“Shopkeeper, are you going to the gambling house?” The servant was quite surprised. This shopkeeper was usually so frugal he could squeeze oil from a stone—there was no way he’d ever go to such a risky financial place! What was going on today?

“That fool who just arrived is the master of Sibao Peak.” Benjamin Evans felt like he was about to strike it rich, and said cheerfully, “I always knew the two peaks were going to have a contest, and I knew this Brian Carter was pretty bad, but I always thought with these kinds of contests, it’s hard to say who’ll win. But, seeing him like this now, how could I not bet my entire fortune on Xingyao Peak to win?”

The servant was instantly tempted: “Shopkeeper, will he really lose? Then I’ll place a bet too?”

“Bet your whole house on it!” Benjamin Evans said confidently. “No, I have to go back to the sect and find my master, get an advance on a year’s salary from Baodingxuan, and bet it all!”

The servant wanted to say more, but saw that Benjamin Evans had already hurriedly left Baodingxuan.

Brian Carter had no idea that by speaking a couple of truths, he’d been misunderstood by Benjamin Evans again. Following the servant down to the basement, he was immediately greeted by the scent of medicinal herbs wafting from different rooms.

Room Jia-1 is refining Shengsheng Creation Pills? Brian Carter frowned and shook his head repeatedly: “This batch probably won’t succeed. The recipe isn’t wrong, but the fire is two degrees too weak, causing too much of the medicinal aroma to escape. In the end, they might get a Shengsheng Creation Pellet, but its effect will be much worse.”

The servant leading the way couldn’t help but glance back at Brian Carter, secretly finding it amusing. The shopkeeper had already said this guy was no good, yet he was still pretending to be some high-level peak master?

As Brian Carter passed by Room Jia-2, he shook his head again: “Hunyuan Unity Pill is a good thing, but refining it like this… I’m afraid they’ll be lucky to get even one pill out of the whole batch. I suppose their pill-drawing technique is impressive, but what a waste of so many materials…”

The servant couldn’t help but want to roll his eyes, but as they continued along, after Brian Carter had commented on more than a dozen pill rooms, he realized… something was off! This man could tell what pill was being refined in each room just by the smell! Didn’t the shopkeeper say that if someone could guess right three out of ten times by scent alone, they’d be a top expert in alchemy?

Baodingxuan, to accommodate its major Jia-class clients, would usually ask what pill the customer was refining, so they could recommend the most suitable earth fire and furnace. So the servant knew that Brian Carter hadn’t made a single mistake along the way!

When Brian Carter reached the last Jia-class room, he suddenly quickened his pace, pushing the servant forward and urging, “Hurry up.”

The servant was puzzled too. All along the way, he’d been commenting on every pill room, so why was he skipping the room of this big shot the shopkeeper said they couldn’t afford to offend, without saying a word?

“Honored Peak Master?” the servant couldn’t help but ask, “There are thirty-six Jia-class rooms—why don’t you comment on this one?”

“He’s about to blow up his furnace, what’s there to comment on?” Brian Carter pushed the servant’s back, urging him to move faster. “Is that how you refine Furious Netherfire Pills? Everyone inside is probably going to get blown up! You’d better order a coffin for them in advance.”

When the servant heard this, the shock on his face quickly faded, replaced by a sneer. He’d seen the records for Jia-36; they’d registered to refine Mingxin Morning Dew Pills. Looks like this guy doesn’t always get it right.

“No need to worry, sir. Jia-36 is refining Mingxin Morning Dew Pills,” the servant quickly explained with a forced smile.

Brian Carter sniffed the medicinal aroma again, confirming that it matched the description of the Furious Netherfire Pill from the third scroll of the Great Cavern True Scripture. He immediately realized that the person refining pills inside must have lied to Baodingxuan.

Mingxin Morning Dew Pills are mild in nature—even if you mess up, you just lose a batch of pills.

But Furious Netherfire Pills are a different story! Their nature is as fierce as fire, and it’s easy for the furnace to explode. Baodingxuan probably charges a hefty deposit for that, right? After all, if the furnace explodes, the deposit isn’t refunded.

The deposit for Mingxin Morning Dew Pills is obviously much lower, but for Furious Netherfire Pills, it must be sky-high.

Better not say too much! Brian Carter knew that anyone who could afford to rent such an expensive Jia-class room must be someone of great power and status in the Hundred Peaks Sect, and speaking carelessly could easily get him into trouble.

The two of them passed through layer after layer of pill rooms, finally arriving at Gui-class Room 72.

Compared to the previous finely crafted stone rooms, Brian Carter began to understand why this one was so cheap. It was just a dirt cave with a basic pill furnace made of black iron, celestial copper, and stove-fire stone inside.

Once upon a time, Sibao Peak still had such basic pill furnaces, but in recent years, for the sake of the disciples’ development, anything of value on Sibao Peak had been pawned off.

After the servant left, Brian Carter no longer lamented Sibao Peak’s current poverty. He closed the door, activated the pill room’s formation to prevent disturbances, and began placing various medicinal ingredients into the furnace.

Chapter 10: The Road to Heaven, the Gate to Hell

The medicinal ingredients were added, triggering the most basic burning earth fire.

Brian Carter summoned his power, and four Dao platforms appeared behind him. These were the four Dao platforms he had condensed after building his foundation. With a series of incantations, he channeled the earth fire into the pill furnace, immediately causing the various medicinal ingredients inside to react.