Realm of Myths and Legends

"It is still grayed out. Either this lava pool is still interfering, or... Palace Master Izroth has already perished and is now outside of the party range. What should I do? Should I inform the leader, first? But, what do I even say? He just threw himself into a pool of lava without warning and never came out? Will he even believe such nonsense?" Iron Cauldron said as he grabbed the side of his head in frustration.

Woosh! Boom!

"?!" Iron Cauldron's eyes widened in shock as a pillar of lava burst upward from the lava pool, startling him in the process.

Iron Cauldron quickly turned to run away as he narrowly managed to avoid the splashing lava before the pillar of lava subsided.

"What the- What is that thing?! A monster?! I thought they weren't any monsters in this garden!" Iron Cauldron gasped as he prepared himself for a fight.

In front of Iron Cauldron was a blob of molten lava that moved in his direction; however, it abruptly halted his steps.

"Did you manage to collect a Cold Yin Flower back then?" The molten lava blob said.

Iron Cauldron blinked a few times in confusion. He recognized the voice of this lava blob the moment it spoke.

"You- Are you Palace Master Izroth? I... You knew I was following you this whole time?" Iron Cauldron was momentarily befuddled; however, he quickly snapped out of it.

He then nodded and replied, "No, never mind. If it weren't for Palace Master Izroth, I'm afraid I would have had no idea where to find anything. Indeed, I was lucky and managed to find a Cold Yin Flower not far from the place you gathered the Extreme Yin Evil Roots."

Iron Cauldron removed the Cold Yin Flower from his garden bag and held it outward.

"I will repay you." Izroth said as he grabbed the Cold Yin Flower and immediately consumed it.

The instant he did so, the molten lava around him began to freeze over. A few moments later, the lava became encased in ice before shattering into numerous fragments.

Izroth exhaled, expelling a mixture of cold and hot energies from his mouth.

'That was too close. A few moments later, and I wouldn't have been able to resolve it so easily.'

Iron Cauldron was still a little confused about what was going on. But, as a grade two Apothecary, he could deduce a few things here and there about why Izroth needed the Cold Yin Flower.

"I, Izroth, am not the type to take advantage of others. Since you've been following me, you should have already collected the Stellar Jade Dust and Dark-Stilled Liquid. As thanks, I will secure a Extreme Yin Evil Roots for you. Also-" Izroth said as he placed his hand on his garden bag.

The following moment, Izroth removed a Demonic Heart Lotus from his garden bag. It was the ancient-ranked Demonic Heart Lotus he found during his descent into the lava pool.

"This Demonic Heart Lotus has only bloomed a single time, so it's still ancient-ranked. However, with my guidance, you should be able to craft a passing grade four pill for this trial." Izroth stated as he held the Demonic Heart Lotus outward.

When Iron Cauldron saw the Demonic Heart Lotus he was taken aback.

"This... Are you sure?" A part of Iron Cauldron immediately regretted having asked that question. After all, what if Izroth suddenly changed his mind?

Izroth was already willing to secure an Extreme Yin Evil Roots for him. On top of everything, it seemed that Izroth knew that he was following him all along and thought out loud intentionally to aid him. To give him a Demonic Heart Lotus and offer guidance as well—wasn't this too much for a simple Cold Yin Flower?

Izroth, on the other hand, did not think too much of it. He always repaid kindness tenfold and contempt a thousandfold. Since Iron Cauldron handed over the Cold Yin Flower and saved Izroth some trouble, naturally, he would not take advantage of him. Additionally, Izroth had been looking for clues throughout the entire trial dungeon in regards to Fatal Touch's relationship with the shadahi. But, so far, Izroth did not detect any shadahi energy coming from any of the Fatal Touch members.

Of course, Izroth still had his suspicions and needed more time to be certain. Nevertheless, it started to look as though Silent Steps had made a personal deal with the shadahi back then.

"This one is no longer of any use to me. Taking more than what's needed from this garden serves no purpose but to sabotage one's self. With the rules of the trial dungeon, I will not be able to keep it since I've already collected a Demonic Heart Lotus of the mythical-rank." Izroth stated calmly.

