Second Time

Chapter 13 - Jade Garden City

Jade Garden City received its name from the many herbs that grew like weeds all throughout the city. If one was determined, they could easily harvest a hundred grade one and grade two herbs with a day's work just by wandering the streets.

Of course, with such a quantity available, common grade one and grade two herbs were nearly worthless in the city and only slightly better in the surrounding area. People would only waste time collecting them if they were desperate or planned to travel a long distance to trade them. They'd fetch quite a price on Shao Yue's home island.

Because herbs grew so well in the city, many alchemists chose to live within its walls. They all had priceless herb gardens and lived luxuriously even by alchemists' standards.

Nobody would dare offend alchemists, so the city was a bit of a neutral zone. Three different sects had been established nearby. Whenever they fought, it would never be near the city, so the citizens had a carefree and peaceful air about them.

Shao Yue had a few reasons for deciding to settle in the city temporarily. First, the world energy was quite dense, at least two times better than the port city which was already ten times better than her homeland. Second, the quantity of alchemists meant she could easily access a lot of pills. The peaceful atmosphere came in third.

Shao Yue sold off the carriage and the pair continued on foot.

Jade Garden City had a very lush, natural appearance. Trees grew everywhere and most of the buildings were built from sturdy wood. The streets received plenty of shade from the wide canopies above. The rustling of leaves gave pleasant background noise while the countless herbs filled the city with a floral scent. Even mortals wouldn't get sick easily within it.

As a city focused on alchemy, pill stores could be seen everywhere. Some were owned by the local sects while others had ties with certain high level alchemists. Typically, the former would have higher quantities of pills while the latter would have more niche pills and higher quality.

After comparing prices for a bit, Shao Yue went into one of the sect-owned stores and purchased five bottles of grade two cultivation pills. She'd give them to Mimi when the girl reached the Qi Refinement Realm. Higher grade pills held too much energy and could damage her meridians.

Next, she entered a speciality store and purchased two bottles of grade four body refinement pills.

"Here you are," the clerk said, handing over the bottles.

"Thanks." Shao Yue pretended to slip them into a bag at her waist while pulling them into her storage ring. "Do you know if any store here sells Soul Reformation Pills?"

The clerk frowned. "Soul Reformation Pills are grade six mid-tier pills at minimum and not high in demand. You'd have to request it from a grandmaster specifically."

"I see." Shao Yue nodded. "Thanks for the information."

She turned and glanced outside. A lot of people were rushing towards the west suddenly. Some sort of event?

A man burst through the doors and said, "Grandmaster Zeng is leaving his retreat!"

"Grandmaster Zeng?" Shao Yue repeated.

As people began running out of the store, the clerk explained with an excited voice, "Grandmaster Zeng is a grade seven low-tier alchemist! He's been in retreat for the last century trying to comprehend how to advance. He might have gained some insight!"

"Oh!"

Grade seven low-tier alchemists were existences comparable to Emperor Realm cultivators. To be a graded alchemist, one needed to be able to create a pill of that level in more than half of their attempts.