Chapter 135

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Chapter 135: Being Slapped in the Face

With Minister Professor Zhou’s guidance, Yi Qianmo finally understood why he stayed in the Pill Pavilion every day and refused to go out.

At Tianyuan Academy, Pill Masters are treasured; they cannot possibly go out to find materials. They usually just make an announcement saying they need to refine medicine and ask the cultivators within the academy to gather the materials.

Once the materials are ready, the Pill Master officially starts the refining process.

Even though the materials are collected by others, if the refinement fails, all the losses must be borne by the cultivators who gathered the materials.

If there are no wasted materials, for every furnace of pill medicine produced, the Pill Master takes the biggest share, and those cultivators who gather the materials can only manage to get about thirty percent at most!

A fifty-fifty split? That’s asking for too much!

Thus, countless cultivators tirelessly gathered materials for the Pill Master, and when they received thirty percent of the pills, they were all overjoyed.

"Of course, this is just how advanced Pill Masters operate. Lower-level Pill Masters can only complete the tasks given by the Pill Pavilion, steadily improving their skills to become advanced Pill Masters."

Minister Professor Zhou said, "In the world of advanced Pill Masters, the higher the success rate of pill-making, the more people will come to seek their services, and the Pill Master can also take on requests to make pills for others and earn a commission."

"Isn’t that just running a black market?"

Yi Qianmo replied irritably, as he had never thought of it this way.

In the memories of his ancestors, there was no such shameless behavior; his ancestors usually worked alone, searching for materials and making their own pills, advancing step by step.

"Black market?"

Minister Professor Zhou glared at him and said, "If I call you foolish and you still don’t believe it, tell me, which cultivator would dare to say that Pill Master runs a shady shop? Giving them thirty percent is already generous, after all, do you think recovering psychic power is so easy? It takes psychic power to refine a batch of pills, you know?"

Yi Qianmo was left speechless.

"Come on, follow me to the main hall!"

Minister Professor Zhou took him to the main hall of the Pill Pavilion.

This was Yi Qianmo’s first time here; the place was bustling with people, completely different from Minister Professor Zhou’s quiet little courtyard.

The main hall was mostly filled with disciples from the Tao School and Shu School, and on both sides of the hall, countless tasks were gathered, which would be updated continuously.

The higher the rank of the Pill Master, the more people would take on the tasks, and numbers would appear behind each task.

Yi Qianmo saw that the task with the most takers was for collecting the materials for the Strong Spirit Pill, and the task publisher was named Zhou Yueyue.

Yi Qianmo immediately looked at Minister Professor Zhou and asked, "You can’t be… this Zhou Yueyue, can you?"

Upon hearing this, Minister Professor Zhou’s old face flushed and he said, "What? Can’t I call this name?"

"You can."

Yi Qianmo held back his urge to laugh, "More than a hundred people have taken on the task, some must have completed it, why don’t you go and make the spirit pills?"

"Do you think it’s as simple as wanting to make them? My psychic power hasn’t fully recovered, and without enough confidence, I won’t make a second batch of Strong Spirit Pills!"

Minister Professor Zhou said.

"Not recovered yet!"

Yi Qianmo didn’t believe it, "Is it really that hard to make a Strong Spirit Pill?"

"That’s a third-grade pill. Do you think it’s as easy as making a first-grade Body Origin Fixing Pill?"

Minister Professor Zhou said with annoyance.

Just as they walked in, everyone in the grand hall became quiet, and all eyes turned to look at them, followed by a wave of excitement.

Minister Professor Zhou glanced around, and the noisy hall immediately fell silent; the crowd parted as he walked through.

"Greetings, two Minister Professors."

A middle-aged man stepped forward; it was none other than Deacon Wang from earlier.

Although he called them both Minister Professors, his gaze was fixed solely on Minister Professor Zhou.

He completely ignored Yi Qianmo.

It was no surprise, as rumors had been spreading in the Pill Pavilion that Yi Qianmo only became a Minister Professor due to his connection with Qin Land’s Tang Gate and was appointed as the Deputy Pavilion Lord.

As for the Body Origin Fixing Pill formula Yi Qianmo contributed, that was merely due to familial legacy, and since no one witnessed him refining the Body Origin Fixing Pill, naturally, no one would believe it.

