Chapter 1978, Soul Contract Translator: Silavin & PewPewLaserGun Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys In the middle of the night, Yang Kai returned to his residence with a depressed expression. His endeavour today had not gone smoothly. Although he had visited a lot of pill shops, these shops either cherished their pill recipes like treasures and refused to show them to outsiders or asked for sky-high prices in order to purchase them, rendering Yang Kai helpless. What’s more, the shops that were willing to sell pill recipes were only willing to sell some obscure recipes, which were basically useless. Pill recipes that were really useful and would sell well were not for sale anywhere. Of course, Yang Kai was not surprised by this. He could also understand the practices of those shops. The pill recipes of each shop were formulated, improved, and refined by many Alchemists over a long period of time. They were trade secrets that could not be easily shown to outsiders. Now, it seemed he had to carefully consider Kang Si Ran’s proposal. For the next two days, Yang Kai enjoyed a rare moment of peace. On the third day, Yang Kai came to Spirit Pill Plaza again. Kang Si Ran seemed to have given out instructions already, so when the shop-hand saw Yang Kai, he immediately welcomed him with a smile and said, “Sir, you’re here. Please come inside, Shopkeeper Kang has been anticipating your arrival.” Yang Kai nodded lightly and motioned for him to lead the way. In the same back room as last time, Kang Si Ran was pleased to see Yang Kai keeping a punctual schedule, boosting his trust in him. With a smiling old face, Kang Si Ran greeted Yang Kai enthusiastically and motioned for him to take a seat before pouring him a cup of tea. Immediately after, Kang Si Ran took out a booklet from his Space Ring and handed it to Yang Kai, “These are the pill recipes Young Master Yang requested before, please look to your satisfaction!” Yang Kai thanked him and took up the pill recipe book before browsing through them. Just sweeping his eyes over these pages, Yang Kai could not help but brighten up. Because this booklet contained about fifty pill recipes, the first of which was actually the recipe for Source Condensing Pills. Although Yang Kai had mastered most of the pill recipes in this booklet already, pill recipes were not something set and then never altered. According to the surrounding environment and what materials were readily available, a pill recipe could vary greatly from region to region. There were also often multiple different methodologies to refine the same Spirit Pill. As such, even if one had mastered how to refine a certain pill, by studying an alternative pill recipe, they may be able to improve their own technique and ability, so this booklet was not without value. Of the fifty or so pill recipes, there were only a dozen Yang Kai did not already know. But this result still made Yang Kai extremely satisfied as he put down the booklet lightly. Kang Si Ran’s eyes were fiery as he carefully observed Yang Kai’s behaviour, wondering if he would comply or not. As soon as Yang Kai put the book of recipes down, he asked, “Young Master Yang, are you satisfied with the catalog provided by this old master?” Yang Kai smiled slightly, “Shopkeeper Kang is very thoughtful. Were these pill recipes not hard-won?” Kang Si Ran smiled and said, “Young Master Yang is very sharp. En, only a small number of these pill recipes are the property of the pill shop, the rest were acquired by this old master through his various connections. They are not trade secrets of Spirit Pill Plaza, so Young Master Yang need not worry about refining them.” “It seems your noble establishment sells a large variety of Spirit Pills. Does this mean that if I were to become an Alchemist here, I would need to refine all of these Spirit Pills?” “No no no,” Kang Si Ran waved his hand quickly, “My Spirit Pill Plaza mainly sells the first fifteen Spirit Pills in this catalogue while the others are seldom refined because they are not in high demand and do not yield much profit. Source Condensing Pills are by far the top priority of my pill shop. This old master does not mean to boast, but the Source Condensing Pills from Spirit Pill Plaza are at least ten percent more effective than the average Source Condensing Pill on the market so they are greatly sought after by Maplewood City cultivators.” “Oh, and why is that?” Yang Kai asked curiously. In fact, he had also noticed before that many people had come to Spirit Pill Plaza to buy Source Condensing Pills, and these cultivators were all without exception Origin Kings. Hearing his question, Kang Si Ran smiled proudly and stroked his beard confidently as he explained, “Because our Source Condensing Pill recipe was personally improved by Grandmaster Huang Fu from the chamber of commerce headquarters!” After speaking, Kang Si Ran remembered that Yang Kai was somewhat ignorant and uninformed, so he quickly added, “Grandmaster Huang Fu is an Emperor Grade Alchemist and enjoys a very high reputation throughout the Star Boundary!” Yang Kai was really shocked when he heard these words! So that was why Spirit Pill Plaza’s Source Condensing Pills were so popular, it turns out that the pill recipe was personally improved by an Emperor Grade Alchemist. As a result, the effect was better than ordinary Source Condensing Pills. This was excellent news for Yang Kai. Because what he needed most now were Source Condensing Pills. The pill recipe improved by an Emperor Grade Alchemist would be of immense use to Yang Kai and there was even a chance he could spy on some mysteries of the Alchemic Dao from this pill recipe. “Hehe, Young Master Yang, this old master has shown his sincerity. Now, about Young Master Yang’s intentions...” Kang Si Ran looked at Yang Kai with a smile. At this moment, he was not as anxious as before because he could see from Yang Kai’s demeanour and tone that he was likely willing to temporarily join Spirit Pill Plaza. As expected, Yang Kai nodded when he heard these words, “It would be this Yang’s honour to work as an Alchemist for your noble establishment. This Yang will be in Shopkeeper Kang’s care for the next two months.” “Wonderful!” Kang Si Ran laughed loudly, the haze which had been clouding his face for the past few days finally lifting along with his mood. The current situation of Spirit Pill Plaza was