Mechanical Alchemist-Chapter 314 - 313: Grandma’s Soup Room

"Tea Crying Mountain" is located in the suburbs of Izumo Castle; it is an active volcano.

In cultures with divine beliefs, great mountains and rivers often carry certain mystical meanings, and Tea Crying Mountain is one of the top three sacred mountains of the Mountain Hermits, said to be the burial site of the Yomi Country Lord.

The mountain top is perennially covered with snow, and an eruption hundreds of years ago brought a vast amount of fertile volcanic ash from the depths of the earth, creating lush vegetation from the mountainside to the foot of the mountain, rendering the scenery quite pleasant. Also, because of the high-quality mineral hot springs in the earth’s veins, the village at the foot of Tea Crying Mountain has built a large number of hot spring bathhouses, attracting tourists from all directions.

In winter, it is the best season to enjoy the snow and take a hot spring bath, with tourists flocking in great numbers.

Su Lun and his companions traveled quickly, covering a hundred li under the cover of night, and arrived at the small town at the foot of Tea Crying Mountain before dawn. The all-night pubs and geisha houses were brightly lit, with drunken guests wandering the streets.

Without stopping in the town, Shinfuku Mitsuko led them up the mountain on a small path by night. They traveled along a cobblestone path laid through a dense forest before finally reaching a three-story building with a green tiled roof and white walls. On either side of the doorway stood moss-covered Kappa stone sculptures, and under the eaves hung a sign, with a few characters in peeling lacquer: Granny Cha’s Bathhouse.

Su Lun, holding a Rune Umbrella, observed everything around him attentively. The bird of augury on his shoulder was also quiet, not detecting any anomalies.

It seemed the pursuers had not followed.

The proprietors were a plain-dressed elderly couple, respectfully waiting at the entrance after receiving the message from a paper crane.

As Su Lun and his group approached, they saw the Princess and immediately knelt on the ground, whispering, "We greet Your Highness."

The Princess was congenial, yet also possessed the inherent dignity of a royal princess. She did not intend to attract attention and simply gestured with her hand, "Lead us to our rooms."

"Yes, Your Highness.

The elderly couple bowed and led the group inside.

To maintain secrecy, the Princess had not informed the elderly couple ahead of time and considering it was the peak season for hot springs, there weren’t many vacant rooms upon their arrival. As Su Lun passed by, he sensed the presence of twenty to thirty souls—a mix of old and young, all ordinary people—in the rooms on the first and second floors. Their breathing was steady and long, suggesting they were all still asleep.

The group did not disturb anyone and made their way to the third floor, where they reached a room.

The bathhouses of Mountain Hermits were generally "suites," suitable for family stays. The elderly couple arranged this room just for the Princess.

Thinking Su Lun and his companions were the Princess’s guards and maidservants, and with no vacant rooms left, the elderly couple prepared to vacate their own living quarters, squeezing in together.

The Princess, however, rejected this suggestion.

She did not mind sharing her space with others, and since Su Lun and his two companions were her guests, she naturally invited them into the room.

The elderly couple had no objections and respectfully excused themselves.

...

Following the Princess’s example, Su Lun and his companions left their shoes outside before stepping onto the rush matting.

The room was filled with a faint scent of incense and decorated in a quiet, beautiful, simple, and elegant style. There were hardly any walls, just brown wooden pillars and lattice doors pasted with plain white rice paper. The small room felt spacious and was well lit, with pleasant moonlight. The bathhouse was built against the mountainside; though this was the third floor, it ingeniously featured a chic courtyard connected to the mountains behind. Looking out the window, one could see lush greenery concealing rising misty steam—a private hot spring pool.

Granny Cha’s elderly couple had arranged one of the best rooms.

Having entered the room, Shinfuku Mitsuko casually set up a barrier against prying eyes and bowed to Su Lun and Heran Qian Tiao, "I apologize for not making arrangements in advance, and for any inconvenience it may cause everyone."

As they were here to seek refuge, they naturally could not make a big show of it.

Neither Su Lun nor Heran Qian Tiao was the type to fuss over minor details, so they certainly did not mind.

Besides, the room’s elegant environment hardly fit the word "inconvenience."

