Alchemist In A Cultivation Realm

Chapter 7: Spirit Gardens II

He smiled as he watched Su Lin go still. The spirit herbs garden maintained by the sect was one of the most guarded locations in the outer sect. And one of the more difficult places to enter.

“And what if I do?” Su Lin said, setting his broom aside as he turned toward him, standing completely straight for once.

He struggled to hold his smile back, as his guess was proved right.

“I may have something that could benefit both of us,” he said, digging into his pocket as he took out a single Qi refilling pill.

He watched Su Lin’s eyes shift toward the Qi refilling pill as they widened in surprise. Outer sect disciples only got elixirs and pills for the first month. If they showed no signs of talent, then their support was cut off. Someone like him carrying pills around had a very specific image from an outsider’s perspective.

Su Lin thought he was stealing them.

“I’ve got more. But I need spirit herbs. You bring me spirit herbs and I give you five of these. You get to keep one fourth of the money. And if I can trust you, then I also have some more potent pills lying around.” He put the pill back in his pouch, tapping it lightly as he sent a pulse of Qi into it. A strong Qi presence similar to a high grade first circle pill drifted out, and he watched Su Lin’s nose twitch. The bait was set.

“Near the second tree, next to the outer walls. Every seven days during the evening’s work,” Su Lin said quickly, turning around as he began walking away without taking a single glance back.

He stood at the same spot for a few moments before heading toward his chamber, letting out a sigh of relief.

The pill had been a bluff. The Qi refilling pill was the only one he’d successfully crafted in the last four days of work, out of the fourteen times he’d tried making them. Manipulating Qi was ridiculously tough and he still hadn’t found the optimal conditions required to make them. A lot more testing was needed.

The single pill he did succeed in making had still barely let him break even on the cost. He still took a loss, which he could not afford, but with time he should be able to narrow down the reaction conditions and sustainably churn out pills.

The only problem was gaining a steady supply of spirit herbs. And what the Old Man could afford to give him was very limited. Thus, this alternative method.

He tapped his pouch, glad he carried some of the wasted pills he’d made. A pulse of Qi had broken them up, making them release their own Qi, which briefly made it seem like he was carrying a high grade pill.

He was glad Su Lin hadn’t attacked him or tried to steal the pills. He was a realm higher than Su Lin, but the difference wouldn’t be much considering Su Lin was more physically fit from his long stay in the sect.

It had been a gamble, since he barely knew the guy. But the temptation of higher grade pills seemed strong enough to stop him from acting rashly. It was a good deal too. Su Lin got to triple what he’d earn from selling spirit herbs, with minimal risk.

He pushed thoughts of Su Lin aside as he walked into the now familiar chamber, notes spread all around him with small parchments filled with half scribbled notes in English and some in the local language for words he couldn’t translate.

Something chittered from under the notes and he frowned. A black figure peeked out from beneath one of the books, a piece of paper in its mouth. On instinct, he lunged forward, jumping as he pinned the creature under the sheet before grabbing it in his fist.

He stared at the little rat in his hand as it struggled to escape his grip. No matter how weak he was, he was still a cultivator, and a rat couldn’t break free from his strength.

“So you’re the one who’s been eating all those pills, huh?” he said, glaring at the pest as he finally realised what had been chewing his papers and eating the residue from his Qi pills.

The rat froze, shivering as if it realised it had messed up. He was about to let it go, unwilling to kill it just for feeding itself, when he noticed the tiny bead of Qi at its core.

His eyes widened in surprise as he stared at the rat. The black furred pest squeaked in terror, and a chuckle escaped him. It seemed to realise he could sense what it was.

A grin split his face as he stared at the small treasure in his hand.

He had just caught himself a spirit rat.