Chapter 1946 - Source Crystals
Time flew by and soon it had been more than a month since Yang Kai had arrived in Blue Feather Sect.
Over the past month, he had basically learned the general situation inside the Sect, and during this time, besides cultivating, his life with Liu Xian Yun was calm and steady. No one came looking for trouble with them and the Sect did not issue them any tasks.
Based on this situation, choosing to join Blue Feather Sect was actually a good choice. At least they had a place to stay.
But Yang Kai knew that this was only temporary.
Anyone who joined a Sect would eventually have to contribute to that Sect. The reason why he and Liu Xian Yun could spend their time leisurely now was that the Blue Feather Sect was facing no great difficulties. Once the Blue Feather Sect encountered foreign enemies or some other crisis, Yang Kai knew that lower disciples like himself would be forced to participate in the battle.
He had no sense of belonging to the Blue Feather Sect, so he was unwilling to risk his life for such a Sect.
What’s more, Yang Kai always felt that he and Liu Xian Yun were secretly being observed, but this was obvious since they had only just joined the Sect and were still being evaluated.
Yang Kai did not care too much about this, and he and Liu Xian Yun didn’t show anything too out of the ordinary during this period. Both of them were always well-behaved, so even if they were being monitored, they didn’t reveal any of their secrets.
In Blue Feather Sect, there was a lively shopping district where Blue Feather Sect disciples exchanged materials or purchased things. In this shopping district, some places occupied large areas of land and had easy access to the main roads, but these places were all occupied by the most powerful and influential factions. As for the common disciples, they had to settle for using the more remote areas.
Early in the morning, Yang Kai and Liu Xian Yun would come to the shopping district and walk to a relatively remote spot, where a humble-looking shop stood.
Outside the shop, there were already more than thirty cultivators lined up, and seeing Yang Kai arrive, they all cupped their fists and greeted him, “Good morning, Junior Brother Yang.”
“Junior Brother Yang, please hurry and open the shop! We have been waiting for you for a long time already.”
“Junior Brother Yang, I was here first today, help me first!”
All of these cultivators were basically Origin Kings, with a few Origin Returning Realm cultivators mixed in, but all of them wore the same friendly smile on their faces as they took the initiative to greet Yang Kai.
Yang Kai wore a business-like smile on his face and cupped his fists to the line, “Many thanks, Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters, for waiting for so long. Junior Brother will begin right away.”
Saying so, he walked straight towards the shop.
At that moment, a beautiful and enchanting young woman walked up in a sultry manner and without any scruples about the eyes staring at her, directly took Yang Kai’s arm and pressed it between her luscious peaks before exhaling a light orchid scent into his ear and whispering, “Junior Brother, forget about them and help Senior Sister here refine a furnace of Nine Revolutions Origin Spirit Pills, Senior Sister wants to hurry back and cultivate.”
“Uh… this Senior Sister, the shop has rules, and it is important to maintain a first-come-first-served policy,” Yang Kai frowned as he freed his arm from this enchantress’ grip.
The young woman did not give up though and continued to press Yang Kai, “Don’t worry about that, Senior Sister will go and talk to them, I’d like to see if they dare disagree. If Junior Brother can help Senior Sister first, Senior Sister can…”
Leaning in closer, she whispered a few words into Yang Kai’s ear as her eyes flashed a shy yet seductive look that was obvious to all.
“Really?” Yang Kai’s eyes burst out with green light as an excited expression appeared on his face.
“Hmph!” To the side, Liu Xian Yun’s pretty face went cold as she glared at Yang Kai contemptuously, a meaningful snort escaping her lips.
Yang Kai gave a dry laugh before stretching out his hand and gently caressing the young woman’s assets before he said with a look of regret, “Senior Sister, Junior Brother can’t break the rules, but… if Senior Sister wants to, perhaps she could come visit Junior Brother’s humble home so we can have a good chat.”
Seeing that her attempts were all meaningless, the young woman immediately spat disdainfully and snorted, “You won’t even do this small favour? Meany!”
Saying so, she flung Yang Kai’s arm away before shooting Liu Xian Yun a vicious look, as if to blame her for ruining her own good deed.
Liu Xian Yun’s expression remained indifferent as she pulled out a signboard from her Space Ring and set it down forcefully before declaring coldly, “Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters, please line up for your Alchemy requests in order. The fee for service is as written here. Please have the required ingredients for the Spirit Pill you require refined prepared in advance. If the refining fails, there will be no refunds!”
Everything she said was already written on the signboard, so there was no need for her to deliberately repeat it, but she still took the time to do so.
While she was speaking, Yang Kai had already entered the shop and took out his Purple Origin Furnace, closed his eyes, and prepared to start the day’s work.
After more than a month of getting along, his relationship with Liu Xian Yun had become quite harmonious. In this unfamiliar Star Boundary, although the two were not from the same Star Field and didn’t know much about one another, having similar situations allowed them to bond.
Just a few days after arriving in Blue Feather Sect, the two discovered a problem: They could not obtain any cultivation resources!
Although they were already disciples of the Blue Feather Sect, the Sect would not distribute cultivation resources to the disciples for no reason. If you wanted to obtain resources, you had to pay the Sect for them or find a way to get some yourself.