"Princess, you are too kind," Su Lun responded.

Heran Qian Tiao waved her hand dismissively.

Never one to see herself as an outsider, she began to remove the long sword from her waist as soon as she entered the room, simultaneously gesturing to begin undressing and mumbling, "Ah... Finally, a chance to rest properly. I heard about the unparalleled volcanic hot springs here even before coming to Mountain Hermits, and now I can finally try them out."

Su Lun was not surprised by her eagerness; this gambling-addicted woman had battled for several days, her clothes stained with blood that had congealed into blackness. After days without changing or washing, a strange odor emanated from her hair and clothing—a combination of various scents. As someone who loved taking baths, she could hardly endure it.

While speaking, Heran Qian Tiao also did not forget to invite their host, "Princess, let’s go for a hot spring bath together."

Shinfuku Mitsuko smiled faintly and replied with a nod, "Yes."

As the host, it was only natural for her to accompany them. Moreover, she had also intended to do so.

Because the essence of the bathhouse was that of an inn, such large rooms were designed to conveniently accommodate a whole family together.

Inside the room, there were cleverly designed lattice doors, originally meant to partition off other functional small rooms, such as changing rooms.

But Heran Qian Tiao had no intention of showing any restraint in front of the few people in the room.

As she spoke, she had already taken off her kimono jacket, exposing large swaths of skin to the air until only her shorts remained. She ignored the only man in the room, Su Lun, and began to unravel the bandages wrapped around her chest.

Upon seeing this, Shinfuku Mitsuko showed little surprise on her face.

In the traditional culture of the Mountain Hideaway, there was rarely any privacy among family members; "mixed-gender bathing" was a very natural custom. Even after reaching adulthood, it was quite natural for family members to be naked in each other’s company without much reservation.

But this kind of behavior was generally reserved for those who were very close.

Thinking of something, the princess glanced sideways at Su Lun in the room, and a glint passed fleetingly across her eyes. Yet, she said with a smile, "Miss Heran Qian Tiao, you really have a nice figure."

Heran Qian Tiao didn’t care about such things; looking down at herself, she raised an eyebrow and said, "Ah... I actually think it gets in the way of my swordplay."

Hearing this, the princess laughed lightly, covering her mouth: "Miss Heran Qian Tiao really has an enviable problem."

Lolota, on the other hand, seemed quite accustomed to this, adeptly helping her teacher pick up her clothes and hang them on a nearby coat rack. The three had already been living in this manner for several days at the bathhouse in Blizzard City, so she was used to it by now.

The girl, studying Sword Dao under Heran Qian Tiao, had also adopted her carefree attitude. After taking care of Heran Qian Tiao’s clothes, she also hung her sword on the wall, preparing to undress and bathe in the hot springs as well.

...

There was a small partition near the back courtyard area of the room, which was the place for rinsing off the body.

Heran Qian Tiao had stripped completely and had already walked over there.

Her back was perfect, but the full-back tattoo of a fierce demon was strikingly conspicuous.

The princess watched with slightly widened eyes.

The room was a scene of generous exposure, yet Su Lun was remarkably composed.

Given the presence of an outsider, he wasn’t in the mood to appreciate Heran Qian Tiao stripping. He simply found a spot to sit and planned to digest the things he had just obtained.

Soon, the sound of ’whooshing’ water could be heard.

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However, it was at this time that Heran Qian Tiao called out from behind the screen, "Su Lun, aren’t you going to join in the bath?"

Su Lun replied, "No, I still have some things to take care of, I need to quickly resolve your Rune Seal..."

Compared to bathing, he was more eager to digest the legacy of the "ghost sword" Yaxi and the lineage of the Magician.

Not to mention, sealed ghost warriors awaited his attention, as did research on the Hand of Silver...

So much to do.

"Oh."

Heran Qian Tiao responded with an "I’m going ahead then."

Su Lun did not reply.

At this moment, Shinfuku Mitsuko, still in the room, spoke up as well, bowing slightly with impeccable politeness, "Mr. Su Lun, I will also go to bathe. Excuse me."

