There was a moment of silence on the staircase as Li Jun tried to figure out what to say or do. He felt as though every time he met Grandmaster Mao, there was going to be some kind of altercation.
Unlike last time, when two workers offended him, if Li Jun reported what Grandmaster Mao did to his teacher, a grudge would likely form between him and another core refining expert. That wasn't ideal for anyone involved.
"I will overlook your scheming on one condition." Li Jun sighed.
Grandmaster Mao looked up curiously. He figured that he would have to pay some kind of compensation, but as long as it was within his capabilities, he didn't mind. The most important thing was to settle the issue before it spiraled into something bigger.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Just tell me what you want. I'm not stupid. You wouldn't call me all the way here to have a woman seduce me for no reason or just because you are bored. There's something you want from me, so just say it." Said Li Jun.
Grandmaster Mao looked at Su Xiang for a moment and frowned.
"I guess I owe you at least that much. But please don't blame Su Xiang. This was my idea alone." He bowed once more.
"Grandmaster Mao, I'm easy to get along with, but there are two things I can't stand. The first is lying, and the second is scheming against me. If you keep doing this, I might misunderstand your intentions and assume you wish to cause me harm." Said Li Jun.
He knew he wasn't strong enough to threaten the old Grandmaster of the pill tower, but he wanted to make his feelings known.
Grandmaster Mao smiled. If he could trust Li Jun with his word, then the issue of Su Xiang using a charming pendant against him wouldn't cause any further incidents.
"Please come with me. I will tell you in private. It's not something I can openly say, I'm afraid." Grandmaster Mao then led him to the top of the pill tower to his office.
As Li Jun entered the room, two things stood out. One was a large desk overflowing with tall stacks of paper that looked as though they could fall at any moment. But the main thing that caught his eye was a giant black cauldron in the center of the room with strange symbols carved into the floor beneath it. Su Xiang stayed outside. Unless invited into the office, no one could enter. A protective formation blocked all intruders, similar to what Master Shen had on his mountain.
Now that the two of them were alone, Grandmaster Mao turned to Li Jun and stared intently.
"Let me reiterate, I'm sorry for deceiving you. There is something within you that I sensed the first time we met, that is extremely valuable to a pill refiner like myself. I wanted you to take the pill refining exam so I could see it in action myself. But seeing you had little interest in pill refining, it caused me to scheme against you." Grandmaster Mao admitted.
"What is it that you sensed?" Li Jun asked; he didn't have the faintest idea what this was all about, but if it made a powerful expert like Grandmaster Mao scheme against a second-stage body-refining martial artist, it must have been extremely valuable.
"A beast flame." He said bluntly, "In my younger years, I had the pleasure of studying pill refining outside the great Hao empire at a place known as the Pill Palace. Some masters could craft miraculous pills within seconds of touching a furnace. I always dreamed of becoming like them, but I was missing just one thing. A beast flame."
Grandmaster Mao explained beast flames to Li Jun. There was apparently a list of one thousand beast flames that existed across the world. Some of the lesser flames could be found in multiple beasts of the same species. But some flames could only exist in a single beast that was only seen once in one hundred years.
He told Li Jun about how he wasn't strong enough as a martial artist to hunt down a beast flame for himself, and they couldn't be taken from someone by force, so he gave up on the thought of ever seeing one again and moved to the great Hao empire to join the pill tower.
Li Jun remembered when he defeated the beast king, and the strange icy blue flames surrounding his body. Was that a beast flame?
"Okay, so what do you want from me? Even if I did have a beast flame, as you seem to think I do, I wouldn't just hand it over to you. And if they are as valuable as you say they are, do you think you could even afford to buy it from me?" Li Jun asked.
"No, you misunderstood my intentions. I wouldn't dream of doing anything like that. I just wanted to confirm my suspicions, that's all." Grandmaster Mao reassured him, but Li Jun wasn't the type to be easily convinced by words alone.
"How would I go about confirming your suspicions? Will it cause me any harm?" He asked hesitantly.
"Not at all. It's quite easy. All you have to do is channel some spiritual energy through the runes that power the furnace. It will then create a flame, and if you do indeed have a beast flame, it will make itself known to heat the furnace."
Li Jun walked over to the cauldron and looked at the strange letters that Grandmaster Mao had called runes. He couldn't read them at all. The characters were squiggly and merged into each other strangely, looking more like scribbles than actual words.
"So what do I do now?" Li Jun asked.
"Just touch the runes."
Li Jun reached down and pressed his hand against the floor. At first, nothing happened. The runes didn't react to him at all. However just when he was going to remove his hand a bright blue flame appeared beneath the cauldron.