Emperor's Reckoning

Lyon's laughter was interrupted with a voice from downstairs.

"Yes, yes right this way sir."

Both he and the princess recognized the voice as it belonged to the young clerk from before. (That clerk is a fast one isn't he) thought Lyon with a chuckle.

Not so long ago, the clerk was carrying a young unconscious alchemist to his resident but now he was already downstairs.

The princess quickly wiped her remaining tears and fixed her expression. It was almost natural for her to do so, being groomed as a princess had its own merits.

The sound of wooden stairs being stepped up on was heard as the clerk's head revealed himself. The clerk's gaze was not on the two of them but rather to the figure behind him as he welcomed it on the third floor, "This is the third-floor sir, you may use the cauldrons and the ingredients here as you see fit, the bills will naturally follow after."

However, the first thing that Lyon saw was an ordinary wooden cane. The figure wore an azure cloak that covered his body and a hood that covered the top side of the figure's face whenever he walked. Lyon could only make out his wrinkled nose and below to realize that it was an old man.

The old man was standing straight with no sign of humpback. His wrinkled hands were not fragile nor strong, but the bearing he exuded was a kind of sinister feeling that could make the princess instinctively hid behind Lyon.

"Ho~, interesting," said the old man with his hoarse voice. His target was none other than the young man in front of him who stood nonchalantly with a smile.

The old man, slowly raised his hand to signal the clerk to leave which the clerk naturally comply.

"Young man, I sense no fear in you, that is quite an amazing feat," said the old man before he laughed.

"To think that I would find someone like you in this little world, Hahaha!" continued the old man as he walked to the side with the aid of his cane.

Lyon smirked as he said, "Why should I fear you? I don't even know who you are."

The old man's weary eyes opened wide before his lips curled up, "Boy, do you not know what this azure cloak means?"

Lyon mused as he carefully looked at the azure cloak the old man was wearing. He found nothing suspicious other than a white little balance-scale symbol on top of the cloak's hood.

He squinted his eyes as he looked dead serious against the old man before saying, "You can't be..."

"Hahaha! That's right I am..."

"You are naked inside the cloak aren't you? Disgusting!"

Interrupted Lyon with a spit to the floor.

.

.

.

The room was silent as the only thing heard last was Lyon's saliva hitting the floor like a bullet.

Princess Aelina who was hiding behind Lyon's back couldn't say anything before, "Puha! Hahaha!" her laugh was burst out along with the rain from her beautiful lips.

"You! I'm not naked under my cloak!" said the old man as he was pointing at Lyon with his cane.

However, he slowly breathed as he calmed his state once more before retracting his cane. "It is my fault, I shouldn't expect the people live in this little world would know the significant meaning of this azure cloak."

He proceeded to walk to one of the two remaining cauldrons, disregarding Lyon's expression. He stood silently in front of the black one before concentrating.

Lyon suddenly had an idea as he spoke softly, intentionally yet sounded not intentionally, "Too bad he is going to fail."

The old man perked his ears as he heard what Lyon's said. (There is no other 'he' than me on this floor, is he really doubting my success rate for making pills? Hahaha the fool!) thought the azure cloaked old man.

The old man turned his figure against Lyon as he said with a smile, "Young man, how about a bet."

Lyon looked surprised by the old man's proposition before saying, "A bet? A bet for what?"

"A bet whether I succeed in making a pill or not,"

He mused before replying, "Oh, but what pill-grade are you going to make? If it's the first, white-grade pill, might as well called it off."

*tsk*tsk

The old man clicked his wrinkled tongue as he shook his head before putting his right hand on his chest to retract his soul flame.

Princess Aelina squinted her eyes while wiping her saliva that landed on Lyon's back from before. (A red flame?! A level three alchemist!).

She looked at Lyon with concerned as she might afraid that he had fallen to his own trap. But the ever-smiling Lyon still had not changed a bit, not even a twitch could be seen from his expression.

(Hmm? The fact that a level three alchemist standing in front of him didn't even make him flinch) thought the old man as his confidence started to reduce by a small amount. Usually, upon the revelation of his soul flame, cultivators would hurriedly try to curry favor him, especially in a weak world such as the one he was in right now.

(Is he a hidden expert?! Then that would make sense... wait that doesn't make any sense, if he is a hidden expert, he would know the meaning of my azure cloak, besides, I can gauge his shallow cultivation level) thought the old man as he regained his confidence.

"Alright then, we will bet on you making a level three grade pill, no less and no more, it has to be a perfect red! The recipe is... well I'm sure you have one, let's go with whatever you pick, what do you think? Fair enough?" asked Lyon with a smirk on his face.

Princess Aelina always wondered why his smirk was enchanting to look at, others usually felt annoyed.

"Fine by me, as for the prize is simple, you just need to kowtow to me," said the old man with a smile.

Princess Aelina gripped her hand tight before Lyon said, "Fine, my prize, if you fail, would be your azure cloak."

The old man flinched for a second before replying, "Alright then its a deal!" (Hahaha, there is no way I would fail!).

(He thinks he can make a third-grade pill with a broken cauldron from a cheap store-owner? Hahaha the fool!) thought Lyon as he laughed inwardly.