Chapter 460: An Encounter

(Brendan POV)

"Master Brendan, is this the herb you're looking for?"

I looked up at Liehui who was holding a Rejuvenating Grass in her hands.

I shook my head, "That's a Rejuvenating Grass, I'm looking for Mana Grass. Their leaves should be a little bit on the blue side. Try looking in the darker areas near tree roots, they grow there."

"Understood."

I turned my attention back to the ground to continue looking for the herbs I was after.

Master had recently imparted even more of His knowledge about alchemy to me, allowing me further improve myself.

Though I am still nowhere near Master's level yet, I am now at least capable of making Master's God Pills without Master's help.

Sure, it would take me several days to get the required materials and I could only make one before I passed out, but it was already a big leap forward compared to the me from before.

I even managed to comprehend Master's technique of using Quarks to substitute materials, though at this moment I am only able to substitute the simplest of materials.

To think it took me so long just to know how to substitute water which was supposed to be the element I was most familiar with... Even though Master praised me for it, I just can't help but feel a little inadequate when I see Master substituting things like dragon scales and claws.

Well, Master is a Divine Being after all, no way a mortal like myself can hope to match up with.

That's why I'm currently out here with Liehui looking for more materials for me to practice my alchemy with.

This is a forest a short distance away from Heaven Sect's entrance and directly behind Master's courtyard, quite a lot of herbs grow here because of the concentration of Quarks released by my senior sisters and Master.

The quality of the herbs here are also top class because of Master's presence, I was right in guessing these would grow near Master so I managed to find this treasure trove recently.

No doubt if any other alchemist knew about this place, they would be tripping over themselves to come here.

Liehui is still quite unfamiliar with material gathering but at least she's already learning the basics of alchemy, she's already good enough to be my assistant at least.

Unfortunately, even I could see that she wouldn't really get far in it since she doesn't really have the patience and eye for such a delicate skill.

Not really a big problem since the person herself did say she didn't really have an interest in alchemy, she's simply doing all this to help me as my servant.

I reached down and carefully plucked the Mana Grass that was growing beside a tree root, inspecting its colour to check its quality before storing it inside my storage ring.

I was going to reach for the next Mana Grass just next to the first one when I heard the sound of footsteps coming towards us.

I stood up just in time to see half a dozen or so armed men stumbling through the undergrowth, all of them looking like they lost a fight against a bear.

One of them was in especially bad shape with a missing leg that was still bleeding.

Pretty sure if that guy doesn't get any treatment soon, he'll die from blood loss.

"Godamnit! I didn't sign up for this shit!" One of them roared, collapsing onto the ground in obvious exhaustion.

"Damn it! Brother Yan, hang in there!"

"Lay him down here, let's see how bad it is!"

"Urrghhh... Pain... I... Arrggghh..."

"This is bad... He won't make it..."

"Damn it! Is there any physicians around here?!"

"In the forest in the middle of nowhere? You need to be blessed by the Heavens for such luck..."

I dusted myself and walked up to them slowly, "Greetings gentlemen."

All of them were immediately on guard, or at least, those that were still able to stand were on guard.

I raised my hands to show that I meant them no harm, "My apologies for startling you. I'm merely an alchemist that was gathering herbs in this forest and I overheard your plight. Could I ask what happened to you?"

"Hmph! How do we know if you're not here to kill us?!" One of them demanded, waving his sword at me.

Before I could answer, another one came up and pulled him back, "It's fine Luhan, it's not like we're already in deep enough shit as it is. Hello stranger, it is unfortunate that we meet under such circumstances, but we're mercenaries that were hired for a job gone wrong. We were attacked by a rogue Practitioner and that's why we're in this sorry state. I don't suppose you have any medicine for us? We can pay you."

I gestured to the dying man, "May I?"

He waved me ahead, though also showing me that his weapon was still drawn as a warning that they would cut me down if I tried to do any harm.

I nodded to show that I understood, moving towards their friend quickly with my hands slightly raised.

Giving him a quick check to see how severe it was, I realised he probably wouldn't last another hour and an ordinary healing pill would not cut it.

I materialised my pill bottle from within my storage ring, the men watching me closely as I took out the only pill that this bottle contained.

"Feed him this, it will save him,"I declared, passing the pill to who I assume to be their leader.

He looked at the pill carefully before frowning at me, "If this does not save him..."

I shrugged, "He's bleeding out and would die within the hour. I think you know just as well that if that does not heal him, he wouldn't make it anyway."

He nodded before letting his friend eat the pill.

Almost instantly, the wounds on the half-dead man were all closed up, even his leg had regrown back to normal.

Yep, that was the God Pill I had spent several days in making. I had wanted to give it to Master but He had told me it was mine to do as I wished since I had made it myself.

Of course, if I didn't have this, I would not have helped them since Master's God Pills were worth much, much more than mine.

This was also a test for its effectiveness so that I know if mine is still lacking somewhere.

"Miracle Cure?!" All of them gasped.

The leader turned to me, "How are you in possession of a Miracle Cure?!"

I frowned, "What are you talking about? What Miracle Cure? That's a God Pill. My Master was the one who created it. Though that one in particular was made by me."

"Your Master? Oh... I see... You said you made that one?"

"Yes, is there something wrong?"

"No... Not at all... This.... Hmm... I apologise. Here, the promised payment. It is unfortunate but I don't think I actually have enough to pay for the Mira... Err... God Pill."

I caught the coin pouch he threw at me, feeling the weight of several gold coins within it.

"It's alright. It would leave a bad taste in my mouth if I didn't help."

He nodded, "In that case, we would need to be going. We still need to inform our... Client... About the failed mission... Good day, stranger."

I didn't even get to respond to him before all of the men turned and left the forest, not even giving me a second look.

Odd bunch of people...

Oh well, back to herb collecting.