Chapter 100 - Pranking Grandpa Don
"How do I know you can't teach me anything?" Crazy Don repeated the question with a derisive look.
"When I started learning alchemy, you were not even born yet, kiddo. What kind of alchemic knowledge do you know that I haven't learnt before?" Crazy Don scoffed.
Leon was not offended by the scoffing.
"The world is so vast, and the profundity of alchemy is a never-ending path of learning that could never be fully comprehended simply after reading ten thousand books nor treading ten thousand miles. Do you dare claim to know everything there is to know about alchemy?"
Leon spewed some profound words and threw a question back at the elderly while giving him a cursory glance.
"Hah, I naturally wouldn't dare, but what I know is certainly more than what you know, kiddo."
Crazy Don spoke with certainty.
Leon shook his head at the elder's blind confidence. He was a rank 5 Alchemist Sovereign in his past life and was certainly not an average joe. Rank 5 Alchemist Sovereigns were capable of refining tier 5 spirit pills for Void Realm practitioners and were just one rank below the divine rank.
It wasn't farfetched to say that his alchemy skills stood at the peak of the mortal realm. As such, the elder's blind confidence was no difference to arrogance. One should never judge a book by its cover.
"Hoh… then let's put gran- senior's claim to the test. Since you know more than me, you must certainly know about the Purity Renewal Pill, no?"
Leon targeted the elder with a tricky question. If Crazy Don knew what the Purity Renewal Pill was, he would know how much it meant to him.
When ingesting pills, there was always a limit to the effectiveness of a pill before the body develop complete immune to it. The Purity Renewal Pill can reset the body's immunity to pills and remove the residual pill toxins that could not be removed with the Toxin Cleansing Pill.
Leon had only given the elder a cursory glance, but he already knew that the elder had hit a bottleneck in his cultivation for years. He was able to infer the problem after diagnosing the elder through look and smell.
He had been on the mark. Crazy Don had been ingesting the Essence Strengthening Pills for most of his life to improve his cultivation. However, the pill gradually lost its effectiveness as he approached 9-stars in his cultivation, before ultimately becoming completely ineffective after reaching 9-stars.
As such, he had be stumped at the gate of transcendence for years without much hope of taking the last step. How frustrating it must be for a person to reach the fabled doors of transcendence but unable to open it.
"Purity Renewal Pill? What kind of pill is that? Don't think you can pull the wool over this old man's eyes by making up some pill name he never heard before."
"..."
As expected, Crazy Don did not know what the pill was. Otherwise, he would have long achieved transcendence. His body was completely healthy and had no problem reaching transcendence if not for the pill immunity.
Leon mouth curved into a grin at Crazy Don's reply.
"You don't even know what a Purity Renewal Pill is and yet you claim you know more than me? Listen up, the Purity Renewal Pill is-"
Leon suddenly paused his words. Crazy Don wore a lackadaisical expression and started yawning the moment he started explaining the pill's usage. It was uncertain whether the elder was listening to Leon's words. His face couldn't help but twitched.
"Are you listening to me, Old fart?"
"Yeah, yeah… I'm listening."
Crazy Don answered perfunctorily without a care for Leon's rudeness. He had no idea why he didn't mind staying behind to listen to this kid, who was still wet behind the ears, trying to preach about alchemy to him. Maybe he was bored and was looking for some way to kill time.
Leon noticed the perfunctory tone in the Old fart's words and lack of attention. His following words carried a hint of impatience.
"How can the master teach, if the student is unwilling learn? Is that the attitude of a listener?"
"Haih…alright, I'm listening… intently."
Crazy Don placed extra emphasis on the word 'intently'. He wagered the kiddo would give him an earful as his 'Master' if he didn't play his part as the 'student'. He still wanted to listen to what the kid says so he can quickly rebut him. Nonetheless, his attitude was still superficial.
Leon didn't care if the Old fart's attitude was genuine or not as long as he was listening.
"The Purity Renewal Pill has the effect of reset the body's immunity to pill efficacy."
His words were brief, but his goal was achieved as the message was been delivered.
