Chapter 58 - The Best a Man Can Get
Kang Ya-Ting remained in the alchemy shop until Chao Su and his young … ward were well out of sight. The boy was interesting in that the elder had almost forgotten he was in the shop.
That the boy could evade notice meant he was manifesting his qi aspect even though he was a mortal. Such a thing wasn’t unheard of, but it was rare.
Some people, even wizened cultivators, believed a display like that one meant the mortal would automatically have great talent, thinking that the potency of the spiritual roots somehow led to the ability. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The boy had just as much chance of a being an F or any other rank as a random person on the street.
The real reason the boy was able to blend into the space was that the boy’s qi aspect was abnormally strong.
That strength was both a blessing and a curse. It meant that every technique the boy used that closely aligned with his aspect would have a greater effect than if it were used by another person of a similar rank. It also meant that it was vastly more difficult for the boy to use cultivation methods and techniques that didn’t align closely with his qi aspect.
Finding such resources could challenge even a mid-sized sect, but Kang Ya-Ting figured that issue wasn’t much of a problem for Chao Su.
Did he recruit the boy because his talent with shadows, a sought-after trait for assassins? Hmm. Probably not. Chao Su simply didn’t seem like the type to employ those kinds of methods. He also wasn’t likely to have been of the belief that the boy was supremely talented due to the qi manifestation.
No, the most likely reason the boy ending up with Chao Su was exactly what he had said. The boy found himself in danger due to helping them avoid any more entanglements than were necessary with a local gang. Chao Su definitely seemed the type to be loyal to those who assisted him.
That small mystery resolved, Kang Ya-Ting turned to the attendant. “He knew not only the type of pill, but the purity and price as well. Is that usual?”
“At the level he displayed?” the attendant said. “No. Not usual at all.”
“Could he perhaps apply that level of insight to examining a cultivator with his spirit sense?”
“Oh no, Esteemed Elder. This one didn’t mean anything like that. Any alchemist can pick up a version of what he can do. Even this one can determine a pill’s general purity just from years and years of working in a shop. None of that helps at all in learning to discern information about fellow cultivators.”