"You want to learn alchemy?"
Leaving the study, Lu Bei confided his plan to improve himself to Bai Jin, who found the idea quite perplexing, thinking Lu Bei was being impulsive.
"Not a whim, Sister, I'm serious."
Lu Bei said with a solemn face: "I want to learn a craft. Apart from the fact that jack of all trades is the master of none, having more skills means having more ways to make a living. And, alchemy is an essential skill for our kind, getting an early start is a good thing."
"Young Brother, you've just begun your cultivation. It's excessively hasty to delve into Alchemy already. You should focus more on solidifying your foundation."
Bai Jin shook her head and continued: "If you lack medicinal pills while cultivating, just ask. When I'm not around, you can go to your Sister Zhu, she will meet your needs."
Bai Jin suspected Lu Bei lacked security. Three Pure Peaks was too impoverished, lacking abundant resources for cultivation. Coupled with him being young and proud, unwilling to ask others for help, this led him to consider learning alchemy.
If I don't learn alchemy, I won't gain experience. If I don't gain experience, I have to seriously cultivate. If I seriously cultivate, I am no longer a genius.
Lu Bei muttered to himself, composed his face and said: "Sister, to tell you the truth, if I am not cultivating, then I am cultivating. You don't let me go out. When I'm idle with nothing to do, I want to find a hobby to pass the time."
"Your words make sense, Young Brother. I have been inconsiderate."
Bai Jin nodded in agreement, she could accept this reason.
Putting Lu Bei into the Great Victory Pass's elixir workshop to learn alchemy without leaving would free her from worries about him getting injured in the dangerous world. Additionally, Zhu Yan would be there to look after him. Indeed, it's a good way to kill time.
With this arrangement also eliminated the potential of him sneakily running off while she wasn't around.
"As for your Sister Zhu, I will speak with her for you. This shouldn't be a big issue."
"I'll bother you then, Sister."
Lu Bei nodded, turned to leave, and then suddenly thought of something. He awkwardly asked: "Sister, weren't you in a hurry to go back to Lingxiao Sword Sect? Why aren't you in a hurry anymore?"
"..."
Bai Jin immediately blushed and claimed that she needs to buy some things in the Great Victory Pass, all of them stuff for girls, and urged Lu Bei not to ask more questions.
You could be called a girl?
Speaking truthfully, your younger sister's daughter is what should be called a girl, right!
Lu Bei did not voice these thoughts and left, his goal achieved. It was time to retreat.
...
The next day, Bai Jin left early. Before her departure, she planted three sword talismans on the back of Lu Bei's hand, claiming it could protect him in emergency situations.
Zhu Yan, looking a little gloomy after bidding Bai Jin goodbye, led Lu Bei to the Imperial Sect's garrison in Great Victory Pass on a coach.
As the government and main county of Dongqi County, Great Victory Pass is the top region in terms of population and economy. The settling of the Imperial Sect made it even more prosperous.
Not to mention, the huge economic benefits brought by affluent royal descendants like Zhu Yan.
The land prices skyrocketed.
Furthermore, at the Imperial Sect's garrison in Great Victory Pass, there was daily supply and consumption of medicinal pills and array diagrams. The supply brought considerable tax revenue because of the businesses and sects coming and going.
But that wasn't the focus. The significant point was that the Imperial Sect's garrison, located in a valley to the west of the county, was seemingly away from the county center, but the number of stores on both sides of the road did not decrease.
The entire valley area was occupied by the Imperial Sect and divided into several regions for different departments to use.
Within the elixir workshop area, pavilions were surrounded by green trees.
At first glance, there didn't appear to be strict guard measures. However, there were intricate array formations intertwined with each other. If it weren't for Zhu Yan's guarantee, after opening a document at the entrance, Lu Bei would not be able to go far before being arrested by a beefy guy jumping out from the grass, and taken to a small dark room.
Zhu Yan was an account book keeper in the elixir workshop, with a chief bookkeeper as a superior and two colleagues who were also account keepers. The daily work was mainly performed by these three people. Her chief responsibility was basically to drift along.
In the situation of punching in and out on time, she could basically realize fifteen days of work in one month and was the most praised excellent subordinate of the chief bookkeeper.
Don't ask, the answer is just because her surname is Zhu.
Zhu Yan was self-aware. Others respected her not because of her but because they did not want to invite trouble. Therefore, she was amiable in her dealings with everyone, greeted everyone with a smile, and made friends everywhere.
