Sunrise Alchemist, Ch 13: Natural Treasures (Patreon)

The guild trading counter was surprisingly quiet. He’d thought it would be packed with people, but it was divided into six small rooms for private transactions, each of them well appointed with a richly polished wooden counter and various testing apparatuses, as well as a clerk that oversaw the transactions.

There was also a list of available products for trade and their rates, which was placed at the center of the counter. It was inscribed onto parchment, rather than a jade slip, suggesting that the rates didn’t change that often.

Two of the rooms were occupied, but the rest were free. It only took a moment for Vesana to lead him into one. By the time they arrived, she had already settled back into her efficient guild persona. She gave the clerk some rapid instructions and then she turned to Verse, pretending like she barely knew him.

“Welcome to the guild, heritage alchemist,” she said formally as she gave him a slight bow. “I have to return to my duties, but I will be available if you need anything. It is rare to have an Imperial Knight join us, so please, let me know if you face any difficulties. For now, I wish you good luck.”

With an elegant turn, she was gone, leaving only the faint signature of her aura in the guild office, as well as the impression of bright blue eyes and neat brown hair in a bun.

He watched her go with a wry smile and a sense of deep amusement. She probably did have a lot of other duties as deputy branch manager to handle, beyond just misleading Renzer. Overall, things were looking up, since the guild was a lot more interesting now.

“It is an honor to welcome an Imperial Knight to the guild,” the clerk said politely, pulling Verse’s attention back to the counter. “Let me get those resources for you.” With a quick bow, the man disappeared into the back room.
Thanks to Vesana’s hint, he was focusing on Verse’s title rather than his new position as a Rank 1 Alchemist. It made it clear which one he thought was worth more.

He returned a few moments later with two jade plates and a small spatial bag. Spatial bags were more common in Boreas than they’d been in Whitestone, but they weren’t as highly regarded as spatial rings or other items, so they were generally only used if you couldn’t afford something better.

“The bag has your annual allotment of 200 mid-grade spirit stones, as well as the 1100 in trade from the guild,” the clerk announced as he pushed it toward Verse. “Please confirm the amount and then let me see your badge, so I can mark it as delivered.”

A moment later, the spirit stones were transferred into Verse’s ring and he pushed the empty bag back across the counter. After that, the clerk handed him the two jade plates.

“These have the Rank 1 and Rank 2 herbs that are available in the guild,” the clerk announced. “Please, make your choices and I’ll retrieve them for you.”

Verse just nodded as he took the plates and began to browse them for anything of interest. The selection was wide, with hundreds of herbs at each level, and it showed just how far the guild’s reach extended. Many of the herbs were from distant regions of the empire, and some were from even farther away.

He compared what was available to the ingredients he needed for his heritage pills and then considered the supply at the local shops before he made his choice. A few minutes later, a series of spatial bags appeared on the counter, all of which he emptied directly into his spatial bracelet with the rest of his herbs.

“Do you have any of these herbs in a living state?” he asked as he delivered a rapid list of herbs to the clerk. “Especially Nine-Leaf Clover, Silver Melody Thread, or Vital Storm Grass?”

Those three weren’t the only ones he wanted, but they were at the top of his list. They were key ingredients he needed for the first set of heritage pills.

“Let me check.” The clerk didn’t seem surprised by the question. He only disappeared again and returned a few minutes later with an array of special jade boxes for living herbs.

“These are Rank 3 living herbs,” he said as he set them on the table. “Each of them will cost 100 low-grade spirit stones, due to the transportation requirements.”

Verse just nodded as he tucked the jade boxes away. Then he sent the clerk back to get a few dozen more living herbs at Ranks 1 and 2, as well as some other Rank 3s.

He’d been right to come to the guild. The reach of their supply section was massive. He’d already looked for these herbs in the city and none were available, especially not in a living form. Everything he needed for the heritage pills was available here.

