Chapter 55 “Alchemist Association”
When the next day came around, Ye Huang Yun (big uncle) went alone into the city to procure some goods while Ye Huang Xuan (fifth uncle) proposed to bring the kids into the city for a tour.
On their trip, the three went around to some of the biggest chambers of commerce in the city and inquired about the prices of Yuan Iron in the market. Also, Ye Huang Xuan took the opportunity to introduce some of the people working inside these organizations to the kids.
Because of the quality of the Yuan Iron they brought over this time was of exceptional quality, many of these men scrambled to bid for it, but in the end they were all denied by this wise businessman.
Ye Huang Xuan was super shrewd. Unlike his usual doing, he intends to bring this batch to the Alchemist Association for a try and make a name for their family after so many years of dormancy.
With that goal in mind, uncle, nephew, niece, the three together headed for the Alchemist Association.
About half an hour later of walking, a magnificent pagoda structure came into view with a giant bronze cauldron stationed outside the entrance. Based on the weight and size of this thing, the bronze cauldron likely weighed no less than a thousand Jin.
(Note: 1 Jin = 0.9 pound)
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Aside from the different alchemists coming in and out of this pagoda, there are also many businessmen who come to buy and sell.
The Alchemist Association building was divided into four floors with only the first and second floor being opened to the public. The first floor contains weapons and devices of all sorts, and the second floor mainly sells Dan pills and medicines.
As for the third and fourth floor, it’s said to be reserved solely for crafting and refining differing alchemic products, thus only alchemists are allowed to enter.
This was the first time Ling Yue and Ye Saint came to the Alchemist Association building. When they saw how vast the collection of medicines and weapons in this place were, they now realized their Ye family’s treasury vault was but a beggar’s den.
“Fifth Ye sir.” As soon as Ye Huang Xuan stepped through the doorway, a jolly looking fatty came walking up to receive them. This fatso looked like a plop of white meat, jiggling around so much even his alchemist robe cannot hide that bulging belly.
Even so, Ling Yue didn’t miss the emblem etched along the guy’s chest area, a cauldron with a number three. Clearly this fatty was a three cauldron alchemist.
“Master Chang, how come I don’t see Master Huang?” Ye Huang Xuan was a little surprised by this fact.
“Huang is no longer responsible for the reception anymore. Fifth Ye sir, are you here to sell Yuan Iron? You know the rules. The Alchemist Association won’t accept anything lower than fifty percent rate.” Master Chang made a broad smile, clearly happy to see Ye Huang Xuan.
Now that Ye Huang Xuan found out that Huang fella was no longer in charge of the front reception, he can stop worrying now. Compared to that snake, this Master Chang was much more reliable and easier to work with, meaning their chances of selling the Yuan Iron was very high.
“Don’t worry Master Chang, this is my Ye clan’s new iron product.” Ye Huang Xuan excitedly pull out a piece of Yuan Iron bar from his pocket and hands it over.
After seeing the fineness and quality of the bar in his hand, Master Chang’s small little eyes became beaming with light for he can tell the purity rate was as high as sixty percent!
Immediately, he invited Ye Huang Xuan inside for negotiation and left Ling Yue and Ye Saint to their own biddings in the pagoda.
While Ye Saint lingered around the first floor to be dazzled by the collection of weapons, Ling Yue took the liberty to head upstairs where there’s a wide variety of pills and medicines. Something she’s much more interested in than mere weapons.
As expected, the Alchemist Association’s reputation was well deserved. Though the pricing for the medicines and herbs are on the high side, but the quality was indeed exceptional.
Just as she was screening through the shelves and showcases, she noticed on one side were stacks of piled up papers in all sorts of colorful variations: common papyrus paper, hemp paper, silver foil paper, and gold foil paper
But even so, the most common of the selection, the papyrus paper, was asking for an astronomical price of five hundred silver!
“Little friend, those are talisman papers used to craft alchemic beasts.” Startling Ling Yue, a kind and gentle voice drifted into her ear. Turning around to find the source, Ling Yue immediately took notice to the old grandpa in white standing behind her.
