Chapter 103
Sighs mixed with ridicule and annoyance leaked out from everywhere.
A few cultivators covered their mouths with fans, sending mocking glances.
“Well, what teachings could a young child possibly correct in a place like this?”
“No matter if she is a guest, she should know her place.”
Jin-wi had turned pale meanwhile, pacing back and forth in a panic next to Baek Cheong.
The guest he had personally guided and brought before his Martial Uncle had just talked back during the lecture.
His mind couldn’t spin fast enough to figure out what to do.
“T-That is, Young Lady Baek… We are in front of Martial Uncle…”
Jin-wi mumbled, unable to finish his sentence.
Then, from the Platform, Dan-gyeong pointed straight at Baek Cheong and spoke.
“If you are so confident, come up here and show me.”
‘Well, it’s my fault.’
Baek Cheong had gotten swept up in a headache-inducing situation, but she didn’t think much of it.
She slowly stood up from her Seat and straightened her wrinkled robe.
Then, she stepped forward with a calm demeanor.
At this, Dan-gyeong narrowed his eyes for a moment at the sight of a young child stepping forward without hesitation.
With her unshrinking attitude, she didn’t look like an ordinary child.
“Tell me yourself what was wrong with This Old Man’s lecture.”
However, Dan-gyeong’s tone was blatantly meant to shame her.
The cultivators inside the Pavilion naturally shifted their gazes to the front of the Platform.
Baek Cheong gave a short bow to show her manners, then slowly opened her mouth.
“The Fire Control Operation that Grandmaster Dan-gyeong spoke of is a flawless method for Refining ordinary pills.”
“And so?”
“However, because you taught it as a flow intended to capture the original energy of the medicinal herbs into the pill without a single speck of damage, there seems to be a flaw when considered from that angle.”
Dan-gyeong kept his mouth shut for a moment and listened carefully to Baek Cheong’s words.
Despite being young, she was bold and clever, and seemed to have a deep understanding of Pill Refining.
The mocking atmosphere inside the Pavilion also quietly subsided.
“The method of suppressing the Fire Control to one side is certainly efficient when extracting the essence of the medicinal ingredients. However, if the flow is meant to preserve even the original energy of the medicinal herbs, the Fire Control must exactly follow the flow of the medicinal energy spreading out and gathering together.”
“…”
“The flow of Fire Control differs minutely for each medicinal herb, and the better the medicinal ingredients, the more the medicinal properties will be chipped away by the fire energy if the flow of Fire Control is not matched.”
The explanation lacked nothing in any aspect.
Because of that, Dan-gyeong’s expression grew increasingly stiff the more he listened.
The ridicule that had blanketed the Pavilion died down, replaced by an awkward silence.
A few cultivators quietly lowered the fans they had used to cover their sneering mouths.
Jin-wi was also staring blankly from the side at Baek Cheong in front of the Platform.
Dan-gyeong kept his mouth shut for a long time, chewing over Baek Cheong’s words, before he finally managed to speak again.
He had his hands neatly gathered behind his back, but the slight trembling of his hands was clearly visible beyond his Robe Hem.
“…From whom did you receive your teachings?”
The scolding tone had already vanished from his voice.
While he barely managed to maintain his formality, the trembling bled right through.
Baek Cheong simply gave another small bow.
“Grandfather Yak-seon…”
A brief silence fell over the Pavilion.
It was because there were many cultivators who called themselves Yak-seon.
“I received my teachings from Yak-seon Gok-cheon.”
However, upon hearing the universally acknowledged Daoist Name of Yak-seon, Dan-gyeong flinched without realizing it.
Gasps of unconcealed surprise could be heard from all over the Pavilion.
A few External Cultivators froze with their fans gripped in their hands, and the disciples of the Biun Sect carefully exchanged glances among themselves.
The prestige of the name Yak-seon was such that it was rare even for those ignorant of Pill Refining not to have heard of it.
In terms of cultivation realm, he was below Dan-gyeong, but among alchemists, he possessed skills that could be counted on one hand across the entirety.
Even before, his name had been tossed around among cultivators as a Quasi-5th Tier Alchemist.
On top of that, his recent achievement of personally Crafting the Five Elements Pill, which no one else could Refine, was spreading from mouth to mouth.
It was a Heaven-Defying Pill that artificially raised the limits of innate Five Spiritual Roots.
Wherever the news spread that the Alchemist known as a Quasi-5th Tier had refined the Five Elements Pill, rumors would follow among the cultivators.
