Chapter 24
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 24
As the lift descended, the light from above rapidly receded.
The deeper it went, the hotter the draft rising from below became. Carved into the rock walls were water channels of unknown purpose, running alongside thick bronze pipes.
After a long while—
Clunk!
The lift shuddered slightly and came to a halt.
Before Lee Hyun’s eyes unfolded a subterranean space far vaster than he had imagined.
Dozens of massive stone pillars supported the cavern, their tops disappearing into the darkness where rows of ventilation shafts had been carved into the ceiling.
Built on a national scale, no wonder the facilities are so impressive…
As he walked along the stone path, the resonant hum of pill cauldrons and the pervasive scent of medicinal herbs drifted from behind the stone doors lining both sides of the passage.
Earthfire Cave, Level C, Room 7.
Pushing open the heavy stone door, a blast of sweltering heat struck him full in the face.
A familiar, aged voice greeted him.
“You’ve arrived?”
Mun Seong-hak, whom he had previously met at the Alchemy Hall, sat inside the stone chamber.
Scattered around were medicine chests of various sizes, mortars, steelyard balances, jade knives, tongs, and jade bottles. In the center of the chamber stood a waist-high pill cauldron.
“Greetings once again, Master Mun.”
Lee Hyun clasped his hands, and Mun Seong-hak gave a slight nod in return.
“I heard you achieved great merit at Hoean Fort.”
“I was merely fortunate.”
“If someone who captured a master of the Profound Realm alive claims it was just good fortune, the martial artists who died at his hands will weep in their graves.”
Mun Seong-hak patted the pill cauldron with his palm.
Thump—
“You said you wish to learn alchemy?”
“I do.”
“For what purpose?”
“I wish to refine the pills I consume with my own hands. For now, I want to refine Barrier-Breaking Pills.”
“Of course.”
Mun Seong-hak did not pry further.
“Most people who seek to learn alchemy share similar thoughts. They think making pills themselves will be cheaper than buying them, and that if they can craft what they consume, they will never have to beg for favors.”
“Is that a mistaken notion?”
“Half-right, half-wrong. If you can actually succeed in refining them, it holds true. But if you burn through ten batches of ingredients just to produce a single pill, buying the finished product is far cheaper.”
“So my pill refining success rate must be high. But before we even talk about success rates, obtaining the pill recipe itself is exceedingly difficult. They say alchemy became widespread once the cultivation of spirit plants grew common, so why are pill recipes so outrageously expensive? Amassing five hundred merit points just for the Barrier-Breaking Pill recipe feels daunting.”
“Haha, that is a somewhat different matter.”
Mun Seong-hak picked up a dried stalk of an herb from the table and slowly rolled it between his fingertips.
“Have you never wondered how the Bureau of Heavenly Service sustains itself? In truth, the Barrier-Breaking Pill is far more vital than ordinary pills. Since it is used to break through a minor cultivation realm, one could say—with only slight exaggeration—that it holds the same significance as a Foundation Establishment Pill for a Qi Refining cultivator seeking to step into Foundation Establishment.”
“Are you saying that if they didn’t monopolize the recipe for the Barrier-Breaking Pill, no one would work for the Bureau of Heavenly Service?”
“Precisely. It is no coincidence that a substantial portion of the Bureau’s members are stuck at the 3rd layer of Qi Refining. The Untaek Kingdom only obtained the Barrier-Breaking Pill recipe in the first place because a royal ancestor possessed immortal destiny and received assistance from a certain cultivation faction. Under normal circumstances, a mere mortal dynasty wouldn’t hand out something like that just because someone distinguished themselves in war. A pill recipe is born from accumulated experience spanning thousands, even tens of thousands of years. Even for a Tier 1 recipe, unless blessed with celestial luck, it is not something an individual can discover through study or deduction alone. Consider this: suppose you were a Foundation Establishment cultivator leading a sect. Would you sell the recipe for the Foundation Establishment Pill to members just for contributing to your organization?”
“I would not.”
“Yet there are times when such recipes are made available. Under what circumstances do you suppose that happens?”
“Well… I am not sure.”
“Haha. Let me offer an analogy. Suppose you were drafting the laws of a kingdom, and you decreed that a murderer be imprisoned for ten years, but a thief for twenty. What do you think would happen?”
