Immortal Freeloader 129 (Patreon)

I had multiple reasons I picked Janassa. The first reason was her personality. She was kind enough to earn the nickname Gentle Rose, almost annoyingly so. She was a hard worker who helped everyone … a fact that was abused by everyone around her, including the servants.

I dug a while for the reason for it by interrogating the servants under hypnosis, and learned that she was the daughter of the previous master of the valley. However, once he died, the valley was taken over by his disciple, who immediately sidelined her to tend to the spiritual garden while finding reasons to delay her training in alchemy. Apparently, she wasn’t very much liked because her mother was a foreigner.

Saying that cultivators were conservative was an understatement.

The second reason was the convenience. She had lived at the edge of the valley, which was close to the Misty Mountains. All I needed was to create a fate trail, and hypnotize a few servants to ‘remember’ her leaving the valley.

Then, her current power level was also helpful. She was already Sixth Stage of Qi Gathering, which meant a decent return even before she could breakthrough further. She already had extensive knowledge of tending spiritual plants, and some limited knowledge of alchemy that she learned before her father’s passing.

Altogether, she was the perfect target. I created a fake mist before I burst into the garden she had been tending, creating several weird lights and a mystic voice. “You are a good seedling. You have the potential to inherit master’s legacy,” I called as I snapped my fingers, creating a light effect.

“W-what’s going on,” she gasped before she fell unconscious. I picked her up and brought her to the flying boat.

“I’m getting too good at kidnapping people. That’s not a good sign,” I muttered as I started controlling the boat. I returned to the outskirts of Markas in quick order. I placed her on the hill I had created for alchemy training, with multiple books and materials already placed.

Then, I placed a stolen cauldron in front of her. Most of the setup had already been in place thanks to Aisnam’s training session, but I added a few mysterious lights and smoke effects outside the formation, including an illusion effect.

I wanted her to believe that we were in a mystic land.

For that purpose, I created a wall of light, and filled it with a few mysterious poems that essentially implied that she had been selected to inherit the legacy of an alchemy king, but she needed to prove herself first.

All vague, but still believable. Frankly, that part wasn’t a challenge. A lot of cultivators were ready to believe the existence of such pockets, especially when they came with near-infinite Qi and techniques.

The challenge was to find someone who would help an ‘unlucky candidate’ out of pity rather than seeking benefits. Janassa seemed to fulfill those conditions well enough.

I stayed hidden as she stirred awake, her expression filled with shock. “W-what’s going on?” she shouted as she looked around, stopping only when she noticed the glowing wall of text. She stopped to read it, her expression flickering.

Only then, I really paid attention to the way she looked. It was easy to describe her as an exotic beauty. She had beautiful caramel skin, and her curves were … impressive. However, I didn’t pay much attention to those details, soon focusing on the expression on her beautiful face.

It settled somewhere between worry and excitement rather than disbelief, I chose the way I looked accordingly. I chose to dress as a handsome yet unfortunate servant.

“Hello, mistress,” I called her even as I appeared from the mist.

“Mistress? What mistress? Who are you?” she gasped, looking shocked.

“I’m just an unfortunate soul that had failed in my challenge, mistress,” I said, bowing shamelessly. “Now, I can only serve the candidates for the inheritance in order to be freed.”

“T-that’s horrible,” she gasped.

“It’s nothing less than this talentless one deserves, mistress,” I replied. “May I guide you to your challenge, or would you prefer someone better…” The character I was playing was a bit exaggerated, but from her expression, I could see that it was working.

Excellent.

“No, no, no!” she gasped, panicked. “You will be able to help excellently.”

“Excellent, mistress,” I said even as I bowed down. “Now, let me go over the rules. Every time you make significant progress in your cultivation or your alchemy skills, you’ll earn a number of points. Then, you can use those points to purchase many things. Certain comforts, combat techniques, maybe even,” I explained.

“Can I buy your freedom?” she asked. I barely held back a smile. I truly chose the right personality type to support me.

“Unfortunately, no, mistress. To do that, I need to collect my own points. Unfortunately, I’m not skilled in alchemy for it.”

“Maybe I can teach you?” she said.

“I … I can’t pay you back, mistress. Anything you receive is strictly controlled by the rules of the mystic land. I don’t have the right to make an exception,” I said, making sure to remove any expectation for waiting for a reward.

It should be enough to satisfy the rules of the System.

“Doesn’t matter. Your imprisonment is wrong. I’ll help you,” she said.

