Alex wasn’t sure what to make of the young man next to him.

He wore a tight gray robe with deep blue lining and a bright white sash around his waist. His face was slightly pointed at the chin, with a small nose. His bright red hair was short as if cut just today, and made him look rather handsome.

But at the moment, all Alex could wonder was what the man was trying to say.

“This ingredient is bad?” Alex asked.

“Yeah, it’s not very good,” the young man said. “If you want to buy a good ingredient, but this one.”

He pointed to a small pulp of some sort of citrus fruit.

Alex looked at the pulp for a full second before turning back toward the young man. “Why would I want to buy that pulp when I’m trying to buy the flower?” he asked.

“Oh… because it is better?” the young man asked.

Alex was confused for a second. Was this man joking? Was he playing a prank on him by saying the most absurd thing he can think of?

The man was clearly an Immortal, even a bit stronger than him.

“What’s the point of buying what I don’t want and ignoring what I want?” Alex asked. “If you are trying to anger me, then you have succeeded.”

“Huh?” the young man gave a surprised look. “Wait, no. I wasn’t— that’s not why i—”

The young man suddenly looked flustered. “My apologies. I was just trying to help.”

“By telling me not to buy what I was trying to buy?” Alex asked.

“No, I just thought you were trying to buy whatever you got your eyes on,” the young man quickly said. “I just assumed that you were buying what you laid your eyes on. I had no intention of telling you to buy something else if that was what you had planned on from the start.”

Alex frowned. “Why would I ask to buy that if I didn’t plan for it?” he asked.

“I’m sorry, okay? I was wrong. You didn’t say the name, so I didn’t know that was what you wanted. I was just trying to help. I promise.”

Hearing the man apologize that hard, Alex couldn’t find the heart to remain angry with him. “If it was a genuine mistake, then that’s fine. Please let me purchase my ingredients so I can be on my way.”

“Wait,” the young man said quickly. “But I wasn’t lying. That ingredient does have less energy. You shouldn’t buy it since you won’t be able to do much with it.”

Alex looked at the man with a frown on his face. “How do you know that ingredient is low in quality?” Alex asked. “Do you perhaps work in this shop?”

“No, no. I’m no worker. Just a guest,” he said. “But I can tell you that ingredient isn’t of that good a quality. If you want good quality ingredients, I can help you with it.”

“How can you tell it is low though?” Alex asked. He looked back at the ingredients. There was nothing there to tell him it was a low-quality ingredient.

“Trust me, I can,” the young man said.

“And why should I trust you?” Alex asked.

“Well because… well… I suppose there’s no reason,” the man said, giving an awkward smile. “But do trust me.” The young man quickly turned toward the woman who worked behind the counter.

“Sister, is that a good quality ingredient or not? Tell him,” the young man said.

The woman nodded. “It is average in quality,” the woman said.

“See? It’s not high quality,” the young man turned back toward Alex. “I told you.”

“Okay…” Alex said. “So?” “So…” the young man paused. “Well, I’ve told you what I needed to tell you, so you can make the decision now, I suppose.”

The woman behind the counter chuckled a little. “Fellow Daoist, you do realize that we can improve the quality of an ingredient if that is what is desired, do you not?” she asked. “You can purchase a low-quality ingredient and then ask for it to be improved.”

The young man paused and turned toward the woman. “Wait… what?”

The woman nodded and explained the system. It was a similar system to what the Silkstone Alchemy Store back in the Myriad Spirit realm used. The young man seemed to have not heard of such a thing before, so when he finally heard of it, he was more than flabbergasted. His eyes went wide in disbelief.

“Such… a thing exists?” he asked.

“Were you not aware?” the woman asked.

The young man could only shake his head. “I… always refused to buy ingredients that were low in quality. Are you telling me I could’ve improved it all this time?” he asked.

“Depends on the store. Not all stores give this opportunity,” the woman said.

The young man couldn’t help but give an awkward smile toward both the woman and Alex. “It seems I intervened for no reason,” he said and gave a small bow. “My apologies. My ignorance wasted both of your time.”

“It’s alright,” Alex said, feeling a little weird about the man’s actions. Had he really just wanted to help in the end? “Haha, I only recently started learning Alchemy, so I still have a lot to learn. A lot to…” the young man’s voice trailed slowly as his eyes widened.

“Oh no! I was supposed to bring back an ingredient,” the young man said, quickly turning toward the woman. “Sister, do you know what a Winter Cedar bark is? Is it one of these here?”

“Winter Cedar Bark? Let me take a look,” the woman said, taking out a talisman to check.

“There,” Alex pointed to the end of the shelf, pointing to the slightly frosted bark. “That’s the one.”

“Oh! Nice, you saved me, brother,” the young man said and walked up to it. He looked at the bark and frowned a little. He mumbled something under his breath that Alex failed to catch most of except the number 74. “Yeah, this should do,” the young man said. “I would like to take this please.”

“Okay,” the woman said and took out the bark. “She handed it over to the young man.”

The young man paused. “How much does it cost to get it improved again?” he asked.

“It’s free for our guests,” she smiled.

“Oh! I should’ve been doing that all this time,” he said, but then paused. “How long would it take?”

“About 20 to 30 minutes.”

“Oh… I don’t have that time,” he said. “I should be leaving now. Please put this on my master’s tab.”

“Will do,” the woman said with a smile.

The young man turned toward Alex. “I will take my leave, brother. Please forgive me for wasting your time.”

He turned around and walked to the back of the house. Only then did Alex realize that the young man was a guest of the Firestar Alchemy store, just like he was.

‘He said master,’ Alex thought as a possibility surfaced in his mind. Could it be?

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The chances were there, but Alex wouldn’t know until he saw the two together. For now, he had nothing to think about.

He turned back toward the woman and forgot about the young man for now, continuing his purchase.