Su Lun, slightly unaccustomed to such courteous attitude even at such times, also replied, "Hmm. You don’t have to be so formal, Princess."

The princess smiled faintly and prepared to change into a bathing cloth in the room.

But unlike Heran Qian Tiao, she wasn’t bold enough to undress without a change of expression in the room. She walked over to the wooden lattice door without losing decorum, creating a changing area.

The sounds of clothes rustling reached his ears; soon, a whole set of miko robes were removed and hung up on the screen.

Su Lun was fully focused on his own matters, arranging some things before him and attending to his work. However, his ability to multitask allowed him to clearly discern the subtle sounds within the room. Hearing the faint footsteps, he knew the princess had gone to the rinsing area. Discover stories at novelbuddy

True enough, it wasn’t long before the sound of water followed.

The bathhouses in the Mountain Hideaway were not like those in other places; they did not have boiler pipes for rinsing.

The hot water here is directly drawn from the hot springs using bamboo pipes.

When Heran Qian Tiao bathed, she likely did so with a bold splash, filling the air with the sound of rushing water.

Meanwhile, when Princess bathed, it seemed she used a gourd scoop to pour water bit by bit, creating a gentle trickling sound. Her movements sounded very delicate.

For some reason, Su Lun suddenly found his attention drawn to these noises.

He raised his eyebrows and glanced at the priestess robe on the screen, then shook his head gently before quickly refocusing his mind.

Finally, Princess too went to the courtyard hot spring pool, leaving Su Lun alone in the room, allowing him to focus on his own matters.

He took out the "Soul Sealing Jar," and behind him, the death god’s shadow instantly condensed, bringing an immediate and chilling presence to the entire room.

Su Lun, expressionless, uncorked the ceramic jar and a ghostly sphere of light floated out, which the death god’s shadow devoured instantly.

"You have extracted ’Yaxi Aurorae’s’ soul, and you have gained a great deal of ’Magician’ heritage knowledge."

"You have comprehended 108 variations of ’advanced rune magic.’"

"You have gained a great deal of knowledge on ’universal rune language,’ ’Body Refinement Realm techniques,’ and ’rune engraving skills’."

"..."

In the room, Su Lun was busy.

At the same time, Shinfuku Mitsuko, who was soaking in the hot spring in the courtyard, sensed the unique presence of the death god and her pretty face showed slight surprise.

Heran Qian Tiao raised her eyebrows lazily and said, "Don’t bother with him."

Princess also guessed that Su Lun might be performing some secret technique, so naturally it wouldn’t be appropriate to pry.

Curiously, she asked, "Miss Qian Tiao, if I may be so bold, is Mr. Su Lun your lover?"

Qian Tiao rolled her eyes, "Does it look like it?"

"It does."

Princess smiled and said with certainty, "Only for someone deeply loved would one venture into danger without hesitation. I can tell that Mr. Su Lun cares a great deal about Miss Qian Tiao."

"Tsk~"

Hearing this, Qian Tiao rolled her eyes as if not even bothered to explain.

Their connection was not one of romantic affection.

At that moment, Qian Tiao thought of something and suddenly displayed a mischievous, unruly look. She playfully propped up Princess’s chin with her hand, scrutinizing her from top to bottom, and said with mock seriousness, "Actually, I think you two would make a good match. Princess, you are pretty, with fair skin and an excellent figure. The young Su Lun would surely be very satisfied."

The two had gotten quite familiar with each other in Pirate City, and spoke without much reservation.

Shinfuku Mitsuko was at a loss, caught off-guard by the turn in conversation, "Miss Qian Tiao is joking—I am a priestess serving the heavenly gods. I will dedicate my life to the deities."

"Oh, right, I nearly forgot, only the purest maidens can serve the gods."

Qian Tiao clicked her tongue but looked utterly unconcerned.

Something else crossed her mind, and her expression became even more teasing, "However, meeting the young Su Lun, perhaps your ’lifetime service to the gods’ might not come to fruition."

Princess: "..."

....

After a while, Su Lun assimilated the knowledge that flooded his mind, and his eyes gradually cleared. He couldn’t help but remark, "It’s also a blessing that the divine secret techniques can preserve souls; this extraction alone has saved me years of arduous cultivation."

