River of Fate: Emerald Alchemist, page 16
This was the group the girl had decided to oppose, thinking that the Alchemists’ Guild would be enough backing. He had to admire her spirit, but her common sense was a bit lacking, even if she was a core descendant of the guild.
It made him reconsider whether or not to stay in Boreas. If things here were this twisted, perhaps doing alchemy in a mountain cave would be better after all.
“I can make sure you get a rich amount of support from the guild,” Vesana insisted when she noticed his attention was drifting. “Please, just help me fix things here. The guild needs you. I need you. You’re an Imperial Knight. You can’t overlook this type of corruption, right?”
He knew that one of the main reasons she was asking was because she wanted a good report to send back to the guild headquarters. If the branch here was corrupted while she was the deputy manager, it wouldn’t look good for her. At the same time, it was also an honest request.
One that he had a hard time refusing. He frowned as he looked down at the tea cup on the table, which she had continued to refill.
“I’m going to need a stronger drink,” he said with a sigh. It was basically an agreement to help, and as soon as he spoke, Vesana’s smile lit up the room.
“I’ll help fix your heritage then, so it doesn’t cause you any trouble!” she said brightly. Before Verse could ask what she meant, she jumped up from her couch and went to the side of the room, where she pulled a crystal bottle and two cut crystal glasses from a gold-plated tray. Then she walked back and set them on the table.
“I don’t know if what you gave me was true,” she continued triumphantly, “or if you were inflating it to make it look tempting, but you definitely can’t show that heritage to the guild. It’s impossible and no one will believe it. You wouldn’t be the first person to claim a heritage that never lives up to its promise, and the guild has gotten wary about them over the years. I’ve seen inflated heritages before, but never anything that makes the sort of claims yours did.”
“What do you mean now?” Verse asked with a sigh. This girl was an emotional rollercoaster and he was already wishing he was back in his peaceful courtyard. This time, he really didn’t know what she was talking about.
“You really don’t know?” Vesana gave him a piercing look as if she could see through his games, but his lack of reaction made her frown. She distracted herself by uncapping the bottle and pouring a rich sapphire wine into the two crystal glasses.
The scent that filled the room was a dozen times stronger than the tea. Sapphire light rippled through the glasses and made them glow, and a mist of nearly liquid spiritual energy evaporated into the air from the surface. It shone like a deep and sparkling sea.
“This wine is from the coast,” she said as she pushed one of the glasses toward him. “It’s refined from Bright Ocean Tempest Fruits, a Rank 5 Storm-aligned herb, and aged for more than two hundred years before it’s bottled. Each of those herbs contains the power of an ocean storm. If you eat them directly, they can make even a Primal Spirit cultivator explode on the spot.
“The long refining process ensures that the violent energy of the herbs is worn away, but the energy and the taste is left behind. There’s not much of it in Boreas. I brought this bottle with me from the capital. Please, try it. It should be beneficial to your cultivation.”
Her gestures in serving the wine were graceful and refined, with an unconscious innocence. Her background was perhaps more impressive than he’d given her credit for. The wine was proof enough of that. There was a lot of money in alchemy, and she’d grown up with it.
At the same time, it didn’t change that she was young and idealistic.
He was on the fence about helping her. Lord Jao would have wanted him to, and destroying injustice was part of the ideal of the Imperial Knights, but he was trying to keep his head down when it came to making more enemies.
He was fine with reporting this issue to the Azurewind Guard or the higher echelon of the Alchemists’ Guild and letting it sort itself out. That would probably solve the problem, even if it didn’t help Vesana get a good review.
As far as the legal issue went, what one alchemy sect got up to in stealing alchemists from other sects could be seen as an internal matter for the guild, not the knights. It was the slavery part that was problematic.
That was definitely the domain of the Imperial Knights.
That lit an old fire in his blood, one from his past life as a tech mage from Terra. He’d never had any freedom in that life. All he’d been able to do was stay with the fleet and serve.
That was why he was tempted to help her, even if it was a bad idea. But that didn’t mean he planned to chop his way through a sect that had hundreds of Aligned-realm cultivators and probably a few Primal Spirit or Inspired ones.
He would rather mix up some antidotes and try to free the alchemists, or something else that was a lot more efficient. He’d just need to think of a way to do it without causing himself too much trouble.
And ideally without getting much attention. He wanted to stay in Boreas for a while and if one of the alchemy sects wanted to kill him, that would complicate things.
The thoughts ran through his mind as he picked up the glass and held it up to the light, admiring the sapphire energy that was contained inside. It was barely two centimeters of wine, but the center of it was twisting like a vortex inside the glass. At the same time, the surface of the liquid barely rippled.
It was deceptive in its strength.
“You should grab that whole bottle,” the shrine suggested. It was barely listening to the conversation, since there wasn’t much about it that interested him, but the wine had gotten his attention. “It’s a strong source of spiritual energy. That bottle might be enough to get you through to the Aligned realm by itself.”
Verse dismissed the idea as he looked across the surface of the wine at Vesana, debating his next words.
“What do you mean about the heritage being false and how can you help?” he asked instead.
Depending on what she said, it would tilt his decision one way or the other.
