Why was I so blasé about my bet with Gougou? Even if I could make Perfect Rank 1 pills relatively easily, making a dozen in a single night as only a Martial Disciple 2 would be challenging, wouldn’t it? Normally, maybe, but I had a secret ace. Spirit Fire Seed Mastery.

After purchasing mastery over the Cold Mountain Fire, I had gained new insights and ideas that I hadn’t even imagined before.

My primary reason for making this purchase had been to find a way to hide the fact that I owned a fire seed, so before concocting any pills, I pulled a strand of spirit fire from the seed and infused it into my body. Most of the time, this flame would remain dormant, and I would never even consider using it during my normal alchemy sessions. However, if someone tried to examine me, or if I needed to perform alchemy in public for some reason, then this strand of spirit fire would allow me to emulate a normal alchemist.

That said, the ‘mastery’ that I had purchased included additional information I hadn’t expected.

For example, I learned that, since the Cold Mountain Fire was a Yellow-Rank spirit fire, its effects on herbs above Rank 3 would be limited. So, while it was perfect for concocting Grandmaster-level pills, if I wanted to concoct Ruler Tier pills, I would need to find a Profound-Rank spirit fire.

This was not absolute, however. The Cold Mountain Fire was composed of both earth and water energy. If I could acquire six-star earth and water affinities, and if I pumped in enough fire qi into the flames, then the Cold Mountain Fire would be good enough to concoct nearly any Rank 4, Lord-level pill. Unless I was willing to die again, acquiring the necessary affinities to do this might be difficult, but it was possible. This meant that I should be able to rely on the seed of the Cold Mountain Fire all the way through the Lord realm.

To become a Pill King, however, I would need to get a more powerful fire seed.

Roadblocks kept appearing in my quest for a spatial fire seed, and acquiring a different Profound-Rank fire seed for alchemy purposes was just one more hassle that I would have to deal with. While I didn’t exactly enjoy the idea of needing to complete an endless series of side quests on my way to my goal, the fact that the seed I wanted was in the hands of a Formation Emperor let me be confident that it would all be worth it in the end.

When I was finally ready to get down to the job of performing serious alchemy, it was rather late at night, and the fifth floor’s receptionist had already left for the evening. However, members were allowed to use the workshops at any time of day, so I picked a room at random and went inside.

The pill furnaces provided by the Pavilion were all top-notch. They were a step above what I had used in the sect, and I even noticed formation markings on them. However, I had never used a formation-enhanced furnace before, and playing around with them could risk destroying my herbs. So, I left the formations alone and focused on concocting my pills like normal.

Taking the first set of ingredients, I chucked them all into a basic pill furnace without a care. Normally, before even touching their herbs, an alchemist would carefully start a fire and ensure their furnace was evenly heated. I didn’t bother with such things. Really, for such simple pills, I didn’t even need a furnace at all. I was only using it because it slightly reduced my mental burden by taking care of the job of containing the herbs’ medicinal energy for me.

Then, I blasted out a wave of spirit fire, and in only a second, all the exposed toxins were gone on all three ingredients. Then, I used my wood affinity to peel open the herbs’ medicinal energies, careful not to damage their structures, and exposed the final bits of toxins. After sending a small wisp of fire qi to eliminate them, the herbs were completely cleansed.

At this point, I paused. Before combining the herbs together, I spent a bit of time examining them. My qi vision had improved since the last time that I had studied low-level herbs, and I wanted to see if I could learn anything new.

As I studied the structure of the herbs’ medicinal energies, I noticed countless tiny pits, small areas where the structure was… broken.

Seeing this, I reached out with my wood affinity and attempted to massage those areas back into shape. This didn’t work quite right. In some places, the pitting filled in, but in others, it only grew.

While this experiment hadn’t been entirely successful, it had given me a new idea for how I might be able to improve my Rank 1 alchemy skills.

I wanted to explore this new avenue for growth, but this wasn’t the time. I was in the middle of a competition, and performing random experiments might lead to an unexpected loss. Later, however… Later, I would explore this new path to its end.

When I entered the fifth floor’s lobby, the group was already waiting for me at the reception desk.

“Hey, Gougou.”

He growled, his forehead turning black. “What did you call me?”

“Huh? What?” I blinked. “Ready for the judging?”

“Yes!”

I clapped my hands together. “Great. Who’s going to be our judge?”

“I will.” Master Zhong’s voice was as imperious as I would expect from such a ‘powerful’ cultivator.

I smiled. “Lovely. Why don’t you go first, Gougou?”

He slammed several pill bottles onto the counter. “Here! Eight Superior Qi Gathering Pills.”

Master Zhong picked them up one by one and examined each of them carefully. “Five Mid-Quality. Three High-Quality. All have an efficacy above 85%, and some even surpass the 90% mark. Extremely fine work for a Disciple Alchemist.”

Gougou glared at me and snorted. “Give up now?”

“En, your pills are quite good, but I think we should go ahead and get mine appraised first, right? It’s only fair.”

Master Zhong stepped forward before Gougou could say anything else. “Present your pills.”

