Sunrise Alchemist, Ch 4: Boreas (Patreon)

He followed his nose past the booths in the courtyard, looking for an area that was quieter. Before long, he found a small teahouse on a side street not far from the gate. A rich aroma of dark and aged tea came through the open door, as well as the spice of roasting meat and lighter scent of sweet pastries. It was a pleasant combination.

He took one of the free tables and placed an order with the waitress. Then he studied the medallion in his hand. It was more complex than anything he’d seen at Whitestone, especially if it could be handed out so easily to guests. It was clearly tied into a grand formation that supported the city itself.

“Oh, that’s a guest medallion,” the waitress replied with surprise when she returned with a pot of steaming tea and a plate of fragrant buns. “Most shops will charge foreigners an extra tax, but they’ll exempt it if you show them that.”

The light scent of spiritual herbs baked into the buns tickled at his nose. Each of them came to him with a distinct presence, letting him know there was Purple Cloud Flower, Butterleaf Nut, and Red Fall Bark mixed into them. They were abundant and cheap herbs with a good flavor, which made them ideal as spices.

The location of Boreas made it easy even for non-cultivators to use herbs in their food. The line between medicine and spice here was a thin one and the people were old hands at combining the two. It also meant the average level of strength here was higher than Whitestone by two or three ranks, around the sixth level of Qi Condensation.

“Thank you,” Verse nodded at her as she set the tea and plate down. “Do you know where the Azurewind Guard outpost is?”

“Sure,” the waitress replied cheerfully. “Guards’ Quarter, Third circle, two streets past the gate, take a left, and look for the five-story barracks. It should be open most of the time. Are you part of the guard? Is that why you got a medallion?” A note of interest was in her voice.

“Maybe soon,” Verse said with a smile as he memorized the directions and passed her a spirit stone for the meal. Each low-grade spirit stone was worth ten gold or more, which was enough to pay for the meal a dozen times over. “Bring out the rest when it’s ready, please. Keep the change.”

“Sure thing, handsome,” the waitress winked at him with a smile before she sashayed away, showing off a nice set of curves that added a certain ambience to the teahouse.

Verse hid a smile as he turned his attention to the food in front of him. Before he could pick up a bun, he noticed that one was already missing from the plate. The rustle of Leaf chomping on it came from near his ear. He reached up and scratched the elemental on the head as he chuckled.

It looked like he would have to order another plate.

The tea was dark and sweet, like oak swirling over his tongue with a touch of spice, and as it entered his stomach, a wave of cool energy flowed through his body.

“Good tea,” he murmured to himself as he let out a sigh. It had been a long time since he’d been in a restaurant, and he couldn’t remember one that had food anywhere near this quality.

As he relaxed and filled his stomach, he continued studying the information in the medallion. The guard had said the city magistrates could use it to contact him, but hopefully they had other ways to solve their problems.

As an Imperial Knight, he had the jurisdiction to pass judgment anywhere in the empire, at a level beyond even provincial governors and courts, but it wasn’t an authority he wanted to use here. It could stir up trouble, especially if he wasn’t as strong as the local forces. He could technically call on nearby legions or reserve forces for support, but it would throw him into a barrel of politics. He’d rather just practice alchemy and have a quiet stay.

The medallion included a detailed explanation of the rights he received as a guest. It was an honorary citizen status that for anyone else it would have been difficult to acquire. Not only did it offer a discount on trade as if he were a local, but it gave him the right to call on the guards for assistance if he were threatened, as well as better protection under the laws of the city.

It looked like Boreas was a city that had a clear divide between citizens and foreigners. It wasn’t uncommon in the empire.

Another key bit of information told him that he didn’t have to wait in line at the entrance again. Imperial Knights and citizens could both take the fast route. This medallion would work as proof.

By the time he was done examining it, he had a clear understanding of the city’s design, the guilds, and the location of places of interest, including auction houses, herbalists, and the alchemist’s guild, which was located in a quarter of its own, similar to the Guard Quarter.

He ended up spending over an hour at the teahouse as he ordered several more plates of food and pots of tea, several of which got stored in his spatial ring as a snack for later, both for him and for Leaf.

The elemental had already eaten an entire plate of buns by himself. In his current form, that was almost the same size as his body, so it wasn’t clear where he was putting it all.

