I demonstrated the method I used to train my meridian channels. The process required the kind of fine detail that would force each alchemist to focus on perfecting their perception. Learning to extend the meridian network outside of your body was like using a dozen new arms and hands.
"One last thing before we end today's lecture," I said as I retracted the Qi tendrils I used to manage so many alchemical processes. "I want you to use your perception and tell me what you notice about these three samples."
"They are sage grass," Xu answered.
"Anything else?" I asked, chuckling at his comment.
"They don't have much spirit energy, so I think they are young," Jade suggested hesitantly.
"They are," I agreed. "Instead of looking for what they are or identifying them, I want you to look and notice how they compare to each other."
It took much longer for one of them to answer this time because they were still intent on examining them one at a time. Leo, not surprisingly, was the first to examine them together and notice the difference. "They have different amounts of Qi energy."
"They do. Now, why would that be something that might concern an alchemist?"
"A pill might be stronger or weaker depending on how much Qi a herb might hold?" Leo guessed.
His elemental affinity was earth. That would make a difference when it came to selecting herbs and spirit plants. If he put in the time and diligently scanned the ingredients he chose, his chance of creating a pill with higher efficacy was almost assured.
"Exactly," I replied. "And that is the reason why pill creation cannot be industrialized or mass-produced. An Alchemist will need to adjust recipes every time they craft a pill. A sample of sage grass might not have sufficient energy, and changes to amounts of ingredient added or time for heating may need to be adapted.
"That is also why some recipes call for resources that have reached a certain age. Thousand-year-old ginseng, for example, is so highly prized because an Alchemist knows that the spirit energy in a plant that mature has reached a certain level.
"The pill they are trying to create needs a threshold of energy to succeed, and by waiting until a plant matures to a certain age, that threshold is guaranteed."
Satisfied that all three could detect the fluctuations in energy levels, I demonstrated the entire process of creating a mortal-grade pill. It was exacting work, and I had each disciple prove some proficiency by attempting to move ground sage grass juice using pipettes. The pipettes had been created from glass enchanted against breakage.
I had provided enough help to give the three cultivators a good start. I made sure they knew that support was available if they had problems. I had managed to recruit two alchemists from Four Element Sect.
Xinxe and Yonge were close to reaching journeyman level. I hadn't decided which would work well as Head of Alchemy yet, so I had them share the position's duties. Neither seemed upset or bothered about my decision, both too lost to experiment and research to care. They had almost salivated when I made good on my promise and delivered a dozen Golden Lodoicea seedpods for them to study and experiment with.
I was headed to the central spire to cultivate for a few hours when I heard Bao calling my name. She had done a fantastic job creating the herbal gardens needed to gather and concentrate the four primary elements.
She had even managed to create a small garden brimming with plants that resonated with lightning. That had made it easier to create the containment field that allowed the earth, air, fire, and water elements to homogenize into an artifice that mirrored the natural balance found at Four Element Sect.
She and Ming worked well together, and the architectural vision that Bob had drafted was completed without incident. A Dojo was created, consisting of five buildings and a Beast Taming Hall. It was built to specification with arrays embedded in the foundation and walls, gardens fully grown and providing elemental Qi infused energy, and Qi gathering arrays installed for closed-door cultivation. From beginning to end, the buildings were completed in just over three weeks.
We were still moving in, setting up each room with the furniture or equipment needed, but the building project was finished, and the Dojo was ready for use. Zui had prioritized getting the secondary profession areas equipped and open for use as the first stage of occupancy.
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The cultivators would be moving into their assigned dormitories in the next few days. The rooms weren't as luxurious as the apartment I had been issued in Four Element Sect, but they were as spacious as the small house I'd been assigned in Flowing Water Sect. Just as important as aesthetics, they were functional and built to allow for elemental diversity.
Each cultivator would be offered housing that was more a small apartment than a dorm room: bedroom, living space, and restroom. I had decided against building separate rooms tailored for cultivation. There was no need since each building had been constructed with the arrays to maximize the elemental affinity a person resonated with.
