Various spiritual herbs and books scattered around a quaint quiet room filled with incense fumes. On top of that, there was a faint fragrance of herbs coming from a dark red herb cauldron in the middle.

“Young friend, please sit. May I ask who do you learn from?”

Jiao Mu smiled as he gestured for Ling Xiao to sit down.

The fact that Ling Xiao had displayed his extraordinary talent in alchemy got Jiao Mu guessing that he was a disciple from a great sect or a great sacred place, or he would not be so talented.

“I don’t belong to any sect, and I only gained knowledge in alchemy by accident!” Ling Xiao replied.

“Young friend, you’re too humble. How about we talk about alchemy?”

Jiao Mu assumed that Ling Xiao simply did not want to reveal his background. Nonetheless, he wanted very badly to talk to him about the Seven Mystic Treasure Pill.

“Uh… Alright!”

Ling Xiao agreed after a moment of hesitation.

After all, the spiritual herbs required for Dragon Transformation Pill were very costly. Thus, he decided to give Great Master Jiao Mu a few pointers to repay his kindness of giving him the herbs for free.

Subsequently, Ling Xiao and Jiao Mu began to have a deep talk about alchemy in the quiet room.

Who was Ling Xiao, you asked? He was a pill alchemy supreme from ten thousand years ago. While he had lost his cultivation, Jiao Mu was astounded by the alchemy theories he mentioned.

Jiao Mu could give an input or two in the beginning, but he became awestruck towards the end.

At last, he simply sat and listened to Ling Xiao’s talk on alchemy like a student.

A few hours passed in the blink of an eye.

When Ling Xiao finished his last sentence, Jiao Mu quivered and inhaled deeply before he bowed at him respectively.

“A lesson from you is more beneficial than cultivating for ten years! Master, please take me as your disciple, I’ll serve you wherever you go!”

Jiao Mu was so impressed that he had nothing but admiration for Ling Xiao.

After hearing Ling Xiao’s advice, he too felt that he had a chance to advance through his bottleneck after being stagnant for many years.

Perhaps he could become a moderate great pill alchemist master in no time!

“I’m not a master, my name is Ling Xiao! With that talent of yours, forget about being my disciple!”

Ling Xiao, who found Jiao Mu funny yet annoying, shook his head at him.

What a joke! All of Ling Xiao’s disciples from his previous life had exceptional qualities. They had either advanced to Aristocracy Boundary at a young age due to unequaled combat abilities or became pill alchemy supremes who shook the world.

Therefore, Ling Xiao regarded Jiao Mu’s qualities as ordinary since he was only a great pill alchemy master who was almost at a hundred-years-old.

“Young Master Ling, I won’t get up if you don’t agree!”

Jiao Mu was so thick-faced that he immediately kneeled on the ground. He insisted that he would not stand up until Ling Xiao agreed to teach him.

Other people would have been dumbstruck upon seeing this.

This was because Jiao Mu was a renowned figure in the Ancient Great Barrenland, and a great pill alchemy master whom even the monarch treated with due respect. Yet, he was actually begging to be a young man’s apprentice.

“Honorable Master, I’ve prepared all the spiritual herbs requested by that fella… Honorable Master, what are you doing?”

Right then, Liu Piaopiao entered the room to inform her honorable master reluctantly. Her face changed the instant she saw him kneeling in front of Ling Xiao.

“B*stard, what magic potion did you give my honorable master? I… I’ll kill you!”

Liu Piaopiao lost her temper. She pulled her sky-blue sword out of its scabbard before she struck at Ling Xiao with her sword light.

“Piaopiao, you’re out of control!”

Jiao Mu’s face darkened, and the void turned dense as he grabbed the air with his hand. Consequently, an enormous force formed an invisible air wall in front of Liu Piaopiao, which stopped her sword from going any further.

“Grandmaster?!”

Ling Xiao was amazed as he did not expect the seemingly wretched old man to be a Grandmaster Boundary master, and he was not at all inferior to Nangong Xuan.

“Young Master Ling, please forgive Piaopiao for being young and ignorant, don’t lower yourself to her level! These are the spiritual herbs that you need, and here are a million superior Spiritual Stones to show you my respect!”

Jiao Mu presented to Ling Xiao a jade box filled with spiritual herbs that were prepared by Liu Piaopiao and a storage bag.

“What?! Did you address this fella as your master? Honorable Master, are you being silly?”

Liu Piaopiao exclaimed as she could not believe what she had heard.

‘This old man is quite sensible!’

Ling Xiao wondered, ‘Every spiritual herb I need for Dragon Transformation Pill has been prepared. This old man seems quite rich, it would’ve hurt Nangong Xuan so much if I asked him for a million superior Spiritual Stones, yet this old man gave me without any hesitation.’

Besides, he noticed that Jiao Mu was wholly passionate about alchemy that he had no distracting thoughts at all.

He was somehow touched.

“Alright! Since that’s the case, I’ll take you as my registered disciple, but it’s entirely up to you if you can become an official disciple or not!”

Ling Xiao frowned, and he agreed even though he was unwilling to.

Liu Piaopiao almost vomited blood when she saw his expression.

‘Great Master Jiao Mu gave this fella spiritual herbs and Spiritual Stones, how dare he take Honorable Master as a registered disciple and be so reluctant about it too?

‘Where does his confidence come from?’

On the other hand, Jiao Mu was so overjoyed that he prostrated himself three times.

“I’m paying you my respect, Honorable Master!”

He was not at all embarrassed about acknowledging a young man as his master. He was determined that his passion and belief in alchemy would eventually lead him to the peak even if he was not as talented.

“Get up!”

Ling Xiao waved his hand.

“Honorable Master. If I may ask, did you request for these spiritual herbs to refine the legendary Dragon Transformation Pill?”

Jiao Mu was eager to find out.

“Legendary? Is Dragon Transformation Pill lost to the world too?”

Ling Xiao frowned. He knew by looking at Jiao Mu’s eyes, which sparkled with anticipation, that the Dragon Transformation Pill’s prescription was likely lost to the world.

He could not believe that the alchemy standard of this world had fallen to this state after a million years of world transformation.

“Honorable Master, you have no idea. According to legend, Tiger Vanquishment Pill and Dragon Transformation Pill are the two most suitable spiritual pills during early stages in martial arts. They’re extremely wonderful as they would allow one to undergo a thorough change which improves one’s qualities. Tiger Vanquishment Pill gives one tough tiger bones, while Dragon Transformation Pill gives one titanium dragon bones.

“However, Dragon Transformation Pill’s prescription is already lost, so only the recipe for Tiger Vanquishment Pill is still being circulated, but it’s extremely valuable. It is said that only the Law Protection National Master possesses Tiger Vanquishment Pill’s prescription, and every pill made is worth ten thousand golds!”

Jiao Mu sighed.