“That defies reason. If that were the law, wouldn’t a thief caught in the act think it better to murder the witness?”
“Exactly. Such a law would plunge the kingdom into disorder. Now, think on this: what do you suppose it means that obtaining the Barrier-Breaking Pill recipe requires five hundred merit points?”
“That is…”
“Let me rephrase. If the recipe for the Barrier-Breaking Pill could not be exchanged for merit points at all, or if the required points were impossibly high, what would a cultivator who desired that recipe do to the Untaek Kingdom?”
“They would simply seize it by force. Ah! Then could five hundred merit points be…”
“Precisely that. A cultivator capable of amassing five hundred merit points might not be able to take on the royal family single-handedly, but they possess more than enough power to pose a dire threat to the Untaek Kingdom.”
“I see…”
“From the start, all the Bureau of Heavenly Service expects from its retainers is for them to gather one hundred merit points, obtain a Barrier-Breaking Pill, and break through to the middle stage of Qi Refining. The recipe isn’t so much a reward as it is a path left open so that no one feels compelled to tear it away by force.”
Mun Seong-hak set the dried herb down on the table.
“Does that mean even if I gather five hundred merit points, they won’t hand it over unless I possess strength formidable enough for the royal family to fear?”
“Haha! That’s overly cynical. They would most likely hand it over to any cultivator who achieved that much merit. Of course, if one were critically injured while earning those points—weakened to the point where anyone could dispose of them—the story might be slightly different…”
Lee Hyun cleared his throat softly.
“Well then. If I hope to obtain the recipe for the Barrier-Breaking Pill, I had better not let anyone take me lightly.”
“I jest. Don’t worry so much. What I described is an extreme case, and the current royal family is unlikely to do such a thing to a hero of the Untaek Kingdom. If they were to silence and murder those who accumulated merit, who would ever serve the Bureau of Heavenly Service?”
“Indeed. But a thought just occurred to me—does the Untaek Kingdom also possess a recipe for a pill to break through from the 6th to the 7th layer of Qi Refining?”
“Hm? There is no such thing.”
“Then how did the retainers in the late stage of Qi Refining break through?”
“Most of them had already reached the late stage of Qi Refining before joining the Bureau. They simply wanted to spend their twilight years in luxury, nothing more.”
Lee Hyun wondered if Mun Seong-hak, or perhaps the royal family of Untaek, was hiding a recipe for breaking through the second minor cultivation realm.
Even if such a recipe exists, they must have their reasons for concealing it. There’s no need to pry and arouse suspicion. For now, all I need is the Barrier-Breaking Pill recipe.
Reflecting for a moment, Lee Hyun realized his last question had been rather indiscreet.
I shouldn’t have asked that. If Master Mun is close to the royal court, I might have already made him wary.
Lee Hyun spoke up quickly to smooth over the slip.
“That certainly makes sense! Having tasted the hospitality at Cool Clarity Villa myself, my head has been spinning. The thought of returning to a gloomy cultivation cave to cultivate in solitude fills me with dread.”
“Haha! I feel the same way. You said you are staying at Cool Clarity Villa? Has any maidservant caught your eye? You could take a concubine if you wish. If there’s a maiden you favor, I could introduce you to as many as you like…”
“Ahem, I am still at a critical stage of my cultivation. I wish to preserve my Primal Yang if possible.”
Generally speaking, once a cultivator’s Primal Yang or Primal Yin was broken, achieving Foundation Establishment or forming a Golden Core became slightly more arduous.
“Hah, to forsake even that pleasure. Youth must truly breed an unyielding fervor for the Immortal Dao. Well, enough idle chatter. Allow me to teach you the fundamentals of alchemy.”
As though he had prepared them in advance, Mun Seong-hak slid over three manuals titled Record of Distinguishing Herbal Medicines, Essentials of Heat Control, and Primer on Alchemy.
“In our foundational lectures, you will be studying these for quite some time. First, open the Primer on Alchemy. The art of alchemy is broadly divided into four stages: Ingredient Selection, where one inspects and sorts herbs; Refinement, where one extracts the required medicinal properties; Harmonization, where differing medicinal properties are blended; and finally, Pill Condensation, where everything is solidified into a single pill. We shall begin with Ingredient Selection.”
