Cao Zhen entered the Precious Cauldron Pavilion, immediately drawing the attention of everyone there with his Peak Master attire.
A servant, seeing the garb of a Peak Master, quickly hastened his steps and bent over to greet him, but was stopped by the shopkeeper, who was cracking melon seeds, with a gesture and chiding, "Just because you see a Peak Master's attire, you rush over? There are also poor Peak Masters! This one here is exactly that."
The servant promptly halted, knowing that his own shopkeeper, Xu Qingfeng, was also a disciple of the Hundred Peaks Sect. It was because of his lineage's proficiency in making pill furnaces, well regarded within the sect, that they had this Precious Cauldron Pavilion.
Hearing Xu Qingfeng's voice, Cao Zhen couldn't help but give the speaking shopkeeper a few extra looks. There were a hundred peaks in the Hundred Peaks Sect, and he couldn't recognize all their Peak Masters. Could this shopkeeper actually recognize him? Quite professional! They must all have the portraits of Hundred Peaks' Peak Masters memorized, huh?
"I want to rent a pill furnace, to refine a single batch of pills," Cao Zhen called out to the servant beside the shopkeeper. "The cheapest kind, with a pill room, also the cheapest kind."
The servant looked towards Xu Qingfeng with even more admiration, while Xu Qingfeng revealed a look of astonishment, raising his eyebrows. He thought that the Four Treasures Peak's master had come just to browse, never expecting that he would actually want to rent a pill furnace.
Xu Qingfeng spit out the melon seed shells from his mouth and said, "We require payment upfront here. Even the worst pill furnace at Precious Cauldron Pavilion costs one Spirit Stone per day, plus the Earth Fire fee for the venue, and a deposit of one more stone, makes it three per day in total. How many days do you plan to rent for?"
"One day," Cao Zhen replied, reaching into his sleeve for the hundred Spirit Stones given to him by Elder Copper Plate.
"One day?" Xu Qingfeng forgot to spit out the melon seed shell in his mouth, staring at Cao Zhen as if looking at a fool, thinking to himself that alchemy was a craft that, even for the simplest Gathering Spirit Pill, took ten days to refine a single batch. One day? Are you here just to have a look around?
"That's right, one day! Make change," Cao Zhen placed the hundred Spirit Stones in front of Xu Qingfeng.
A hundred Spirit Stones? Xu Qingfeng looked at the Spirit Stones before him, wondering to himself if Cao Zhen had sold one of his disciples. Where did he get so much money? Wasn't Four Treasures Peak so poor that they couldn't even make ends meet?
The servant was already busy finding ninety-seven Spirit Stones to give change. Although Xu Qingfeng looked down on a Peak Master weaker than himself, he couldn't contain his curiosity and asked, "What's the use of renting for just one day?"
"Alchemy," Cao Zhen took the ninety-eight Spirit Stones the servant had found in change and said, "As a master, I have to provide some pills for my disciples' cultivation, don't I?"
Xu Qingfeng's smile was forced; internally, he sneered: You dare to refer to yourself as 'this master'? What kind of pill can you refine in a day? Are you trying to poison your own disciples? There were rumors outside that you had become deranged, but I used to doubt them, thinking it was just fake news to confound Starshine Peak. Now, it seems you really are the Heartless Demon!
"This way, honored Peak Master," the servant, a mere mortal, still maintained enough respect to lead the way for Cao Zhen.
Xu Qingfeng watched Cao Zhen head toward the pill room of the underground courtyard, room [Gui], and promptly called over another servant, instructing, "Keep a good watch over the shop. I'll visit the gambling house and be right back."
"Shopkeeper, you're going to the gambling house?" The servant was astonished, for the shopkeeper was known to be thrifty, able to squeeze oil from a stone, and wouldn't possibly go to such a financially risky place! What had gotten into him today?
"The buffoon who just came in, he's the Peak Master of Four Treasures Peak." Xu Qingfeng felt like he was about to strike it rich, speaking cheerfully, "I knew before that the two peaks were going to have a showdown, and I knew Cao Zhen was terrible, but I always thought the outcome of such contests was uncertain. However, seeing him like this now, how can I not bet everything I have on Starshine Peak winning?"
The servant felt tempted, "Shopkeeper, are you sure he's going to lose? Should I also bet something?"
"Bet your house on it!" Xu Qingfeng confidently declared, "No, wait! I have to go back to the sect and ask my master to advance me a year's salary from Precious Cauldron Pavilion, and then bet it all!"
The servant wanted to say something but realized that Xu Qingfeng had already left Precious Cauldron Pavilion with brisk steps.
