My Master Knows It All

61: Chapter 57 Awkwardness Indeed_1 61: Chapter 57 Awkwardness Indeed_1 Gai Su’e quickly stepped forward to dissuade, regretting having already offended this great grandmaster alchemist and certainly not wanting Gu Chengyu to repeat the offense.

“Elder Chengyu, this is the Peak Master of Four Treasures Peak…”

Just as Gai Su’e began to speak, he was silenced by an intense glare from Gu Chengyu, who then unleashed a barrage of anger, “Gai!

Tell me, what were you thinking!

The newcomer doesn’t know any better, but neither do you, it seems!

Why did you let him touch anything at all?

So what if he’s a Peak Master?

Do you think I’ve never encountered a Peak Master before?

Can a Peak Master carelessly interfere with someone else’s spirit pill refining process?

Do you have any idea how expensive these pill materials are?

Even a Peak Master might not afford to compensate for them!”

Gai Su’e wanted to mediate but retracted under Gu Chengyu’s intimidating gaze.

The Elder’s authoritative oppression, cultivated over many years at the Five-Element Pill Ground, forced him to silently pray in his heart that the elder would stop talking soon.

How embarrassing it would be if the pill actually revived from death!

Gu Chengyu, still not recovered from his rage, grabbed Cao Zhen by the front of his shirt, “You must compensate!

I have collected materials for the Yin Yang Ghost God Pill with the hard-earned rewards from many years of service at Hidden Dragon Observatory!

You must compensate!

If you don’t, we will go to the Master of the Observatory for a judgment today…”

Cao Zhen really wanted to ask if this was an intentional scam of producing ‘dead pills’ for extortion, but the half-completed Yin Yang Ghost God Pill beside him was indeed urgent and could not be delayed.

“First, take a look…” Cao Zhen patted the hand that was gripping his collar and excitedly pointed towards the pill furnace, “If you keep pestering like this, the pill will truly be dead.”

“Look at what!

I see you…” Gu Chengyu scolded but subconsciously turned his head towards the pill furnace.

The hand on Cao Zhen’s collar slackened and his face filled with surprise, “Is this…

revived?”

“If you continue to hold me and prevent my operation, in a moment, it will be thoroughly dead.” Seizing the opportunity of Gu Chengyu relaxing his grip, Cao Zhen turned and cast two mysterious alchemy techniques into the pill furnace, manipulating the intensity of the Five Elements Fire.

The formerly ‘dead’ pill within the furnace rapidly began to turn around, with strands of ghostly and divine essence overflowing from the furnace.

“It’s alive!

It’s alive!

It’s truly alive!” Gu Chengyu exclaimed excitedly, slapping Cao Zhen’s shoulder.

“If you keep slapping and disturb my pill refining, I guarantee it will immediately be dead,” Cao Zhen said, feeling like his shoulder was about to break from the patting.

Gu Chengyu suddenly stopped his hand, the earlier display of anger and dominance disappearing without a trace, as he peered at Gai Su’e with a disgruntled look, “Why didn’t you stop me earlier?

With such a strong Grandmaster Alchemist, why didn’t you tell me more?”

Gai Su’e, for the first time, returned a glare at Gu Chengyu, as if to say, “Didn’t I try to stop you?

How could I possibly hold you back?

Do you see how aggressive you were just now, baring your fangs and all?

Now you think of me?

What was your attitude when I tried to advise you?”

Gu Chengyu, an old hand in these matters, caught the sense in Gai Su’e’s look and refrained from discussing who should take the blame.

Instead, he quickly pondered what to do next.

If this person could indeed revive the Yin Yang Ghost God Pill, then his alchemy skills must be much higher than his own.

Gu Chengyu wasn’t worried about Cao Zhen taking revenge, but his own previous actions seemed like a mangy dog barking at a fierce tiger.

How ridiculous was that?

Cao Zhen carefully manipulated the Earth Fire and alchemy techniques.

It wasn’t difficult to revive the pill, but to elevate its quality was challenging.

If it had been earlier, Cao Zhen would have just aimed at reviving the pill and called it a day.

Now, faced with such a hot-tempered, corpulent elder, it seemed best to improve the pill’s quality as much as possible to avoid any trouble with him.

After all, at a glance, he looked like someone contemplating a sham.

Gu Chengyu watched as the Yin Yang Ghost God Pill was completely revived, with both amazement and curiosity.

He was amazed because having searched the entire Hundred Peaks Sect for an alchemist, none were confident about reviving the pill; only the First Alchemical Grandmaster of Hundred Peaks Sect, Taoist Zhui Long, after much consideration, had provided a method with a mere ten percent chance of working.

This young man had effortlessly revived the pill without the need for the centuries-old power lying within, and furthermore…

Taoist Zhui Long had said that even if the pill was revived, it could only be a lower third-grade pill, yet now, judging through the pill furnace, the quality seemed to have reached the middle third-grade!

Moreover…

the quality of the pill seemed to keep improving with time and might even have a shot at reaching the upper third-grade!

Gu Chengyu took a deep breath, inwardly cursing, “Damn it!

I thought that at best I could only achieve a middle third-grade pill when refining.

This person not only revived it but is also bumping it up to upper third-grade?”

When did Hundred Peaks Sect have such a Grandmaster Alchemist?

How come I’ve never heard of him?

Or is it just a fluke that he knows how to revive a ‘dead pill’?

No!

If it were just about reviving a ‘dead pill,’ how could the quality of the pill be improved?

Could he truly be a Grandmaster Alchemist?

That makes no sense!

Alchemy requires talent, the right pill prescriptions, and wealth!

