Teacher Sagi had been sufficiently pleased with the ten Cloudy Spiritual pills that Leon gave to him and even more so with the Still Mind Pills which had reduced impurities if compared to a standard Still Mind Pills. Even one concocted by himself might be of exceptional quality, but retain the expected amount of impurities. Naturally, he wanted to know how Leon had accomplished this.
Leon admitted he wasn't sure, it had been his first time concocting the pills after all. So the Teacher had him recite the recipe he used, patiently listening as Leon nervously stuttered through it, but the Teacher could see no differences in his method to the written one. So Teacher Sagi considered this again for a moment and then asked about the Serene Milk salts. Again Leon had to tell him the method he had used and it was here that the difference became apparent.
It was not the keg being used, though Teacher Sagi was surprised that Leon had purchased his own. Admittedly, apprentices in the outer school had limited access to supplementary equipment such as this and pill making stoves (to which they never touched at all) , most students had to rely on using their cauldron or a borrowed second. But even if kegs were readily available to perhaps second years and above, they would not reduce the number of impurities, just stop them from increasing!
What Leon had done to achieve this difference was such an insignificant step, yet exciting the same to an old hand like Teacher Sagi and this was to boil the water first!
Commoners had been boiling water to make it safe to drink for centuries that or they would brew beer, mead and wines to drink rather than risk illness. Wealthy folk relied on others to produce water for them, that had likely been treated before consumption and they would not know any better. Whether it was fair or not, for those centuries, the vast majority of alchemists stemmed from wealthier families. Even had they not, newcomers would follow the teachings of their Masters and not consider deviating from the recipe. Older Cultivators that had experience could fast and poor water would not effect them regardless, so boiling had become unnecessary and they would not think of all it could hide. Thus this one little additional step had never been considered for pill making.
Teacher Sagi excitedly dismissed Leon after praising him profusely, wanting to test the Serene Milk salts recipe for himself and the subsequent pill recipes that required it as an ingredient. He said that Leon's four days were well earned and to come see him at the start of the next week. Leon thanked him and agreed, also wanting to scurry back to work on his own experiments.
Leon had stuck to making the two basic variations; burning energy pills and clear Spiritual pills before batching them into three. Each had one pill of each extreme and a standard pill. For example; the burning energy pills he had made were either a vivid, scarlet red, a mottled pill with various shades of red or a deep, dark burgundy colour. The first was a pill using only the bright red petal-leaves, the last was produced with just green leaves. And the mottled pill was what the burning energy pill usually looked like. He had never made burning blood pills, the slightly stronger variation of this pill that would be of use to cultivators of both Sun and Jin Li's levels, so didn't want to experiment with them yet.
As for the clear spiritual pills, these were all like clear marbles, however the one made of all tender roots appeared as if it had been polished until gleaming and the one made of all woody roots looked a little distorted within. It had definitely been more work using the woody roots as well, they did not dissolve as well or as easily as the tender roots, needing just a little more heat beneath them. This meant he had to carefully separate them from the rest of the herbs or they would cause the whole pot to fail. He'd never noticed this before as it seemed the tender roots would set off the reaction in the woody roots making this tiny difference unnecessary when using a standard recipe.
With this knowledge, he had also made a few sets of Cloudy Spiritual pills using the three variations. The first pill came out with a soft translucency, the standard pill was more like swirling mist and the last was almost smoky. Leon sighed looking over the three pills and their variations once more; he knew there was likely a difference between pills, but he had no clue on how to judge this. Unlike the pills Leo had improved, these could not be tested on animals nor beasts, the pills were for human cultivators thus really needed human test subjects. But Leon had not the heart to test these pills on anyone or anything!
Pouting, he pushed the problem aside, thinking he would consider the situation again in the morning. Perhaps he could ask Jin Li if he had any ideas, but knowing that man he would likely suggest threatening first years into taking them!
Jin Li sneezed while contemplating how to resolve his own recent issue... who was talking ill of him...?
2 of 2
He didn't expect it and yet he did expect it; the moment Jin Li turned up in his dusty courtyard.
Leon was picking out the weeds that had begun to grow on the hard ground, while thinking a few flagstones might be nice out here when the man suddenly appeared before him. He stood, as tall and regal looking as usual wearing those silks with the koi embroidery that Leon had first seen him in, though they were looking a little more worn and frayed now. But this failed to detract from his aura. His long, silky black hair partially cloaked his back as the wind gently breezed past, separating the strands as it did so. The scarlet red jade in holding the upper part of his hair in place was a vivid contrast. Leon felt his heart skip a beat then sped up.