Before long, he had thousands of ingredients stored away, as well as dozens of living herbs to plant in his soul space or the courtyard. It cost almost half of the spirit stones he’d just received from the guild's annual allotment, but it would be enough to last for quite a while.

“I’m also looking for Wood and Wind herbs,” he said when everything was stored away. “Natural treasure, elemental crystals, or even just Wood and Wind aligned spirit stones.”

“I believe we have a few things like that, but I will have to go and see what they are,” the clerk said with some surprise. “Let me check with the treasures department and I’ll be back shortly with a list. You must have quite an interesting heritage, sir.”

Trading back so many spirit stones for herbs hadn’t shocked him, but this did. Natural treasures had a part to play in some pills, but it was rare for a Rank 1 alchemist to need them. What he didn’t know was that Verse wasn’t planning on using them to make pills.

He was going to eat them.

One of his draconic bloodline abilities was to absorb most forms of natural energy. He’d made some improvements in his Dao of Wood and Dao of Wind over the past month while practicing, but he wasn’t quite there yet. If he had a couple of natural treasures to absorb, it should speed things up.

Since his cultivation was already on the verge of breaking through to the Aligned realm, he needed to make sure his comprehension of the dao matched. Otherwise, his jade essence might become unbalanced. It was founded on the Daos of Life, Wind, Water, Stone, and Fire. He needed to have each of them at Touch of the Dao.

Wood and Life were very similar Daos, but Wood was much easier to grasp than the pure aspect of Life. More importantly, studying Wood at this level was the training method of the Jade Scripture. Eventually, his insight into the pure Dao of Life would improve, but it be many realms in the future, when his perception of reality was stronger.

Once all five elements were together, they would interlock and form a complete Jade Foundation, which was a key step in the Jade Scripture. Afterwards, that foundation would increase on its own as it built five elemental pillars, one for each dao.

Eventually, those pillars would form a massive spiritual temple, the Jade Palace, which would gather energy inside of it, giving rise to a spark of Primal Spirit in his heart. Once he ignited that spark, he would officially step into the Primal Spirit realm.

But that was a ways off still.

Once he mastered Wood and Wind, he still needed to work on Stone, but there was a reason he was leaving that one for last. If his plan worked, it would be the easiest of them all.

The clerk disappeared into the back room again and this time he was gone for much longer. Verse studied the jade plates and the testing apparatuses in the room as he waited, considering all that the guild had to offer.

Eventually, the clerk returned with three small ornate boxes in his hands. One was made out of translucent crystalline jade, while the other two were made out of more standard materials.

“These are most of what the guild has available to trade,” the clerk said as he set them on the counter. “A few rarer items are available, but I’m afraid even with your status as an Imperial Knight, I can’t access them for you yet. Once you increase your alchemist tier, you’ll have access to more things.”

With that, he opened the lid of each box and showed Verse what was inside.

“This Crystal Marrow Jade is required to contain the power of the Silver Wind Stone,” he explained as he pointed at the first one. “It’s a Rank 3 Wind-based treasure that’s condensed near mountain peaks when wind and stone come together over a long period of time. It has a natural gale force that’s sufficient to injure anyone below the Aligned realm. It can be refined into powerful pills or even a spiritual artifact.”

“These other two boxes contain strong Wood-element treasures,” he said as he indicated the last items. “They’re both Rank 3 as well. The first one is a medium-quality Forest Emerald, which is a type of natural treasure that’s born in the heartwood of some ancient trees as they condense the vitality of the forest around them.”

The Forest Emerald was the size of his hand and a vibrant green hue with a golden highlight. It looked more like a gemstone than a piece of wood, which was where it got its name. As soon as it appeared, Leaf’s hiss echoed insistently in Verse’s ear.

“No eating that,” Verse sent to the elemental. “I need it.”

