Chapter 67: Chapter 65 Gathered Ingredients

“That’s everything.” Jonny handed the spatial ring over while looking around skittishly.

Marina ignored his obvious discomfort and took her time looking through each item before transferring them to her own ring. It was more a display of dominance than anything else, as she’d be doing her real checks later, and could do a preliminary sweep much faster using her spirit sense.

Jonny grit his teeth in irritation and resist the urge to dive behind something every time someone passed.

Maria nodded as she finished. “Good work. I’m happy to see you didn’t try anything stupid.” She passed the now empty ring back to him.

“Of course not Ma-am, I wouldn’t dream of it. May I leave now?” He spoke humbly despite his haste, understanding he was more expendable now that the task is finished.

“In a moment. Take this.” She handed him a notebook.

Jonny’s heart sank as he took the book. He’d resigned himself that he couldn’t break off this relationship on his terms, but he didn’t think she’d have another task for him before school started.  

“This is some intel on your biggest competition in the exams. It’s your reward.” She explained. It held far less information than what she’d given Tai, but it still held useful knowledge.

“Thank you dearly Ma-am!” He bowed deeply while clutching onto the book as if scared she’d take it back. He was a conduit and wouldn’t partake in the practical exams in a conventional sense, however this info would help him pick out who he’d like to support. This special testing method was a privilege the conduits of the Norn Family enjoyed.

Marina nodded and then left without another word. Jonny raised his head and glanced at her before leaving, all signs of gratitude gone from his eyes. He wasn’t a fool, he knew she gave him this to ensure he’d pass and she could continue using him.

Even so, there was too much at stake. He’d play the good boy until he found a way to get rid of her, preferably permanently.

 

Marina didn’t hesitate to use most of the money Jonny returned to her to buy alchemical testing supplies. She spent hours in her room testing everything she received for any defects or tampering. She finally relaxed after the last item came out clean.

It may seem excessive, but she really couldn’t be too careful considering Jonny’s old habits. She’d rather not use someone so untrustworthy, but what she planned to make was one of the most expensive Grade Two potions and would’ve cost ten times what she spent without the Norn Family discount. She couldn’t be sure the Vault Family would spend so much on her without giving something substantial in return.

‘With this I can finally fix it.’ Marina felt the closest thing she could to happiness at the thought. Marina lost many things when she abandoned her cultivation, including her Physiques.

Thankfully they were only broken and not gone. While this left them inaccessible to her, physiques were usually easier to repair than to build anew. She just needed to brew one of the hardest Grade Two potions in existence while at the Refining Realm. How hard could that be?

Marina quickly got Elder Iori to set up a workshop for her since Ellen was still avoided her.

‘It’s a good thing. If it bothered her so much, then she’s thinking seriously about it. She’ll make the right decision in time.’ She told herself.

Raul would sneer if he saw Elder Iora’s ingratiating smile and polite demeanor as she went about settling Marina’s request. Unfortunately, the news wasn’t good.

The prices of work rooms in River Haven City were currently through the roof due to the oversaturation of cultivators for the exams. Marina couldn’t help cursing her short-sightedness when she heard that. She didn’t have much cash left and needed to keep cost in mind when acting.

You are reading story Keeper of the Sky at novel35.com

Thankfully Iori had the idea to have one of the hotel’s recreation rooms repurposed with the tools Marina needed. It wasn’t ideal, particularly the sound proofing, but it would work. The only people who needed consistent sleep were the staff anyway, and the chosen room lay thoughtfully far from their resting area.

With everything ready she could finally start. The end goal was merely one solution, but she’d have to process all the ingredients before she could make it. It would truly be a test of her alchemical skills, and the first challenge to her Professions in almost a year.

Cooking for Raul was strenuous because of the realm difference, but as someone who has cooked Grade Three meals in the Spirit Ascension Realm, it wasn’t actually difficult, just exhausting.

The formation she made to fuse Raul’s blood and marrow with the Seed was complicated and had high stakes, but it was inherently designed with Refining Realm cultivators in mind and wasn’t fundamentally challenging. Well, at least not to Marina.

This concoction was different. Though it only ranked at Grade Two, the techniques necessary were trickier than most Grade Three alchemical works. Even in her prime she may not be able to complete this work, it was only thanks to her current Qi Cultivation Method being much more suitable to professions than her old one that she even bothered attempting it. 

There were risks in doing it herself, but she had her reasons. Of course she had her reasons. While she respected Raul’s attitude to challenge the odds to better himself, she would never engage in such idiocy. The end results were all that mattered, to risk a sure thing just to test your skills was the height of folly, that’s why she naturally had her reasons for this choice.

Marina eyes danced with a feverish passion as she prepared her tools for the difficult work. The next two days would be a grueling task of alchemy without rest, just constant mixing of pills and concoctions. That would’ve been ideal, but her reality wasn’t so sweet.

Her body simply couldn’t sustain such an intense work schedule, and she didn’t trust anyone enough to outsource such important work to. Raul would often come and interrupt her too, making a point of dragging her to eat under the guise of question and answering sessions.

Ellen also started checking up on her after a couple days too. Neither of them brought up the topic of enrollment again. Marina already used her strongest card and knew saying anything else would be a waste of breath. She could only hope Ellen chose smartly.

With her state and all the interruptions, it took five days to finish processing the raw materials into what she needed. Now she only needed to make the final concoction.

“And you promise you’re not going to get hurt this time?” Ellen asked worriedly for the fourth time.

“Like I said before, I’d have to do a thousand things wrong to get this solution to explode.” Marina answered in irritation.

Ellen shrugged her shoulders. “You can’t blame me for asking, you have a history of accidents.”

‘That was deliberate.’ Marina refrained from saying. Though she knew the Vault’s Formation Masters already concluded it, provided they weren’t idiots of course, she didn’t want to deal with the question of ‘why’ that would inevitably occur if she were to confirm it herself.

Marina had to resist strangling her as Ellen asked the question a fifth time while they walked to her makeshift workshop. She’d informed them that she couldn’t be disturbed for a couple days or it might affect her work, causing Ellen to smother her in concern.

‘At least he’s taking it well.’ She glanced at Raul who also followed her to the workshop. He’d asked the same question as Ellen, but accepted the answer after being told once. His uncharacteristic silence gave her a different kind of unease though.

“Good luck Marina.” Raul finally spoke as they reached the door