Chapter 482 - Questions Unanswered (2/2)
”Heaven's grade?” Alex thought with a bit of contemplation. Given how fast he was learning alchemy, it was only a matter of time before he could make Heaven-grade pills.
”I understand, senior,” Alex said. ”I will strive to make a Heaven Grade True Pill,” he said.
”Good luck,” the Royal alchemist said. ”You will need it, considering how awfully unrefined most True pill recipes are.”
”Eh?” Alex said. ”You mean to say that most pills can't reach 50% harmony just because I have the recipes?”
”Sort of,” Ma Rong said from the side. ”If everything from ingredients to pill making went perfectly then you can easily reach the 50% harmony mark with ease. However, it's hard to do so perfectly, so it doesn't usually end up reaching 50% harmony.”
”Oh,” Alex said. ”Then… can't we just refine the pills as much as we can ourselves,” Alex asked.
”Yes, you can,” the Royal Alchemist said. ”In fact, that is exactly what you do with the recipes you get. If the ingredients are abundant, you go through a period of trial and errors to see if you can improve the pill.”
”Many alchemists do end up improving most publicly released pills, but they don't share it with the general audience. So, the ones you get will mostly have problems with it,” the Royal Alchemist said.
Alex felt like he was learning a little more about the alchemy world from the Royal alchemist. His master taught him as much as she could, but even she would forget to bring up such topics as they never naturally came up during any learning periods or other such conversations.
”Anyway,” the Royal Alchemist said. ”I called you here for something else than just have a good ol' chat.”
Ma Rong and Alex's faces grew curious.
The Royal Alchemist smiled and said, ”You'll be happy to hear that your little contribution really did work.”
”My… contribution…” his eyes went wide. ”It worked?” he asked in surprise. ”So the sweating pill helped her through the Mortal Cleansing?”
”Yes,” the Royal Alchemist did. ”All of the outer filth was removed, and her body is back to being well enough for the body itself to do the rest of the work.”
”I have given her some pill to help with it, but even without our won help, she will be okay now,” the Royal Alchemist said.
”Thank god it worked,” Alex said.
”No, thank YOU,” the City lord said. ”It was all thanks to you that my mother was healed, young man. Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you.”
”I don't need anything, City lord. I'm just happy to help,” Alex said.
”Well, even if you say that the emperor already knows of what you did and has asked me to give you some compensation,” the Royal alchemist said.
”We can't really put a price on someone's life, but with how much you've helped, I hope this much is enough.”
The Royal Alchemist handed him a bag. Alex didn't know what was inside, so he curiously checked inside.
When he saw what was inside, his eyes went wide. There were only 2 types of things inside, but there were a lot of them.
Alex could see about 4 to 5 thousand different True Spirit stones, as well as hundreds upon hundreds of different alchemy ingredients.
”The Emperor wanted to give you some proper rewards other than just money, but you will have to make do with that. The empire is in a bit of trouble right now, and I don't think he has enough free time to care much for anything else,” the City lord said.
”No, senior. This is enough. This is more than enough. In fact, I think I've been compensated for more than I deserve,” Alex said.
”Nonsense. Do you think that little of my mother's life? Take it. I added a portion of my own in there to give it to you for saving my mother's life. Even though senior Lai made the pill, it is you who came up with it, so you deserve a lot of credit,” the City lord said.
”I… I understand,” Alex said. He was still baffled by the amount he saw in the bag and a small bud of happiness grew in him.
The bud of happiness was about to grow some more, but it was stumped on by something else. A feeling, that had appeared out of nowhere.
Every single piece of emotion Alex was feeling at the moment was washed away as a single feeling of dread remained.
The beast horde for the month was coming.