When they got to the door of the room that the young lady had in mind for the unmatched generous treatment of Alex, she looked at him and said "Good sir, here's the room. You can go in to relax."
"Alright. Thank you" Alex said.
"Don't mention" The young lady nodded and said. Then she turned around and walked away, leaving Alex behind.
The room that the young lady brought Alex to was a large room that many fragrance-emitting incenses were being burnt. Then apart from the colored fumes that filled the air which had sweet and fruity smells, they produced a deep relaxation effect on his body.
"Nice!" Alex uttered when he went in.
"I certainly must have these kind of incenses in my room. They would definitely help me to relax more when I am in a state of comprehension" He said further.
Then he relaxed himself on a seat and closed his eyes as he began to inhale the sweet-smelling colored fumes coming from the incenses being burnt.
***
Twenty minutes later...
Knock!
Alex who was enjoying the deep relaxation state his body and mind had entered into suddenly heard a soft knock on the door. Then before he could say anything, he heard the voice of the young lady that brought him to this room.
"Good sir, your items are ready. Can I come in to give the items that you requested for?" She asked.
"Sure!" Alex's voice sounded from within.
With a slight nod of her head, the young lady gently opened the door of the room and went in.
"The herbs that you requested for are in this spatial ring" She said looking at a spatial ring in her hand. Then she gave it to Alex who accepted it and scanned the content of the ring when he sent a sliver of his perception into it.
Although the herbs he requested for were complete, he saw other herbs in there which caused him to be astonished.
He looked at the smiling young lady and asked "You added other herbs to the items I asked for?"
"Yes. That's a gift to you from our herb house" The young lady said.
"Hmm. I hope your boss would approve of this" Alex said.
"Surely. Don't worry about her." The young lady mentioned.
"Alright. I express my thanks" Alex said.
"You don't need to" The young lady stated. Then she continued "I am going back to my work post"
"Wait!" Alex hurriedly said.
"What's it, good sir?" The young lady asked reverently.
"You haven't collected payment for the herbs that I bought. Here's a spatial ring that contains three hundred and thirty-seven sapphirstones" Alex said stretching a spatial ring at her.
"Oh. Don't worry about that, good sir. My boss has ordered me to charge you free for the herbs that you bought. So, you don't need to pay." The young lady said with a smile. Then she said further, looking at Alex who was astonished "Good sir, I would be taking my leave now if there's nothing else. And you can stay in the room for as long as you want. You are very much welcome here"
The young lady left and then gently closed the door behind her, leaving behind a flabbergasted Alex who had unbounded surprise filling the void in his eyes.
"So, her boss is even around" Alex muttered to himself.
"Well, let me relax some more before I get going" He said to himself.
***
Thirty minutes later...
Alex stood from the seat that he relaxed in and made for the door to leave the room. Then as he began walking towards the door to exit the building, he met some people who were cultivators on the way. They had also come here to buy herbs for cultivation, healing or for other purposes such as deep-relaxation, sweet-smells and so on.
With awe, respect and envy in their eyes, they looked at him as he passed by them. They didn't praise him or start to discuss about him like the mortals do as they were cultivators like him, and were proud of themselves. However, there was veneration in their eyes for his amazing battle prowess, as well as envy and jealousy because of his grand background.
After walking for some minutes as the large building that he was in was also very long, Alex got to a door which he could use to exit the herb house. However, he met the young lady who ushered him into the relaxing room standing there with a smile in her face. She walked towards him as Alex approached the exit door.
"I see that good sir is ready to take his leave" She said.
"Yea." Alex nodded.
"Do come again another time. We would be expecting your visit" The young lady said.
Alex nodded again with a a smile in his face.
Then he went out through the exit door which the young lady opened for him to appear in the street.
Immediately he came out, the beast-drawn carriage that brought him here quickly arrived by his side.
Alex looked at the carriage and was surprised to see that it was the same carriage that brought him earlier that had appeared by his side again.
The carriage driver had actually waited for Alex to come out so he could carry him.
Alex shook his head with a smile in it and then hopped in when the carriage door opened.
When he entered and settled down, the carriage driver spoke some words to the towering, wine-skinned, horse-like beasts that were pulling the carriage. And immediately he said those words, the beasts drawing the carriage made some some sounds and then suddenly dashed into the distance.
"Did you like the Imperial Herb House?" The carriage driver asked.
"Yea. It's a nice place!" Alex said. Then he spoke further "Also, the people working there are nice people. But I hope that their niceness is genuine."
"Certainly!" The driver said. Then he stated further "People, such as mortals and cultivators who have been going there to buy herbs, incenses and flowers don't have a problem with the herb house. They all love it. Besides, the workers there simply take great delight in satisfying their customers. So, that's why no one, absolutely no one has an issue with them, and this herb house has been established more than forty years ago. Customer happiness and satisfaction is their watchword."
"Hmm!" Alex said.
Then something came to his mind which he proceeded to ask the driver since he felt that he might know a few things about the Imperial Herb House.
"Do you know the boss overseeing and managing the herb house?" He questioned.
"Well, to be sincere, people that go there know that the person is a lady, and that she is a cultivator, but no one has actually ever seen her before. She doesn't come out to show herself in public." The driver replied.
"Okay. But why is that? Is she hiding from something?" Alex asked with surprise in his tone.
"I can't exactly tell. But I don't think that could be the reason why. However, I think that maybe she doesn't like showing herself to the public, and that she could be doing so many things that are preventing her from revealing herself to everyone who are eagerly awaiting her appearance in public. Also, I can tell that she would be a very beautiful lady. So, she may not want popularity because of her dazzling beauty and then choose to live a simple life" The driver responded.
"Hmm. Thanks" Alex said.
The driver nodded.
Alex then furrowed his brows as he started to think of a lot of things.
"She has never appeared in public before. But she suddenly wants to see me? For what reason exactly?" He couldn't help but question himself.
'Anyways, she would appear before me soon. Then I would know what she wants my help for. I am sure all these that she made her workers give me are just to bribe me into doing something for her. Well, if it is something that would I tremendously benefit from, sure I would accept and even owe her a favor. But if it's something sinister and sinful, I would turn down her request.' Alex said and decided in his mind.
Few minutes later...
Moving at a high speed, the carriage arrived before his organization. Alex then stepped down from the carriage and paid the driver twice the transport fare again. This made the driver extremely glad who then tried to sing praises of him. But Alex quickly walked away from where he stood beside the carriage and into his organization's building.
He nodded at his members as they greeted him on his way to his room.
Immediately he arrived in his room, he closed the door and brought out the Azure Beastsman treasure-palace from his mom's spatial ring.
"Palace-spirit, bring me in" He said when he sent a sliver of his perception into the palace.
Then suddenly, space warped around his figure. He then vanished from the spot that he stood at and into the palace central hall.
When he appeared in the central hall, he said to the palace-spirit.
"Palace-spirit, I need a large cauldron filled with a liquid that can reach or surpass the temperature of molten steel when Heated. Also, a pressure that can flatten thick iron rod should be applied on it" Alex said resolutely. But then, great horror suddenly manifested in his heart when he thought of the exceedingly horrendous thing that he was about to experience.