It was the speculation that Yak-seon might have already reached the 5th Tier.
Dan-gyeong cleared his throat and asked the child again.
“…Which Clan are you from, and what is your name?”
“I am Baek Cheong of the Yeonha Baek Clan.”
As soon as Dan-gyeong heard the name Baek Cheong, he recalled the information about the child whom Yak-seon Gok-cheon favored and treated like a Granddaughter.
Her reputation as the Inheritor Disciple of the Pacheon Sword Saint was also circulating quite a bit, but from an Alchemist’s perspective, the weight carried by the name Yak-seon was greater than that of the Pacheon Sword Saint.
Dan-gyeong’s eyebrows twitched, and he closed his eyes, realizing that his action of blatantly shaming her had been an irreversible mistake.
The cultivators who had been listening to the lecture also turned pale and busily gauged the mood.
They quietly averted their gazes to avoid making eye contact with Baek Cheong as she looked around.
“What is this?”
However, Baek Cheong herself was only bewildered by the sudden change in atmosphere.
To her, Yak-seon was nothing more than her grandfather’s old friend.
And she only thought of him as someone who treated her kindly, like another grandfather.
Of course, she knew he was a great Alchemist.
However, she had never thought he was at a level that even a cultivator like Dan-gyeong - the Next Peak Lord of a Great Sect’s Pill Refining Peak and someone about to ascend to the Nascent Soul stage - would find daunting.
Soon, Dan-gyeong opened his mouth again with a cautious posture.
“…The Young Dao Friend’s teachings are correct.”
It had reached the point where he was acknowledging the correction of a Qi Condensation child in front of everyone watching.
At this sight, the cultivators listening to the lecture could not hide their Admiration.
Not a few of them joined their voices in praise, saying it was to be expected of Yak-seon.
“No, that was my idea…”
Baek Cheong listened to such praise out of the corner of her ear, quietly chewing over her unfairness inside.
The results produced by adding Yak-seon’s theories to the nonsense she had come up with were not small, yet her own story couldn’t fit in anywhere.
Even so, she wasn’t in a position to blurt it out with her own mouth in a place where everyone was watching.
She had no choice but to quietly watch her ideas flowing into Yak-seon’s achievements.
* * *
Once the lecture concluded, the atmosphere inside Dan-Jeong-Ru shifted to center on Baek Cheong.
The alchemists also approached one by one, giving their Daoist Names and praising Baek Cheong’s aptitude.
“This Old Man will also engrave the Young Dao Friend’s teachings in mind.”
“It is an honor to meet Grandmaster Yak-seon’s Favored One in this place.”
“If you would take a look at the pill This Humble One has refined, I will repay the favor for the rest of my life.”
Praise and greetings followed endlessly, and then a full-scale gift offensive unfolded.
They were all busy taking out the precious medicinal ingredients they had kept in their robes and offering them to Baek Cheong.
A handful of Thousand-Year-Old Red Yang Herb, a single Cold Moon Flower, and a couple of Cheong-Ok-Ji-Cho roots followed one after another.
As expected of the alchemists gathered at the Pill Refining Peak, the level of every medicinal ingredient they offered was formidable.
However, requests to look at their pills or to mention them to Yak-seon tagged along as solicitations.
“No, what is all this?”
Baek Cheong tried to refuse the medicinal ingredients, but the alchemists stubbornly shoved them into her hands, claiming that refusing would go against propriety, so she had no choice but to accept them.
When the medicinal ingredients piled up for a while in her arms, she had no choice but to quietly tuck them away into her Storage Platform.
Since she had received precious spiritual herbs, a part of her thought it would be fine to use them separately for Pill Refining back at the Main Family.
Jin-wi had been staring blankly at Baek Cheong from the side for a long time.
A sight where alchemists lined up all at once to offer medicinal ingredients was something he had never seen in his 12 years of life.
“Senior Jin-wi, let’s go now.”
Baek Cheong, unable to endure the gift offensive, lightly tugged at Jin-wi’s side.
Only then did Jin-wi snap back to his senses and lead Baek Cheong out of Dan-Jeong-Ru.
The alchemists' gazes followed her back for a long time, but Baek Cheong didn’t bother looking back.
However, she did have the desire to observe how other alchemists refined pills while staying at the Biun Sect.
Jin-wi hesitated slightly beside her but followed Baek Cheong’s footsteps.
