Chapter 412
A Song of Jade (III)
"We have a problem," Lao Shun announced as soon as I let him in the room, the first day after our arrival.
He appeared a bit disheveled, his usual kept appearance lacking; the robes were tattered and singed around the edges, his hair was unkempt, and he looked like he hadn't trimmed his beard in a while.
... which is weird, as it's literally been just a day.
"Please, come on in." I played out a TV trope I never quite got to do back on Earth. "What problem?"
"The pills."
"What about them?"
"The ingredients that I have... I can't use any of them to stabilize the pills."
"What pills are we talking about?"
"The Flawless Foundation Pills!" he exclaimed, seeming more and more like a crazed dru--I mean, a crazed chemist. "I was running some tests throughout the night and realized that, even if I'm able to improve the initial quality, they will never be good enough! Right at the process of coalescence, as all ingredients merge together like the beautiful symphony of heavenly maidens," uh... "In this song that leaves those who hear it weeping, hearts cracked into thousands of pieces, the light shorn of shadow--"
"Come back down."
"Oh, right," he coughed awkwardly, taking a deep breath and continuing. "Right at the final point of concoction, I realized I'd need a stabilizer."
"Does the recipe require it?" I frowned; was it really possible that the system gave me a recipe that's unfinished?
"No, no, the recipe is flawless," he said, cracking a smile as he suddenly turned silent.
"... really? You want me to laugh at that? Haah, fine. Ha ha, funny."
His smile widened as he continued, "It's me who is lacking. My skill... it's simply not enough, so I have to supplement it with a stabilizer."
"Alright. And you don't have anything in that alchemical bag of yours that can act as one?"
"No. I mean, even the cheapest one is used for pills of much higher quality," he said. "So nobody would want to waste them and use them as mere stabilizers. If it were any other pill, I'd sooner never concoct it than do it, but this pill... it will be more than worth it. Even if I can get just one batch done, it is guaranteed to increase the kids' talent by at least twofold."
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"And you came to me because....?"
"I need Spirit Stones!"
"... get out."
"W-what? Please, don't be like that!"
"I will be like that," I hissed back. "What do you mean you need Spirit Stones?! Aren't you a world-renowned alchemist?! How the hell are you so poor to be asking for Spirit Stones from me?!"
"I will pay you back! I--I will concoct pills for you for free forever!"
"Weren't you already going to do that regardless?"
"... yes," he sighed. "Don't you want the kids to become stronger?! I'm not doing this for me!"
"Oh, the hell you aren't," I growled back. "I see the look in your eyes. Do you think I can't recognize it? All you want is to completely concoct the pill for your own self-serving ego!"
"Yes, but the second goal is the kids! Right after the first!"
"..." I gritted my teeth for a moment and took a deep breath. Ultimately, all the Stones would go to the kids anyway; if there was something to make them even stronger... "How, how much do you need?"
"Just a 100,000."
"Oh? Well, that's not too bad."
"High-grade one."
"Get out."
"No, wait, hear me out--"
"--do you really think I have that kind of wealth lying around?!"
"Didn't you get a lot of them from that guy that forced you to take his daughter?"
"Yes, but those Stones are meant for kids' cultivation! They were already sucking at the dust and ashes for so long before; they deserve to have proper cultivation resources! If I give them all to you, they'll have to go back to cultivating like peasants!"
"Ugh," he grunted, collapsing into a chair and uncorking a bottle of wine. "Why is it such a sin to be poor?"
"Is there no other way?"
"Oh, oh!"
"So, there is?"
"That weird kid that's definitely not a kid!" he exclaimed. "He could probably go and steal some, no?"
"... seriously, get out before I beat you over the head with a wooden pole."
"I can't ask him because, well, he kind of scares me," he said. "But he seems to respect you a great deal. I'm sure that if you ask nicely, he could procure at least one or two... just for one batch, please!"
Would Long Tao do it?
I don't actually know.
Probably?
But the fact that I even have to ask... I don't know, it doesn't sit well with me. I know I'm well past the point of feeling guilty for some petty theft (or, in this case from the sounds of it, some grand theft), but if I do it once, my brain will immediately add it to the compendium of possibilities.
And, the next time I need to procure something that I simply can't afford, my brain will just go, 'Hey, why not ask Long Tao? He'll do it!'
"I'll think about it," I said with a sigh. "I really, really, really miss that pompous ass you were at the start. To think that, underneath, was a common street beggar."
"When it comes to alchemy," he said. "I'll beg until my knees are scraped to bones. Let me know when he steals it!"
And off he went, leaving me rubbing the bridge of my nose in annoyance.
Though the kids had been hard at work 'converting' the stones to a higher quality, it's actually a relatively slow process. Even the fastest among them, Wan Lan, can only 'make' about fifty or so mid-grade stones in a day. Granted, it's more like 'a few hours', at most, since I want them to cultivate more than I want them to make money, but still.
It will be months, if not years, before we successfully convert all the lower-grade stones into higher-grade ones.
And there's simply no way I can even remotely procure 100,000 high-grade stones. Which did leave thievery as the only option, effectively.
No, wait.
Maybe a trade?
I considered creating an art specifically to sell it before, but always held back because, well, if it was 'too out there', I might get hunted down like a dog. But there's nothing stopping me from looking around at the most popular manuals being sold in the city and creating a similar copy of one of them, no?
Hah!
Damn, Jake!
You really are a genius!
... haah, can't even amp myself up. There's no way I can sell it through regular channels, so, in the end, I'll still have to ask Long Tao for a favor, won't I?
Haah.
Alright. Let's go get something to eat first.
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