan Xiaoxiao, who had vanished without a trace after escaping.

When returning to the imperial city, Lan Luohai had mentioned that he had a way to draw him out. Now, a week had passed, and the commendation ceremony was nearing its end. This rarely seen prince had indeed participated in quite a few celebration events and interviews.

With such an eye-catching appearance, Lan Luohai was the center of attention wherever he went. Coupled with this remarkable military achievement, various factions lamented that Lan Luohai’s appearances were too few. Aside from the national banquet, every time Lan Luohai showed up, he would be surrounded by the crowd like a star.

However, as time went on, people gradually discovered that the only way to engage this prince in conversation was through one method.

—To mention the high-level pharmacist, Ji Xuanran, whom he praised in various occasions.

The public was also very interested in this pharmacist who had only appeared during the welcoming ceremony. However, the divine pharmacist was busy with medicine production and had never had time for interviews.

In fact, it wasn’t that Shi Jingxian was too busy to spare even a moment; it was just that Ji Xuanran preferred solitude. Unless necessary, he was indifferent to various social interactions, so Shi Jingxian decided to decline those opportunities to appear.

With the divine pharmacist not coming out, everyone could only inquire from the prince. Coincidentally, Lan Luohai praised him endlessly, so every time he appeared, many would chase after him with questions.

Because of this pharmacist, Lan Luohai had broken countless precedents. Aside from the royal family members, this was the first time everyone had seen him so enthusiastic about someone.

So when Lan Luohai praised this divine pharmacist again, someone couldn’t help but ask him—

“Your Highness, do you currently intend to have Ji Xuanran become your exclusive pharmacist?”