From that day forward, Lee Hyun began studying alchemy under Mun Seong-hak.
* * *
A few days later.
“You know how to cast the Fireball Technique? Show me.”
A fireball the size of a fist manifested above Lee Hyun’s palm.
“A splendid flame for burning a man to ash.”
“…Thank you.”
“That was not a compliment. Use that in alchemy, and the moment you toss the herbs in, not even ash will remain.”
Mun Seong-hak conjured a tiny flame on his own palm. It was smaller than a candle’s flicker.
He placed a thin leaf directly over the flame. The leaf did not burn.
Instead, minute beads of moisture welled up on its surface, slowly evaporating into a blue mist that gathered above his palm.
“In alchemy, precision matters far more than raw power.”
Mun Seong-hak gave a slight twitch of his finger. The flame shifted from crimson to a warm amber.
“Every herb demands a different temperature, and even for the very same herb, there are moments to raise the heat and moments to lower it. There are even times when different zones within the pill cauldron must be kept at different temperatures.”
Mun Seong-hak pointed toward the formation beneath the cauldron.
“The fire vents below are connected to the Earthfire Formation. By channeling your True Qi into it, you can regulate the intensity of each vent independently.”
“Independently?”
“Indeed. Heating the entire cauldron uniformly will not suffice. Depending on the condition of the ingredients, there are times you must raise the heat on one side while lowering it on another. First, open three of the fire vents.”
Lee Hyun sat before the cauldron and channeled his Primordial Unity True Qi into the Earthfire Formation.
Fwoosh—
Flames surged simultaneously from three fire vents.
“Too fierce.”
As Lee Hyun dialed back his spiritual power, the flames diminished by half.
“Still too strong. Reduce it further.”
The flames dwindled until they were no larger than candlelights.
Mun Seong-hak nodded.
“That will do. Now, make the three flames different sizes.”
Lee Hyun focused his concentration.
He coaxed the eastern flame higher and eased the western flame lower, while tapering the center flame into a slender wisp. The three flames burned at distinctly different heights.
Mun Seong-hak’s eyes widened.
“Impressive for a first attempt.”
“I have practiced spells extensively.”
With Primordial Unity True Qi suffusing his entire body, dividing his True Qi to channel it into separate paths came naturally to him.
“Don’t let it go to your head. This time, raise the heat of the eastern vent gradually while keeping the other two perfectly stable.”
The eastern flame expanded slowly. The western and center flames did not waver in the slightest.
A subtle shift entered Mun Seong-hak’s gaze.
“Can you divide the flames across nine vents?”
“I will try.”
Mun Seong-hak manipulated the formation beneath the cauldron, revealing six additional fire vent patterns.
Lee Hyun split his Primordial Unity True Qi into thread-like strands, linking each to one of the vent patterns.
Nine flames flickered to life, each burning at a distinct height.
Mun Seong-hak circled the cauldron, examining each of the nine flames in turn. A curious expression surfaced on his face.
“Your control over spiritual power is already on par with a Tier 1 alchemist.”
“Does that mean I have a talent for alchemy?”
“A bit,” Mun Seong-hak replied dispassionately.
“Controlling fire well and concocting pills are two entirely different matters. Just because someone wields a knife with precision doesn’t make them a master chef.”
He set three kinds of herbs down before Lee Hyun.
“What we will brew today is the Heat-Clearing Pill. It uses mundane herbs from the mortal realm, so failure carries little cost. While it soothes mild Fire Poison, it holds little efficacy for cultivators.”
Mun Seong-hak began by teaching him how to prepare the ingredients.
He separated the leaves from the stems of the Clear Qi Grass, peeled the outer skin of the Warm Meridian Root, and set aside the seeds extracted from the Crimson Yang Fruit.
Once all preparations were complete, the herbs were added to the cauldron one by one.
A verdant medicinal sap seeped from the leaves of the Clear Qi Grass, while the Warm Meridian Root slowly dissolved, radiating a crimson aura.
Following Mun Seong-hak’s instructions, Lee Hyun adjusted the intensity of the flames.
“Lower the eastern vent.”
