Conrad and Amory Steinfeld

Will, Silva, Lucas and Layla rode a carriage to their destination.

The alchemist couple's house was only a few kilometers away from the Sundersky mansion.

They passed by the small town of the Sundersky barony. 

The town was full of people wearing simple clothes.

Some of the shops were open and there were also people buying.

Although the barony was facing a crisis, the state of the town was still looking fine.

It was just because of the location of the town, the trouble reached them later than those villages near the borders that immediately became targets.

However, the crisis was slowly being felt in the town.

Despite all the events around them, the citizens gave way and greeted the carriage as it passed by their houses.

The carriage continued until it reached a house standing alone at a small hill.

Silva led the three and knocked on the door.

The door creaked open and an old lady full of white hairs greeted them.

"Oh, Baroness Silva. It's good to see you."

Silva smiled. "Lady Amory. It's good too that you're well. Can we come in?"

"Oh! Where are my manners? Please, come in." Amory gestured to the group to come into her house.

"Young Master." She greeted Will.

"Good to see you well, Ma'am."

The four sat on the wooden seats before Amory asked, "Tea?"

"Sure."

After she served them tea, Amory sat down across from them.

"So, to what do this old bag owe the visit?"

Silva turned to Will.

Noticing her gaze, he took out the ten kilograms of blue line grass that they collected on the way.

"Do you know what this is, Lady Amory?"

"Isn't this mountain grass?" she took one strand of grass, "Why is there so much of this trash?"

"There are ten kilograms of them in here. And they are not trash. In the right hands, this bunch could produce a drop of spirit-grade essence."

Amory went still as she tried to process what just Will said.

While she was frowning and thinking how she would react, a voice came from the side.

"Do you have anything to prove that, Young Master?"

They turned and saw an old man with long tied white hair tied holding a book.

"Sir Conrad. It's good to see you well." Silva greeted.

Conrad greeted the group and returned to the blue thin grass.

"Young Master claimed that this pile of mountain grass can be used to create a spirit grade essence, is that right?" Conrad asked Will.

Will nodded and smiled confidently. 

"Can you prove it to us?" Conrad asked.

"Only one way to find out." Will took out a book where he wrote the refining technique for the blue thin grass. "I have the refining technique but I am not an alchemist so I don't know how to perform it. If you are willing to do it, we can all bear witness if what I claimed was true."

Looking at the book in front of them, Conrad and Amory became a little curious.

Both of them were Second Class Alchemists meaning at the best, they could concoct rare grade pills, putting their status in the kingdom at a decent level. 

They met each other as apprentices and eventually became husband and wife.

After years of being an alchemist at the central parts of the kingdom, they both faced the wall of their talents and stagnated at the level of Second Class alchemist.

And when the territories near the Thousand Lone Mountains needed alchemists, the Alchemist Guild sent Third and Second Class alchemists to their aid.

Conrad and Amory were assigned at the Sundersky Barony to replace their retired alchemist.

Since then, they worked for the barony with their best. After all, they take their work seriously.

However, they could not do much when the aggression of the other nobles to their barony began. 

The lack of materials became a problem to them and they could only concoct common pills.

They thought of leaving like the others but just thinking about the long travel they need to endure, the couple decided to stay at the barony.

"Hmm." Conrad approached Will and was about to grab the book when Will retracted his hand.

"I am confident that this technique will work. I need to know if I can trust you two to keep this a secret."

Conrad and Amory turned to each other and nodded.

They drafted a contract of secrecy and signed it. Will read it and signed it with Silva.

Just when it was done he passed on the technique to the two.

Conrad was the first one to study the technique.

After memorizing and learning it, he gave the book to Amory, who immediately began studying the technique.

"How about it, Sir Condrad?"

Conrad smiled and laughed. "This technique is simple yet efficient. I think I can do it, no, I can do it."

He took the pile of blue line grass and went to the back of the house, where their alchemy room was located.

He placed the grass on the table and gathered the other listed materials on the technique, all of which were simple and present in his collection.

"I'm gonna start now."

Conrad placed the ten kilograms of blue line grass on the huge cauldron and closed it. 

He controlled the fire to the required temperature and began adding the materials as the technique instructed.

After an hour, he opened the cauldron and smoke came out.

Conrad waved his hand and dispersed the smoke, revealing the inside of the cauldron.

It was empty except for the tiny amount of glowing blue liquid at the bottom center.

Conrad retrieved it and placed it in a small vial.

He appraised it and smiled.

When he came out of the room, Will and the others quickly surrounded him.

"Congratulations, Young Master." Conrad's words made the others' hearts beat fast.

He took out the vial that contained the glowing essence and showed it to the group.

Seeing the successful refinement, the group erupted in cheers.

"Is this real, Sir Conrad?" Silva asked.

"Yes. This is a genuine spirit-grade essence. I can't believe this came from a mountain grass that I stepped on my whole life."

Amory turned to Will. "How did you know about this, Young Master?"

Will waved his hand. "Is that important? What matters is that it's real."

"Oh.."

