Pill Emperor Thunderpill stared at John silently, while Elder Ragur felt some panic after hearing John talk to a Heaven Tribulation Elder in such a direct manner. Not only that, but it was a Pill Emperor, and one with incredible status within the sect.
After a brief moment, Thunderpill spoke up.
"What pill do you want?" Thunderpill asked in a slightly amiable tone. His cold and explosive tone of the past was no where to be found.
John was surprised to hear such a tone from Pill Emperor Thunderpill, as his previous interaction with Thunderpill was quite intense. Thunderpill noticed the look on John's face, and chuckled slightly.
Elder Ragur was once more surprised, as the rumors painted Thunderpill as a stern and eccentric man. He had never heard anyone mention Thunderpill ever laughing.
"Don't be so surprised by my good mood boy," Thunderpill said to John. "I was on my deathbed, and I most likely only had a few years of life left in me, but thanks to your Undying Vitality Fruit, I was successfully able to create the Life Revitalizing Pill. I now feel like I'm back in my prime, and I have at least another thousand years of life, more if I break through again...and it's all thanks to you brining the fruit to me. Without it, I would have nothing."
While still surprising to hear such an amiable tone from Thunderpill, John nodded his head in understanding.
'It seems like gaining his life back has made him much more reasonable. That's good. He'll be much easier to deal with this way.'
"Then lets get to the point. I am here for Elder Ragur," John replied as he gestured to Elder Ragur. "He wants a Heaven Ascension Pill, and so I've brought him here to have it made. He has all the ingredients for the pill on hand already."
"Heaven Ascension Pill?" Thunderpill asked while briefly inspecting Elder Ragur. "I suppose you do seem on the cusp of breaking through, so that makes sense."
After a moment of thought, Thunderpill spoke up once more. "I don't have time to make a Heaven Ascension Pill. While they are not incredibly hard to make, they take quite a bit of time, and I have many things to do now that I've gotten my youth back," Thunderpill continued.
John frowned, as this was completely against their agreement, and Thunderpill had even made a dao-oath. He was just about to bring up the dao-oath, and its consequences, when Thunderpill spoke again.
"Don't look at me like that boy, I know about our agreement, and I wouldn't dare break the dao-oath I swore. Like I said, I'm far too busy right now to waste time on a Heaven Ascension Pill, so instead I'll just give you one," Thunderpill said as a pill suddenly appeared in his hand.
John looked at the pill, which was shiny and bright blue, with three rings of gold circling the outside of the pill. He could feel an incredible energy emulate from the pill, but for some reason, he felt a very slight sense of revulsion towards the pill, although he couldn't explain why.
Elder Ragur, on the other hand, stared at the pill with complete longing. It had been his goal to obtain it for years and years, and now it was finally so close. Pill Emperor Thunderpill noticed his longing gaze, and chuckled before tossing the pill over to Elder Ragur.
Elder Ragur carefully caught the pill, and a perplexed expression appeared on his face.
"You're going to give it to me? Just like that?" Elder Ragur asked in confusion. He was unaware of the deal John had made with Thunderpill, which was free pill creations.
"I have much better things to do with my time right now, and making this pill again will just be a waste. Give me your ingredients for the pill, and we'll be even."
Elder Ragur hastily gave Thunderpill a storage ring, which contained the ingredients he had gathered to make the pill. While John's agreement did include free pill making, it did not include free ingredients, and so Thunderpill was not breaking his dao-oath by collecting this.
John stood at the side silently watching, a slight smile lingering on his face. He had expected some hassle in today's dealings with Thunderpill, but it had gone much smoother than expected. Elder Ragur didn't even have to wait to have the pill made, or bear the slight chance of the pill creation failing and everything being for naught.
"Now that this matter is settled, leave me. I have pills to create," Thunderpill stated.
John nodded, as he had accomplished everything he had come for.
