Chapter 1577 – Personally Refining a Pill
The reversal in the azure-robed elder’s att.i.tude had all the spectators surprised. Some of them even gave scornful smiles. In the end, this elder had still yielded. The elder clearly had some grudge and was completely unwilling to back down, but now, his att.i.tude had completely turned around, and he was smiling at the arrogant Zhao Feng.
Those of lower cultivation couldn’t see the truth, but as Southcloud City was the most prosperous city in the area, many experts had gathered here. Quite a few of them noticed that Zhao Feng had whispered something to the elder before his sudden change in att.i.tude.
Zhao Feng’s party entered the restaurant and seated themselves at the elder’s table. A waiter immediately delivered a few more sets of chopsticks, cups, and bowls.
“This old man drinks a toast to Young Master!” The elder raised his cup and drank it down.
Seeing that the situation was resolved, the crowd began to disperse. Inwardly, they sighed in wonder at the fact that an expert many levels above Zhao Feng had chosen to bend the knee and put on a smiling face.
After drinking the wine, the azure-robed elder coldly stared at Zhao Feng.
“Junior, how did you know who I was?” The elder spoke so softly that his words were nigh inaudible.
He was the number one prodigy of the Azure City Sword Sect in the last one thousand years, Huo Qingfeng. However, several months ago, the Azure City Sword Sect was encircled and annihilated by an enemy faction. The sword sect’s elders had sacrificed their lives to get him to safety, but Huo Qingfeng was still pursued by the forces of that enemy faction, and he only managed to get to this place with heavy injuries.
His old man form was merely a disguise. In his view, Zhao Feng definitely knew of his real ident.i.ty, allowing him to guess that he was injured and needed medicine.
“What could be so difficult about such a minor matter?” Zhao Feng confidently smiled as he sipped his wine.
He had no idea who this old man was, but Huo Qingfeng probably wouldn’t believe him if he said as much. Of course, if he really wanted to know who this old man was, it truly would be quite simple.
Huo Qingfeng’s cold eyes gleamed with disdain. He clearly believed that Zhao Feng thought too highly of himself. Meowmeow!
The little thieving cat immediately began to shout and gesture as if in praise of Zhao Feng. At present, only by following Zhao Feng could it survive.
The little thieving cat had spent some time in Southcloud City, so it knew a little about Zhao Feng’s status. Since Zhao Feng wanted to make it his pet, the little thieving cat would follow Zhao Feng. Perhaps it could even steal some of the treasures of the city lord’s estate.
“Young Master, I can give you the cat, but please a.s.sist me with my problem!” Huo Qingfeng ceased wasting time with Zhao Feng and got straight to the point.
You want me to help you by extracting the object the cat stole from you and finding a person to refine a Soul Origin Purging Pill for you?” Zhao Feng directly asked. If his guess was correct, the thieving cat had probably stolen the ingredients for the Soul Origin Purging Pill. Otherwise, the elder would not have been in such a rush.
“The Soul Origin Purging Pill?” Zhao Yun and Zhao Yun were both shocked. Wasn’t this a legendary Grade Six high- cla.s.s medicine? Not even the city lord’s estate had many medicines at this level.
At this moment, they finally realized that this Huo Qingfeng was much more formidable than they had imagined.
In the Alakshana World, medicines were divided into grades that corresponded to cultivation levels. A Grade Six was equivalent to the Imperishable Realm.
They felt even more admiration for Zhao Feng now. He was actually able to make someone like Huo Qingfeng calm down and greet him with a smile.
“However, the Soul Origin Purging Pill is a Grade Six high-cla.s.s medicine. There are few pill refiners in Southcloud City capable of making it, and the quality and chances of success won’t be very high….” Zhao Feng slightly shook his head.
Huo Qingfeng’s eyes dimmed. He naturally understood, but he had to take a bet. Otherwise, his body and soul would remain wounded, and his path on the road of martial arts would probably end here.
This thought caused Huo Qingfeng’s heart to seethe with anger and killing intent. He wanted to take revenge, not live his life in fear, constantly fleeing from his pursuers.
“But I have a way of getting you a high-quality Soul Origin Purging Pill,” Zhao Feng suddenly said.
Huo Qingfeng immediately raised his head, his eyes washed clean of disappointment, killing intent, and anger.
Soul Origin Purging Pills of ordinary quality could not completely cure his injuries, but high-quality pills had a chance.
“If Young Master needs anything, please speak!” Huo Qingfeng’s face returned to normal, and he profoundly stared at Zhao Feng. He realized that this boy was incredibly unusual.
“I’ll give you one chance. Become my servant,” Zhao Feng flatly replied.
Zhao Yun’s and Zhao Hai’s eyes flew open, their hearts leaping to their throats. Zhao Feng had actually made such a demand of this peerless expert!?
Even if Zhao Feng was the son of the city lord, he couldn’t possibly have a servant of the Divine Transformation Realm, let alone the Imperishable Realm.
“Are you playing around with me?” Huo Qingfeng was enraged, his voice turning cold and deadly.
A mere child wanted an Imperishable Realm expert to be his servant? What a joke!
He coldly stared at Zhao Feng. If this child refused to be tactful, he would simply kill him, take his medicine ingredients, and flee.
Zhao Yun and Zhao Hai sensed Huo Qingfeng’s killing intent and began to s.h.i.+ver in fear.
The little thieving cat was also so frightened that it hid behind Zhao Feng. For some reason, it felt very safe like this.
“I will talk alone with this old man. Wait for me here.” Zhao Feng looked at the Zhao Clan youths at his side.
“Brother Feng, you…” Zhao Yun’s voice was shaking, but before he could finish, he was cowed into silence by Huo Qingfeng.
“Follow me. I’ll help you out with the pill, and then you can consider my proposal.” Zhao Feng calmly looked at Huo Qingfeng.
“Okay.” Huo Qingfeng remained suspicious, but he also wasn’t worried that Zhao Feng would play some kind of trick.
With Zhao Feng next to him, even if the city lord of Southcloud City came, he wouldn’t dare to do anything reckless.
Before he left, Zhao Feng picked up the little thieving cat, who was playing dead, and then he proceeded to make his way out of the city.
Huo Qingfeng’s face darkened. This kid was going alone out of the city. Was he not afraid that he would kill him and the cat, take the ingredients, and flee?
Of course, Zhao Feng’s arrogant demand from before wasn’t enough for Huo Qingfeng to do something like that. After all, there was a chance that Zhao Feng could indeed get him a high-quality Soul Origin Purging Pill.
The two men and the cat soon arrived at a small river on the north side of the city. The trees here were lush and the people few, making it a rather secluded spot.
“You said that you would give me the pill, so why are we here?” Huo Qingfeng suspiciously asked.
To refine the pill,” Zhao Feng immediately answered, taking out a dragon-shaped violet cauldron covered in intricate designs from his interspatial dimension.
“…you’re going to refine a Soul Origin Purging Pill for me?” After a moment of stupefied silence, Huo Qingfeng realized what was going on and paled.
The city lord’s son wasn’t the typical arrogant boy. He was so arrogant that his audacity would cause the heavens themselves to blush.
A Soul Origin Purging Pill was a Grade Six high-cla.s.s medicine. An ordinary Grade Six Pill refiner didn’t have even a ten percent chance of successfully refining one, and the most talented of these pill refiners were at least five hundred years old, but the majority were several thousand, even ten thousand years old. But this teenager was saying that he would refine a Grade Six pill?
Huo Qingfeng’s face went cold. If this was really what Zhao Feng intended, he might as well just kill this swindling boy and cat.
The little thieving cat trembled. This boy was clearly suicidal, and it would probably go down with him.
“Little thieving cat!” Zhao Feng sternly extended a finger and jabbed it at the center of the cat’s brow.
The cat found this form of address incredibly familiar, and Zhao Feng’s finger moved with deceptive speed. Before it could even try to move, Zhao Feng’s finger had struck.
A nigh imperceptible dream-colored point of light enter the little thieving cat’s soul and into the depths of its memories.
A moment later, the little thieving cat froze and began to crazily s.h.i.+ver.
Huo Qingfeng stared. What caused the cat to suddenly end up like this? The more he stared, the more Huo Qingfeng realized that this cat had undergone a major transformation, but he couldn’t say exactly what it was.
Suddenly, a crafty light appeared in the little thieving cat’s eyes.
Meowmeow!
The little thieving cat jumped onto Zhao Feng’s shoulder and began to affectionately nuzzle him.
“Hurry and take out the pill ingredients.” Zhao Feng faintly smiled.
After taking the ingredients from its mouth, the little thieving cat stared at Huo Qingfeng and smiled.
“Mm?” Huo Qingfeng’s face turned grim. This time, he could no longer see any fear in the cat’s eyes, only an inexplicable derision.
The cat that he could have casually killed earlier now felt like it was capable of crawling onto his head.
What did the kid do just now? Huo Qingfeng grimaced as he looked at Zhao Feng. Just now, Zhao Feng simply thrust a finger at the cat’s forehead, but this had effected an invisible transformation on the cat.
As Huo Qingfeng turned to look, he saw that Zhao Feng had already begun to refine the pill.
“My Soul Origin Purging Pill!” Huo Qingfeng called out.
He had already decided that if Zhao Feng really was going to refine the pill, he would kill him, but the change in the little thieving cat had caused him to forget Zhao Feng’s movements for a few moments, allowing Zhao Feng to start the process.
What could a teenager know about pill refining? Even the pill refining masters of Southcloud City could not guarantee a high chance of success, but at least there was a thin sliver of hope there. If this child refined the pill for him though, there was no hope at all!
But Huo Qingfeng was suddenly entranced by Zhao Feng’s pill-refining method. He smoothly handled the ingredients, even doing two things at once, grinding and refining at the same time. At a glance, he seemed like a grandmaster.
Even though he didn’t understand pill refining, Huo Qingfeng was entranced.
Could this kid really be a pill refining master…? Huo Qingfeng was uncertain.
This boy had given him too many surprises, more than he usually encountered in a single year.
At this moment, a dark blue smoke began to emerge from the violet cauldron. Just by breathing it in, Huo Qingfeng felt his body tremble in relief, a cold and clean sensation in his soul.
“He really can…!” Huo Qingfeng’s face s.h.i.+fted again and again, and he stared hopefully at Zhao Feng.
He speculated that there was something unusual about this boy. He could even be the reincarnation of an expert of the Nine Ranks of Chaos Heaven, or perhaps was possessed by some master.
After reincarnating into this world, Zhao Feng had researched a great deal about pill refining, even trying his hand at refining pills. However, the highest pill he had refined was a Grade Five. He had never refined a Grade Six, but that was more because the level of ingredients was too high to easily gather. Now that Huo Qingfeng had delivered a set of ingredients to his doorstep, Zhao Feng was eager to try his hand.
Bzzz!
Blue light erupted from the violet cauldron, and the refres.h.i.+ng fragrance emerging from it caused the nearby plants to tremble and grow faster.
Huo Qingfeng was growing more and more excited. He sensed that the pill within the cauldron was about to take form. But at this moment:
Boom! Bang!
A m.u.f.fled boom came from the cauldron. The lid was sent flying to the side, and black smoke began to rise.
The scorched remnants of the pill revealed themselves to Huo Qingfeng’s eyes.
Failure. Zhao Feng shook his head. He had never refined Grade Six medicines before. Failing on his first time was rather normal.
But behind him, Huo Qingfeng’s face turned cold and sinister.
This kid was definitely playing around with him! Those smooth and practiced movements were all an act!
To think that he had believed that this kid was some master, the reincarnation of an expert! What a joke!
A terrifying Sword Dao energy began to radiate from Huo Qingfeng’s body, surging toward Zhao Feng.
“Hold on! It hasn’t failed yet!” Zhao Feng immediately shouted.
He hastily picked up the lid and put it back on the cauldron.
Huo Qingfeng couldn’t see a strange energy pulsing within Zhao Feng’s soul.
“Nonsense! I’ll take your life today, brat!” Huo Qingfeng cursed. He had suffered far too great a loss due to this boy. The pill had blackened and burst apart, and this kid was still trying to fool him? He would never believe Zhao Feng’s words.
“Success!” Zhao Feng immediately took away the lid.
A dark blue light erupted from within, bringing with it a faint and refres.h.i.+ngly cold energy.
Huo Qingfeng froze, his eyes going wide. He stared at the three dark blue pills in the cauldron, his mind in complete turmoil.