Chapter 9: The Whole City in an Uproar

When he reached the courtyard, Pace Zorn called to the wet nurse, who was hanging laundry on the line. "Wet nurse, could you do me a favor and invite Guard Captain Easton Casson to see me?" Easton Casson served as the Guard Captain of the Estate Guard at Juggins Mansion. He was born and raised in the household, loyal and dependable, with cultivation at the Late Meridian Opening Realm. His strength was nothing to scoff at. If Pace wanted to go out and buy medicinal herbs, he needed more than muscle to carry things. He also needed guards to deter troublemakers, in case some blind fool decided to rob a child of his money. The wet nurse answered at once, set the laundry aside, and left the courtyard to fetch him. Not long after, a middle-aged man in his thirties, dressed in the Juggins Mansion guard uniform, walked in with the wet nurse and stopped before Pace. "Little Young Master," Easton Casson asked with a respectful bow, "what are your orders?" He did not slight Pace for being young, or for being only a Little Young Master by relation. If anything, he considered the boy important. "I'm going to purchase a batch of medicinal herbs," Pace said. "They're valuable. Send two guards with me." "As you command." Easton Casson agreed without hesitation. Half an hour later, Pace and the wet nurse rode out in a carriage. Easton Casson not only assigned two guards to accompany them, he also followed on horseback himself, personally seeing to their safety. The trip to buy alchemy ingredients went smoothly, and not smoothly at all. Smoothly, because Pace found everything he needed with little effort. Not smoothly, because the ingredients were outrageously expensive, expensive enough to make his tongue click in disbelief. He had planned to buy materials for one Hundred Herbs Elixir and one Energy-Blood Elixir. In the end, three hundred taels of patterned silver only covered a single set of Hundred Herbs Elixir ingredients, and the quality of the herbs was poor on top of that. After returning to Juggins Mansion, Pace had the accompanying guards carry the herbs into the Alchemy Chamber. He immediately began refining. The wet nurse and Easton Casson did not dare leave. They watched him like hawks, worried something might go wrong. Alchemy was dangerous by nature. Worse still, Pace was only one year old. The two accompanying guards stayed as well, lingering outside the door, peering in with open curiosity. Alchemy was a lofty craft, after all. Even though it was Pace's first time, his movements were practiced and steady, each step flowing into the next without the slightest hesitation. Easton Casson and the two guards stared in shock. In their hearts, they could only marvel. A Child Prodigy really was a Child Prodigy. It looked as if he had refined Spirit Elixirs for years. About an hour later, wisps of pill fragrance began to seep from the Alchemy Furnace. It was a rich, verdant scent, like crushed herbs and fresh leaves. One breath left the mind clear and the spirit lifted. Easton Casson knew that aroma. His heart lurched with disbelief. *Could the Little Young Master be refining the Hundred Herbs Elixir?!* *The Hundred Herbs Elixir is a Low Grade Spirit Elixir. Only a true alchemist can make it!* *And this is his first time refining!!!!* After another short while, Pace opened the furnace and collected the pills. He obtained eight Hundred Herbs Elixirs in total. From a single batch, ten pills was the upper limit. Six was the usual yield. If the refinement failed, the ingredients were ruined and nothing remained. The risk of alchemy was high. As Pace poured the Hundred Herbs Elixirs into a Small Jade Bottle, he thought, *It's not that my technique is lacking. The ingredients were just too poor.* When Pace finished storing them away, Easton Casson finally snapped out of his daze and could not help asking, "Little Young Master… the Spirit Elixir you refined, was it the Hundred Herbs Elixir?" The wet nurse and the two guards came back to themselves as well, ears straining for the answer. "It was the Hundred Herbs Elixir." Pace nodded slightly. "Little Young Master, you're… you're divine!" Easton Casson cried, trembling with excitement and worship. He looked ready to kneel on the spot. The wet nurse and the two guards were even more shaken. Pace had actually refined the famous, extremely expensive Hundred Herbs Elixir! Pace smiled and gently shook his head. Then he asked Easton Casson, "Since you recognize it, tell me. How much does one Hundred Herbs Elixir sell for?" "At minimum, one hundred taels of patterned silver per pill," Easton Casson answered immediately. "Good quality goes for more." Pace tipped one Hundred Herbs Elixir from the bottle and held it out. "Take a look for me. What grade is it, and what is it worth?" The same Spirit Elixir could be divided by quality into four tiers: inferior, common, superior, and premium, meaning flawless perfection. The better the grade, the fuller the medicinal power, the fewer the impurities, and the lighter the side effects. Naturally, the price rose with it. Generally speaking, inferior sold for twenty percent less than common. Superior sold for fifty percent more than common. Premium sold for three times the price of common. Easton Casson bent at the waist and accepted the pill with both hands, then examined it with great care. While he appraised it, Pace calculated silently. *I spent three hundred taels on ingredients. Eight Hundred Herbs Elixirs are worth at least eight hundred taels. That's five hundred taels profit.