Thinking about the contract he had been offered, the Boss explained to Kai:
"Although the contract from the Honey Pill Shop doesn't look like a slave contract on the surface, in essence, it is. Just think about it—they're teaching alchemy but aren't willing to provide a Knowledge Sea, which is necessary for alchemy. Without a Knowledge Sea, one can't perform [Herb Weaving], and sooner or later, the person won't be able to complete the assigned tasks and will automatically become the shop's slave."
Hearing the Boss's words, Kai couldn't refute them—everything he said was true. These thoughts had always lingered in the back of Kai's mind, but he had never seriously considered them… or perhaps he hadn't dared to.
Although shaken by both Gray's and the Boss's words, Kai soon calmed down. In this lifetime, he would never become a slave—he had already discovered a way to perform [Herb Weaving] without relying on Soul power.
"What you said is correct, but I don't have to worry about it anymore," Kai said calmly.
"Oh? Did you find a cheap Knowledge Sea?" Gray, as talkative as ever, asked.
"No. I found a way to perform [Herb Weaving] using Ki."
The moment those words left Kai's mouth, the trio was stunned.
Unlike the Honey Pill Shop, which only teaches alchemy, the Sky Pill Shop also educates its students about the Verse alongside alchemy.
After studying at the Sky Pill Shop for a month, the trio had learned all the basic information about the Verse. This included knowledge of the Path of Ki, Soul Power, and how Alchemists were honored by those who walked the Path of Ki.
After all, one couldn't perform alchemy using Ki—this was precisely why, even after exploding so many furnaces, they still wanted to learn alchemy. In a Verse dominated by those on the Path of Ki, Alchemists held a much nobler status than most others in the universe.
"How?" the trio asked in unison.
"With this Gift," Kai said, showing them the data panel of the D-rank Gift: [Ki Control].
"Isn't this the Gift that Luca is always bragging about? What's so special about it?" Gray asked. He had seen a hunter from the Goblin Destroyers use the [Ki Control] Gift to perform simple tricks to pass the time.
"You know Luca too? That makes it easier to explain. When I was talking to my friend about the difficulties of performing [Herb Weaving], he suggested I try using the [Ki Control] Gift. At first, I thought it was impossible. But then he mentioned how Luca uses Ki in a way similar to how Fairies use Soul Power, and I started to consider it.
I took some herbs from the shop and asked him to try extracting their essence. To my surprise, he succeeded."
Kai told the whole story of how he discovered that the D-rank Gift [Ki Control] allowed him to perform [Herb Weaving].
Listening to his story, the trio calmed down and began reflecting on what they had learned at the Sky Pill Shop—particularly about a powerful being known as the Path Master, who helped His Majesty create a unique power system for those participating in the Ascension Program.
When they first learned that the Path Master was one of the noblest beings in the Universe, they hadn't thought much of it. But now, it seemed that even that reputation fell short of the Path Master's true abilities.
After all, from what they had read, only Transcendents possess enough control over their Ki to extract the essence of herbs. Using Ki to perform alchemy wasn't a new idea—many had attempted it in the past, yet not a single one had succeeded.
Ki is the life-force of a person, and the essence of herbs is the same: it's the life-force of the plant. When two life-forces come into contact, they tend to influence one another. Because of this, the pure essence of herbs would become polluted by Ki, and during the refining process, this causes serious complications.
Even Alchemy Masters, with their vast experience and wisdom, cannot refine pills using herb essence that has been contaminated by Ki. Still, many on the Path of Ki have not given up on the dream of finding a way to extract herbal essence without polluting it.
After all, one can't spend their whole life relying on potions—which aren't as effective as pills—and it places a huge burden on the body to simultaneously manage two different energy sources.
"Guys, say something." Seeing the trio lost in their thoughts, Kai reminded them to come back to reality.
"What was the color of the essence that Luca extracted?" Boss asked, voicing his thoughts. After all, extracting the essence of herbs using Ki was rare but not entirely impossible. Although he didn't want to discourage Kai, he still had to tell him the truth: the essence extracted using the D-rank Gift [Ki Control] typically couldn't be used in Alchemy.
"What do you mean by color? It was exactly the same as it's always been." Kai frowned, confused by Boss's question. What could be wrong with the color of the essence?
"Are you certain?" Boss asked again. It was shocking enough that someone with a D-rank Gift could do something only Transcendents were known to achieve. But now Kai was claiming the herb's essence hadn't been polluted? Who would believe something like that?
"Here, see." Kai took out the essence of Whispering Fern that Luca had extracted, pulling it from his storage bag.
"Let me see." Although Gray was hot-blooded, he wasn't a fool. He had spent more time studying the Verse than both Kelly and Boss combined.
"If it was really extracted using Ki, then…" Before Gray could finish, Boss took the jar of Whispering Fern essence from him and examined it carefully.
After a few moments, the trio placed the jar back on the table and sat in stunned silence.
If what Kai said about finding a way to use Ki for [Herb Weaving] was already shocking, then the pure essence sitting before them had completely overturned their worldview.
"Is it really that shocking?" Kai asked. He didn't think it was such a big deal to use Ki for [Herb Weaving]. After all, Ki and Soul Power were both among the four fundamental energy sources in the Universe.
It didn't seem surprising to him that Ki could be used to extract the essence of herbs.
However, Kai had no idea how wrong his thinking was. Even Saints who had reached the peak of the Ki Path couldn't extract the pure essence of a herb—something that any person with Soul Power could do with enough training.
"You don't understand how much this information will shake the entire Verse. Using Ki to perform [Herb Weaving] may be rare, but it isn't impossible. However, the essence would always be polluted, making it almost unusable in Alchemy. But what you've shown us is pure essence—it shouldn't be possible to extract that with Ki," Boss said, his voice trembling slightly as the thought sent chills down his spine.
"I'm going to find Luca." Unable to contain himself, Boss stood up and rushed out of the dining area.
"Wait for us!" Kelly and Gray quickly followed him. After all, they both understood that what Kai had shown them was nothing short of a miracle.