Everything on Moomyeongbang is Real
Warm morning sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating Baek Cheong's face. All traces of yesterday's exhaustion had vanished, replaced by a refreshing energy coursing through her entire body.
"Huuuuh!"
Baek Cheong opened her eyes and stretched vigorously, rising from her bed. The energy from the Supreme Red Flame Pill she'd taken last night had fully integrated into her dantian without a single remnant. The fiery power of the fire attribute circulated along the cycle of the five elements' mutual generation, enriching the others in turn. Her dantian had expanded by at least a handspan compared to yesterday.
But the most encouraging result was the change in her spiritual roots. She could distinctly feel the roots deep in her dantian thickening, ever so slightly. The pull on heaven and earth's spiritual energy felt stronger, bringing a smile to her lips.
The rewards are definitely worth it...
This single thought was the driving force that got her lazy body moving. She washed her face with the clear water prepared by her maids and changed into neat silk robes. Unlike yesterday's grumbling, her steps were light as she headed toward the pill refining room.
Located on the outskirts of the family estate, the pill refining room was already belching acrid smoke early in the morning. As she pushed open the door, a wave of intense heat rushed out.
Gok Elder was waiting in front of a small bronze cauldron.
"You're early. Did you properly store the energy from the Red Flame Pill?"
He asked with a kindly face.
"Yes, thanks to you, Gok Elder Grandpa."
Baek Cheong showed off her vigorous form with a bright grin.
Gok Elder nodded in satisfaction and pointed to the bronze cauldron behind him.
"Today, we'll try real pill refining. Not like yesterday's playful wallowing in the dirt with the Wall Valley Pill on your palm—this time, genuine pill making."
On the table were neatly arranged dried spirit herbs: the faintly glowing Clear Heart Grass and the root of the Yellow Qi Tuber that invigorated one's energy.
"First, we'll make the low-grade Qi Gathering Pill, the most sought after by Refining Qi early stars. Raise the cauldron's temperature, extract the herbs' essence, blow away the dregs, then condense it into one. Watch closely."
Gok Elder immediately began the demonstration. He conjured a small but intense flame from his finger and pushed it into the base of the cauldron. The bronze vessel hummed with vibration as it heated up.
He tossed the spirit herbs from the table into the cauldron and closed his eyes. Relying solely on his senses, he finely adjusted the internal heat to extract the essence—a delicate process. Soon, he opened the lid, and three Supreme Qi Gathering Pills leaped out amid a pure pill fragrance. They were flawless masterpieces with smooth, unblemished surfaces.
"Now, you try."
Baek Cheong hid her reluctance and approached the table. How am I supposed to make pills?! she grumbled inwardly, but outwardly she wore a serious expression as she picked up the herbs.
Sitting before the cauldron, she channeled her fire attribute energy inside. Heat surged within, quickly beading sweat on her forehead. She hated sweating, but thinking of the supreme pill reward, she gritted her teeth and endured.
"Now add the herbs."
The moment the herbs entered, they began to scorch. Baek Cheong closed her eyes and extended her divine sense into the cauldron. It mapped out the interior heat and herb status in perfect detail, projecting it into her mind: the flame's coverage, the melting speed, the instant of essence separation. All information visualized vividly before her eyes.
Reviving her past life's multitasking senses to the fullest, she finely tuned the fire energy to lower the heat. As the herbs teetered on burning, she thinly mixed in water attribute energy to cool the surface. She used earth attribute to firmly suppress the clashing energies' mutual repulsion and stabilize them.
"Hoo."
A deep exclamation escaped Gok Elder, who watched from the side. Novices usually failed to control it and burned the herbs. But this child was on another level entirely. The cauldron, rumbling unstably as if about to explode, gradually settled into serene calm under her divine orchestration.
He'd suggested it lightly, expecting failure, but she was pulling it off.
Still too hot.
Peering inside with divine sense, Baek Cheong injected five elements' energies precisely where needed, minimizing failure odds. As the essence began condensing, she blended metal attribute to expel impurities. Finally, she infused wood attribute to solidify the pill's form, completing the process.
The cauldron vibrated faintly, and a pure pill fragrance leaked from the seams.
"Open it."
