Alchemist In A Cultivation Realm

Chapter 10

Yuan's POV

The sizzling of food filled my ears, as I stirred the large pot of vegetables around, occasionally picking up a couple of logs to throw into the campfire I’d made.

“Got anything Labby?” I asked the little rat, and got a squeak as my reply. Labby ran closer, a little plant filled with Qi in its mouth.

“Good boy!” I praised Labby, petting him once before I let him back out again. I stored the herb into my pouch, as I put my attention back to my lunch.

I’d come out into the little forest area near the backside of the sect. The Cloudy Peak sect, quite aptly with its name, was situated on two cloudy hills. The smaller hill being the outer sect where I was, and the larger one being the inner sect compound.

The amount of land combined under the sect’s control was massive, spanning around both hills as it spread into a forest. All of which was within the Sect’s premises. The city outside was a five minute walk away.

I’d decided to spend my ‘Cultivation’ time, to do something far more productive, and gather some spirit herbs. Labby had proven his worth as he’d quickly sniffed out the spirit herbs among the regular plants and herbs.

The spirit herbs I’d gathered were not potent, unlike what the spirit garden would produce. These wild spirit plants had minimal Qi in them, and were quite weak, but they were also relatively easily found. Making them perfect for any testing I wanted to do.

I stirred the vegetables and meat fry once more, as its scent filled my nostrils.

“Nothing quite like campfire food,” I muttered, smiling as I hummed some random song under my breath. I sprinkled some of the spirit herbs into the food. Any outer disciple would’ve gasped in horror at that, but I found myself not caring too much. Labby had gotten me quite a few spirit herbs today, enough to create the needed pills for my deal with Su Lin and have a few spare for testing as well.

I picked up my bowl, sitting next to me on the grass, as with a flick of my wrist I made the fire go away. I smiled smugly at the little trick I’d learned from the Old Man for starting the fire under the cauldron.

Starting the fire was quite simple, all I had to do was focus on where I wanted to concentrate my Qi, and envision it turning warm. The Qi would then provide enough energy to start combustion in whatever fuel you were providing it.

The process made me wonder how exactly the energy transfer would work, and further questions on how people even controlled their Qi anyways, but I wasn’t going to be solving all mysteries in one day was I?

Putting out the flame had been a bit more tricky. I had to direct my Qi fast enough over the flames that a layer formed for an instant over the wood, cutting the oxygen supply as the fire died instantly.

I served myself the fried meat and vegetables, taking a little bowl out for Labby as well. A gentle breeze blowing through the grassy plains brought a smile to my face. The air here was much fresher, and I could feel the Qi of the land around me. No doubt, the sect had been located here due to the Qi present in its environments.

Labby ran closer with another squeak, carrying a cut off herb. I saw a few chewed leaves at the end, and shook my head as I took the herb from its mouth, and gave it a pet in thanks.

“You can eat the food too, if you want to,” I said, holding out another small bowl of my homemade recipe of stir-fry poor college student edition. His little nose twitched a couple times as he inspected the food, before Labby dug in.

I sighed contently, as I ate my lunch out in the open. A couple of animals curiously walked by from the denser tree groves nearby, but none were curious enough to come out into the open grasslands.

I ate my food, soaking in the sights around me, as I marvelled at the mystical magic of Qi that flowed all over this place. Following a whim, I took out my notes, taking a look under the section where I’d tried to test on the spirit herbs, to see if I could make them grow faster with Qi or not.

I stared at the problems, the drying leaves, the shimmering energy, and a whole bunch of messy notes that I’d written. I leafed through the pages, my eyes wandering over the text yet not reading them.

An instinct called out to me, and I began to channel my Qi. It swirled in my dantian, rotating in circles, the Qi of the land began to soak into my veins, as I kept reading through my notes. Idly making remarks on portions.

Time flew by in a daze, as I heard the wind tell me something. There was something wrong with my Qi. I frowned, still lost in a strange trance, as the words faded across the wind. I absently held a quill in my hand, writing something down, as the answer became obvious.

Two circles, one flowing into the other. Like an infinite never ending loop. I changed the pattern, and something shifted inside of me.

One circle… Two circles…

The Qi swirled.

Fifteen circles… Sixteen circles…

Something began to form in my dantian.

Eighty circles… Eighty one circles…

With a pop, the Qi settled down, as my sight came back into focus. The Qi within my Dantian changed, and as if with a sigh, the Qi of the land began to flow into me. I sat there, letting the wind flow through my hair for a while before my mind finally broke free of the daze it had been stuck in.

I looked down, and found Labby sleeping quietly on my lap. I smiled, gently petting his head as I put the rat into the herb basket. Stretching my limbs out, I stood up.

I looked at the sky, noticing the high mid-day sun as I realised that it had been hours since I’d started.

“Must’ve lost track of time… I had felt that writing in my notes was strangely meditative but wow.” I heard Labby squeak, as he woke up, peeking over the basket.

“Yeah, little buddy. Sorry about the delay. Let’s go now,” I said, packing my stuff up, and clearing up my little campfire, when something caught my attention.

“Is the grass longer here?” I said out loud, staring at the grass under my feet. For a few feet around me, the grass seemed marginally longer than everywhere else. I looked around once more, as the wind bent the grass, merging them all into a single green blanket. I shrugged once, chalking it up to an optical illusion of some kind.

Labby chittered, playing with the spirit herbs as one sat on its head like a crown made from one single leaf. I laughed, feeling strangely at peace.

A smile adorned my face as I looked at the basket of spirit herbs in my hand.

It was time to do some Alchemy experiments.