He gave the waitress a wave as he left her a second spirit stone. She’d been helpful in answering questions. She watched him go with a slight pout, as if she wanted him to stay longer, but he pretended not to see it as he headed into the street.

He browsed through some shops and stalls on the street as he headed toward the Alchemists’ Quarter. He wanted to go there before the guard post and get a better understanding of the possibilities in the city. The sort of herbs available would tell him a lot about what missions to take.

It took about an hour to reach the quarter, which was divided from the rest of the city by a fortified wall of its own. The formations on the wall here were even stronger than the ones on the main gate. The emerald stones glowed with a faint light of spiritual energy, showing that they were a higher grade. A lot of money had gone into these walls.

The guards here were six full-blooded giants, each of them standing twelve feet tall beside the gate. They bulged with muscle as they held massive halberds in their hands and their expressions were flat as they looked over the crowd in front of them.

Beside them, a fire sylph with a tablet was taking note of those entering, but the flow of traffic was otherwise unimpeded. Fire sylphs looked mostly like humans, but they were shorter at just over five feet tall, their bodies were leaner, and they had a natural affinity for Fire. Their hair came in shades of yellow, orange, and red.

The eyes of the one watching had small flames dancing in the pupil as he studied the people passing by. His hair was bright crimson with orange highlights. The spiritual energy around him resonated with the Dao of Fire in a way that was immediately apparent to Verse.

The guards were powerful, but it wasn’t in the alchemists’ interest to block traffic. It would slow down their ability to make money. Instead, they were relying on the guards’ intimidation to make a point. Verse passed through without any trouble.

The fire sylph gave him a knowing look as he walked by, probably sensing the Dao of Fire around him as well, but he didn’t try to stop him. Alchemists required affinities in Wood and Fire to be adept at their work, so it wasn’t like it was a rarity for someone with that affinity to be here.

Inside the gate, the buildings were much more ornate than the ones outside. Shops, taverns, herb stores, and more sprawled along the street. All of them were two to three stories tall, and many had elegant designs or illusion formations of their own to attract passersby. Even the simplest of them was made from high quality stone that sparkled with spiritual energy.

Overall, the impression was of extreme wealth and luxury.

There were probably failed alchemists who were barely scraping by somewhere in the city, but this wasn’t where he’d find them.

Directly ahead of him, the street opened onto a plaza that was dominated by a white marble pagoda seven stories tall. It towered over the rest of the area, twice the height of the other buildings. A sign on the front proclaimed it was the White Cloud Auction House.

There were a dozen guards on the main door, and dozens more scattered around the building. All of them were in the Aligned Realm.

There was the distinct presence of even more powerful Primal Spirit cultivators radiating from each corner. The subtle force coming from them was like a heavy blanket pressing down on the plaza, since they were making no attempt to hide their auras.

Verse nodded as he saved the location of the auction house in his mind. He’d probably be visiting that at some point to buy or sell herbs. It looked like it was the center of the area and most of the businesses here were probably connected to it.

He didn’t have too many items that were truly rare except for his high-grade spirit stones and one crimson sunset blossom that he had saved from Whitestone, which was now stored in his soul space, but he did have some scattered items from bandits to get rid of.

An Imperial Knight selling off loot like that wouldn’t even raise an eyebrow, and the auction house would probably give him a fair price on it. It had the ability to move items in bulk, unlike smaller stores.

He had some of the rarer herbs from the old Deian Ruins near Whitestone too, which were now only a crater, but most of them were intended for poisons and darker cultivation paths. Selling too many might also draw attention from the people who had planted them.

He still didn’t know how deep those connections ran through the empire, but they’d had the resources to hire the Ebon Seal Sect, which was a well-known mercenary group in the middle provinces. That type of connection was at least at the Primal Spirit realm, if not higher. It would be best to use those herbs for his own experiments.

Although a lot of them were poisonous, quite a few could be used in antidote pills as well. Those might be worth selling if he could master the process.

Right now, he needed some supplies and a place to practice, so he turned away from the auction house as he continued through the quarter, occasionally ducking into shops to see what was available. Each one he entered improved his understanding of the city and how to achieve the most here.

The shrine had already transmitted the first level of its alchemy knowledge to him. It was like a lead weight on the side of his mind that he needed to unwrap through practice, but in terms of basic understanding of herbs and how to get started in alchemy, he knew what he had to do.