Soon, the two of them moved straight to another School’s Pill Platform inside the Pill Refining Peak.
The Pill Platform didn’t have as many people gathered as Dan-Jeong-Ru.
However, the aura exuded by the Alchemist demonstrating on the Platform was not light.
“He is an authoritative Core Formation stage Alchemist within Our Sect.”
Jin-wi informed her in a small voice from the side.
Baek Cheong quietly nodded her head and watched the demonstration.
“A Pill Refining Method that reduces the waste of medicinal ingredients…”
The sight of the Alchemist putting medicinal ingredients into the pill furnace one by one and raising the fire energy continued for a while.
However, his skill in handling the medicinal ingredients was somewhat lacking.
He couldn’t fully preserve the medicinal ingredients, and a portion of them turned to ash inside the pill furnace.
“Ugh.”
Baek Cheong moved her lips without realizing it.
“This is really frustrating.”
This time, too, it was a very softly leaked remark.
However, the cultivator in front of the pill furnace was also a Core Formation stage Alchemist.
The remark muttered by a young child couldn’t help but reach his ears exactly as it was.
The Core Formation stage Alchemist stopped his hand movements right then and there.
The atmosphere inside the Pill Platform flowed no differently than it had at Dan-Jeong-Ru.
“…Come up here and show me. Let the Young Dao Friend try it herself and show me what is so frustrating.”
Baek Cheong shifted her steps neatly with a sour expression.
Since it was her own fault this time as well, there was no room for excuses.
Standing in front of the pill furnace, she modestly bowed her head once.
“Will it be all right if I Refine the pill myself to show you?”
“Yes, let’s see it then.”
Baek Cheong displayed her polished Pill Refining Skill.
The Five Elements Taiji Pill Refining Method was a Pill Refining Method akin to a Secret Art, so she couldn’t unfold it in a place where everyone was watching.
Besides, it wasn’t a situation that required her to mobilize her full power to that extent.
She accurately matched the Fire Control to the flow of the medicinal herbs spreading out and gathering together.
She meticulously inspected the inside of the pill furnace with her Divine Sense, adjusting it so that not a single bit of the medicinal ingredients was wasted.
At the point when the essence was sufficiently released, she gathered Wood Elemental Energy and clumped it together without a single inch of deviation.
Soon, the pills were neatly refined inside the pill furnace.
They were the exact same Top-grade Spirit Gathering Pills as the ones the Core Formation stage Alchemist had made for the demonstration.
However, the number of pills was different.
“…You refined two more pills.”
The Core Formation stage Alchemist quietly examined the inside of the pill furnace with trembling hands.
He himself had only managed to make ten Top-grade Spirit Gathering Pills with the exact same medicinal ingredients.
However, the child in front of his eyes had refined twelve Top-grade Spirit Gathering Pills without wasting even a single bit of the medicinal ingredients.
“…”
Silence fell over the Pill Platform once again.
Soon, the Core Formation stage Alchemist asked for the Source of her teachings with a trembling voice.
A scene that seemed familiar to the cultivators unfolded once again.
As soon as he heard the exact same answer, the Core Formation stage Alchemist showed the exact same behavior, even down to acknowledging his own mistake.
The sight of other alchemists flocking to Baek Cheong’s side and offering medicinal ingredients was also repeated exactly as before.
Baek Cheong received the medicinal ingredients by hand and quietly transferred them into her Storage Platform, adding a small, sour sigh.
‘It’s happening again.’
Soon, she took Jin-wi and looked around one more School, but the result was no different.
Every Pill Refining Method she saw had frustrating aspects here and there. Due to her carelessly leaked mutterings, she was called out in front of everyone to prove herself and gave the answer that she received teachings from Yak-seon. The situation of receiving medicinal ingredients from Alchemists and quietly transferring them into her Storage Platform repeated exactly the same.
‘The Biun Sect’s Pill Refining is nothing special.’
Baek Cheong let out a small sigh after looking around for a long time.
Despite being a Great Sect, they had a low level of Pill Refining.
It was to the point where a few Dao Friends were actually better in the Nameless Forum.
“Senior Jin-wi.”
“Yes, Young Lady Baek.”
“How about we stop looking around the Pill Refining side and head towards the Talisman Crafting side?”
Jin-wi nodded and waved his hand.
Clouds generated by the Concealment Art gathered at the feet of the two.
Soon, the clouds slowly rose and headed towards Je-bu-bong Peak.