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nWith such a clear night, the group had no worries about any snowstorm to fight through this time around.

nSo, when they did reach the city, they didn’t even realize they were here because of the nonexistent barrier this time around.

nThe 5 of them entered and they immediately went to the general store. Alex asked to leave once more and left for a place where pills were made.

nHe was a little confused about something and wanted to check it out. Just earlier this evening, the conflict with Sha Yuan had required him to bring out a Truth Seeking pill.

nThat was a simple matter for him, but the elder there had said it cost a hundred True Spirit stones or so.

nPills shouldn’t cost that much. Even his pills of Immortal grade would only read hundreds of True Spirit stones in the auctions.

nThere was no way these pills were of Immortal grade. When someone mentioned anything about pills, they would usually compare the price on an average level.

nAn average pill was considered to be around 40% in harmony. Which meant a pill of 40% harmony cost 100 or more spirit stones here. That was absurd.

nAlex had a general idea of why that might be, but he still wanted to find out if his hypothesis was true, so he arrived at a place that wasn’t different from the Alchemy guild.

nThe previous time when he was here, Alex had gone to a pill store, but the price there wasn’t written, so he didn’t know how much they cost. However, those should cost quite a lot because the ingredient there belonged to the alchemists or rather the sects themselves.

nHowever, in a location like this, where he would be the one to provide the ingredients, he wanted to see how much they would ask of him.

n“Hello, I wanted to have a pill made and wanted to know how much it would cost,” Alex said to the clerk.

n“Yes, what pill… do you need making?” she asked, a little surprised by Alex’s mask, but she caught herself before she let herself slip.

n“A Truth seeking pill at 50% harmony,” Alex said.

nThe woman paused. “50%? A Heaven-grade pill? I’m sorry, customer, but we have no alchemists that can make such a high-quality pill,” she said.

n“What? You don’t even have alchemists to make a 50% pill?” he asked.

n“I’m sorry,” she said.

nAlex frowned, but then he did remember this place was quite far in the north, so there may be other better ones in other cities.

n“You can buy some in the pill stores maybe,” the woman said.

n“Yes,” Alex nodded absentmindedly. “If I may ask, how much would the pill cost to make? Given that I provide the ingredients of course.”

n“If we did have alchemists that made the pill, a 50% Truth Seeking pill would cost about… 140 True spirit stones,” she said.

n“What the… that’s so expensive,” Alex couldn’t help but cry out.

n“My apologies, but that’s just how it is,” she said.

n“Is there a reason?” Alex asked. “Is it because of the Heaven’s Frost sect?”

nThe woman’s face twisted as she thought of the words to speak. “Kind of. Definitely in an indirect way,” she said.

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n“Can you explain some more?” Alex urged her.

n“The sect warns people against being Alchemists, and only says they can be one after joining their sect. But joining an ancient sect is not an easy matter.”

n“Even if one joins them, becoming a good alchemist itself isn’t easy, so they stop,” the clerk said. “In the end, there are neither too many alchemists in the sect, nor out of it, and overall, due to the scarcity of the alchemists, the price goes up,” she said.

nAlex sighed. He knew that the Heaven’s Frost sect was trying to gain a monopoly on alchemists, but he didn’t think the situation was this severe.

n“You guys still have alchemists right? Can you tell me if they are alright? Do they get threats from the sect or such?” he asked.

n“No, no threats. The Heaven’s Frost sect does make some announcements once in a while to tell people that they will have a much easier time if they join them, but aside from that there is nothing,” she said.

n“But you did say the sect warns people against being Alchemists, right?” he asked.

n“At the start, yes, but they never really go after anyone just because they practice Alchemy,” the girl said. “At least not in the open.”

n“Huh? Not in the open?” Alex said.

nThe girl looked around, very careful not to speak out of work, and whispered softly, “Alchemists have been known to go missing from time to time. And surprisingly, it is never from the Heaven’s Frost sect. You get what I’m trying to say?”

nAlex’s eyes shined. “Are they hunting down alchemists?” he asked.

n“People have requested them to find the alchemists, but they surprisingly never find out what happened to them. And even stop looking for them after a month of ‘searching’.”

n“You can guess what’s happening right? Everyone knows what’s happening. You get too good and the sect gets jealous so they come for you. That’s why we don’t have any good alchemists. They don’t even want to be one,” she said.

nAlex frowned. Alchemists were in that much of a danger? He made a mental note of never revealing he was one.

n“May I ask how many alchemists have gone missing by now?” he asked.

n“Well, there’s not an official number, but there should have been at least 50 high-ranking alchemists just this decade. Each one of them was a great and upcoming alchemist too. Such a shame,” she said.

nAlex shook his head. The sect was going too far to keep the monopoly. He would have to remain safe and not reveal himself.

nIt seemed Alchemy was going to have to remain a bit of a secret for now.

nHe walked out of the building and went back towards the general store where the group were.

n50 alchemists had gone missing in just the last 10 years. Alex wondered how the sect expected to thrive if that kept on continuing.

nIf people stopped being alchemists, they would surely suffer too, just from an economic standpoint.

n‘Whatever, it’s not my place to think of such problems. What am I going to do? Fight the sect that has a 30 thousand-year-old history?’ he thought and shook his head.

nHe met up Fan Yanshi and the rest who were happily spending the nearly 500 True spirit stones they had received this month.

nThey were really happy. If they continued earning this much every month, the villagers could soon have to stop worrying about money and could actually start having children like they always wanted to.

nAfter spending all the money on important things and then some, the group left the city.

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nAlex brought out his boat and while it was still night, they returned back to the village.

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