The more he searched through the quarter, the more he had to hide a smile. This place was full of things he wanted to buy. From cauldrons, to high quality herbs, to pills, potions, salves, and more...it had something for everyone.

Eventually, he found himself inside a supply shop in a more distant section of the quarter, one where the buildings were still nice, but they lacked the flash and glamour of the ones near the auction house. That was the tourist area, where everything was expensive and the sales people were well trained in how to fleece an unwary customer of their money.

This area was different. It was a workman’s area, one that catered to lesser known alchemists and servants who were out buying herbs for their masters. It was still proud and wealthy, but it wasn’t on the same level as the other. It was just right for his plan. The polished stone doorway rang with the pleasant chime of an alarm formation as he walked inside.

“Welcome, good sir. How can I help you today?” A woman behind the counter looked up as he walked in. A set of half spectacles on her nose marked out a kind and slightly strict appearance, which was accented by hair pulled back in a quick and workable twist. She was clearly not a woman to deal with inefficiency, even when it came to her hair.

“I’m looking for a large supply of alchemy ingredients at the apprentice and journeyman level,” Verse said with a smile. “Are you able to help with that?”

He wasn’t sure how herbs were categorized here, so that should give him a wide range to choose from.

“Ingredients are marked based on their rank,” the woman said automatically as she held out a jade slip to him. It had been resting on the counter until she picked it up. “Everything we have is recorded here. You must be from one of the western provinces. Their apprentice level usually corresponds to Rank 1-2 ingredients and journeyman to Ranks 3-4. Is there a specific one you need?”

Verse accepted the jade slip and sent his spiritual sense into it. There was a massive number of ingredients available, even in this seemingly small shop. It looked like he had come to the right place.

It didn’t take him long to figure out what the shopkeeper meant by rank. Rank 1 corresponded to Qi Gathering materials, Rank 2 to Essence Condensation, and so on. Rank 3 and 4 were Aligned and Primal-level ingredients and much more expensive.

It almost made him laugh to realize where that put him on the alchemy scale. An apprentice alchemist couldn’t even start until Essence Condensation, and they usually had to be at the Touch of the Dao with both Wood and Fire, which was the main limiting factor for alchemists. Most of them came to it through natural affinities, rather than learned ones.

He would have to work a bit on the Dao of Wood himself, but his bloodline would push him along.

As for the higher ranks, 5 through 7 corresponded to the Inspired Aura, Dao Echo, and Divine Essence realms. The slip recorded the names of some herbs at those ranks, but they didn’t have any in stock. They were much too expensive for a small supply shop to keep on hand.

A pill intended for a specific realm could use quite a mix of ingredients, both lower and higher, depending upon the exact recipe. Sometimes a low-ranked pill needed a single strong ingredient, and other times a high-ranked pill needed dozens of lower-ranked ingredients to support it.

The rank of an ingredient wasn’t necessarily limited to someone at that realm. It was just an easy way to categorize the strength and rarity of a particular herb, including the amount of spiritual energy it contained.

He accessed the ingredients in his memory and began comparing them to the jade in his hand. He was looking for materials that were abundant in the city and that had a good effect with the recipes from the shrine.

Ideally, he wanted a selection of herbs that were cheap and plentiful, but that would result in a useful pill. If he could use Rank 1 materials to train, it would save a lot of money. He had enough recipes that he was confident in finding one that would work.

Fortunately, herbs hadn’t changed much over time. There were a few things that he didn’t recognize in the list, but almost everything here was in the information the shrine had given him, even if the names didn’t match up exactly. Some were slightly different, like a Bluegrass Bell compared to a Bluebell Grass.

Whether or not those were the same thing was something he would have to look into later.

What stood out to him the most in the list was the wide supply of herbs Boreas had available, especially in the first three ranks, which were what he needed right now. It was a promising beginning.

He quickly identified a dozen herbs with good potential that suited recipes in his memory. Then he began to organize them into complete ingredient sets as he looked for the best combination for the price.

A large part of the Emerald Dragon’s alchemy came from their unique processes and their bloodline abilities. Herbs were only one part of it. Some herbs that were considered low quality in this shop could be completely reworked with the right process, resulting in a greater effect.

All alchemists had their secrets, so as long as he kept the details to himself, it shouldn’t be a problem to sell what he made.

Some things that had been easy for the dragons to grow were much more difficult for people now, while others were the opposite. The dragons always had a low population and generally only grew what they needed for a specific formula. They didn’t spend the time cultivating endless fields of low-rank herbs for mass production.

