Translated by Kollumceti of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
You XiaoMo lifted his head and turned to look at the old geezer. The old geezer still had his eyes closed and was not moving a single muscle. There were only the occasional 'puchi puchi' sounds from the caldron. It seemed as if that feeling just now was only an illusion.
However, before he had the time to think, the movements from the caldron grew greater. You XiaoMo could feel an extremely large energy coming from the caldron, and like an invisible hand, it instantly launched him a meter away.
You XiaoMo stared in astonishment with his eyes wide open.
He was now certain that the old geezer was refining pills.
This method of refining pills broadened his horizons. Who would have thought that pills could be refined this way?
After a period of time, the old geezer suddenly opened his eyes, and expelled a yell, "Condense!"
Following this sound, the caldron suddenly let off a 'weng' sound. With a sudden speed that made it visible to the naked eye, the spirit energy in the Pill Refining Room rapidly surged into the caldron as if there was a strong vacuum inside. The rapid absorption rate caused the spirit energy to form into a big whirlpool.
This situation lasted for nearly a full hour before the speed of the caldron absorbing the spirit energy stabilized, until it finally stopped.
You XiaoMo felt the energy fluctuations from the caldron gradually disappear. Before his eyes, a golden-bright and dazzling magic pill flew out of the caldron. It seemed to have grown eyes, for it flew straight in the direction of the door.
"Want to leave? Get back here!"
The old geezer sneered, and the magic pill moved as if it had hit a bundle of cotton, and bounced back, and fell precisely into the old geezer's hand. Once it landed on his hand, the magic pill made no other movement, and quietly lay within his palm.
You XiaoMo was dumbstruck. This was his first time seeing a magic pill actually attempting to fly away.
The old geezer glanced at him, and suddenly gave an explanation, "This is a level eight magic pill, the Phoenix Pill. Users of this pill can be brought back from the critical point between life and death, and there are no side-effects. Those who are lucky may even be able to use the opportunity to advance. This is a magic pill that is more valuable than the Revival Pill."
You XiaoMo gulped. To think that pill was so awesome, "Shifu, why did it try to fly away just now?"
The old geezer indifferently replied, "The biggest difference between high-grade magic pills and middle-grade magic pills are that high-grade magic pills are intelligent. They will escape the moment the pill comes out from the caldron. Therefore, before refining high-level magic pills, you must make preparations."
You XiaoMo said, "Shifu, if the grade of the magic pill is higher, would the intelligence also be higher?"
The old geezer's gaze suddenly became severe, "You dunce, don't you even know this point? How do you normally learn?"
You XiaoMo rubbed his nose, "I learn it just like that, bei."
The old geezer replied, "Did you see it clearly just now?"
You XiaoMo, "See what clearly?"
All of a sudden, the old geezer scowled unhappily, and strongly criticized, "You go out without bringing your eyes?!"
You XiaoMo, "… …I don't need to bring them. They will follow me by themselves."
The old geezer, "… …"
You XiaoMo deeply felt that there was something fishy about the old geezer, "Shifu, did you refine too many pills, until there's some problem here?" You XiaoMo pointed towards his head.
The old geezer, "… …"
You XiaoMo walked around him in a circle, and in the next moment, he suddenly pointed his finger at the old geezer's face in shock, "Shifu, don't tell me you…really have multiple personalities?" This was the only explanation for his bizarre behavior.
The old geezer's head snapped up. He gave You XiaoMo a death glare, and fiercely threatened, "If your tongue wags outside, be careful that you don't find yourself dead in a ditch."
This sentence was clearly acknowledging You XiaoMo's words.
You XiaoMo, "… …Shifu, so you really have multiple personalities ah."
He did not even determine that the old geezer really had multiple personalities and was just casually taking a guess.
The old geezer, "… …"
After confirming that the old geezer really had multiple personalities, You XiaoMo's interest was piqued, "Shifu, Shifu, when did you discover that you had multiple personalities? Multiple personalities means how many? Two? Three? Four?"
"Shut up!" The old geezer roared and was livid with rage.
You XiaoMo immediately shut his mouth because he felt a murderous intent wafting off the old geezer. It seemed like the personality in front of him had just as bad a temper as the one from yesterday. But this personality was obviously more explosive than yesterday's, and was frequently going 'kill, kill, kill'.
The old geezer said, "He may have taken you as his disciple. However, if you want to be my disciple, your performance must be to my satisfaction. Otherwise, it doesn't even matter to me if you are his disciple, I will get rid of you at any time. Do you understand me?"
You XiaoMo, "… …Understood."
Only when the old geezer heard this did he give a small nod in satisfaction, "Very well, you now have an hour to tidy up the Pill Refining Room. After packing it, look for me next door." When he finished speaking, he flicked his sleeve and left.
You XiaoMo watched his back, and pursed his mouth. Somehow, he had the feeling that he had fallen into a tiger's den.