There are not many in the Hundred Peaks Sect who meet all three criteria simultaneously.

Cao Zhen repeatedly executed various alchemy techniques.

Since this ‘dead pill’ had perished right at the final moment before completion, the transition from dead to alive was but an instant.

The moment it turned from dead to a living pill also marked the completion of the pill.

A spirit of ghostly essence shot up from the pill furnace, lifting the lid high into the air, and the towering phantom of a ghost and god formed by the black and golden qi appeared, soaring high into the sky with the lid.

Gu Chengyu held his breath apprehensively, not daring to breathe, for he knew that capturing the ethereal aura of these many ghostly apparitions into the pill was the final decisive moment for the true quality of the pill.

In his estimation, the spectral apparition of the ghost god should have been just a bit taller than a person, but now it seemed to tower over ten feet tall, and with his own skills, he feared he could not suppress the ghost god apparition at all.

If he truly couldn’t suppress it and let the ghost god apparition escape… Gu Chengyu pondered in secret that he would have no choice but to accept it.

Refining a batch of lower mid-grade Yin Yang Ghost God Pills would still be commendable, considering such a large ghost god apparition was already beyond what an Alchemical Grandmaster could capture.

Even if the ghost god apparition escaped, he couldn’t blame this young man.

While Gu Chengyu was still considering his options, Cao Zhen had already made his move.

The thirty-six Yin Yang Ghost God Pills in the furnace began to rotate at high speed, forming a swiftly spinning yin-yang disk that sucked back the apparitions about to flee the Pill Furnace, which were trying to incarnate as natural spirits, into each pill body.

Mid-grade low, mid-grade medium… mid-grade high… high-grade low… high-grade medium?!

Gu Chengyu watched in astonishment at all that unfolded before him; he stared at the Alchemy Techniques in Cao Zhen’s hands that he couldn’t comprehend at all, feeling as if his entire life’s practice in alchemy had been for naught.

Cao Zhen’s wrist flicked, extracting all thirty-six Yin Yang Ghost God Pills from the Pill Furnace.

Had this been any ordinary day, Gu Chengyu felt he would have been startled, but having just witnessed the resurrection of a Dead Pill and the transformation from low-grade to high-grade, he had grown numb.

Cao Zhen reached up to grab a pill box from the shelf, specifically used for storing pills, and placed all the Yin Yang Ghost God Pills inside it, setting it beside Gu Chengyu.

He then cleansed the Pill Furnace with Dragon Tiger Qi, arranged the first batch of herbs needed for alchemy in different positions within the Furnace, and then closed the lid to activate the Earth Fire and commence alchemy.

With ten Dragon Tiger Dao Platforms and five Dragon and Tiger Immortal Bridges augmenting his power, Cao Zhen was surrounded by streams of Alchemy Techniques that adjusted the furnace’s flame temperature and the sequence of the herbs within.

Gu Chengyu felt a bit embarrassed; he had been ready at the moment those Yin Yang Ghost God Pills were completed.

Such precious pills, transmuted from death to life, he was expecting the other party to boast about their accomplishment in his presence, discussing how difficult it was to bring the pills to life, and to demand a share of them.

After all, such was the customary exchange of favors in the world of immortal cultivation, where a helping hand in reviving the dead warranted a due share of the pills.

But those Yin Yang Ghost God Pills were just too rare!

Gu Chengyu had prepared himself that if the other party mentioned wanting to take some of them, he would exhibit his Earth Immortal Realm cultivation and assume the role of a senior expert to offer guidance in immortal cultivation and help elevate the other’s realm and cultivation base.

In just a short while, Gu Chengyu had deduced the identity of the young man he hadn’t met before: Cao Zhen!

The Peak Master of the Hundredth Peak of the Hundred Peaks Sect!

For every newcomer at Hidden Dragon Observatory, the Observatory Master would send everyone an informative paper crane.

Hidden Dragon Observatory rarely had visitors, and recently, there had been only this one new face.

Naturally, Gu Chengyu had learned the identity of his counterpart and also knew that despite Cao Zhen’s perfect phenom of ten Dragon Tiger Dao Platforms, his cultivation was but that of five phenomenal Immortal Bridges.

This meant that Four Treasures Peak did not possess good cultivation techniques.

Even if Cao Zhen came to Hidden Dragon Observatory and obtained superior techniques, he would need to be able to understand them.

And even if he could comprehend, he had to be capable of enlightenment!

Immortal cultivation isn’t about being given a secret manual and practicing according to it.

If it were so straightforward, why would sects bother assigning masters to disciples?

They could simply issue a manual to each and have them cultivate on their own.

The purpose of having a master is to resolve doubts and queries, and more importantly, to correct any mistakes during cultivation, preventing the practitioners from taking the wrong path or even veering off course.

Gu Chengyu had prepared all his arguments, yet the other seemed not to follow any set script.

This left Gu Chengyu in quite an awkward position.

If he took the Yin Yang Ghost God Pills and left without saying anything, should the Peak Master of Four Treasures Peak someday mention this incident to others, everyone would accuse Gu Chengyu of being thoughtless for not even offering thanks after receiving help and running away with the benefits.

Was this Peak Master doing this on purpose?

Gu Chengyu watched the busy Cao Zhen and speculated in secret.

Pretending to be busy, if deliberate, would mean that this youngster was quite experienced in the ways of the world!

When the beneficiary offers gratitude proactively, the concessions made are often much greater than those achieved through passive solicitation.

Gu Chengyu wanted to cough to remind the other that he was still standing there, but he feared that a cough might disturb the ongoing alchemy process, potentially ruining the new batch of pills, and then he would be the one to pay for it.