"I met a woman," Liang Xiong started awkwardly. "She's a rising star of the Bamboo Silk House who has gone from Awakening to late-stage Aesthete in less than six months," he explained. "She's different from any other woman I've ever met. Not only is she a beauty, but she protected my sister from a Burning Yang Sun Bear that was affected by the eclipse the same way the Corpse Devouring Locusts were. She…"
"I get it, I get it" Bo Gau interrupted, one hand waving off further explanation as though he was shooing a fly. "She's the woman of your dreams and you're courting her," he concluded, flashing a brilliant white smile that stood out sharply on his soot-streaked face. "Why come to me then? Do you want me to concoct an elixir for her?"
"No, I'm sure she has her own methods of obtaining most elixirs that an Alchemy Novice can concoct," Liang Xiong said bluntly, popping Bo Gau's bubble before the other man could puff up his chest in pride. It might be different if Bo Gau had finally managed to break through and gained the ability to concoct pills, but even then, Liang Xiong would likely have turned to one of the sect's Master Alchemists for help with this gift. "I've enlisted Armorer Dian's help to craft a defensive armament for her," he explained.
At the mention of the famed Artist's name, Bo Gau's attitude shifted instantly along with his posture as he sat up straight in his chair. Armorer Dian may not have attained the status of Grand Elder within the sect, and she would never claim to be the sect's best armorer, but none would argue that she wasn't one of the five most skilled armorers in the entire Purple Thunder War Hall and perhaps one of the top twenty in all of Silver Sword City.
Her services were always in demand and she only worked on projects that she could feel some passion for. In order to gain her support, not only must she have been exceptionally inspired by Liang Xiong's request, the young Soldier must have promised some kind of extraordinary compensation to pay for the work as well.
"What kind of armament is she crafting for this woman who caught your eye?" Bo Gau asked.
"She wants to carve a set of interlinked bracelets out of a branch from a Songwood Tree. She's specified that it must come from a tree at least two centuries in age but the older the tree, the more she can do. The branch must be thick enough to form the bracelets," Liang Xiong explained. "But the majority of the branch will be hers to use as she pleases as payment for her services."
"I see," Bo Gau said, resting his chin on a fist as he sank into contemplation. "Yujin's 'Survey of the Silver Sword Region'," he muttered a moment later, springing to his feet and moving to a nearby bookshelf to retrieve a well-worn reference tome.
While the lab didn't contain many books, some classics were so useful to have on hand that the sect ensured every lab had copies of them. In this case, the book Bo Gau had selected was a repository of information on the unique spirit beasts and plants that could be found in the region and their general uses in alchemy.
Liang Xiong said nothing as his senior brother flipped rapidly through the massive book, reading one page and then another before flipping rapidly to a different section of the book and reading more. It wasn't until enough time had passed to brew and drink a cup of tea that the disheveled alchemist looked up from the book with a bright white grin on his sooty face.
"Junior Brother, you came to invite me on your expedition to the Forest of Mist didn't you?" Bo Gau said eagerly. "I accept. As long as you'll help me gather a few other ingredients within the forest, I'm happy to come along."
"But," the alchemist added, holding up a finger. "I also need a small piece of the Songwood branch. Honestly, I can make do with a collection of twigs taken from the branch that are too small to be of use to Armorer Dian, as long as I can come up with twenty to thirty grams of sawdust from the branch it should be fine."
"I can't promise you those," Liang Xiong said with a shake of his head. He'd made a promise with Armorer Dian. The branch would be handed over to her whole and he would receive the bracelets. The rest was hers to do with as she pleased.
"But, if we talk to her, she may be willing to give you the scraps she doesn't need," the young Soldier added. After all, since he was just asking for sawdust from the branch, Armorer Dian was unlikely to refuse the request. It just wasn't his right to offer it up on the armorer's behalf without speaking with her first. After all, it was possible that she would need the help of another Alchemist within the sect and had planned to barter away the scraps herself.
"That's reasonable," Bo Gau agreed, working to curb his enthusiasm. "What about the rest of your warband? Do you already have anyone else in mind?"
"I need to recruit a musician from the Bamboo Silk House," Liang Xiong said, drawing raised eyebrows from the alchemist at the mention of enlisting help from another sect. "I've made a few contacts there since my sister set up a matchmaking meeting for me," he explained. "I think that if I'm able to offer a reasonable reward they may be willing to offer it up as a mission to one of their disciples."
"So the two of us and a musician?" Bo Gau asked.
"No, I'll need more than that," Liang Xiong said. "One of the things I'll need to do is ensure the safety of the musician we recruit. I can hold the front line as long as we don't venture too deep into the Forest of Mist, and with your help, I'm sure that we can recover from minor injuries. Ideally, I'd take a few junior brothers as well, mostly to serve as bodyguards for our musician."
"I can't imagine your betrothal would go well if you get a disciple of her sect killed while trying to obtain a gift for your beloved," Bo Gau agreed. "Do you have anyone in mind?"
"No," Liang Xiong said, hanging his head low. "I've only been in the Inner Sect for six months, I don't have many friends that I can call on. I'm already spending most of my contribution points from the Soft Grass campaign on supplies for this trip. Horses, carriage, it's all eating into my reserves."
"So you can't post it as a sect mission since you can't pay out the rewards," the alchemist mused. "You know, there are a few lads from the Battle of Soft Grass who might be willing to ride under your banner. Some of them came to me in the hopes that I could turn bits of the Corpse Devouring Locusts into an elixir that would aid their cultivation. They're in a tough spot as the sons of senior deacons."
"Their parents have strong enough cultivation to enter the Inner Sect but their hopes of advancement are all but nonexistent because of their bloodline limitations," Liang Xiong said, recognizing the problem immediately. "So the resources they receive from their families are limited. They must be afraid of turning twenty and being sent to the Outer Sect if they can't break through."
"The ones I have in mind are inexperienced but enthusiastic," Bo Gau said. "And, since you can't offer a reward, I'll offer to concoct for them, assuming we can obtain a few additional ingredients on this expedition. That should gain you the support of at least one or two junior brothers."
"Senior Brother Bo, thank you," Liang Xiong said, bowing deeply to his friend.
"Don't bother yourself over it," the alchemist said, waving off the gesture. "You brought me the beast core of the Brood Queen. My teacher helped convert it into a pill core for a Golden Carapace Pill. I might not have been allowed to keep the pill but I received half the proceeds from its sale and I have you to thank for that. Consider this to be me returning the favor," he said, wrapping an arm around Liang Xiong's shoulders.
"Now, let's pay a visit to Armorer Dian to talk about the scraps of the branch, and then I'll introduce you to the Junior Brothers I have in mind," he said.
"Okay, but first, both of us should clean up," Liang Xiong said, stepping away from the alchemist with a frown at the powerful odor of sulfur that clung to his soot-stained robes. "I might have gone to see Armorer Dian straight from the training yard but that was because she summoned me. At a certain point, if I keep running around without washing up then my reputation as a dignified senior will be as bad as yours!"