Yaxi was far more knowledgeable and had a deeper understanding than his fourth-order brother, the pirate.

Having digested those memories, Su Lun instantly felt immensely rewarded.

His death god shadow, when extracting the soul of a five-tier professional, could now capture about 3% of the soul fragment in its entirety. To gain as much knowledge about the "Magician" as possible, he even forwent this fellow’s very standard insights into the Tier-5 Wind Law and Sword Dao Sword Intent.

Still, such trade-offs turned out to be highly effective.

"Rune Mage" is a branch of the alchemic system that specializes in the study of runes, and the gap between professionals and amateurs is not small.

This made Su Lun, a "master-level" Rune Master, feel quite inadequate.

Instantaneously acquiring a vast amount of rune knowledge, Su Lun felt that his proficiency in runes had taken a significant step up.

What was even more crucial was that with this knowledge as a foundation, he could better understand the [Rune Inheritance Scroll] he’d obtained.

With that in mind, Su Lun took out the yellowed scroll and spread it before his eyes, where a dense script immediately caught his gaze.

This nearly ten-meter-long scroll contained almost all the rune knowledge that the "Rune Old Man" had originally brought from Emperor Luying’s capital, including advanced sequences and combat secret techniques.

The scroll did not only contain plain text, but also encrypted content and special rune language.

It was also fortunate that Su Lun had stripped Yaxi’s soul, allowing him to decipher all the content with hardly any obstacles.

Su Lun rapidly scanned the text, with the dense words reflecting in his eyes like ripples.

The scroll was like a key, unlocking the door to the higher realm of runes.

But the mysteries of rune learning are as deep as the ocean; it was like he had fished a treasure chest from the sea.

Even though Su Lun’s current expertise in rune learning was already considered high by others, the contents of the scroll were enough for him to delve into for a lifetime.

Su Lun didn’t intend to completely digest these things right away; he wanted to find a way to refine [Imitation of Original Runes].

If he managed to successfully advance to the fourth order, then came back to study the scroll, he would undoubtedly achieve twice the result with half the effort!

Su Lun carefully searched the content of the scroll and then, in the "Advanced Sequence Selection" section, he found several classic advancement paths for Rune Mages, from 1st to 6th order.

Just as he had hoped.

He quickly found several profession material refinement formulas that could match [Imitation of Original Runes].

After analyzing them, he finally chose two with the highest compatibility—one called [Universal Comprehension] and the other called [Zosimus’s Heavenly Eye].

The first refining match was a "universal formula" with not so high compatibility, but the materials were relatively easier to find, and the final product’s effect was fairly standard.

The second formula required some bizarre materials, such as "Dust from the Corpse of a Lake Sprite," "Tears of a Narwhal," "Brain Marrow of a High-order Siren"... Some materials were even beyond Su Lun’s current knowledge. They were tricky to obtain, but correspondingly, the results would be better.

"These materials aren’t easy to find..."

Although he was mentally prepared, Su Lun frowned at the sight of those names.

Alchemy Magicians investigated materials thoroughly in their domain; they were not limited to any single type. As long as they could decode the specific function of materials in a blueprint, they could actually find other materials with similar effects as substitutes.

The scroll went into detail about the "pharmacology" and "properties" of various materials.

After careful consideration, Su Lun did think of several materials that could be substituted.

Still, he was missing a lot.

To more fully unleash the characteristics of top-grade items like [Imitation of Original Runes], the higher the grade of the matching materials, the better.

Those materials, even if easily kept at a top auction house, might not necessarily be gathered quickly.

"Hiss, what can be done to gather these in a short time..."

Su Lun was momentarily worried.

This place was far from Pirate City, and even trying to go there to purchase them would take time, let alone gather them quickly. The first thing he thought of was the other members of the Mirror Organization, so he decided to first ask through the communicator.

But just as he was engrossed in thought, the sound of water erupted from the courtyard outside his room.

On looking again, Heran Qian Tiao and two others had entered after taking a hot spring bath.

Upon seeing Shinfuku Mitsuko, Su Lun’s eyes suddenly lit up.

Wasn’t she the Mountain Hermit royal princess?