"Then we can start. I need Qi Gathering Grass and Pure Water Grass. I will be making a Rank 2 Pill with those." Ye Ming explained to Jiang Mengxue after he confirmed that she accepted his proposal.
"Those are easy to get!" The girl looked ecstatic to hear that the ingredients were very cheap and easy to come by!
"Then send some of your girls to collect." The Alchemist suggested to her.
"No need! I think we have some." She swiftly left the house and gathered her girls.
In the meantime, Ye Ming waited inside the house. His mind wandered to what he got himself into. The moment he showed even a bit of talent, things escalated in the strangest of ways.
A bit later, she returned while holding piles of these two herbs.
"We have been collecting the pure water herb for the kitchen; never imagined it had some other uses."
She brought over the herbs and placed them on the table next to the cauldron.
"While the Qi Gathering Herbs are self-explanatory." Jiang Mengxue said with a knowing look.
The most common herb and the most harvested in the Sect, and most likely in the whole land.
The basic herb is a key ingredient in many pills. In most Rank 2 pills and most likely Rank 3, as it gives that extra potency and Qi to other herbs that could lack it.
"Good enough, then let’s start it."
He nodded at the amount she brought; this should be enough for several purifying pills.
Ye Ming walked over and began the process. The alchemist flames came to life as he dropped the Qi Gathering herbs first. The fire burned away the impurities, turning the contents into a liquid essence before adding the Pure Water Herbs.
With one hand, he held the Qi Gathering essence, while the other hand melted the herb into pure Qi. Then, to fuse both, he used his new signature move, the vortex merger.
In less than five minutes, the Rank Two pill was created.
"Here it is." The pill floated out of the cauldron and into his hand. He showed her his creation.
"..." Her eyes were transfixed on the pill.
"Amazing, you did it so easily!" Jiang Mengxue was certain that the process should take longer! Or at least that is what the Alchemist Association always tells her.
"The herbs are easy to work with." He shrugged before handing it over to her.
"You do need to do this in a bath or in a water stream because the pill removes the impurities from your meridians...
And trust me, you won’t like it." He explained that, while having a flashback of the experience, it’s quite something else.
"I-I see... I will return after consuming the pill." She said with a serious nod.
"I won’t run away after getting this." Jiang Mengxue assured him.
Ye Ming chuckled. He trusted her not to run away. By this point, he was well aware that she needed him far more than he needed her.
~~~
Liu Li was a Princess of a Mortal Empire. However, like any other empire, it rose and fell; the Liu Dynasty was one of those.
Constant infighting, her siblings scheming for the throne, and ambitious sects caused her family’s ruin at the hands of the Jin Dynasty. A neighbouring power exploited her family’s weakness to invade and take over.
Immortal Sects that reigned above them didn’t care. Mortal nations rise and fall constantly; to them, it was just another change of the seasons.
But not for her; the things she had to experience to survive and end up in this small sect made her hate Jin more than ever.
All she wanted was revenge and to end that Dynasty!
Yet, her plot for revenge ended the moment she started cultivating. Her talent was mediocre, and while hard work helped her somewhat, she would never become a Core Disciple. She has been stuck in Stage Six of Qi Gathering for months now with no signs of a breakthrough.
That is why she ended up joining Jiang Mengxue, the daughter of the Sect Master. With this girl at her side, she had greater chances to break through her bottlenecks.
Turns out she made the right choice; this small Sect produced an Alchemist. Even in her Empire, those are rare and few and far between.
’This is destiny; I won’t let it slip through my fingers.’
Once she got a blue Storage Ring, of course, not by using her Contribution Points or Qi Stones, but Jiang Mengxue’s. Liu Li has access to her leader’s assets, the perks of being her follower.
The Fallen Princess returned to the Alchemist’s humble house.
She walked over and knocked on the door, noticing that her fellow followers were not there.
She wanted him to open the door.
"Master Ming, your ring." Liu Li held up a ring in her palm, offering it to him.
Ye Ming picked it up soundlessly, inspecting the accessory. There was a small, awed expression on his face. She was just like him when she got her first Storage Ring years ago.
"Umm... Master Ming, where is Mistress Mengxue?" The Fallen Princess asked the Alchemist.
"At the water stream in that direction, she is consuming one of my pills."
"I see, you have my thanks for telling me." With that said, she swiftly left. Her goal is to see the pill’s effects in person.
Less than a couple of minutes later, she found the stream, and soon enough, she found other girls.
"Liu Li, did you get the ring Master Ming requested?" A cold beauty named Wu Bingyue asked. This was a girl with a similar story to hers. Clan politics made her run away. Only it’s worse; she has a reason for such a cold front. Her clan was betrayed and sold out to the Deviant Clan.
Deviant Clan is a definition of a clan, sect or theocracy that practises evil arts like pillaging cultivation, using women as cultivation cauldrons. In Wu Bingyue’s case, it was women as cauldrons. A travelling Deviant Clan member noticed her and her mother, leading to an attack.
Deviant Clans, by nature, are few, but they are strong individually. A single man was enough to wreck the whole Clan, causing her to run away. The girl had no idea what happened to her mother or father; they stayed behind to cover her escape.
