Chapter 29: This Disciple — Old Mu Has Claimed Him

The moment the words "single-breath pill mist" were spoken.

Old Mu and Old Geng joined the ranks of the dumbstruck.

A supreme-grade Profound Darkness Mirror-Breaking Pill — even if they had never seen one, they had at least heard of it.

But a Profound Darkness Mirror-Breaking Pill of single-breath pill mist quality? That was something they had never even heard of.

It belonged to the realm of legend.

And yet this kid Lin Xiao had actually refined one.

Was he even human?!

"Qiao — Old Qiao, you old ghost — how much would a pill of this caliber be worth?" Elder Mu swallowed hard and asked.

Elder Qiao swallowed just as hard, his voice trembling with shock: "There's no way to estimate it. Even if you combined all three batches of materials together, it wouldn't come close to buying a single one."

"Obviously! If I gave you three batches of materials, could you refine me a single-breath pill mist Profound Darkness Mirror-Breaking Pill?" Elder Mu snorted.

Elder Qiao fell silent.

That was simply impossible.

Not even him, a seventh-grade Alchemist, could manage it — let alone any eighth-grade Alchemist.

While the three old men stood there in a daze, Lin Xiao had already carefully divided the Profound Darkness Mirror-Breaking Pills into two jade bottles.

"Elder Qiao, this bottle is for you." Lin Xiao tossed one of the jade bottles over.

"Hey, hey, be careful, you little ancestor — this is a single-breath pill mist treasure!" Elder Qiao cried out in alarm, waving his hand to catch it with the utmost care.

A pill of this caliber, setting aside its effects entirely, was already extraordinarily impressive just to produce. And for a high-ranking Alchemist to study it, it was invaluable beyond measure.

"Young friend Lin Xiao, you're truly giving this to me??" Elder Qiao could hardly believe it.

They had agreed to a cooperative arrangement, yes — but this pill was far too extraordinary.

Others might not know, but he, as a core senior figure of Sword Demon Sect, was well aware that the entire sect had only six cultivators at the Revolving Pill Realm.

With this pill, that was essentially equivalent to gaining a seventh.

For the sect, that was an immeasurable significance.

"Of course. We agreed on the terms — I won't go back on them!" Lin Xiao said with a smile.

He felt no reluctance about it at all.

Once he gathered the materials again in the future, he could simply try refining more.

Besides, this was only a single-breath pill mist quality pill.

Above single-breath, there was two-breath, three-breath, four-breath…

Compared to the pill itself, he felt that building a good relationship with Elder Qiao was far more important.

He had already caused quite a stir at Azure Brush Peak this time around.

Giving away this pill would more or less make up for it.

"Good, good. Young friend Lin Xiao, I'll accept this favor. Ha ha ha — you're far more generous than that stingy half-master of yours." Elder Qiao shot a sidelong glance at Old Mu, then quickly tucked the pill away into his Storage Ring.

The ring was nearly full.

But there was still just enough room for one bottle of pills.

In an instant, Elder Qiao's face was radiant, his mood soaring.

Gone was the wailing, miserable look he had worn just moments before.

In his estimation, this single-breath pill mist Profound Darkness Mirror-Breaking Pill was worth every bit of Azure Brush Peak's losses over the past half-month.

Elder Mu and Old Geng were both quite surprised by Lin Xiao's gesture.

If it had been either of them, they would never have been willing to hand it over.

But one had to admit — giving it to Old Qiao was the most fitting choice.

On that point, neither of them had any objection.

"Elder Qiao, once the materials are gathered again, let me know — our cooperation continues!" Lin Xiao said cheerfully.

"Absolutely!! It's settled!" Elder Qiao agreed on the spot.

What had seemed like a devastating loss had turned into a massive windfall.

Of course there had to be a next time.

And once young friend Lin Xiao's cultivation advanced further, his Alchemy level would improve accordingly.

By then… heh heh heh…

Elder Qiao nearly laughed out loud just thinking about it.

As for the matter of taking Lin Xiao as a disciple that he had mentioned earlier — he had long since given up on that idea.

He understood: he wasn't worthy.

"Lin Xiao, kid — there's no rush on the Alchemy. The deadline on my bet with Old Geng is only ten days away. You've been doing Alchemy all this time — when are you actually going to start cultivating?!" Elder Mu was genuinely anxious now.

