Chapter 12: Alchemy and Materials


    <span style="font-weight:400">The receptionist balked at the questioning from the little boy for a split second beforeposing herself and re-donning her facade.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Little friend, the Alchemist Guild’s role is to certify qualified alchemists. We do not take apprentices ourselves. Your best chance is to find a teacher by joining a sect.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Do you not have your own alchemists, who serve the guild that can ept disciples?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“We do, but it is up to each individual alchemist to decide how they ept disciples. It isn’t the guild’s business to meddle in that. Their requirements are usually pretty high in both aptitude and other qualities important to an alchemist, so it may be easier for you to join a sect.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Li Lang tried not to grimace at the mention of aptitude. He felt like he was being impeded by it every step of the way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Do you sell books on pill refining, then?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">The receptionist shed a strained smile at the child before her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Silly boy, an alchemist’s techniques are their treasure. They would never spread them around. Each alchemist’s techniques are only passed on to their disciples.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“...How about books on herbs and other materials itself?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Go to the Gatherer’s Guild for that.” The woman replied, with an edge to her voice that slipped out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Can you give me the directions to there? And I should be able to buy some pills here, right?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“...Of course.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Li Lang then headed to another line as instructed. The line this time was much longer, and the counter wasn’t in sight from the tail end of the line. Thankfully, the Alchemist Guild knew how to do business efficiently, and the line made good progress every few seconds.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He soon saw the reason the line was moving so fast, as he watched several children, that were around his age,ing up to each person in line.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Sir, can you read? Here is the list of pills for you to browse. If you know what you would like, just inform me and we will have it ready for you by the time it is your turn.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">The children moved as a group and kept handing sheets of paper to the customers in line before taking their orders. They moved with practiced ease and it was soon Li Lang’s turn.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He quietly read over the list handed to him. There were unfamiliar names such as Qi Condensing pill and Heaven and Earth pill, while there were also easier-to-understand ones such as Antidote Pill or Recovery Pill.


    <span style="font-weight:400">There were prices clearly marked right next to each pill, which made Li Lang suddenly realize he wasn’t as rich as he thought. All the prices were listed in Qi stones and the cheapest pills cost two Qi stones. After mentally converting his wealth to the correct unit with the rate listed, he ended up only having a handful of Qi stones.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Cultivating was expensive. It not only allowed people to expand their lifespan, but also brought power, wealth, and status. It only made sense that people would spare no expense for cultivation-rted items.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He didn’t have a stable ie yet, so Li Lang only selected one pill to start off with.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once he was done with his purchase, he headed for the next destination. He swiftly exited the splendid Alchemist Guild and only had to travel down one street before he arrived.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The Gatherer’s Guild he had been informed about was much more modest than the Alchemist Guild. It was a simple two-story building with an unimpressive entrance. Still, it had a high amount of traffic, with many people going in and out.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Upon entering, Li Lang immediately noticed a stark difference. Inside the Alchemist Guild, there was arge variety of people, ranging from strong cultivators to rich merchants, or even normal citizens. Inparison, the Gatherer’s Guild’s demographics were much simpler. There were only strong cultivators who seemed like seasoned warriors inside.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The young boy entering the building immediately drew everyone’s attention. A brief silence took over the lobby until someone with a masculine voice dramatically cleared their throat. Everyone inside immediately acted as if they had their tail stepped on and quickly went about their own business once more.


    <span style="font-weight:400">That didn’t give Li Lang a sense of relief, though. The man who had cleared his throat was carefully looking at Li Lang and gestured for him to step forward. He obediently obeyed the muscr men behind the counter, who stood at least six feet tall.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Boy, what business do you have?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“...I wanted to purchase some herbs and other alchemy materials.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Li Lang’s words had caught the attention of several rough-looking individuals nearby, but they quickly looked away when the muscr man red their way.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Sorry, we don’t sell that around here. We sell directly to the Alchemist Guild.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Then can you teach me about the herbs and where I can harvest them myself?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“We only share that information with our members. Actual material gatherers.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Then allow me to be a material gatherer.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“...Kid, you’re not even in the first stage of Energy Gathering. Material gathering isn’t a game, especially for a smelly brat like you. It is a dangerous job where you will regrly encounter Qi beasts.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I don’t mind. You don’t have any rules against me joining, right? Please sign me up.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“...It’s your funeral, kid.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Therge man quickly stepped into the back before reemerging with a crystal ball, much like the one used to test aptitude.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“ce your hand here.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">When Li Lang did as instructed, the orb didn’t glow like he had expected. In fact, nothing happened. The muscr man didn’t give a chance for him to ask questions and immediately retreated to the back once more. He didn’t return until ten minutester, with a wooden badge with the number one inscribed on it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“This is your guild badge. It shows you are a grade one gatherer. You can go to the bulletin board over there with the map to see what areas you can gather from. The blue areas are for rank ones like you and are marked with the materialsmonly found there.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Li Lang nodded at the exnation while he fidgeted around with the badge he received. He could sense Qi from it, so he was tempted to study the material it was made from.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once the man had finished, he wasted no time and walked toward the map.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Hey, now. Is that kid seriously nning on heading into the forest? He’ll just be feeding the Qi beasts…”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Who cares? We still need to find a ten-year-old Sunfire Leaf for Young Master Ye. We have to find it before that sect’s entrance assessment begins next year.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“We should go as well. We need to maintain our rtionship and fulfill Spirit Grove’s request.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Looking for more members to venture into the Verdant Forest!”


    <span style="font-weight:400">While some had paid attention to Li Lang, even more went about their own business. Li Lang quietly listened, carefully sieving for any useful information as he made his way to the bulletin board.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The map posted there had a detailed outline of the area surrounding the city, with various areas highlighted in different colors. Li Lang knew it was already dangerous for him to traverse the rtively docile blue area for beginners, so he paid the other areas no mind.


    <span style="font-weight:400">He carefully memorized the information for each nt found in the blue areas. They had a note nearby with the name, picture, and information for each one. They even went into detail about the harvest method, but none of that changed the fact Li Lang had to go in person to attain these herbs.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Without the herbs themselves, he wouldn’t be able to proceed with his n to analyze and recreate the pill he had bought.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Once Li Lang had finished his business in the Material Gatherer’s guild, he swiftly left after asking for directions for his next destination.


    <span style="font-weight:400">This time, he had to travel much further to a different part of the city before he arrived on a busy street. The entire area was filled with stores that sold various things a cultivator would want. The majority of the stores sold Mortal-grade artifacts, with only a few possessing Earth-grade artifacts, which corresponded to the Energy Gathering realm and Foundation Establishment realm in power, respectively.


    <span style="font-weight:400">However, the store Li Lang headed for sold something entirely different. He walked through the storefront and found it rtively quiet. Only a few guests were browsing the products disyed on the wall behind the clerk. Despite there being few guests, each and every one of them appeared to be incredibly wealthy,ing from famed houses.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Li Lang eyed each talisman on disy carefully, reading every word on the que below them. He couldn’t help but smirk when he read about one of the talismans on disy in particr, but he frowned when he read the partbeled with the price.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“This young master. How may I help you?” A gentle and feminine voice called out from the other side of the counter.


    <em><span style="font-weight:400">I won’t have enough money for anything but next month’s inn fees if I buy this…</em>


    <span style="font-weight:400">While Li Lang silently contemted, the female clerk waited patiently beside her guest while wearing a smile. Her face beamed upon hearing Li Lang’s next words.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I want that one over there.”