Boreas did.

Eventually, he settled on a dozen Rank 1 herbs and a single Rank 3. The Rank 3 one was expensive, but it was a key component in an Aligned-level qi gathering pill that he would need for his own cultivation. Without it, his progress would be slower. It was also one of the simpler herbs to process, so hopefully it wouldn’t demand too much from him.

The combination of herbs was enough for three different recipes, once he processed them a bit. It would take some practice to master that.

“Is there a good place to sell finished pills in the city?” he asked as he pulled his spiritual sense back from the jade slip.

“If you’re looking to have a new pill verified, the guild provides that service,” the shopkeeper told him. She didn’t look surprised that he was asking. “Their seal of approval is needed to sell within the city, but it’s only available to members. Are you part of the guild yet?”

“Not yet,” Verse shook his head. “What’s the process for joining, and the requirements? I won’t be able to stay in Boreas for that long.”

“Not a problem,” the shopkeeper replied as she pulled a small jade plate from a storage device and set it on the counter. “This is an introduction token to the guild. A referral, basically. Most shops keep these on hand in case someone like you comes by. Traveling alchemists are one of the major trading partners for Boreas.”

She pushed the plate across the counter to him. It was about the size of his palm, with a symbol of an emerald-walled city on one side for Boreas and an alchemy cauldron on the other. An inscription along the top simply said “Alchemy.”

Contained inside of the plate was a map to the guild, a list of basic rules in Boreas to be associated with the guild, and some other pertinent information.

“Take that to the guild when you want to verify a pill,” the shopkeeper explained. “They’ll study the effect of the pill, and if it’s acceptable, they’ll invite you to join. There are no real responsibilities that come with joining. It’s just a way of tracking alchemists within the city and making sure that the products we sell are up to par.”

A slight smile crossed her stern features then, as she added, “Most alchemists are terrible at cooperating anyway. I should know, my husband is a Rank 3 alchemist. If you do join the guild, you’ll get a small discount in most shops, even beyond what your guest medallion gives you. The guild likes to deal in bulk and it’s the best way to offload a large amount of herbs or pills. They sell them all across the empire. They’re the most important buyer of pills in the city, as well as the main provider.”

Verse nodded as he tucked the token away into his spatial ring. The rank for alchemists had to correspond to the pills they made, so he didn’t ask her any questions about it. A Rank 3 alchemist should be capable of making Aligned Realm pills.

He spent a few minutes talking to her about general alchemy things in the city, including more about the guild. She was very knowledgeable about the supply of herbs in the city and the best way to get the guild’s support, and he took full advantage of it.

When he left the shop, it was with many fewer spirit stones than he’d entered, but his spatial bracelet was stuffed full with ingredients. He’d bought a hundred of each of the Rank 1 herbs and fifty of the Rank 3. Each of the Rank 1s was worth one to three spirit stones, while each of the Rank 3 cost two hundred.

Altogether, the bill was a bit over 12,500 spirit stones. The smile on the shopkeeper’s face said that he was welcome back anytime. He still had about twenty thousand low-grade spirit stones left, but if he kept buying things at that rate, his funds would disappear before he knew it.

As he left the shop, the names of the herbs floated in his mind, along with the recipes he was planning to make. The dozen Rank 1 herbs were Bluebell Grass, Marrow Sprout, Verdant Leaf, Crimson Heartblood, Spiritual Dew, Moon Sap, God’s Nettle, Pine Essence, Windflower, Yellow River Seed, Serene Willow, and Lunar Water.

The sole Rank 3 herb was called Dawn Flower.

The recipes he planned to use required various combinations of those ingredients, as well as several steps in between, but they weren’t too complicated. The major requirement was for him to infuse the herbs with energy from his soul space and get them up to their maximum quality before he processed them.

Like most herbs for sale, these weren’t living, but he could still manage to purify them with his bloodline energy. That would add a draconic element to the alchemy, which was the foundation for the recipes.

The final results should be Woodbalm paste, the Serene Mind pill, the Vital Qi pill, and the Wind and Clouds pill.

The first one was a simple healing paste that would accelerate mending wounds, as long as they weren’t too deep. It could be used on more serious wounds, but it wouldn’t be as effective.