He knew that Lin Xiao had comprehended Sword Intent at twenty percent — which meant that when the time came to cultivate Old Geng's Sword Cultivator technique, it would be twice as effective with half the effort.

But what about himself, then?

This was a Body Tempering genius. He was not about to give up on him now.

Seeing Elder Mu grow flustered, Old Geng let a smile creep onto the corner of his lips.

This disciple — he had already claimed him.

"Elder Mu, who said I've been doing nothing but Alchemy these past few days? I've been diligently cultivating that Body Tempering technique of yours the whole time."

"But as for Old Geng's Sword Cultivator technique — I haven't started on that yet. My plan is to spend the next ten days in full cultivation inside Pyre Heaven Sword Tomb."

Lin Xiao gave both elders a brief summary of his current situation and his plans for the next ten days.

Old Geng nodded repeatedly, a smile cracking across his wizened face.

Good, good — this young man was truly teachable.

Old Geng was delighted; Elder Mu was immediately alarmed.

He leapt several meters into the air and pleaded urgently: "Lin Xiao, kid, you're being biased! Why didn't you cultivate the Sword Cultivator technique alongside your Alchemy?"

If things went the way Lin Xiao described, he was surely going to lose the bet.

That was absolutely unacceptable.

"Elder Mu, up here on Azure Brush Peak, where exactly am I supposed to find Sword Qi to cultivate with?" Lin Xiao said helplessly.

He had indeed stored nearly a thousand strands of Sword Qi within his body at the time.

But almost all of it had been consumed in the Alchemy process — there was simply no Sword Qi left over to cultivate a technique with.

Elder Mu deflated somewhat, scrambling to think of some argument to push back with.

But Lin Xiao continued: "Elder Mu, that said — I have made some progress cultivating the Nine Abyssal Demon-Suppressing Seal these past few days. Would you like to test me?"

Elder Mu shot Lin Xiao a glare.

Test what?!

He knew better than anyone just how difficult the Nine Abyssal Demon-Suppressing Seal was to cultivate.

You little brat — you've been refining pills and cultivating at the same time. If you've even gotten past the entry level, I'll eat my hat!

Hmph!

Elder Mu let out a sigh and said, "Fine. Circulate the technique — let me see."

"Alright."

Lin Xiao acknowledged and began circulating the Nine Abyssal Demon-Suppressing Seal.

In the next moment, a three-meter-tall golden demonic seal gradually materialized behind Lin Xiao's back.

A divine light shone from his eyes.

A deep, cold, oppressive aura instantly blanketed the surrounding thirty meters.

"Wha — what?! This… this is impossible!! Third layer, mid-stage — how could you possibly have reached the third layer mid-stage?! Where did you even get the resources to cultivate this far?!" Elder Mu's jaw dropped, and he cried out in utter disbelief.

Beside him, Elder Qiao and Old Geng both fixed their gazes on Lin Xiao, their hearts shaking with shock.

This kid was even more outrageous than a monster.

"I just cultivated through it steadily. As for resources — I used up almost every pill I earned from the Alchemy sessions, and that was barely enough to reach the third layer." Lin Xiao said with a wry smile.

Indeed.

Through his cooperation with Elder Qiao this time, he had obtained a large quantity of high-grade pills.

And yet even that had barely been enough to satisfy the Nine Abyssal Demon-Suppressing Seal's insatiable appetite.

This technique was truly monstrous.

"Ha ha ha! Excellent, excellent! Ha ha! Now THIS is a true genius — I knew I hadn't misjudged him. Old Geng, what have you got to beat me with now, hm? Heh heh. I always said — when it comes to bets and judgment, this Old Mu the Gambling God has never lost."

Elder Mu laughed — laughed with unbridled satisfaction.

Watching Elder Mu's insufferably smug display, Elder Qiao shot him a cold glare.

Old Geng, however, felt his expression crumble, his mood sinking low.

He truly had not anticipated this kind of dramatic reversal.

Ten days, was it?!

Very well, then.

Old Geng moved in a flash and grabbed Lin Xiao by the shoulder.

"Old Mu, you old ghost — the kid just said the next ten days are with me!" he said coldly.

Without waiting for the other party to respond, Old Geng and Lin Xiao's figures vanished from the spot.

"Tsk tsk tsk. Old Qiao, look at him — he's panicking. But what good does panicking do? There are only ten days left. This disciple — I've already claimed him." Elder Mu laughed with delight.