"I will concoct a pill to see its effects." Conrad excitedly returned to the alchemy room to confirm if the effects the technique said were true.

Surely when he emerged from the alchemy room, ten common grade Qi Gathering pills that had a higher amount of qi and a better quality than were in his hands.

With the quality of materials he used, Conrad knew that he could at maximum concoct a medium grade Qi Gathering pill.

But with the use of a single drop of the blue thin grass essence, the quality jumped from medium to high grade instantly.

"This is really great, Young Master!"

With the technique and effects of the blue line grass essence confirmed, the doubts lingering in the peoples' hearts vanished.

"So now, we can discuss our cooperation." Will turned to the two alchemists and they began discussing the cooperation between them.

The contract Will drafted with the agreement of the couple was simple.

First, they would not disclose or reveal any information about the refining technique.

Second, the Sundersky Household would provide the couple materials to refine the blue thin grass and the Steinfeld couple would concoct the pills exclusively for the Sundersky Household.

Lastly, the Sundersky Household would take 70% of the sale while the couple would take the remaining 30%.

"This is actually great."

Conrad stretched forth his hand towards Will.

Will clasped it and smiled. 

He then proceeded to tell them about his plan on how to distribute the Azure Teardrop, the name they called their product.

[ Conrad and Amory Steinfeld regained their fire in alchemy. You have received 1,000 destiny points. ]

'Nice!'

With 1,200 destiny points, Will decided that he will purchase all the items in the Destiny Store to refresh it.

He would not pass on the chance to get his hands on the Earth-grade Adamantine Longsword, something that only the great households like the Duke and the Royal families would have.

'It would be a huge help in increasing the overall strength of our force.'

Just imagining Lucas, a superior grade sword aptitude holder wielding an Earth grade sword makes Will excited. 

After leaving Conrad's house, Will, together with Silva, Lucas and Layla drove towards the town.

Their carriage stopped at the center of the town.

Will climbed at the top of the carriage and shouted.

"I am Will Sundersky! The Sundersky Household has an announcement to make! Citizens! Please gather around!"

The crowd eventually gathered around the carriage.

They were confused about what the Heir of the Baron would announce today.

Facing the almost four hundred people, Will took a deep breath before speaking.

"I know that we are in a little dire situation right now. But do not be concerned. The Sundersky Household offers you assistance."

"We will provide you with meat and all your essentials for the next month."

Hearing his words, the people cheered.

They would not have to worry about their food for the next month if the Baron's house really supported them.

Many of them came from the outer villages and moved to the main town as refugees.

Their main concern was the food at their table.

After the cheers, some people raised their hands and asked if Will was really telling the truth.

"Yes. We will."

An old man with a long beard asked. "I know that the Sundersky household is just trying to be good to us. However, I feel like the Young Master has a request for us. Is that right?"

The people murmured and whispered to themselves.

"You're half right. It's not a request but a job for you."

"A job?" someone asked.

"Yes." Will took out a blue line grass and showed it to everybody.

"The Sundersky Household will pay ten silver coins per kilogram of this grass."

The crowd went closer and were surprised to realize that the Heir was asking them to gather ordinary mountain grass.

Concerns if what he was saying quickly spread so the old man raised his hands and asked Will for confirmation.

"The Sundersky Household will pay you."

The citizens talked among themselves once again.

However, at the end, a job from their Baron Household was still a job.

And a good paying job at that.

Ten silver coins could fund a family for almost a month. 

Just collecting a kilogram of this grass that could be found even in their backyard would provide their needs for a whole month!

The first ones to move were the refugees from the outer villages.

Someone came with a kilogram of blue line grass half an hour later.

Will paid the man himself and this washed the doubts from the hearts of the people.

They returned to their homes, took baskets and began collecting the blue thin grass.

"Go to the mansion's gate. We will set up a stall there to buy your collections."

After saying that, he left the town and went back to the mansion.

He achieved the first steps of his plan on increasing the wealth of the Household.

While waiting for the collection of the blue line grass, Will decided to empower himself.

Sitting in the midst of his room, he summoned his profile.

[ Will Sundersky - First Level Qi Sensing ]

[ Spirit root - Mid

Sword Aptitude - Advanced

Qi Cultivation - Harmonious Cloud Cultivation Technique

Body Cultivation - Bronze Skin Sutra

Techniques - Seven Divinity Sword, Sky Streaming Sword, Bursting Silent Sword, Chasing Wind Steps

Destiny Points - 1,200

Destiny Store ]

As Will stared at his profile and decided to try something he realized a while back.

"System, can you upgrade my cultivation?"

While calculating how much time it would take him to reach Nascent Soul realm or above with his mid-grade spirit root, Will realized that he would not make it before the demonic beast invasion from the Thousand Lone Mountains began.

Even if he upgraded his spirit roots to high grade, he would still not reach his goal.

Then he noticed the cultivation realm after his name.

'If I can upgrade my spirit roots, then can I also upgrade my cultivation realm?'

He waited seriously for the system's answer.

[ Upgrading cultivation from 'First Level Qi Sensing' to Second Level Qi Sensing' costs 200 Destiny points. ]