Wanting to make sure the identity of this old grandpa, Ling Yue first checked the elder’s chest area for signs of an emblem marking. Finding none, she can only assume the person before her was a worker in here.
“Old sir, what is an alchemic beast?” Not afraid of strangers, Ling Yue began to casually chat up this old man.
From the mouth of this old sir, talismans are a special type of paper capable of being turned into alchemist beasts as long as the user can utilize the spirit force.
As to what sort of alchemic beast one can produce, it will depend entirely on the alchemist’s spirit force in question.
At the mention, the old sir went forward to pick up a piece of paper. The old grandpa didn’t do much hand movement at all, according to Ling Yue’s observations anyways, but the paper started to automatically fold up on its own regardless. In a few short breaths, a small dainty little paper crane came into existence.
Invoking his will, the paper crane in the old sir’s hand came into life and flew up.
“!”
Little Squeak who was lying lazily on Ling Yue’s shoulder until now became intrigued. Turning bright in those big blue eyes, this little trouble maker reached out its paws in an attempt to catch the little darn thing.
“Hoho, you can’t catch it little fella.” The old sir seems to be amused by Little Squeak’s gesture. Squinting his old eyes, he began to laugh.
Can’t catch it eh?
Not necessarily so, Ling Yue’s mouth curled into a smirk.
“Old sir, then why don’t we make a wager. If my little friend here can catch the crane, then how about you gift me with ten sheets of talisman paper?”
Ten sheets?
That’s five thousand silver worth of talisman paper! Oh my, this little girl’s appetite is quite a big one.
Even for this old sir who have seen all sorts of people in the Alchemist Association, he’s honestly shocked by Ling Yue’s bluff.
But with a second thought, the old sir figured it’s still nothing but a bluff. The crane’s been infused with his own spirit force. Unless it’s one of the top masters in Glass City, it’s unlikely anyone here would be able to catch it, let alone the small fur ball over there.
“Fine then, a bet it is. If you win then I’ll do as you say and gift you with ten sheets of talisman paper, but if you lose, that little beast there will belong to me.” Having his gambling instincts awakened, old sir went ahead with the suggestion.
“No problem.” Ling Yue’s fully aware of Little Squeak’s speed, there’s no way that crane can keep up.
“?”
Sneaking a glance at his mistress, then back to the self-confident old sir, Little Squeak’s watery blue eyes looked a little vacant like he didn’t quite understand.
“Little Squeak, listen now. Catch that paper crane, otherwise you will have to follow that old sir there. If you do, it will mean no fruits, no meat, and no more Big Yellow and me to play with you anymore.” Ling Yue’s quick explanation immediately caused Little Squeak to become unwilling.
No more meat to eat!
No more fruit to eat!
No more Big Yellow and no more mistress to play with!
Immediately, the paper crane above its head became Little Squeak’s number one enemy that he must catch!
One swish in and one dash of white blur, Little Squeak’s momentum can only be called “crazy fast”!
One moment the old sir was still smiling confidently, then the next he can only drop his jaw.
A three sixty somersault out, Little Squeak returns to Ling Yue’s shoulder with the struggling crane in his grasp.
After catching the paper crane, Little Squeak didn’t forget to stick his tongue out at the old sir and shove his butt out in a gloating manner.
“Old sir, you’ve lost.” Ling Yue’s already very familiar with the fur ball’s poor manner so she didn’t find it surprising, but the old sir on the other hand didn’t know whether to cry or to laugh at this moment.
“Ten talisman paper, I admit my loss. By my friend, you are not an alchemist. Even if I give you the talisman papers, you cannot use them. How about this, I have here a basic formula chant for training one’s spirit force. Go back and study it. If you can make some progress then come back to the Alchemist Association and find me.” Old sir readily hands over the talisman papers and added an extra scroll containing the basic cultivation formula for one’s spirit force.
“Old sir, thank you.” Ling Yue was honestly a little surprised. Taking the formula and talismans with her, she left the building.
“President, why did you so easily give the Alchemist Association’s cultivation formula to a stranger?” A worker on the side was perplexed by the president’s action when he saw this.
“It doesn’t matter, I just got a feeling this child is quite interesting.” President Liao smiles.