"Then there's nothing to be done. When I learn to brew them someday, I'll sell them to you."
Lu Zhiyuan waved and turned to leave.
Once he learned to brew Lightspirit Pills, he would indeed sell them. They were worth more, after all. As for Everfloat Pills, even if he could brew them, he would not sell them.
A man could be innocent and still invite disaster by possessing something valuable. Lu Zhiyuan did not yet have enough combat strength to protect himself.
He could easily be captured and reduced to an alchemist who did nothing but brew pills for others.
Leaving the black market, he shook off several people following him.
As he continued selling Herbal Restoration Pills there, more and more people began following him. Fortunately, his movement art was now well developed. Ordinary people could not keep up.
And mere Herbal Restoration Pills were not enough to attract truly powerful experts.
After taking a few more turns through the county seat, he returned to the courtyard that housed his alchemy room.
He opened his purse. Looking at the gleaming silver inside, he could not help smiling.
Nearly six hundred silver taels. An ordinary person would consider it a fortune, yet he had saved it in only a few days.
Alchemy deserved most of the credit, but his cultivation and movement art were just as impossible to overlook. Without strength, he could not hold on to his money.
His purpose in earning money had always been to steadily increase his combat strength. If he foolishly hoarded it instead, there was no knowing when it might all disappear.
"Panel, simplify Immortal Points the Way!"
"Simplifying Immortal Points the Way... Simplification successful... Immortal Points the Way → Finger Tapping!"
Simplification did not disappoint him. He gently tapped the table with a finger. The next moment, insights into Immortal Points the Way appeared in his mind, and his eyes closed involuntarily.
It was the most profound and intricate sword technique he had ever encountered. The insights he had just gained drew him into complete absorption.
As his fingers tapped unconsciously, the proficiency value for Immortal Points the Way kept increasing on the panel. A slight smile formed on his face: the joy of grasping a subtle art.
Early the next morning, refreshed and alert, Lu Zhiyuan headed to the Tao clan's residence.
[Techniques: Immortal Points the Way (Proficient 201/1000)]
In one night, his proficiency in Immortal Points the Way had reached Proficient, enough to use it in a real fight. It would have been higher still if he had not become so absorbed in the technique's intricacies that he later forgot to keep tapping his fingers.
He was already very satisfied. In a few more days, he expected to reach Perfected proficiency. Then the other martial artists at the Flesh Tempering stage in Stillshade County would probably be no match for him.
This was a sword technique from the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect. Though only one technique, it was far more intricate than those used by the martial artists of Stillshade County.
"Catch a martial artist at the Bone Tempering stage off guard with this sword strike, and I reckon even they'd be in trouble!" Get faster updates on g.com.
He quietly considered Shao Rong, whom he had encountered earlier, and Luo Chenghou from the previous night. If either grew careless, he could indeed inflict a serious wound. After that, a few more uses of Immortal Points the Way might be enough to kill them.
Repeatedly using the same technique made its openings easy to spot, but someone already badly wounded would have little chance to look for them.
Lu Zhiyuan felt a little safer. But that small sense of security was still nowhere near enough. He needed to keep working.
"Young Mistress!"
He entered through the side gate and walked to the separate courtyard. Seeing Tao Yinglan in the pavilion, apparently lost in thought, he called to her from beside it.
"You're here. Sit."
She seemed to know why he had come. Her brow furrowed slightly. "Is this about the formula for Lightspirit Pills?"
"Yes. Please grant it to me, Young Mistress." Lu Zhiyuan cupped his hands.
"I'm afraid I can't give you the formula for Lightspirit Pills." Tao Yinglan hesitated.
"Why? Didn't you promise?"
Lu Zhiyuan frowned. This was not what she had said before. He had even been hunted by Luo Chenghou the previous night because of that formula. Tao Yinglan should know about it.
"Several clan elders feel that the matter of Luo Chenghou remains unresolved. Giving you the formula for Lightspirit Pills for saying a single sentence would be too generous a reward."
She seemed to know she was in the wrong, so she explained patiently and pleasantly.
Lu Zhiyuan's brow tightened, but he said nothing. The Tao clan was taking its anger over Luo Chenghou out on him. He had thought them respectable. Apparently, he had thought too well of them.
"The Tao clan won't treat you unfairly. Even if we gave you the formula for Lightspirit Pills now, you couldn't brew them. You'd be better off taking a different reward."
His silence displeased her, and her voice grew colder.
"What reward would that be?"
He neither made a scene nor argued his case. He knew neither would accomplish anything.
"You can ask for techniques or fine weapons. As long as the request is suitable, you can have them as your reward."
Seeing that he did not persist, Tao Yinglan nodded slightly. That was more appropriate. After all, he might not be a servant of the Tao clan, but he still depended on it for his livelihood. He needed to know his place.
Cultivation methods were not even an option. Only techniques and fine weapons were on offer. The Tao clan kept an iron grip on such matters. That was hardly surprising when it would not even part with a pill formula.
Tao Yinglan nodded and called a servant over, giving a few instructions. Soon, four sword-art manuals lay before Lu Zhiyuan.
"These are all decent manuals. Choose one."
"May I look through each of them?" he asked after a moment's thought.
"You may." She nodded.
Lu Zhiyuan picked up the first manual, Gale Sword Art, and began reading.
Perhaps because he had already gained insight into Immortal Points the Way, many principles of swordsmanship became clear to him immediately as he read.
In only fifteen minutes, he finished the manual. He instinctively looked at the panel, and his eyes brightened.
[Techniques: Gale Sword Art (Uninitiated)]
"Could I get three for free?"
The thought came to him unbidden. He glanced up at Tao Yinglan. Her attention was elsewhere, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
Putting down the manual, he began reading the second sword-art manual.
Fifteen minutes later, he put it down and picked up the third. Another fifteen minutes later, he had finished the fourth manual.
"Finished? Which one do you want?"
Seeing him put down the manual, Tao Yinglan turned to ask.
It had never occurred to her that he could learn the contents of four manuals in so little time. At least ninety percent of martial artists could not do it. Techniques required careful study. Sometimes self-study was not enough, and a master's guidance was necessary.
Fifteen minutes per manual was only enough for a cursory read.
"This one."
Lu Zhiyuan picked up one of the manuals. Tao Yinglan nodded. He cupped his hands in farewell and left the estate.
On the way, looking at the information on the panel, he nearly laughed aloud.
[Techniques: Gale Sword Art (Uninitiated), Flameleap Sword Art (Uninitiated), Leaf-Vein Sword Art (Uninitiated), Handshield Sword Art (Uninitiated)]
He had not obtained the formula for Lightspirit Pills, but at least he had not lost out.
In fact, perhaps he had even made a small profit?