nothing less than precarious. Because Source Condensing Pills had such a large market appeal, Spirit Pill Plaza had always had a steady stream of customers. Before, with three Origin King Grade Alchemists refining Spirit Pills, they had just barely been able to keep up with demand, but when two of the three had been poached by Seven Glories Chamber of Commerce’s Pill Pavilion, the last remaining Alchemist was unable to cope, even if he worked almost nonstop. Currently, the Spirit Pill Plaza was all but out of stock of Source Condensing Pills, causing many customers to complain constantly. Consistency was an essential part of doing business, so once there was a shortage of goods, even the most loyal customers would be lost. This was a fatal blow to Spirit Pill Plaza. With Yang Kai joining, although the situation wouldn’t be rectified immediately, Kang Si Ran could finally breathe a sigh of relief. All that was left now was to hold out for two more months while waiting for the two Alchemists to be transferred over from headquarters. “Young Master Yang, this old master is first and foremost a businessman, so some things must be made clear up front. If this old master comes off as offensive in any way, I hope Young Master Yang can be forgiving,” After the great joy, Kang Si Ran suddenly wore a solemn expression. “Please speak freely, Shopkeeper Kang!” “Good, while Young Master Yang is free to observe and emulate these pill recipes, even taking copies for his own use, they cannot be disclosed to others, especially the pill recipe for Source Condensing Pills. Regarding this, this old master needs Young Master Yang Kai to sign a Soul Contract, I hope Young Master Yang can agree to this condition.” “Not a problem,” Yang Kai nodded lightly. “Very good, then this old master will ask Young Master Yang to review this contract to see if any changes are necessary.” Kang Si Ran had already prepared everything in advance, so he directly took out the prepared contract from his Space Ring. Yang Kai could not recognize what material this contract was made from, but he could sense a subtle energy fluctuation coming from it. Yang Kai picked up the contract and began looking over the details about what responsibilities and obligations were expected of both parties. Regarding the pill recipes, the conditions were especially strict in that Yang Kai was to under no circumstances disclose the secrets of these pill recipes to anyone else. After a quick review, Yang Kai nodded and said, “I have no issues with this.” Kang Si Ran nodded and said, “Then this old master asks Young Master Yang to leave his Soul Imprint on this contract.” Saying so, Kang Si Ran first sent a burst of his Spiritual Energy into the contract. Although Yang Kai had never done something like this before, all he had to do was follow Kang Si Ran’s example. After the Soul Imprints of the two were branded into the contract, the contract suddenly ignited and a faint trace of Spiritual Energy split into two parts and poured into Yang Kai and Kang Si Ran’s Knowledge Seas. Faintly, Yang Kai felt that a small seal had been added to his Knowledge Sea, one that normally had no effect on him, but would clearly cause some kind of backlash if he were to violate the conditions of the contract he had just signed. [Such a mysterious thing!] Yang Kai secretly thought to himself as he wondered which master’s hands this Soul Contract stemmed from. Undoubtedly this was an excellent tool for those who wished to conduct business. Kang Si Ran knew that Yang Kai was somewhat lacking in common knowledge, so he took the initiative to explain, “This Soul Contract is a specialty item of Serene Soul Palace and was personally developed by Serene Soul Great Emperor. Serene Soul Great Emperor is one of the Ten Great Emperors. The Soul Contracts he researched can guarantee the integrity and compliance of both parties who use them. If, during Young Master Yang travels in the future, he needs to cooperate with strangers, signing a Soul Contract can add a layer of security. However, each Soul Contract is not cheap, 150,000 Low-Rank Source Crystals are required for even the lowest level Soul Contract, but that does not make them any less popular, so it is often impossible to buy them in the open market.” “So expensive!” Yang Kai couldn’t help being shocked. He was only able to make a total of 30,000 Low-Rank Source Crystals in Blue Feather Sect for a month worth of Alchemy, so 150,000 would have taken him at least five months of work to obtain and even then he might not be able to obtain one. “Hehe, this old master’s Soul Contract was also obtained inadvertently from an adventure he had in his youth,” Kang Si Ran said with clear pain on his face. Although he was reluctant to use this Soul Contract in this way, in order to keep Spirit Pill Plaza from closing down, Kang Si Ran had no other choice. “Alchemist Yang, I look forward to working with you for the next two months,” Kang Si Ran quickly adjusted his expression and smiled at Yang Kai while cupping his fists kindly. “Same here!” Yang Kai replied. “Alright, since the Soul Contract has been signed, let us talk about the issue of remuneration next,” Kang Si Ran said and sat down. The Soul Contract just now only guaranteed that Yang Kai would not reveal any of the pill recipes he learned here while the matter of compensation was not written. This would require further discussions between Kang Si Ran and Yang Kai. At that moment, a knock suddenly came from outside. Kang Si Ran frowned and asked coldly, “What is it?” He had clearly told everyone in the shop that he was discussing an important matter with Yang Kai today and that no one should disturb him, but now one of the ignorant shop-hands had done just that, making Kang Si Ran very annoyed. “Shopkeeper Kang, it’s terrible! Alchemist Fan says he wants to leave our pill shop!” The panicked voice of the shop-hand called out quickly. “What?” Kang Si Ran stood up abruptly, his face filled with shock and anxiety, obviously not having expected such a development. “Shopkeeper, please come quickly, Alchemist Fan is insistent on quitting.” “How can this be!?” Kang Si Ran was so angry that he hurried out after hearing these words, but when he reached the door, he suddenly remembered that Yang Kai was still here and asked, “Does Alchemist Yang want to come as well?” “Is that appropriate?” “Naturally, you are no longer an outsider!”