Gu He entered the hall, and everyone inside rose to greet him. After seeing Gu He in, Nalan Jie excused himself and returned to the entrance; two more heavyweight figures had yet to arrive.
Gu He first formally introduced Xiao Yi Xian to everyone, making it known that she was his disciple. Then he exchanged pleasantries with these representatives of most of the Imperial Capital's upper-class forces before finally sitting with the Dou Wangs of the Imperial Capital's Three Great Families.
Naturally, Xiao Yi Xian received countless gifts. They were rare treasures to ordinary people, but only the gifts from the Three Great Families were valuable enough for Gu He to spare a glance. After Gu He sat down with the three Dou Wangs, Xiao Yi Xian spotted Ya Fei in the hall and walked toward this slightly familiar older sister, who had left her with a good impression.
Seeing the Pill King's disciple take the initiative to grow close to Ya Fei of the Mittel Family, many of the families in the hall frowned slightly and glared at her in displeasure. It was one thing for Mittel Tengshan to have a good relationship with the Pill King; he was already a Dou Wang, so no one wanted to provoke him. But now even the Pill King's disciple was close to someone from the Mittel Family. The Mittel Family was clearly being far too greedy, leaving nothing for the other families.
The clever Ya Fei naturally knew that this would stir public resentment, but she could not take the initiative to push Xiao Yi Xian away over it. After their previous encounter, Ya Fei had roughly grasped some of Xiao Yi Xian's personality. She was a kind girl who liked peace and quiet. Since she did not wish to meet too many strangers, pushing her away would undoubtedly offend her. Thinking of the information that Gu He had already become a Sixth-grade Alchemist, Ya Fei still decided to carefully manage her relationship with Xiao Yi Xian.
Seeing Xiao Yi Xian still sitting with Ya Fei, Gu He shook his head slightly. It seemed Xiao Yi Xian did not like such banquets. Still, now that he had publicly confirmed that Xiao Yi Xian was his disciple, no one in the Jia Ma Empire would dare touch her. If she did not like it, she would not need to attend in the future.
Gu He occupied the seat of honor. After all, this banquet had been organized in his name, while the Nalan Family had merely provided the venue. He first apologized to Nalan Jie and Mu Chen. "The last time I came to the Imperial Capital, I left without having a proper chat with you two old brothers. That was my fault. Once Elder Fa and Elder Jia arrive, I'll definitely drink a few extra cups as an apology."
"What are you saying, Pill King? Seeing how hurriedly you left back then, you must have had something important to deal with." Nalan Jie and Mu Chen both said it was nothing to worry about.
Before long, Fama, president of the Alchemist Guild, and Jia Xingtian, the ancestral elder of the Jia Ma Imperial Family, arrived. Gu He personally rose to welcome them. Setting aside their noble statuses, their strength as Peak Dou Emperors alone was enough to earn Gu He's respect.
"Elder Fa, Elder Jia, you've finally arrived. Come, come! We must have a proper gathering later." Gu He rose with a hearty laugh as Fama and Jia Xingtian entered the hall.
"I heard you broke through to the Sixth Grade, so I came to see what a Sixth-grade Alchemist was like and to learn a thing or two." Fama spoke with a gentle expression. He did not become angry from embarrassment just because Gu He, a junior, had surpassed him. Instead, he treated it as an opportunity to learn. He had long prepared himself for being surpassed. When he traveled the continent, he had learned that there were many geniuses whom ordinary people could not compare to, people who could easily attain abilities that others could never achieve in their entire lives. Even Gu He was slightly inferior compared to them. Thus, Fama remained calm. He believed that the accomplished should be teachers, and he intended to discuss alchemy with Gu He in the spirit of learning.
"How could I miss the Pill King's invitation? I had to come join the excitement!" Jia Xingtian did not say much more. After all, Gu He was ultimately a member of the Misty Cloud Sect.
Gu He admired Fama from the bottom of his heart. After receiving Yao Lao's guidance for merely three days, Fama had used those three days of instruction as the foundation to become a Seventh-grade Peak Alchemist later on. Such an unbiased attitude of learning from others' strengths was truly worthy of Gu He's own study. As for Jia Xingtian's evasive attitude, Gu He had no comment. Though Jia Xingtian bore the safety of an imperial family and a nation on his shoulders, he was overly indecisive. He could only throw his weight around in the Jia Ma Empire; he was nothing special on the Dou Qi Continent.
Gu He invited the two to sit down, then announced the start of the banquet. He first chatted with the three Dou Wangs and two Dou Emperors about all sorts of matters. After the banquet ended and everyone else had left, Gu He had Xiao Yi Xian return first by carriage before finally getting straight to the point and revealing his true purpose.
"Everyone, although I have advanced to become a Sixth-grade Alchemist, I have used up most of my medicinal ingredients. It is no longer very realistic for me to further raise my alchemist rank. Now, I have a proposal that can both solve my shortage of medicinal ingredients and resolve your difficulty in obtaining precious pills."
"You mean we can hire you to refine pills by paying with medicinal ingredients?" Jia Xingtian asked with interest. The Imperial Family possessed a Sixth-Tier Nether Sea Flood Dragon whose body was covered in old injuries. If that was truly the case, then even if they had to expend a great deal of medicinal ingredients to have Gu He refine a Primal Bone-Shaping Pill and heal the Nether Sea Flood Dragon, it would be worthwhile.
"That's right. As long as you prepare ten sets of ingredients for refining a Sixth-grade pill, I will refine the corresponding Sixth-grade pill without asking for any other compensation." Gu He looked at the five of them seriously.
The five had expected Gu He to demand an exorbitant price, but exchanging only ten sets of ingredients for a satisfactory pill was an extremely good deal. Normally, when hiring an alchemist to refine pills, one had to prepare a pill formula, three sets of ingredients, and considerable compensation. Even then, success was not guaranteed. If the refinement failed, the person requesting the pill could only consider themselves unlucky, and the alchemist certainly would not return the compensation already received. However, reputable alchemists generally would not accept a job if their success rate for that pill was below thirty percent.
"Does a complete set of ingredients for any Sixth-grade pill count as one set?" Mu Chen could not deny that Gu He's terms tempted him. However, his family was not in the medicinal ingredient trade or auction business, so their stock of ingredients was relatively limited. It would be difficult to gather ten sets of ingredients for a specific Sixth-grade pill in a short time. Moreover, once the top families of the Imperial Capital learned of this news, the prices of ingredients for Sixth-grade pills would undoubtedly soar in the near future.
Considering that it would be best not to reveal his desire, as a Dou Wang, for the ingredients of the Imperial Pill, and that refining more Sixth-grade pills would better improve his alchemist rank, Gu He replied, "Yes. Any complete set of ingredients for refining a Sixth-grade pill can count as one set. However, if it is a complete set of ingredients for a Sixth-grade pill that I do not recognize, you must provide the pill formula for me to examine."
"I do not urgently need any pills, but could I use medicinal ingredients as payment in exchange for observing the Pill King refine a Sixth-grade pill?" Although Fama knew that asking this was somewhat impolite, his helplessness at being stuck as a Fifth-grade Alchemist for many years and his thirst for alchemical knowledge still drove him to voice the thoughts in his heart, holding onto a faint hope.
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