I said goodbye to the monks, picked up my sword, and returned to the Ji estate. I only had three hundred and fifty stones left on me, but it should be enough for some basic expenses when I get to Crystal Summit. It was late in the afternoon and I had some things to give Jiang before she started supper. When I arrived she and Ding were talking with several of the family servants, who were coming by occasionally to congratulate her and Five on their new certification. “Hello.” I said, and Jiang and Ding greeted me as well. “I have another two gifts for you. First, something good for you to eat for supper.” I pulled the piece of flood dragon meat from my bag, placing it on a cutting board, and cut about fifty grams of meat from it. I then stored the main piece and diced the small piece into around a hundred cubes a few millimeters to the side, using metal qi concentrated on my fingertip as a makeshift scalpel.
“Why did you cut it up like that?” Jiang asked. “Is it a precious ingredient?”
I nodded. “That small piece was worth about a stone, and each of these tiny cubes is worth about a tael.” Jiang looked surprised at the cost. “This is meat from a peak level three flood dragon, worth about ten stones per gin. It’s also too strong for you. Each of these cubes have more qi than a high grade level one qi recovery pill, more qi than your body has in it right now. You or Five might be able to handle eating one if you cultivate while doing so, treating it like a recovery pill, but if a mortal ate one they could be injured from having too much qi in their body. With them in tiny pieces like this, you two can use them like that if you want, or you can place one or two of them in a large amount of soup, fishing it out once the soup is done and have many people eat it.” Several servants heard me say this and started talking.
I sent Jiang a telepathic message, not knowing if they wanted their neighbors to overhear the next part. ‘With your Chef’s Path skills, you might also be able to preserve the cultivation bonuses of the dragon.’ She looked a bit surprised. ‘As a high level spirit beast with a legendary bloodline, it has many superior traits that might help everyone in your family. Those include strength, durability, flexibility, qi capacity, endurance, and intelligence. I’m not sure how many you can preserve with such a small amount of meat, but it might be worth a chance. I’m not sure if you want to share this with your neighbors, though, so I’m telling you secretly.’
Jiang didn’t know telepathy, so she couldn’t respond telepathically, but she nodded. “You know,” she said, “I discovered something when learning alchemy. Many recipes in a cookbook I was using said that you should add blue sage when cooking spirit beast meat. I couldn’t find blue sage, and didn’t know what it was, so I always added normal green sage instead. While it tasted good, the meals never had the health benefits that the spirit beast meats were supposed to add. It turns out that common sage will sometimes awaken its wood spirit root, thus becoming a level one spirit plant, and turns blue when it does. The blue version can be added to pills to purify the qi and make it easier to absorb, so it is often added to qi recovery pills. If you add it to spirit beast meat, though, it helps preserve the health benefits of the meat.” The housewives which had gathered in the area decided to leave then, saying goodbye and leaving for the market. This left Jiang, Ding, and myself as the only ones in front of their house. “Do you mind if I use some of the blue sage from the alchemical ingredients?” Jiang asked me and I shrugged.
“They are your ingredients to do as you please with.” I said. “Which leads me to the second thing I wanted to offer you.” I pulled out a rolled up scroll.
Jiang seemed to recognize it, and looked a bit upset, bowing her head. “If that is your wish, then I won’t object, but I must ask that we delay the signing for a few months. I will soon give birth, and will need to recover, and it isn’t appropriate for your concubine to be carrying another man’s child.”
“Concubine?” I asked. I wasn’t sure why she would think that.
“Is that not what the contract is for?” she asked, confused. “I assumed that because I was now an alchemist I had enough value to you that you now wanted to make me your own.”
I shook my head. “No, the contract is me legally setting your family free.”
Now she looked confused. “But not because I became your woman?”
I shook my head again. “No, because you took out a loan from me to buy your freedom.” She looked confused, so I handed her the contract. “The contract basically boils down to a few points. First, so far I have spent one thousand seven hundred and sixty two point three stones on your family, not including the two techniques I bought you today, as I’m counting those as borrowed books. I will give you another thirty seven point seven stones, bringing the total up to one thousand eight hundred stones. I am willing to count all of that as a loan and set your family free, and in exchange I just want you to pay me back a total of two thousand stones within twenty years, minimum payment of twenty stones per year.”
Jiang sat down as she read the contract, and a minute later she handed it to Ding for him to read. “That’s a lot of money.” she said.
“Well, I asked a few people about how much alchemists made. Normal starting pay for a level one alchemist is three or four stones per month. That is thirty six to forty eight per year, more than enough to make minimum payments. At level two that goes up to thirty to forty stones per month. That means that if you go up to level two you can pay back the loan in three years, but at level one you can only make the minimum payment. Of course, that doesn’t cover the fact that two of you will be working as alchemists, or that your pay will increase as you get better at making pills and can earn your bosses more money.”
