A Demon's Path Volume 1 Chapter 8

Cheng Qiantai tried to hide his embarrassment behind a cough fit. "I have a cauldron here. Will this work?"

With a wave of his hand, a bronze cauldron more than a meter high appeared on the ground.

A crafty smile formed on Ling Xiao's face. "Master, other than a cauldron, I also need a special flame. I'd normally use a simple fire, but that comes at the cost of quality."

Cheng Yu couldn't stay silent any longer as she watched Ling Xiao lead Cheng Qiantai by the nose. A disgusting beggar was toying with her father! "Do you know how to concoct medicine? Or are you just looking for trouble? Don't hide your inability behind big words!"

"I can manipulate a three-part flame, Junior Brother Ling. Will that suffice?" Li Yuanhuan interjected.

"A three-part flame?!" Ling Xiao's eyes shone with excitement. "Yes, Senior Brother! That's perfect!"

Ling Xiao started pouring various herbs into the cauldron in combination with water.

Cheng Qiantai and Cheng Yu could only stare at him, dumbstruck by his actions. Are you concocting medicine or cooking dinner? Although they had little experience with the subject, they knew enough that this wasn't how it was done!

The both of them didn't utter a word, but they didn't hold any expectations either. In fact, they were just waiting for this farce to be over, so they could kick Ling Xiao out of the sect.

Genius? Even if Ling Xiao was a genius, Cheng Qiantai wouldn't want one who dared to dupe his own Master.

Ling Xiao didn't pay any attention to the father-daughter pair. Nor did he care what thoughts were running amok in their heads. After he finished his preparations, he turned to Li Yuanhuan and said, "Light it up, Senior Brother!"

Li Yuanhuan clasped his hands together and formed a hand seal. He then turned one of his hands into a sword, waving it beneath the cauldron. Flames laced with red, yellow, and blue flickered from Li Yuanhuan's fingertips, heating up the cauldron.

Ling Xiao commanded him like a seasoned cultivator. "Keep a strong fire burning for 30 minutes, then let it simmer for an hour. We'll be done then!"

Li Yuanhuan was drenched in sweat. But controlling the flame required his full attention, leaving him unable to wipe his forehead clean. Seeing this, Cheng Qiantai was cursing Ling Xiao in his heart. Damned brat! If you can't formulate these pills, I'll skin you alive!

Ling Xiao was sitting to the side, yawning and stretching his body out. He looked drowsy, causing Cheng Yu to gnash her teeth in anger. If it wasn't for fear of distracting Li Yuanhuan, she'd have kicked Ling Xiao and sent him flying a long time ago.

A pleasant medicinal smell wafted through the air as time passed by. Smoke bearing every colour under the sun filled the Medicine Warehouse.

Ling Xiao didn't seem to be particularly tense or worried. He was sitting to the side, grinding a few herbs into fine powder. When he grabbed it in his hands, he looked like a child playing with mud.

Cheng Qiantai felt his patience slip with every passing minute. He couldn't contain himself much longer.

After 59 minutes of simmering, Ling Xiao jumped up. Seeing as time was almost up, he urgently cried out, "Master, open the lid!"

Without giving it much thought, Cheng Qiantai flung open the cauldron cover with a large sweep of his hand.

When a thick smoke emerged from the cauldron, Ling Xiao opened up his clenched fists and cast two clumps of some powder into the cauldron.

"It's done!" Ling Xiao announced, then breathed a sigh of relief. Senior Brother Li Yuanhuan also ceased his manipulation of the fire.

Cheng Qiantai, Cheng Yu, and Li Yuanhuan curiously stretched their heads over to take a look. Cheng Yu and Li Yuanhuan didn't have much of a reaction when they saw the end product. Cheng Qiantai on the other hand, had a completely different expression on his face. He exclaimed with a trembling voice, "Crimson Soul Pills?! There's like 300 Crimson Soul Pills in there!"

Ling Xiao smiled and said, "That's right! Master, please inspect the goods."

Cheng Qiantai pinched a Crimson Soul Pill up to his eye, closely inspecting it. He then placed it by his nose and took a whiff. A grave look formed on his face. "This pill is actually purer than the Crimson Soul Pills from Heavenly River City!"

Li Yuanhuan wiped the sweat off his forehead and happily patted Ling Xiao's shoulder. "You're really quite something, Junior Brother!"

Ling Xiao faintly smiled, finally finding some peace of heart and mind. "You gave me a fright! This is my first time concocting this specific pill. I'm happy I succeeded!"

Cheng Qiantai's focus wasn't on Ling Xiao now, but rather on the cauldron filled with Crimson Soul Pills. "There's actually 300 of them… If we give every red-ranked disciple 10 of these pills, they can instantly cultivate to the orange rank."

"This is merely a coincidence! He could only do it thanks to Senior Brother! If it wasn't for the three-part flame, Ling Xiao couldn't formulate these pills!" Cheng Yu still had a disdainful look on her face. However, her tone slightly wavered. And where before she refused to even spare Ling Xiao a glance, now she was throwing one subconsciously from the corner of her eye.

Cheng Qiantai turned around and directed a piercing gaze at Ling Xiao. "Who taught you how to concoct medicine?"

"Master, I already told you! A senior who wandered to Northern Jade City sold me a medicine book," Ling Xiao calmly replied.

Cheng Qiantai blanked out for a moment. "He sold it to you? Where's that book now?"

Ling Xiao bitterly laughed. "I destroyed it."