Hearing Izroth's words, Iron Cauldron graciously accepted the Demonic Heart Lotus and placed it into his garden bag.

He then respectfully cupped his fists and said, "I apologize for my earlier behavior. Without your help, even if I had 12 hours, I was not confident in locating all the ingredients, let alone collecting them. At that time, I truly misjudged you- No, I misjudged everything."

Iron Cauldron believed that he not only misjudged Izroth's character, but Pill Master and Blue Quill's as well.

"Forget it. Since you didn't go too far, I am willing to overlook it this once." Izroth said nonchalantly.

Although Iron Cauldron did not directly provoke Izroth, he did not view Izroth as a real Apothecary and figured he just got lucky by becoming acquainted with the Pill Emperor. However, thinking back to that and his admiration for Pill Master, Iron Cauldron became embarrassed that he had such thoughts.

"Thank you, Palace Master Izroth." Iron Cauldron replied with a thankful expression.

Izroth nodded, "I have a rough idea of where to find an Extreme Yin Evil Roots. Follow me."

The next moment, Izroth began to make his way toward a certain area of the garden.

Iron Cauldron nodded before following after Izroth. As he did so, a thought suddenly popped into his head.

"The Demonic Suppression Pill is a grade four pill. This... Given the skills he's shown so far, Palace Master Izroth is most likely a grade three Apothecary. But, how can he guide me through a grade four pill if he's never made one himself? Well, it's fine. I'm already thankful for his help. Besides, one thing's for sure, Palace Master Izroth's talent in crafting pills is well above mine and even a grade three Apothecary like Pill Master. It's better to rely on his guidance than to fumble through it." Iron Cauldron thought to himself.

...

Approximately 45 minutes later...

Izroth and Iron Cauldron had just arrived back at the crafting platform.

While it took a little longer than he anticipated, as promised, Izroth had found and collected an Extreme Yin Evil Roots for Iron Cauldron. After doing so, the two immediately made their way back to the crafting platform and prepared their cauldrons.

"Since the quality of your Demonic Heart Lotus is lacking, if you follow the recipe's crafting methods directly, the pill will either be degraded or end up as a Fractured Pill. You will need to first adjust the order of ingredients and then..." Izroth took his time explaining the improvised crafting method for the Demonic Suppression Pill to Iron Cauldron.

Iron Cauldron had a serious expression on his face as he listened intently. He made sure to absorb every word Izroth said and even took some notes using one of the empty scrolls on the table.

Seeing this sight, Haishe sighed, "Ha... If only those two weren't so stubborn earlier. No, even if it was just Blue Quill, then... Forget it."

Haishe shook his head in disappointment as he gave another helpless sigh.

"A grade four pill, huh? This one might be a little impossible, leader." Mystic Lock commented.

"I've heard of that the Pill Emperors are both grade three Apothecaries. Even they probably haven't crafted a grade four pill yet. Not to dampen the mood or anything. But, how can these two possibly manage? Isn't this trial dungeon being too unreasonable?" Steel Mountain said with a frown.

"The more unreasonable something like this is, the greater the rewards that await us at the end. Why? Do you two think that we should just give up here and leave?" Haishe said with a grin.

"Aye... We're so close. Giving up now would feel wrong. Continuing also feels like a waste of time. If this were the last trial, I'd be a bit more optimistic. But, we still have one more trial to go and it's already asking for a grade four pill. What if it asks for a grade five pill next?" Mystic Lock stated.

"Then, we'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it." Haishe said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"I agree. None of us are an Apothecary. So, unless another fight breaks out, there is nothing more that we can do. All we can do is place our hopes in Palace Master Izroth and Iron Cauldron and hope that they find a way to push through." Autumn Winds remarked.

Meanwhile, on the crafting platform, Izroth had just finished explaining things to Iron Cauldron.

After expressing his thanks once more, Iron Cauldron started to review the notes he took and practiced the process in his mind.

'I've done what I can to guide him in the right direction. He will have to rely on himself if he wants to succeed. Now...'

Izroth stood before his cauldron was peered down into the roaring flames.

"Let's begin crafting the Demonic Suppression Pill." Izroth said to himself as he placed his hand over the cauldron.