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48.44% Learning To Live As A Cultivator / Chapter 156: Chapter One Hundred And Fifty Six - We discuss plans over tea

Chapter 156: Chapter One Hundred And Fifty Six - We discuss plans over tea

The two variant pills were tentatively named the Smouldering Energy Pill and the Erupting Energy Pill. The prototypes were naturally of interest to Ursam, he even felt that the best place to sell these new pills might not be his shop, but the Treasure Pavilion Auction House. However, there were concerns that the impurities within them were too high and that might cause a low profit or worse, lack of interest. Thus the first thing was to lower these, which was within Leon's capabilities; these pills contained Purple Spirit grass from the school which could be substituted for a better quality of grass and he had also used no sunsweet clover which was known to reduce impurities.

But before Ursam could discuss terms with Leon, he realised that Leon had not finished surprising him yet. There were six other jade bottles before him. These contained the clear spiritual pill and variants and the Cloudy spiritual pills and their variants. The variations were not as exciting nor as dramatic as those of the Burning Energy Pills. The first variant was filled with gentle, pure energy that was also low in impurities, but the quantities were smaller than the standard pills. The other was filled with spiritual energy, but it was raw and potentially harmful to the meridians. Ursam felt that if Leon had the ability to refine the latter further, the improved pill would storm the market, much like the mysterious improved Blood Pills that Pharmacist Clawse had managed to obtain. It seemed that Ursam was not aware that Leon was responsible for those.

Leon said he would think over it more and discussions moved back to the Energy Pills. "Seeing as you have made changes to Cloudy Spiritual Pills," Ursam grinned and leaned forward as he spoke, "What are the chances of making variant Burning Blood Pills?"

Leon hadn't actually practiced making the standard Burning Blood Pill, but if he recalled, the main ingredient was still Mothtail leaves, thus altering them just as he had with Burning Energy Pills shouldn't be too difficult in the long run. But he would need to learn and practice making the original first. "I th-think it is p-p-possible," Leon replied, his heading nodding as he spoke.

His hands were grabbed by Ursam. "Adorable and talented! I like you!" The man teased, his eyes slyly sliding over to watch Jin Li's face turn rather sour. However, before the youth could physically express his displeasure, a black slippered foot squashed Ursam's nose flat and pushed him backwards.

Ursam's wife, Lia, stood in front of them, balanced upon her other foot and holding a tray with cups and a pot of tea. "My apologies," the woman smiled warmly at the two youths as she placed her foot back onto the ground and then placed the tray upon the table. "I'm all ou' of honey, so I hope you don' mind your tea plain."

"N-no, it's fine," Leon reassured her, taking the offered beverage.

"Thank you," Jin Li said politely.

Ursam counted the available cups. "Wife, where is mine?" He asked with a pouting whine.

"You know where the kitchen is," she told him bluntly, as she sat upon a free stool. He rose from his seat, grumbling and went to grab himself a cup. "Please excuse my husband, he was born with tha' condition."

"Wife, what are you saying?!" Ursam asked with a yell. A cultivator's hearing was much more developed than a normal person's and he could easily hear every word she said.

"I'm sayin' tha' you are a hopeless pervert," she replied, sipping her tea. "Don' you think I've forgotten how you were chasing after my brother when we happened to meet. Yellin' to him about wantin' to dual cultivate in front of our siblings an' everythin'!"

"Ah yes," Ursam mused as he returned to the room, cup in hand. "Seeing you charge fearlessly up to me with a plank of wood in hand and fury in your eyes, I fell for you completely." He sighed with a blissful expression as he rejoined them. Leon and Jin Li couldn't help but share a glance. "Ah yes, Wife, you probably know better than me, when is the next Grand Auction? I am thinking that Leon ought to showcase his pills there."

Her eyebrows rose as she both questioned her husband's words as well as thought them over. "I believe tha' would be in about a moon. Four ten days from now."

"After the Five School Market Festival," Jin Li mused aloud.

Ursam chuckled. "Well that's to be expected!" He informed them. "Several of the artefacts traded for amongst students will likely end up at the Treasure Pavilion."

"I d-don't understand," Leon's head tilted slightly to one side as he looked at Jin Li, who had nodded in agreement of Ursam's words.

"Not all students seek money for their wares," Ursam told him, "just as not all students can sell what they make. That and if there is inventory left over the students that made the things might seek to dispose of them. Are you two going to participate in the Festival?"

"This Lord is a First year," Jin Li admitted, but in truth, he wouldn't have bothered. It might be interesting to see what was available to buy, but as it was all in trade, he would need things to trade in turn. That seemed like much wasted effort to him.

"I d-don't kn-know yet," Leon hadn't thought about it much, but he had been approached by his Master's other apprentices. Teacher Sagi usually encouraged his students to create a stall together, so the likelihood of Leon participating was high.

"Well," Ursam said as he reached for the teapot, "I probably don't need to tell you to avoid trading with the variant pills!"

"I won't," Leon promised. Ursam grinned, more and more pleased with this cute alchemist, after all who didn't like good-looking and obedient things, even if they could only be business partners in the long run? He tipped up the teapot to pour the hot, flavourful liquid into his cup, only to find it empty. Ursam sighed and looked pitifully at his wife, whose only response was to say;

"Don' look at me."