Cheng Qiantai thought nothing strange of it. An innocent man, no matter their status, would be killed in a heartbeat over a treasure like this. And since Ling Xiao had committed the book to memory, there was no reason to keep it. Either way, as long as Ling Xiao was a member of the Northern Jade Sect, it didn't matter that this scripture was no longer on the face of the earth.

Moreover, even if the book was still in existence, not everyone was suited to concoct medicine. Why else were there so few cultivators practicing medicine in the Clear Sky Continent?

How could Cheng Qiantai know the real reason Ling Xiao destroyed the book?

Ling Xiao met an old, sage-like person when he was 14 years old. The old man was astonished to see Ling Xiao begging by the roadside and told him he was one of the very few twin soul oddities in the world.

The elderly man told Ling Xiao he spent all his money on his voyage to Northern Jade City. So he proposed an exchange. He took out a book and promised Ling Xiao great returns if he concocted the medicine described in it properly. This book was named 'The Compendium of Heavenly Medicine.'

Ling Xiao judged the man's sincerity by his sage-like looks. Add to that the quality of the paper, and it was easy to see how Ling Xiao was fooled into buying it.

It cost him all his savings. But in return, he received what he believed to be a real treasure! That was, until he looked over its contents. Furiously, he yelped, "Fraud!" before burning the book to cinders.

He could only find the raw materials required to concoct the most common pills meant to strengthen the body. The pills of higher grades either needed some kind of three-part or six-part flame, or it was that he simply couldn't find the medicinal ingredients needed to concoct them.

From Ling Xiao's point of view, the book and scrap paper were like two peas from the same pod.

As life went on, Ling Xiao improved on the ways to concoct the pills meant to strengthen the body. This eventually led to the invention of aphrodisiacs like the Golden Erectile Pill, which he sold to the Floating Red Courtyard for a measly bit of income.

Only when he saw the medicinal herbs stored in the Demonic Seven Souls Chain did Ling Xiao realize the old man didn't cheat him.

He was surprised to find the book imprinted in his mind in its entirety. He had read it only once, after all. Not a single word was left out nor was a picture left behind.

Just a moment ago, Ling Xiao had referred to the method dictated in 'The Compendium of Heavenly Medicine' to concoct a large batch of Soul Crimson Pills, garnering a whole new level of respect from Cheng Qiantai, Cheng Yu, and Li Yuanhuan.

"Alright, I understand. We can only blame fate for the destruction of the book. But with your achievements in medicine, we'll only slow you down. I think you should consider joining a larger sect…"

Ling Xiao quickly interjected, "Master, you so willingly took me in as your disciple. You graced me with the opportunity to cultivate, something so many are never fated to do. I'd like to think of you as my second father! I'll leave if you insist. But I'd much rather stay here, with you, in the Northern Jade Sect for the rest of my life!"

Cheng Qiantai couldn't help but feel a warmth surging up in his heart. This boy is actually so pure and innocent, just like a newborn baby! He's special.

How could Cheng Qiantai know that the only reason Ling Xiao wanted to stay in his small sect was to cultivate his demonic soul in secret? How could it be because of loyalty?

"As long as you don't go too overboard with your requests, don't hesitate to tell Master what you need!" Cheng Qiantai insisted in excitement.

Ling Xiao thought it was funny seeing how excited Cheng Qiantai was, yet a serious look was plastered on his face. "Master, I only want to stay here and research 'The Compendium of Heavenly Medicine' stored in my mind so that I can improve my techniques. It's best if no one disturbs me. I hope Master can help me accomplish this."

Cheng Qiantai was eager for Ling Xiao to hide here the whole day to concoct pills. Having heard him voice his intentions, he was over the moon. "No problem! Don't hesitate to tell Master what medicinal ingredients you need!"

The Blue Moon District specialised in raising pill cultivators and had its own batch of pill cultivators of the highest rank in the Clear Sky Continent. Other than that, pill cultivators were in high demand in any sect.

Even the Sunken Wind Valley had only one green-ranked pill cultivator from the Blue Moon District.

If Ling Xiao could cultivate his soulforce to the green rank, his attainments would definitely surpass the green-ranked pill cultivator from the Sunken Wind Valley. With sufficient ingredients, he could even concoct grade increasing pills. This meant that the Northern Jade Sect could cultivate numerous green ranked experts at that time.

Cheng Qiantai himself was only a green-ranked Celestial Soul Master!

To him, Ling Xiao was the future hope of the Northern Jade Sect. As long as Ling Xiao was part of the Northern Jade Sect, there would come a day where they could catch up to the Sunken Wind Valley and stand on equal footing with them.

As Cheng Qiantai thought of the bright future ahead of the sect, his eyes shone with excitement.

Ling Xiao nodded. "Yes! I won't be modest with Master then. We're family after all! Master, I wish to start right away. If there's anything you wish to ask of me, you can get Senior Brother to call on me."

I really found a treasure! Not only is he so gifted, he's actually so dedicated! Cheng Qiantai felt the urge to offer incense at the Northern Jade Sect's ancestral memorial tablet. "Of course! We won't disturb you. I'll get someone to fix things up for you. Just focus on your research."

At that, Cheng Yu and Li Yuanhuan left the Medicine Warehouse with Cheng Qiantai.

A complacent smile appeared on Ling Xiao's face. "I haven't had the time to practice the skills Ancestor Qi Mo left me in the Demonic Seven Souls Chain. This is the perfect place to start practicing them! Hehehe!"

Chapter end