That was the recipe he planned to start with, since making a paste was a lot simpler than making a pill. It would let him practice with the foundational skills, including infusing energy into the herbs, balancing the quantities, and merging them together without disrupting their effectiveness.

It should also sell well. Cultivators were constantly injuring themselves and surface wounds were common. If he sold it for less than a regular healing pill, it shouldn’t be a problem to offload a lot of it.

The Serene Mind pill was designed to aid in cultivation by clearing the mind of extraneous thoughts and promoting focus. There were many similar pills available in the city, but few that had such a low cost. Pills of that type were always in high demand, but most of them required powerful herbs to get a good effect.

The Vital Qi pill was a Qi Gathering-level pill for restoring energy. It was nothing special, but it was cheap and it would be good practice for making better ones. He’d have to start with that before trying the one he really wanted to make.

The Wind and Clouds pill was the one he was most interested in. It used the Rank 3 Dawn Flower as its primary ingredient, which was a type of blossom that opened for just an hour under the first light of dawn on mountain slopes. The petals of the flower were a dark, starry blue marked with white sunbursts.

As an herb, it was tempting to just eat it directly. He could sense the high quality spiritual energy it contained, as well as its alignment to the natural daos of the world. His own affinity with Dawn and the Sun were what made him choose it.

“Those ingredients should keep you busy for a month or so,” the shrine said,” but you’ll need to succeed in making some pills before you go broke. I have good news for you though, little dragon. With your constitution, you can eat most of the herb mess you make while practicing. Charcoal scraped off the bottom of a cauldron won’t work as well as the finished product, but they all have some spiritual energy. I can’t say much about the taste. You’re on your own for that. As my old master said, failure makes your scales grow stronger!”

Verse rolled his eyes as the shrine’s teasing. He had no doubt that he was going to make quite a few disasters before he managed something to be proud of. He planned to take it methodically and not waste the ingredients.

The tickling sensation of little claws drew his attention to his wrist, telling him Leaf had woken up. The elemental was curled around his arm with its nose pressed against his spatial bracelet, sniffing eagerly.

“You can’t eat the new ones, little guy,” Verse said with a chuckle as he pulled out two other herbs that he had on hand. “Try these.”

The elemental disappeared in a flash, as did the two herbs in Verse’s hand. The only trace of its presence was the sound of chomping near his ear, as well as a pleased burble from the little glutton.

“Alright, now to find a place to stay.” Verse folded his hands together in thought as he considered the layout of the city and information that the shopkeeper had given him. “The guild inns are open to traveling alchemists, and with this token, I should be able to get a room. Let’s head there next. After that, I’ll see about the Azurewind Guard outpost.”

“You’re not going to be able to do both at once,” the shrine said. “Why not ignore the guards for a while and focus on alchemy? It’ll be better in the long run.”

“I’m planning for the future,” Verse replied as he shook his head. “I can afford materials for just starting out, but what happens in a few months or a year when I need higher-level ones. I’ll need the funds to buy them or a lead into where they can be harvested. That’s what the guard is for. Hopefully, they’ll have some missions that are related to alchemy.”

“So we’re going to stay here for a while?” the shrine asked. “It’s not a bad place, I suppose, though it doesn’t have enough mountains.”

“It has even more herbs than I expected,” Verse agreed, “and for a good price. I don’t know of a better place to train alchemy. It won’t hurt to stay for a while, at least until my skills advance beyond what the city can offer. Formations should be possible here too, but those can wait until alchemy is paying the bills.”

“Once you master alchemy, formations, and the Dao of Stars,” the shrine said, “you’ll have some ability to control the inscriptions on me, and that will give you a good way to protect yourself from higher-realm threats. If you’re staying here, you also need to focus on gathering high-quality materials to bolster your bloodline. That will push your cultivation upward naturally. Your current level is embarrassing for an Emerald Dragon.

“I wasn’t joking about dragons being able to eat almost anything with spiritual energy. Use those Azurewind Guard missions to find spirit crystals, elemental stones, natural treasures, beast cores, or powerful herbs. Then eat them. You can’t neglect your own growth, even if you are focusing on alchemy.”

“Let’s go get a room,” Verse agreed as he turned toward the area of the Alchemist Quarter that held inns. “Then I’ll register at the Azurewind Guard. I’ve heard it can be a while between their induction ceremonies, so I might have to wait for the next one.”

“More time to practice alchemy,” the shrine said cheerfully. “Start grinding!”