108 — Meeting

I left Zhang to settle down by himself, and went about my other tasks. Checking in on Labby, and making sure her Dantian was healing correctly, managing the development of my home and attached lab, talking to the village craftsman and explaining to him why I wanted glass tubes in such peculiar shapes among other things.

The man let out a breath through his thick beard and moustache. A peculiar look not found within the empire too often.

“You’ll need a glass blower for this,” the man said, glancing down at my strange drawings. “I can probably get this odd cup for ya, honoured cultivator. But the rest you’ll have to talk to someone who does this work directly.”

“And where can I get someone like that?” I asked the man.

“The city probably? They’ve got glassworks, though it’s really only requested by the lords,” the main said, looking at me. A moment later, he quickly added, “But they’ll surely entertain an honoured cultivator such as you.”

I nodded once, rubbing my chin thoughtfully. “What about the other things I asked for?” I asked the man.

“I can get the spirit herbs. Most of them, though it’ll cost you. The rest of the things, I’ll have to see,” the man added, glancing at me nervously.

“Good. Thank you, Chen,” I said, patting the man on the shoulder. “You’ve been a big help.”

The man straightened his back, eyes shining at the praise. “Oh, just doing my job,” he said with a light smile.

I smiled back, stepping around as I began to walk out of the shop. I’d made a shopping list of a myriad of things for my upcoming plans. The idea was simple. Setup a pill production lab that wasn’t relying on me. Automate the process and increase quantities produced of each batch. Use the funds to open a school. But to do any of that, I’d need a method to sell my pills, and I couldn’t imagine the current sellers being too happy about that.

Humming thoughtfully, I walked around Taizhou, eyeing the spirit herb farm around my home. It was a small thing, a little patch of spirit herbs sectioned off with wood. Nyan loved playing in it, and nibbling on the spirit herbs, and though Granny Lang often shooed the cat away, I couldn’t deny my amusement at his little antics. He seemed happy enough to be here at least.

What had surprised me though, had been the other creatures that had arrived. Foxes, birds, rabbits, even a spectral deer that could vanish into thin air, all that’d come, lured in by the spirit herb garden. And it was still just in it’s infancy. I could easily imagine it bringing less peaceful creatures too.

For the time being, I’d put around a formation using the talisman I’d learned to make from Liuxiang, but if I wanted to ramp up production, I needed to be self-sufficient. Buying spirit herbs was the largest expenditure in the production of alchemy pills. These gardens were difficult to grow, and maintain, and highly valuable, which explained why they were so well protected.

But the growing part was not an issue, given that we had Twilight and Silverlight, alongside me, though I’d yet to figure out how exactly the plant in my soul worked. The issue would be guarding the gardens, expanding them, and protecting them from spirit beast attacks.

I walked further away from my home, the bundle of problems swirling around in my mind. It was easy to say I wanted to start a Drug Empire, but the more time I spent thinking about it, the more difficult it began to appear. Yet, there was a start here. Now even more so than ever, I could facilitate the growth of spirit herbs, and focus on working on automating the process. There were an entire town’s worth of problem solvers that I could use, if they had the required knowledge and the ability to use Qi, even if a meagre ability.

It was done often enough with cultivators who rose from mortal families. They would be given pills and spirit herbs that would push them into the first realm, sometimes even second, to prolong their lives and improve their health. They would not go any further, most of the time, but their lives would be massively improved nonetheless.

All I had to do was do this for an entire town’s worth of people.

Ideas and solutions rustled through my head, plans forming and breaking over and over. I continued to patrol the perimeter of Taihou in silence. Watching Yan Yun talking with the village chief’s daughter, Yin. Watching Labby playing with Twilight, Silverlight and Sheldon, alongside about a dozen other village children fascinated by the spirits and their magical abilities.

This was my home. And I had a lot to do to ensure I could protect it.

“It’s time, Lu Jie,” a voice echoed from behind my back. I turned around to face the voice and found Elder Tian Feng, now wearing robes carrying the mark of Lord Zhou standing behind me.

