“Von… hey Von…,” Jim called from behind the barrier, “come here.”

Von Cixton rolled his eyes but made his way cover.

“Closer… come on…”

The young heir sighed and walked over, then placed his face next to Jim and the two started a private discussion.

“Hey… why don’t you…

… and the Snowdrifts can…

… that way, things will…” Jim whispered.

Followed by Von rapidly nodding his head, “What… brilliant… no… of course.”

Their eyes shone, and after a while, Von returned with a large smile on his face. His previous look of defeat has completely disappeared.

“The Steel Rose family has agreed to your terms, Lord Kairos,” he suddenly says, throwing everyone into disarray. What terms?

But before anyone ask, he continued, “I heard you have a talented pill maker in your clan… Helena correct?”

“Yes, she is indeed exceptional,” Kairos boasted.

“I am willing to sponsor for the pills she can create. An investment, if you will. Although I cannot speak for the whole family, but the resources I am responsible for are still substantial.”

The Counter-Antidote Weakening Powder and a few other pills that Helena could make are products that cannot be found in Saint Empire. These are the accumulation of wisdom and innovation from thousands of years of pill making from the extinguished northern kingdom that the herbalist hailed from.

In comparison, Saint Empire is severely lagging behind. The Emperor Galahad does not place too much importance on crafts, because they do not have to. As a military might that none other on Gaia could compare, there are plenty of people willing to export any produce they require.

However, if something that could not be found on the market appears, every noble house would want to dabble their fingers in it for a cut.

Taking the art of pill making a cut above what she learnt, many of Helena’s pills are revolutionary, but because they do not have a convenient supplier in the country, so far they produced no profits. Even Fritzgen had a hard time securing a trade route for specialised spirit herbs all the way from the Silent Lambs Empire and the materials they took from the Phrixus’ treasury cannot last forever. Eventually, they will need to find a supplier.

Fortunately for them, there was someone conveniently around.

The three medical gorges that the Steel Rose family owns are managed by the top three heirs of the younger generation. The one that show the best results would take a step closer to become the heir apparent. Of course, if their performance is too poor, those ranked below would supersede them.

Von, who is now barely holding on to the third place, has control of this medical gorge that the Saint Cadets Academy visits. Which was why when the guard called for him, he immediately came over.

Now that such an opportunity arose, he definitely would not miss it.

The two quickly drafted a business contract to the pleasant surprise of the elder, and of course, causing the guard dismay but there was nothing he could do.

“Hoo … this Jim… He has a surprising aptitude towards business.”

With a few words, the Snowdrifts has found a supplier and further advanced the progress of their pill stores. At the same time, Von knows that this business decision will not only improve on his medical gorge’s ranking, the reconciliation with Snowdrifts will likely restore or even exceed his previous status in the family.

The costs of the herbs and the Life Taker had been absorbed by Von, who had very readily offered as a small gift from the Steel Rose family.

This way, no one had to fork out the funds from their own pockets, and when the family leader find out the purpose is to strengthen the relationship with Kairos, not only will Von be praised, he will probably be rewarded.

It is a rare chance to do business with the greatest enterprise in the Empire.

“I’m really seeing you in a new light, brother,” Edward patted Jim on his back as they left.

They all thought privately that their brother had really inherited the merchant’s genes from his parents; despite he is not the smartest in the group.

…..

The guard had been sternly warned. Though the family head, Floretinus, already sent word to dismiss the man, Von still owed him his status, and took the admonishment in his stead. It nearly stripped the young heir of all his allowances for the following year but he persisted.

At the same time, the elder at the medical gorge passed the guard a bag and the matters finally ended. When the latter opened it up, he saw several strange set of clothes, and a letter that enclosed his new station for the next fifty years: Desert guard duty.

Later on when Kairos heard of this, he privately felt a deep respect Von for his character. The 15 years old had worked hard to reach his position as third heir, but he did not forget who helped him in the past.

Although, he had tried to get back at Kairos at the beginning, but was flexible enough to set aside his pride.

In the business world, there are no permanent enemies, and to be able to take action out of logic instead of emotions made Von a worthy partner.

…..

The moment the boys returned to their dorm rooms, Jim and Alan happily intruded Kairos’ place, and with a mischievous grin on their faces, they poured out a mountain load of spirit herbs.

The thirty White Gold that they wanted to charge the boys had been expensive, but it were not without reasons.

It was not just the Life Taker that they had saved up. The two, for anything they consumed, had kept three more parts so that Edward, Kairos and of course, the missing Tommy, had a share.

