While the manager of the Alchemy Office had been a little harsh, she had listed several places where I could expand my alchemy knowledge. Setting aside the possibility of finding recipes buried in a hole in the ground, my options were the Wind District, the Metal District, and the Fire District.

After asking around a bit, I found out that the Fire District occasionally held competitions that awarded secret recipes. Depending on the specifics, this could be a life-changing advantage, allowing an alchemist to become the only person specializing in a specific pill within the entire city. However, while this might be a quick path to fame and riches, it wasn’t what I was looking for at the moment.

No, I needed bulk knowledge to round out all the deficiencies that had been left behind by my time in the Wastes. So, I visited the libraries of the Metal District.

These libraries had a rather… interesting method for safeguarding their knowledge. Alchemic texts and pill recipes were laid out openly on shelves. After paying a small fee, a cultivator was allowed to freely walk around and see what was available. Then, once they found a text that they were interested in, the cultivator would take it to a counter, pay an additional fee, and the book or scroll would be unlocked, allowing it to be read. The cultivator would then take it to a reading alcove, study, and return it to the counter when they were done.

Could I take advantage of this situation? Could I upgrade my mental library so that I could ‘read’ books by simply touching them? If so, then I could just run around the city and quickly copy all the knowledge of every profession into my mental library for free. Without any credits, this wasn’t something that I could purchase at the moment, but it was an idea that I needed to keep in mind for later, so I jotted it down in my notebook.

Still, even though I couldn’t easily ransack the various libraries, after so many years as an itinerant alchemist, I had sufficient gold on hand to purchase access to a number of alchemical texts and pill recipes. And after reading them only a single time, they were forever lodged within my mental library for easy access.

Once this task was complete, I headed to the Wind District to pick up some herbs so that I could put my new knowledge to the test.

While the Blue Wind Pavilion had channels to provide me with anything I needed, they dealt in premium quality goods, and premium goods came with premium prices. What I needed were junk herbs that I could use for practice without needing to worry too much about the cost of failure.

The Wind District was littered with shops of all kinds, but my focus was on those in the low-rent areas. These shops lacked the money needed to hire permanent employees. Instead, they were operated by their owners, who slept in small apartments above the shop floors. This allowed them to just walk downstairs each day instead of needing to commute across districts every time they opened and closed their stores.

Many of these shops didn’t open at set hours. They were open whenever the owner was home and awake. If the owner was awake in the middle of the night, then the shop would be open in the middle of the night. If the owner decided to go out for a stroll, then the shop would be closed, even if it was the middle of the day. Because of this, planning a trip to any specific store could be hit or miss.

After exploring the streets for a couple of hours, I stumbled into a small, run-down shop that was covered in grime. Based on appearances, I didn’t expect the place to have much on offer, but a sign out front marked the place as one that sold herbs, so I decided to give it a shot.

The shop’s interior was a mess of broken floorboards and dust. Old herbs were wilting in wooden bins, and the entire store was engulfed in the pungent smell of decaying plant matter, suggesting that many of the shop’s herbs hadn’t been properly dried.

An elderly man sat behind a countertop covered in stains. When I entered, he didn’t greet me. He just kept reading whatever he was reading and let me go about my business.

After looking through the bins, I was disappointed but not surprised. He only had common herbs that were available anywhere. Deciding to take a chance, I approached the counter. "Old man, got anything else for sale?”

He snorted at the question without looking at me. “Everything’s in the bins.”

I let out a heavy breath as I thought through the situation carefully. Everything here could easily be purchased directly from the Blue Wind Workshops. However, as long as the price was right, these moldy old herbs could still be useful. With the poor state that they were in, they would be perfect specimens for my further study of how to mend medicinal energy.

The only thing that stopped me from purchasing them directly was that I didn’t want to haul around a cart full of herbs, and I doubted that this guy would be willing to deliver them for me. If my storage space were bigger, I could just stuff them all in there, but it wasn’t.

I paused. When I had purchased my storage space, hadn’t the System mentioned ‘basic’ storage bags? Were there bags that I could just… buy? I hadn’t noticed anything like that before, but I also hadn’t paid much attention to the people around me.

If such bags were available anywhere, then they should have been for sale at the Blue Wind Pavilion, and I had never noticed them. This didn’t mean too much, though. Such an item not being for sale in the Wastes wouldn’t have been too surprising, and ever since I had left… Ever since then, my shopping trips had been curated by Mei and her blessing. Had her blessing been guiding me away from such bags? Giving it the benefit of the doubt, this might have been a way for us to avoid unnecessary trouble, but still…

For the moment, this was all speculation. I would need to investigate further during my next trip to the Pavilion before I could come to any conclusions.

