Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

The chief was surprised as Alex explained the purpose of many of the herbs he gathered during their forage. Every explanation also made sense with what he knew about the herb on some level.

Even the bad ones that he was always taught to stay away from as a child were explained by Alex to show that they had a purpose. Not every herb was meant for ingesting, after all.

“Are you sure you are right about everything?” the man asked. “You aren’t making any of these up, are you?”

Alex chuckled. “I have no reason to make stuff up, do I?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you have a reason that I don’t know about. If you really are truthful, how did you come to know about all this?”

“I am a healer of sorts,” Alex said. “I know my way around herbs.”

The chief looked truly surprised at that point. Even Tara had his eyes wide open.

“There’s no way that’s true, is it?” the chief asked. “How come you are still wounded if you are a healer? You should have asked for herbs that heal you the moment you could communicate.”

Alex shook his head slightly. “My wounds can’t be healed by the herbs found here. I’m just gathering these for some other reason.”

The chief seemed a little doubtful, but he chose to trust Alex anyway. He saw no reason for Alex to lie. If he did, the chief would know when to not trust him. He just had to look out for the time when he was trying to take advantage of him, after all.

As they continued, Alex picked up more herbs that he had to explain to the two. The more he explained, the more they picked something similar as well. At that point, neither the chief nor Tara were foraging anything of their own. They were simply following Alex’s directives, picking stuff up as he showed them.

Alex realized at some point that these two men had forgotten the reason why they had come to the mountain and started getting them more herbs to be used as food.

If not, they might as well return with only ingredients that could likely not be eaten.

After an hour or two of foraging, their sacks were filled to the brim. Alex looked down at the sea and the beach, realizing just how high they had climbed in just those few hours.

And still, there was so much to go. If he were to try and go around it, it would take him that much longer.

“Are there any monsters in this mountain by any chance?” Alex asked.

“Monsters? Like beasts? None at all. There used to be, but they were either all killed off or ran away from here,” the chief explained. “The only thing you will find here are birds, insects, rodents, and the occasional snakes. Not anything dangerous at all.”

“I see. No wonder it’s so silent. How often does it rain in this place?”

“Depends, really. There are some days when the sun shines a little too brightly, so we get more rain the following days. Today seems like it might be one of those days, so it might rain tomorrow or the day after that.”

Alex looked to the sky. The sun had come up a bit into the sky, hidden somewhat behind the shimmer. He could tell where the sun was, but it was difficult to see its shape.

It did seem brighter today than yesterday.

“We should return now,” the chief said. “Need to pass this along to the girls so they can get to cooking for today.”

The three went back down the mountain, meeting some other foragers on the way, most of whom seemed to want to let the new father and son-in-law be among themselves.

Alex felt he was intruding on their time too, but they talked to him on their own, so he couldn’t stay out of it.

After they reached the house, they passed the herbs to the women, who all questioned what they had brought back.

Alex felt a little bad. “Let me help you separate the food from the rest.”

He laid down the contents on the floor and began separating. The curious Mili leaned next to him and started questioning what everything was. She had the same curiosity as her father, but not the same cautiousness. She believed every word he said.

After Alex was done separating the two, he took the non-edible stuff, some of which belonged to him, and began crunching on them.

The people around him looked horrified, watching him eat the Flaming Wolfsbane without giving it a second thought.

Alex glanced around at them. “Uhh… please don’t look at me like that,” he said, placing the half-eaten branch down. “I’ve very greatly tempered my body. These sorts of herbs won’t do anything to me. They will instead mildly help me.”

“Really?” the chief asked.

“Of course. I know what this does to a normal person. I’m not an idiot,” Alex said with a mild chuckle and continued.

“Don’t eat too much,” the chief’s wife said. “You need to keep space for food as well.”

“I won’t.”

Alex was burning the thing he ate anyway, gathering the Qi from it. Compared to the bite of food he ate, there was so much more Qi in these herbs. And still, the amount of Qi he needed to even try anything would require him to consume a room full of these.

After some thought, he gave up on it. He would instead use it to help the tribesmen later on. They would need it much more than him. It would also be a way for him to repay them for their hospitality.

The food was cooked inside the house but next to an open window where the smoke could get out. This time, there was no fish in the soup. Instead, it was to the side, all dried and salted.

It was so much tastier than the other way.

Alex finished it all and wanted more.