“Elder, please, you have already been most generous,” the driver said, trying to refuse the golden talon.

“Do you think me so miserly I would not pay you for your service,” Elder Yan said, smiling warmly. “You have been with us through thick and thin, as they say.” The Elder pushed the golden talon forward, his eyes daring the driver to decline. He knew too much, and this much money would at least keep him silent for a short while.

“Thank you, Elder,” the driver said, almost forgetting what had happened on the way to the city.

“I look forward to working with you again soon,” the Elder said, having already set aside money for the driver to work for him. A golden talon every season would be able to keep him living well, considering just a single golden talon was enough to pay a year’s wage for the average person.

The pair watched him leave, and Mika wondered if he should kill the driver. He didn’t seem like he’d betray them any time soon, but enough drinks or enough pretty women and he’d spill his soul to anyone. ‘No, no, he has a family.’ Mika sighed. ‘When did I become so soft?’

‘He’s probably thinking of something terrifying, isn’t he?’ Elder Yan thought.

Mika and the Elder returned to the Alchemist’s Guild, where the Alchemists turned to face their way, before quickly bowing.

“Welcome back, Elder Yan!” they exclaimed.

“Yes, yes,” Elder Yan replied, clearing his throat. “It seems you’ve all been working well while I’ve been gone.” He glanced around, noting how few boxes were around, meaning they had managed to index everything correctly, and that they had made enough pills and elixirs that they had fewer ingredients to place aside.

“We did well thanks to your guidance, Elder,” Senior Tama, a woman in her late thirties, said. She was one of the three Seniors within the guild, those who ran affiliate shops within the town, though she could also often be found within the guild.

The other Alchemists also said the same, quickly bowing once again, all the while the Elder waved his hand dismissively. ‘I can’t accept too much praise, otherwise I might offend the Young Master.’

‘He’s probably thinking something stupid, though it’s probably correct.’

The Alchemists all stared up at their Elder, waiting for him to speak. They could see the bubbling joy on the Elder’s face, meaning it had gone well.

“You’ve all worked hard, so why don’t you all accept another month’s wages?” Elder Yan said, causing the Alchemists to cheer.

“You’re the best, Elder Yan!”

“We’ll follow you into the depths of hell!”

“How can hell exist when there’s Elder Yan?”

The Alchemists hollered excitedly for a moment, before they quietened down to act like proper alchemists.

“Is that little…” Elder Yan coughed into his hand. “Is my son still cultivating?”

“That’s right, Elder,” Senior Tama replied, before leading them to the nearby cabin in which Jon was said to have been cultivating. Of course, by cultivating they meant he was lazing about, since she didn’t sense any ki refining from within the cabin. Senior Tama quickly dismissed herself.

Elder Yan opened the door, and Mika followed him inside, both seeing Jon in the position Mika had left him. The Expert Alchemist was currently bowing with his forehead against the floor, his hands clasped behind his back. Mika looked to the Elder, who bowed his head.

Jon yelped as he was whipped across his bottom, while Mika pulled up his crop whip, ready to strike again. “Finally, you’re both back!” Jon exclaimed. “I must have fallen asleep around day four or five!”

‘When did this punk start acting all formal with me?’ Mika thought, before placing his whip to the side. “Did you contemplate your mistakes.”

“I’m sorry for not looking at the bigger picture, big brother,” Jon said.

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Mika shuddered. “Who would want someone as useless as you as a little brother?”

“Isn’t that why I’m the little brother and you’re the big brother?”

“If you can still make sense, it means you weren’t punished enough,” Mika said, rolling up his sleeves.

“Forgive me, Young Master!” Jon tensed up more, pressing his forehead harder against the floor, though he had no strength to leave his position. His entire body felt like a lump of meat.

“If you dare to try and pull a fast one on me again, I’ll make sure to beat you good,” Mika said, before sitting down at the nearby desk, making himself some tea.

Jon was pretty sure that Mika was a crippled boy, and no matter how much he dared to probe into the boy, he couldn’t feel anything special about him. ‘Can you really beat me up, Young Master?’

“Of course,” Mika replied.

‘Can you read my mind?’

Mika smiled innocently in their general direction, before he added some honey into his tea, waiting for it to cool before he sipped it.

‘That doesn’t matter,’ Jon thought. ‘If it’s you, there’s no doubt that we’ll be able to conquer this entire land. No, we could conquer this world!’ Jon’s aura was increasing, all the while he was still bowing with his forehead on the floor.

