After ascending to Martial Lord and stabilizing my new realm, I immediately switched my attention to advancing my alchemy skills. There were other things that needed my attention.  For instance, while the factory was operational, it still needed work. But for me, everything outside of alchemy was unimportant.


    I settled into a cultivation room within the City Lord’s Complex and began studying the book Emperor Li had left for me. He had previously demonstrated that the key to Rank 4 alchemy was using one’s will to influence the world. By channeling my thoughts and energy through my core, I was supposed to be able to affect reality itself.


    The first part of Emperor Li’s book outlined a few simple exercises I could practice to improve my ability to channel my will. Following its guidance, I took a piece of paper and threw it into the air. As it began to float down, I focused my thoughts through my core and attempted to lock it in place. Shortly after, the paper landed on the ground.


    It took me many days to succeed in locking the paper in the air. At first, the lock was only partial, but after more practice, I gained more confidence. Then, I tore the piece of paper in two and threw both pieces into the air simultaneously. Simultaneously creating two separate locks was more than twice as difficult, but after several more days, I was able to do it.


    Then, I tore both pieces in half again. After I mastered four, I tore them again. Four became eight, and eight became sixteen. On my best attempt, I was able to lock eleven in place simultaneously, but that was as far as I progressed.


    One thing I didn’t expect was that while I could use my will to lock things in place, unlike affinities, I couldn’t use will to manipulate things. This meant that I wouldn’t be able to use my will to help concoct perfect pills since that involved deft manipulation of medicinal energy. Instead, I would need to lock the energy in place with will and then use my affinities to overpower the lock and slightly adjust the medicinal energy inside.


    I wanted to practice these simple exercises until I reached the peak of perfection, but I didn’t have the luxury of time. I would only maintain lordship of North Lake City for nine years, and I needed to do my best to advance as far as possible in that time. Spending too much time practicing basic exercises could interfere with that goal. So, I decided to only push my will control as far as necessary, and then, after I left office, I would begin a more thorough exercise regime.


    After my will-control reached a place I was satisfied with, I started working on the simplest Rank 4 pill possible. For this, I had already purchased ten Verdant Emerald Kairaway Pods, which looked somewhat similar to bright green soy bean pods. They were priced at 100,000 gold each and were one of the few Rank 4 herbs that could easily be purchased with only gold. Not only that, but they were also one of the few herbs that could be turned into a pill without any additional ingredients. This made them perfect for new Rank 4 alchemists.


    I focused on a pod and got to work. Melting its physical body was not too difficult. It was similar to many of the Rank 3 herbs I had worked with. The energy body, however, was a different story. The pod’s shell was entirely made out of toxic energy, and the medicinal energy was only held within the beans themselves, but it was all disjointed and fragmented. The energy only existed as small flecks that were suspended in a substrate of toxic energy.


    I had several pods to work with, so I allowed myself the leeway needed to experiment. With the first pod, I used the full force of my qi and fire seed to slowly destroy the toxins of the outer shell, leaving its small beans exposed. I thought that since there were still both toxic and medicinal energies within the beans, the energies might remain stable, but the moment the outer shell disappeared, the beans inside also began to dissipate.


    Setting the remains of my failure to the side, I picked up another pod and prepared it. This time, I used the strength of my will to lock everything in place from the very beginning. The will-lock was not placed on the pod itself, but on the space that held it. So, when the combination of my spirit fire and qi entered to try to destroy the toxic energy, I found it very difficult to get it to move where I needed it.


    Adjusting the strength of the fire within my will-lock, I found a balance that allowed me to make slow progress. With my mental fortitude flagging halfway through the process of removing the outer shell, I decided to switch the focus of my will. Instead of trapping everything within a single lock, I created smaller, separate locks around each of the beans, leaving the shell free. After making this change, my progress became swifter and smoother, and I was able to easily remove the remaining exterior toxins.


    Then, I began working on the beans. This was a chore since I had no choice but to work through the will-lock while also being careful not to touch any of the medicinal energy.


    My first several attempts were complete failures. Maintaining a lock strong enough to keep the medicinal energy from dissipating while allowing my spirit fire access to the toxins at the same time was exceptionally challenging. After each attempt, I needed to take a break to recover my mental energy.


    It wasn’t until the fifth attempt that I was able to concoct a usable pill. By only targeting the toxins on the fringes of each bean, I was able to cleanse the energy sufficiently to condense the energy into a Low-Purity Soil Enrichment Pill. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.


    From there, I slowly began inching my way into the center of the beans. With every attempt I made, I progressed a little further inside, but I never pushed too far since a pill with lower purity was preferable to no pill at all. 100,000 gold was not an impossible sum for me to gather in a short time frame, but if I had to constantly sell Rank 3 pills to afford these bean pods, it would significantly slow my progress. I needed to be making pills that I could sell to cover at least part of my expenses.


    After I used up all my pods, I was left with five Low-Purity pills and one Mid-Purity pill. This wasn’t a great success by any means, but it would let me keep walking forward.


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    <hr>


    I entered the North Lake City branch of the Pavilion and immediately went to the alchemy office to have my pills appraised.


    “Lord Su,” said the attendant on duty, “how may I help you today?”


    I placed the pill bottles on the counter. “I made my first Rank 4 pills, and I’m looking to sell them. I’m not sure what the going rate for them is, but I’ll take what I can get.”


    “Congratulations on your achievement, Lord Su. No one currently in the building is qualified to appraise this level of pill, so we’ll have to contact our expert. I don’t know how long it will be, but we can contact you when it’s complete. After that, you can apply for your red-gold badge.”


    “I understand, thank you,” I said.


    I didn’t need the money immediately, but I would need it soon. I had built up a sizable cash reserve over the years while waiting to advance, but with the price of Kairaway Pods, eventually, even my deep pockets would feel the pinch. I had enough to keep working for the moment, at least.


