RTL 10

Chapter 10…. Contract Sealed

“Is that really true, Master?”

“Of course.”

Cheonui nodded calmly.

“However, when it comes to special-grade pills, at least three ingredients are required. All of them are precious. For most other pills, though, two ingredients will be sufficient.”

“That won’t be a problem at all!”

Without the slightest hesitation, Ongun nodded.

No matter what kind of alchemist one hired, creating the same pill always required a minimum of three ingredients.

And pill refinement was a process with a notoriously high failure rate—if someone achieved a success rate of even 50%, they were already considered exceptional.

So asking for only two ingredients was the bare minimum standard.

But that standard did not apply to Cheonui.

For pills of the third grade, he could close his eyes and still refine them with a 100% success rate.

The reason he only asked for two ingredients was simply to secure greater compensation.

At present, Cheonui was in desperate need of all sorts of materials. Beyond blood, several rare herbs were also on his list.

Ongun carefully examined the list and then spoke with some hesitation.

“Master, acquiring a thousand drops of an eighth-rank spirit beast’s blood shouldn’t be too difficult. But the blood of a seventh-rank beast, and that of a cultivator with a special constitution… those will be more troublesome.”

Cheonui nodded lightly in acknowledgment.

“Very well. Then exclude the blood of cultivators with special constitutions.”

He had never expected the Southern Auction House to be able to immediately gather everything on the list anyway.

What he truly needed were only two things:
One hundred drops of a seventh-rank beast’s blood, and a thousand drops of an eighth-rank beast’s blood.

Ongun still wore a troubled expression.

“Securing a hundred drops of a seventh-rank beast’s blood… that will not be easy.”

A merchant was a merchant.

The harder he claimed it was, the higher he intended to raise the price.

Cheonui answered with a steady gaze.

“Very well. In exchange, I’ll give you one more pill.”

In a border region like the Southern Empire, seventh-rank beast blood might be considered rare. But with the reach of the Southern Auction House, the matter was different.

If they mobilized all their branches, they could certainly gather that much.

Ongun’s troubled look was nothing more than part of the bargaining.

“Then the deal is sealed!”

As expected, the moment Ongun heard Cheonui’s offer, he nodded without a trace of hesitation.

“Master Cheon, I couldn’t be more delighted that our contract has been finalized.”

Ongun extended his hand with a smile, and Cheonui clasped it lightly.

Though his expression remained composed, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief inside.

With this trade, he had fulfilled half of the conditions necessary to undo the second seal of the Blood Star Lord.

Now all that remained was to gather the blood of seven cultivators with special constitutions.

“When will the materials be ready?”

Cheonui asked in a calm voice.

Ongun thought for a moment before replying.

“The herbs can be prepared right away. But the blood will take at least ten days.”

“That’s fine. Then please prepare a list of which pills you require.”

Cheonui nodded.

“Of course. But this is not a decision I can make alone. I must report to the main house… could you grant me two days’ time?”

“Do it as quickly as possible. And if there are herbs from the list you can provide immediately, deliver those first.”

“Understood. I’ll have them prepared right away. Please wait here for a moment.”

With that, Ongun promptly left the room.

Ordinarily, demanding resources before a contract was formally sealed would have been considered rude.

But this was Cheonui.

Faced with a youth capable of producing top-tier third-grade pills, Ongun dared not quibble over such trivialities.

Moreover, he did not for a moment believe the young heir of the Cheon clan would resort to trickery over something like this.

Even if one tallied up the value of all the herbs on the list, they wouldn’t amount to even one-tenth of a pill refined by Cheonui.

So long as they could secure the pills, it was more than worth the exchange.

A short while later, Ongun returned holding a ring that glowed with a faint blue light.

He presented it to Cheonui with great care.

“Master, all the herbs you requested are stored within this ring. Please verify them yourself.”

“…Is the ring included as well?”

“Yes. Consider it a small token of sincerity—please accept it without reservation.”

“My thanks.”

Cheonui accepted the ring with a nod.

It was a spatial ring.

Crafted from special materials, the ring contained an independent storage space within it.

In the broader cultivation world, every cultivator owned one. But in Mokgun City, they were still precious items.

Even the lowest-grade spatial rings cost tens of thousands of gold, far beyond the reach of ordinary cultivators.

Only high-ranking families, like the Cheon clan or the royal household, could afford them.

For Cheonui, however, such rings held little meaning.

In his past life, as one who had roamed the Sacred Heaven Realm, spatial rings were no more than convenient tools.

But in this life, after his regression, he did not yet own one—so this gift came at just the right time.

He infused the ring with spiritual energy and checked inside.

The herbs were all present, just as listed.

Cheonui gave a small nod and rose to his feet.

“No issues. I’ll be leaving now. When you’ve decided on the pills you require, come to the Cheon estate.”

“Master, allow me to personally escort you!”