With another pout of a long 'suffering' husband, he shuffled once more into the kitchen, to brew a fresh pot.


Chapter 157: Chapter One Hundred And Fifty Seven - I want to make Burning Blood Pills

As the two youths left the small pill shop, Jin Li couldn't help but turn back and ask of Lia; "Why did you marry the likes of him?" After all, this man had originally wanted her brother.

Lia smiled and replied honestly; "He pursued me with gifts and the like for close t' two years. But it was likely when he said he would give up cultivatin' to live a mortal's life with me tha' did it. Who wouldn' have their head turned by a man who promised to give up on immortality for them?"

Jin Li thought about this for a moment and gave the woman a curt nod. It was quite the sacrifice. Would he ever consider sacrificing so much for his small alchemist? His eyes unknowingly softened as Leon glanced up at him with his large black eyes, twinkling in the light of the sun and wondered about this for a moment, before both youths bid Lia farewell.

*****

When they arrived back at the small hut much later, for they had ended up spending a whole silver on a delicious, hearty and very large meal (around 80% of which fell into Jin Li's stomach), Sun was waiting with them with instructions from the Martial Arts school; it was time for Jin Li to return. Sun's Master had covered for him enough and was unable to stretch the time of his absence any longer. Jin Li did not like this, but had no ability to refute. It was with ground teeth that he followed Sun back to the school, but not before turning his small alchemist to breathless mush with a sneaky, devouring kiss.

Leon could only pant with a bit of heartache and some relief as he watched his Martial Artist disappear into the distance.

And the following day, he also returned to school.

Teacher Sagi welcomed him back and naturally asked after his health. Leon moved his arm freely. "It's fine n-now," he reassured his Teacher.

The man sighed with some relief and smiled, warmly. "I hadn't any plans for you today," he admitted, after all, the explosion had been quite the shock and many an alchemist student wavered before a cauldron in the aftermath of similar accidents. But although this incident was one caused not by Leon's making, it was a fact that explosions and alchemy went hand in hand. If a budding alchemist was of weak resolve, such set backs could make them question their path and many would give up the craft completely.

"That's alright," Leon replied and thought about his discussions with Ursam from the day before. "I want t-to try m-m-make B-Burning B-Blood Pills."

Teacher Sagi's smile widened and the weight of uncertainty fell from his shoulders. "Good," he said with a slight sigh. "That is good. Come, gather the ingredients with me and a new cauldron."

Burning Blood Pills had similar effects of their lesser cousin Burning Energy Pills, but were for Cultivators of the Second and Third Stage. They could catapult a Cultivator into having an ability of a freshly broken through Fourth Stage Cultivator at best, or half-step toward at worst. This was a great boost for combative Cultivators and Leon was hoping that variants could be made like the Burning Energy Pills. However as difficult as Leon had originally found making Cloudy Spiritual Pills, it was said (by fellow students) that making Burning Blood Pills was even harder.

This in part, might be due to the number of ingredients. Cloudy Spiritual Pills required five herbs in order to make them as well as many steps to focus upon in their creation. Burning Blood Pills required seven herbs and some of these required their own refining treatment before the steps of the pill itself could be followed. Honeyvine, Mothtail, Cloud Fern and Weasel Bane were all common herbs and could be dug up from the charmed fields located behind the Herb Hall. Salamander's breath poppies and Rusted Thyme-wort were uncommon plants and could be found in protected gardens, close to Teacher Sagi's home. Songmist moss could also be found here.

Just like the entrance to the fields, the entrance to the gardens were through an archway that only allowed those with permission to walk through. Those with permission had to walk through the fields first. The gardens were split into five spaces, each space corresponding to an element that the herbs could be considered as closest too. For example, herbs in the area with rich, dark soil was the area of Earth and the area with ponds and moving water both shallow and deep and both hot and icy cold, was the zone of water. Fire was linked with a dusty environment of sand and even an enchanted area bubbling with hot molten lava, its solidified outer earth nurturing a few strange looking herbs. For the element of Wood, the untamed land filled with trees and herbs that would not look out of place in the wilder forests close to Leon's home dwelled. And perhaps strangely or not so, in the area of metal, the area was sparse and filled with sizeable rocks, with herbs growing within the cracks of them. While this seemed at first glance to be as much of Earth as the one originally pointed out, Teacher Sagi explained that these rocks and the soil was filled with metallic minerals, that the few herbs needed and thrived in.

Rusted Thyme-wort was one of these and not so strangely, Salamander's breath poppies were to be found in the area of fire. And though it was considered a common herb, Songmist Moss was grown in the area of Wood. It was not so much that it was associated with the element (most common herbs had no such association growing as and where they will), but Songmist Moss had the unusualness that it was a parasitic herb and grew upon established trees, though it never stretched further than the lowest branch.

Leon and his Teacher collected all of these things, with Teacher Sagi expressing all of his knowledge about the various herbs as they did, before they made their way to the Herb Hall to find Leon a new cauldron.


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