“You really don’t know?” Vesana asked with a frown as she glanced at her own glass that was still on the table, and then to his. She was probably waiting for him to toast her. “Alright, I’ll just take your word for that. It’s simple. What you gave me can’t exist, or at least if it does, it’s beyond any other heritage recorded in the entire empire.
“You gave me a description for pills that can reach Rank 9!” She paused as she stared at him. “Not just that, but your slip says you have an entire set of pill recipes for every single rank!” Her tone was incredulous.
“How is that even possible? The empire only has a handful of pill recipes for Rank 7 total, combined from all of the greatest libraries! The guild itself only has two! No one has a single recipe for Rank 8 or 9, because cultivators at those ranks don’t even exist! Thus, you have to be making it up!”
“I see,” Verse said as a wave of tension flowed out of his shoulders. Her words were unexpected, but they actually made him relax. “I probably should have thought of that.”
He’d known the empire had cultivators up to the Divine Essence realm, which corresponded to Rank 7, but he’d forgotten to ask about ones higher than that. The shrine’s recipes had made him think those realms existed here and he just hadn’t heard about them.
Apparently, they didn’t.
No wonder she thought it was a fake heritage! He almost laughed out loud at himself, but ended up just shaking his head.
“So you were faking it!” Vesana scowled at him, her mood shifting like mercury to a heated disapproval. “I knew it!”
“Actually, I wasn’t,” Verse said calmly as he looked across the table at her. “You can believe that or not, but you’re right that if I had been familiar with the empire’s cultivators, I would have left off those descriptions. Rank 7 would have been enough.”
“No way!” she said as she slapped her hand on the table, making the wine shake. “That’s still impossible! There is no heritage that has that sort of pill. Anything that did would be from the Immortal Realm.”
“The Immortal Realm?” A trace of puzzlement flashed across Verse’s features. “You mean the Outer Heavens?”
That was what the Elder Races had called them, all the stars and worlds that existed through the vast universe. That was where they’d all gone, except for the demons, when they left to fight the Inferno Stars in the Serene Subtle Heavens. That was a very distant region.
“The what?” Now it was Vesana’s turn to stare at him in confusion. “What’s that?”
“The realms that exist in the stars,” Verse said slowly as he studied her reaction. “You know that there are other worlds, dimensions, and so on out there? The universe is vast and ever-expanding. It is the only eternal thing that I have ever seen.”
“Wait, you’ve seen it?” Vesana stared at Verse again, her attention fixed on his lips. It seemed like he’d pulled her completely away from the topic at hand now. Her youthful excitement and emotions were on full display as she almost leapt out of her seat toward him, but she managed to only lean forward eagerly instead.
“Who are you? There’s no way that....” She trailed off into silence, just staring at him.
“No way that what?” Verse asked with a laugh. She was reminding him of the more exciting parts of life, of joy and eagerness. He had a habit of being too much in his own thoughts, but that would be difficult with someone like her around.
“No way that you’re just a knight,” she finished quickly. “But really, you’re serious? If it were anyone else, I’d say they were a madman, but there’s something about you that’s different. It’s in your aura, your eyes...there’s something ancient and distant there, like you’ve seen those places. It makes me believe you.”
She was probably seeing the traces left by Dusk to Dawn in his aura, the solar cycle that came from the Crimson Sunset and Endless Dawn. It left a timeless mark on him. But it was also possible that she was seeing something else, like the passage through the River of Fate.
Either way, her insight was pretty good, and at that moment, he decided that he’d had enough of hiding some things. He still wasn’t planning on telling her the whole truth.
“I have been to the Outer Heavens,” he agreed. “But it will take me a long time to go back. It’s not easy. And Rank 7 is not the end. There are at least 9 ranks. What I gave you is a small heritage, but it’s very accurate. The Jade Scripture Sect was extremely powerful and based much of its alchemy on the study of the heavens. The cultivation method from them is also what left its mark on my aura.”
That was more or less true, but it was designed to send her in the wrong direction, and he’d left out the part about his bloodline. Even for a girl who seemed trustworthy, there were some things she didn’t need to know.
“Your slip said it was a cultivation-based heritage,” she said as she reached forward and grabbed his wrist. “But is that really true? Can anyone else learn those recipes? If they truly go so high...the empire’s alchemy is only a shadow by comparison.”
Then she paused and her hand tightened on his wrist.
“No, that’s not the most important thing,” she said suddenly, interrupting herself. “You absolutely cannot tell anyone else this. You would be dead and mindless in a day, or at best in a state where being a soul slave would be a paradise. It depends on whether or not people think they could get the heritage to work for them.”
“Are you also thinking of that?” Verse asked calmly as he looked across the table at her. “You may as well tell me now.”
“No...yes...no, definitely not!” Vesana said quickly, shaking her head at him. Her hand was still on his wrist as she looked into his eyes. Hers were bright with absolute attention. “I’d be a fool to say I’m not interested, but I’m not willing to go that far. What I want is to see alchemy rise to be the greatest craft under heaven. If you can help me get there, I’ll be your student, not your enemy!”
“I’m not taking students,” Verse said with a laugh as he raised the glass in a toast to her. “But I could use a friend.”
