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Tong Jia's face showed delight as she handed over the brocade box containing the egg with both hands, "Young Master Lu, such audacity befits the owner of a spirit pet! A flying creature can be both your eyes and your blade, whereas Na Wei's method will only earn him a pet at best."
Lu Yao nodded slightly, accepting the brocade box. He then said, "Master Tong, we need four as there are four of us. Do you have any more eggs available?"
In addition to himself and his two sisters, Li Pei was also present; giving her one wouldn't be a big deal.
Yet once he made this request, Li Pei quickly cautioned him, "Raising a spirit pet, even a flying one, is far more expensive than you can imagine! A single spirit bird consumes more resources than a person, one is enough."
Lu Yao smiled and responded, "No matter, let's take four. Is that possible, Master Tong?"
"This..." Tong Jia hesitated, "Indeed, I have more, but they've been reserved by Young Master Xiang, and it would not be right for me to break our agreement. Could Young Master Lu wait a few days? I'll go back and fetch them right away..."
"Which Young Master Xiang?" Li Pei's brows furrowed as she asked, "Is it Xiang Cheng?"
Chapter Explore:
Tong Jia inwardly groaned, how could she forget the idiom "a hen flying and eggs breaking"! The relationship between this Commandery Princess and her fiance's family... had turned sour recently.
In Yunzhou, only one family that deals in spirit pets and bears the surname Xiang. Li Pei scoffed, "We'll take all the falcon eggs, let Xiang Cheng wait. If he has any objections, he can come to me directly!"
Tong Jia laughed awkwardly, feeling relieved that there were still a few days left before the delivery date. She decided to give the eggs to Lu Yao's party first and then hurry back to fetch more.
Consequently, she handed over the only four falcon eggs available, and Liao Qe went to the carriage to take out 200 taels of silver to pay for them.
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After receiving the silver, Tong Jia spoke softly, "Young Master Lu, may I have a word with you in private?"
Lu Yao followed her out of the room, and the girl bowed, saying, "Young master, now that you've purchased the falcon eggs, do you possess the technique to tame falcons?"
Although Lu Yao had the notes from Zhou He, he was not averse to obtaining another, more professional set of instructions. Thus, he said, "If Master Tong has them, I'd like to purchase them as well."
Tong Jia replied, "Not only do I possess the methods to tame falcons, but my Tong family's techniques are also renowned throughout the spirit pet community. However, our family's secret methods cannot be divulged lightly. If..."
She hesitantly whispered, "If you can get me some firearms, I would be willing to gift them to you."
"Firearms?"
"Yes. The Imperial Court strictly controls them, but I'm in urgent need of firearms for self-defense. Young Master, the most dangerous thing in the wild forests are not the beasts, but people!"
The "Mountain Patrollers," who spend long periods in the dangerous and chaotic wild forests, are lawless.
Tong Jia vividly remembered the look Na Wei gave her before he left. She brandished the shotgun around her waist and said,
"Firearms and ammunition like this are both acceptable. Young Master Lu's influence reaches the heavens; surely you have a way."
At this stage, the task was quite simple, which was to infuse Inner Breath into the eggs, just a tiny bit would do.
Each picked an egg to infuse.
While in a state of sitting-in-forgetfulness, Lu Yao could clearly sense through his index finger that the tiny life inside the egg was yearning for and delighted by the Inner Breath.
Just a minuscule infusion, and the vitality within surged tremendously.
Inner Breath was the essence of the five organs and the most basic energy of life; there was no flesh and blood life that wouldn't like it, making it the best catalyst for incubation.
Concentrating his mind on his eyes, Lu Yao faintly saw a small black dot moving inside the shell, which were the eyes of the fledgling falcon.
Like this, every three hours, he infused it once, and by evening time when he infused Inner Breath again, the three falcon eggs began trembling happily—the little lives inside had taken shape.
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The next morning, small cracks appeared on the surface of the three falcon eggs; they were about to hatch.
After infusing them with Inner Breath, everything was left to nature. In his spare time, Lu Yao bought a kerosene stove and large iron pot, preparing to craft "Wisdom Spirit Pills" in advance.
This pill, besides enlightening spirit pets, could also enhance their physique. The pill recipe was complex and could only be crafted by someone in the "Sitting-in-Forgetfulness Realm".
Lu Yao lit the kerosene stove and started with a pot of the most common "Cultivating Origin Pills" as a warm-up.
Being introductory pills that were easily crafted, Lu Yao finished them off in no time.
He also guided the sisters who stood by and watched excitedly:
"Alchemy, in essence, is the miraculous reaction that occurs from high temperatures, Inner Breath, and various materials. Only a Spirit Refining Expert can grasp the instantaneous changes of materials and refine them into pill form."
After having them taste the Cultivating Origin Pills, Lu Yao took out a small cloth bag filled with Blood Cores.
There were a total of 12 cores; except for Baron William's standout piece that was as big as a chicken egg, the others were only the size of quail eggs.
Lu Yao called out, "I'm a bit nervous for the first time; assist me with your Inner Breath."
The two sisters immediately stepped forward and placed their hands on Lu Yao's back.
Lu Yao added codonopsis, polygonum multiflorum, acanthopanax, paired flowers, and astragalus to the pot, letting them slowly decompose and fuse together under the high temperature and the catalysis of Inner Breath.
Next, he added the smallest Blood Core, shouting, "Inner Breath, give it to me!
The sisters immediately channeled their Inner Breath full force. The Blood Core had not shown any reaction to the high temperature, but as soon as the Inner Breath entered, it started to become springy like jelly.
If it had been a few milliseconds more, the contents of the pot would turn into charcoal; a few milliseconds less, and they wouldn't fuse.
Just at that perfect moment, Lu Yao precisely controlled the Inner Breath, turning the whole pot of red, 'alright'-like substances into one.
In his hand appeared ten longan-sized red pills—the "Wisdom Spirit Pills".