Danmun Overload and the Forum Frenzy
Baek Cheong, unable to contain her joy at the successful refinement, began churning out Patterned Chwi-ryeong-dan one after another. The sensation of fine-tuning the energy inside the cauldron and suppressing the clashing attributes was a new realm she'd never experienced before. But the elation was short-lived; the successive refinings rapidly drained her stamina and mental energy. Controlling the five elements' energies with such precision to form the patterns demanded an extreme level of concentration that even her vast mental power struggled to sustain. Moreover, at merely Refining Qi 4-star, she had clear limits in fully preserving the spiritual energy within the cauldron.
In the end, after dozens of attempts, the perfectly refined Patterned Chwi-ryeong-dan she managed to produce numbered just five pills. Unlike the supreme-grade pills where she could extract three per batch, these were agonizing results born from pouring every ounce of focus into completing just one at a time.
"Haa... haa..."
After placing the fifth and final Patterned Chwi-ryeong-dan into the jade vial, Baek Cheong collapsed onto the spot. Her head throbbed as if it might split open from the excessive use of spiritual energy and mental power, her body drenched in sweat. She didn't even have the strength to twitch a finger.
The pill refiner, who had been silently watching from the side, clicked his tongue and approached.
"I told you not to push yourself. Forming patterns is akin to stealing the heavens' energy, inevitably consuming vast amounts of body and mind. Head back to your residence and rest properly today. And don't set foot near the pill room for a few days."
Despite the pill refiner's stern reprimand, Baek Cheong couldn't wipe the smile from her lips. The jade vial securely tucked in her bosom seemed to compensate for all the pain.
"Yes, Elder Gok... I'll go rest inside."
Staggering out of the pill room, Baek Cheong made her way back to her residence. The moment she passed through the door, she flopped onto the soft bed without even thinking of washing up. Without so much as accessing Moomyeongbang or planning tomorrow's gallery antics, she sank helplessly into the deep swamp of sleep.
The very next day. Only when the sun hung high in the midday sky did Baek Cheong finally pry open her eyes, hauling her groggy body upright. A good night's sleep had fully restored her mental energy and meridians, but lingering fatigue remained.
"The day of reckoning has finally arrived."
Clenching her fist, Baek Cheong finished her preparations. Today's goal was singular: consume the hard-earned Patterned Chwi-ryeong-dan to explosively replenish her spiritual energy, then post a blatant image on Moomyeongbang to pull in the aggro.
But relying solely on the pill's effects to handle it from her residence felt unreliable. To upload the image while preserving every drop of her carefully accumulated spiritual energy, she absolutely needed the assistance of a Chwi-ryeong-jin formation to draw in ambient qi from heaven and earth.
"I've held back on gallery posting for so long—it was tough. This is my reward to myself."
With her rationalization complete, Baek Cheong wasted no time heading to the clan's rear mountain without delay. The high-grade training room, permitted by her father, stood open for her anytime.
"Elder Jin!"
"Ah, Cheong's here."
After a quick nod to the elder guarding the east entrance, she navigated the labyrinthine paths and entered the training room. The dense spiritual energy inside enveloped her gently.
"Hoo... haap!"
Seating herself cross-legged at the center of the jade platform, Baek Cheong made full preparations. After a deep exhale, she pulled out the jade vial from her bosom and tossed one Patterned Chwi-ryeong-dan into her mouth.
The moment the pill touched her tongue, a phenomenon on an entirely different level from the supreme-grade Chwi-ryeong-dan unfolded.
Kugugugu-gung!
The silver patterns etched on the pill's surface writhed like a living creature, spewing forth explosive spiritual energy. Transcending mere condensed herbal essence, a vortex of pure, immense qi infused with the principles of heaven and earth plummeted down her throat into her dantian. At the same time, the Chwi-ryeong-jin formation on the training room floor reacted intensely, sucking in external energy with terrifying momentum.
The spiritual energy surging from the Patterned Chwi-ryeong-dan clashed competitively with that injected by the formation within her meridians.
"Hngh!"
A pained groan escaped Baek Cheong's tightly clenched teeth. Her meridians, overwhelmed far beyond their limits, overloaded. Veins throughout her body swelled as if about to burst, joints screaming and shifting out of place. The tidal wave of qi filled her vast dantian in an instant and, unsatisfied, battered the dantian's walls, thrashing to forcibly break through to the next realm.
If she let this qi rampage unchecked, her meridians would tear and the dantian walls collapse, forcing a breakthrough. All her painstaking efforts were on the verge of crumbling.
This... insane! Why is the effect so strong!
Baek Cheong inwardly reeled in shock. She'd gravely underestimated the true power hidden in the patterns, deceived by the "1st realm low-grade pill" label. But she couldn't just bolt out of the training room either. Escaping the formation's control would let the rampaging qi shred her body and scatter outward.
She needed some way to tame or dissipate the frenzied energy.
Moo...myeongbang!
A flash of inspiration struck her mind. The original goal: Moomyeongbang's image posting function. It was a monster that devoured mental energy and spiritual qi without mercy.
I have to post somehow...
Grinding her teeth against the tearing pain, Baek Cheong strained to extend her mental energy. She summoned Moomyeongbang before her eyes and entered the writing window. Not forgetting her purpose even amid the chaos, she pulled out a spare Patterned Chwi-ryeong-dan and roughly tossed it onto the jade platform.
Swiftly focusing her mental energy on Moomyeongbang, she opened the image slot. She adjusted her vision so the pill's lustrous silver patterns shone clearly in the center. Then, squeezing out every bit of her limit—15 sheets of mental energy—she poured it all into attaching the image.
Shuuuuuuk!
A miracle occurred. The qi rampaging fiercely enough to burst her meridians began surging toward Moomyeongbang at terrifying speed. The explosive force battering her dantian walls subsided, the qi level receding from her chin to form a precarious balance. The supply from the Patterned Chwi-ryeong-dan perfectly matched the consumption by the image post, maintaining a tightrope equilibrium.
"Haa... haa..."
Gasping raggedly, Baek Cheong clung to her consciousness and monitored the situation. The slightest imbalance could trigger a rampage or depletion—potentially turning her into a cripple. The suffocating tug-of-war demanded unyielding tension.
......
How much time passed? As the image safely attached to the post, the qi erupting from the pill gradually waned in proportion.
Huh? If I play this right, one Patterned Chwi-ryeong-dan per image post...
Even in this dire crisis, an absurd idea popped into Baek Cheong's head. But with her mental energy depleted and meridians overloaded, her physical and mental limits loomed. Vision blurring, tinnitus ringing, she barely held onto fading awareness. Squeezing out her last strength, she frantically typed the title and body.
The instant she finished writing, her vision blacked out in a flicker, all senses severing. Without confirming the post's successful upload or the red notifications from incoming replies, Baek Cheong collapsed onto the jade platform, plunging into deep unconsciousness.
Meanwhile, the Moomyeongbang casual board where Baek Cheong's post dropped turned into utter pandemonium. Refiners, unable to resist the provocative title from Dou(913.14) babbling about pill mold, cautiously opened the thread. The moment they saw the attached image and recognized the pill's nature, the board erupted in shock, fury, and incredulous laughter.
The refiners realized they'd been thoroughly duped by Baek Cheong's brazen trolling and vented their frustration. Yet the flawless danmun on a 1st realm low-grade pill was enough to blanket their anger in awe. A torrent of blame, praise, envy, and admiration flooded in, threatening to burst Moomyeongbang. But Baek Cheong, who should have been giggling at the lively backlash, lay collapsed on the training room's cold floor, lost in deep slumber.