Chapter 155: Chapter 153 - Prices To Be Paid
At the entrance of the villa, Alchemist Ma Xiaohua stared at Ao Wen, her eye wide in shock. She and the young Soldier that Ao Wen had sent with a list of ingredients had arrived just in time to witness Ao Wen's savage 'diagnosis' of Chou Chai's cultivation incompatibility. She couldn't be sure of the diagnosis without a physical examination of the defeated brawler but the logic Ao Wen expressed was sound.
From her own experience when she visited White Sails Holy City, problems like the one Chou Chai was suffering from were less common in the sects of the mainland where trained Elders or even Recruitment Wardens could identify cultivation manuals that would be compatible with a disciple's bloodline. Smaller sects frequently rejected initiates who didn't match well with the cultivation methods practiced by the sect. Only the medium and large sects of the mainland offered enough cultivation methods to scout for pure talent regardless of bloodline. Here on the peninsula however, cultivators like Chou Chai were left to struggle on their own, often bartering for a cultivation manual or attempting to inherit a method from the family of one of their parents.
What truly shocked Alchemist Ma, however, aside from Ao Wen's dominating saber style, was the notion the young man presented to Chou Chai that he should regress his cultivation to start over. Cultivation regression for an injury was relatively common and something the young man himself seemed to suffer from if his words that he had been a middle-stage Novice were to be believed. But to regress cultivation as a form of treatment was something Ma Xiaohua had never heard of!
"I'm willing," Chou Chai said, surprising many of those who had watched the mock duel. "Right now, all I have is pain and hopelessness. I'm sure there's another option too, isn't there? I could choose to embrace my cultivation manual, find a way to give myself over to the fury it demands, and become the kind of person who can harvest the power of the manual I chose."
"You could," Ao Wen agreed. "But you don't seem like you want to."
"Would I still be myself if I embraced the fury of my manual?" Chou Chai asked rhetorically. "I don't think I would. What kind of husband would I be to my gentle wife if I embraced the fury? What kind of father would I be to my daughter? I've known men, drunk on power and muddled by the blood of the arena, who beat their wives and lord over their children. I have my pride. I will rise above the challenges and find a new way. Alchemy Novice Ao, for the instruction you've given me today alone, I stand in your debt. Whatever the price of your treatment, I'll pay it."
"You all told me what you could afford when you came here," Ao Wen said. "The price for your treatment will be as high as you imagine it would be, but next to losing your cultivation, it's far from the most painful part."
"What Alchemy Novice Ao says is true," the proud gladiator said. "But I have built a path forward once. Now that I know what caused my cultivation to go awry, I can avoid that particular trap as I search for a better manual. I wonder though," he said, furrowing his brows in thought. "If I manage to find a manual, since Alchemy Novice Ao is also a martial cultivator, would you be able to assess it for me to see if it's compatible with my bloodline?"
"I might be able to do more than that," Ao Wen said, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "I wonder how you'd feel about picking up a weapon other than axes? My Obsidian Night Saber Art isn't suited to you at all," she said, preempting the notion that she intended to share her own cultivation method. "But I have several other saber arts in my library which might be suitable to you."
"Sabers and axes are fairly different weapons," Chou Chai said, scratching his head as he considered the offer. "But when you get right down to it, sabers are as much about cleaving and crushing as axes are. It's the weight distribution and the advanced handling where things diverge."
"You're right about that," Ao Wen said with a nod of agreement. "My saber instructor used to say that all arts contained a 'common root' of techniques, stances, cuts, blocks and everything else. It's only after the foundation is laid down that the palace sitting atop it can be built. Fortunately, your palace has only been framed around the first level, there isn't much to discard to rebuild differently on the foundation you already possess. I think you'll make the transition easily enough if you're motivated to."
"You won't find me lacking in motivation," he replied with a brilliant, toothy grin. "If the path that's meant for me is a challenging one, I'll walk it nonetheless," he promised. "Do you have a particular manual in your collection in mind for me?"
"Let's get you through treatment first, then we can discuss cultivation after you've recovered. Now, I can't help but notice that we have more company. Alchemist Ma, is there something I can do for you? Was there a problem with the herbs I sent Soldier Tang Jin to purchase?" Ao Wen asked, staring intently at the other alchemist.
"It's not that there's a problem. I have them all right here," Ma Xiaohua said, slightly startled when attention shifted to her. "I hoped, however, that you might be willing to barter for them instead of buying them outright."
"You know my circumstances," Ao Wen said, frowning at Ma Xiaohua. It was extremely unsightly to discuss the price of the ingredients she needed in front of the people she'd be charging for services. Alchemists would no more tell their customers how much they paid for a rare herb than a Chef would tell his patrons how much he paid for rice. You went to the Chef for a completed meal and you paid for it. You went to an Alchemist for treatment and did the same. "If you wish to haggle, you can come inside and discuss it with me in private," she said firmly.
"Of course, of course," Ma Xiaohua said, relieved that Ao Wen hadn't rejected her outright. She was the one who proposed sending men to Ao Wen for treatment so she could observe the other alchemist's skills and report back on them. If Ao Wen wouldn't barter with her for the chance to watch her perform treatment, Lord White wouldn't be so forgiving as to let her keep all of her limbs intact!
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
JustJae
JustJae Thank you everyone for all the support! If you’re enjoying this, please check out my other work ‘Unparalleled Artist Unlikely Hero’, set thousands of years earlier in the same world and following Wu Ling the disciple of one of Ao Wen’s previous incarnations!
Official Discord: https://discord.gg/UawYStJHWM
Schedule:
2 chapters daily
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone