Martial Peak
chapter-5037

While the Deacon was anxious, he saw someone sauntering towards him.

Upon seeing the person, he quickly went over, “Grandmaster Zhou!”

The person was none other than one of the top three Alchemists in the Inner Sanctum, Zhou Fang, who was on bad terms with Zhu Ge Ming.

Zhou Fang grunted as he calmly placed his hands behind his back. With a dispassionate expression, he ordered, “Go get some Green Feather Rattan for me. This Old Master is ready to refine some Universe Formulation Pills. A lot of those pills were consumed in the previous war and there aren’t a lot in stock in the War Materials Hall now.”

Universe Formulation Pills could be considered strategic resources, so there would usually be some reserve of it in the War Materials Hall; however, all of those pills would be fully consumed after every major war. After all, there were only three people in the Inner Sanctum who could produce these pills.

Upon hearing this, the Deacon felt his head aching, for he was asked to get Green Feather Rattan again. Although the ingredient was fairly rare, there would usually be some reserve of it in the Medicine Hall as it was only used to make Universe Formulation Pills. However, he was unable to get his hands on it at the moment.

With a helpless smile, he replied, “Please give me a moment, Grandmaster Zhou. Just now, Grandmaster Zhu Ge came over and took all the Green Feather Rattan. I’ve asked someone to collect some from the medicine garden, but it will take some time.”

Zhou Fang frowned at that, “That old fart Zhu Ge took all the Green Feather Rattan? There was still a lot of it when I came here previously.”

The Deacon kept a helpless smile on his face, “There’s none left.”

Zhou Fang snapped, “That old fart Zhu Ge has gone too far! It’s not necessary for him to use such a dirty trick even if he doesn’t want to let me refine Universe Formulation Pills!”

Upon hearing that, the Deacon was flabbergasted, “You’ve got it wrong, Grandmaster Zhou. Grandmaster Zhu Ge only took a small amount of Green Feather Rattan.”

“Stop smoothing things over. Where’s the old fart now? I need to give him a piece of my mind!”

The Deacon was on the brink of breaking into tears as he tried to explain, “It really wasn’t Grandmaster Zhu Ge who used up all the Green Feather Rattan. Before he asked for it, someone else had been consuming the herbs.”

Zhou Fang was surprised, “Is there another person who can refine Universe Formulation Pills now?”

“No…” A helpless Deacon repeated what he had said to Zhu Ge Ming earlier.

A myriad of expressions came over Zhou Fang before he turned around and left, “That’s ridiculous. This Old Master is also going to have a look.”

The moment he arrived at Heaven Rank Pill Room 3, he saw Zhu Ge Ming standing outside. There was a young man who sported a servile smile in front of him and upon closer inspection, he realised that the young man was Tang Qun.

Tang Qun was heard saying, “Grandmaster Zhu Ge, you can’t disturb Senior Brother Yang while he’s in the middle of refining pills. You’re also an Alchemist, so you are surely aware of what will happen if an Alchemist is disturbed in the midst of Alchemy. If the Army Commanders find out about it, I won’t be able to bear the responsibility.”

Zhu Ge Ming glared at him, “No one is telling you to bear the responsibility. Regardless of what happens, I will take all the blame.”

After he finished speaking, he was ready to barge into the room. A terrified Tang Qun quickly stopped him.

Zhu Ge Ming growled, “Stinking brat, do not force me to make a move on you! Although I’m an Alchemist who knows nothing about fighting, I’m still an Eighth-Order Master! It’s not difficult for me to deal with you. That Yang Boy has indeed made some significant contributions to the Inner Sanctum and I’ve heard that he’s even killed a Territory Lord. However, Alchemy and fighting are two different things. All the herbs in the Inner Sanctum are precious, so none of them should be wasted. Why is he here trying to refine pills instead of killing more enemies on the battlefield? He’s just causing trouble for no good reason!”

With a bitter expression, Tang Qun nodded repeatedly, “You have a point, Grandmaster; however, Senior Brother Yang is in the middle of refining pills right now, so you can’t disturb him… Ah! You’re here as well, Grandmaster Zhou. Please help persuade Grandmaster Zhu Ge.”

Upon hearing that, Zhu Ge Ming turned his head. When he saw Zhou Fang ambling towards him, he snorted with disdain.

Zhou Fang stood in front of them and shot Zhu Ge Ming a dismissive look, “Can’t you just admit that you’re old? You’ve lost all your courage, and all you know is how to shout. Highly improper!”

Like a cat whose tail had been stamped upon, Zhu Ge Ming roared, “I’m indeed old, but you’re in no way younger than I am. You said I’ve lost all my courage, what courage do you have, then?”

Zhou Fang scoffed, “Of course I’m more courageous than you are!” Following that, he landed a slap on the back of Tang Qun’s head, “Scram you smelly brat!”

He was also an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, so although he rarely fought with anyone, his cultivation was not just for show. Upon impact, Tang Qun directly collapsed to the ground and fell into a dazed state. He wasn’t harmed at all as Zhou Fang only used a bit of force to move him aside.

Zhu Ge Ming was speechless at the sight.

“Open the door,” Zhou Fang snorted at Zhu Ge Ming.

Zhu Ge Ming pressed his lips together, “Why don’t you open the door?”

Zhou Fang replied, “I was in a rush when I left my place, so I didn’t bring my Vice Hall Master token with me.”

Every Pill Room had its exclusive access token and no one could open it without that token. This measure was implemented to protect the Alchemists so that they could focus on refining pills.

However, the tokens held by the Hall Master and the Vice Hall Masters could be used to open all Pill Rooms in case of an emergency. If an Alchemist fell into danger in a Pill Room, the Hall Master or a Vice Hall Master could use their tokens to open the barriers and look into them.

Both Zhu Ge Ming and Zhou Fang were Vice Hall Masters, so they had the right to do so.

Zhu Ge Ming sneered, “Seems like you’re just a coward who is afraid of bearing any responsibility!”

Despite what he had just said, he still fished out his Vice Hall Master token and performed a hand seal before casting a beam of light.

The Pill Room’s door slowly opened as a gush of hot air rushed at them.

Zhu Ge Ming and Zhou Fang stepped into the room at the same time and frowned. That was because this Pill Room was void of any pill fragrance. Instead, it was filled with a burnt, acrid smell.

It suggested that things were not going well in this room as the Alchemist must have failed more than once.

The two Alchemy Grandmasters felt heartbroken. Every failure meant that precious herbs had been wasted. They heard from the Medicine Hall that Yang Kai had stayed here for a month already and taken quite a number of herbs. He must have wasted a lot of good things in that amount of time.

They increasingly felt that Yang Kai was messing around.

Zhu Ge Ming had a straightforward temperament, but just when he was ready to openly chastise the young man, Zhou Fang suddenly stopped him and motioned for him to keep quiet.

Zhu Ge Ming narrowed his eyes before turning them forward.

There was a young man who was seated with his legs crossed in front of an Alchemy Furnace, using his power to control the Alchemy Flame. Although two Grandmasters had barged into the room, he didn’t seem perturbed one bit and remained completely focused.

Zhu Ge Ming’s expression turned milder as he was somewhat surprised. This performance suggested that Yang Kai was a calm and collected individual. An Alchemist was most wary of being distracted when making pills, so Yang Kai maintaining his calm even when intruded upon was a praiseworthy feat.

Upon closer look, Zhu Ge Ming realised that Yang Kai had only started this round of Alchemy as the latter was still condensing medicinal liquids. This was the first step of any pill refining process. Even though it was a simple step, an Alchemist’s foundation could be judged during this process.

As Zhu Ge Ming observed, his expression changed slightly, for he realised that the young man wasn’t just messing around like what he had imagined. It was apparent that the young man’s foundation was solid judging from the way he condensed medicinal liquid. Since he was able to condense different types of medicinal liquid at the same time, it also suggested that he wasn’t someone who knew nothing about the Alchemic Dao.

With that said, he could easily spot mistakes in the young man’s process. Despite that, he was still pleased with what he saw.

As he continued to observe it, he soon became puzzled though.

He could recognise every herb that Yang Kai threw into the Alchemy Furnace. He could also identify their medicinal age and instantly figure out what kinds of pills required these herbs. Additionally, he understood when would be the best time to add the medicinal liquids into the furnace.

Nevertheless, when all of these herbs were combined, he couldn’t figure out what pill was being made.

He thus turned his head and realised that Zhou Fang was also looking attentively with a perplexed expression.

Zhu Ge Ming couldn’t help but ask secretly, “What pill is he making?”

Zhou Fang frowned, “I don’t know. Can’t you tell?”

Zhu Ge Ming refuted, “Why would I have asked you if I could figure it out?”

Zhou Fang replied, “It looks like he’s trying to refine a new kind of Spirit Pill.”

Zhu Ge Ming was shocked, “Are there still any Spirit Pills in this world that we’re not aware of?”

It had been many thousands of years since they began cultivating the Alchemic Dao, and they were versed in essentially every pill recipe in existence. However, Yang Kai’s process puzzled them. There was no doubt that it was a new pill recipe, so they couldn’t help but wonder what Spirit Pill this young man was working on.

They initially wanted to reprimand Yang Kai and tell him to do what he was best at and leave refining pills to the experts. Since he was able to fight against the enemy, he should focus on doing that. However, neither was interested in chiding him anymore as they were absorbed in observing his process and waiting for the result.

Just an hour later, a pop was heard coming from the Alchemy Furnace.

Zhu Ge Ming and Zhou Fang felt their chests tightening as they thought it was such a shame.

The moment a burnt smell exuded from the Alchemy Furnace, Yang Kai let out a sigh and got to his feet.

Tang Qun, who was stunned by Zhou Fang’s slap earlier, had already come to his senses as he stood behind the Grandmasters. Seeing that the two Grandmasters were not disturbing Yang Kai, he naturally wouldn’t dare to say anything as well.

It wasn’t until this moment that he rushed over and said to Yang Kai, “Senior Brother Yang, these are the Vice Hall Masters of the Pill Hall. They’re also two of the best Alchemy Grandmasters here.”

He then introduced him to Zhu Ge Ming and Zhou Fang.

Yang Kai nodded and cupped his fist, “Junior Yang Kai greets Seniors.”

Tang Qun looked apologetically at Yang Kai, “Please forgive me, Senior Brother Yang. The Grandmasters insisted on coming over to have a look upon learning that you’re refining pills here. There’s nothing this Tang could do…”

Yang Kai understood him. Even though he was focused on his Alchemy just now, he was fully aware of what was going on around him. Nevertheless, he couldn’t afford to be distracted at that time, despite knowing that the expressions of Zhu Ge Ming and Zhou Fang at the time suggested that they did not simply want to have a look at what he was doing.

Before Tang Qun could finish his words, Yang Kai waved his hand, “I already intended to seek help from the Pill Hall to begin with. Even if the Grandmasters hadn’t come looking for me, I would still have requested to visit them.”

Yang Kai never expected that he could complete the pill recipe he found in the handwritten record on his own. He initially wanted to familiarise himself with the basics of the process and then seek help from the Pill Hall to complete this task; after all, he was the only one who could understand the handwritten record. Only when he was at least a bit familiar with it could he explain the details to the Alchemists in the Pill Hall.

Even if Zhu Ge Ming and Zhou Fang never looked for him, he would have asked Tang Qun to introduce him to the Alchemy Grandmasters in the Pill Hall soon. It could be said that Zhu Ge Ming and Zhou Fang had arrived at just the right time.

He reckoned that it would be best for the professionals to take over now.

Tang Qun had no idea whether Yang Kai was serious or just consoling him, but he was relieved that the latter showed no intent to blame him.