Chapter 204: re: Alchemy Master (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 204: re: Alchemy Master (2)
What was the single most important element in alchemy?
If one were to debate this, they might not reach a conclusion even after arguing for days and nights. However, there was no doubt that ingredients would always be part of the conversation.
(This assumed, of course, that the alchemist’s skill was at least average. An incompetent alchemist could take the greatest ingredients of the era and turn them into edible dung. And if they produced waste that wasn't even edible, they shouldn't be called an alchemist, but a master of poison arts.)
Take Shaolin’s Great Restoration Pill, for example. It was undeniably a spiritual medicine forged through a magnificent level of alchemy, but were the ingredients used to make it merely common weeds?
Of course not. Ingredients mattered. Alchemists were scholars who drew out the hidden utility and harmony of materials to create something greater; they did not bestow miracles upon ordinary blades of grass.
And here, within the Heavenly Medicine Hall of the Namgung Clan, sat an ingredient of the ages—one that would provide greater effects than most spiritual medicines even if chewed raw.
A horn personally offered by a spiritual creature that had reached the Extreme Demon realm. Its value existed in a realm completely detached from mere currency.
"Whew..."
Seo-jun focused his mind.
Since it was such a precious material, he couldn't afford to waste a single grain of its energy. Especially considering this would be going into the mouths of his two—well, his past self would have yelled at him to stop spouting nonsense—fiancées.
Thus, after suspending Nok So-pyeong's horn in midair using Void Object Grasping, Seo-jun scrutinized the demonic qi dwelling within it with extreme precision.
The purity is insane.
In terms of sheer quantity, the Purification Tree was overwhelming, but when it came to purity, Nok So-pyeong's horn was utterly peerless.
With a faint smile, Seo-jun traced a small circle in the air before the horn with his finger.
Woooong—
The demonic qi within the horn reacted, letting out a strange, resonant vibration.
"Please step back a little."
At Seo-jun's words, the personnel of the Heavenly Medicine Hall immediately retreated. Simultaneously, Seo-jun formed a hand seal.
He placed his left hand on the bottom, forming a circle with his thumb and middle finger, and positioned his right hand above it, forming a circle with his thumb and index finger. It was a stance similar to the Dharma Wheel Seal.
Soon, the horn vibrated, unraveling the dense demonic qi stored within the antler.
Fwaaaaaaaa—!!
A massive amount of demonic qi erupted. Although the horn had been plucked while Nok So-pyeong was in human form, her true essence was that of a deer larger than a mountain. The unraveling demonic qi restored the small horn to the massive, imposing shape it had once held upon that giant deer's head.
"Ohhh..."
Namgung Yeong-bo let out an involuntary exclamation before immediately slapping a hand over his mouth.
The enlarged deer horn threatened to pierce the ceiling of the alchemy room, but under Seo-jun's guiding gesture, it curved into a circle, coiling neatly within the confines of the room.
Anyone who understood the sheer impossibility of this feat would never have been able to suppress their admiration. Namgung Yeong-bo wasn't just huffing in awe; he actually started stomping his feet in pure excitement.
He is truly a God of Alchemy...! If the Young Master had walked the path of alchemy instead of martial arts, a Medicine Immortal would have emerged from the Namgung Clan! What a waste! Such a profound waste!
Ignoring the old man's antics, Seo-jun split his hand seal in two. His hands, each forming a circle, moved apart, tracing the paths of the Sun and the Moon.
Is it possible?
The question was immediately met with absolute certainty. There was no reason he couldn't do it.
Seo-jun pulled the corners of his mouth into a wide grin and operated two heart methods simultaneously.
The Azure Cloud Divine Art and the Firmament Great Evolution Divine Art. As the secret heart methods of the Divine Sword Geum Family and the Namgung Clan circulated at the exact same time, two entirely different types of energy gathered in Seo-jun's hands.
The Primordial Unity Divine Art was a huge help here. By keeping the two types of internal energy—which flowed through completely different meridian paths—in a state of perfect superposition, it ensured his body didn't just go bang! and explode.
As if drawn by a magnetic force, Nok So-pyeong's horn, which was coiled inside the alchemy room, also split in two. The two halves of the horn glowed brightly, each condensing into a sphere.
Two masses of pure demonic qi. Seo-jun then extended the distinct energies wrapped around his hands, connecting them to the floating masses of demonic qi.
Dividing the consciousness of the left and right sides of the body.
Seo-jun's left eye locked onto the mass connected to the Azure Cloud Divine Art, while his right eye tracked the mass connected to the Firmament Great Evolution Divine Art.
Twitch. His two eyes moved completely independently, perfectly grasping the shifting energies as they began to transform.
If I don't hurry, the energy will dissipate.
Without a shred of hesitation, Seo-jun proceeded with the transmutation of the demonic qi.
Ssssssssss—
The energy of the two spheres shifted simultaneously. The two blackish orbs took on a brilliant platinum glow and a deep blue glow, respectively.
"Heuk...!"
At that sight, Namgung Yeong-bo trembled violently. It felt as if a massive bolt of lightning had pierced through the crown of his head and shot straight out through his tailbone.
This is impossible...!
To Namgung Yeong-bo, who had reached a profound level in alchemy, the naked truth was laid bare. The antler was freely changing its physical form, and now, even its fundamental energy was being transmuted exactly according to the Young Master's will. Furthermore, he was performing all of this on two spheres of entirely different natures at the exact same time.
It was my own arrogant delusion...!
If he had handled only one sphere at a time, energy would have slowly leaked from the remaining one. Normally, that was to be expected. No matter how skilled an alchemist was, that level of energy loss was considered a universal constant. An alchemist's skill was measured by how much they could minimize that loss; reducing it to absolute zero was considered a myth.
Or rather, that was what he had thought until today.
The Young Master is not a vessel confined to a single path...! It is an absolute certainty that he will reach the realm of Immortals in both martial arts and alchemy!
He had been a fool. There was no need to treat martial arts and alchemy as separate entities. Seo-jun was dividing his consciousness to operate two heart methods simultaneously, transmuting a single source of energy into two completely different elements at once. He had taken the profound realm he achieved through martial arts and applied it directly to alchemy to manifest this impossible result!
Should I pick up martial arts as well?
Was there even a martial art in the Namgung Clan that allowed for the simultaneous operation of two heart methods?
As he pondered this, a sudden realization struck Namgung Yeong-bo.
Wait, how is that even possible?
He wasn't entirely ignorant of the martial path. He had trained enough to sit comfortably between a second-rate and first-rate expert. While reaching the Peak Realm was an achievement he had unlocked through his alchemy, he still knew a fair bit about martial arts principles.
Naturally, he knew that a heart method dictated the flow of internal energy passing through specific acupoints in the body with a certain intensity. But to operate two of them at the exact same time?
Well, I suppose he's doing it because it's possible.
Maybe that was just what happened when a monster reached the Super Peak Realm. Namgung Yeong-bo roughly accepted this logic.
I'll have to grab one of the elders later and ask.
Somewhere else, the Super Peak experts of the Namgung Clan suddenly shivered from a mysterious, creeping chill.
* * *
"Whew..."
Two spheres, glowing with vivid platinum and blue light, slowly descended onto his open palms.
The reason he had transmuted the demonic qi into specific elemental energies rather than just leaving it as pure qi was simple: it would be far easier to absorb. Since these spiritual medicines were meant for Chun-bong and Namgung Su-ah, tailoring the energies to them was the optimal choice.
"Here they are."
Seo-jun handed the two firmly condensed spheres over to Namgung Yeong-bo.
"H-oh, wow..."
"What..."
Namgung Yeong-bo let out a bizarre sound, his entire body trembling. Seo-jun recoiled in alarm, taking a cautious step back from the old man.
"Ah...!"
Realizing his reaction, Namgung Yeong-bo snapped back to his senses. Flustered, he blurted out a pun he'd been saving to try and smooth over his blunder.
