Wu Long smiled with some relief as he was not completely sure she would agree.
He also did not expect her personality to be like this. It seems that she deliberately hides her body curves because she does not like unwarranted advances. Another possibility is that maybe she thinks people look down on or ignore her alchemy skills because of how she looks. It could also very well be both.
In any case, he had to be careful not to touch on her nerves, as it looked like there was quite the firepower held in by a tiny restraint. Just a nudge was enough to tip the scales over.
In truth, he requested for a female alchemist indeed partly because he could try and charm her, but it was mainly because of one reason, since they would have to spend at least some time together, he preferred the company of a woman.
"Great, then, you can start by studying these three scrolls, one is a cultivation technique, one is an extensive essay on the basics of alchemy and its advanced second reading combined, and the last one is notes and tips that would help you improve. I expect you to familiarize yourself with all of it by tomorrow. I will visit you then" he gave her three scrolls, all of which she received with reverence.
"Where did you get…"
"Let's make not asking questions part of the deal" he interrupted her, and she immediately got it, nodding with some regret but at the same time understanding.
"For the first few days I will visit you we can just talk in theory, but after some time I will need to supervise you in training, what would be an appropriate location?" he asked, noticing a guarded look on her face he added "if we are going to do this you will just have to trust me. I do not touch women against their will, but it is useless to tell you that since you're not believing it. You can give me back the scrolls now and back off the deal, otherwise, just get over it"
"No, I get it. Some degree of trust is indispensable" she said, producing a scroll which turned out to be a city map from her spatial ring and marking something on it. "Here, this is my lodging, as we cannot do this in Alchemy Tower. I also have to warn you that I have a housemate, as we both came to this city at the same time from the same hometown, for different purposes though… anyway, I said that I will trust you but don't think that we will be alone. She is very strong"
"I get it, I don't need to go for women who do not want my attention, not that there is any point telling someone as suspicious as you" he replied with a chuckle
"I will find you at your lodging then, although it will be me needing your services, you can always contact me using a communication talisman, this is my communication jade code" he added giving her a slip of paper with characters written on it.
Communication talismans were part of the Talisman Dao which was closely interlinked with Array Dao and Formation Dao. Talismans were pieces of paper with arrays and formations on them written with special ingredients, that could be used by crushing them or imbuing them with Spiritual Qi depending on the type. They had many uses, the use of a communication talisman was to send a voice message to the recipient, who held a jade with a formation carved into it. Each jade had a unique code that separated it from the rest, and this code was required for the talisman user to send the message, otherwise the talisman would be used up but the message would simply disappear since it had no destination.
Talismans were also a common tool, in an arsenal of a cultivator, and they were also categorized into ranks the same as treasures, pills etc by grade, tier and level. Communication Talismans of the low level 1st tier Mortal Grade could only cover the area of a small town. And communication talismans of the low level 7th tier Mortal Grade could cover a distance from this city to any part of the continent easily. The higher the tier, the more complicated the process of creation, skill of the creator and more expensive the ingredients required, hence the price for some higher grade talismans with unique powers that could only be used once could be equal to a high grade treasure weapon that could be used continuously.
"By the way, is your housemate also a beauty?" he asked jokingly as they were starting to leave the room.
She first widened her eyes, then stared at him with a hostile and disgusted gaze like looking at a horny animal, and then suddenly smiled.
"I thought we'll make not asking questions part of the deal" she said with a smug look, and strode away with her chin up in front of his slightly dazed face.
"Touche" he chuckled, slightly amused.
As he was finished with his business in this place, Wu Long walked on to his next target.
Previously, he asked if Ye Ling knew of a place that dealt in information, as she was the only native of this city he knew closely. She told him of a place called the Thousand Eyes Information Bureau, which specialized in gathering and selling information. Its reputation was quite good, and they operated pretty openly.
After asking for directions from several passersby, he set out to a branch of Thousand Eye Information Bureau, which looked like an inn , but with a lot more rooms of smaller size.
Once there was an open room, he went in, noticing a good amount of security formations that prevented eavesdropping, snooping, peeking, spiritual sense peering, and all other kinds of spying.
This immediately raised the credibility of the establishment in his eyes.
A plain looking man greeted him.
"Which type of information are you seeking?"
"I am looking for open information that just takes too much time to look up separately" he said
The man sighed somewhat regretfully as this was generally the cheapest information they offered, and their sales were individual, as well as influenced their own pay, but he couldn't just shoo him off
"Green Tier, I see. What specifically?"
"I need to know the names as well as some publicly available information on the owners of the biggest Trading Companies that are represented in this city" Wu Long said
The man nodded and took out a communication jade.
There were many types of communication jades, some could only receive messages, and some could be used for a two-way communication, exchanging voice messages and there were many more.
In general, communication jades that worked without talismans required both users to be in the radius of a compatible stationary formation, and thus more limiting than communication talismans. The ones that worked without the formation were generally very short distance-effective. For example Wu Long's disciple badge also had a communication jade embedded into it, and it worked on the premises of the sect.
This one allowed the man to communicate with someone in the information archive room, somewhere in a secure location through the formation that covered this place, who was one of the people responsible for retrieving the information, as there was no way every seller had all the information available.
When he concentrated on the jade for a bit, he then told Wu Long the price, which he paid.
The man then took out an empty long scroll from his spatial ring, placed it in a metal cylindrical tube that had formations and arrays on it and closed it with a lid. On top of the lid there was a formation with a groove in center.
He then took the communication jade and touched the end of the jade to the groove on top of the tube.
There was a very light sizzling sound, and the tube emitted light smoke and visible heat.
