Chapter 18
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Something's Wrong
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Something was wrong.
Wall Valley Pill.
In martial arts novels, this was a staple item.
They often said that when going into secluded training, you'd survive on just a jug of water and a jug of these. In reality, it was basically the martial arts world's energy bar.
As a hardcore martial arts novel fan, there was no way I didn't know about it.
So why had I played dumb when the newbie mentioned it?
The reason was simple.
Wall Valley Pills existed in my world too.
"But this martial arts gallery version is way different from the novel ones now."
The name made you think it was just some grains kneaded together.
But actually, Wall Valley Pills don't contain any grains.
That's because the pill itself was created for the Wall Valley Training, which involves abstaining from grains (穀) entirely—hence "wall" (壁, meaning no grains) and "valley" (穀, grains, but碧 for no grains).
The real ingredients were things like pine pollen, pine needles, soybeans, carrots, cassia seeds, Solomon's seal, jujubes, chestnuts, and pine nuts, dried and ground into powder, then mixed with honey and shaped into balls.
When I first learned that, I was shocked for a good while.
But the Martial God Gallery's Wall Valley Pills were different from what I knew.
Theirs used the character for "jade" (碧) in "wall jade" combined with "nutrient grains" (穀).
You could use grains, but you didn't have to.
What mattered was the pill itself.
And the reason all this was possible? Ether was added during the manufacturing process, according to the post by Not a Pill Peddler on Nyeonggle.
Before we get into the Wall Valley Pill recipe, we need to understand why it's special.
You all know why Ether is called the world's primal essence, right?
It's the fundamental resource that makes up priceless elixirs like Millennium Ginseng King, the inner cores of Blue-Red-White Serpents, Great Return Pills, and the ultra-rare Publicly Praised Supreme Oil.
Ultimately, elixirs are just Ether transformed by environmental factors into various forms. That's why pure Ether is the world's primal material.
So, couldn't we reverse-engineer that?
That's where the Wall Valley Pill process begins.
Just as Ether changes with the environment to become elixirs, we control specific environments around Ether to guide it into the results we want.
And what do we want? Wall Valley Pills perfectly suited to each person's cultivation, of course.
So, from here on, I'll list Wall Valley Pill recipes classified by the internal arts manuals posted in each gallery. It might be boring, but bear with me!
According to a post from what seems like a veteran gallery member, Not a Pill Peddler, Wall Valley Pills are basically mass-produced elixirs.
But with a heavy emphasis on nutrition.
"All elixirs come from Ether, so we can use Ether to make affordable ones. That's the Martial God Gallery-style Wall Valley Pill."
The recipe was surprisingly simple.
Mix a drop of Ether into clean water, blend it with ground grain powder until it clumps.
Infuse it with your internal energy, and you get a customized Wall Valley Pill.
"Any grains work. But Teacher said to match them to your internal art's properties for best results."
For yang-strong arts like the newbie's, use hot-natured ingredients like red ginseng, cinnamon, and aconite.
For yin-natured arts like Black Sky's, use ophiopogon, raw rehmannia, and mung beans.
When I first read that, I thought the world was screwing me over with all sorts of nonsense.
Some people are eating barley porridge just to survive, and they're telling us to make pills with stuff like aconite and ophiopogon we've never even heard of?
But that's where the Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture had a massive advantage over other arts.
Disciple!
Master...!!
You're not worrying about how to make custom Wall Valley Pills for the Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture when food is already scarce, are you?!
What?!
The Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture's greatest strength is its overwhelming compatibility!! No matter what ingredients you use for the Wall Valley Pill, molding it with the Scripture's energy yields the best results!
The Scripture didn't discriminate against ingredients.
Since it was designed from the start to harness the energies of the universe's myriad phenomena, its absorption efficiency for Wall Valley Pills was top-tier, and compatibility was universal.
"Nice."
The whole reason for learning martial arts was to survive this food crisis.
But after learning it, even the time to solve the food problem felt wasteful.
Wall Valley Pills let you catch both rabbits at once.
"Let's do it."
No need to drag it out.
I grabbed the ingredients for Wall Valley Pills and headed underground.
Drip... drip...
As I descended into the shelter basement, the sound of falling water echoed.
This former abandoned mine's basement had a natural spring where groundwater pooled.
Melted snow from the surface trickled down underground and collected here. It had kept me from dying of thirst when starvation was imminent—a lifesaver for water.
I planned to use the whole spring as material for the pills.
"The key to Wall Valley Pills is clean drinking water. The ratio is generous—one drop of Ether per pond is plenty."