"Reset the body's immunity to the pill's efficacy? Hmph! That's some bold claims, kiddo. All words are empty talk. Present some hard evidence if you want to convince this Old man!"
Crazy Don was disbelieving of the boy's words and appeared somewhat unmoved, but Leon has captured his genuine attention and interest. He held some faint hope that what the kiddo said was true.
With his eyes of discernment, there was no way the Old fart's emotions could be hidden from Leon.
"Evidence? I can refine the pill, but why should I? What would I get out of it?" He suddenly said as he crossed his arms behind his back. His mouth curved upwards into a mischievous smile.
The tables have turned. He didn't need to try and convince the Old fart any longer. Crazy Don would be the one trying to get him to validate his words, otherwise the Old fart would be restless like an itch needed scratching.
"I will accept you as my master." Crazy Don said with gritted teeth. Was this brat playing games with him?
"Well, do you swear on your words?" Leon asked as he tried not to laugh.
"I swear."
Crazy Don answered hurriedly.
The Old fart's word was unreliable, and with his high cultivation, Leon wouldn't be able to do anything since he knew the Old man would go back on his words.
At the end of the day, this person was still his biological grandpa's closest brother, making them family. According to custom, he should also be addressing him as grandpa, but Crazy Don doesn't seem to realize this fact. Or rather, Crazy Don has yet to realize his identity since he was willing to kowtow and hail him as master. As such, he thought it was fun to prank the old man.
"Watch closely."
Leon prepared to refine the Purity Renewal Pill for the Old fart. The herbs had been taking out at some unknown moment. All the spirit herbs were present, and none was missing. If Leon wasn't assured that he had all the spirit herbs, he would not have chosen the Purity Renewal Pill. It wasn't the only pill in his arsenal that produced the same effect, but it was the most readily available one for refinement.
With the pill cauldron still hot, Leon was able to skip one the three steps of pill concoction and quickly got to work.
Some time later, a fresh batch of nine Purity Renewal Pills were produced, albeit a bit lower in quality due to the missing cauldron lid. Leon inadvertently glanced up to see if it was ever coming back, but it didn't seem like it would be the case. With its shape, it was very unlikely to return to its exact spot.
"This is the Purity Renewal Pill."
Leon stowed the pills in a glass bottle and waved it in front of Crazy Don.
Swoosh*
The bottle was snatched out of his hands as he expected. Crazy Don unsealed the bottle and took a whiff. His eyes quickly lit up like the stars in the night skies and quickly popped one into his mouth. It didn't take long for the effects to show itself as Crazy Don started excreting impurities from his body.
"What kind of pill is this, boy? Why does it stink so bad?"
Crazy Don knew the pill was extraordinary the moment he sniffed it. He was told it resets pill efficacy immunity, but nothing about expelling impurities. He was itching to take a bath.
"That's the pill toxins being expelled, Grandpa Don." Leon said respectfully.
He decided playtime was over. He didn't actually dare to accept grandpa Don as his disciple. His father would skin him if he knew after he wakes up from coma.
"Huh... What grandpa Don… wait… who are you exactly, boy…?" Crazy Don was taken aback by the sudden change.
It took a moment before he suddenly recalled Elizabeth calling the boy her son. He missed it earlier due to his craze for explosion. His expression quickly turned in between laughter and tears as the realization dawned on him.
"T-T-This…"
"Paying respects to grandpa Don, I am Leon Crawford."
Leon introduced himself before bolting out from the courtyard.
"This brat, how dare you play this old man!?" Crazy Don roared in embarrassment, but he didn't chase. He shook his head over his own rashness and stupidity.
However, it was pleasant news that the missing brat had returned. He recognized the kid's well intention veiled beneath his playfulness as he gazed at the bottle of pill in his hand. He could feel the gate of transcendence loosening under the pill's efficacy.
Such a great gift upon their first meeting. His impression of Leon was good… or so he thought.
"Grandpa Don kowtowed me~!"
Leon's distant mischievous words made him stagger and almost spit blood in anger. Was the going to continue bringing that up!? Why did he do such a stupid thing? But what has been done cannot be undone.. It was going to keep haunting him.