Dum?

“Did he just try to call me dumb?” Himmel Soan was perplexed and wondered what gave them that idea.

Realizing he had a slip of tongue, Ein tried to cover it up. “We have a Mr. Dum who often buys pills from us. I mistook you for him.”

“I see.” Himmel Soan nodded.

Only then did Ein start observing Himmel Soan.

He’s just an ordinary man. There’s no spiritual essence in him. Why did my pupil bring him back? Didn’t a capable cultivator buy all our defective pills?

Why’s there an ordinary man? Did he buy all the defective pills? Impossible! It must be a joke! thought Ein.

He asked, “Sir, I heard you were interested in alchemy. Have you tried it before?”

He didn’t think his pupil would lie to him, not to mention he had brought that man back to the Elixir School. He can’t have brought back an ordinary person! I’m not that old yet!

Himmel Soan said, “No, I haven’t. I bought the defective pills to study their properties and effects.”

“I didn’t expect that!” Himmel Soan’s response intrigued Ein. His eyes lit up because such an idea had never occurred to him.

He had tried to figure out what to do with the defective pills. They couldn’t eat the pills, nor could they sell them, but they couldn’t throw them away either. They were made from excellent materials, and it would be a shame to see them go to waste.

Ein had spent years coming up with a solution but to no avail. The defective pills accumulated, and he had no choice but to throw them away.

However, they couldn’t keep doing that. There were too many defective pills. Destroying or throwing them away would release toxins into the air. The eight emperors wouldn’t allow it.

They had to keep finding new places to dump them. In the end, they punished their pupils by ordering them to sell the pills, hence what happened earlier.

“You certainly can do that with the defective pills, but it won’t be very efficient. Most of the materials used to make the defective pills have lost their medicinal properties. Furthermore, the toxins are trapped in the pills and can’t get out. As a result, the defective pills are also known as minor toxic pills,” Ein explained to Himmel Soan.

Himmel Soan’s idea surprised him. However, he shook his head after some consideration. What can this man possibly learn from the toxic pills?

If he could make use of the defective pills, it would be a breakthrough in history.

“To make the pills, you need to fuse and refine the materials while watching out for the duration and intensity of heating. Everything must be precise. The tiniest mistake can lead to defective pills.

“For instance, if you have too little or too much of a material, or the heating is off a little, disaster will happen.

“Some mistakes are hard to spot. You may not know what went wrong until you end up with defective pills. It’s like a blindspot that you can’t see.

“However, I can spot the mistakes from the defective pills. I can see that when the materials are overheated, the defective pills are more toxic, and vice versa.” Himmel Soan used science on Earth to explain the alchemy process. It was ideal for explaining the defective pills.

The others were surprised. That was right!

Not all defective pills were the same, but they had never paid attention to it. After all, nobody cared about defective pills. As for the errors, they would practice more to avoid future mistakes. That was why they had so many defective pills.

Ein’s eyes lit up. He cupped his hands at Himmel Soan in admiration. “I’ve learned so much from you!”

He now believed that Himmel Soan wasn’t an ordinary man. If he knew so much about defective pills, what about alchemy itself? He was so talented!

“Sir, if you’re so interested in alchemy, do you want to try it yourself? If you wish, I can lend you the materials, the furnace, and the room.”

Although he was only lending it to Himmel Soan, the offer was very surprising. Even the elders had a hard time borrowing Ein’s furnace.

No…

That was an understatement. It was impossible!

Ein treated his furnace like his lover and wouldn’t let anyone else touch it. Yet, he had just offered it to a guest!

“We’ll see about that.” Himmel Soan politely turned down the offer.

He hadn’t done these people any favor, so he couldn’t take the offer. He didn’t want to owe them anything. Moreover, he had only just gotten into alchemy and decided to study the defective pills first.

Himmel Soan said, “I’d like to rent a room here first to study the defective pills—”

Ein interjected before he could finish. “There’s no need for that. I have more than enough vacant rooms. You can live for as long as you want!

“Don’t mention the rent. It doesn’t apply to you. You’re our guest!

“If you make any discoveries feel free to discuss them with us!”

Since Ein was so passionate, Himmel Soan accepted his offer. He would let nature take its course.

Ein instructed Ton to prepare two rooms for Himmel Soan and Firey.

However, Firey refused to take a room on her own. She wanted to stay with Himmel Soan, so only one room was required.

While Ton was making arrangements, the elders went to talk to Ein.

“Ein, what do you think about that man?”

The elders were all curious about the same thing.

After some consideration, Ein said, “He’s a genius!”