Chapter Eighty-Six: The Pill Is Complete

Elder Zhao had lost track of how many times he had tried to refine the Earth-Origin Elixir.

To be frank, with his level in alchemy, he should have been able to produce it with ease long ago. Yet for some reason, he had never succeeded.

As for the Dragon-Hearted Grass roots Liu Pan had mentioned, Elder Zhao had never considered adding them to the Earth-Origin Elixir at all. Though he had never refined the pill himself, he had once watched an alchemist elder of the sect’s fire-based method do so.

When the fire method was used to refine the Earth-Origin Elixir, even if the whole Dragon-Hearted Grass plant was placed into the cauldron, its roots would be burnt to ash when the medicinal force was melted down; the potency within the roots would not be used.

The elder who practiced fire-based alchemy had once explained why. The roots of Dragon-Hearted Grass were of a yang nature. If their medicinal force were fused in as well, the overall potency would become too strongly yang and too weak in yin, making it impossible for the medicine to condense into a pill.

Water-based alchemy differed greatly from fire-based alchemy. With the fire method, any impurities could simply be burned to ash by intense heat. Water-based alchemy had no such convenience; if impurities appeared, one could only divert part of one’s effort to isolate them from the medicinal force meant for pill formation. It was a troublesome affair.

Thus, to avoid trouble, before every attempt at the Earth-Origin Elixir, Elder Zhao would cut off the roots of the Dragon-Hearted Grass in advance and keep them out of the cauldron.

When Liu Pan had asked his question earlier, Elder Zhao had truly been furious. If this attempt had not already seemed hopeless, and if Liu Pan’s question had not happened to concern the very Earth-Origin Elixir that was giving him a headache, he would have told him to get lost on the spot.

As for his later answer, that had been no more than a casual reply. And the reason he had suddenly fallen silent had been that, while answering almost absentmindedly, the scene of the fire-method elder refining the Earth-Origin Elixir had surfaced in his mind, and he had unconsciously compared it with his own water-based method.

One was fire, the other water.

In the world of cultivation, almost all things bore yin-yang attributes. Among the eight spiritual roots, metal, earth, thunder, and fire were yang; wood, water, wind, and ice were yin.

Fire was yang, water was yin. This meant that fire-based alchemy itself already bestowed a yang attribute upon the pill, while water-based alchemy naturally imparted a yin attribute.

Thus, when refining the Earth-Origin Elixir with fire, one did not need the yang attribute from the roots of Dragon-Hearted Grass to meet the requirement. But with water-based alchemy, if the roots were omitted, then yin would outweigh yang, and the two currents of medicinal force could not fuse.

Realizing this, Elder Zhao immediately felt that adding the Dragon-Hearted Grass roots might truly allow success. So after a brief hesitation, he did not tell Liu Pan to get lost from the mountain, but only to get lost from the underground chamber.

...

Liu Pan did not know what, exactly, Elder Zhao had inferred from his words. But when he heard that Elder Zhao merely told him to get out of the underground chamber, rather than to leave the mountain outright, he understood that for the time being he would not be driven away.

He fled from the ruined alchemy hall as if escaping for his life. Ahead of him, the two guards at the hall entrance wore expressions of mild sympathy. Liu Pan only smiled at them and said nothing.

“Senior Brother, there’s no need to be discouraged. Many of the senior brothers who came to Cloudmist Peak to serve as medicine attendants were the same. You’re still only at the martial apprentice realm. Once you break through to the martial master realm, you can take this task again, and you’ll still have a chance to learn alchemy from Elder Zhao,” one of the disciples said, his voice full of consolation.

“That’s right, Senior Brother. The medicine attendant task can usually be taken. There’s no need to worry. You’ll definitely have another chance,” the other disciple added hurriedly.

Liu Pan was somewhat speechless. What was all this about? Did he really look so much like a loser?

“Thank you both for your concern, but I won’t be leaving here for now. Save those words for when I truly have to go,” he said with a smile, thanking them.

Then he stepped toward a stone table on the left side of the square outside the main hall.

Hearing Liu Pan’s words and seeing his behavior, the two hall guards were plainly stunned. After a long while, they came to themselves and exchanged a look, each seeing disbelief in the other’s eyes.

“He...” one of them began, only to stop after uttering a single word.

Turning to glance at the hall behind him, the man finally said, somewhat puzzled, “Brother Yu, you’ve been guarding this place longer. In your memory, how many martial apprentices serving as medicine attendants have ever entered the alchemy hall a second time?”

The man called Brother Yu froze for a moment. After a long while, he said rather uncertainly, “It seems... none.”

...

Liu Pan paid little heed to the guards’ surprise. Though he had already left the underground chamber, his spiritual sense remained locked on Elder Zhao and the cauldron.

Through his spiritual scan, he saw Elder Zhao, after he exited the underground chamber, pick up those few strands of Dragon-Hearted Grass roots. After pondering for a moment, he selected one strand and placed it into the cauldron.

Very quickly, the medicinal force contained in that strand of roots was extracted and merged into one of the currents of medicine.

Then the remaining two weak currents of medicinal force began to fuse once more.

There was no great reaction. At the instant they touched, the two currents merged quietly. And at that very moment, Liu Pan clearly felt Elder Zhao’s excitement.

Because the medicinal force had not produced a violent reaction as before, Elder Zhao increased the amount of contact and fusion between the two currents.

About half an incense stick of time later, the remaining two currents within the cauldron had fused completely. Perhaps because the medicinal force was insufficient, what finally condensed was only half a pill.