In the Pill Pavilion, few wanted to become Minister Professors, but many aspired to be Deputy Pavilion Lords.

The Deacon Wang in front of me has been working hard in Pill Pavilion for decades. He has been a deacon for over twenty years and is already a top-level second-grade Pill Master.

Many people believe that he is very likely to become the Deputy Pavilion Lord.

A few days ago, when Minister Professor Zhou announced the addition of a new Deputy Pavilion Lord, many thought it would be him, but he felt deeply disappointed because Minister Professor Zhou did not tell him about this, and he knew it could not be him.

But the disappointment was one thing, since there are many second-grade Pill Masters in Pill Pavilion who are at his level.

However, news from the Punishment Hall half a month ago struck him like a thunderbolt—he never imagined that the new Deputy Pavilion Lord would be Yi Qianmo.

Deacon Wang originally did not have a good opinion of Yi Qianmo, and after this event, he not only lost any good feelings but even felt some hostility.

Yi Qianmo could sense this too; in fact, it was not just Deacon Wang. He felt that the entire Pill Pavilion, all the disciples including the deacons, were full of hostility towards him.

But he did not care; he did not need to prove anything to them.

"Go and issue a task, saying that Minister Professor Yi needs these materials to refine pills. If successful, we will share three portions of the pills!"

Minister Professor Zhou handed Deacon Wang a recipe.

Deacon Wang looked very surprised, but he still went to take care of it. The others who heard Minister Professor Zhou’s words were also stunned; they never expected that Yi Qianmo would really dare to start making medicine.

After doing this, Minister Professor Zhou left the grand hall with Yi Qianmo.

"Isn’t that revealing his true self?"

"If he fails in making it, who would dare to say anything to him? After all, he is now the Minister Professor!"

"Yes, if he fails, he can just say that making medicine can fail."

Once they left, people in the grand hall quickly began to discuss it, mostly with disdain and mockery.

Deacon Wang sneered as he watched the scene before him, but he did not dare to take Minister Professor Zhou’s command lightly and issued the task according to the recipe.

"Is the recipe so important that it was released just like that?"

On the way back, Yi Qianmo asked.

"Of course not. The recipe I gave him only has the ingredients, but the real recipe includes the methods of making it, controlling the heat, and the timing, right?"

Minister Professor Zhou said, "Moreover, the ingredients, the three from the monarch and minister, lack a key ingredient. Even if it gets spread around, it cannot be successfully made!"

Yi Qianmo finally understood what he meant.

"Let’s go back and have some tea; now we just need to wait."

Minister Professor Zhou said, "I believe someone will soon gather all the ingredients. After all, this is your first time making a potion, and it’s the Body Origin Fixing Pill. I also want to see it."

"I’ve already told you about controlling the heat and the timing," Yi Qianmo said. "Haven’t you tried to make it?"

Minister Professor Zhou’s face turned red, and he whispered, "I tried to make it once, and I failed!"

"That’s impossible!" Yi Qianmo said.

"I do not doubt you, but making potions does not always succeed. Even though you told me how to control the fire, there can still be mistakes. The best way is for me to watch you make it once."

Minister Professor Zhou said, "Only then can I write everything down completely, if you don’t mind."

"How quickly can we gather all the materials?"

Yi Qianmo asked.

"The latest in a day, but since this is your first time making it, it might be possible to gather everything in just an hour."

Minister Professor Zhou said.

Yi Qianmo felt relieved and followed Minister Professor Zhou into the courtyard to have tea.

However, an hour quickly passed, and no one came to tell Minister Professor Zhou that the materials were gathered.

Minister Professor Zhou felt a bit embarrassed and said, "Let’s wait a bit longer. The materials for the Body Origin Fixing Pill are quite complex, so it might take some time."

After he said this, an hour passed, but no one came to inform him, and Minister Professor Zhou’s face darkened.

"Just wait a little longer, it should be no more than one day!"

Minister Professor Zhou said with a smile, but his face held no trace of cheer. One day quickly passed, and as the sky nearly darkened, still no one came to inform him, and Minister Professor Zhou’s expression became completely frozen.