I turned my attention back to the old man behind the counter. “Any chance you know of a place that sells cheap herbs connected to the secondary elements?”

He sighed heavily to make it clear how little he wanted to answer, “Go talk to Old Lady Mu.”

I wanted to ask, ‘Who the hell is Old Lady Mu?’ but my man had already started ignoring me again, so I shook my head and left the shop. There had to be other people who knew who he was talking about.

Just as I was about to restart my search for low-cost herbs, something in my belt pouch started vibrating. I opened it to find the small stone disk I received in the Pavilion going crazy. There must have been something that needed my attention.

Giving up my exploration, I turned and headed back to the Water District.

I arrived back at the Alchemy Office to see what needed my attention. When the middle-aged woman who managed the place saw me, her eyes burst into fire–literal fire. Fire qi wrapped around her head, giving her a somewhat demonic appearance.

“You! Get downstairs. LiPin, act as his mediator. Take him to conference room one. You have fifteen minutes to get ready.”

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My eyes widened in shock. “What’s going on?”

“Move!”

LiPin, the young woman who had helped me previously, explained. “We’ve… had a lot of requests for meetings with you. Once people saw your sample pills, they demanded an audience. It’s been a hectic day.”

Wasn’t this a bit much? I knew my pills were high quality, but I wasn’t the only Grandmaster Alchemist in the city. For example, Alchemist Li, the man who had graded my registration exam, had to be at least a Grandmaster, and he had just been hanging around the Workshops. I hadn’t even needed to schedule anything. He had been free enough to appraise my pills practically the instant I asked for it.

The middle-aged manager saw my confusion and snorted. “You don’t get it, do you? Why do you think people are so eager to court you after seeing your pills?”

I gave the only answer that I could think of. “Because I can make Perfect

pills?”

She shook her head. “No, there are at least a dozen alchemists in the kingdom who can do that. It’s a rare skill, sure, but there are enough people with high enough affinities and special blessings that it isn’t exactly unique.”

This stunned me. I had always thought that my ability to concoct Perfect pills set me apart–made me special. But the saying was true, there is always someone better.

“It’s not that your skills are unique, it’s that they’re cheap,” the manager explained. “If I want to hire one of those other alchemists to make me Perfect Rank 3 pills, what do you think it would cost? Let me tell you, it’s not a matter of gold. Those alchemists have hundreds of years of experience, and they are all long past the point where mere gold holds any value to them.”

This was something that I had already found to be true in my last life. One of my Perfect Rank 3 Qi Gathering pills would sell for a minimum of 10,000 gold, and I was easily able to make half a dozen in a day. Without a fire seed, other alchemists couldn’t make them at the same rate that I could, but even if they were only making a single pill a week, with a decade of work behind them, they would have no need for money.

“If they don’t want gold, then what?”

The manager looked at me intently. “It depends on the alchemist. The Blue Wind Pavilion offers alchemists the opportunity to ascend to Martial Lord. Other powers can offer opportunities to improve one’s affinities. These are among the most valuable offers you may receive, but they are the most valued for those young enough to still advance. Some powers will simply allow you to live the rest of your life in luxury. It all depends on what the alchemist wants and needs.”

“So, why were so many people eager to seek me out for pills? Are they going to offer me the chance to raise my affinities?” I was somewhat excited by the prospect.

The manager burst into laughter. “No, just no. These are bottom feeders, not the real power players. They know that you’re a bumpkin from the middle of nowhere. Someone who has only recently advanced from Master to Grandmaster. To them, you are a poor kid who is looking to gain experience in hopes of advancing to Pill Lord.”

“So—”

“Where clans would usually need to hand over priceless items to gain the favor of a Grandmaster Alchemist, you are someone they can hire at a bargain, as long as they act fast enough.”

I stood there, considering the manager’s words. While I wasn’t as hard up for cash as some of these potential clients might have assumed, I did have several needs that the average alchemist didn’t. These minor powers might be able to help me with them.

Not waiting for me to puzzle everything out, the manager gestured at the attendant, LiPin. “Get him downstairs.”

It didn’t take long after LiPin and I sat down for my first client to walk in the door. I stood and cupped my fists in a martial salute. “Welcome.”

He saluted and bowed to me in return. “Grandmaster Su, I am Steward Mao DingLiu of the Mao Clan. As you are new to the kingdom, you may not know, but the Mao Clan is one of the top families of West Marsh City.”

“Of course, Steward Mao, I have long heard of the Mao Clan. How can I assist you today?”

“Grandmaster Su, are you aware of the duties and responsibilities that West Marsh City bears?”

While my knowledge of the kingdom was still rather limited, and while I had never heard of the Mao Clan before, I had picked up most of the basics. “It controls the Dark District, correct? Its focus is on creative endeavors and schools for children?”