"Haha! I'm deer-ly envious of the two who will be consuming this antler!"
The atmosphere instantly froze. It was a joke so painfully lame that even Seo-jun found it too awkward to force a polite laugh.
Feeling embarrassed, Namgung Yeong-bo scratched his head and quickly changed the subject. "B-by the way, what are these?"
Aside from the two spheres the size of a child's palm, there were several other, much smaller spheres floating nearby.
"I filtered out the unnecessary energies. Those are still quite potent materials, so feel free to use them as you see fit."
"Gasp...!"
Namgung Yeong-bo immediately bowed a full ninety degrees.
"Your grace is immeasurable!"
"No, that's a bit much..."
Whenever he visited the Heavenly Medicine Hall, he felt like he was being worshipped as some kind of deity by the Namgung Clan. Seo-jun let out an awkward laugh and straightened his slightly disheveled robes.
"How long will the compounding take?"
"About two weeks should be more than enough."
"Then I should come back then, right?"
"Yes! Since we absolutely cannot afford any failure... I think it would be best if you handled the final process, Young Master."
Namgung Yeong-bo had his pride as an alchemist, and while he was supremely confident in his compounding skills, he knew he couldn't hold a candle to Seo-jun when it came to the delicate task of inscribing formations directly into the spiritual medicine.
Seo-jun nodded readily. "Alright, I'll return in two weeks."
"Yes! Thank you! Please take care on your way back! Ah, wait, no! I shall personally escort you!"
Under Namgung Yeong-bo's enthusiastic escort, Seo-jun left the Heavenly Medicine Hall.
And on that very day, a brand new statue was commissioned deep within the Heavenly Medicine Hall to commemorate the future Medicine Immortal.
* * *
Seo-jun headed toward the martial arts arena, quietly organizing his new realizations.
If I do this right, it might actually be possible to operate demonic arts and orthodox arts simultaneously.
Of course, that was a project for the future. But it probably wasn't that far off. He had a strong feeling it would become possible once he stepped into the Transcendent Realm.
"Have you two been practicing well?"
At the arena, Chun-bong and Namgung Su-ah were still working hard on the visualization of Sword Qi. Once they achieved this, both would be able to manifest Astral Qi. And once they could wield Astral Qi, they would be able to overwhelmingly crush most opponents. They would finally be able to travel the Central Plains with peace of mind.
"Mmm... I'm trying, but..."
However, it wasn't that easy. Seo-jun, who had casually produced Astral Qi the very moment he reached the Super Peak Realm, was the anomaly here.
"Take it slow, take it slow. It's better to be safe than to suffer a qi deviation because you rushed."
Seo-jun placed his hands on the backs of Chun-bong and Namgung Su-ah to guide their senses toward Astral Qi, then used his spare time to reflect on his own martial arts.
He had recently acquired two major techniques: the Heavenly Demon Divine Art and the Greed God's Final Devouring.
As for the Beiming Divine Art, it was more accurate to say he had simply slapped a new name onto a concept he already knew, rather than actually learning something new.
Regardless, since both the Heavenly Demon Divine Art and the Greed God's Final Devouring were demonic arts, Seo-jun had operated the Heavenly Demon Divine Art to reach the Fire Demon Realm.
"Ngh...?"
Namgung Su-ah flinched, startled by the sudden sensation coursing through her back, but she soon accepted the guiding energy and refocused on her training.
Oh, right.
Now that he thought about it, he had completely forgotten to explain it to her.
Postponing the explanation for later, Seo-jun consciously invoked the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown once more, causing three ethereal flowers to bloom above him. The blossomed flowers instantly scattered into thousands of petals, swirling around him in a mesmerizing dance.
Among them, half the petals manifested tiny, terrifying mouths. Seo-jun gazed intently at those razor-sharp teeth, then unleashed the Greed God's Final Devouring.
Crunch—!
And in that moment, he felt it with absolute certainty.
Unless they possessed some extraordinary trump card, even a swarming crowd of Super Peak experts would no longer pose a shred of threat to him.