Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Exclusive Pill Attendant
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Yuk-gyeong had been borrowing books from Deputy Elder Bu's study for several days now.
The disciples guarding the Elder Hall no longer found it strange to see him coming and going.
At first, there had been some jealous glares at the sight of a mere new initiate entering the Elder Hall so freely.
But one day or two felt special, three or four days made it unusual, and by five days or a week, it became routine.
It had been nearly a week since Yuk-gyeong borrowed the books and took the test, so most of the envious looks had faded away.
The disciple guarding the Elder Hall was one of the more valued ones from the Herb Hall—a calm-looking man in his twenties or thirties with long hair always tied back neatly.
"The Elder is probably in the pill refining room."
"Thank you, senior brother."
Yuk-gyeong bowed to him before heading to the pill refining room. He planned to wait there for Deputy Elder Bu to emerge while preparing for the test.
The pill production room was normally under strict protection.
Under normal circumstances, Yuk-gyeong could never enter the pill refining room. Only Deputy Elder Bu could open and close it.
Normally, the pill refining room would have been securely locked, barring Yuk-gyeong's entry. It would only open after Deputy Elder Bu finished refining.
But today, the Deputy Elder had been extremely busy and had been suddenly summoned by the sect leader, so he hadn't properly secured the lock.
Thus, Yuk-gyeong's entry into the pill refining room—where pills were actively being produced—was an unfortunate accident.
Yuk-gyeong peeked inside, noticing the door was slightly ajar. Why was it open today?
"Elder? Deputy Elder?"
There was no one inside the pill refining room.
Only a single pill furnace sat atop the central flame pit, simmering and heating up.
Bubble bubble, clatter clatter!
The lidded furnace trembled violently from the intense heat, as if its contents might boil over at any moment.
Even if it boiled over, the lid kept it contained—it would take blasting the lid sky-high or exploding the furnace itself for anything to spill out.
Uh oh, is that thing gonna blow?
I don't want to touch anything when the Elder's not here...
At that moment!
Yuk-gyeong's Fire Control ability came into play. His eyes pierced through the flames of the pill furnace with sharp precision.
It looks like the fire's too intense—that's why it's like that.
That thing could really explode. A little more heat and it'll go up. Yuk-gyeong could sense it clearly.
Should I turn down the fire? I have to. It'll explode soon if I don't.
No. If I mess with it unnecessarily, I might get blamed.
Wait, if I don't touch it and it blows, I'll get blamed anyway. "Why didn't you turn down the fire when you saw it?"
Yuk-gyeong hesitated.
What the hell should I do?
Right, I'll do it secretly.
If I quietly turn down the fire just enough to prevent an explosion and restore it to how it was, how would Deputy Elder Bu ever know?
With that resolve, Yuk-gyeong cautiously approached the flame pit and blocked the air intake to reduce the fire's intensity.
Once the flames had died down sufficiently, he restored the air intake to its original position.
Then, he quickly turned to leave the pill refining room—
Only to find Deputy Elder Bu standing right in front of him.
"What the hell are you doing in here?!"
The Deputy Elder's bellow exploded right in his face.
Yuk-gyeong flinched, facing the furiously angry elder. Those bulging eyes blazed with rage, sparks practically flying from them. His eyes looked a bit bloodshot.
"I'm sorry, Elder. This disciple made a mistake."
Ugh, I should've just left it to explode or not. Damn Fire Control ability egging me on—I turned down the fire and now this mess.
The Deputy Elder even stammered as he vented his fury. He seemed livid to the core. If you put a pill furnace on his head, it'd boil over in seconds.
"How dare you, how dare you touch my pill furnace? You, you—I won't let you get away with this. My pills! My elixirs! Do you know how crucial fire control is? Fire control is the lifeblood of pill refining! Especially for this elixir!"
The Deputy Elder rushed to the furnace like a madman, caressing it as if it were a lover, checked for issues, then glared back at Yuk-gyeong.
Crazy bastard, elixir-obsessed lunatic.
Best to avoid madmen, but he's an elder—nowhere to run.
The Deputy Elder glared at Yuk-gyeong for a long while before whipping his gaze back to the furnace.
