Cultivating Chai

21:

Xiao Feng wore a curious expression on his face as he stepped into the small antechamber that seemed to serve as a reception area. A single alchemist designate was seated behind a wooden counter, her expression contemplative as he jotted down notes on a half-unfurled scroll.

He came to a stop before the alchemist designate, deciding that it was better not to speak until she was done. A few minutes later, she finally finished the task with a final stroke of her feather pen. She put the feather pen back to rest in an open inkpot, before rolling the scroll and placing it to the side.

Only then did her gaze fall upon Xiao Feng.

“Yes?” She asked in a formal, clipped tone.

“I wish to book an alchemy vault,” Xiao Feng replied, offering her a polite smile.

“Are you an alchemist designate?” She asked, eyeing his robes for an embroidered patch only to find none.

“No,” Xiao Feng replied.

“Do you have written permission from one of your instructors, allowing you to refine pills on your own?” She asked a follow-up question.

“Uh… No?” Xiao Feng replied, his tone a bit uncertain.

“Then, I’m afraid I cannot let you reserve an alchemy vault,” She plainly stated, neither surprised nor annoyed at his lack of information.

“Wait, wait, erm,” Xiao Feng hurriedly replied. “I don’t actually want to refine a pill. I’m only here to brew a concoction.”

“Oh?” The alchemist designate made her curiosity known, her eyes conveying actual interest for the first time since their conversation’s inception.

“Yes,” Xiao Feng replied, slowly placing his heavy pill furnace on the table before lifting its sturdy lid to reveal its contents. “These are the ingredients I plan on using.”

Clear surprise was visible on the ocean-blue haired woman’s visage, as she took in the ingredients Xiao Feng had revealed.

“What concoction requires such expensive ingredients?” She asked, her tone almost sounding impressed.

“I am seeking to recreate a mortal concoction that was used back in the village I hail from with spiritual ingredients,” Xiao Feng explained, his tone conveying a yearning that was not untrue.

“I… see,” The alchemist designate muttered, her expression seeming a little bit lost. “Regardless, I cannot let you book an alchemy vault without the express permission of your teacher. Even alchemist designates like me have gotten injured when the pill refining process goes awry, so we have to be cautious”.

Xiao Feng felt disappointment weigh down on him, but now that he was so close to his goal of brewing tea, he couldn’t just give up.

“How about I keep the lid of my pill furnace,” Xiao Feng said, before placing the sturdy metal lid on the table and sliding it towards her. “...with you. Surely, I cannot refine a pill with an incomplete pill furnace. However, the cauldron is all I need to brew a concoction".

“Procedure directs me to say no to you, but…,” The alchemist designate considered his request. “Why do you wish to brew this concoction so desperately?” She asked.

Xiao Feng could have lied. Maybe he should have. But in the heat of the moment, it was the truth that came to him.

“Somedays, on the days that are tough, I find myself longing for my old home. The familiar faces I left behind, I find myself wondering where they are now. The friends that have likely already moved on with their lives. My uncle, who I consider to be more than a father.... I wonder these days if leaving him behind to pursue my own dreams was the right decision. I can no longer return, so I wish to at least create something that lets me taste the flavors of my old home”.

The alchemist designate looked at him in a different light, as empathy and perhaps resonance, sparkled in her eyes.

“I understand. It will cost you two bronze taels an hour to rent the alchemy vault. If there are any tools or equipment you need, you may tell me now and we shall lend it to you, free of charge. You will leave behind the lid of your pill furnace, as you have offered to. Is that acceptable?” She asked him.

Xiao Feng’s visage brightened up as he offered her a warm smile, before bowing to express his gratitude.

Rising a few moments later, he answered, “I would need one mortar and pestle, one tongs, a stirring spoon, a knife, a cutting board and a spare bowl.”

“That will not be a problem,” The alchemist designate confirmed, her tone having shifted from neutral professionalism to warm encouragement.

After Xiao Feng paid his dues, he pushed open the door to the alchemist designate's right to reveal a broad passageway that was painted in a silvery white.

The diffused light emanating from the crystals lined along the ceiling gave the walls a shimmering effect. Dozens of mahogany doors, evenly spaced and facing each other, offered a powerful contrast as crafted elegance met natural beauty.

Xiao Feng noticed the heavy silence blanketing the passageway, his own footfall the only sound he could hear after the door clicked shut behind him.

He kept walking past the other alchemy vaults until he was standing before one marked by the number twenty four, on a wooden plaque placed above the door frame.

Xiao Feng inserted the key the alchemist designate had given him after he had paid and turned it, a satisfying click echoing out as the door swung inwards.

The Alchemy Vault was simple at first glance, but Xiao Feng did not take long to notice some peculiarities.

The small square room he found himself in had cushioned walls including the roof, which also housed four elongated, narrow-rimmed hose fittings in each corner. The floor was tiled with an obsidian black stone that Xiao Feng hadn't seen in the Martial Division, a red-crystal powered burner and a cushion placed before it the only other furnishings he noticed.

