" Splendid work! Truly splendid! Though it is not a passing grade, it truly was a sight to behold!" the fellow greeting Wei Jian.
Looking up, Wei Jian saw an old man around the age of fifty, applauding him. Whilst Wei Jian was refining the [ Foundation Stabilizer Pill ], he was so focused that, he did not notice that all the pill disciples had stopped dead in their tracks. They were all attracted to the amount of aroma that came from his cauldron.
It was a strong alluring medicinal aroma that warranted their attention. Those who were refining their own pills stopped halfway, completely ruining their ingredients. But that did not matter, for they were rewarded with peculiar sight.
A pill so horrendous that not even poor cultivators would purchase would release such an intense aroma. They all came back to their senses when the old fellow clapped his hands. They all postured themselves, paying respects to him.
" Greeting Pill Elder Dong Aiguo!", all of them greeted with their utmost respect. For pill elder Dong Aiguo, was a prominent figure in the sect as their master and sect elder. In addition a master alchemist with a seat in the alchemy guild " Neidan". A renowned guild that produced and traded thousands of pills across seven kingdoms.
All members of the guild were considered higher than most nobility below the earl and countess, viscount and viscountess, and baron and baroness. But those with titles of grandmaster and master of alchemy were considered untouchable. Many noble and poor families fought for chances that their children would become alchemists in the Neidan guild.
But the entrance exam was so harsh, that the percentage of those that passed every ten years that it is held is 1.5 percent. It is also so secretive and no one also dares to leak the process that the percentage would stay the same.
Dong Aiguo moved closer to examine the pill that Wei Jian was holding. He was even more amazed, the more he looked at every crooked and cranny. The pill indeed was horrible, he would've not even fed to a dog. But it was strange, the aroma was that of a high-grade pill. He was about to take it from Wei Jian's hand before he could Wei Jian retracted his arm.
" Ah! How rude of me, I called Dong Aiguo, pill master of the Pill Hall. Seeing as how you have multiple the pill. Is there anything in here that you want?"
True to his character, Dong Aiguo was always searching for knowledge. Wanted to attain the pill that Wei Jian had concocted. He was willing to trade anything so that he could truly examine the mysterious pill that the outer disciple had made. Wei Jian too this point had only thought of making the pills. Handed with the chance to be able to make more pills, he took it.
" Well, I would trade this pill that I made, to you elder, if you are willing to give me a cauldron, and some of the tools."
Wei Jian boldly demanded, which shocked the crowd around them. For him, an insignificant outer disciple to demand so much from a master alchemist. But to their shock, their master, Dong Aiguo, tossed to Wei Jian from his rope a small silver ring. It was not just a regular ring it was a spatial storage ring of the highest grade.
Peeking inside, Wei Jian was stunned that inside the spatial storage were multiple highly decorated cauldrons, a whole bunch of ingredients, and seven jade plaques. It was more than what Wei Jian anticipated, and he did not want to receive any backlash if the trade disappointed Dong Aiguo in the future. So Wei Jian brought out a piece of paper, writing down the recipe's ingredients but not the exact amount needed.
Which greatly pleased Dong Aiguo. Leaving the pill hall, Wei Jian returns home. Sitting lotus style on his bed, about to consume the [ Foundation Stabilizer Pill]. Down the gullet, the pill went. Reacting to Wei Jian's natural body heat, the pill began releasing its essence.
The harmonizing qi calmed down his body that was in shambles. Finally, his mind was cleared of any useless thoughts. After a long time, he finally had the best sleep he ever had. The nightmares haunt him every night for thousands of years and three days were unbearable. It made him face his regrets.
In his serene slumber, throughout the night the witnesses of the event spread rumors. There were those that were jealous and others that questioned if the whole thing was made up. True or not the rumors infuriated Gu Laobeng, for they drew attention to Wei Jian. Ever since he was little, he remembered the useless Wei Jian that stuck to him like a parasite.
Eating and leeching off his greatness. Crippled trash hanging around him for almost his whole younger days truly ruined his reputation. The day that Wei Jian was disowned and truly stripped of his path of at least achieving greatness. Was reduced to dust, a weight on his shoulder finally felt lighter than ever.
And now, Wei Jian somehow managed to come back from the impossible. Since the rumors proclaimed that he managed to refine a pill. That means people believed he was definitely hiding the fact that he was a Ne alchemist.
" Cui bao, keep watch on him, anywhere suspicious he goes and anything suspicious he does. Come and report to me immediately." Gu Laobeng ordered his right-hand man.
TBC….