For Origin Kings, Saint Crystals were essentially useless. The energy stored in Saint Crystals could not meet the needs of an Origin King.
In the Star Boundary, there was a special resource called Source Crystals that replaced Saint Crystals.
The energy stored in Source Crystals was countless times richer than Saint Crystals, so even Origin Kings or Dao Source Realm cultivators could use them to cultivate.
Like Saint Crystals, Source Crystals were divided into high, mid, and low grade. The exchange ratio between each grade was one to ten, and they were used as hard currency between cultivators!
In other words, if Yang Kai wanted to speed up his cultivation, he needed to find a way to earn Source Crystals to buy resources.
However, he was unfamiliar with this place and did not know what to do in order to earn resources.
After discovering the existence of this shopping district though, Yang Kai came up with the idea of performing Alchemy in order to earn some Source Crystals.
He was an Origin King Grade Alchemist that had inspired the Grand Alchemic Dao Tone, so although his technique and talent were inferior to a genius like Xia Ning Chang, they were by no means weak.
Origin King Grade Alchemists in his native Star Field were extremely extraordinary existences.
But in the Star Boundary, they were quite common.
As such, Yang Kai did not need to worry about drawing attention to himself as long as he didn’t show too much of his real skill. What’s more, the identity of Alchemist would increase his worth and, in a disguised way, improve his and Liu Xian Yun’s safety somewhat.
After considering the gains and losses, Yang Kai did not hesitate anymore and set up a shop in the shopping district after discussing with Liu Xian Yun.
The first few days were extremely difficult.
No one dared hand over their precious herbs to him.
After all, the cultivation materials acquired by these Blue Feather Sect disciples were done so by risking their lives; who would dare hand over their hard-earned gains to an unknown and unproven Junior Brother? What’s more, there was already more than one Alchemist offering Alchemy services in this shopping district, so there was no need to risk losing everything by trusting Yang Kai.
After three days, Yang Kai did not even have a single customer, causing him and Liu Xian Yun to become somewhat desperate.
On the fourth day, Yang Kai grit his teeth and wrote on his signboard that he would be performing Alchemy for free and would offer full compensation if the refining failed.
Once this advertisement went up, someone was finally willing to give him a chance.
In any case, even if the refinement failed, they would be compensated in full, so it did not matter if they gave him a try.
While Yang Kai was refining the first Spirit Pill, Liu Xian Yun felt as anxious as an ant on a hot wok.
After all, she and Yang Kai do not even have a single piece of Source Crystal now, which meant that they wouldn’t be able to compensate their customer at all if the refining failed.
Waiting for an hour felt like an entire year.
In the end, though, Yang Kai succeeded!
Moreover, the refined Origin King Grade Spirit Pill was of extremely high quality, causing the client to be very satisfied! When the pill was successfully refined, a rich pill fragrance spread out across half the nearby street.
The man who received his pill praised Yang Kai’s ability liberally and promised that if he ever wanted Alchemy services again in the future, he would definitely come to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai generously accepted his praise before requesting that this young man spread the word about his Alchemy services.
The Blue Feather Sect disciple who had just picked up a bargain naturally agreed.
That day, Yang Kai refined three furnaces of pills, all of which were successful and of high quality.
The next day, Yang Kai refined eight furnaces…
On the third day, the cultivators who came to look for Alchemy from Yang Kai had formed a long line before he even arrived.
Yang Kai immediately asked Liu Xian Yun to replace the free Alchemy signboard with clearly marked prices about how many Source Crystals would be charged per pill!
One month of hard work allowed Yang Kai to accumulate a lot of Source Crystals, and more importantly, his name began to spread throughout the shopping district. Almost all the Blue Feather Sect disciples who came to the shopping district for Alchemy now knew there was a humble shop in this remote corner where a Junior Brother with exceptional skill had appeared. Not only was the probability of failure extremely low, but the quality of the refined pills was always top-notch.
Those who wanted to ask for Alchemy naturally began to flock here, causing this small out-of-the-way shop to become quite lively.
Yang Kai also exercised proper restraint, never refining Spirit Pills that formed Pill Veins and deliberately failing in the refinements from time to time.
This way, he could hide his true accomplishments in the Alchemic Dao.
A few years ago, when he had caused the Grand Alchemic Dao Tone to sound on Water Moon Star, Yang Kai’s comprehension and ability in the Alchemic Dao had been greatly enhanced. Now, his handling of Alchemy was far more dexterous than before, and the various herbs seemed to dance in his hands.
His Alchemy methods now coincided with the Alchemic Dao itself, reaching a realm that few humans could ever hope to attain.
As for Liu Xian Yun, she was responsible for receiving cultivators who came to ask for pills outside, delivering the herbs into the shop, and taking out the refined Spirit Pills to the waiting customers.
The two performed their own duties with flawless cooperation.
After returning from work every night, Yang Kai would give Liu Xian Yun thirty percent of the earnings from the day.
In fact, according to Liu Xian Yun’s original idea, she was not even qualified to take ten percent; after all, Yang Kai was the one performing Alchemy while she was only responsible for receiving customers.
But Yang Kai insisted on giving her thirty percent of the profits, making her extremely grateful for his generosity.
