“Old man, are you slaughtering spirit materials or what?”
Cassian didn’t even flinch.
As soon as he reached the entrance of the ancient tower, he spoke up without hesitation.
The old man’s head snapped around, his eyes flashing with menace.
His voice rang out sharp and cold, “Where’d this brat crawl out from?
Don’t you know this is a restricted area?”
Cassian raised an eyebrow.
“Doesn’t look like there’s a sign that says that.”
“I’ve no time to waste on you!
If this elixir fails, I’ll take your life as payment!” The old man flared up like he’d just swallowed gunpowder.
Cassian rolled his eyes, heat rising in his chest.
He couldn’t hold back.
“You’re out of your mind!
That pill’s already half-wrecked, alright?
You shorted one gram of Thousandbone Herb, under-measured the Skyleaf Water by three grams, and now you’re still blasting it with fifth-stage spiritfire?
“The water’s near dry, and you haven’t even noticed.
Lucky that furnace of yours is built well-otherwise it’d have exploded already.
What the hell kind of alchemy is this?”
With that, Cassian turned to walk away.
Hearing Cassian’s blunt tirade, the old man’s eyes narrowed sharply.
“Hold it right there!”
Cassian froze, instinctively gathering his spiritforce.
That old man’s pill was doomed-no doubt.
If things blew up, it was his neck on the line.
“How do you know the formula for this tier-three elixir?” The old man half-squinted, his voice calmer now but no less curious.
“And how did you know my Skyleaf Water was almost gone?
Speak honestly, or you’re not leaving Violetmoon Vale alive.”
The air tensed so hard it felt like the world had crystalized around them.
A chill shot down Cassian’s spine.
No doubt about it-this old man was powerful, dangerously so.
Running wasn’t an option.
“Come on, old man-it’s just a tier-three elixir, not life or death.
Why so worked up?” Cassian’s stiff face cracked into a grin as he turned back around.
“Truth is-I’m an alchemy expert.
Believe it or not.”
“Expert?
You?” The old man gave him a long, disdainful once-over.
“Spiritcore realm, second stage.
Can’t even summon spiritfire…
and you dare call yourself an expert?”
Cassian didn’t blink.
“Sure, my cultivation’s low, but I have good luck.
Picked up a few fortuitous things in a mountain cave somewhere.
That’s why I’ve got the confidence to say I’m an alchemy expert.
When I hit the sigilcraft realm, even tier-four pills won’t be a challenge-I could refine them with my eyes shut.”
The old man’s brow twitched, clearly suspecting Cassian was blowing smoke.
Still, something made him pause.
“Then do you have a way to salvage this furnace?”
Cassian finally got it.
This old man wasn’t flaring up for no reason-he already knew things were going south with the elixir and just needed someone to blame.
“I said I’m an expert, didn’t I?” Cassian said seriously, placing his hands behind his back as he walked over.
He nodded once.
“Toss in two grams of Thousandbone Herb, half a pound of Skyleaf Water, and four grams of Springgold Root.
Do it fast.”
Cassian added, “Keep the spiritfire at tier three for half an hour, then drop it to tier one and refine for two more hours.
That should do it.”
Laziel didn’t argue.
The batch was already a lost cause anyway.
With a shrug, he grabbed fresh spirit materials from a nearby cabinet and adjusted the refining method per Cassian’s suggestion.
Two hours passed in a flash.
Just when Laziel was about to lift the lid, Cassian couldn’t help but feel a touch of anxiety.
He knew the method, sure-but this was the first time putting it into practice.
And he was saving someone else’s failing batch, no less.
“Ha!
It really worked!
Hahaha!”
As soon as the lid came off, Laziel let out a shocked gasp, then burst into genuine laughter.
Inside the cauldron sat four pills, each glowing faintly with a light yellow hue, giving off a pleasant fragrance that instantly refreshed the senses.
These were tier-three spirit elixirs, perfect for cultivators from spiritcore realm up to tier-four sigilcraft.
Their spiritforce was solid and potent.
Cassian let out a long breath.
At least he’d keep his head.
Seeing Laziel so thrilled, he couldn’t help but tease, “Hey, I just saved your whole furnace.
Don’t you think I deserve a little reward?
Even one pill would be nice…”
“Haha!
What are you saying, young man?” Laziel beamed, grabbing two of the pills right then and placing them into Cassian’s hand.
“Take them.
They’re yours.”
The old man’s generosity was unexpected, enough to make Cassian look at him in a new light.
The guy was surprisingly open-handed, especially considering how grumpy he’d been earlier.
“Honestly, one was enough…
Now I feel bad,” Cassian said with a grin, but he was already tucking both pills into his belt before he finished speaking.
Laziel gave a calm smile.
“I’m Laziel Morcant, alchemist of the Elixir Hall in Arcanum of the Divine Flame.
If you’re willing, I’d be honored to call you a friend.”
Friend?
Cassian knew damn well that the old man had taken a liking to his alchemy skills.
Still, a friend was better than none.
He hadn’t even properly enrolled in the academy yet.
“Sir, you can just call me Cassian,” he replied, cupping a fist.
“I was actually on my way to sign up, but lost my money along the road.
Got turned around and ended up here by accident.
Hope you won’t hold it against me.”
“Ah, no need for that ‘sir’ nonsense.
Since fate brought you here, why not just call me Laziel from now on?” Laziel chuckled.
“If anything comes up in the academy, I’ll have your back.”
Cassian had to give it to the old guy-he knew how to win someone over, and did it in a way that made it hard to say no.
“Well then, I’ll gladly take you up on that, Laziel!”
“I don’t have much to give in return,” he added, “so how about I hand over a rank-four alchemy scripture?
Might be useful to you.”
Cassian knew exactly what Laziel was after.
And if he expected to stick around here, he couldn’t afford to be stingy.
No harm done.
Besides, those two pills were already in his pocket.
Sometimes you’ve got to give a little to get ahead.
There’d be more days like this to come.