Jiang nodded and started talking with Ding. After a few minutes Ding spoke up. “There is one thing that worries me, though. If we are slaves, the law guarantees that you will cover basic living expenses and it guarantees that we have a place to live. If we go free, though, where will we go? What will we do?” It seemed a bit strange to me that he was asking this question, but I had heard once that in the southern United States, after the slaves were freed, many of them had the same worries. These two had only been slaves for fifteen years, but the worry was understandable.
“Well, I thought of two options. First, I talked with the master of the White Tiger sect and he has agreed to take you in if you want. They don’t have an alchemist, need people to work construction, and have already allowed two families to join them, so you’ll fit in well. They also don’t treat mortals as inferior the way many sects do.” Of course, one of those families were spirit beasts, but since they lived among the humans and worked jobs I wasn’t sure that mattered. “The other option is that I loan you another thousand stones, add it to your minimum and total payment, increasing them both by fifty percent, and you start an alchemist shop in town. I’m not sure how profitable it will be, though. The only area that doesn’t have such a store already is the northern district, where the poorer people live, but I’m not sure if they can afford to buy enough from you to keep a business functioning. Of course, if you want to try something else, that is fine too.”
The two of them talked for another minute. “Can we discuss this, as well as what we want to do later?” Jiang asked. She would be the one who had to pay back the money, as Ding wouldn’t be able to earn anywhere near enough to pay it back in time, so it made sense that she was taking charge in this situation.
“Sure,” I said, standing up. “I’m going to take the rest of this meat to Chef so he can make something out of it for the family elders, but I’ll come by after supper.” Jiang nodded and I left for the kitchen.
That night at supper Chef made sweet marinated flood dragon cutlets using a sauce that tasted like a mix of mesquite barbecue sauce and teriyaki sauce. The level two people at our table were only given one slice each, but I let Ji Chan, the first family member I sparred with, have the my piece. I had fully adapted to the cultivation seed within the flood dragon meat, mostly because I had amplified the seeds as I absorbed them, effectively increasing the volume of flood dragon seeds I had absorbed by a factor of ten or more. This meant that I wouldn’t really benefit from eating more, no matter how delicious it was. On the other hand, Ji Chan was going to leave with us as a caravan guard tomorrow morning, so he would need as much benefit from it as possible.
I had been called to the main table to briefly explain the health and cultivation effects of eating flood dragon meat to the family elders, and they seemed impressed, thanking me for the meal. I encouraged them to meditate tonight, to fully absorb the effects of the meat, then was allowed to return to the other table.
“So,” asked Ji Wan, the man who had first lead us to the city. “Any idea what you’ll do with the slaves, now that they have passed their tests?” he asked me. “I’m sure the family would buy them back from you for a nice profit if you want to get rid of them.”
I shook my head. “Actually, I brought up the idea of them buying their freedom before coming over here, and they are thinking it over.”
“How can they buy their own freedom?” asked another man. “There’s no way they have more than a few stones saved up.” Sometimes people would buy the freedom of friends of family members, or men would buy the freedom of women so that the woman could marry them, but few slaves ever bought their own freedom. The closest thing that they had heard of were slaves that were freed for meritorious service, such as saving their master from certain death.
“Oh, well now that Jiang and Five have proven earning potential, I can loan them money long term. If they default, they return to me as indentured servants, working off the remaining debt in an alchemist shop I choose, but as long as they make the minimum payment they are free.”
Ji Xo thought about it. “You know, you might be onto something. They get the benefits of being free, but you get a guaranteed income plus a nice profit. And you don’t have to deal with them as long as they pay on time, so if they get into trouble you aren’t responsible.” He nodded his head. “So, how much profit are you going to end up making by doing this?”
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I smiled. “I’d rather not discuss the specifics of the deal. After all, I might have found a good way to earn a profit.” The others nodded and the topic changed to tomorrow’s caravan trip.
“So,” said Ji Wan. He liked starting sentences that way so that he could change the topic. “I’ve been going over the trade goods with Ji Bo.” Ji Bo was an early level three family elder that was assigned as the caravan leader. With all of Ji Wan’s goods being destroyed by the bandits, he no longer had any stake in the caravan, so he was delegated to the role of assistant caravan master. “All of the goods and personnel are ready, except that we don’t have a physician. The family can’t really spare an alchemist, much less one with medical experience, so make sure you have medical kits.”
I thought of something. “What if I can get you a newly certified alchemist?” I asked.
“You mean the pregnant slave woman?” he asked.
“Her name is Jiang, and she might not be a slave when we leave, but yes.”