He was confident that Leaf could hear the draconic language, even if the greedy fellow hadn’t used it yet. He pretended to scratch his ear as he pushed the elemental’s head back, preventing him from leaping forward.

“The second one is Guardian Bark,” the clerk continued, blissfully unaware of the elemental that was eyeing him like he was a walking buffet. “It’s Wood-based natural treasure that can be used to provide defensive armor for a short period of time, but that's a waste of the pure energy it contains, which is better for pills.”

The last item was a chunk of golden bark with a grain so dense it resembled metal. It was an irregular rectangle about three centimeters wide and six long and it looked like it had been broken off of a larger piece of bark. It hummed with heavy, vital energy as Verse studied it.

Leaf’s head bumped against Verse’s hand, stabbing into his palm with two tiny horns.

“Stop that,” Verse grumbled at him. “You’re old enough to know better.”

“How much for them?” he asked as he turned his attention back to the clerk. At the same time, he shoved the elemental behind his neck without it making it too obvious.

“220 mid-grade spirit stones for the Silver Wind Stone, 90 for the Forest Heart, and 75 for the Guardian Bark,” the clerk replied easily. “Those prices take into account the guild’s recognition of your status as an Imperial Knight. We honor the same 10% discount as the rest of the city for you, which is more of a markdown than you would receive at your alchemist rank.”

When he finished explaining, he laid out a series of shimmering white and green spirit stones on the counter as well, which didn’t need any explanation. They were low and mid-quality ones with Wind and Wood affinities.

“For a more reasonable price, these spirit stones are also available at nine times their regular value for their quality,” he said. “One low-quality Wood stone for 9 regular low-quality stones. If you’d like to trade other elemental affinity stones for these, I can take them at a rate of 3 to 1.”
The prices were vastly in the guild’s favor if they were selling for nine and buying for three, but Verse didn’t pay too much attention to the cost. Instead, he studied the natural treasures and the spirit stones as he considered what was the most useful.

There were a dozen low-quality and five medium-quality Wood stones on the counter, as well as the same number in Wind.

“I’ll take all of them,” he said simply. “And I’ll trade you a few Fire stones as well.”

He still had nearly 2,000 low-grade Fire-aligned stones from the mountains near Whitestone. He might as well spend a few here.

“Very good, sir,” the clerk replied, but his eyes were wide as he tried to contain his surprise. “That will be 385 mid-grade spirit stones for the three treasures, as well as 216 low-quality and another 90 mid-quality spirit stones. Or, the equivalent in trade.”

Verse pushed a handful of Fire-aligned stones across the counter to trade for the low-quality ones, which reduced the price to 72, but he didn’t waste the rest of his Fire-aligned stones on trying to make up the value for the mid-grade versions. He could have just barely done it, but it would leave him with only a handful of Fire-aligned ones.

It was better to save them for his own use.

Instead, he paid the exorbitant price and swept all of the items into his spatial ring. The total was 475 mid-grade stones, but he was still up by more than 600 from the trade.

“I’d also like to sell off some healing salve,” he said as he turned the topic to the Woodbalm Paste. He pulled out a jade box and set it on the counter, flipping the lid up so the clerk could examine it. Next to it, he placed the guild’s letter of inspection that authorized it for sale. “What can you give me for one of these?”

A few moments of testing later, as the clerk used one of the apparatuses around the room, left him with a price of 21 spirit stones for the paste. It wasn’t bad, given that Vesana had said most Rank 1 pills sold for 10-30 spirit stones and these were only low quality ones.

“Alright, I’d like to sell...178 of them,” he said as he quickly checked his spatial ring for the total amount he’d made over the last month. He couldn’t help but chuckle a bit.

He was expecting the clerk to be surprised by the quantity, but the man just nodded calmly.

“Very good, sir,” he said as he pushed a spatial bag across the counter. “Would you like to transfer them directly into there to make it easier? The counter is not quite large enough for all of that. ”

It looked like the guild was used to large orders, which was convenient. A few moments later, Verse had all of the pastes transferred and the clerk verified them.

