Chapter 142 - Lantern City’s Head Alchemist

For Ao Wen, the day started in the small hours of the morning as the first rays of sunlight made their way reluctantly through the thick morning fog to reach the valley floor of the Darkwood Valley and Lantern City. Ever since living as Jun Biyu, Ao Wen had lost her ability to sleep in much beyond first light. For Jun Biyu, it had been important to conduct heavy training before the sun's heat intensified, turning the training camp into a brick oven. For Cong Daiyu, sleeping late meant making patients wait or putting off an extra hour of study that Ao Wen didn't feel like she could allow herself. 

Now, the habit of rising early stayed with her, even though neither reason remained. Slipping out of bed early was even more difficult when doing so meant moving away from the comforting warmth of Feng Xi. Looking at the soft morning light illuminating her love's gentle curves and the long sculpted leg that refused to stay under the blanket no matter how cold the night may get, Ao Wen couldn't help but smile. While they were staying at the Lapis Lantern she might not have a reason to wake early but once they found a home of their own to spend the winter in, she promised herself that she would cook for her love and their close friends. Doing something nice for everyone was plenty of reason to get up early in the morning. 

For now, she dressed quickly in dark breeches and a loose black tunic before grabbing Serpent Slayer and slipping out of the room without waking Feng Xi. Lantern City's complex terrain and many winding stairways would provide a perfect environment to train her movement skills and to explore her way forward in her martial cultivation. Thus far, Ao Wen had been able to rely on her Earth Dragon bloodline to create affinity with the Obsidian Night Scorpion Saber Art but taking the next step to become a Soldier would require her to open a door to darkness and the night. Hidden Night Steps, like her Wind Walking Flame Steps was a movement technique that opened a tremendous amount of tactical flexibility. In the case of Wind Walking Flame Steps, it gave her the ability to leave the ground behind as long as she didn't try to walk too far above it and to dance gracefully through the air over any obstacles that would impede her. Hidden Night Steps, on the other hand, would allow her to meld with the darkness of the night or even deep shadows in order to strike from concealment. It was an ability that made the hunters of the Jun clan feared across the high desert and beyond, but it was one that seemed impossible for Ao Wen to reach without some insight into darkness or the night. 

She'd selected Lantern City and the Darkwood Forest in the hopes of finding that insight but until then she could still work on the physical motions of the steps themselves, paying careful attention to the amount of noise she made as she ran through winding stairways of the city, taking her morning exercise and working up a healthy sweat before returning to Lapis Lantern to wash up and join the others for breakfast. 

After some discussion, Ao Wen left alone to visit the local representative of the Alchemy Consortium while Feng Xi went with the others to search for a more appropriate place to stay for the winter. When Ao Wen arrived at the address she'd been given, she couldn't help but whistle at the impressive building. Unlike any other shop she'd seen, this building had been all but surrounded by an expensive glass enclosure. Dozens of lanterns hung from the frame of the glass structure, each casting warm light on row upon row of potted herbs, rare flowers and even a few stunted fruit trees. Stepping inside, Ao Wen was struck by a wave of heat and humidity that made it feel more like a warm summer day after a rainstorm than a chill autumn morning. 

Ahead of her, a young boy of thirteen or fourteen years of age sat on a simple stool next to the stout wooden door that led to the shop itself, but Ao Wen was in no hurry to step inside just yet. "Excuse me," she called out, her voice jolting the young boy awake. "Is it allowed for customers to browse the herb garden? I won't touch anything but I'm interested in seeing thing things growing here." 

"Are you an alchemist?" the young boy asked with a slightly surly turn to his lips. "Some of these plants are dangerous, you know. Master won't let anyone who isn't an alchemist browse her garden."

"I'm an Alchemy Novice," Ao Wen said simply. "I can tell that your Master isn't afraid of dangerous things, that looks like Indigo Plumeria growing in the corner over there and not far from it, Bird of Paradise Lost. Neither of those are easy to nurture in a climate like this. I promise to be careful so you don't need to worry."

"Oh, you're a Novice. I'm Hu Fan, Alchemy Initiate," he said, puffing his chest out with pride. "You can look around, I just need to see your Alchemy badge and I can tell Master that you're here." 

"I don't have an Alchemy badge with me," Ao Wen said in exasperation. "I took my exams in a large sect on the mainland. I'm just visiting here."

Before Initiate Hu could respond, the heavy wooden door opened to reveal a waif of a woman dressed in azure blue robes with her hair tied up in an intricate flying immortal style. While none would call her a beauty, many would agree that she was pretty though Ao Wen was certain that most who saw her would turn away once they glimpsed the eyepatch covering the woman's left eye. 

"You must be Alchemy Novice Ao," the woman said with a welcoming smile. "I've been expecting your visit. Little Fan, why don't you run inside and prepare tea for us, I'll show Novice Ao around the garden."

"Oh, yes Master," Hu Fan said, giving a deep bow before heading inside the shop. 

"You were expecting me?" Ao Wen asked, dropping her hand to the hilt of Serpent Slayer. Was the Alchemy Consortium already making a move, as soon as she arrived? 

"Of course I was expecting you," the alchemist said as she walked down a row of potted herbs and gestured for Ao Wen to follow her. "Lantern City may not be much larger than Turning Leaf, but even with nearly two thousand cultivators in town, it's still a fairly small community. One of my regular customers is a young lady at the Lapis Lantern who visits the morning after she's finished her 'work' to ensure she avoids complications. She mentioned that a young Alchemy Novice would be staying in Lantern City for the winter and planned to pay me a visit." 

"I see," Ao Wen said, relaxing slightly. She didn't bother to ask which young woman from the Lapis Lantern had visited, there were enough who were present last night that it could have been anyone and it wasn't like anything she'd said last night was intended to be a secret. "I hope they didn't say anything that would give you concerns about my intentions here. I'm not happy with how things developed between myself and Alchemist Wai Dan in Turning Leaf and I'd like to prevent any misunderstandings."

"Tell me something Novice Ao," the one eyed alchemist said, pausing at a purple flowering plant that was covered by a small glass dome. "What do you think of the Malevolent Violet?"

"I think it's a misunderstood ingredient," Ao Wen said, stepping up next to the older woman and taking a close look at the specimen under the glass dome. "Most people know that it can be deadly to mortals and low level cultivators if it's consumed in a raw or mildly processed form. What people don't seem to know is that the purple flowers are the least important part of the plant. The real value of a Malevolent Violet is its leaves. Once properly refined, when combined with a paste of Silverleaf Walnuts and common ewe's milk, they can create a powerful tonic that prevents the body from absorbing toxins for several hours. Poison and medicine often come hand in hand and the Malevolent Violet exemplifies this." Ao Wen explained in much the same way that she'd have answered her Senior Brother Huang Yuze during her life as Cong Daiyu. 

"Indeed, poison and medicine can be quite close to each other, in herbs and in life," the one eyed alchemist said with a nod. "Come, let's discuss matters over tea. I'm sure we'll have a great deal to talk about."