125. The Criminal on the Loose I

An elderly Elf is walking towards an alchemy room. The way he walks and those wrinkles on his forehead already shows his patience was stretched to the limit.

*Thud *Thud

“Get your ass out of here! Do you think you can stay there forever?”

There was no sound coming out from the room so the old Elf knocked loudly again.

“If you don’t open up, I will drag your ass out.”

The old Elf could still not hear a response so he forcefully unsealed the door of the room. Like an angry Taurus, he stepped inside but upon the sight of an unconscious young Elven Alchemist, his nose suddenly stopped fuming smoke as he immediately ran to perform first aid. Upon confirming the Alchemist only passed out due to exhaustion, he sighed in relief.

Meanwhile, on the adjacent room, Clay is running out of patience. He had long refined all the sets of ingredients he had with him the first fifteen minutes he got there and to make sure he will not be labeled genius and attract attention, he had to wait an hour and a half before going out.

Due to boredom, he activated his Godly Eyes and while he may not see what is going on outside, he can still observe the flow of energy and almost an hour ago he noticed how the Alchemist occupying the other room got exhausted in refining what it looks like a Qi Reinforcement Pill. He was tempted to exit out early and make a report but thinking how proud Elves are, that guys probably would rather die than be helped by a trash.

Clay shrugged his shoulder and ignored it. It was not like that guy was dying. He waited a few more minutes before finally stepping out of the workshop.

When Clay arrived at the reception, the old Elf whom he spoke with earlier looks even more unapproachable. Clay had already guessed it was caused by that Alchemist who passed out earlier.

“This is a bottle of Low Tier Qi Enhancement Pill I concocted. It was arrogant of me to think I could concoct higher quality. May this senior verify it.”

The old Elf slightly opened the bottle and allowed a thin smoke escape then closed the lid again. He then took Clay’s identity token and inserted it on a cube then pulled it out and gave it back to Clay.

“I’ve given you clearance to accept higher level Alchemy missions but don’t get conceited. You’re free to go.”

“I thank the elder’s magnanimity.” Clay slightly bowed then went back to his courtyard.

While walking, he can’t help but smile. “I guess that old Elf has eyes after all.” Earlier his total points were 9 but now it increased by 3. When he was adjusting the impurities of the first batch of pill to look like it was a Low Quality, he had trouble maintaining the amount as they were of different ingredients and he may have successfully made them look like Low Quality, but its efficacy is actually Mid Tier.

In the world of Alchemy, the better the ingredients used, the higher the chances of concocting better quality pills. But for Clay, the ingredients don’t matter given his ability but earlier he was doing simultaneous refinement that he forgot he was working on fine quality ingredients and failed to notice that the impurities on the first batch had been removed too fast.

Nevertheless, his first mission is a success.

As Clay approached his residence, he saw two people waiting at his doorstep. One of them is the deacon in charge of their area and the other is a variant Elf with crimson eyes and a captivating woman more beautiful than any Elves he has ever seen.

When Clay arrived, the Deacon coldly said, “If you violate her, the sect will cripple your cultivation and will be sold as a slave.”

“It’s the least deacon should be worried about.” Clay respectfully responded.

“Her name is Jesha and she can stay for as long as you can afford the points or until she leaves.” The deacon patted Clay’s head then continued, “This place had never had any incidents and I don’t like it when a human would tarnish my reputation.”

The deacon walked away after introducing Jesha.

One of Clay’s worries when he came to the sect is his meal accommodations. During his previous life, although it was short lived, he tried cooking for himself but he just can’t find satisfaction with his own cooking or simpler terms, he just don’t have the talent to cook.

The sect can offer free meals in the cafeteria but that would mean he would keep encountering Elves who look and treat him like a nuisance so he asked the deacon for a maid. It was then he found out about Auxiliary Sect Members. Technically they are not official disciples but more of free laborers who willingly enlisted and majority of them are women.

Despite the stringent rules and qualifications to enter the sect, some are not satisfied that they are willing to work for the sect for free so long as they can stay within the cultivation grounds of the sect. However with the passage of time, Auxiliary members became a privilege in a way that only the daughters of someone with status can join in. It is a way for Elven Clans or to have someone powerful marry into their colonies.

The deacon earlier said that his cultivation will be crippled the moment he violates Jesha but there is actually a clause on that rule if he wants to save his cultivation and that is, he must marry Jesha and he may be expelled but can have can at least keep his cultivation intact.

Clay is certainly satisfied with Jesha’s looks but similar to Elves he encountered during his previous lives, humans cannot procreate with other species. He asked Granny about this back at the village. Maybe unless a descent of genetically modified Half-Elven like his friend Re’y during his past life.

“I eat once a day during mornings and I like having tea in the evening.” Clay said and went to his room.

