That's not a beast flame!

A freezing cold blast of air shot through the room as the fire surrounded the entire cauldron. A few moments later, a strong medicinal scent drifted out of the cauldron, and Grandmaster Mao began to panic.

"I forgot to remove the ingredients!" He exclaimed.

"STOP! STOP!" He shouted, but within mere seconds, the medicinal scent filled the room completely. 

Li Jun took a breath and felt his spiritual energy fluctuate at the scent. His body seemed to absorb whatever the medicinal power was coming from. His hand felt almost as if it was glued to the runes. He couldn't move.

Grandmaster Mao stared with his mouth agape, his mind in a state of disbelief. He had not even considered this possibility. 

'That's not a beast flame!' He exclaimed internally. "That's a soul flame!"

The medicinal scent became stronger again until the lid of the cauldron shot high into the air and fell down with a crash.

A foul smell emerged from it. If Li Jun knew about pill refining, he would know that it indicated that the ingredients had been ruined. But along with the terrible smell, the bright blue flame flickered out.

'What was that?' He thought as he looked back towards the shocked old man.

However, Grandmaster Mao seemed unable to think. He stared blankly for a few moments until he realized that Li Jun was waiting for him to speak.

"Please become my apprentice!" He suddenly shouted. 

Li Jun flinched; he hadn't expected that kind of reaction. He was about to decline the request when Grandmaster Mao continued on, not giving him a chance to reply.

"I thought you had a beast flame, but you have something even rarer!" He couldn't contain his excitement. "Out of all the incredible masters at the pill palace, there was only one with a soul flame. His flame was perfect. It wouldn't just heat the cauldron but could perfectly extract the essence from whatever ingredients he put in there."

'A soul flame?' Li Jun thought to himself. He was learning a lot. He didn't even know there were different types of flames. He just thought that fire was fire. Although he now had an explanation for what had happened with the beast king.

Grandmaster Mao explained as he rushed over to the cauldron and looked inside. A pile of charred powder coated the bottom of the cauldron, but on each side were small beads of liquid. Each bead gave off a medicinal scent, but the burnt powder overpowered it completely. Without wasting any time, he collected the essence in jade bottles.

"Look, this proves you were destined to be a great pill refiner!" He said as he held the jade bottles in his hands.

However, Li Jun made it clear to Su Xiang that he had no intention of learning to refine pills. It would only slow down his training, and he wanted to become stronger as soon as he possibly could. 

"I appreciate your kind words, but I really don't want to refine pills." He said.

Grandmaster Mao's expression became sour. He wanted to forcefully turn Li Jun into a cultivator, but he didn't have the strength to fight against Master Shen. 

"Why? Pill refining is one of the most profitable jobs in the world. If people knew that your soul flames could extract the essence from rare materials, they would come from far and wide and pay a fortune to hire you." Grandmaster Mao asked. 

Ever since he was a child, he dreamed of refining pills, and now it had become his entire life. He couldn't understand how someone with so much talent and potential could turn down an offer to be taught by a master such as himself.

"I will be honest with you since you have told me your intentions. I have no interest in pill refining. It will take a long time for me to learn how to do it, and I am currently preparing to take a sects' entrance exam, so if it's going to take away from my training, then I'm not interested," Li Jun explained. 

Grandmaster Mao went silent and lost himself in thought. He wasn't going to give up. He couldn't. A soul flame was just too rare to see it go to waste.

"So that's why you don't want to learn to refine pills?" Grandmaster Mao asked with a slight smile.

"I am focused on improving my cultivation, so I don't have the time." He said.

"Well, in that case, you should learn to refine pills." Grandmaster Mao laughed. 

"Didn't you just hear what I said?"

"Think about it. You've met my student, Su Xiang; she is only two years older than you and has reached the eighth level of body refining. Do you think that's possible for anyone other than a pill refiner?"

Li Jun remained silent, as Grandmaster Mao explained. He was shocked to learn that the woman was actually only seventeen. It seemed impossible for her to be so strong and so young simultaneously, but he couldn't deny it.

"As a member of my pill tower, not only will you get access to any medicinal herbs you could dream of, but you also get access to a pill that isn't for sale to anyone other than pill refiners. It's called the body-enhancing pill. It's almost guaranteed to make you advance a minor stage within a month after consuming it."

'Body enhancing pill? Is he trying to trick me? Something like that can't exist, can it?' Li Jun thought to himself.

"Are you skeptical?" He asked, snapping Li Jun out of his thoughts. 

"Yes, I don't believe such a pill can exist." 

"Well, it doesn't exist, at least within the great Hao empire. But as I already told you, I was a student at the Pill Palace. Some pills could even help you break through a minor stage of core refining within a single year. If you become my student, naturally I will help improve your cultivation."

For the first time in his life, Li Jun considered what his future would look like if he learned to refine pills. He had always wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and become a great warrior, but now, a different path had opened up, and it seemed very appealing. 

"Of course, I would have to ask Master Shen for his permission to teach you. But it shouldn't be an issue for you to learn martial arts and pill refining at the same time.

'If those pills will really help my cultivation, I would have to be stupid to turn them down.' Li Jun thought to himself. 'But I can't be sure he is telling the truth. I should probably ask Master Shen.'

"Alright, then. I will ask Master Shen for his opinion. If he confirms that it will benefit me to learn pill refining, I will accept your offer," Li Jun announced as he made up his mind. 

"Excellent." Grandmaster Mao grinned. He was getting old, but he dreamed that one day he could send a student to the pill palace to study with the old masters who had once taught him. Su Xiang had a lot of potential, but if he could send someone with a soul flame, they would reward him heavily for recommending such a rare and promising student.

"Now that this is all settled, where can I find your student? She owes me a core-building pill." Li Jun said, he had remembered the deal he had made with Su Xiang. He had done what she had asked, and although it had slightly deviated from the original plan, he had still done what they had wanted. He wasn't going to give up on that pill.