Location: Pingkang City
Petitioner: Zhang the Physician
Prerequisite: Complete Trip in Pingkang
Reward: Refined Bear-Snake Pill, Refined Bear-Snake Pill Spagirism, Jiugong Furnace

(Quick note: Although you can try this quest out relatively early in Wandering Sword, you should hold off until your characters on average have over 2,500 HP. You'll be visiting some very dangerous locations. Don't expect to complete this quest all in one go.)

In order to trigger this side quest you must first complete the main story quest Trip in Pingkang, which, unsurprisingly, takes place in Pingkang City. Once you've brought Mr. Li to justice - one form of it or another - you can find the petitioner for this quest in the Pingkang Herb Shop, among the southern buildings in the east of the city.


The owner, Zhang, is trying to make Refined Bear-Snake Pills, but he's lacking a few ingredients. He wants you to pick them up for him. Zhang requires two different types of ingredients:
  • Five Snake Gallbladders. You'll can pick up these anywhere there are Snakes. You probably picked up a bunch while in the Cave in the Mountain, at the beginning of the game, but if you didn't - or if you sold them off - you'll find the Murkwood, north of Pingkang City, to be a slightly quicker trip.
  • Three Bear Gallbladders. The quest screen will point you towards the Precipice, to the northwest of Pingkang City, for these items. You'll find the Rabid Bears near the top of the Precipice, just before reaching the summit. They're powerful enemies with around 4,000 HP apiece, so expect a long fight.

Bring the gallbladders back to Zhang and he'll immediately make another request for ingredients:
  • Three Shouwu. You can find this herb in the Cave of Tribulations. The cave is south of Pingkang City, past Qinghe Village and a short walk south of Qianling Pier. You won't find any Shouwn until you've walked deep into the east end of the cave, where there are a few samples near the Treasury. This place is lousy with Bandits, so don't enter unprepared for a fight... or several dozen.
  • One Lingzhi. This herb is located in the White Tortoise Cave. The cave is to the northeast of Pingkang City, north of Yanfu Town. The enemies here are quite a bit tougher than those in the Cave of Tribulations, but there's more room to maneuver - and you don't need to go quite as far into this cave to find the Linghzi, which is on the west end of the first large roundabout.

Return to Zhang with the herbs. You'll discover that he... blew up his furnace. Ugh. He needs a new one, and wants to borrow the furnace belonging to Master Daoxuan, of the Wudang Sect. Daoxuan is in front of the building that's up the stairs from the Disciples' Dorms. He'll give you his Jiugong Furnace. Take it to Zhang... and... and...

... he needs Cinnabar. UGH. You'll need to Forge five bars of Cinnabar, which requires two ingredients:
  • Five pieces of Cinnabar Ore. You can find it in Petalsfall Forest, almost directly south of Pingkang City, or on Mount Tigeroar, to the southeast. Both have dangerous enemies, but it's much easier to avoid fights in Petalsfall Forest, where the paths are wider. (Alas, unless you're willing to wait for the Cinnabar to regenerate you'll have to visit both to get enough.) Note that you can find some Cinnabar Ore hidden in a chest just outside Pingkang's Casino, which will save you a bit of travel time.
  • Five pieces of Coal. Coal is found all over the place. The closest (and easiest-to-traverse) is probably Mount Wanzi, to the east. You'll need to raise your Forging level to 2 to make Cinnabar, so make sure you collect enough Coal to make some other stuff if this is your first time.

Take these items to a blacksmith and forge yourself five bars of Cinnabar. Turn them in to Zhang and he'll finally, finally complete his Refined Bear-Snake Pills. He'll tell you to take one of the pills, as well as the furnace, back to Daoxuan. The Refined Bear-Snake Pills permanently add 3 Strength and 3 Constitution to their user, making them quite tempting...

... but don't eat them yet. Head back to Daoxuan and give him the furnace. If you don't have any pills in your inventory the quest ends there. If you do, however, Daoxuan will give you an extra treat: Floral Pills and the Floral Pill Spagirism. Floral Pills permanently boost HP and MP, and are just as handy as the Bear-Snake Pills in the long run.