Judging from Jesha’s mood, he can already tell that she is not your regular Auxiliary disciple. She was more like Ilya, the person who saved him and brought him to their village. Someone who wants to prove their skills but had been eliminated during a tournament selection. Clay already have a rough idea what a wealthy Elf looks like and he suspects that Jesha may have even bribed or made an arrangement with the deacon to become his maid.

Regardless of what is going on in the background, his only concern really is to have someone prepare him meals. Clay went to his bed and sleep. Meditation is certainly better than sleep but he doesn’t plan on breaking through so soon until his arm grows back.

When Clay woke up the following morning, he can already smell the aroma of freshly prepared breakfast. The last time he had eaten was back at the village and he is famished. Without thinking, he grabbed a bite.

Clay’s eyes widened and murmured, “Satisfactory! You have my approval to stay.”

He looked around and saw Jesha practicing swords outside. He wanted to call her and join him but decided not to. Last night, when everything was dead silent, he was still distracted as Jesha was trying to breakthrough. The ripples of wanting to reach Mid Qi Condensation was faint but to him, it felt like a mosquito ringing in his ears.

“What a diligent hard working woman.”

Clay went to the Mission Hall and this time registered to concoct Body Forging Pills. He got the clearance yesterday and he wants to accumulate his own version of High Tier Pills early on. The ratio for Low Tier Pills is 2 is to 1. He gets to keep 2 sets of ingredients and surrender 1 batch of Low Quality Pills. It is the same ratio for Body Forging Pills then changes later to 1 is to 1 for Qi Reinforcement Pills.

Similar to yesterday, he encountered the same pretentious and disdainful looks. Even the old malevolent Elf at the reception did not bother uttering a word and just gave him the sets of ingredients.

If there is something different, it is the room he is assigned today.

During his life when he was abducted, he encountered a cultivator who can hide his presence in broad daylight and had he not felt that cultivator’s aura observing him, then he probably never had thought of using his Godly Eyes.

Months ago before their encounter with the Goblin, had he been more careful, he could have had seen those Grublins near the village and because of that carelessness that he has lost his arm. He does not want another mishap so he is imprinting a habit in his mind to always use his Godly Eyes and observe his surroundings.

Today, while the alchemy workshop looks the same as yesterday, he actually can see a soul, hiding behind the walls observing him.

It is probably due to the quality of pills he concocted yesterday and this is why he returned. He had already anticipated this so he plans on refining the pill inside the cauldron this time.

Clay extended his aura and controlled the heat within the cauldron.

Moments later, he threw in the first ingredient. Since someone wants to spy on him, then he will concoct the pill as normal as possible and this time, inside the cauldron. Until there is a good reason for him to display his real abilities, then he shall remain the trash everyone thinks of him.

To ensure that his exhaustion is not faked, he did not utilize the heat from the underground Essence Flame.

“Good luck watching in boredom.” Clay inwardly laughed.

While the medicinal essences is about to form a pill, Clay felt the spy disappeared. He almost wanted laugh. After which, he activated the holes at the bottom of the cauldron to allow him to conserve his strength. Since no one is watching him anymore, he took out the other two set of ingredients and opened the lid of the cauldron and guided the heat towards the other recipes.

After a quarter of an hour, Clay bottled his High Quality Pills and separated the Low Quality for his mission. This time, the impurity had been properly controlled.

Another day of mission accomplished and Clay went to the library. He forked out his points and extravagantly used them on books and spent an entire afternoon in the library.

Later that evening, Clay leaned on a chair on a patio while waiting for the stars to appear. He is in deep thought and not because he lost 15 contribution points earlier but the information he was able to gather. He originally went there to gather more information about other places where Rebeclum Flower can be found but one of the scholars did his research and recommended him about a pill from a folklore called Barnachea Healing Pill.

The book was buried in the repository as the process of refining and production has a success rate of less than 1 percent. The book was written in ancient dialects so it needed time to be translated and 15 points was a reasonable price. Comparing that to obtaining a Rebeclum Flower, he felt he had better chances by concocting the pill.

Since the materials can be found within Anongus Kingdom, then he will have better chances of finding them and the easiest plan is to use Jesha’s influence.

While he is blankly staring into space, Jesha brought him an evening tea.

“I have brought tea. I am unfamiliar with your taste but I did prepared 5 cups with different tastes. Please let me know which suits you best.” Jesha summoned a table beside Clay then placed a tray of five cups of hot tea.

Clay picked the one in the middle and at the same time, he took out a bottle of High Quality Body Forging Pills and placed it beside the tray.

“These pills are unordinary. Swallow your pride together with these pills and use them to breakthrough. Once you’re strong enough, I need you to accompany me on a mission.”