Chapter 436 Bet

It took me some time to get to the front of the Poison Sect. I walked up the stairs and all the way to the Merit Hall with everyone there looking at me with annoyed and very jealous eyes.

After all, I gave the entire hall here the slip when I took my first mission.

"You're back," spoke the elder who was seeming without any people standing in a queue.

"Yes," I replied.

"Do you know that there is a penalty for failing a mission? Since you're back this early, you must have failed a couple. Tsk Tsk, young kids know no patience, if only you took note of all of"

Before the elder could finish his words, I placed all the spiritual herbs I was required to grab, the Blood Dawn Flower, and even the Thunder Mold. Six requests, and six completed missions all placed in front of the elder.

The elder's mouth kept opening and closing.

"One would think that a fly is about to go in your mouth if you keep it open that wide, now, how many points is this?" I asked.

Being rude to an elder is a big no, but this is what he deserves for talking down to me.

"d.a.m.n brat, let me see," he said as he took inventory of the materials, he was making sure that they were all not damaged and paid extra attention to see if they were of bad quality. Annoyed and angry for finding no fault with the brought materials.

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"Forty-seven thousand Merit" the elder said annoyed beyond annoyance.

"Oh, can I upgrade my rank then?" I asked.

"You can only go to the silver rank, if you want gold you're still missing three thousand points," the elder said smiling.

This was a hint to the rest of the cultivators. Since I still need points to go up in rank further, I'm still a walking bounty for them.

"Now, do you want to become a silver badge owner? Or are you going to wait until you have what it takes to become a gold badge holder?" asked the elder.

"Hmm give me a moment," I said.

"I don't have all day make your choice fast," he said.

"Just hold on," I said as I went to the board.

Sadly most of the materials requested by the sect were pretty rare, even my own stash of materials was not a match of what the sect was requesting.

But then, one request caught my eye.

"I'll take this request," I said.

"Huh? That's not something the likes of you can take, leave this place if you don't have what it takes to become a golden badge holder," the elder shooed me away with his hand.

"What's the problem here?" spoke someone who came down from the upper floor of the Merit Hall.

"It's just a kid, trying to bite more than he could swallow, don't give it any heeds," spoke the elder on the booth.

The newly arriving elder looked at me and the poster I was pointing at, then said. "Can you make that? I've heard good things about you from elder Xian but that's not easy to make," he said.

"Just give me the ingredients and I'll make it," I said.

"You know the cost of failing a request like that is not cheap," he said.

"I'll pay in point the same value of the materials, just allow me to make it," I said.

"We'll provide a furnace and the materials, common up if you wish to take that request," the elder said.

I grabbed the piece of paper and went to the elder to authenticate me taking the request.

It was actually simple. Making a Pill. Though most people here are poison cultivators, making this pill will not be easy for any of them.

But for me, that's a different story.

The elder stamped the commission with my name on it and said, "You'll regret taking something higher than your ability, whatever, it doesn't matter to me, at least this will humble you. There exist mountains above mountains and seas deeper than seas, you're but a frog in a well, but at least now you'll learn how grand the world is." The elder spoke on and on.

While I was just waiting for the moment he lets go of the paper so I can move up and ignore his ramblings.

Soon most of the students seemed to part way.

Turning, I saw the same girl from last time, the one that tapped on the floor constantly with her foot.

"What's going on here?" she asked one of the disciples. And they immediately replied to her.

"The new kid is attempting to make 'That' pill."

She looked at me and scuffed. "Even elder brother Xu Tian failed, I doubt this country b.u.mpkin could ever, anyway I'm here to report my mission," she said and walked up to the booth.

I sighed, these little kids, no, it's actually this entire cultivator world, why do they Beg to have their faces slapped? I mean, would it have hurt you to keep quiet? No one would think you a mute of you don't speak. But talk and you'll only have your pride hurt.

Sigh, I'm too old for this s.h.i.+t.