“Yes, we are responsible for nurturing the kingdom’s next generation. Alchemist Su, I have seen the quality of the pills that you can produce, and I hope that you will consider working with us. If we could secure a source of Perfect pills, it would do wonders for improving our efforts.”

“You want pills for children? Are your charges older than sixteen? Or do cultivation resources have effects on younger children as well?”

Steward Mao gave a light chuckle. “You misunderstand. While your Rank 1 Qi Gathering Pills could indeed be a nice incentive for our older children, we are more interested in pills to help the younger ones develop properly. Pills to maintain good nutrition, weight, energy, and appearance would all be extremely beneficial. We have found that these Rank 0 pills are the most cost-effective way to improve the kingdom’s populace. However, they need to be Perfect. Absorbing needless pill toxins just to improve one’s appearance would be… counterproductive.”

I furrowed my brow in thought. I had never heard of ‘Rank 0’ pills before, but if they weren’t useful for cultivators, that wasn’t too surprising. Still, I could make a few guesses about what they would entail.

“If the pills you need are ‘Rank 0,’ then they should be relatively easy to create, correct? Even just a well-trained Disciple should be able to make what you need. Why come to me?”

“Can? Yes. Will? No, not without charging us more than we can bear. We need a large number of pills to nurture the less fortunate, and we can only depend on the goodwill of skilled alchemists to bear this burden for us. While, as you say, a ‘well-trained Disciple’ might be able to make such a pill, making a Perfect pill would still require costly time and effort. However, as a Grandmaster, you will be able to concoct them with a mere thought.”

I fixed Steward Mao with a gimlet eye, but he didn’t show any signs of discomfort. He was blatantly trying to buy pills on the cheap, and he showed no signs of shame. He must have done this song and dance many times to become so steadfast when asking for charity.

I tapped the table in thought, then turned to LiPin, who was serving as the mediator for this discussion. “How much would a Perfect Rank 0 pill usually cost?”

“There is no set price. Rank 0 pills are… somewhat unusual. The ingredient costs are typically insignificant, so prices are driven by how much an alchemist values their time. For a skilled Disciple Alchemist, the time needed to concoct a Perfect Rank 0 pill isn’t much different from what it would take to make a Perfect Rank 1 pill. However, when making the Rank 1 pills, they would be learning and expanding their capabilities. With Rank 0 pills, they wouldn’t be. So, they would generally want to charge more for the Rank 0 pill. Because of this, and because the market for such pills is rather small, the Blue Wind Pavilion doesn’t stock such pills. They must be ordered through special requests.”

“Thank you, I understand.” I turned back to Steward Mao and stroked my chin in thought. “I assume that you are here because you can’t find anyone to make the pills you want at a ‘reasonable’ price. Fine. I’ll set a price of one gold for any Rank 0 pill that you wish me to make. I am also willing to make any other higher-level pills you need at market rates. You just need to supply the ingredients.”

The steward winced. “That’s… a little too expensive for us.”

I wanted to laugh. This guy was really trying to get a bargain here.

“That’s my selling price.” My voice was firm, not allowing him to question me. “Now, let’s talk about how you can pay. I am in need of any technique or cultivation manuals. These can be for any profession or any type of qi. I am not willing to make a hundred thousand pills for a single Rank 3 manual, but if you provide me with mortal books, then I will pay for them at market rates with Rank 0 pills. Give me Rank 1 manuals, and I will pay for them with Rank 1 pills. Your district is responsible for nurturing the youth, correct? You should have significant stores of knowledge that you can pay me with.”

“Yes—” he started.

“You don’t even need to sell them to me,” I interrupted. “I will accept loans of any manuals from Rank 1 to 3 and pay for them with pills at market rates.”

I turned to LiPin. “This is something the Pavilion can handle, correct?”

“Yes, however, the Pavilion would normally take a percentage of any deal that it facilitates. Since this is not possible with such an arrangement, one of the parties must pay a transaction fee instead.”

“I’ll handle the fee,” I said, before Steward Mao could respond. “Just subtract it from my account.”

The steward looked down at the table and wrung his hands. “I cannot authorize this, but I do not see any reason why it could not work. I will discuss this with our elders and be in contact.”

“I understand. Thank you for seeing me today, Steward Mao.”

After the steward bowed and left, I looked at LiPin. “Please make this same offer known to anyone who inquires. If my account begins to run a deficit, let me know, and I will make a batch of pills for the Pavilion to cover the costs.”

“Yes, Grandmaster,” she said, making a note of my arrangements.

I had several more meetings to go, and hopefully at least one of them would be more profitable than this one.