“These herbs don’t work anyway!” Edward said.

Tommy, who had been pulled into the room from his training, stared at the things in wonder, “What are all these junks?”

But Kairos was quite excited, and he immediately flew into action.

He already had a store of spirit herbs in his Time-Space rings, but most of them are common items, and hardly have any research value.

There are some rare items from the rings that the immortal Old Ye gave, but to use them for practice would be a waste.

What he specifically wanted are a variety of spirit herbs, uncommon and seldom used, yet not too wasteful for him to experiment with.

Of course, eating the spirit herbs like what Jim and Alan did, is rather pointless or of little effects, but turning them into pills is completely different.

He asked them to stay silent for a while to hear what the spirit herbs says with his heart. This time, after the Earth Mother’s aid, he could understand every word.

“Use a cold flame for me~”

“Lord, lord~ I need a flame raised from cedarwood.”

“I am made of water, don’t place me with wood-types, they will dry me up~”

After a while, he took out a beautiful pill furnace from his ring to try his hand. It was an artefact took from the Phrixus’ treasure, and of course, has quite a high-quality.

The furnace is a superior model, split into different parts, with one component for feeding in ingredients, another to hold flames, and a third that is used to distil impurities. At the middle, there is a small hatch to retrieve completed pills.

While it allows one to create higher level pills, it also tests the user’s skill compared to a regular pill furnace with only one component to do everything.

Without hesitation, he grabbed a handful of the herbs that Alan and Jim took and threw it in, then raised his palm upwards. A flame dragonling made of pure Ki appeared floating above his hand, and immediately the furnace started heating up.

The flames of the dragonling spread across the metal surface, dancing as though they are alive. The heat precisely transmit to the ingredients within, causing them to be boiled by their own essences. This technique alone would cause even grandmasters to turn green with envy.

To become a Pill Maker, one actually does not need to cultivate a flame-type Ki, since they can also use flame arrays to substitute. However, the top Pill Makers definitely must have a strong affinity with the Fire Element because using their own Ki to create pills will allow them higher level of temperature control.

In this area alone, Kairos can claim to be unbeatable. After all, which practitioner can match the level of affinity with an Ancestor Dragon that was born of fire?

Unlike forging Star Rune weapons, the dragonling will not need to separate from him and therefore he did not need to worry about sacrificing his cultivation in the process. After he is done, it will return to his Dantian and at most he will feel tired out from expending his Ki and recover after a few hours.

In contrast, each time he use a strand of fire, ice, or lightning Dragon Ki to craft a sword, he will lose a day or two’s training. If he use up the entire dragonling, he will need to regrow a new one – a process that will take him months.

The dragonling flew up and started breathing fire at the furnace, using the heat to mould the the now-cooked spirit herbs together, turning it into a green puddle, then he quickly shaved some Iron Cedarwood and cast it onto the flames. Grey smoke arise and quickly disappeared into the pot, seeping into the spirit herb mixture.

Few knew the secrets of this iron-bark, steel-timber tree. It appears to have the perfect properties to create weapons. Tough, flexible, lightweight, and easy to grow. Unfortunately, the moment it touches the tiniest of flame, it turns into smoke. Now, it is mostly used to make cheap furniture.

Despite this, Kairos kept a piece, hoping that he could somehow meld it together with spirit ores and create an alloy that wouldn’t evaporate. He failed every attempt so far, however, just now, he found out with great surprise that the Iron Cedarwood smoke has actually the most invaluable properties. After being infused into liquid, the blend will be entirely isolated for a few breathes. There will be no particle exchanged during this time, meaning that dust would not be able to contaminate the mixture, nor any heat would be lost; perfect for keeping a pill solution in stasis.

If a few breathes is not long enough, one could simply add more Iron Cedarwood smoke.

Kairos extinguished the fire and reabsorbed the fire dragonling, then he opened the chute on the top and threw in a series of items in rapid fashion.

A Golden Cicada Wing, the dried moulted skin of a thousand years old white snake spirit, Giant Azure Roc feathers, and Lunar Moth dusts. Each ingredient he picked caused the boys to widen their eyes in shock as they looked at one another with completely baffled expressions. The things that Kairos picked were well-known to be impossible to use in pill creation. The moment they touch flames, they would turn into ashes and soot but Kairos only had a wide grin on his face as he summoned a new flame on the tip of his finger.

A beautiful purple fire that remains still, disregarding both wind and movements.