Cultivation System: Elder Edition

Chapter 220

Legend of the Sage Alchemist (II)

I'm pretty sure Long Tao just handed me something that will cause me no small amount of headache when I try to explain how exactly I have it with me.

Looking at the paper, it was a list of... words? I think? Honestly, I may as well be staring at some random child scribbles, as none of these mean anything to me. Which likely means this is an alchemy recipe that's gone extinct in the ten thousand years that Long Tao's been dead.

Or, maybe it was extinct even when he was alive, and he just stumbled upon it in some or another ancient realm.

Regardless, I put it into my robes and spent about half a day mulling over exactly how to break the entire 'operation' down before heading over to the Greeting Hall or whatever it was called.

The same young woman stood behind the counter today as well. She must have been told that I'd be coming since she bowed and immediately escorted me to the room, ushering me inside where I saw the familiar face reading something.

Haah. Honestly, I wonder when I will get this sagacious image like he has right now. He's like that teacher that just looks like he knows answers to all your questions.

"Ah, Master Lu, you've come." He's also changed the way he addresses me, apparently, from "Junior" to "Master." Flattering? Sure. Scary? Definitely. If he was treating me with kid gloves before, now he was treating me as an equal.

"Needed to gather my thoughts for a bit."

"Of course. Please, have a seat. Do you want some tea?"

"A cup would be nice." I sat down cross-legged and waited for him to pour a cup before speaking up. "I have two proposals for you."

"Oh? I'm assuming one of them is a backup proposal that favors me more, as the first one is likely the kind that will give me a headache."

"..." I winced invisibly, taking a sip of tea and smiling. "Wrong. Neither one favors you particularly."

"Ho ho," he laughed rather freely, taking a sip of tea as well. "Very well. Let's hear it."

"First one," I said. "Is... complicated. You and I will go together to meet the Madame and claim that we have a solution to her daughter's ills. You can say that you've found an ancient text that you couldn't read and that I've helped you translate it. When inside, you will do the 'bulk' of the work, as it were, while I will simply finalize it and fade into the background.

"However," I emphasized. "It's likely that the Madame's guest Alchemist will also want to be in there with us, no?"

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"Most certainly," he nodded. "Though I'm ashamed to admit it, I cannot hold a candle to either his knowledge or skill. If you are asking me to somehow deceive his eyes, I'm afraid it will be impossible."

"... all you need to do is, uhm, practice for a bit."

"Practice what?"

"Deceiving someone, especially someone extremely experienced in a field, isn't actually impossible, and it's occasionally even easier than you might think," I said. "The idea is to lean into what he knows and observes to be true, but twist it in an unordinary way. For instance, if it's common to use one stalk of a specific grass in creating a healing ointment by extracting herbal juice from it, you instead grind it into a fine powder and mix it with honey instead of water. If he asks why you're doing it, just refer to the ancient text."

"Won't he ask to see it?"

"Then I'll write it," I said.

"Oh? You know an Ancient Language, Master Lu?" I don't know about an ancient language, but I sure as hell do know a language that does not exist in this world.

"Something like it," I said vaguely. "We won't be concocting a pill but rather performing a ritual, as it were. Use relatively rare--but not impossibly so--ingredients but, again, twisting their use in unexpected ways. However, the actual techniques should remain real. So when grinding, grind the proper way; when extracting, extract it as you normally would. The change should be added in the application. Though I don't have any knowledge in Alchemy, I did go to med school back in the day, and I did work as a pharmacist for a number of years. "Rather than condensing all parts into a singular pill, we'll instead 'heal' her through those individual parts, using the 'secret technique' from the ancient text to carefully guide Qi through her meridians, slowly detoxifying her body that way."

"..." His frown kept deepening, but if he refuses to do it... well, that's that. I certainly can't fake my way into being an alchemist with literally 0 knowledge of the subject. Even now, I'm simply applying principles rather vaguely and leaving the entire execution to him.

"... what is the second proposal?" he asked.

"Our original deal still stands--one of my disciples will win the ginseng for you," I said. "And I will ensure that the girl lives... but you will not be able to take credit for it."

"How... confident are you in the first proposal?" He really wanted that credit, it sounded like. No... what he wanted was probably to be in the good graces of the Zhu Clan.

"We'll practice first," I said. "And come up with a completely unique method that he will not have seen before. When he starts questioning--and, if he's as good an alchemist as you claim he is, he will question--simply leave it to me."

"Pardon if it offends you," he said. "But you certainly do know the ways of a charlatan."

"Hm. I'd prefer it if we went with the original plan, too," I said. "And I could have just kept my mouth shut, won the ginseng, got our deal done, and left." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"I suppose you could have," he sighed. "But you have to understand, Master Lu--if things go awry, you can run... but I cannot. I'm not just putting my life on the line; I'm putting my entire Sect there with me. Are you certain that the girl will be healed?"

"... I am." Did I trust Long Tao? Not by a long shot. Did I believe in him, though? Not really.

But, he was the one consuming the most Spirit Stones out of all the kids, so my guess is that this was as important to him as it was important to me.

"Then, we shall do it." He clapped his thigh, his expression turning determined. "As long as I won't have to explain much of anything."

"We can simply say that the process is extremely taxing and difficult and that you need to be purely concentrating in order for it to work. As such, I'd be the one answering questions."

"Very well," he said, drinking the last of the tea. "I hope, once again, my home won't be ashes and desolation by the time we are done."

Me too, man.

Me too.