He shrugged. “Well, normally we don’t bring women except for entertainment, but high ranking men are allowed to bring their concubine along, like I did on the trip here, and sometimes those women have other skills or roles in the group.”
“Well, she isn’t my concubine,” I responded, “but I’m sure many people bring along female guards.”
He shrugged. “Sometimes it happens, usually because she is moving to a new city and guard duty pays her expenses while earning her some money. Usually she’s traveling with others too. So, allowing Jiang to be the physician isn’t the worst idea. It’s about six days each way, and we’ll probably spend two or three days there. We can’t stay any longer because you and the Ambassador need to leave High River the day after we are scheduled to return, but if she wants to work for us for the trip I’ll round up the time she is paid for to a full month. She isn’t going to give birth during that time, right?”
I shrugged. “Not that I know of. Her child hasn’t even started Empowerment yet.” When a female cultivator was pregnant the child would grow normally for the first forty weeks or so, and once it was fully grown it would start rapidly undergoing cultivation, improving up to its mother’s cultivation level over the course of weeks to months. The first thing it developed would be its spirit root if it had one. This would be in constant conflict with its mother’s spirit root, essentially dual cultivating before birth, allowing such children to usually be born with High or above quality roots, usually Master, and sometimes Heavenly. The mother’s spirit root will also improve during this time, but because she has so much more qi and more dense qi until the last week or so due to her higher level, she won’t improve as much as the child. If the child didn’t have a spirit root this step is usually skipped, though they had a higher than normal chance of having spirit root.
After its spirit root has developed to a reasonable level, usually comparable to the mother’s spirit root, the child would start to develop dual meridians, and its body would spend the next week or so upgrading to a level one body. If the mother was a higher level it would then develop a dantian, then spend a week going through Rebirth, then slowly grow a core, spending a week to ten days in each step until it reached its mothers level. Only once it had fully reached her level would she then go into labor.
Those born with a higher level body will find their qi levels constantly decreasing, as their body naturally uses the qi as part of its natural functions, but can’t replenish it without cultivation, recovery pills, or qi rich foods. This usually results in a child that has a very good body but who can’t use qi, requiring them to learn to cultivate to return to full strength. They can very rapidly advance up to the same level they were born as, almost effortlessly breaking through to new levels as the body parts are just dormant, not missing, essentially being the same as people who lost all of their cultivation by injury or choice. Such children will start experiencing slowed aging once they finish puberty, granting them the maximum possible lifespan.
As Jiang was only level one, however, her child will only be able to activate their meridians easily, assuming she doesn’t grow a dantian before giving birth and advance to level two. While such a thing is theoretically possible, it would require intense training that might be difficult to do in her current situation. Because she is a mental cultivator and not a body cultivator or dual meridian cultivator, it will require mental training but not physical, so it would be easier than it could be, but because mind tempering pills would also effect the child’s brain she probably shouldn’t use them.
“In that case,” said Ji Wan, “Feel free to offer her the job. I can pay two stones for the trip, plus standard hazard pay if we are attacked.”
I nodded. “I’ll take the offer to her, then.”
When we finished eating I went back to the Qin house. Everyone was inside for the night, but when I knocked Jiang answered the door. When she saw me she excitedly went back inside and quickly returned with the scroll. “We both signed it.” she said, and I nodded, handing her another copy that I had signed as well as another, smaller scroll. I quickly touched the contract’s bond in my mind and ran qi into it in such a way that it started to break down, a similar technique to the one I had used to release the caterpillars earlier that day.
“Congratulations on your freedom.” I said. “That second one is a letter of introduction to Mike, the master of the White Tiger Sect. You’ll find him at the north end of town in four days leading a group of disciples in selling off their excess spirit beasts. Just give him that scroll and he should let you travel with them when they leave. If you want, though, I have a caravan job for you to earn some more stones. I’ll be going to the sect after returning, to pick up livestock with the Ambassador, so I can take you there with us after we get back. It’s only fifteen days or so away from your family and it pays two stones.”
“Comfort woman?” she asked, making an educated guess as to the type of job they would offer a recently freed slave woman. “The pay is nice, but I’m not sure if I want that to be the first thing I do as a free cultivator. Also, with the extra stones you gave us, I’m not that desperate for stones.”
“Physician.” I said. “The family can’t spare any alchemists, much less one that knows how to treat injuries. I and the Ambassador can patch them up if we have to, but it isn’t our specialty.”
Jiang nodded. “Well, the only experience I have as a physician is patching up my family, a few other servants, and a few animals. But I am a certified alchemist, so I can at least find the right medicine for them and stitch a wound.”
