Red Flame Peak, the Quenching Room.
Several large furnaces rumbled to life, sending waves of heat billowing through the air. Everyone felt as if they were submerged in boiling water, their skin scalded red.
Mortal Servants submerged sturdy, bone-white pieces into the furnaces, using the roaring flames to temper out impurities.
Every so often, a sharp CRACKLE would echo from within the furnaces—the sound of bone material shattering.
Yang Xun sighed. Even though the bone material sent to the Quenching Room was all carefully selected, it couldn't withstand the ferocity of the furnace flames.
Out of all the bone material, only twenty percent was qualified to be used as Bone Material for polishing, grinding, and forging into rough drafts.
The rest was either burned to slag or cracked and discarded as waste.
'We've already hit our limit.'
Yang Xun squinted, his gaze sweeping over the numerous Mortal Servants working tirelessly—those adding charcoal, those fanning the flames. Every one of them was focused, with no signs of slacking.
He figured it was because Senior Brother Xu from the Inner Sect had beaten a Mortal Servant to death the day before yesterday. None of these fellows dared to be lazy or slack off now.
'Red Flame Peak is supposed to produce forty-two Magic Artifact Rough Drafts this month. We're still short thirteen, and there are only five days left.
According to convention, the Quenching Room needs to produce one hundred and sixty usable pieces of Bone Material.
At this rate, how are we ever going to finish?'
Yang Xun felt a headache coming on. He could spend more talisman money to split the Mortal Servants in the Quenching Room into two rotating shifts, but the key to production wasn't a lack of manpower.
The problem was the limited amount of "qualified Bone Material" his room could provide to the Grinding and Carving Room and the Forging Room.
'Even with two shifts and no breaks, we could increase the yield by ten percent at most, bringing the success rate for the bone material to around thirty percent...'
Yang Xun was frustrated. It wasn't as if the Inner Sect would punish him for falling behind schedule.
However, the Outer Sect Four Peaks held an annual evaluation. If Red Flame Peak came in last, the stipends and rewards for all the Servants would be reduced.
Besides, knowing the personalities of Old Tang from the Grinding and Carving Room and Old Zhou from the Forging Room, those two would definitely conspire to shift all the blame onto the Quenching Room.
They'd claim he hadn't provided enough Bone Material, which was why the quota couldn't be met.
'The three workshops on Red Flame Peak have a monthly limit of thirty-seven pieces. That Senior Brother from the Inner Sect just had to make an impossible promise to suck up to Elder Sui, and now we're the ones who have to suffer for it.'
Yang Xun was full of complaints, especially about Senior Brother Xu Yan from the Inner Sect. He didn't know what set the man off, but he had a fuse as short as a firecracker's.
Although he had compensated with talisman money after killing the Mortal Servant...
...Yang Xun still had to waste his own time and energy recruiting a replacement.
'What a complete mess! So frustrating!'
With his hands behind his back, Yang Xun took a turn around the Quenching Room, then slowly returned to the second floor and settled into a lounge chair to doze off.
A Daoist Child fanned him from behind, and a square stool beside him held dried fruits and snacks.
It was a comfortable life, all things considered.
DONG DONG DONG!
The bells of Guanlan Peak rang out, the sound traveling from afar and into the Quenching Room.
It was time to get off work.
Yang Xun's eyelids fluttered open as if he had just woken from a long sleep.
He was sunk into a wide rocking chair padded with a tiger skin. Rocking gently, he mumbled:
"I'm really getting old. I get tired and sleepy so easily... hmm?"
Just as Yang Xun was about to sit up, he caught sight of a young man in a dusty gray Daoist Robe standing at the top of the stairs, his hands clasped respectfully at his sides.
He recognized the young man; it was Jiang Yi, a Mortal Servant from Red Flame Peak.
The boy often worked in the Quenching Room. He was diligent when fanning the flames and adding charcoal, and he was a steady, hardworking person—a promising, expendable resource.
Yang Xun said,
"Let him approach."
The Daoist Child obeyed, stepping aside to let him pass.
Jiang Yi lowered his head, stepped forward, and bowed respectfully.
"Greetings, Servant."
This old Servant in charge of the Quenching Room had a long face, bald eyebrows, and a sharp, hooked nose, giving him a naturally fierce appearance.
One look and you could tell he wasn't the easygoing, approachable type.
Usually, when the Mortal Servants in the Quenching Room saw him, they would tremble in fear.
"Hm? What is it?"
Yang Xun looked up and sized him up, a flash of surprise in his eyes.
'Eh? He's reached the Qi Cultivation Second Layer?'
The Mortal Servants on Red Flame Peak ranged in age from as young as fourteen or fifteen to as old as thirty or forty.
He had some impression of the youth before him. The boy couldn't be more than eighteen, yet he was already at the Qi Cultivation Second Layer.
'It's not easy to cultivate while also working as a Mortal Servant.'
Jiang Yi began,
"I wish to report a certain situation to you, Servant."
Yang Xun never liked to chitchat with Mortal Servants and would have sent anyone else away immediately. But he saw the youthful innocence in Jiang Yi's face and a somewhat dazed look in his eyes, and for once, he showed a rare bit of patience.
"Let's hear it. If you're asking for leave again, this old man absolutely refuses. The Quenching Room is short-staffed, and we can't afford anyone taking a break."
Seeing that Jiang Yi had reached the Qi Cultivation Second Layer, Yang Xun jumped to the conclusion that he intended to ask for leave to consolidate his Cultivation and strengthen his physique.
After all, with the Qi Cultivation Twelve-Story Floors, every single step upward was extremely difficult. One had to cherish every rare opportunity to solidify their foundation.
Jiang Yi first bowed deeply, then stated his case clearly and respectfully, neither servile nor overbearing:
"Reporting to the Servant, Jiang Yi is not here to ask for leave. I have been working diligently recently, often in charge of fanning the flames. I've noticed that the quality of the bone material is inconsistent. Sometimes, if the fire is too fierce, the material shatters. But if the fire is too weak, there are more impurities, and the pieces break easily during grinding and carving."
A muscle twitched in Yang Xun's cheek. His gaze sharpened as he shot a sidelong glance at Jiang Yi.
"You're quite meticulous and observant. You're right. The problem with the bone material in the Quenching Room, which results in only a twenty percent yield, lies entirely with 'Fire Control'."
'So this is the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer?'
Jiang Yi's whole body tensed as if a jolt of electricity had passed through him.
For a brief moment, Yang Xun, lying in his rocking chair, had seemed like a ferocious mountain eagle wreathed in scorching flames, startling and terrifying him.
'This boy certainly has some composure. A pity he was born a Mortal Servant.'
Yang Xun's thoughts churned. He sat up a little straighter, grabbed a handful of dried fruit from the side, and began to chew on them slowly.
"The rarest kind of Mortal Servant in the Quenching Room is an old hand who understands Fire Control. But even after working for more than a decade, many people can't quite grasp the fine control needed."