"Yes, he told me that this is where Mistress Mengxue is testing out the pill?" Liu Li was a bit confused about why such a specific location was chosen.
"She is." With a nod, the cold girl motioned for them to follow her.
The pair walked deeper, where they found the black-haired girl sitting in lotus position; they could tell some sort of energy was circulating around her.
Bit by bit, they saw black substance leave her body.
"...What is that?" Liu Li asked with a bit of disgust.
"Impurities from her meridians." Wu Bingyue said with a hint of awe. If what she said is true... then what Ye Ming created is groundbreaking!
"...impurities... from Meridians?" It took a couple of moments for Liu Li to grasp the consequences of that!
"...If that is true... then it would remove the bottle—"
At that moment, Jiang Mengxue had a breakthrough as she reached Stage Nine of Qi Gathering!
"S-She finally had a breakthrough!" The Cold beauty exclaimed in surprise and relief.
"Then that pill is a real deal! It can remove our bottlenecks!" Liu Li commented with disbelief. If she got one of these, could she continue cultivating and finally reach the Foundation Realm?
"Indeed." Wu Bingyun’s eyes gleamed; there was a certain desire in her eyes.
"Do you know what kind of pill it is?" Liu Li asked.
"...all I know is that we need Qi Gathering Herbs and Pure Water Grass."
"...That’s it?" The Fallen Princess asked with a barely controlled expression. Those two are two of the most commonly found herbs in the land! Any location with a decently higher saturation of Qi will lead to Qi Gathering herbs growing in stacks, while Pure Water Grass is commonly found in pure water streams.
"I can only assume it’s because of the alchemy method Master Ming is using." Liu Li concluded that, as she had met several alchemists in her lifetime back in the Liu Empire, she had never even once heard that this grass had any uses.
"Indeed, and he became one recently; I have no doubt he will be a legendary Alchemist!" Wu Bingyun showed a small smile.
’We will see. Talent or not, one needs luck as well. People will flock... good or bad...’ Liu Li knew well what greed and ambition can do to people.
"Ewww! Disgusting!" Jiang Mengxue scrambled to her feet as she jumped into the water stream.
"Mistress Mengxue!"
The girls rushed to her side.
~~~
Ye Ming was a bit conflicted about sharing his prized pill like that. He knew it could turn some heads with its effects.
’Well... we will see...’ He frowned for a bit as he left his humble home and walked to the Contribution Hall. He needed to sell those pills.
Though, since he got the storage ring, he would sell half of what he intended at first.
As he walked toward the Hall, he noticed one monumental change. People were paying attention to him!
Girls were waving their hands at him; some of them were flirty, while the males would bow to him respectfully.
’Is this where the whole looked wrongly at me, and I kill you thing originated? I recalled some of the memes back on Earth.’
With a bit of amusement, he arrived at the hall, and he went to the same receptionist girl.
He was about to wait in line, but people scrambled to give him way.
Ye Ming was speechless for a second. He was in no hurry! There was no need to cut the line!
’Fine, whatever...’
The alchemist took a couple of steps and stood in front of the counter.
"Master Ming! Thank you for visiting us again. Is there anything I could do for you?" The receptionist smiled brightly, showing her friendly disposition.
"Yes, I am here to sell these."
With a hand motion, five pills appeared on the counter.
"More Qi Gathering pills! Wonderful!" She inspected them for a second.
"Top grade as well... impressive. As discussed before, you are given the full price for them. In total, you will get 500 Qi Stones and five thousand Contribution points."
Moments later, the stones were brought over in a leather bag, and the points were transferred to his Sect Token.
All of a sudden, Ye Ming was quite rich.
"Many thanks—"
"Call me Yanyan, please come again soon, Master Ming." The receptionist girl winked at him.
’Is she flirting with me now?’
The Alchemist didn’t realise yet, but this is her job; the better she performs, the more of a cut she gets. The more Ye Ming exchanges at her counter, the more contribution points and Qi stones she will get.
Just like now, that single transaction earned her a commission of five stones and 50 contribution points. That alone is her whole day’s income.
Still, he likes her and might as well make her his exclusive receptionist.
Now that he was feeling richer, Ye Ming went back to his humble abode.
He quickly noticed that the girls were back. They were camping in the area.
The moment they saw him, they respectfully nodded; there was a certain look in their eyes now. Desire? Greed? Ambition? Maybe all of them and more.
The Alchemist nodded back as he walked into his house.
What he saw was Jiang Mengxue lying on his bed, waiting for him.
"Master Ming. Your pill has worked wonderfully. I experienced a breakthrough." She smiled as she moved into a sitting position.
"I see. I am happy to hear that it did what it should have." Ye Ming smiled back at her as he walked farther into his house, closing the door behind him.
"More than that. I can feel that I can cultivate faster now." The daughter of the Sect Master could barely contain what she was feeling.
"Is that so? Then what are you going to do now?" The Alchemist asked with a suggestive smile.
"What I have promised." She motioned for him to come over.