Anticipation filled Gok Elder's voice. Baek Cheong pushed open the lid to reveal a single, perfectly round and smooth Qi Gathering Pill nestled inside. Though few in number, its appearance was extraordinary.
"Su-Superior grade!"
Gok Elder, forgetting all decorum, leaned into the cauldron and shouted. His eyes bulged as he took in the unbelievable sight.
"A novice handling a cauldron for the first time produces a Superior Qi Gathering Pill... Truly a heaven-sent prodigy!"
A Superior grade emerged only when herbs were preserved perfectly without loss, forming flawlessly. Even for low-grade pills, superiors boasted superior efficacy and price. Inner disciples of pill sects struggled to produce them, yet a mere ten-year-old girl nailed it on her first try.
What? That was easier than I thought?
Baek Cheong was flustered by how straightforward it had been. She'd just dialed down excesses and filled shortages like a game, and out popped a Superior Qi Gathering Pill.
Do I actually have talent for pill refining?
For a fleeting moment, she pondered seriously changing career paths. But she dismissed it—no way she'd trade leisurely forum trolling for smelling like herbs all day.
Meanwhile, Gok Elder trembled as he lifted the Superior Qi Gathering Pill, inspecting it from every angle.
"I've mentored countless disciples in my life, but none handled a cauldron so flawlessly on first try and produced a superior pill. That old Mu-ae bastard hit the jackpot."
Unable to contain his joy and excitement, Gok Elder rummaged in his robes and pulled out another jade bottle.
"This is a Supreme Blue Wood Pill. It'll abundantly fill your wood attribute energy and solidly balance your five elements."
Baek Cheong politely accepted the jade bottle with both hands, beaming innocently. The thrill of her arduous labor(?) fatigue washing away amid the acrid smoke was intoxicating.
"Thank you, Gok Elder Grandpa!"
Without looking back, Baek Cheong bolted from the pill refining room. Her steps were so light she seemed about to fly.
Back at her residence, Baek Cheong firmly locked the door and plopped onto her bed. Without hesitation, she uncorked the jade bottle and swallowed the Supreme Blue Wood Pill.
Fresh, verdant energy poured into her dantian, accelerating the five elements' mutual generation cycle into something more vigorous and smooth. Her spiritual roots grew steadily, if subtly.
Water, wood, fire, earth, metal. The five energies were gradually balancing, filling the empty spaces in her dantian. The arduous path to Refining Qi 3-star felt much smoother.
"Ugh, my forum density's dropping."
Having fully absorbed the energy, Baek Cheong familiarly channeled her divine sense to access Moomyeongbang. It was precious time to boast her massive gains and bask in the Dou users' heated reactions.
She boldly posted on the chat board.
Red notifications piled up within seconds of posting. As always, the board's reactions were fiery and intense.
Reading the Dou users' harsh denials and disbelief, Baek Cheong hummed a tune. She smirked and left a friendly reply, just to rub it in.
She described her unique five-elements method—possible only because she wielded all attributes—as if it were trivially simple and obvious. Her brazen reply silenced the board momentarily. Refreshing yielded no new posts or replies for a while.
And rightly so—ordinary pill refiners handled only fire and wood. The idea of involving water or metal never crossed their minds. More attributes meant higher risk of cauldron explosion, and those with four or five mixed roots like her were unqualified for the job anyway.
Thus, her reply outright denied longstanding pill refining orthodoxy. It was madness.
Soon, silence broke with a lengthy reply.
A deep pill refining expert boldly acknowledged the radical method.
Presumed five-element root cultivators got hyped, chaining replies. Baek Cheong rolled on her bed, cackling at the spin-offs.
"Puhuhu. Are they really idiots?"
She too had seized her fate-altering opportunity from Moomyeongbang info. But most Dou users encountered the same info without grasping it.
Can't even tell fake from real.
That was the gap from community experience. No matter how vast and ancient Moomyeongbang was, compared to her past life's dens of devils and scumbags, it was child's play. Thus, cultivators lacked discernment for prime info.
Baek Cheong replied to one, then closed Moomyeongbang. Satisfied with her brief but intense trolling session, she let her heavy eyelids win and drifted to sleep.