"Thanks, and I'm sure we'll see each other soon again," John replied as he left. Thunderpill acted as if he didn't hear John, and hastily sped back to his cauldron. An intense flame emanated from his hand and onto the cauldron as he continued his experiments.
John and Elder Ragur left the room, and Elder Ragur still had a dazed expression on his face. Things had gone far smoother than he ever expected. After a moment of silence, Elder Ragur turned to John.
"John, how did you manage that just now?"
He had no idea how John had such a relationship with Thunderpill.
"Oh yeah, it's related to why he looks so young right now. Thunderpill needed an Undying Vitality Fruit to create his Life Revitalizing Pill, and only I had one. So I sold it to him for seven hundred and fifty thousand spirit crystals, and also made him swear a dao-oath to make any pill I ask for free of charge," John replied with the truth.
Elder Ragur shook his head after a moment, figuring only John would be daring enough to haggle with a Pill Emperor like that. Also, it now made sense on how John had such an immense sum of spirit crystals.
"Making a Pill Emperor swear a dao-oath...you have larger guts than me, I'll give you that," Elder Ragur replied.
"All that matters is you have your pill now. Are you going to go into seclusion immediately?" John asked curiously. Having a Heaven Tribulation Elder as a mentor would be greatly beneficial to him.
"Yes. I'll most likely take quite a few weeks to break through even with the pill, and so I'll be unavailable until my seclusion is over."
John nodded his head in agreement, as ascending was the most important thing right now. The two of them continued to talk for some time, before Elder Ragur left for seclusion. Upon parting, he thanked John once again, as all this was made possible because of him.
"Now, what should I do with my time?" John pondered.
He had no immediate plans, and had accomplished everything he wanted to, such as obtain pills and battle arts, as well as help out Elder Ragur.
"The Sect Leader said I'll be entering the whirlpool lands before long, so I should focus on stabilizing my foundation. I doubt I have enough time to leave the sect and obtain blood essence to rank up my body, as who knows when the whirlpool will vanish."
John thought about doing something to be sent down to the crypt again, as he had obtained bodies there last time, but decided against it. If he did something bad enough to be sent down there again, the sect might just think of him as more trouble than it's worth, and cut him loose, or worse, keep him down there indefinitely.
John also thought about seeking out missions to undertake at the War Hall, but yet again decided against it. He knew the whirlpool lands most likely held amazing things within, and he didn't want to miss it no matter what. If he undertook a mission and was gone when the lands were revealed, he would only be able to blame himself.
John decided that cultivating as much as possible during the next few weeks would be the smartest idea. Since the whirlpool lands allowed those sixteen years or below inside, John was sure there would be some Core Formation youths that entered.
After deciding this direction, John headed back home and began to focus on his cultivation. During class days, John would attend classes, which covered a variety of things, such as medicinal plants, pills, battle arts, lightning cultivation, and more. On his days off, he ventured into the forests controlled by the sect, and hunted down some Qi Condensation beasts. He wanted to make sure that his blood essence reserves were as full as possible.
He also inquired about the status of Elder Ragur's seclusion over the next several weeks, but was always told that he was still in seclusion. Before long, a month had passed by, in which John only focused on cultivation and classes. It was the most relaxed he had been in a long time, and he began to feel restless, as a relaxing lifestyle such as this was not his preference.
At the same time, rumors began to brew throughout the sect about the whirlpool lands, and the mission the sect would send its young disciples on soon. It became the hottest topic of discussion throughout the sect, and many theories began to be floated around about what existed inside those lands.
…
It was a normal day for John, and he was walking towards his morning class for the day, when all of a sudden, an incredible power washed over the entire sect. Everyone stopped what they were doing, and a familiar voice soon filled the entire sect.
"All Sect disciples, sixteen years and below, are to immediately gather at the Heavenly Lightning Palace."
John narrowed his eyes as he listened to the message. A smile broke out on his face.
"That was the Sect Leader's voice. It seems like the day has finally come."