For the last time Uncle Wi, he isn't proposing to me, why are you keep trying to embarrass me before him .
Youheard her brother Wi, no one is going to marry my little Ru Yi .
Before I even say anything in protest, two voices soon followed one after another, first it was the sweet and soothing voice of Shi Ru Yi who was like a sculpted marble of jade .
Then came the second voice, it was quite the rough and rigid voice that can only sound of a male and from an angry one too coming from the same direction as the first voice .
This voice didn't try to hide the enmity and hatred he have for me in the slightest in his voice just, he was also releasing a little bit of killing intent from the second he stepped into the room, his aura was recognizable by me in almost an instant,it was the same aura that I had sensed while chatting with Shi Ru Yi earlier in the room .
Looking at the entrance of the Alchemy room, I saw Shi Ru Yi and behind her there was a middle-aged man with quite the grand body stature, I could see his body stature to be even comparable to Uncle Lu San who was till this day the biggest I have seen .
But that didn't mean that either of them were fat or anything, all this was actually muscle mass, so it left a quite deep impression on me, this was the owner of the second voice, this guy who had long black hair and a small beard and looked quite dignified especially with how extravagant his clothes looked like should be none other than the Trading Merchant's Pavilion Master .
As for the reason he held such a deep resentment towards me, this was still completely unknown to me, I don't believe that he was still holding a grudge for what I said earlier, even if he did, he should have at least listened to my follow-up explanation .
Greeting to the Pavilion Master .
The second he talked and made his presence acknowledged by all the people who were present, they directly bowed in greeting to him while cupping his fists, not wanting to sound rude, I did the same thing and greeted him in similar fashion .
Hmm, you guys don't need to do this, come on rise up .
He said this in a carefree manner that made me look at him with a bit more favorably, those easygoing people were the ones I liked to deal with the most, even though his eyes were still glaring at me as if wanting to squeeze the life out of me .
Then I saw the smile on Shi Ru Yi face and her shaking her head at me and understood what she was trying to tell me, so I ended up nodding my head, after the greeting was over, Wi Jon directly stood behind me and said while patting my shoulder :
Shi Wuya, do you doubt my discerning eyes and judgement ? .
Wi Jon was the only one who didn't greeted the pavilion Master Shi Wuya formally like all the others, he just moved his head slightly in his direction and then his gaze was still locked on me and was giving me the chills .
This guy's gaze made me feel like he was looking at some high quality pill or some precious treasure that he needed to keep managing at any cost .
I couldn't help but curse myself for my reckless actions earlier, I had seen numerous people coming into this pavilion and doing business while completely hiding their identity, I should have done the same thing and what exactly did this old man meant by what he said just now .
Shi Wuya reaction to the words made me doubt whether was he trying to help me or curse me instead, the first had his expression change to one that was quite ugly, not only that but the glare in his eyes intensified, but even though he was reacting like this, he still respectfully said :
How can I, brother Wi Jon is already a 4th grade alchemist, if I offended you with my words somehow, then I apologize sincerely .
Shi Wuya seemed to hold this guy in such a high regard because he was an alchemist and not a small one too, he was a 4th grade alchemist capable of concocting 4th grade pills or lower, so this what made him have slight bit of confidence in concocting a 3rd grade pill, he indeed have some insights that could allow him to handle the process .
Wi Jon :
Shi Wuya, 4th grade alchemist, hahahaha , that is something from the past, thanks to this young friend here, it won't be soon before I made the trip to the Imperial Capital to get promoted to a 3rd grade Grandmaster .
Both Shi Wuya and his daughter stood there with opened mouths at the declaration of such a bold claim, they kept shifting their gazes from me to Wi Jon then back to me again, this continued for a few minutes, before Shi Wuya finally regained his composure much later than his daughter did .
I looked at Wi Jon in surprise as well, this was the first time that I had come in contact with the actual ranking system of alchemist, it wasn't difficult to interpret the actual ranking system from this small talks between the two .
Like with the pills, the alchemist are ranked based on the highest grade Pill they can successfully make, he with my help was able to concoct a pill that was expected to be a 3rd grade pill, so him becoming a 3rd grade alchemist was a matter of time, that's all .
It's the title grandmaster that caught my interest, it seem that like with the titles given to Martial Artists, alchemist too had established a hierarchy through these titles, whether was there a higher title than grandmaster is still unclear .