When I placed twelve pill bottles on the counter, Master Zhong’s face darkened.

When he opened the first bottle and saw the pill that it contained, his expression turned grim.

When he opened the second bottle, he spent a long time examining the pill that it contained, and a scowl appeared on his face.

After opening the third bottle, he stopped.

“I declare Alchemist Gou the winner of this competition. As guarantor of the bet, I declare that Martial Disciple Su is forever banished from the Blue Wind Pavilion.”

After this pronouncement, he knocked my pill bottles onto the floor.

Gougou began laughing nastily. “Fool. If you don’t have the ability, don’t make a bet. Get. Out.”

“Oh? I lost?” I looked at Master Zhong with a confused expression. “That’s surprising. That’s your official judgment as a Guest Master Alchemist of the Blue Wind Pavilion?”

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“Yes.” Master Zhong’s voice was firm and resolute. “This competition is over.”

Suddenly, a voice sounded from the stairwell. “A competition, is it? Sounds interesting. Tell me more.”

WuJing walked out and grinned at everyone.

Master Zhong saluted him. “Manager Chen. This Disciple agreed to a bet and lost. As such, he has agreed to forever be banished from all Blue Wind Pavilion locations. I was simply announcing the final results.”

“I see.” WuJing’s voice was full of concern as he slowly nodded his head. “This was an alchemy competition, and he presented pills of lower quality, correct? That would indeed mean he lost, but humor me. What was the quality of his pills?”

Master Zhong’s face turned to stone. “His pills made it clear that he is no alchemist.”

“I see.” WuJing nodded and turned to me. “Well, what do you have to say? Are you leaving?”

I bowed my head to him. “If that is Master Zhong’s official and unbiased judgment as a Guest Master Alchemist of the Blue Wind Pavilion, then I have no choice. If his expert opinion is that the pills I crafted are of a lower quality than his disciple’s, then how can I remain?”

“Indeed.” WuJing bobbed his head and turned back to Master Zhong.

Everyone stood there for several moments. No one was willing to be the first to move.

Master Zhong’s face darkened further, and a frown crept onto his face, but he didn’t say any more.

Eventually, WuJing broke the stalemate. “Well, since we are all already here, I may as well take a look at the pills these two concocted. What do you say?”

“That is not necessary,” I interjected before anyone else could reply. “Master Zhong is clearly unbiased in his decisions, so I must have lost.”

WuJing shook his head. “Nonsense. I wouldn’t dare to question a Master Alchemist, but I would

like to see what the two of you are capable of. After all, if Disciple Gou can best you, then his skills must be exceptional.”

Without waiting for a response, WuJing stepped over and started looking through Gougou’s pills. Then, once his appraisal was complete, he nodded. “With twelve sets of ingredients, you were able to concoct a single pill worthy of being sold in the Pavilion. That’s not bad for your age. With hard work, you may have a future.”

Gougou smirked at me as he bowed to WuJing. “Thank you, Manager Chen.”

After accepting this bow, WuJing looked around, confused, until he spotted the bottles that Master Zhong had knocked off the desk. “Ah, Alchemist Su’s pills seemed to have fallen onto the floor.”

He bent down, picked up one of the bottles, and opened it. After examining the pill inside, he carefully returned it to the bottle and then placed the bottle on the reception desk.

Then, he slowly examined one pill after another. After the twelfth one was placed back down on the desk, he looked at Master Zhong. “I see. Quite interesting.”

Again, we all stood there for several moments without anyone willing to move. This time, however, it was Gougou who broke the silence.

“Do you need someone to show you the way? Get out!”

I smiled at him without saying a word.

WuJing didn’t even look at the younger man. “Master Zhong?”

When the Master Alchemist didn’t respond, WuJing continued. “What was the bet, exactly?”

Master Zhong cleared his throat. “Each person was given one week to concoct the best pills they could from twelve sets of ingredients. The person whose pills had the higher total value would win.”

WuJing continued staring at him. “And?”

Master Zhong clenched his teeth. “Disciple Su violated the rules and did not return pills made with the ingredients that he was given.”

“Really? Why do you say that?”

“These pills couldn’t possibly have been made from normal herbs. He must have had a Master Alchemist concoct them using specialty herbs grown by a Master Herbalist. That is my official judgment as the officiator of this competition.”

“Hmm.” WuJing’s voice turned a little cold. “And you want to banish a member of the Blue Wind Pavilion based only on that judgment?”

“No… no.” Master Zhong’s eyes suddenly widened in horror, realizing his oversight. “He agreed to the bet. He cheated. I do not wish to banish him, but that is what he agreed to.”

WuJing glanced at me. “Su Fang. Did you cheat?”

I shook my head lightly. “No.”

“Bullshit!” Zhong screamed as his composure finally broke. “I couldn’t have made pills of that quality, even if I had used the Pavilion’s best herbs. There is absolutely no way that some yellow-haired brat could where I would fail!”

WuJing nodded with a straight face. “Alchemist Su, how should we handle this?”

“In Master Zhong’s fair and unbiased opinion, there is no way that I could have made these pills with the herbs provided.” I stroked my chin thoughtfully. “I could… I could make another pill in front of everyone to prove myself…”

“What?” growled Zhong.

I looked at the floor with a worried expression. “I could, but then, where would I put my face? For a guest alchemist to ask a member of the Blue Wind Pavilion to prove his honesty? That’s not just slapping my face. That’s slapping the face of the entire Pavilion. I think Manager Chen should make a decision for me here.”

WuJing considered, then looked at Zhong. “You stake your reputation on the fact that it is impossible for Alchemist Su to concoct these pills with normal ingredients?”

At this point, Zhong was in a tight spot, but he was already riding a tiger. “Yes.”

WuJing smiled, relieved. “Great, that makes things simple. Su Fang, you will be given one set of ingredients. Concoct a Perfect pill with more than 100% standard efficacy, or you will be expelled from the Pavilion. If you are successful, Alchemist Zhong will lose his position as guest alchemist.”

I bowed. “Understood.”

Zhong’s face contorted in rage, but he held his tongue.

After that, we waited as the receptionist, Xu YuLin, left and gathered the necessary ingredients. When she returned, everyone followed me to the room that I had used the previous night.

“How dare you use Master Zhong’s workshop!” Gougou’s roar was loud enough to interrupt anyone who might have been hard at work in the nearby rooms.

I glanced at him and then looked at WuJing. “Are the workshops reserved for certain people? I wasn’t aware. There are no signs.”

WuJing shook his head. “No. Workshops can be used by anyone.”

“Interesting.” I didn’t look back again.

After entering the room, I walked up to the basic pill furnace, and everyone else circled around me. Deciding not to use my spirit fire, I lit the burner below the furnace to begin heating it.

I was putting on a show. I was a perfectly normal Disciple Alchemist.

Once the furnace was ready, I chucked all the herbs in at once.

Gougou began laughing. “He doesn’t even know the basics of alchemy!”

I turned and gave him a look of pity.

Without wasting any time, I melted the ingredients and burned off their toxins. Then, I carefully eliminated the small bits that remained in each herb. Finally, on impulse, I reached out and tried to fix the small pitting issue that I had noticed the previous night.

When my pill was finished, I examined it. Perfect pill, 100.3% standard efficacy. I was getting better.

I didn’t remove this pill from the furnace. Instead, I let WuJing do the honors to ensure that everything was above board.

After appraising my pill, WuJing nodded solemnly. “As the guarantor of this competition, I hereby announce that Alchemist Su is victorious. Master Zhong will be stripped of his guest alchemist title, and Alchemist Gou is hereby banished from all Blue Wind Pavilion locations.”

Gou’s face went pale. “WHAT!”

Master Zhong’s state wasn’t any better. “You can’t do that! My uncle—”

WuJing held up a hand to cut him off. “Please contact him for me. I’ll be happy to explain everything and let him decide on the appropriate course of action.”

Zhong and Gougou both tried to speak again, but WuJing looked at me.

“Shall we talk in my office?”

I grinned. “Sure.”

Once we were alone, WuJing looked at me, concerned. “His uncle might cause you problems, you know?”

“Yeah, I know.” I sighed helplessly. “I still feel that was the right way to handle it, though. I needed to establish my prestige here, and those two offered themselves up freely. And anyway, that disciple of his was a bit too far gone. Things would have ended up like this one way or the other, no matter what I had done.”

WuJing shook his head in commiseration. “You aren’t wrong, but you still need to be careful. Zhong is just a Martial Master, and his uncle is a Grandmaster. They can’t do anything to you while you are inside the Pavilion, but if you leave, they might decide to attack you.”

I sighed. “Nothing is ever easy. Hiring a long-term Grandmaster-level bodyguard isn’t an option for me at the moment. If I need to go out, can the Pavilion provide me protection?”

WuJing nodded. “Yes, but it still costs. Your pills are the best that I’ve seen from a Disciple Alchemist, and Perfect pills have a good markup on them, but they’re still only Rank 1. They won’t be enough to afford a Grandmaster.”

I sat and thought for a bit. “As long as I’m careful, I can probably make a small number of Perfect Rank 2 pills. It will be difficult with my limited qi pool, but I should be able to manage it. By the mid-Disciple levels, it will certainly be possible. I plan to take my time advancing, but worst case, I’ll just hole up in the Pavilion for a year or two.”

Upon hearing that I, a Martial Disciple 2, thought that I could make Perfect Rank 2 pills, WuJing’s expression flashed, but he restrained himself and only started tapping rapidly on his armrest.

“If you can make Rank 2 pills, that might be for the best. There is another angle we need to consider here. We’ve just expelled one of the few on-call Master Alchemists that we had at this branch. No one should blame you for it, but they will. If we can’t fulfill orders because Zhong is gone, there will be trouble.”

I stroked my chin thoughtfully. “I can cover anything for Rank 1, but Rank 2 will be trickier. Let others handle what they can, but if something is about to slip through, come and find me. I’ll take care of it.”

WuJing gave me a serious look. Then, he nodded his head sharply.