“That will be 3,178 spirit stones, sir,” the clerk said, “or 63 mid-grade ones and 28 left over change, if you prefer.”

“Mid-grade is fine,” Verse replied as he held his new alchemist badge out to the clerk. “Can you add that transaction toward my annual resource requirement?”

“Of course, sir,” the clerk said as he accepted the badge and made an adjustment. “That puts you at almost a third of the way in a single transaction. Very impressive indeed.”

Verse tried not to laugh, since the clerk was reminding him more and more of a butler who was patiently waiting for his lord to go away so he could relax. A third of the annual requirement for a month of work wasn’t bad. It would be easy to keep up with, and they were effectively paying him twice for it.

It definitely wasn’t bad to have the guild’s support.

A moment later, he had the spirit stones and everything else stored away, and he waved goodbye to the clerk. The man gave him a polite bow before he disappeared with the storage bag into the back storeroom.

“Not a bad haul,” the shrine said as Verse walked out. “That’s everything you’ll need to practice for a while.”

“I’d like to start making pills soon,” Verse agreed. “They would be useful in a fight here. But I need to finish the basics first. These Wood and Wind treasures should speed things up.”

As soon as he got back to his house, he would focus on absorbing them. With the atmosphere of the courtyard around him, Wood shouldn’t be a problem, since he could study it right there.

Wind might take a little longer.

“Another couple hundred pastes and you might get to high quality,” the shrine agreed. “Your progress is good, but things take time. You need more practice with the techniques. Fortunately, they’ll be useful for your other recipes in the future, and this recipe is the cheapest to practice, so you’re saving yourself time and money by mastering them now.”

Verse nodded, but he was pulled away from his thoughts by Leaf headbutting him in the ear. The elemental hissed with irritation at being stuffed away during the exchange.

“You can’t eat all the herbs in the shop, buddy,” Verse said with a laugh as he pulled a Rank 2 herb out of his bracelet. “Here, you can have that for not causing too much trouble.”

Leaf’s hiss turned into a rumble as he snagged the herb in a claw. Then Verse felt tiny pokes all across his scalp as the elemental ran up to the top of his head and perched there, where he chewed on it delicately.

“Really?” Verse looked upward at the elemental. “Get off of there. You’re doing that on purpose.”

Despite his complaint, however, he was smiling. Leaf kept things simple, which was relaxing in its own way.

*****

A few hours later, Verse was seated in his courtyard as he considered the problem Vesana had given him. He had a bit over 800 mid-grade spirit stones and 9,000 low-grade ones left, which was a reasonable amount.

The sale of the paste at the guild had given him a way to make slow but steady income. 63 mid-grade spirit stones was a decent amount for a month’s work and his speed would only increase, as would his ability to make a higher quality.

Ten sales like that would just about pay for his house.

Next time, he’d have to get the mid-grade paste evaluated to see how much more he could get for it, but right now he had something else to work on.

The Silver Wind Stone, Forest Emerald, and Guardian Bark appeared in front of him, as did the Wind and Wood-aligned spirit stones. They glowed with an intense spiritual energy that stirred up a wind of its own in the courtyard, making the leaves rustle as the grass and herbs bent in an unseen breeze. The herbs nearby tilted toward him as they responded to the incredible amount of vitality in the emerald and bark.

A mist of Wood energy began to gather around them like a fog, and then it was stirred into movement by the Wind stone.

Leaf immediately leapt off his shoulders and began to pace up and down the center of the courtyard, staring at the items intently, but he seemed to know they weren’t for him. He shot a glance at Verse as he made a turn and then he curled up with his eyes on him, waiting to see what he would do.

Verse was calm as he looked down at the items. He wanted to use them immediately, but there was one thing he needed first. A flicker of will brought his silver-ranked badge into his hand, and he sent his awareness into it as he searched for what he wanted.