“Take a seat, Elder, Expert,” Mika said, motioning a hand to the nearby seats. It was as though this place wasn’t Jon’s personal abode, but the cripple’s own.

Jon forced his ki into his body to allow him to move, before dropping down into the seat. The ability to feel was beginning to return, and his bottom began to sting even deeper.

“We’ve brought quite a few weapons from the auction,” Mika said as the Elder revealed all the items they had brought, placing them on a blanket on the floor. “There’s a Low Mystical Grade sword which we bought for you. It requires a Middle Grade gem to activate each time, but it’ll allow you to teleport around the battlefield. The range is about fifty metres or so for each teleport.” He would have said fifty metres, but there was about a centimetre or so of deviance between each teleport. ‘I can’t believe someone would have allowed such a shoddy enchantment to leave their hands.’

“Wouldn’t this cost quite a bit?” Jon asked, taking the sword in hand. It was well made, and more than good enough for an Expert like him. He was Peak Iron, which was impressive for someone of his age, though Mika had already promised to help him reach Steel before he was thirty.

“Five hundred thousand,” Mika confirmed, nodding his head. He sipped his tea lightly, allowing Jon to think about what he had said.

‘Five hundred thousand? Didn’t you both decide to make a splash for our guild? I thought you only took five million to play with? How did you earn enough money to buy something like this, and all those other items?’

“We just auctioned a few trinkets to make the coin,” Mika said, looking to the Elder. “Of course, the deal was that I would gain one in ten elixirs, and that I would earn one tenth of the profits, didn’t I?”

“Of course, Young Master,” Elder Yan revealed a ring with the golden talons he had prepared for Mika. Mika checked the inside of the ring, which held more than five million. Of course, he had used much of the guild’s money to buy things for his family and his friends, but they were technically a part of the guild’s business, so he wrote such business off to the guild’s funds.

‘Five million isn’t so bad,’ Mika thought, before placing the ring inside his robes. “We made quite a bit of money, and the deal with the Auction House should bring in a million or so a month.”

‘A million or so a month?’ Jon thought. Last he recalled, their dealings only brought in about a hundred thousand, since the Auction House worked with the City Alchemist Guild mostly.

“You can make those elixirs for the Auction House whenever you like, as long as you also make my share.” Mika yawned, leaning back into the comfortable sofa. “A few more years and I’ll think about handing over a few recipes for Heavenly Grade pills and elixirs.”

“Ah, but Young Master, the-,” Elder Yan began, though he was quickly cut off.

“I know, I know,” Mika said, waving his hand. “Heavenly Grade ingredients are hard to find, and they are to be sold within the regional capitals. I’m not that stupid. You’re an Elder, so Heavenly Grade pills and elixirs are something you should be able to create, even if it will take you a lot of effort.” Mika sighed. “You probably haven’t created a Spirit Grade elixir or pill, have you?”

“No?”

“Right.” Mika leaned back, staring up at the ceiling. “To you, I’m sure stuff like Spirit or Divine Grade elixirs feel like they’re out of reach.” Mika sighed, thinking of his first life. He, too, had thought Divine Grade elixirs were great.

‘Aren’t they?’ Elder Yan and Jon both thought.

“When I was a boy, I was injured,” Mika began. “I met a figure that one could only call the God of Medicine. He helped me on a whim, and I took him as my one and only Master in my heart. His alchemy was more than just science, it was art. He could snap his fingers and make pills greater than Divine Grade rain from the sky.”

Elder Yan and Jon began to sweat, unsure if they should hear this. If someone was that great and powerful, then it meant that they were probably a Saint. No, were they greater than even a Saint? The mystical, legendary figures who were above even the Emperor and the Celestials? However, it did explain how the boy had survived against the wolf, and how he had such great knowledge.

‘Should I train those old techniques again?’ Mika thought. ‘Perhaps I’ll meet Master again in this life, and I’ll be able to show him the way plum blossoms bloom?’

They left Mika to reminisce, before the boy finally returned back to his home. A shadow tackled the boy. “Miki!” Ami smothered him in her affection, embracing him tight. They had never been apart for this long before, not since he had arrived in this world.

Mika smiled, allowing her to embrace him to her fill this time, still thinking of his first life. The ache of hunger, and then the true pleasure of a satisfied stomach.