“I don’t really see a carriage,” I asked with a light chuckle.

“I see you feel merry, but I suggest you don’t make the Lord wait on your first day,” the Elder said, taking a glance around at the village.

“Right, I shouldn’t piss off my boss on the first day of work. That’d get me fired real quick,” I replied, smiling. I extended my hand to Tian Feng, as he put a jade slip into them. Pouring a slight sliver of Chi, I let the jade slip’s art pour out into a flood of mist, a spectral carriage forming next to me.

I let out a whistle at the display, impressed by the pair of pristine horses with manes that turned to mist. Glancing back, I took a look at Labby, contemplating for a moment if I wanted to bring her along with me.

Hearing her squeals and laughs of joy as she tumbled and tussled with the kids, I decided to leave her be, as I stepped into the carriage.

“Let us depart,” Tian Feng said, stepping into the carriage, as the world began to zip past me in a blur.

***

It took us mere minutes to cut through the plains and enter the city. A couple minutes after that we were in the Lord’s massive manor set delicately upon the seventh peak. I silently added the carriage as a future bucket list item. This thing was faster than cars.

Stepping out, I followed Tian Feng’s lead as we made our way through the manor. Despite having already been here once, I could hardly tell right from left through the sprawling corridors and hallways. The little artistry using Qi, and strokes on carvings and paintings that only a cultivator’s eye could see also took me by surprise.

Walking through the halls we quickly arrived at the large chamber where I’d previously met the Lord. I let Tian Feng take the lead as he walked through the doors, to the inner chamber, before I followed behind.

“We’d been expecting you,” Lord Zhou said, seated behind a small table, a quill in his hand. Pristine clothes were draped over his body, and he wore a futou on his head, as is customary for many lords. Another bit of trivia that’d have escaped me before the trial.

“Apologies for making you wait, my lord. Lu Jie, Apprentice Alchemist at your service,” I said with a deep boy.

“No need for apologies, you were precisely on time. Which is to be expected given that TIan Feng himself had gone out to fetch you,” the Lord said, and I raised my head. Tian Feng stood nearby, watching over the talks without speaking a word.

“Would you care to guess why I’ve called you today?” The Lord said, his brush running strokes on the parchment in front of him.

“To… make me work for my freedom and head?” I tried.

“Certainly. But my purpose wasn’t mere labour. I’ve called you here Lu Jie for one of the core purposes that I have for you under my command. To teach my sons,” the lord said, clapping his hands. “You may enter.”

The door opened once more, as I saw two boys walk in. One was close to my age, looking roughly twenty or so. He wore red clothes with golden symbols of the sun stitched upon them in a beautiful pattern. His eyes shone in the light, dark hair tied in a top knot with not a single strand out of place. The other son was much younger, at about twelve. He wore a blue robe, with a curious look on his face as he watched me, trying to assess who I was. Neither of the sons gave much from their expressions, their mannerisms near perfect to my eyes.

So these were the Lord’s sons.

“Zhou Fang and Zhou Han. My two sons. They will be learning under you about the curious knowledge you’ve gathered. You will also accompany Fang in his martial training, while Tian Feng will tutor you on some subjects you need to be proficient in.”

I looked at the two kids, before nodding at the Lord.

“Do you two have any issues?” The Lord asked his sons.

“No, esteemed father,” they replied in unison, bowing once towards their father, before doing so once more towards me.

“I’ll need some notes for that, and brushes, and probably a library,” I said to the Lord.

“You are free to use our Library. Tian Feng manages it, go to him if you have any need. He’ll see to your other requirements as well,” the Lord said. With a motion, he waved as the two sons took their leave outside the chamber. I stayed behind.

“About that. I had some questions in regards to my… umm, employment, esteemed Lord,” I said, glancing at the man. “More specifically, I had a- ah, business proposition.”

For the first time since I’d arrived in the chamber, the Lord stopped his work to look up at me. “A business proposition… you say?” The lord asked, his eyes set on me.

Feeling elated, I smiled my most charming smile, as I began to lay out my plans.