Looking at the Pill Refining Room, which has been turned into a hideous mess by that energy movement, You XiaoMo slumped. Even if you used the phrase 'from heaven to hell' to describe this feeling, it would not be an exaggeration!
If it was yesterday, You XiaoMo would probably resist for a moment.
But when he saw the old geezer's method of refining pills, he realized something.
Sure enough, self-study was limiting his horizons. There were some things which could not be found in books. No wonder those mages would use every possible means to find a good Shifu.
Thus, for the sake of learning the old geezer's skill, You XiaoMo meticulously cleaned the room.
As he often cleaned his own room, he did not even need an hour before he finished. When he went to look for the old geezer, there were still two to three minutes left from the time limit of an hour.
This day, You XiaoMo failed to learn the old geezer's skill. Instead, all day long he was ordered to do work.
First was cleaning the pill room, next it was the study. Following that, it was the bedchamber, and then it was watering the magic herbs and so on and so forth. It made him feel like he was here to do housework. Only when the sun was about to set did the old geezer finally liberate him.
"You can leave now, continue to come tomorrow." The old geezer waved his hand, and chased him away without any hint of reluctance.
"… …" How You XiaoMo wished that yesterday's old geezer will appear. Although that one also had a bad temper, at least he won't treat him like this.
Slaving away at work the whole day, in the end he was kicked away. He didn't even manage to learn any skills.
You XiaoMo felt extremely depressed as he left the old geezer's residence. However he did not think he would meet a familiar person on his way back.
After the incident at the Skill Training Pavilion, he did not see Teng ZiXin at all. Who would have thought the next time they met would be on the road. Seeing the direction she was heading towards, it seemed she was heading to one of the courtyards he had just exited from.
When she saw You XiaoMo, Teng ZiXin's expression changed slightly.
You XiaoMo was able to observe this change in expression, and suddenly revealed a hint of a smile, "Teng-shizhi, how have you been?"
Teng ZiXin's face twisted. Previously, she did not know that You XiaoMo had actually taken Shigong as his master. Only yesterday did her Shifu tell her after he came back. Her Shifu knew that she had a little grudge against You XiaoMo, thus he told her not to set herself against him unless it was a last resort. However, the more the he told her, the more she resented it.
t/n: Shigong means Martial Grandfather, and she is referring to Duan QiTian. Her master is Qiu Ran, and Qiu Ran's master is Duan QiTian. So the relationship is like this: Duan QiTian (Father) Qiu Ran (Son) Teng ZiXin (Grandchild). So she refers to Duan QiTian as her Martial Grandfather, and it is also why she has to call You XiaoMo 'Shishu' (Martial Uncle).
Hearing that sentence, Teng ZiXin glared at You XiaoMo, immediately disregarded him, and prepared to leave.
You XiaoMo did not stop her, and only aloofly said, "A few days ago, Shifu told me that Da shixiong's disciple was a very polite one. Looks like what Shifu knows is a little different from the truth."
Once this was said, Teng ZiXin's whole body froze.
You XiaoMo saw that her face was turning black with anger, and suddenly felt happier.
He knew that with Teng ZiXin's pride, she would certainly not lower her head. Since he was not in a rush, he said, "I did not expect you to be polite, but you should remember the agreement about the duel to be held half a year later."
"You-shishu, after half a year, I will make you regret it." Teng ZiXin glowered at him as she spit out every single word.
"We'll see about that." You XiaoMo said while retaining his imposing manner.
Then, the two turned away at the same time. One returned to his pavilion, the other went to see Shigong.
After returning to the pavilion, he discovered that Ling Xiao was already back from selling all the magic herbs and pills. Ling Xiao was a bit surprised when he saw You XiaoMo's dispirited demeanor, "Were you robbed?"
You XiaoMo mouth twitched, "It's worse than being robbed."
Then, he told Ling Xiao about the old geezer having multiple personalities, and how he was ordered about for the whole day to do housework. Although he got gained some comfort from needling Teng ZiXin on the way back, it was not enough to erase the melancholy in his heart.
"I wouldn't have guessed that the old geezer would have multiple personalities. How interesting!" Ling Xiao beamed and said.
"Interesting your head." You XiaoMo shook his head. The old geezer's personality today was not as good to talk to as yesterday's, frequently calling him a dunce. He was definitely cut from the same block as Ling Xiao.
t/n: The 'your head' in 'interesting your head' has the same meaning as 'my foot/my ass'
"Bear with it ba. That old geezer is also considered as your Shifu, I'm sure he will teach you at some point." Ling Xiao probably guessed his thoughts.
You XiaoMo muttered, "I think he was purposely messing with me."
"Just find an opportunity to mess with him in the future." Ling Xiao took out his card and threw it to You XiaoMo, "These are the points I earned from selling the things today. Transfer the points to your card."
Seeing the points on the card, You XiaoMo was finally comforted. Then he took out the Red card given by Yan Fa. His previous Black card had been returned to Ning Jing-daoshi. Every card contained each student's information; therefore, each person could only carry one card. Since he had the Red card, he could not use the Black card anymore.