With her help, Lu Bei quickly found a job in the elixir workshop.
An intern alchemist.
The mentor in charge of initiating him, Lin Bohai, was an experienced alchemist, a veteran of twenty years in the elixir workshop of the Imperial Sect, with systematic potion-training experience.
Lin Bohai looked helplessly at Lu Bei, noticing his eagerness, and couldn't help but feel even more despaired.
What he dreaded most was dealing with inexperienced apprentices who got in through connections. If he ignored them, he wouldn't be able to explain his actions, and if he looked after them…
If what he said made a difference, he'd be damned!
Luckily, life in the elixir workshop is dull and monotone. Lin Bohai had plenty of experience dealing with novices and was confident that he could have Zhu Yan's distant relative turning tail and running within three months.
He gathered his emotions and asked Lu Bei with a pleasant expression: "Have you ever made an elixir before?"
"No."
"No problem."
Lin Bohai nodded, the answer was what he expected. He stroked his beard, saying with a smile: "It doesn't matter if you haven't done it before, as long as you've seen someone do it, it's easy to pick up."
"I haven't seen it either."
"..."
Lin Bohai fell silent for a moment; this wasn't a novice, but rather a young master looking for trouble.
Considering Zhu Yan's identity, this young master's family couldn't possibly be poor either, he was probably another Zhu, who'd come here for fun under a pseudonym.
That makes it even easier.
Lin Bohai led Lu Bei to a single-occupancy elixir workspace on the second floor. There was a desk, tea, landscape paintings, and a window that overlooked the picturesque scenery of the valley.
Anyone who spent a long time making elixirs here wouldn't just improve their tea-brewing skills, but would also cultivate a belief in the pursuit of freedom.
Lin Bohai always handled young masters and misses in this same way.
"Lu Bei, the art of making elixirs is profound and complex. There's so much to it that cannot be explained adequately. After many years of studying and understanding this art, I have distilled it into four words."
Lin Bohai held up four fingers, very sincerely: "Nothing is hard, if you are familiar with it!"
"Master Lin is absolutely right."
Lu Bei nodded in agreement; he also believed there was no need to complicate things, his personal panel should be able to handle everything.
Afterwards, he brought over several comprehensive basic alchemy books, along with some cheap herbs and tools, and advised Lu Bei to try making an elixir while reading. If he didn't understand anything, he could jot them down on a piece of paper and Lin Bohai would answer them one by one the next morning.
"Here's the elixir furnace. Try getting the hang of it. I have to take care of my own furnace now, the heat is a bit too high. I'll leave you be." Seeing Lu Bei excitedly weighing the herbs, Lin Bohai took this opportunity to slip away quickly.
From a personal standpoint, Lin Bohai didn't like Lu Bei. It was a practical reason, training an apprentice was draining, a waste of time and money.
Alchemist's salaries are pitifully low, this was a universally acknowledged truth, both officially and unofficially.
There were many complicated reasons for this from an official standpoint. On the unofficial side, alchemists had a success rate. Each batch of potions they made could be high quality, average, or total failures.
If they were lucky, an entire batch would be high quality; but if they were unlucky and their hands trembled a little, the entire batch would be ruined.
So, they always used a surplus of raw materials for each batch of potions, allowing the alchemist a certain margin of error.
Alchemists' main incomes were never from their salaries. Skilled alchemists made money from raw materials. When a batch of high-quality or average potions was completed, the remaining materials went into their own pockets and were sold for profit.
Because of this uncontrollable unwritten rule, the monthly salaries of alchemists have been getting lower and lower, as a sort of unofficial agreement, that allowed them to earn extra money with their skills and experience, once the regulated tasks were completed.
Lu Bei, as the newbie of all newbies, would surely cause a lot of waste. Some of this would be blamed on Lin Bohai. Although Zhu Yan had guaranteed to cover the waste, Lin couldn't help but worry. What if there was too much waste and they went back on their word? Could he challenge them?
"Ah well, it is just because I am magnanimous! The workshop is boring, and i doubt this young master can endure for too long."
Lin Bohai stroked his beard and thought, ten days at the most. If Lu Bei could last ten days, he would stand on his head to make a batch of elixirs.
———————
Thanks to 'Still came to see the genuine version,' 'Receives 16 to 25 years old beautiful girls,' 'P0cKy' for the lord rewards, all familiar faces, thank you for your constant support.
Speaking of which, wasn't the one about collecting beautiful girls banned?
That's crazy; it's been let out again.