Shi Wuya seemed to have finally managed to gather his thoughts and said while gulping down his saliva and in a more respectful tone :
Brother Wi, what exactly do you mean with this brat's help, isn't he just a brat in the 3rd layer of Organ Quenching Realm, how can he help you in alchemy .
Wi Jon stared coldly at Shi Wuya and directly started pointed his finger at him while saying :
So once again you are doubting my words, Shi Wuya you are quite courageous, even your father would not say such things idly or talk like that to his benefactor .
Shi Wuya understood that the situation was quite severe and he directly bowed his head slightly and said :
I don't dare, I don't dare, I'm just unclear about all that happened and you are suddenly claiming that this little bra...cough, this little friend here is a benefactor to our pavilion, care to explain what exactly happened that made him our pavilion benefactor ? .
I almost couldn't help but laugh at the fact that even though Shi Wuya seemed to want to call me a brat again, it only took one look at how fuming Wi Jon was for him to use another word to refer to me with .
Wi Jon seemed to have been waiting all his life for a chance to boast about what I did, the second he opened his mouth, the words he spat shocked even me, he said :
This young friend here is mor knowledgeable in alchemy than this old man, the person behind him have more in-depth knowledge about the art of alchemy than most likely even my Master .
The pill cauldron was about to explode just now and endless materials would have been lost and injuries would be imminent, but not only he did save the people's lives, but also managed to secure the pill inside, a 3rd grade pill of medium quality had been born today in your pavilion, you tell me if he was a benefactor to your pavilion or not .
As if he didn't get enough shocked and surprised for one day, he actually start stuttering and was unable to say a single word for quite a long time and the one who was actually spoke was the shocked Shi Ru Yi who like her father understood how shocking what she heard was, she said :
You, Young Master Tian actually managed to stabilize the almost exploding cauldron and even managed to help with concocting the pill, wait, does that mean that Uncle Wi had successfully managed to put the pill recipe back together, our pavilion had actually gained a 3rd grade pill recipe .
The girl in her shock and excitement didn't realize that she was holding my hands and acting quite intimate with eyes that seemed to shower me with praise, only after she did this, did her father finally woke up from his trance and instantly a terrifying aura engulfed me as if wanting to devour me whole .
The girl also managed to finally realize what was going on and instantly let go of my hands with an apologetic and red out of embarrassment flushed face, I finally had understood what this guy was angry like this with me for, so it was a father's instinct .
As for Wi Jon, even though this guy looked quite dignified, he was currently acting like as if he was a silly child who liked to pull out pranks on others, he was currently looking at me with a teasing eyes and a knowing look and smile on his face, as if everything was going as it should .
Seeing Shi Wuya angry like this, I was about to clear any misunderstanding between us, but then the old man again said something that was enough to finally made Shi Wuya look at me with a bit of interest and admiration for the first time, Wi Jon said :
This young man here, not only had he stopped the cauldron from exploding, he had pointed out the problem with the pill recipe and I don't dare to get praise for something that I didn't do, without the right portions given by this young friend here, I can say with certainty that even if we had emptied the Treasury, we might not have been able to reduce even one pill .
His words was a bit ambiguous even for me, since even without me interfering, he could have still realized the problem on his own through monitoring the Medicinal Energy reaction in the cauldron, this guy was really trying to sell me good for Shi Wuya, even if I seriously didn't want to see myself as this Man son-in-law .
Shi Wuya stared at me for a few seconds before saying while pointing at the recipe in Wi Jon's hands :
Have you even confirmed that this recipe had indeed been improved, shouldn't you check it out before heading to the capital, I'm not trying to anger brother Wi, but I believe that being cautious with such modified recipe is a must, how about we first check the authentication of this new recipe .
For the first time, Wi Jon didn't argue with Shi Wuya, instead he kept reading through the process of how to make this pill I had altered and began running a few calculations in his mind and hand, before finally releasing a bright smile and saying :
I don't think that there is any problem with the recipe in itself and if any problem rose, then it would be due to my own insufficient insights with the precise flame control needed for concocting this pill, but if this younger brother could help, I have 60% chance to succeed .
" Huh ? .
Huh ? .
Huh ? .
There different reaction sounded over the exact same thing and share the exact same thought, how much confidence did this old man have in me that made him this confident that I could help, I never even touched a cooking pot, not to mention concocting a pill in a cauldron .
