Still Learning To Live As A Cultivator

Chapter Forty Seven - I lose track of time

Slowly, the scent of herbs began to fill the small round hut in the mountain forest until the air was pungent and the aroma had permeated into the floor cushions, the wooden table and shelves.  Even the thick wood beams above would from now on give of a hint of fern and grass which would constantly lingered in the air around them.

To one side, five sizeable potion kegs were beside the rear wall, all sealed and protecting their precious contents.  Upon the low table were numerous jade bottles, most filled with rounded pills, yet separated in two piles.  The larger one, which was close to spilling off the table at this moment, was some five times larger than the smaller one, but that still held a respectable number of pill filled jade bottles. 

A sturdy cauldron rocked slightly upon a cast iron stove and a delicate scent poured out of it.  At first glance, the black cauldron seemed like any other used by the poorer students within the alchemy schools, but if one looked closely, one could see a thin silvery-blue lines forming a simple array. Honestly, the Headmaster actually wanted to hand Leon an ostentatious looking cauldron cast in gold and glittering with Mage crystals, but such petrified a small alchemist! Although it wasn't gaudy, how would he feel comfortable bringing that out in front of people? Wasn't he asking for trouble?

Jin Li, in a rare moment for himself, had agreed. He wasn't an expert when it came to alchemic treasures, however anyone could see that this cauldron was not some simple, valueless piece, plus the thickness of aura surrounding it was almost visible! In the end, the Headmaster ordered this cauldron for the core student he'd recruited. The black metal was alike in appearance, but not the same as the material used for common cauldrons. Plus, though the array upon the side could be found upon common cauldrons as well, this one was drawn by an experienced and talented master, not a lowly apprentice or initiate.

Its aura was faint, only those at the top of the alchemy pyramid might sense its uniqueness and who of those would ever cross this student's path to notice? So Leon gained a cauldron that was discreet in appearance but much, much higher of quality and value than it seemed. He'd not taken it on his trip to Sun's home, worried it might be lost. In fact, he seldom used it for pills he was not confident in creating, worried it might break, not realising that it would take an explosion of immense magnitude to actually cause more than a scratch.

These past few days was actually the most that Leon had dared use it, as this cauldron increased his chances of getting good and even excellent quality pills. Hence why the smaller pile was only four to five times smaller than the larger pile of bottles and not much more.

Leon's hand shook slightly as he withdrew a whole five pills from its bottom, the clean aroma of improved blood pills strengthened in the air. This time, three actually came out better than average and one even was excellent. He placed these three types in three separate jade bottles, sealing the bottle filled with average pills and adding it to the large pile. After sorting these, he intended to take half of the healing pills and half of the combat pills to Mr Clawse and Ursam respectively. The rest of the improved One heart pills and variant (burning) blood pills, he would give to the school.

As for the improved blood pills, he would keep those for his own stocks for now, undecided on whether to share them or not. As for beast type pills, he had made less of these so intended to keep all quality pills for now in case he had too few for the foray into the Shattered Isles.

Just as Leon was wiping the sweat from his brow, his eyes sweeping over the remnant piles of herbs prepared for more improved blood pills (there was not much left, especially of the red lantern flowers, which he'd placed in water to keep fresher for longer), the door to his hut slammed open. A fresh, but chilling breeze swept the thick scent of herbs out of the room, leaving only a hint as well as a more pungent male smell.