The padded walls are probably the reason why it's so silent outside and for that matter, inside as well. I guess it's important to eliminate distractions from your environment when refining pills. Well, if you don't want them blowing up in your face, that is, Xiao Feng thought, as he began setting up his new workplace of sorts.

The cauldron part of the Pill Furnace was placed on top of the inert burner, the ingredients contained within placed to its right, on the obsidian flooring.

The sound of a key turning sounded out behind him, though Xiao Feng was not alarmed by the intrusion.

The ocean-blue haired alchemist designate walked inside, holding a metal tray upon which the equipment he had asked for rested with one addition. A small box that was padded with velvety fur rested on it, it’s purpose unknown to it.

Xiao Feng gingerly accepted the tray from her and placed it on the other side of the pill furnace's cauldron.

Before he could even ask, the alchemist designate spoke.

“The small box contains a gemstone keyed to this alchemy vault. If things go awry, shatter the gemstone and those hoses,” She pointed to one of the hoses at random, directing Xiao Feng’s gaze to the roof, before continuing, “will release a strong torrent of Water Qi that should be enough to quench the fallout of a failed pill refinement under most circumstances”.

“That’s great to know,” Xiao Feng said, not having expected built in safety measures to this degree.

“I told you this before, but you would do well to always remember that refining a pill is never an easy task. While it is fleetingly rare for an alchemist to die refining a pill, injuries are fairly common and the cost of ingredients are a mental pressure onto themselves. Only when you respect your tools, understand your limits and temper your mind to adapt to the minutiae of the variables affecting the pill refinement process, will you quality as a true alchemist,” She explained, her tone earnest as she offered him insight that was likely to be based on her own experience.

“Thank you, uh, may I know your name? Sorry, I forgot to ask,” Xiao Feng explained himself, feeling a bit sheepish as he realized that his own enthusiasm to brew tea had caused a lapse in his usual manners.

“I am Alchemist Jun, currently incharge of the alchemy vaults,” She said, not minding his mistake.

“Well Alchemist Jun, you know this already but I am Xiao Feng, a recruit. I really appreciate your guidance,” He said.

“It is only my job, Recruit Xiao Feng. Feel free to ask me anything pertaining to alchemy, for it is better for me to answer now than have you make a mistake and answer to my superiors later,” She said, her frankness something that Xiao Feng found refreshing.

“Well, can I know how that burner works, then?” He asked. The design gave him enough of an inkling, with a rotating knob that was connected to the red crystal through a metal pipe that pierced right through to it’s center. But, it was still better to ask.

“Have you, perhaps, joined the sect recently?” She asked, her tone trying it’s best not to sound judgemental.

“Only yesterday. I transferred from the Martial Division,” He replied.

“Oh!” Alchemist Jun exclaimed in realization. “I see. I was only curious because it’s a topic that is taught very early on to recruits. That,” She pointed at the crystal housed in a metal construct,

“...is dragonstone. Contrary to its ostentatious name, it is a fairly commonly traded ore that has a simple reaction we alchemists use to our advantage. Even slight contact with Qi causes the ore to combust, though it will only do so for as long as it has access to that Qi source. If you look at the surface of the knob, you will see a hole. Twist it clockwise by half a rotation and a channel will open up on the other side, giving you a route to supply Qi with. Twist it counter-clockwise by the same half-rotation, and it will cut off your route, causing the dragonstone to once again go inert.”

“I thought the knob was for controlling the intensity of the flame,” Xiao Feng disclosed, looking a bit confused as he studied the burner.

“Why do you need the knob for that, Recruit Xiao Feng? You can simply modulate the Qi you let flow through the metal pipe to modulate the intensity of the flame. Though be warned, common dragonstone will not be able to withstand Qi that exceeds the stage of Qi Gathering.”

Oh. Right, I can do that, He wryly thought.

“Thank you for your guidance, Alchemist Jun,” He finally decided to end the conversation, lest any other lacunae in his understanding of cultivation be revealed.

Alchemist Jun nodded to him and began walking to the exit. The door to the passageway was half open, when she stopped.

“Xiao Feng, may I ask you a question?” She asked, her tone losing that formal edge. “It is a personal one, so you needn’t answer if you do not wish to,” She added.

“Sure,” Xiao Feng replied, though inwardly his heart almost skipped a beat.

Please don’t ask me about some complicated martial technique, He prayed to anyone that was listening.

“What is the name of the concoction you wish to replicate?” She asked, intrigue contained within her words.

“I don’t think you would have heard of it, Alchemist Jun. It is merely a villager’s concoction,” He replied politely.

“Still, I wish to know, if you are willing to answer.”

Xiao Feng tried to conceal a slight smile, as his lips curled up in amusement, before answering, “It is called Chai, Alchemist Jun.”