Cao Zhen didn't know that after he had spoken two truths, Xu Qingfeng had misunderstood him once again. Following the boy, they arrived underground, and Cao Zhen immediately smelled the fragrance of medicines wafting from the different rooms.
Was room number one with the character "A" refining Life Creation Pills? Cao Zhen wrinkled his brow and shook his head repeatedly, "This batch of pills is likely going to fail. Although there is nothing wrong with the pill prescription, the fire is lacking by two degrees, causing too much of the fragrance to leak out. In the end, one might manage to make Life Creation Pills, but their effect will be greatly diminished."
The boy leading the way couldn't help but steal a glance at Cao Zhen, also finding it amusing. Hadn't the shopkeeper said this person was no good, and yet he was still acting like a high and mighty expert from Starshine Peak?
Cao Zhen passed by room number two with the character "A" and shook his head again, "The Primordial Unity Pill is a good thing, but with this method of refinement... I'm afraid that if the last batch of pills even produces one pill, it would be considered skillful at salvaging pills. Such a waste of so many materials..."
The boy couldn't help but want to roll his eyes. However, as they progressed, with Cao Zhen continuously commenting on over a dozen pill rooms, the boy realized... something was wrong! This man was able to identify what pills were being refined in the pill rooms just by scent! Hadn't the shopkeeper said that if one could guess correctly three times out of ten based on the fragrance of the medicine, they would be considered a top expert in alchemy?
Precious Cauldron Pavilion, in order to cater to the major clients of "A" numbered rooms, would usually inquire what pills the customers were refining, to better recommend suitable earth fires and pill furnaces. Therefore, the boy knew that Cao Zhen had not made a single mistake along the way!
Upon reaching the last "A" numbered room, Cao Zhen suddenly hastened his pace, pushing the boy forward while urging, "Walk faster."
The boy didn't understand; up to this point, Cao Zhen had been commenting on each pill room—so why was he intending to bypass the pill room of this important person mentioned by the shopkeeper without any comment?
"An honored guest of the Peak Master?" the boy couldn't help but ask, "For the thirty-sixth room with the character "A", why don't you give your evaluation?"
"He's about to cause a pill furnace explosion. What's there to evaluate?" Cao Zhen, pushing the boy's back and urging him to move faster, said, "Dark Fire Frenzied Pill, is it refined like this? Everyone inside is probably going to get blown up! You'd better pre-order a coffin for them."
Upon hearing this, the boy's face displayed a swift change from shock to a cold sneer. He had seen the records for the thirty-sixth room with the character "A"—the person had registered to refine the Heart Engraving Morning Dew Pill. It appeared that this person didn't always guess correctly.
"Don't worry, honored guest, the thirty-sixth room with the character "A" is refining Heart Engraving Morning Dew Pills," the boy hastily explained with a smile.
Cao Zhen sniffed the medicinal fragrance once more, seriously, confirming that it was identical to the Dark Fire Frenzied Pill as recorded in the third volume of the Great Hollow Scripture, and then he realized the person refining pills must have lied to Precious Cauldron Pavilion.
The Heart Engraving Morning Dew Pill was mild in nature—if the refining process failed, it would only result in one batch of wasted pills.
But the Dark Fire Frenzied Pill was completely different! Its nature was like a raging fire, very susceptible to exploding during the refining process. Surely Precious Cauldron Pavilion must have charged a very high deposit, right? After all, if a pill furnace explosion occurred, they wouldn't refund the deposit.
The deposit for the Heart Engraving Morning Dew Pill was clearly low, but the deposit for the Dark Fire Frenzied Pill must be considerably higher, right?
Better not to talk too much! Cao Zhen knew that someone who could afford such an expensive "A" rated room in the Hundred Peaks Sect must also be a person of high strength and status. Speaking carelessly could easily lead to trouble for oneself.
The two of them passed through layer upon layer of pill rooms, eventually arriving at room number seventy-two with the character "G".
In contrast to the finely crafted stone rooms before, Cao Zhen started to understand why this place was so cheap—it was nothing more than a dugout, with a simple pill furnace made of Mysterious Iron, Immortal Bronze, and furnace fire stone.
Once upon a time, Four Treasures Peak had such basic pill furnaces, but in recent years, for the development of the disciples, almost everything of value at Four Treasures Peak had been pawned off.
After the boy left, Cao Zhen no longer dwelled on the current poverty of Four Treasures Peak. He closed the door and activated the pill furnace room's array to prevent disturbances, then placed various medicinal ingredients into the pill furnace.