“Junior Brother Shen, please! I really want to help in the Pill Room!”
“……Senior Brother Zheng has always posted the Pill Room helper task. If Senior Brother Pang wants to go, he can naturally take the task.”
Shen He had just finished a day of menial work and returned to his room when Pang Sanxian blocked him at the door.
Pang Sanxian’s complexion looked very poor. “You know exactly what I want.”
Shen He couldn’t help but rub his brow.
Working as a helper in the Pill Room carried certain dangers. Pang Sanxian hoped to find a senior brother or sister with a good temperament and also wanted Shen He to back him up—after all, Shen He was now assisting the lead senior brother in the Pill Room, Hong Kui.
But Shen He had only just gained a foothold in the Pill Room himself and had spoken only a single sentence to Senior Brother Hong Kui. How could he dare borrow Senior Brother Hong Kui’s influence to support Pang Sanxian?
What’s more, Senior Brother Liu had died. Although Senior Brother Hong Kui had ruled it as Senior Brother Liu throwing himself into the furnace voluntarily, everyone in the Pill Room knew what had really happened. They were all watching Shen He closely now—how could he dare act arrogantly?
Shen He took a deep breath, preparing to patiently persuade him, when suddenly his body stiffened slightly.
It was over. Shizun had taken over.
Pang Sanxian felt that the aura around Shen He in front of him changed abruptly.
Shen He’s eyes were slightly round, giving him a particularly approachable look when he smiled, but at that moment, those slightly round eyes narrowed. The youth lightly lifted his chin, instantly transforming from gentle and affable to aloof and proud.
Shen He was even a bit shorter than Pang Sanxian, but under that piercing gaze, Pang Sanxian felt as if he were being scrutinized and looked down upon.
Pang Sanxian shivered involuntarily.
Xie Linlang softened his tone and asked in a gentle, measured voice, “You want to work as a menial disciple in the Pill Room?”
Pang Sanxian had already realized something. His plump body trembled slightly as he wanted to turn and flee, but his body refused to obey, as if it had turned into a puddle of rotten flesh.
His smile looked worse than crying.
“……W-what I think doesn’t matter. If you, s-senior, think it’s feasible, then arrange it. If not, just pretend a dog was barking earlier, okay?”
Shen He was quite impressed upon hearing this.
He felt both moved and cautious as he said to Xie Linlang, “Shizun, Senior Brother Pang just wants to progress too much……”
Xie Linlang ignored Shen He and continued, “I think you can do it.”
Pang Sanxian stopped trembling. His face flushed red with excitement as he said, “Y-you think so too?”
Xie Linlang cast a sidelong glance at Pang Sanxian and said indifferently, “If you want to work as a menial disciple in the Pill Room, you need to grasp some basic pill dao knowledge and techniques. Let me test you.”
Xie Linlang asked a few basic questions about pill furnace operations, and Pang Sanxian answered them fluently.
Xie Linlang then examined Pang Sanxian from multiple angles—control of the flame, basic materials, emergency handling in pill refining, and more. Sweat beaded on Pang Sanxian’s forehead. Though his answers were halting, they were generally correct.
Xie Linlang was reasonably satisfied. Pang Sanxian lived up to his status as the young master of a restaurant family; his talent in pill refining was no less than Shen He’s. Shen He had the advantage of his fire-attribute demonic root, but Pang Sanxian was more spiritually attuned.
“Alright, go find Senior Brother Zheng tomorrow and take the task.”
With that, Xie Linlang switched back to Shen He.
Shen He and Pang Sanxian stared at each other.
Shen He felt awkward and wary. What if Senior Brother Pang spread word of his unusual behavior……
But Pang Sanxian raised his sleeve to wipe his sweat. Half complaining and half excited, he said to Shen He, “You hid it well, kid! Why didn’t you tell me sooner about a backer like this? What’s this senior’s name? Any requests? We’ll do our best to fulfill them—maybe we can advance quickly under his guidance!”
Shen He was somewhat surprised.
Xie Linlang chuckled. “Your grandpa is in his hands. As long as you don’t demand to take your grandpa away, he won’t expose your situation on his own.”
A Portable Grandpa whose handle they held in their grasp—what better backer could there be? None!
“If he clings to you every day, you won’t have time to cultivate and will need to watch out for his resentment, even harm to your grandpa. Better to give him some sweets, make him volunteer to help.”
Xie Linlang instructed carefully. “Cultivation depends on the individual, but having one or two companions on the path can spare you some trouble. Besides, we need to quickly figure out the Pill Room’s situation. With Pang Sanxian’s help, you can focus on cultivation.”
Shen He was deeply moved. “Thank you for worrying about this disciple, Shizun.”
Xie Linlang said candidly, “I’m your Shizun. Since I took your jade pendant, I naturally must accept and resolve the karma and karmic obstacles tied to it. If you want to repay me, cultivate diligently, raise your cultivation quickly, and get your hands on that Supreme Magic Furnace.”
Shen He: “……”
He was only at Qi Refining Layer 1 right now! That was too difficult!