If people required additional Qi gathering formations, they could apply for and rent the closed-door cultivation rooms that I had built in the sub-basements of the central building. The confluence and harmony of the four elements would make cultivation more effective.
"Baroness, Ming has had a breakthrough. We think we've created the communication devices you were asking for."
"So quickly?" I asked as I turned around to head towards the array department.
The Dojo wasn't large enough to require individual Halls for each profession. I had, instead, assigned each floor of the central building to one of the professions, except for the Herbalists that were needed to care for and maintain the elemental gardens in the surrounding buildings.
The array department was on the fourth floor, allowing it to take advantage of a slightly denser Qi environment. I'd placed the Alchemy department in one of the sub-basements. Pill formation often resulted in explosions. Even with arrays embedded in walls, floors, and ceilings, it was safer to create some distance from the balanced elemental fusion taking place on the highest levels.
"He had an epiphany while deconstructing the paper used for missives. He realized that the method the runes written into the fibers of the material might work for a communication device," she explained.
She didn't have time to explain more before we had arrived. I had engaged [Lightning's Rush] to increase my movement speed as I ran to the lab Ming was using. Bao must have had her own movement technique because she could follow close behind.
"Ming," I said, my entrance not startling him. His perception had been extended, and he had noticed my rushed arrival. "Bao informs me you think you've created something that will serve as a communication device?"
"Yes, Baroness," he said, holding out a jade token in each hand.
They didn't look any different from any jade token you would find in the library. The body of the token had four sides, about an inch long. Those sides began to merge, flowing to join a half-inch from the top as they tapered into a pyramid.
It allowed the token to fit in the palm of your hand easily. A token of that size contained enough space to hold volumes of information. One token could store the entire information collected and gathered for the introductory apprentice tier information for any profession. What made them even more helpful was their ability to hold and keep the memories and actions of a cultivator.
A cultivator that wanted to pass on a technique he created over his life could store a written version for a person to learn, but they could just as well record a soul imprint that was more nuanced. It would allow a cultivator to see and feel what the cultivator was trying to teach, living the experience.
"First, you should know that your suspicions were correct. There are hidden runes written into the strands of fiber used in missives. Those runes will allow someone who knows of them to copy whatever was written on the missive and send that message to a different individual.
"Whoever crafted these runes was a genius. They managed to set certain parameters in place to target certain individuals. Any missives sent to any member of the Royal family, a Sect Leader, or anyone with a rank of Baron or higher are automatically copied and forwarded," he explained.
That information was expected, but it didn't help me figure out how to warn the Emperor about what we had discovered, not without notifying Clan Velize at the same time and painting a target on my back.
"The runes we found were part of the solution we needed to create the communication devices. You were correct in thinking the coral had the same characteristics for communication as the synapses of a brain. The difference is that the coral uses Qi instead of electrical impulses to send signals.
"To create a communication device, each jade token is seeded with the smallest piece of coral. The coral is encouraged to grow into specific shapes when arranged in a pattern using a solution of nutrients. Those shapes mimic runes. These living runes make use of the electromagnetic spectrum to send and receive sound. We created a matrix of living runes to transmit, identify a receiver and sender using a Qi signature, and store the Qi needed to power the device.
"The coral reacts to a user's intent. It searches for another piece of coral that fits the parameters as to Qi signature parameters and 'connects' if it finds a person with a communication token that fits the identity the sender has stipulated," he said.
I knew his explanations had been simplified. Enough to allow me to understand basically what he had done, but the actual process of seeding a token and growing the runes in a configuration that would enable the device to work would have to be much more technical.
I might have understood the meticulous mechanics involved in the process. After all, I had absorbed the information for all professions past journeyman level. Still, there was no need to share such detailed information this early. I would worry about the finer details only once I began manufacturing the devices for public usage. For now, I wanted to see how well his proof-of-concept device worked.