    I went downstairs and found the counter where special orders for herbalists could be placed.


    “Hello,” I said to the attendant working there, “I need to place an order for a large number of Rank 4 Verdant Emerald Kairaway Pods.”


    “Oh,” she said, her eyes widening, “Lord, how many do you need?”


    “I’d like at least twenty for now, but I need to establish an ongoing supply. I anticipate needing twenty a week for the next two months.”


    Ideally, I would’ve set this up several weeks in advance. Ordering dozens of Rank 4 herbs on short notice could be problematic. Unfortunately, I hadn’t had a grasp of how many pods I would need or when exactly I needed them, so placing an order ahead of time would have been difficult.


    “Lord…” began the attendant, “this isn’t a simple order. It might be better if you worked with an Herb Lord directly.”


    I thought about her suggestion and quickly decided to agree. Establishing a good working relationship with an Herb Lord would be very beneficial as I experimented with Rank 4 alchemy. The attendant wrote down the details of exactly what I needed and said she would post it immediately, but she wasn’t sure when I would get a reply.


    Since I would need to wait for more ingredients, I headed back to the Complex to cultivate.


    <hr>


    The next day, the Pavilion contacted me. Herb Lord Situ had requested a meeting.


    When I entered the conference room in the Pavilion, Lord Situ and an attendant were already waiting for me.


    “Lord Situ,” I said, giving a bow, “thank you for meeting with me.”


    “Lord Su, please sit. I’ve been looking forward to our meeting.”


    I took my seat, and another attendant entered to serve us tea.


    “Lord Su,” he began after taking a sip, “I have been informed of your request for Verdant Emerald Kairaway Pods. First, I must apologize. I do not have a sufficient supply to meet your needs. However, I am willing to enter into a deal for the stock I do have, which at the moment is only fifteen pods. While this is far below your request, I believe you will find that such pods are not regularly produced in the quantities you are hoping for.”


    I bowed my head slightly. “Thank you, Lord Situ. I would indeed like to purchase what you have available. If I were to order more from you, how long would that take?”


    The Herb Lord gave an apologetic look. “It will take at least a year, and that would be if I used techniques, formations, and pills to increase their growth speed, which would raise the cost for such lowly herbs beyond all reason. At a normal growth rate, it will take five years.”


    I realized I should have made these preparations not weeks earlier, but years earlier. I had put Emperor Li’s book out of my mind because I couldn’t use the recipes. I should have been reading through it and preparing contracts with herbalists.


    “If you only wished to sell me fifteen herbs, I do not believe we would be having this conversation, Lord Situ. How can I help you today?”


    He smiled slightly and nodded. “As a new Pill Lord, you will need a significant number of herbs to advance your craft. This can be quite expensive, and since you are focusing on Kairaway Pods, I do not believe you have the resources to fund this endeavor. I am willing to advance you the herbs you truly need.”


    Lord Situ’s words suggested that he thought using these pods was a concession I had made to be able to begin studying Rank 4 alchemy. He had no idea that it was part of a thoroughly detailed plan for advancement created by a Pill Emperor. I decided not to correct his assumptions.


    “And what would you require for such an arrangement?”


    “Two things,” he said. “On a personal level, I need your assistance as well. I need resources to improve my herbalism. By working together, we can advance together.”


    “I can agree to that, depending on the details, of course,” I responded without much thought. This sounded like a deal similar to what I’d done in the past with the Twin Mountains Sect and Pavilion.


    “You might find the second condition more onerous.” He paused to sip his tea. “Beyond myself, I must also support my clan. Your term as city lord will end before the next King Selection, and with a strong foundation as both alchemist and Ruler, you will be one of the top contenders. I need your Oath that you will not participate in the next selection and that you will support the candidate from the Situ clan.”


    I allowed the idea to bounce around my head for a time. There would be advantages, especially in credit gain, from attempting to pursue the path of Eight Flower King. However, my foundation was incredibly weak. I only had scant knowledge of the Lord realm, a little practice with Rank 4 alchemy, and no real backing within the kingdom. Competing to be the next King felt like it would be foolish.


    I worked out the math in my head. The next King would be chosen when I was 47. As a Lord, qi stagnation wouldn’t set in until I was 80. If the path of Eight Flower King was viable, it would be better to pursue it when I was 67 anyway, so bowing out of the next competition wouldn’t do me any harm.


    Did I want to agree to support the Situ competitor, though? I knew nothing about this clan and had no idea what political circles this could involve me in, but I didn’t care about such things. To me, the political situation was ephemeral. I only worried about whether it would impact my pursuits.


    “What does supporting the Situ competitor look like, in your opinion?” I asked the Lord.


    He looked me in the eyes. “Starting five years before the competition, we would need you to cease supplying pills to any other clan that is competing. Unless they drop out, they cannot receive any pills you concoct.”


    “No,” I responded instantly. “I have a solid relationship with the Hu clan which I will not ruin over this. There are other sources of herbs and other clans that can provide them.”


    The Herb Lord looked slightly frustrated at my prompt refusal.


    I thought a little more before reaching my decision. “The Hu clan and the Ouyang clan. Our agreement will not touch my dealings with these two clans, but I will sever ties with every other clan that competes.”


    This time, it was the Situ Lord who needed to think. He excused himself from the meeting to have a quick, private conversation with others from his clan. When he left, I took out Emperor Li’s book and a piece of paper to make a list of herbs I would need for learning Rank 4 alchemy. The Lord reentered the room shortly after I finished my list.


    “I can accept those terms,” he said without joy.


    I slid the paper over to him.


    “These are what I need in the order I need them. The ones at the top are the most urgent. I look forward to working with you, Herb Lord Situ.”