I nodded. “Then I have another technique for you.” I said, pulling a slip from my bag and handing it to her. “Taking Pulse. It will let you use your qi senses inside another person’s body so you can tell what’s wrong with them inside. It will essentially feel like examining your own body, but you’ll be in another’s body.”
She looked at the slip. “Can it really let you do that?” She asked.
“Your son still has about a week to go before he starts Empowerment.” I answered, and she looked confused. “When I picked you up after Ji Pon slapped you I checked you to make sure you aren’t hurt, and noticed that. You landed on your right side first, but it didn’t bruise. I could tell you were in a bit of pain, but not really injured outside of seventeen broken blood vessels in your left cheek.”
She nodded. “I’ve already fixed them.” she said. “That meat you gave us really helped my cultivation. Everyone feels better after eating the soup, and I only used two cubes. The rest are in my storage bag because I didn’t know what to do with them.”
I nodded. “So, are you willing to take the job? If so, we’ll need to go talk to Ji Wan and have you sign up.”
She went inside to talk to Ding for a minute, then came outside again. “Yes, I accept the job. Ding will take the kids to meet with Mike, and I can meet them later, when you and the ambassador go there.” I nodded and took her to talk to Ji Wan. After a few minutes of discussing exactly what the job requirements and pay would be, she signed the contract and he welcomed her to the team. I even managed to convince him to let her borrow a jade on human anatomy and a medical encyclopedia tonight, returning them in the morning. While she wouldn’t be able to learn all of the contents, her mind should be strong enough from the cultivation to remember most of what they contained, even if it didn’t make sense. She would essentially be able to mentally look up most of the contents, like a flawed type of photographic memory, and could look things up as she needed them if she encountered a medical condition she didn’t understand.
I gave her my level two medical kit, and would just be carrying my level one kit. Most of the pills inside the level one kit had been used already, so few of them were from Maria, but I still thought of it as the kit Maria gave me while thinking of the level two kit as the salvaged kit. Jiang would at least have the best pills she could for the job ahead of her, though she may need to supplement the supplies by making level one pills as well.
That night I decided to make useful talismans. I started by making one hundred lantern talismans so that we could have light when we needed it. These only took around thirty seconds each, as I had gotten so used to creating them and didn’t need the gathering formation like with the mortal usable version, so it took less than an hour to make all of them. I used a brush to make these, as it was faster than burning the leather, looked more professional, and would make the talismans slightly more energy efficient during use.
After that I thought about how to best help the guards. I didn’t want to risk this caravan becoming like the last Ji family caravan, so defensive talismans were my first priority. Unfortunately I didn’t have a special barrier technique, but I could make the basic one. As a level three barrier was much higher quality compared to a peak level two barrier and didn’t use much more qi, I wanted to make a reusable initial level three barrier talisman, but ran into an issue.
When one used a lower level effect it wouldn’t be able to use the qi as fast as the talisman could provide it, and would at worst overcharge the effect to the maximum the technique or level would allow. This naturally allowed it to be reusable, as most of the qi would remain after an activation. A technique of a lower minor level, however, didn’t have a natural cutoff for the technique, and would always cast at the full level of the talisman paper, making it single use. I tried several ways to limit it, even relying on my limited knowledge of formations to try and cut off the flow of qi after a certain trigger happened, but even after two hours I failed to find a way to make a reusable talisman that had an effect at the same level as the material.
As I had used several dozen peak level three flood dragon papers trying to make the idea work, papers which could likely sell for ten stones each, I decided to just make what I could out of the remaining papers and experiment once I had a cheaper material, like some of those level two skins I left at the sect. I spent two hours making level two barriers based on the formation we had used to protect us when Blood Red Scorpion attacked. It was the best level two formation I could remember, and would be able to block peak level two attacks with the same energy my own basic metallic shield would use to block an initial level two attack, thus lasting through more and stronger attacks in battle with each activation. These took about five minutes each to make, as I didn’t have any practice and they were far more complicated, but I was able to speed up a bit towards the end. I managed to make twenty seven by the end of the two hours.
Next, I used my homemade Stun Bolt technique to make level two stun bolt talismans. These took less than a minute each, and I made seventy two of them in one hour. I then spent two hours making level three barriers for the people to use in emergencies, using what I remembered of the Foundation level version of the previous barrier. As I had never used the technique, it wasn’t as efficient as the level two version, but could still remain active for around three minutes and block late level three attacks without breaking. This got me thirteen talismans.
Because these talismans all used the flood dragon leather the level two stun bolt could fire dozens of times between recharge, and the level two barrier could remain active for hours if it didn’t need to block attacks. All of these would be handed out to the people in the caravan, along with recharge instructions, and they would be told how much I charged to make more of them, in case they or the Ji family wanted to buy more.