Ongun hurriedly stood and guided him.

Together they made their way to the VIP chamber, where Cheonsanhang and Cheongil looked up.

“Ui, did things go well?”

Cheonsanhang glanced at Ongun standing beside Cheonui.

“Yes. Let’s be on our way.”

Cheonui replied with a gentle smile.

“Good.”

Cheonsanhang nodded, rising from his seat.

The three of them left the auction house.

From behind, Nam Yeongwol approached Ongun and asked cautiously,

“Elder, is Cheonui truly an alchemist? Could it be that we’ve been deceived?”

Ongun gave her a cold look.

“Hmph. Are you doubting my judgment?”

“N-no, Elder.”

Nam Yeongwol waved her hands quickly.

“It’s just… Cheonui—no, Master Cheon—was alone in the VIP chamber earlier, so I wondered if the pill had been prepared beforehand…”

Ongun furrowed his brows and thought briefly before saying,

“Take me to the chamber he used.”

“Yes, right away.”

Nam Yeongwol led him to the room where Cheonui had refined the pill.

The rich scent of medicine still lingered inside, yet her doubts remained.

Every alchemist she knew was at least middle-aged before gaining recognition.

How could a boy like Cheonui already be an alchemist?

And for Ongun to bow his head over a single pill—it had to have been at least third grade, perhaps close to second!

In truth, Ongun himself was equally doubtful.

A sixteen-year-old boy as a third-grade alchemist? Impossible.

Even in the entire Southern Empire, he knew of only one person who had proven such talent—the Imperial Family’s prodigy.

And even that genius had been trained from birth by the empire’s greatest alchemists, nurtured with rare medicines and treasures beyond measure, before finally reaching that level.

But Cheonui?

He was merely the son of a small-town family.

With the limited support he could have received, mastering alchemy—an art requiring vast resources—should have been utterly impossible.

Yet here he was, at sixteen, a third-grade alchemist. It defied all reason.

“This is the place, Elder.”

The moment Ongun stepped through the doorway, the thick medicinal fragrance hit his nose.

He looked toward the pill cauldron in the center of the room.

After gazing at it in silence for a long time, he finally nodded.

“There’s no doubt—the refinement was done here.”

That much was undeniable.

Turning to Nam Yeongwol, he asked,

“You’re certain Master Cheon was alone here until just now?”

“Yes, without a doubt.”

She nodded firmly.

The room had only one door and no other exits.

And this was the second floor of the auction house.

Even if someone could tunnel through the ground, there was no way to enter.

“Then… could it really be true…?”

Nam Yeongwol’s voice trailed off as Ongun narrowed his eyes.

There was no doubt alchemy had been performed here.

And if Cheonui had been the only one present, the answer was clear.

A sixteen-year-old, third-grade alchemist!

Taking a deep breath, Ongun declared,

“From this day forward, give the Cheon clan the highest treatment!”

Nam Yeongwol’s eyes widened.

“Elder, are you saying Master Cheon truly refined it himself?”

“If he was the only one here, then there is no mistake.”

He shot her a glance and continued.

“In any case, from now on, treat the Cheon clan—especially Master Cheon—with utmost courtesy. Forget your petty grudges. He is not someone you can afford to provoke!”

With that, Ongun turned and left, leaving Nam Yeongwol behind in confusion.

Of course she bore a grudge.

She wasn’t so magnanimous as to let go easily.

Watching Cheonui refine a pill had humiliated her, and now she’d even been scolded by Ongun. Her pride as the strong-willed Nam Yeongwol demanded at least some form of revenge.

She had brought Ongun here hoping to expose Cheonui’s pretense.

Never had she expected things to end like this.

Biting her lip, she swallowed her fury.

Inside the carriage bound for the Cheon estate—

“Ui, who was that man just now?”

Cheonsanhang looked at Cheonui with curiosity.

Beside him, Cheongil’s expression was equally inquisitive.

“He was ‘Ongun,’ the manager of the Southern Auction House. We struck a deal.”

“A deal? What kind of deal?”

Both Cheonsanhang and Cheongil stared in surprise.

“He asked me to make some pills for him.”

“Some pills?”

The two exchanged looks.

After a moment’s thought, Cheonsanhang asked carefully,

“Ui, can you tell me what grade of alchemist you are right now?”

Back in the VIP chamber, both he and Cheongil had sensed something unusual.

If it had been only a second-grade pill, the auction house’s upper echelon would never have personally stepped in.

Yet Ongun had even addressed Cheonui respectfully as ‘Master.’

That meant the pill had been third grade or higher—something inconceivable.

Even if Cheonui truly had learned alchemy from some master, becoming an alchemist in just one year was already remarkable.

But a third-grade alchemist?

In all of Mokgun City, the only one with such skill was Master Yeopjeong.

If Cheonui truly had that level of ability, it was beyond extraordinary.