“I … I don’t know what to say, mistress,” I said, bowing even deeper. “But, first, let me bring you the materials you require to practice your alchemy.”

“Let me help you,” she said.

I stopped her with a gesture, a reluctant expression on my face. “Unfortunately, you’re not allowed to leave the designated area during the testing, mistress. The rules. Maybe you can start reading the techniques available for you while I collect the material.”

Her naivety was even more intense than the rumors had suggested. No wonder even the servants dared to swindle her.

I quickly visited the garden, and collected a huge amount of spirit plants that could support the refinement of the basic pills. Luckily, I had already received an alchemy lesson that gave me enough information to handle the basic preparation steps with great speed.

That information didn’t come together with recipes, but raiding the libraries of the alchemists solved that problem. Learning the recipes enough to be able to produce them would take some time, but material preparation was much simpler. Especially since I could use my cultivation techniques. The dagger techniques, in particular, were very useful, allowing me to cut and dice piles of plants with an eerie accuracy.

I returned her with a large bag of materials, enough to make a hundred attempts each for six common pill recipes, as well as handwritten copies of the recipes themselves. “Are they the materials?” she asked.

“Yes, mistress. The first test is to create a Peak Profound Grade pill in less than a month,” I said. The timeline was a bit tight, but considering all the advantages I gave to her, certainly doable. “There’s a sequence you have to follow. The martial talent pill is the first one. The recovery pill is the second. Then, there’s the meridian cleansing pill. The last three, you can choose as you wish.”

“I already know how to make two of them, so it shouldn’t be too difficult,” she said as she moved toward the cauldron. “Where’s the fire?”

“Let me show you, mistress,” I said, showing her how to activate the formation I had created to supply flames, and how to adjust it.

“It’s incredible,” she said as she played around. “Too bad that the cauldron can’t handle too much fire.”

“It’s a part of the test, mistress. You’ll have a chance to get a better cauldron,” I said. She would, as soon as I would have a chance to get one, and arrange things so that she could gift me her old one. “Should I leave? I don’t want to peer into your secrets.”

“Nonsense. Come here. I’ll teach you at the same time. No need to waste time.”

“Thank you, mistress,” I said as I bowed. “But first, may I ask you a few questions about how to tend to spirit plants.”

“Sure, go ahead,” she said. I asked a few, which turned into a quick lesson, which then turned into a lesson on essence plants when I realized she was also a decent apothecary. When it ended, a notification appeared.

[Cultivation Difference Bonus - 30; Pity Bonus - 40 (Capped)]

[70x Return - Spirit Plant Care Lesson - Minor Immersion]

[70x Return - Rotlaska Apothecary Technique Lesson - Beginner, Minor Immersion]

Excellent, I thought. It had gone far easier than I had expected. However, it was curious why spirit plant care was an independent skill, while essence plants came as a a part of apothecary education. A mysterious distinction.

But, it was just a curiosity. The real benefit was seeing that the System triggered perfectly.

“Now, let me teach you my alchemy technique,” she said.

“Is there a name for it, mistress?” I asked.

“No, it’s just a style my mother taught me,” she replied. “She never shared the name before her… Anyway. Listen carefully…”

With that, she started an intense lesson that taught me a lot. The beginner parts, we skipped relatively quickly once I showed my expertise in basics. After all, while Minor Familiarity was decent as far as alchemy went. Truthfully, based on the explanation of the servants, I was expecting her to be somewhere at that at most.

But, the more I revealed that I understood, the more detailed her class had turned. She was significantly better than Minor Familiarity. I guessed that she was somewhere around Minor Accomplishment, which was incredible for a cultivator who wasn’t even from a proper cultivation family.

I couldn’t help but feel excited for the reward I would receive. The lesson was detailed enough, and more importantly, she was patient enough to keep going for eight uninterrupted hours. Reaching Perfection was a given, and even a higher level was possible.

“I think that’s enough for today,” she called as she finished refining the third pill.

[Cultivation Difference Bonus - 30; Pity Bonus - 40 (Capped)]

[70x Return - Kartpa Alchemy Technique Lesson - Beginner]

[70x Return - Martial Talent Pill Recipe - Black Medium-Grade]

The rewards had been interesting. The alchemy reward had been far lower than I expected, but instead of confusing me, it filled me with a sense of fear. All because of one little word that was before Alchemy Technique.

Kartpa.

“T-thank you, mistress,” I said, stammering as I moved away, hoping that it would be assumed as gratitude.

I had a nasty surprise I needed to ponder upon.