After it was done, he opened up the tube, and took out the scroll. He opened it up, revealing that it was now densely packed with text that was made not with ink but charred like a hot metal in the shape of the characters was pressed against the paper but none of the surface outside of the characters was affected, and the characters themselves, although clear and permanent did not burn through or enough to damage the integrity of the scroll, but precisely just enough to leave a mark.
He nodded with satisfaction when he saw that there were no problems and everything was readable, rolled it up and handed it to Wu Long.
Wu Long returned to the Ye family manor to inspect his gains.
He then found a quiet place in Ye Ling's garden, sat down and opened the scroll he bought from the information brokers, searching for his target. He went through the list, finding a few possible candidates when his eyes reached a certain name on the list.
"Sui Luxiao…Peacock Feather Trading Company head… the current Sui family head?"
He paused, and a smile started creeping to his face, making his handsome appearance attractive nonetheless but with another flavor, a bit devilish.
'Hmm, a matriarch of a family I was going to mess with, and it says here that she is known to be quite the beautiful lady…'
He pondered, reading her publicly available information. After some time, he rolled up the scroll, and tossed it into the spatial ring,
"What perfection"
He chuckled to himself, seemingly delighted with the harvest.
'Although my sword currently cannot pierce her weakness, I have plenty of other weapons. And… who knows? Maybe if she is cooperative we can have a proper good time when it is all better'
A mischievous light flickered in his eyes as he left the garden.
—
Meanwhile, somewhere in the Imperial Capital, the beautiful alchemist with a fiery temper went through the gate of a small courtyard house in the suburbs, bumping into another beauty, holding a spear with a gorgeous spearhead, clad in armor decorated with gold , and on her way out.
She was quite taller than Yu Huan, and had a more mature feeling about her, though she did not look any older. Her raven black hair was cut a bit shorter than shoulder length, and slightly diagonally, so the hair on one side was longer on one side and in a smooth rise through the back came out shorter on another. Her grayish black eyes had a sharp and decisive look in them.
"Sister Rui! Being an imperial guard really is hard, huh, is it night duty again?" Yu Huan asked her with an expression of pity, as she hoped to be able to talk to her friend like they often do before she went out.
"It isn't anything new, really. Now that I am finally an imperial guard I am closer to my dream, almost living it" the beauty called Bi Rui smiled, with an excited look. The armor she was wearing looked quite new, so it was not long from when she was promoted.
"Mm, I am rooting for you! I also got a lucky chance that may bring me to my dream… Ah, by the way, since you have night duty today, you will be home tomorrow right?" Yu Huan first got excited that the dreams they talked about several decades ago as mere little girls in some little town of 'nowhere' were finally becoming more and more achievable, and then her expression suddenly switched as she was talking about her lucky chance.
"Mm? Yes" Bi Rui nodded
"Well, you see, there is this guy that's going to come here tomorrow… and I really don't want to be alone with him until I know him better… so I was hoping that you would be home when he gets here…" Yu Huan said somewhat reluctantly
"A guy?!?! You?!?! Hahaha…" Bi Rui first expressed some shock, and then started laughing with both amusement and even delight
"Stop laughing! It's not like that!" Yu Huan desperately tried to say through Bi Rui's laughter
"Don't worry, I'm not judging. But, haha, really … so the untouchable flower frozen in ice is finally starting to melt, huh?" Bi Rui wiped the tears that came out when she was laughing
"I'm telling you it's not like that! It is an alchemy client! And… and we made a deal, he can teach me some things that may be very beneficial to me!" Yu Huan puffed her cheeks, while cutely fuming
"Oh? An alchemy client? Heheh, I see, I see" Bi Rui nodded along, but it made Yu Huan even more indignant as Bi Rui's expression looked very 'convinced'.
"Aaagh, I'm really telling the truth! He really is a client, in fact, I am hoping you can protect me, as I really don't know him that well" she said after a cute cry of indignation.
"What? You're serious? Cheh… what a pity, and here I thought I was going to finally see my cutie Huan'er grow up" Bi Rui saw that Yu Huan was being serious, and a look of genuine disappointment at not being able to experience the entertaining period of teasing her best friend who she treated like her real little sister appeared on her face.
"Hmph, what growing up, I am already long since all grown up, meeting with a man will not be any beneficial for my alchemy" Yu Huan puffed her cheeks and looked away with crossed arms.
"Haha, I get it, I get it… don't sulk" Bi Rui patted Yu Huan's head with a chuckle.
"Anyway" and as she spoke next her face turned slightly more serious, "if you say that you don't know him well you should have not told him where you live, who knows what kind of weird guy you will meet? Really, you should sometimes learn things other than alchemy. How am I going to focus on my duties if you worry me like this" she said, clearly worrying that Yu Huan might have bumped into a strange man.
"Haa, don't worry, I'm not that naive, if his conditions were not so good I would have never agreed to this deal"
"The better the condition, the more dangerous it is Huan'er" Bi Rui warned her seriously.
"Anyway, you will be here so everything will be alright, ah! Also, the reason I warned you in advance is because I want you to not get sidetracked, it is just that he looks exactly your type, a bit young though, but I've seen enough of your men to know he is very attractive for you, so don't get distracted. He also looks like a flirt, so I don't want you to fall for his scheme, so promise you will not fall for his tricks" Yu Huan started convincing Bi Rui, but halfway through she remembered why she warned her in the first place.
"Hoh? A handsome guy huh? Heh, we'll see if he's worth to look at before I answer that" Bi Rui's expression quickly turned playful again, a light of curiosity appearing in her eyes, and she said in a challenging tone, as she was not really convinced by just any appearance.
"Sister Rui!" Yu Huan shouted as she understood that she is not taking her words seriously.
"Haha, don't worry, no matter how charming he might think he is, I have already accumulated enough immunity, it's not like I've never seen a pretty face either" she said with confidence.