"Master Gao's skill is exquisite — I, Yang, am far inferior. I've learned a great deal!" Yang Kai cupped his fists slightly.
After all, he had already stolen the recipe for the Ten-Revolution Heartless Pill, so admitting defeat in this exchange was no big deal. Producing only a low-grade pill in the end had been deliberate on his part. If he'd truly put his mind to it, even his first attempt at refining the Ten-Revolution Heartless Pill couldn't have yielded such poor results.
Gao Xinpeng shook his head. "Refining a heaven-grade pill with earth-grade cultivation — that's a feat I couldn't pull off. I'm the one who's inferior." He turned to Miao Hong. "Brother Miao, please arrange a private room. I need to have a proper talk with this young friend Yang."
"No problem at all." Miao Hong agreed without hesitation.
Yang Kai sighed inwardly, knowing that fortune couldn't be avoided any more than disaster could. The traces of his mimicking Gao Xinpeng's pill-refining technique were far too obvious — the man had probably grown suspicious long ago. Holding back from asking during the exchange had likely been to avoid losing focus, but now that it was over, he naturally intended to get to the bottom of things.
How was he supposed to explain this? Yang Kai's head throbbed. He couldn't exactly say that the recipe he'd obtained was the same one — what were the chances of such a coincidence? But without that explanation, there really wasn't a reasonable excuse he could offer.
All he could do now was take it one step at a time. Gao Xinpeng didn't seem like a rigid man, and as a heaven-grade pill master, Yang Kai had no desire to fall out with him.
Miao Hong quickly prepared a quiet chamber. Gao Xinpeng and Yang Kai entered, and Gao Xinpeng addressed the two heaven-grade guards who had been following behind him. "You two may leave."
"My lord..." The female heaven-grade cultivator hesitated.
"Leave!" Gao Xinpeng repeated.
Only then did the two guards withdraw, each casting a long, pointed glance at Yang Kai on their way out — a clear warning that if he dared lay a finger on Gao Xinpeng, they would burst back in and hack him into seventy or eighty pieces.
"You can leave too." Yang Kai instructed Du Youyou.
Du Youyou said nothing, gave a quiet acknowledgment, and withdrew respectfully.
The door closed, and in an instant only Gao Xinpeng and Yang Kai remained inside. The former studied Yang Kai ceaselessly, looking him up and down as though seeing him for the first time.
Yang Kai squirmed under his gaze, mentally running through exit strategies in case the truth came out. The Clear Void Sword still had two charges of sword energy he could unleash, but its power was far too devastating — once activated, forget about Gao Xinpeng, the entire City Lord's Manor would likely be leveled.
Yang Kai had no interest in becoming a fugitive hunted by the Xuan Dan Sect, nor did he want to bring trouble upon the Void Spirit Sword Sect. So unless it was absolutely his last resort, the Clear Void Sword's energy was not to be used.
"Young friend, do you know who taught you pill refinement? What was their name?" Just as Yang Kai's thoughts were churning, Gao Xinpeng suddenly spoke up.
Yang Kai shook his head with a solemn expression. "I don't know. Master Gao should be aware that I'm a disciple of the Void Spirit Sword Sect. My master came to our sect years ago, taught me pill refinement for a few years, and then wandered off to roam the four seas. Not once did he reveal his own name."
He deflected casually while thinking to himself that he had no idea what his supposed master's name was. Making one up on the spot was unrealistic — if Gao Xinpeng actually tried to look the man up, the lie would unravel sooner or later. The only option was to stay vague.
Gao Xinpeng raised an eyebrow. "That elder... why would he teach you pill refinement?"
Yang Kai shook his head again. "When my master passed on the art of pill refinement to me, I was only six or seven. I was too young to understand much, and I don't remember a lot."
"Six or seven years old..." Gao Xinpeng calculated silently. "So that would have been over a decade ago?"
"That's right!"
"Can you recall your master's appearance?" Gao Xinpeng pressed further.
Left with no choice, Yang Kai continued to spin his web of lies. "Not very clearly. He was probably getting on in years — his hair was somewhat gray, and he wore filthy clothes all day long..."
Gao Xinpeng's eyes lit up so suddenly that Yang Kai was startled. He hastily added, "But as I said, I was very young back then. My memory isn't reliable."
"Of course, of course!" Gao Xinpeng nodded repeatedly. "Think carefully — does your master have any other distinguishing features?"
"Distinguishing features? What kind?" Yang Kai truly had no idea how to keep making things up.
"His hands!" Gao Xinpeng raised his left hand and waved it in front of Yang Kai.
Yang Kai stared blankly for a moment, then put on a look of sudden realization. "Now that you mention it, there was something — I think he had either one extra or one missing finger!"