Chapter twelve
Vesana
“Friends?” Vesana gave him a radiant smile as she raised her glass to answer the toast. Her attitude changed as confidence appeared. It made her more graceful. “That works for me.”
All of her emotions were on the surface. Asking a friend for help was a lot better than asking a stranger. For someone who wanted to make alchemy the greatest under the heavens, it was obvious she didn’t lack ambition.
She wanted his help and to know more about his alchemy, but that was fine. She would be a good ally. The most important thing was that he didn’t think she would reveal any information about him.
He was a golden goose for her. It was in her interest to keep his information about alchemy to herself and use it to strengthen her position in the guild. In a certain way, knowing about it put her in almost the same position as him.
Knowledge of higher realms and alchemy at this level was dangerous. It risked overturning the foundation of the empire. Keeping it secret was the safest.
As for saving the alchemists and the guild’s reputation, he was willing to work on that. If she didn’t want it to be a secret, it would be a lot easier. How to do that would take some thought.
“Friends,” he agreed as he tilted his glass toward her and then tipped it back. The vortex in the glass spun like a raging ocean below the surface as it went down his throat. It was a frozen hailstorm wrapped around a tornado as it hit his stomach. The spiritual energy exploded outward, roaring through his meridians in a sapphire tide.
At that instant, he felt the barrier between him and the Aligned realm shiver. It was like a stone wall that suddenly turned fragile, shaking like a leaf as the storm rattled it. A massive crack splintered through the center.
It didn’t break, but it wasn’t far off.
It was a very good wine. It made him close his eyes for a moment and appreciate the intensity, not just of the flavor, which was like crackling ice raspberries and ocean frost on stone, but of the power that was contained in such a delicate form. Whoever had made this wine was a master, probably at the Inspired realm.
When the storm of energy settled, he set the glass back on the table with a soft clink of crystal on wood. Then he looked up at Vesana. Across from him, she was flushed, her skin radiating with rosy heat as she set her own glass down.
His mood was cheerful, and he had to stop himself from laughing. Some of that was the effect of the wine, but the rest was from the feeling of living.
He hadn’t expected things here would be this interesting. He knew the attraction was related to his draconic nature, which was fascinated by new things, but he didn’t try to stop it.
A lot of it had to do with Vesana herself. She was beautiful and passionate. She was honest and didn’t want to steal his secrets. It was hard not to like her.
After his friends left Whitestone, he’d missed their company and wondered what he was going to do with himself for a decade or more. Now, he was hoping that Vesana would turn out to be a good replacement. Meeting her added color to the world, and now Boreas was drenched in it.
So he decided to take a gamble on her. At the back of his mind, there was an escape plan or two if things here utterly failed, but that was just common sense.
“Let’s talk about cooperation,” he said with an easy grin. “You need my help with the branch manager and rescuing those alchemists, and I need your insights into the guild if I want to get things done without causing a huge mess. So, we trade.”
“What do you want?” Vesana asked immediately, seemingly unaware that her hand was still on his wrist, but she was smiling now. “And you’ll tell me more about the Outer Heavens, as you call them, and the higher realms of cultivation?”
It was obvious how interested she was in that.
“Yes, if you like,” he agreed. “And I’ll help you with your problem, as long as it’s something a knight should handle, but we’ll do it my way. I’m not out to make enemies in Boreas. I came here to have a peaceful time practicing alchemy, not to deal with ghost cultivator sects. Let's not mess it up.
“Also, the moment you think I’m going to fight a clan with Primal Spirit and Inspired cultivators in it,” he warned, “I’m going to disappear the same day and you’ll never see me again. Whatever trouble you start with them is on you. That will be the end of our deal.”
He probably would help her, if he were being honest, but he didn’t want her to think that he could solve all of her problems. Rushing in with sword swinging wasn’t going to be the tactic here. It would take a more careful arrangement.
“I understand,” Vesana said seriously, but her eyes were bright with hope. “We can do it your way. Just let me plan it with you.” Then her tone turned hesitant as she studied him cautiously. “What do you want in return?”
“Your support with the guild and to share what you know about alchemy with me,” Verse replied. “I want to know how the empire does things, and discussing theories with you will be a big help.”
“That’s too easy,” Vesana agreed instantly. “But I can’t share my own family’s heritage recipes without getting permission.”
“That’s fine,” he said. “I just need more general information, as well as theories. I’d like to see the differences between my heritage and the empire’s.”
“Will you share those recipes for higher realms one day?” Vesana’s expression was intent as she looked at him. “It would change everything.”
“If one day, you can use those recipes, or if you need me to make a pill for you from them, we can discuss it,” he agreed. “Until then, let’s pretend they don’t exist. Even talking about them in public seems likely to cause trouble.”
“That’s true,” she agreed as she glanced around the room. “This meeting room is silenced from the outside, and the White Cloud Auction House is trustworthy, so it’s safe to talk here, but anywhere else would be a risk. We should only talk about Rank 5 pills at most, or maybe 6 or 7 in passing. Those are always a popular topic in the guild, even if they’re secrets that belong to various sects.” She paused as she looked at him.