Swallowing to moisten his throat, he voiced a slightly cracked greeting; "G-good morning."
Jin Li nodded his head in response and what followed was an awkward pause. The matter that had occurred almost a ten day ago was not quite resolved between them. After Leon had carefully brushed and helped pin his midnight hair upon his head, blushing all the while; Jin Li had voiced in his usual way a 'well, I guess it will do' before bidding his good evening and leaving for the martial arts school.
However, seeing Jin Li standing there, gripping his sword handle until his knuckles had turned white, Leon decided to break the silence. "W-What is wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong," Jin Li automatically denied, before adding; "This lord simply has a request to make of you. Let me be clear that it is nothing important though."
"Alright," Leon said, wiping the dust from his robes and approaching the man, who remained standing beside the hut. "Would you l-like a c-cup of t-tea?"
"En," Jin Li agreed and followed him inside. The silence stretched onward as the kettle was boiled and tea brewed. Sugar biscuits were placed upon the table. They had been a little extra something given to him by Mino's mother (along with other food supplies) after he had eaten at the Food Hall the other day, although a few had been swiped by Maimai. The girl had been seated with him, chatting away happily about this and that, when the treat had been offered. Maimai had asked for nothing, not even as they walked back to their respective dwellings, merely had stolen a couple from his basket before laughing and closing her door leaving him to frown and shake his head. He would have shared with her, as she was his friend, if she had only asked!
By the time the tea had been brewed, only one biscuit remained, the rest were consigned to that Lord's stomach.
Tea poured, Leon asked him what it was he needed. Jin Li looked just a little in thought as he pondered on his words before eventually saying; "My talisman was lost, make this lord a replacement!"
Leon tilted his head, his eyes flickering to the sword tassel that now was alone on the handle of the blade. Without questioning the phrasing of the words, Leon reached for his knife and a reasonable solid piece of wood and let his hands begin to shape it. He was happy enough that Jin Li requested he carve another. This meant he had liked it, right? "H-how was it l-lost?" He asked as the koi began to take shape. It was slightly more curved than the original, as if it was slipping through water more fluidly and its fins and tail were a little more flamboyant.
"A runty little beast stole away with it," Jin Li grumbled as he sat at the small table, his elbow upon it as he watched Leon carve. Leon felt that that was not much of an answer, but the men lapsed into silence as Leon poured more attention upon the carving, gently detailing its scales, gills and eyes before slowly bringing more life to its delicate tail and fins. Jin Li unknowingly began to smile, contentedly. It seemed that the alchemists carving skills had improved a little more. This koi was more attractive than the last and was not just detailed upon one side, unlike the other. The strange symbol was also formed of it's scales this time, instead of simply carved into flat wood.
"What does that symbol mean?" Jin Li asked this time, causing Leon to realise that he had added the symbol without thought. In fact, he had added two, one on each side.
"Oh," Leon looked at both. "St-strength and f-f-fortitude." He had carved 'good fortune' last time and Jin Li had still lost it! He couldn't help but smile over that thought. "H-here." He offered the finished koi to the man, who happily attached it to the handle of his blade.
Leon's stomach began to rumble and he quickly came to realise that a few hours had passed since he began. Jin Li had finished the remaining biscuits and tea, though his own was stone cold within his cup. He had a little bread and meat remaining from yesterday, so he formed a couple of simple sandwiches before cutting some vegetables to boil into a soup.
"Staying f-f-for lunch?" Leon asked as he placed the sandwiches upon the table and took one to take the edge off of his hunger.
"You owe this Lord for making him wait so long," Jin Li stated, before devouring one of the remaining ones. They ate quietly, but neither sat still for long as Leon finished preparing the soup and Jin Li fidgeted uncomfortably after watching Leon lick his lips after tasting the soup. He couldn't help recall how those lips felt pressed against his own... he inwardly cursed. He had thought that he'd managed to resolve those strange thoughts this week and now realised that he had failed. What to do...
Once they had finished eating, Leon then began to clear the dishes, placing them onto his workspace next to his largest bowl, which he filled with soap and water.
Jin Li stood up a moment later, a slightly wicked glint in his eyes. "Come here," he demanded of Leon, who innocently did as instructed, moving closer until he stood, looking up at the man, curiously. Jin Li moved swiftly covering Leon's lips with his own before Leon could even wonder at what he wanted of him. Jin Li stepped back a moment later, satisfied yet somewhat unsatisfied at the same time. "This is how you expressed your thanks to me that time, so I will do the same," he declared of his actions.
Leon blinked a few times, gaping a little like the koi fish dangling from the sword.
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GOT IT