The flame control was the step that required the most accurate precision as well, if anything happened wrong the whole materials would turn to crisps or worse the pill would end up becoming a waste pill .
He let a bit of leeway for me, saying that even if the pill making process failed, it will be due to his insufficient insights, it was something that I hadn't expected and just for this sole reason I decided to help him and it was also a chance for me to see how effective can the methods mentioned on the Records On Evil Ways Of Alchemy are .
I agreed to help and almost instantly, Shi Ru Yi took a few guys and directly went to fetch a batch of pill materials in a hurry, seeing the bashful glances she kept stealing at me, I sensed that she was using the work simply as an excuse to get out of here .
Shi Wuya took advantage of his daughter leaving the room and directly approached me with a solemn expression on his face, to see such a look on such a strongman face was enough to make those who were close to me shudder and quickly get out of the way .
I didn't know what exactly was he planning to do, but seeing the way he interacted earlier allowed me to understand that he won't kill me over having a friendly talk with his precious daughter, so that made me feel a bit more at ease .
This and the fact that Wi Jon was the only one who still supported me against whatever that guy might try to do, this old man's strength was nothing to scoff at as well, but whether he was was willing to go all out for my sake is left to be seen .
Shi Wuya stood in front of me and said :
I didn't know that Chen Fan had such attainments in the Alchemy path, to think that he can cultivate a young Monster like you in such a short period of time, maybe I need to send Gong'er to learn under him, how's he doing by the way ? .
I was aware that there seem to be a little bit of misunderstanding going on, but I still answered his inquiry about Master's health without cowering, I said :
" Master is currently recuperating at the dojo, seniors are more than welcome to come and visit at anytime .
Shi Wuya :
Let's talk about paying him a visit after he step out of his recuperating retreat, I wanted to figure how much his alchemy path had improved compared to the last time I saw him competing, he must have become even more of a monster compared to before, at least in term of alchemy .
Sensing the heated gaze of Wi Jon on the back of my head, I couldn't help but feel a bit restless and my reaction didn't escape the eyes of Shi Wuya, he raised an eyebrow at me and I couldn't help but tell the truth about where I got those attainments in alchemy from .
I coughed embarrassingly and then said :
" Well, I had to mend a little misunderstanding here, my current attainments in alchemy isn't related to my Master Chen Fan, it's related to my Spiritual Master who guide me as a Spiritualist .
After I had explained everything to him and how my Master allowed me to have another Master, he still didn't stop trying to figure out the identity of my alchemy Master .
But luckily for me, Shi Ru Yi had come in a clutch after she finished all the materials needed, the Earthly Fire was already on and Wi Jon being the most excited person in the room directly pushed me towards the cauldron and asked me if I'm in need of any explanation on how to work with the Earthly Fire .
I wanted to nod my head as I had no clue about how to use such an array used to extract the Earthly Fire from beneath the earth through the runes etched into every inch of the room and going all the way to the greater depth of Earth beneath the pavilion .
Whoever arranged this kind of setting should be disqualified from doing anymore project in the future, this was the second floor, the pavilion used Earthly Fire to practice alchemy then the place need to be close to the, otherwise not only will the fire still be unstable the more far it need to go after being pulled out of the underground, but it will also become weaker .
As for how I know all of this, well the Records On Evil Alchemy was quite handy, in describing all kind of unique and shifty methods of doing alchemy, but it was in the end an alchemy book filled with knowledge, even knowledge on the Earthly Fire and different kinds of flames were mentioned inside the book .
But what actually prevented me from asking him for guidance was the seal on my mind that had granted me exceptional help numerous times before and this time it was no different .
The second I needed knowledge about certain subjects stored in that seal, a second later these knowledge will appear naturally on my mind, not only that, but will able to process and use them as if they always been my own almost instantly .
This was one of the reasons to why I didn't ask him to help, I had two more reasons for that, the second was related to the fact that admitting my inability to operate this array could make them suspicious of me and it put me at risk blowing my cover .
The third and last reason was related to my own methods of alchemy, he wanted me to control the fire and this was quite an easy thing to do for somone who had acquired forbidden alchemy knowledge and one that isn't afraid of dying after using any method mentioned in that record .
So in the end I decided to depend on myself and the Panel as always .