Chapter Eighty-Five: Irreconcilable Medicinal Power

His spiritual power continuously scanned through the Compendium of Spiritual Herbs and Elixirs, but because it was all being force-fed into his memory, Liu Pan’s mind was a muddled blur. In truth, this was one of the defining traits of reading with spiritual power—when too much was memorized in too short a time, the mind would become hazy. If he tried to recall things deliberately, little would come to mind, but as soon as he encountered anything related, the knowledge would resurface.

After about a quarter of an hour, Liu Pan had committed the entire Compendium to memory. He shifted his focus back to Elder Zhao and the alchemical cauldron.

At this moment, Elder Zhao’s brows were still deeply furrowed. A third of the liquid in the cauldron had turned a murky brown-gray. Clearly, for the past quarter hour, Elder Zhao had been trying to merge the two medicinal powers, but he had yet to succeed.

Soon, after another failed attempt, frustration flashed across Elder Zhao’s face. It was obvious he believed the current attempt at pill refining was doomed to fail.

Liu Pan felt at a loss, because just as Elder Zhao’s irritation showed, he sensed a sweep of Elder Zhao’s spiritual power brush over him. Why pay attention to him at this moment? Liu Pan could find no reasonable explanation. Remembering what Qin Ling had said, Liu Pan suspected that once Elder Zhao failed in this attempt, it would be the moment he was sent down the mountain.

“Damn!” he cursed inwardly, but his attention became even more immersed in the cauldron.

Liu Pan was truly puzzled. Although he had studied the formula for the Earth Origin Pill and understood the properties of all the required herbs from the Compendium, he still could not fathom why these two medicinal energies could not merge.

In the text, Liu Kuang had also crafted the Earth Origin Pill. Aside from two initial failed tries, the rest went smoothly; he never encountered a problem like the one before him, where the medicinal powers refused to combine.

But why…?

His brow furrowed ever so slightly. Though he hadn’t formally begun studying the Water Method of alchemy, Liu Pan sensed that if he could not unravel this problem now, he would inevitably face similar setbacks on his own path. And if he could not solve this, he might end up like Elder Zhao, unable to refine the Earth Origin Pill.

After all, the Earth Origin Pill was merely a higher-grade version of the Earth-grade Yuan Pill. How could something so basic be so difficult to refine?

After quite some time, Liu Pan still had no answer. Meanwhile, Elder Zhao tried two more times to merge the medicinal powers, both ending in failure.

Could it be the wrong herbs had been used?

Unable to think of any other possibility, Liu Pan broadened his thinking. Eliminate all impossibilities, and whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

Since Elder Zhao’s method of decomposing and merging the medicinal powers seemed sound, the problem likely lay in the medicinal powers themselves. And what determined those powers, but the herbs?

In an instant, Liu Pan’s spiritual power locked onto the discarded remnants left after Elder Zhao had processed the herbs.

Though Elder Zhao had the formula and the Compendium of Spiritual Herbs and Elixirs to help identify the ingredients, making it nearly impossible to use the wrong ones, this was the only avenue Liu Pan could think to pursue.

The moment his spiritual power swept over the discarded material, Liu Pan paused, then shifted his focus to the Earth Origin Pill’s formula, a strange light flickering in his eyes.

Elder Zhao had not used the wrong herbs. That was Liu Pan’s first realization.

His second thought was that the reason the two medicinal powers could not merge was because Elder Zhao had omitted something.

Among the waste, Liu Pan found several pieces of Sweet Spirit Grass root. This herb, resembling a large green onion, was something Liu Pan had a bundle of in his own storage pouch. It was one of the seven indispensable auxiliary ingredients in the Earth Origin Pill’s formula.

Liu Pan suspected that the inability of the two medicinal energies to merge was precisely due to the absence of Sweet Spirit Grass root.

Convinced his reasoning might be correct, Liu Pan felt a surge of restless anticipation—not because he wanted to try refining the pill himself, but because he wanted to share his idea with Elder Zhao.

At this moment, Elder Zhao’s face was a mask of frustration. Four-fifths of the cauldron was already filled with murky waste, and the two medicinal powers were nearly depleted. A few more failed attempts would mean total failure.

Liu Pan wanted to tell Elder Zhao his theory because he suspected that if Elder Zhao failed, he himself would be brushed off and sent down the mountain with some half-hearted excuse.

Judging by how skilled and at ease Elder Zhao had been at first, it was clear he had refined this pill many times. If Liu Pan could help him, even if the pill was not successfully created in the end, any progress might at least keep Liu Pan from being dismissed so quickly.

After a brief moment of thought, Liu Pan’s eyes flashed. He quietly took two steps forward, glanced at the pile of discarded medicinal scraps, and then at Elder Zhao. After a moment’s hesitation, he asked cautiously, “Master, I’ve heard that the most important thing in alchemy is maintaining the balance of yin and yang, and that spiritual herbs themselves possess these properties as well. So I don’t understand—why did you not add the root of the Sweet Spirit Grass to the cauldron? Without its root, the herb’s properties are incomplete. How can you ensure the yin and yang within the pill are balanced? I humbly ask Master to enlighten me.”

Liu Pan spoke quickly, his tone and bearing that of an eager, studious disciple.

As soon as Liu Pan had taken two steps forward, Elder Zhao’s attention had already shifted to him.

Hearing Liu Pan’s sudden question, Elder Zhao was momentarily stunned. It wasn’t the content of the question that surprised him, but the fact that Liu Pan dared to speak up at all.

For an alchemist, being interrupted during pill refinement was taboo. Liu Pan’s action was certainly improper.

Liu Pan felt helpless. He knew well the taboos of alchemy, but if he didn’t speak up now, he might never have another chance. All he could do was take the risk.

“What do you know, you fool!” Elder Zhao snapped almost instantly.

Hearing this outburst, Liu Pan’s heart sank. His deduction about the missing root was only a guess, but Elder Zhao’s forceful denial made him wonder if perhaps there was indeed some special reason not to add the root.

“Do you even know what pill I’m refining? The root of Sweet Spirit Grass is yang in nature—if I added it, that would be what truly disrupts the yin-yang balance in the pill—” Elder Zhao’s voice was stern, but mid-sentence, he abruptly stopped.

His gaze flickered; he fell silent for a moment, then said, “It is a grave offense to interrupt someone during pill refining. Since this is your first transgression, get out now! If you do it again, you’ll be sent straight down the mountain!”

Startled by Elder Zhao’s harsh tone, Liu Pan paled, bowed, and said, “Your disciple acknowledges his mistake and will leave at once.”

With those words, Liu Pan all but fled the underground chamber—yet in his heart, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Sensing Liu Pan had left, Elder Zhao’s gaze fell upon the pieces of Sweet Spirit Grass root. His brows knitted as he murmured, “Balance of yin and yang?”

As he spoke, a glint appeared in his eye. He reached out and grasped the discarded roots…