Chapter 27: Alchemy?
Haru walked downstairs were Zen greeted him with a cheery look on his face. "Hey look at this." He held up a piece of paper. Haru looked at it for a second? He is really sending me to a normal school? I don't want to but mom will worry if she hears that I'm just lounging around all day. He faked a smile. "School? I can't wait."
Zen saw through him. "You don't want to go do you?" He asked before placing the paper in between both of his hands preparing to rip them "Wait, No I don't really want to go but it's probably for the best. I don't want my mom to get mad. She can be quite scary when she's angry."
Zen laughed. "Yeah, You can say that again. She has always been terrifying." He scratched the back of his head. "Okay, If you don't mind going to school I will get this filed out for you. You will probably start on Wednesday. I will take it down to the school and see if they can get it done soon. Your mother has been nagging me all week." He complained before heading into his study to fill out the paperwork.
"What should I do for three days? Maybe cultivate?" He said to himself aloud. Li Jun heard him speak and came out of the ring. "How about I teach you something?" Haru looked at him for a moment. What else does he want to teach me? He wondered. It wasn't like he had anything important to do. "Sure, What is it?"
"Would you like to learn about alchemy? It can speed up your cultivation if you manage to refine a few pills. Not to mention that you will learn to control a flame. It will be pretty useful to use flames since you have awakened a phoenix bloodline. You should be able to learn control much faster so three days should be enough to get you started." He said then quickly realising he only had high tear herbs. They weren't suitable for a novice to refine.
"Hey pull out that smartphone of yours and search for a herb store." Li Jun said before going back inside the ring. Haru pulled out his phone and began scrolling through hundreds of listings for herbs stores all around Shenzhen. He then saw one which wasn't too far away. It was actually close to the clothing store he had gone to previously. Haru made his way to the front door before a gentle whine came from behind him
"You want to come with me again?" Xue was stood behind him with her leash hanging from her mouth. Haru put the leash on her and told her to wait whilst she sat at the front door Haru got a bottle of water from the kitchen and went back to his room to get his key card for the gate. He came back to the door was Xue was sat patiently and picked up leash before patting her on the head. "Good girl. You waited patiently."
"Zen I'm taking Xue out for a little while." He shouted before leaving. As he got outside he noticed he could feel Qi in the air without trying to sense for it. Was this the outcome from the phoenix bloodline? They walked down the long road once again leaving the neighborhood and walking down into the city. This time it was a lot more pleasant. No one was taking pictures of them although the occasional look at Xue from people who found her cute.
They walked for around twenty minutes before they arrived at the street address of the store that supposedly sold herbs. It was in a run-down part of the city. All of the buildings looked old and like the would fall down with the gentlest of touches. He double-checked to make sure he had gotten the correct address. "This is the place." He muttered under his breath with doubt before opening the door and walking inside.
A cool breeze floated around as he entered and a pleasant smell drifted toward him. He could feel that the building was home to many rare herbs used to make pills from the essence of Qi alone. "Hello, fellow cultivator." An old man said from behind the counter. Haru looked over to see the man. He looked to be a little over sixty and had reached the earthly spirit realm. He was just one cultivation level above Haru. "Oh, You are so young and have already refined your golden core? The youth will soon surpass their elders."
Li Jun's voice echoed around Haru's head as he flew outside and began to look at the herb selection of the store. "Just what we need." Haru walked over to the counter and began to read the names of the herbs that Li Jun was pointing to. "Can I get two hundred of each of these herbs?" He said as the man began to rush around the store picking up each herb. "Two hundred!? Are you sure? That is an awful lot of herbs." He said before putting each bag of herbs into a huge plastic bag and tieing it. He looked down at the list of herbs.
"Oh, You are planning to make qi refining pills? You must be new to pill refining. Do you need a furnace? Since you are buying so much, I can give you a discount on a furnace." He said. Haru looked over to Li Jun who was shaking his head.
"Um, No I don't need a furnace but thank you." The man looked back confused for a moment before sighing and then writing out a receipt. "Okay, That will be 142,000 Yuan please." Wait what… 142,000!? That expensive?! Haru began to freak out. He only had 200,000 but was already being forced to spend so much. He looked back a Li Jun. "It's just money you will always be able to get more. And if you make a few decent pills you can always sell them for double that price." Haru was amazed. Alchemy could make this much money? That is insane!
Haru swiped his card on the machine and just like that most of his money had disappeared. He took the supplies and walked back outside. "What now?" He asked whilst storing them inside his storage ring. "Well eh need to go back and I will teach you how to make the Qi refining pills and bone refining pills." Li Jun went back inside the ring to avoid the walk back home. It's not like he could feel fatigued from walking so I didn't make a difference. Maybe he is just fed up with the scenery already?
Haru walked back home with Xue stopping halfway to let her drink some water. He didn't have a bowl so he poured to water directly onto the floor making a puddle. It didn't seem to bother her as she drank most of it before it even touched the floor. He stopped and looked back at the now-empty bottle. Maybe I will bring a bigger bottle next time? He walked all the way back home and let Xue of her leash. She ran straight into the kitchen toward her water bowl. Yeah, I definitely need a bigger water bottle.
"Okay, what should I do now?" He called out to Li Jun. "Well, it will probably be better if you go outside so we don't damage anything." Damage anything? How dangerous is this whole thing? How could we possibly damage anything? He thought as he walked out into the back yard. Li Jun came back outside of the ring and began clearing a space for them to practice and then began to draw something onto the floor with what looked like a paintbrush.
"What are you doing now?" Haru asked confused. "I'm setting up an array so you don't burn down the house." Li Jun carried on drawing. "I don't think I will manage to burn down the house. Will I?" Haru became concerned. "Probably not but you never know…"