The Cloud-Moss Substitution

The pill sold for three thousand spirit stones.

Qin Bao, who had not seen a third-grade cultivation pill emerge from the Rustpeak furnaces in his twenty years at the sect, sat quietly in his chair for a long time after the merchant's representative left.

"Where did you learn flame array stabilisation?" he asked finally.

"Self-taught," Ye Xuan said.

"You're twelve."

"Thirteen next month."

Qin looked at the second pill Ye Xuan had placed on the table — identical to the first, but with a slightly different emission signature. "What's different about this one?"

"The primary stabiliser in standard third-grade cultivation pills is cloud-moss resin. It works, but it causes a three-percent qi absorption loss. I substituted cold-iron grass extract. The absorption rate is nine percent higher."

Qin Bao opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.

"The cloud-moss substitution has been attempted eighteen times in recorded alchemy literature," he said carefully.

"Nineteen attempts in the literature I've read," Ye Xuan corrected. "All failed because they didn't account for the cold-iron grass's interaction with fire-wood dual-element dantians. The solution is to add a half-dose of—"

"Stop." Qin held up a hand. "Who are you?"