* Alchemy really was easy money. Easton Casson's voice came a moment later, thick with shame. "Little Young Master, I'm deeply embarrassed. I can't tell what grade this Hundred Herbs Elixir is. I've only ever taken inferior ones." Then he added quickly, "But… I can feel it. Your Hundred Herbs Elixir is extremely good. It's very likely superior, maybe even premium!" "Is that so?" Pace gave a small nod. "Then this one is yours." "Ah?" Easton Casson thought he had misheard. This was the Hundred Herbs Elixir. Even the cheapest inferior one cost a hundred taels of patterned silver. A pill that might be superior was worth at least one hundred eighty taels or more! One hundred eighty taels! Pace smiled. "What are you 'ah'-ing for? If you don't want it, give it back." Easton Casson clutched the pill as if it might vanish, then dropped to his knees with a thud. "Thank you for the reward, Little Young Master!" "No need to get so worked up. Get up." Pace shook his head, still smiling. Then he poured out another Hundred Herbs Elixir and offered it to the wet nurse. "Wet nurse, you get one too." The wet nurse was so delighted she nearly knelt as well, but Pace caught her and would not allow it. "It's only one Hundred Herbs Elixir. You're my wet nurse." "Thank you for the reward, young master," she said, tears spilling as emotion overtook her. Seeing Easton Casson and the wet nurse each receive a Hundred Herbs Elixir, the two guards stared at Pace with longing, clearly hoping for the same. Unfortunately, Pace was not a child who threw money around. He would not hand out rewards at random. The two guards had merely escorted him on a shopping trip. They were not worth a Hundred Herbs Elixir, and there was no need to curry favor with them. Besides, rewards had to be given by rank. If everyone got one, it was the same as giving none at all. "All right. You can go," Pace said. Easton Casson bowed. "Yes." He turned and led the two guards away. The guards were disappointed, but they did not dare ask for a reward. They understood they had not truly contributed anything. "Tonight, I'll treat you two to drinks at Apricot Tower," Easton Casson whispered. The two guards brightened at once. "How could we let Brother Easton spend like that?" Apricot Tower was a famous restaurant. A single meal and drink there cost at least twenty or thirty taels of silver. Easton Casson laughed heartily. "Spending? Don't be ridiculous. This is me rewarding you on behalf of the Little Young Master." Pace had needed him today to buy alchemy ingredients, and he would likely need him again whenever he went out. Even if he did not receive a Hundred Herbs Elixir every time, with enough trips, rewards would come again sooner or later. In less than an hour, news that Pace had refined the Hundred Herbs Elixir spread through all of Juggins Mansion. Everyone who heard it assumed it was nonsense, rumors exaggerating Pace into something mythical. To refine the Hundred Herbs Elixir meant one was a true alchemist. Countless Alchemy Apprentices refined pills their whole lives until their hair turned white, yet still could not produce a single batch of Hundred Herbs Elixir. So no one believed that somebody could refine it the moment they started learning, much less a one-year-old child who, in any other household, would not even be weaned. Not until the news reached Wade Juggins. Already stunned, Wade immediately went to Pace to confirm it. When he did, he could not stop himself from bursting into wild laughter that seemed to shake the rafters. It was a gift from the heavens. He had never imagined Pace could refine Spirit Elixirs at all, let alone learn alchemy so quickly. He was also baffled. He had clearly given the formula for Hundred Herbs Liquid, so how had Pace produced the higher-grade Hundred Herbs Elixir instead? This precious grandson of his was far too good at delivering surprises. Once it was confirmed that Pace truly had refined the Hundred Herbs Elixir, everyone in Juggins Mansion was so shocked their mouths hung open, and they could not close them for a long time. Lilith and Flora both went to Pace personally to see the Hundred Herbs Elixir he had refined with their own eyes. "Pace, you're truly brilliant," the two aunts sighed in awe. "You learn anything at a glance, and you learn it well." Their expectations for his future soared. That evening, Luna Juggins returned home earlier than she ever had before. The moment she saw Pace, she asked impatiently, "Pace, did you really refine the Hundred Herbs Elixir?" "Mother, this is the first Spirit Elixir I ever refined," Pace said. He took out the Small Jade Bottle holding the Hundred Herbs Elixir and offered it to her. "It's for you." Luna accepted it, moved beyond words. She pulled the stopper and poured out a pill, examining it carefully. The herbal fragrance filled her nose. One breath swept away the exhaustion of an entire day's labor. "It really is the Hundred Herbs Elixir. And the quality is superior!" Luna's eyes shone with joy. She scooped Pace up, pressed a kiss to his soft, fair cheek, and said, "Mother is so happy." Of course, it was not because she had gained half a bottle of Hundred Herbs Elixir. She was happy because Pace had become an alchemist, and he had done it with ease. After she set him down, Luna kept only one pill and returned the rest to him. That night, elders such as uncle and others came one after another to congratulate Pace and Luna. After only one night, the news spread beyond Juggins Mansion. In just two days, it swept through White Emperor City's alchemy circles, shocking every alchemist and every Alchemy Apprentice. Those alchemists who had once refused Pace learned of it and could only regret it in secret. They had missed a once-in-a-lifetime disciple. They had missed a future pillar of support. In only three days, the story had reached every street and alley in White Emperor City. The whole city erupted, and it became the topic of conversation over countless cups of tea and meals. Some did not believe it. Some believed it completely. Some hovered in between. No matter how they argued, Pace was already famous in White Emperor City, hailed as a Child Prodigy. The news also reached the Southern Marquisate. Parker Zorn was not at the Southern Marquisate, so it did not reach his ears. The matriarch of the Southern Marquisate kept the same attitude as before. She snorted with deep disdain. "The Juggins family still won't give up. They're putting on a show again, building momentum for that bastard, trying to force Parker to bring that mother and son back to the Marquis Mansion. Not a chance!" After Gemma Scurr soothed her two-month-old son to sleep, she heard Delia report the news that Pace had refined the Hundred Herbs Elixir. A faint worry crept between her brows. Seeing her lady, pure as a snow lotus, wear such concern, Delia's heart ached. She lowered her voice. "Miss, should we…" As she spoke, murderous intent flickered in her eyes. Gemma considered briefly, then shook her head. "Not yet. We'll watch for the moment." "Miss, you're too kind," Delia sighed helplessly. "That wretch should never have been allowed to exist in this world."