I ignored the group and walked up, while hearing words like, "He doesn't even have the ability to make a reply or comeback, what a weak-willed person," and so on

Just keep inflating your ego and blowing your own horns. At the end of the day, the results are what matters.

Once I was upstairs, I found myself in a large hall that had several opened windows.

There was a giant furnace in the middle of the hall and several elders and cultivators wearing dark clothes all occupied by refining their own pills.

"Inner Disciple Shen Mo, you have requested to make the Soul Wrenching Pill. The materials to make the pill will be provided by the sect, as for the cost of the materials it's 50,000 points that you have to pay as an insurance payment." The elder spoke. It was the one who asked me to go up.

When he mentioned the Soul Wrenching Pill, every alchemist who was working on their own furnace seemed to have lost focus and was looking at me.

"The reward of success is far lower than the cost of failure," I said.

"Indeed, you'll only obtain ten thousand points. But that is so that cultivators who are not confident in their skills do not waste the Sect's materials. Now, are you sure you wish to take on this pill making? You do know that only a purity of sixty percent is what qualifies as having succeeded in making the pill," the elder said.

"I know and acknowledge the terms, now can I begin?" I asked.

"Yes, you may, you may use any furnace besides the Heaven Confining Furnace," the elder said.

I didn't need to look to understand that the 'Heaven Confining Furnace is the giant one in the middle of the hall. But I didn't need something that big.

"Alright," I said as I went around the hall looking for an appropriate furnace.

There was a whole wall of furnaces on one side of the room. Many have been taken and a few of them remained. Some were well polished and some had burn marks and cracks on them. Choosing an appropriate furnace to make this pill is imperative for success.

It didn't take a long while before I found one that seemed to have been neglected for far too long.

It was barely a foot long and wide. Compared to the ma.s.sive furnaces next to it, this one looked like a dwarf, an ugly one at it too.

It was full of burns and its cover was cracked. The base seemed to have remains of whatever was lastly made in it.

It was dirty, needs cleaning and from a single look, one would think that this belongs to the trash.

Yet, what caught my eyes was the material it was made of, although not much of it was made from Cold Steel.

Cold steel is the worst conductor of heat of all metals. But, that is only if one were to use normal heat.

I grabbed the furnace and walked to one corner.

"Disciple Shen Mo," the elder said. "From your choice of the Furnace I already deduced your inability to make this pill, please return all the materials you have and return the commission we will not deduce any points for you since you haven't attempted it yet," he said.

"Did I fail?" I asked.

"No, but going on from here, you are certain to fail, you didn't even understand what that furnace is made from, nor do you know how to use it clearly, it is obvious that you will not succeed and might as well not try." He said.

"I paid the merit points, I deserve to give it a shot," I said.

"But you will fail," he said.

"And what if I don't?" I asked, "Would you care to make a bet?" I asked.

The elder sighed, "It is nothing but a waste of time."

"I'll bet you the remaining fifty thousand points I have that I will succeed," I said.

The elder sighed, "Go ahead then, if you succeed I'll add another fifty thousand points to your balance. I wish you good luck then," the elder said as he shook his head.

Thinking that it was a shame that the resources of the sect will be lost, but I'm sure that at least gaining twice the value of the resources is worth it now.

I placed the furnace in front of me and created a small circle around the area I was going to be working in.

The circle was the layout of a sound-dissipating formation. Once I finished the circle I began writing a formation around me that nullifies sound and vibrations.

It took me a few seconds to finish and once I looked up, the elder's eyes were locked and focused on me.

I smiled and sat down on the small mat provided to me.

I placed the herbs needed to make the pill next to the furnace and began.

Now this furnace has already been 'seasoned' yet it still has some gunk inside it that I need to get rid of. So I held my palm up and smacked the ever-living h.e.l.l out of the furnace's side.

The sound would have been strong enough to cause a mortal to lose his hearing. But with the formation around me, nothing of sound or vibration came out. But the gunk inside the furnace was immediately extracted.

I then placed both of my hands next to the furnace and began applying heat, well, Veridian heat.

"Now, let's get cooking!"