"Are the foods ready?" Jiang Kang asked as he walked to the giant warehouse he purchased lately. When Lady Luck smiled at him and sent Master Yontu, his life turned around. His shop was about to be shut down because of that Alchemy Shop putting them out of business, but Master Yontu's pills helped them greatly. He owed his life to that old man and he would risk it for him.
"They are all ready, Grandpa." Jiang Yong said as she mopped her forehead. "We will deliver it in a while."
"No accident, remember. If something goes wrong, we cannot explain it to Master Yontu. Even if he forgives us, I won't."
"I know, Grandpa, don't worry." Jiang Yong said with a smile. "Everything is under control. Look, he is here."
"Hello, Sir Jiang, Miss Jiang." Sir Remon walked in with a small smile. He was the Knight who was cheated by the Floating Ghost Alchemy. Later, he was invited to testify about the genuinity of the pills made by Master Yontu. After that day, he would drop by to check materials now and then. Not long after, it became obvious why he was coming all the time. Jiang Yong was also struck by his handsomeness, so their relationship deepened over time.
Lucky for her, Sir Remon wasn't on Xiao Chen's side. He was actually loyal to the previous Queen, The Third Prince's mother, and after her demise, he stayed loyal to the Prince. Now, he was part of their plan.
"Welcome, Sir Remon." Jiang Yong said with a charming voice. "Sorry for troubling you."
"It is no trouble, Miss Jiang. Leave it to me." He answered with a charming smile.
"Don't forget, Remon. All the guards must eat this food three hours before. Not a minute earlier, not a minute late." Jiang Kang reminded.
"I got it, Mr. Jiang. Trust me." Sir Remon said and swapped the table. All the good disappeared in his Spatial Ring. "I will take my leave now. See you on the other side."
"Take care, Sir Remon." Jiang Yong said with worry.
Sir Remon didn't turn back. He raised his hand to wave goodbye.
————
A week after Ezio left the Domain
"It is a happy day, Master Yontu!" Mo Zan, the Branch Manager of the Purple Mirror said as she raised her wine glass.
"Congratulations on finding such a talented disciple, Master Yontu." Envoys from the Earth Kingdom were also there to celebrate. Qiu Tu was with them too.
"It is indeed a lucky day. Little Ezio is talented in many arts. Who knew." Envoys of Fire Kingdom added.
Many other people were there to celebrate the happy occasion. Master Yontu found a disciple talented in Alchemy. It was said he could one day inherit his art. Of course, Xiao Chen was also there. He was sullen and angry, but he had a smile on his face, and a gift in his hand. He had to come here to present it to that bastard he hated most.
If before, he was suspecting Master Yontu's power, now he wasn't at all. It had only been two days since everyone in Zeus's Fury Sect disappeared, and even his Uncle said it was beyond him to accomplish something like that. If the incident of Posedian's Kiss was impossible, this was even beyond that.
"Welcome everyone. Thank you for entertaining this old man." Yontu said with a smile as he presented Ezio, "I thought in this lifetime, I can't find a disciple that can inherit my mantle. But Little Ezio showed tremendous aptitude for the art of Alchemy. I believe in ten years, he can learn everything I know and will surpass me from then on."
"You are too kind, Master," Ezio said with a humble expression on his face. "It is my luck to meet such a talented master such as yourself."
"Now, now. Let's not keep our guests waiting. Let's eat and drink." Yontu said as he sat on the seat of honor. Ezio was sitting next to him, but he was mostly quiet.
The night was long, and drinks were plenty. People drank, kissed each other's asses, and licked Yontu's boots. But towards the end, a strange request came from an unexpected guest.
"Master Yontu, sorry if I am going too far, but I was wondering if you could concoct us a pill. I would love to see a master at work." Taro Mars had high-level cultivation and intuition. Something told him that there was something wrong with the whole thing, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
Yontu at first frowned, but later, smiled as he accepted. "Why not. It had been a while since I cooked with people watching."
As soon as he said this, his consciousness pulled to the Mysterious Room. At one side of the golden octagonal pillar, a new quest appeared.
"Concoct a Duke Grade or Above Pill !
Reward: Golden Witch's Alchemy Notes."
'Alcy, come out.' Yontu said with a smile. It had been years since he had a quest. He didn't know why the room sent out another one at this time, but he wouldn't deny the heaven sent gift.
When he got in front of the cauldron, he called out to Alcy. His mannerism changed, but people thought it was because of alchemy. Even Taro didn't suspect otherwise. After all, people would act differently in various situations.
Alcy was an arrogant man when it came to alchemy. He would only accept the best of the best and would scoff at anything low in quality. Seeing people with fake smiles, fake demeanor, fake everything, he was having a hard time keeping his puke in his stomach. These people were low in quality.
Ignoring everything else, he pulled out some materials from the Mysterious Room. "I will cook Millenium Yin Pill today." He said. A pair of Millenium Yin Cherry appeared in his hand as he threw it into the cauldron. The flames in the cauldron blazed with blue flames as a Signium appeared on top of his head.
The Signium was shining with a blue hue. This alone gave people watching a heart attack.
"6th Curtain! It is a Signium from the Sixth Curtain!"
"A true master! I can't believe it. He is a true master!"
"Legendary Curtain. I thought it was impossible to pass the fifth. So it was true."
Unlike the regular people, Taro Mars knew better. He had seen a fair share of Signiums from the Sixth Curtain and knew what it signified. Even if a person awakened his first Signium from the Fifth Curtain, they couldn't jump into Sixth in the second and even in the third Signium. After all, the Sixth Curtain was a chasm separating the mortals from gods. And that was when the first Signium was from the Fifth. If not, this Signium might even be his Fifth Signium. Taro didn't want to think about that. Because if that was true, then it meant this old man could kill every one of them with a thought, and they would have nothing to stop him.
Ignoring people's comments, Yontu slowly spoke. "Millenium Yin Cherries, as their name suggests, have Yin essence. When thrown to the fire directly, it will create disarray in the cauldron that can lead to an explosion. Normal practice would be to marinate it in high Yang herbs and fruits until it was mellowed down, but that would reduce the effect of the pill tremendously.
Instead, by throwing it into the fire directly, the intense Yang Fire can extricate the essence locked inside the fruit. Later, by adding other Yang heavy materials, the pill can be cultivated." Explaining all of that, Yontu added a Scarlet Fire Peach, Roots of Yang Oaks, and Fire Spirit Grass to the cauldron. The flames burned vigorously as the cauldron started to shake.
People were watching with their breaths bated, and eyes wide open. Seeing a master at work was an amazing experience. They were afraid to miss even a second. After thirty minutes, when the pill came out, they looked at it with their eyes wide open. A single pill, Duke Grade, Pinnacle!