The instant the pill took shape, Elder Zhao swiftly opened the cauldron and, as if he had found a priceless treasure, held the half-pill in his palm. Then, after a brief hesitation, he scraped off some powder with a fingernail and placed it in his mouth, closing his eyes as if sensing something.

After a while, Elder Zhao opened his eyes, the excitement in them even stronger than before. He quickly took a small jade bottle from his storage ring and placed the half-pill inside. Then he moved and left the underground chamber.

The moment Elder Zhao put away that half-pill, Liu Pan sensed his spiritual force lock onto him again, though he did not move.

Very soon, Elder Zhao emerged from the hall and looked toward Liu Pan not far away.

Startled by the sight, Liu Pan leaped to his feet and hurried over to Elder Zhao, bowing respectfully. “Master.”

“Mm.” Elder Zhao’s expression was utterly indifferent. Not a trace of the excitement from the underground chamber remained. In a voice devoid of feeling, he said, “Go downstairs and wash the cauldron. When I return shortly, I’ll need to refine pills again!”

After speaking, Elder Zhao did not wait for Liu Pan to respond. With a flick of his hand, he summoned a long sword from his storage ring and flew off on it directly into the so-called primitive forest.

“Wash it again... what a miserable fate...” Watching Elder Zhao’s departing figure, Liu Pan sighed silently to himself. He said nothing more and turned back into the hall.

Compared with Liu Pan’s lament over his hard lot, the two hall guards were utterly bewildered. To their great shock, they discovered that Elder Zhao had only ordered Liu Pan to wash the cauldron, and had not uttered his usual catchphrase: “If this and that happens, then get lost!”

Once more inside the underground chamber, Liu Pan wasted no time. Since he had already cleaned the cauldron once, he was far more familiar with the task this time. Making proper use of the ice-element energy of the Profound Ice Art, he spent only half the time it had taken before to scrub the cauldron clean.

Then Liu Pan could not be bothered to care when Elder Zhao would return. He strode straight to the bookshelves and swept through the titles with his spiritual sense. Whenever he found a useful book, he immediately scanned through it with a burst of spiritual force.

The books on the shelves did not disappoint him. Most were on the fundamentals of alchemy, exactly the things he most needed to understand and learn.

It made sense that so many books on the basics of alchemy were left in the underground chamber. For an alchemist who already possessed some skill, they were of little use, which was probably why Elder Zhao had abandoned them here.

Before long, Liu Pan’s spiritual sense caught Elder Zhao returning. After a slight hesitation, Liu Pan did not step away from the bookshelf. He continued madly scanning the volumes before him with his spiritual force, though his face wore a look of earnest concentration as he gazed at the book in his hands.

Soon Elder Zhao entered the underground chamber. The instant he heard the movement, Liu Pan pretended to startle, quickly putting the book back on the shelf before rushing to Elder Zhao’s side and bowing respectfully, somewhat nervously. “Master.”

Elder Zhao frowned. He looked at Liu Pan, then at the book Liu Pan had just returned to the shelf. His eyes flickered, and he said, “Since you’ve taken the medicine attendant task, you may read any of the books here as you like. But let me remind you of one thing: don’t do anything that displeases my eyes, or get lost at once!”

After saying this, Elder Zhao still did not wait for Liu Pan to reply. He walked to the cauldron, took many spirit herbs from his storage ring, and placed them on the white jade table beside him before beginning to refine pills.

With a sweep of his spiritual sense, Liu Pan was unsurprised to find that the herbs Elder Zhao had taken out were still the ingredients for the Earth-Origin Elixir.

Watching Elder Zhao handle the spirit herbs on his own, Liu Pan hesitated slightly and glanced again at the bookshelf nearby. After what seemed like a long internal struggle, he tiptoed over and picked up the book he had just returned.

Elder Zhao naturally sensed Liu Pan’s movements, but he did not care. Most of his attention was fixed on the pill he was about to refine.

Processing the herbs, washing the herbs, leaving the Dragon-Hearted Grass roots intact...

Very soon, water was poured into the cauldron until it reached three-quarters full, after which one medicinal herb after another was placed into it by Elder Zhao.

Sealing the cauldron, a faint excitement in his eyes, Elder Zhao let out a slow breath, sat cross-legged, placed one hand against the cauldron wall, and closed his eyes.

Liu Pan watched every step of Elder Zhao’s alchemy with great care. Though he felt that this attempt at the Earth-Origin Elixir would probably not have any major problem, he still did not understand, in the end, what was going on with the roots of Dragon-Hearted Grass.

After all, when Elder Zhao had said that earlier, his voice had been full and forceful. Liu Pan truly could not understand why, in his previous attempts at the Earth-Origin Elixir, Elder Zhao had cut off the Dragon-Hearted Grass roots.

Within the cauldron, the herbs were broken down into wisps of medicinal force, which then merged with one another. Two quarters of an hour later, as naturally as water flowing into a channel, one pill after another began to take shape...

The cauldron was opened, and six purplish-brown Earth-Origin Elixirs were taken out.

At this moment, Elder Zhao was truly exhilarated. Even the hand holding the jade bottle was faintly trembling.

Very soon, he steadied himself, took a jade bottle from his storage ring, and placed a single Earth-Origin Elixir into it.

Then Elder Zhao looked up at Liu Pan without saying a word. With a movement of his body, he left the underground chamber and flew away on his sword...