“Raise the center vent slightly.”
Flames enveloped the base of the cauldron.
“Add the Crimson Yang Fruit seeds now.”
Lee Hyun dropped the seeds in.
Sssss—
Crimson smoke billowed from within the cauldron.
“Lower the heat!”
Lee Hyun dialed down the vents immediately.
Yet he was a fraction of a breath too slow.
Pop!
A small detonation erupted inside the cauldron, and black smoke seeped through the seams of the lid.
Mun Seong-hak sighed.
“Burned.”
Lee Hyun lifted the cauldron lid.
Scorched, blackened dregs clung to the interior, giving off a pungent, acrid stench.
“This is far from simple…”
“The seeds of a Crimson Yang Fruit can vary in nature, even from the same tree. The ones you just added were richer in oil than ordinary ones. You should have observed that beforehand with your eyes, and once they entered the cauldron, you should have gauged the sound and scent to lower the flame even sooner.”
“Sound and scent…”
“Pills are not produced simply by memorizing the sequence and temperatures written in a recipe. Herbs are not static illustrations in a book; they are living things. Even those harvested from the same plot differ in temperament, and the moisture they retain varies with how long they have been stored.”
Mun Seong-hak pointed toward the scorched dregs.
“It is far more intricate than I expected. I thought there was a set formula.”
“A set formula… Of course, there is a general framework. But clinging to that alone will never make you an accomplished alchemist. Having captured a master of the Profound Realm alive, surely you understand? If you swing your blade along a fixed sword path, will your opponent just stand there and take the strike?”
“No. An opponent is a living fighter, constantly adapting to the situation.”
“It is the same with medicinal ingredients. A recipe merely shows the path; it cannot tell you the exact condition of the herbs resting before your eyes. In the end, you must look with your own eyes, smell with your own nose, and judge for yourself. Overlook even the slightest discrepancy, and you scorch an entire batch, just as you did now.”
Lee Hyun stared into the depths of the cauldron for a long while.
“May I try once more?”
“There are plenty of herbs.”
* * *
A few days later.
“Now! Form the Pill-Condensing Hand Seal!”
Lee Hyun’s fingers shifted into motion.
Wuuung—
The pill cauldron vibrated faintly.
Moments later, thud, clatter, six round objects dropped onto the bottom of the cauldron.
Lee Hyun opened the lid. Six pills, each the size of a fingertip, lay inside.
Two had cracked surfaces, and one was charred black. From the remaining three, a faint herbal fragrance wafted out.
“Was it a success?”
Mun Seong-hak picked up one of the intact pills, pinched it between his fingers, and brought it to his nose to test its aroma.
“Even among low-grade pills, the quality is poor. Thirty percent of the medicinal efficacy has dissipated, and residual fire energy lingers.”
“A failure, then.”
“If producing three completed pills after a mere few days of study counts as failure, nine out of ten alchemists in this world would have to give up their craft.”
Mun Seong-hak handed the pill back to Lee Hyun.
“Your spiritual power control is more than sufficient. Your manner of applying your senses is rather peculiar, but effective. What you lack now is experience in understanding the herbs.”
“How long will I need to learn?”
Mun Seong-hak pointed toward a bowl piled high with scorched herb residue.
“Once you experience about a thousand more failures like that, you will begin to grasp the feel of it.”
Lee Hyun looked at the mound of charred dregs.
“With that much experience, could one be considered past the novice stage?”
“A thousand times merely makes you someone who has done it a thousand times. Before someone who has handled the same herbs two thousand times, you are still a novice; and before a spiritual herb you have never encountered before, you become a novice once again.”
Mun Seong-hak gazed at the pills resting on the rim of the cauldron.
“In the end, alchemy is a discipline concerning countless substances and temperatures, their myriad combinations and transformations. In the face of boundless possibilities, who could lightly claim to be a master? Unless, perhaps, one had an eternity of time to study…”
“Wise words.”
* * *
Half a year later.
“This marks the conclusion of our advanced alchemy lectures. I have nothing left to teach you. If you truly manage to gather five hundred merit points in the future and obtain the recipe for the Barrier-Breaking Pill, return to me then. I will instruct you until you can craft at least low-grade Barrier-Breaking Pills.”