Not long after, a magical formation appeared in the air above the badge, creating a miniature teleportation point. Two items shimmered above it as they coalesced.

When the spiritual energy faded away, it was clear that one of them was an inscribed metal disk and the other was a talisman on a scroll.

These two items cost him another 200 mid-grade spirit stones. The only reason they weren’t more expensive was that they were single-use and the guard had a lot of them.

They were designed to protect him from the attack of a Primal Spirit cultivator, although only once. He checked them over and then put them away in his soul space with the badge.

It should be enough for now.

A momentary thought struck him as he looked at the natural treasures he’d set out, and with a flick of his hand he summoned a reflective sheet of water into the air in front of him. Elemental water twisted around the edges in an endless current, gathering into droplets and then flowing away again.

In the center, his reflection appeared.

Creating a mirror for Vesana had reminded him that he hadn’t studied his own appearance in a while. Looking at it now, there were some slight differences after absorbing the drop of dragon blood.

Based on his appearance and the youthful golden tone to his skin, his age was indeterminate, somewhere between twenty and thirty. The estimate would have been on the lower end of that range, except for the strands of white that were threaded here and there through his otherwise dark hair, which was pulled back from his face by a silver cord.

His eyebrows were sharp, masculine lines and his eyes were a bright emerald hue that glowed with spiritual energy, as well as a trace of fire. His cheekbones were slightly flared, and his jaw was strong and well-defined. There was a quirk to his lips that suggested quick humor or perhaps a temper, as well as an element of mystery.

His features were a portrait of determination and fierce intelligence, and there was a mature depth to his gaze that helped to place his age higher than his face would otherwise suggest.

The major change after absorbing the droplet of dragon blood was the intensity of his eyes, as well as the emerald flames that flickered there. Now and then, a spark of silver or golden energy like sunlight appeared in the depths.

When he first appeared on this world, he’d looked like he was 16 or perhaps 18 at most, but it would be hard for anyone to think of him as that young now. Nearly dying and then awakening his draconic bloodline had that effect.

25 or so would be an average guess for anyone who saw him, mostly due to the strands of white hair. It had brought his age closer to his personal preference.

He felt youthful, but also timeless, as if he’d been alive for long enough that age wasn’t very relevant any longer. This was fine.

“Not too bad,” he said with a chuckle. “Better than looking so young, at least. I suppose it’s been about two years now since I arrived here? Something like that.”
He hadn’t paid that much attention to the passing time. It wasn’t too important to him.

“It’s hard to say if you’re two years old or two thousand,” the shrine said with a laugh. “Who knows how long you were traveling through the stars before you got here. Then there’s the issue with all the memories you have from those other souls, that young cultivator who was 16 or so and then the soldier mage who was 60 or more.”

“Something like that,” Verse agreed. “25 works if anyone asks. That seems like a reasonable age for an Imperial Knight.”

At any rate, it was close enough.

“I wonder what a spiritual scan would reveal from your bones,” the shrine said with a thoughtful hum. “Some sects like to use that to test age.”

“Who knows,” Verse said with a laugh. “Maybe it’ll tell them I’m two and they’ll be shocked. The sects in Whitestone tried it once, but their methods weren’t very advanced. Whatever it said, they weren’t surprised.”

“Probably not 2,000 then,” the shrine agreed, “but either way, no more entering sects for you. You’re my student! But more importantly, you should be just about the right age to ask that alchemist girl out for dinner. She’s probably in her early 20s too.”

“Are you playing matchmaker now?” Verse asked with a laugh. “I can handle that myself. You focus on formations and alchemy.”

He wasn’t sure about Vesana as a romantic interest yet, but he did want to study alchemy with her. As for the rest, it would sort itself out.

“I knew it! So you are going to ask her out!” the shrine exclaimed. “Dragons have great vitality. Find yourself a mate!”