Apparently, the added Ether permanently altered the spring water's nature.
One drop turns it into primal origin water, the core ingredient for Wall Valley Pills.
Honestly, it felt wasteful.
I hadn't tried consuming Ether yet, but from all the testimonials, its value seemed immense.
One drop transforming an entire spring? Huge.
But that's exactly when you invest boldly.
Don't you buy low for those ten-baggers?
"Here goes."
I poured the Ether from my canteen into the spring.
No need to wonder if it worked.
Hummm—
The moment the Ether drop touched it, a mystical energy rose from the spring.
"Okay, step one done."
Next, after making primal origin water, finely knead in the pre-ground grain powder.
Think of it like making rice cakes. But for Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture practitioners, there was a special twist here too.
Disciple!
Yes?
When kneading Wall Valley Pills, put your absolute best into it!
Uh... obviously? It's food, not child's play.
That's not what I mean! Kneading Wall Valley Pills can aid your Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture training!
I had no intention of messing around with precious food anyway, but my internal energy master, Colorless Bird, said kneading them touched on the essence of the Scripture.
The Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture starts from molding the universe's chaos from the world's primal smallest units! You might not know, disciple, but this universe has a visible macrocosm and an invisible microcosm! They share self-similarity and pathological connections, allowing analogies from small to large! So kneading Wall Valley Pills is like shaping microcosmic phenomena—great training!
Hmm.
I occasionally felt it, but despite her bizarre concept, Colorless Bird showed profound knowledge.
Made you wonder if she was using the right words.
But as they say, even a school mutt recites poetry after three years. After hearing it a few times, I could guess what she wanted.
"In simple terms: while kneading the Wall Valley Pill, operate the Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture's incantations."
I didn't fully grasp what "operate while kneading" meant exactly.
But did I need to?
If it had to be done, dive in headfirst.
"I've got plenty of materials."
The Ether drop was precious, but the primal origin water was overflowing.
And the pills I could make from it too.
If each was just a small pill, thousands from these grain sacks.
"Make 'em till it works."
Decision made, I got to work.
Grabbed a handful of powder, dipped in primal origin water from a bucket, and kneaded.
Meanwhile, slowly recited the Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture's incantations aloud.
"The Taiji divides into Yin and Yang,"
"Yin and Yang move to birth the Five Elements."
"Wood generates and Fire unfolds,"
"Earth embraces and Metal contracts,"
"Water conceals and returns once more."
"Generation begets no conquest,"
"Conquest begets no destruction,"
"Circulation never ends."
⟨ Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture ⟩
'The Scripture's foundation is circulation.'
Circulation starting from the smallest reaches the largest, returning endlessly in infinite grand cycles.
I had to infuse that into this tiny pill.
Simply put, think of it as crafting a microcosm!
Microcosm, microcosm...
"Still no clue what that means."
Macrocosm this, microcosm that.
Listening made me think, "What even is that, you fanboy?"
So I simplified further.
"If I dump all my internal energy in here, isn't that the microcosm?"
The body is a microcosm, right?
Dump everything inside it—that's the microcosm.
Conclusion reached, I shoved all my internal energy in.
Humm—
Fine control?
Esoteric enlightenment?
I don't know that stuff.
Just go with pure instinct and full effort.
Hummmmm—!
And was that the right answer?
Suddenly, my internal energy flowed into the pill like an ebbing tide.
'Oh, it's working!'
Magical phenomenon.
I started it by pushing energy in, but soon the pill naturally absorbed it on its own.
Like water flowing downhill—perfectly natural.
Even better, the energy inside the pill began circulating on its own.
'Is this the microcirculation?'
The flow was so wondrous, I surrendered to it.
Wherever it led, I wanted to follow to the end.
This felt like nature's ineffable mystery.
But no.
Humm—
The flow continued.
Humm—
Kept flowing.
Hummm—
Kept on, endlessly.
Hummmmm—
As the flow looped forever,
'...Huh?'
I sensed it at some point.
'Wait, how long is this gonna—?'
Hummmmmhummmmm!!!
What started as a baby bird's chirp turned into a bird flu-stricken rooster's screech!
Where was the "Mama, feed me!" chick? Now a bloodthirsty vampire was cackling!
'Wha-what the fuck? Wait!!!'
The torrent exceeded limits.
Over half my energy was gone long ago.
The Scripture relied on energy quantity, and now it was all pouring into this tiny pill.
No—overflowing was better than this—
'Stop!!!!'
Sensing all my energy being sucked in at an ominous rate, my instincts screamed.
Something was wrong.