Wudang: Legends Of Qi Earth 171 Geb's Garden

Taking care of Geb was very much like a full time job for Alex, it has been three days since the ancient earth blood ritual was complete, and the first sub bas.e.m.e.nt was so full of life Alex reckoned even a hurt seed of any plant would grow here. Either way Geb had finally opened his eyes, he was still pretty much a baby, so Alex had to take care of him and feed, except of course the girls in the tower also wanted to pitch in. But the fox did not allow anyone other Alex to touch him, even blind it knew exactly who his master was.

Either way today was the day Alex was going to Plant the Indian Nightshade, but before that, he had to activate an array that he had bought for quite a hefty sum of money. He could have pretty much made the arrays by himself, but Alex wasn't so sure about his capabilities with arrays yet, he would like to study some more, but until then this (Wind Chill) array would help set the temperature for the first sub bas.e.m.e.nt, and made it an optimal environment for not just the Indian Nightshade, but also other plants that needed a cold environment to survive.

After the ritual, Louis and Hideki had placed stone tiles at specific locations in the bas.e.m.e.nt, this was so movement wouldn't be to hard and Alex could do things like place a giant ladder right in the middle of the room, just so that he could hang the array above on the ceiling, right in the middle. But apart from that the stone tiles had divided the bas.e.m.e.nt into six parts, the plans was to have a different plant being grown in each of those parts, though the selection for what the other plants could be has not been made yet.

Such an undertaking needed a little bit more research and an understanding of the herbs market. Quite honestly the money was more in the Mortal gate area of cultivation, even for the equivalent of knights and mages.

There were more people within this particular stage of cultivation, which means the demands for resources were also quite high. But then again materials for the earth gate realms were also in high demand, and they were also quite expensive. But because most of those materials and incredibly hard to grow, there's only a few in the market every time, so he idea of selling in bulk wouldn't work, Alex knew he would probably take a loss in sales if he does that.

But he had a plan none the less, he just needed to find the perfect plant to serve as a flagship product for his earth gate herbs, very much like how the Indian Nightshade would be leading the way for the mortal gate. Alex took a deep breath as he placed the circular clay plate against the ceiling, and let a small stream of his Qi rush out of his hands.

The plate glowed and disintegrated as a ma.s.sive icy blue array formation came to life above the him, spreading wide until it was about ten meters in diameter, and then very much like an air conditioner, it began to release cold air.

Alex was satisfied with what it's effect, until his study of arrays and wards were a little fool proof, they would have to be buying the array plate for the (Wind Chill) array every week. It's not that expensive, but should the person making it realize just how important it was to Alex, he would probably raise the price, which was why Alex hoped he would be able to get another person proficient in Arrays, and maybe someone else good with wards. But all that would be five months from now, when the new students arrive.

Alex came down and moved the ladder away, Geb was hot on his heels, doing what any Cub would do, seeking attention. But Alex had work to do, so he bent down and placed a bottle in Geb's mouth. Alex turned, determined to ignore the fox as sucking sounds filled the bas.e.m.e.nt. Nothing placates a child more than food, or in the case of a baby; Milk. Alex picked a portion that was closer to the middle and the effects of the (Wind Chill) array, he rolled up his sleeves, and the ends of his trousers and stepped into the patch of rich vibrant soil.

Honestly Alex could sometimes feel as if he could still smell the blood used, that he could taste it, but it was all in his mind. Basically it was an after effect of creating a chant and being the one to carry out this first ever ritual. It would fade eventually, but it made Alex extremely uncomfortable, and he would rather not deal with it.

But back to the matter at hand, there was no particular way that the Indian Nightshade was planted, apart from the requirements from climate and the richness of the soil, all you had to do was thrown the seeds over the area you wanted to plant. The Indian Nightshade had seeds that were pollen like in nature, though they don't survive for long when they're not in the earth, except when placed in a spatial ring and stuck in suspended animation.

Either way, because of their pollen like nature, the wind was usually responsible for planting them Within the natural habitats. But without a direct connection to earth, the seeds die just after fifteen minutes. Either way there was wind to worry about here, only cold air. Alex held the pollen like seeds in his hands and blew on them, letting them spread All-over the patch he had chosen. If the earth was rich enough, the first shoots of the Indian Nightshade would show up in about five days...…but that was if the earth was normal.

The Indian Nightshade had a month long growth and maturity period, of course the older it is, the more powerful, vibrant and full of energy it would be.

They were in no rush for money, at least not until the money earned from the auction comes. So Alex was going to let the Indian Nightshade keep maturing until they were really needed, and with a longer maturity time, he could hike up the price, and that should give him enough time to grow more produce and sell them alongside the Indian Nightshade.

Alex then decided to plant within another patch, the Indian Nightshade was a well sought after commodity, too much of it couldn't be bad. He wasn't sure how many pieces of the plant he would be getting from each patch once they're matured enough, but he'll find out soon enough and then guage it with supply and demand. He didn't know if the ritual was really going to perform miracle like Nezha and Ébié had said, but should their Indian Nightshade be the best, Alex knew they could take control of the market and determine the supply, regardless of the demand.

Alex rubbed Geb on his head and picked him up as he made his way out of the bas.e.m.e.nt. The first floor of the tower looked really shabby, but Alex was planning a renovation soon enough, after all the first floor was going to be their reception area. They didn't really know, but Alex was hoping to turn the first floor and all it's ten rooms into a mini Mart or rather a mini mall. The Indian Nightshade would start it off, he would improve the options available by looking to see if he the others had any extra Talents they could bring to the table. Alex was just going to take care of the plant issue within this week, before throwing himself into his studies, a month or two just selling the Indians Nightshade should give him enough time to see what the Academy has to teach.

Alex made his way back to the seventh floor and into the office he had been given, there was something he had been putting off for quite a while now, and he felt it was about time he faced it head on. On his birthday, he's father had given a gift, and a letter, but Alex had neither opened the box containing the gifts, and neither has he opened the letter either.

It was not as if he was scared of opening the letter or anything, but for some reason he has just been avoiding it. Nezha once told Alex that the spirit King was sensitive to the change of the universe, that the things he sometimes sees, feels, tastes, or even actions he suddenly finds himself taking might be in one way or another a premonition of things and events to come. Alex didn't believe Nezha at the time, because quite frankly did he seem like someone who could see the future, or had a supernatural problem, sure he was awesome, but this was just beyond what a mortal can achieve.

But he knew there spirits capable of divining the future, he hopes the mantle and a blank mask is able to get one of those divination spirits. They'll be an awesome addition, being able to tell the future would be cool...or rather the most probable scenario of the future.

Either way Alex finally decided to see what exactly this box of gifts and this letter within it had to tell him, after all these were gifts from his father, it would not be wise if he had put it off for too long, because Alex knew one thing about his father...and that was the fact that all he did, was out of love for his son.