“Mind your own snout,” Verse chuckled as he waved a hand in the air. “But it’s good to know you have no bias against her.”

“Dragons have always been open-minded about these things,” the shrine teased. “Who am I to disregard tradition? Just don’t neglect your practice.”

“Alright, enough of that.” Verse rolled his eyes as he dismissed the mirror, which dissipated into a quickly-fading mist. Then he turned his attention to the Wind and Wood treasures that were in front of him. “Which of these do you think I should use first?”

“Wood,” the shrine replied immediately. “Use the courtyard here to help. Then you can focus on Wind after. Those items have a significant amount of energy in them as well, so use it for your bloodline. You don’t want your cultivation to break through yet.”

Verse nodded as he put all of the items away except the low-grade Wood stones. He wasn’t sure how much he would have to absorb until he could sense Wood clearly, so he wanted to work his way up from the weakest to the strongest. That way, he should be able to get the best feel for the element.

Once he did, then it was a matter of comprehension, but he wasn’t sure how long it would take.

Vesana should be fine in the guild for now. It was unlikely another heritage alchemist would appear immediately, but if they did, it was up to her to mark them with a tracking item. Once that happened, he would help.

There were a dozen of the low-grade Wood stones. He picked up the first and held it in his palm as he began to draw spiritual energy from it.

With the Wood-alignment that it had, most people would not try something like this. It was similar to a regular spirit stone, but if the energy from the stone clashed with their personal energy, it could damage their meridians.

The only people who would do something like this were those who had a pure Wood affinity or another way to divert the elemental energy.

The same went for Fire and other types of aligned spirit stones. They were more commonly used in crafting or for specific talismans than for cultivation.

The Wood energy was an emerald mist flowing through his meridians with a taste of cedar and moss. It filled his senses with the taste of oak and ash, vine and heartwood, root and branch. Through it all, green vitality roared like an ocean, struggling to escape and grow.

If he hadn’t been aligned to Wood, it would have tried to plant roots in his meridians and expand outward through his skin, but when it met his bloodline, it disappeared like mist in front of the sun.

It was gone in an instant.

The spirit stone in his hand turned to dust and disintegrated on the grass of the courtyard, but for just a moment there, he had felt the truth of Wood. His eyes glowed with emerald flames as he looked at the rest of the spirit stones in front of him.

Then he reached out and picked up the next one.

This time, he kept control of his bloodline energy as he began to absorb it. The same verdant life of Wood spread through his veins, merging into his muscles, bones, and every cell of his body. When he breathed, it flowed through his lungs and an emerald mist poured out of his nose.

A hunger in his blood wanted to seize the energy, but he held it back as he let the strength of Wood permeate his existence. It flowed through his body as it dispersed, and some of it settled like a swirling mist in his cells.

Then that spirit stone crumbled to dust too and scattered across the courtyard. But this time, some of the energy was left behind, existing side-by-side with his bloodline energy and jade essence.

Across from him, Leaf had a wide dragon-like grin on his narrow face as he kept his attention fixed on Verse. His ears were perked and his head was lying on top of his claws, his posture expectant.

Around the elemental, there was a slowly-expanding cyclone of Wood energy that was nearly invisible. The energy cycled through the courtyard as it grew more intense, but it was moving through each of the herbs, highlighting the layout of the natural formation Leaf had arranged.

The elemental was trying to help him out. There was a simplicity in the formation that echoed with the Wood energy he had just absorbed.
The path was right in front of him. He just had to comprehend it.

He breathed deeply, holding onto the Wood energy, and then he reached out and picked up a third spirit stone. A few more would saturate his body with Wood energy, and he would reach the peak state for comprehension.

The rest would depend on him.

As that stone crumbled to dust, a layer of green flames began to radiate from his skin, dancing in the air like rustling leaves. All around him, the plants in the courtyard slowly bent in his direction, their blossoms and fronds trembling in the air.