"If opening this shows anything wrong, you'll get beaten half to death and expelled. I'll make sure you never set foot in the Herb Hall again!"
Banned from the Herb Hall!
This was practically a death sentence for cultivation.
How could you cultivate without elixirs to boost your progress? That was just telling him to die.
He didn't need elixirs yet, but as his realm advanced, their necessity would only grow.
Yuk-gyeong paled.
All my hard work down the drain in one go? After all the ass-kissing I did! If I'd known, I'd never have touched it, explosion be damned!
Damn elder. I adjusted the fire on that furnace once, and he wants to punish me that harshly? After all the herb management I did for him! One elixir might be ruined, sure—but why pin it on me?
But the Deputy Elder's attitude was firm. He looked ready to kick Yuk-gyeong out right then.
"Do you know what kind of elixir this is? How many precious spirit herbs went into it? Even if you slaved away as a pill attendant your whole life..."
The Deputy Elder grumbled and fumed like that.
As he said, he'd poured immense effort into this elixir. It used an ancient recipe he'd failed at multiple times, packed with the rarest spirit herbs—costing a fortune.
After several failed attempts, he'd found what he believed was the optimal method and vowed this time it would succeed.
Fire control was such a critical part of pill refining!
He'd set the perfect temperature before leaving for the sect leader—
A slight mishandle, and the elixir wouldn't form; it'd turn to thin gruel or burn black. All potency lost, possibly turning poisonous.
That disciple turned down the fire, so it's probably gruel now!
But maybe some herbs could be salvaged. Or the potency hadn't fully dissipated!
He carefully lifted the lid of the furnace.
Whoosh!
White steam billowed out fiercely, filling the pill room with a medicinal fragrance.
A fresh, bittersweet, nutty aroma spread through the air.
It wasn't the smell of ruined gruel or charred residue.
It was the perfect scent of an elixir with excellently condensed potency.
The Deputy Elder stared into the furnace with a dumbfounded expression. He was utterly stunned.
"Wh-what? It, it succeeded? This elixir that always failed—how?"
The Deputy Elder took out five perfectly refined elixir pills, gently rolling them in his hand, full of questions.
"How, how did you do it? What did you do to make this perennial failure succeed?!"
The elixir-crazed lunatic rushed at Yuk-gyeong, grabbing his shoulders and demanding answers.
What? You were gonna blame me if this perennial failure bombed? Yuk-gyeong seethed inwardly. Can't even punish an old man with sex. Damn.
And how should I know? I just followed what my Fire Control ability told me! I could tell just by looking!
"I, I just...?"
"What? 'Just'? Are you mocking this elder?!"
"N-no! I really don't know! It looked like it would explode, so I just turned down the fire!"
Yuk-gyeong told the truth exactly as he'd sensed it.
The Deputy Elder widened his eyes and asked back.
"What? Looked like it would explode? How did you know the furnace was about to blow?"
"I just knew. It felt like it would if left alone."
"Oh ho, really? You sensed it instinctively, eh."
The Deputy Elder's eyes gleamed strangely—not at Yi Yuk-gyeong the person, but like he was looking at a treasure.
And why not?
Being able to tell the state of the fire just by looking! As mentioned before, fire control was a vital aspect of pill refining.
No one knew better than the Deputy Elder how delicately the flames needed to be managed during refining.
He was one of the rare elders elevated solely on his pill refining skills!
The Deputy Elder recognized Yuk-gyeong as a genius with innate talent for pill refining.
That instinctive fire vision and control ability was heaven-sent pill refining talent!
Of course, he didn't know—and never would—that Yuk-gyeong's Fire Control ability originally belonged to someone else.
Even if it had stayed with So Hyang and she'd been made a pill attendant, would this have happened?
Impossible to say, but as a mortal without spirit energy, she couldn't have gauged the spirit-energy flames properly.
A special ability meeting the right person and shining.
But for Yuk-gyeong, it meant stumbling into a hassle.
The Deputy Elder stared at him with burning, obsessive eyes—as if he absolutely wouldn't let him go.
Elder Hall arrangements? Backing? Screw that now.
"From now on, you're this elder's exclusive pill attendant. I don't care what anyone else says."