Pill Formula

"Ah, forget it. You wouldn't understand even if I explained it. The mysteries within are far too intricate. Just follow Master, watch carefully, and learn well."

"Oh, so that's how it is." Li Huowang pretended to ponder, though his mind was elsewhere.

The pill Danyangzi had given him was clearly effective, which also meant the laws of this world were completely different from those of his own.

If he wanted to deal with Danyangzi, he needed to learn far more about this unfamiliar world.

"Cultivators from novels? Doesn't seem like it. What kind of cultivator uses people to refine pills? What kind of cultivator enslaves mortals to help himself become immortal?"

"Besides, by convention, shouldn't an ordinary cultivation sect give me a foundational cultivation method? Why hadn't they?"

The more Li Huowang learned about this place, the stranger this Daoist temple seemed. It bore no resemblance whatsoever to the cultivators he had imagined before.

"Right, Junior Brother Xuan Yang. Let me teach you a little wisdom: before Master opens his mouth, you'd best have everything properly prepared."

"Take yesterday's pill, for instance. Your madness flared up and you missed the Double Hour. If you deliver the Medicinal Guide ahead of time before midnight the day after tomorrow, wouldn't that count as apologizing to Master?"

"Master may be mercurial, but as long as you coax him into a good mood, there will naturally be benefits for you."

"Yesterday's pill ingredients?" Li Huowang froze.

"Yes. What, did you forget? What did Master tell you to deliver yesterday?"

"B-Bai Lingmiao." Li Huowang's pupils shrank to pinpoints. So much had happened before, but this matter still wasn't over.

If he failed to think of a way before the day after tomorrow, that girl with Albinism would end up like every previous Medicinal Guide—pounded into a bloody pulp!

Li Huowang did not know how he returned to his quarters. He lay on his stone bed, the Golden Anklet wrapped in red thread pressing against his chest like a red-hot iron, urging him to come up with a solution.

Not only was the gap in strength between Danyangzi and Li Huowang enormous, the entire Daoist temple was full of Danyangzi's people.

The fate of those senior brothers who had died before was proof enough that blindly trying to flee would not work.

As he tossed and turned, the entire night slipped away.

Before morning lessons, Li Huowang got dressed and headed out of the cave.

He wanted to take a look at the Pill Refining Room and see whether there might be some other way there.

He had barely stepped out holding an oil lamp when a sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked face emerged from the darkness, startling him. It was Gouwa.

"Hehehe, Senior Brother Li, it's nothing. I just saw that you hadn't come to the Material Room all day yesterday, so I was really worried and came to check on you."

"Is Bai Shimei all right?" Li Huowang asked, taking a step back.

"She's fine, she's fine. You personally said Bai Shimei was to take over the Material Room for you. Who would dare disobey? Hehehe, Senior Brother Li really is formidable. Look, ever since you took charge of the Material Warehouse, you haven't taken a single person away."

Gouwa's words filled Li Huowang with irritation. He used the oil lamp to shove the fellow aside and strode out.

When Li Huowang arrived at the Pill Refining Room, he found that some early-rising apprentices had already begun scrubbing the Alchemy Furnace and floor with burlap.

One apprentice was even standing inside a Stone Urn, vigorously scrubbing its stone walls with a pig-bristle brush.

As Danyangzi's disciple, Li Huowang could naturally enter the Pill Refining Room without anyone daring to say a word.

Li Huowang wandered about as if casually, while carefully surveying his surroundings.

The entire Pill Refining Room was exceedingly sparse. Other than the massive black Alchemy Furnace that occupied a third of the space, there was only a Stone Urn and stone pestle used by Danyangzi.

There were no books on pill refinement, not even a single calligraphy scroll or painting on the walls. The room was also extremely open, without any cover at all.

"What are you looking at?" A familiar yet spine-chilling voice suddenly rang out behind him.

Li Huowang turned, saw who it was, and hurriedly cupped his hands in salute. "Master."

"I asked what you were looking at."

Li Huowang thought rapidly for a moment and immediately came up with an excuse. "This disciple saw how profound Master's pill refining skills are and felt admiration in his heart. I was wondering when this disciple might reach such a level."

Danyangzi was quite satisfied by Li Huowang's change in attitude. It seemed the little brat had finally thought things through.

With his hands clasped behind his back, he circled the black Alchemy Furnace. "It is good to be ambitious, but it is not that this Daoist master refuses to teach you. The Outer Elixir Path is not so simple."

"Ordinary pills are one thing, but if you wish to attain immortality through the Pill Dao, you must refine both Outer Elixirs and Inner Elixirs. This Daoist master has cultivated until now and is on the verge of Mahayana, yet it took no small amount of effort."

A trace of pride and excitement appeared on Danyangzi's face, as though he were already savoring the immortal life he would enjoy after ascending.

"Master... are you about to become immortal?"

The moment Li Huowang said that, Danyangzi's expression withdrew. "Becoming immortal is not so simple. The road is long, but this Daoist master will certainly become immortal. Do you know why?"

"I do not."

Danyangzi grew somewhat agitated. "Because the method for becoming immortal was written in Lord Lao's Heavenly Book, and Lord Lao personally delivered it into my hands! Tell me, who else in all the world can become immortal? He said I can become immortal. Then I can certainly become immortal!"

"Lord Lao? Who is that? One of the three Divine Statues?" Li Huowang could not quite make sense of this myth-like account.

Though he understood not a bit of it, Li Huowang still flattered him. "Master speaks wisely. You will surely become immortal and live as long as Heaven and Earth!"

Danyangzi was clearly delighted to hear it, and his ugly face bloomed into a grin.

"Hahaha, good, good, good! Since you wish to learn pill refinement, I shall first teach you a simple Blood Nourishing Pill formula. Write this down. Twelve taels of Red Cinnabar, half a jin of Nutgrass Galingale Rhizome, two taels and four qian of Yangqi Stone."

Though this unexpected gain had come out of nowhere, Li Huowang naturally would not refuse it.

He hurriedly looked for brush and ink to record it, but after glancing around, he found there was not a trace of either anywhere in the Pill Refining Room.

In his urgency, he picked up a chunk of charcoal slag from beneath the Alchemy Furnace and simply wrote the formula on the hem of his Daoist Robe.

"...Set the furnace at the third quarter of the Chou Hour, precisely when bathing. Illuminate with still eyes, blow with breath, steam with spirit, and slowly nurture it over a gentle flame. Open the furnace at the fourth quarter of the Mao Hour."

"Take this pill formula and practice it slowly. This Daoist master will first see what talent you possess."

Li Huowang tossed aside the charcoal slag, then held the hem up in both hands and presented it before Danyangzi. "Master, please see whether this disciple missed anything in writing it down."

But when the hem covered in charcoal writing was displayed before him, Danyangzi's face, which had just been beaming with delight, instantly went from sunshine to storm clouds.

He lifted his right foot and kicked Li Huowang flying. Li Huowang slammed into the Alchemy Furnace with a resonant BONG, then crashed heavily onto the ground.

With a livid face, Danyangzi cursed under his breath and left with his hands behind his back, simply leaving Li Huowang there.

As the emotional fury in his heart gradually faded, Li Huowang felt that something about this was deeply strange. He had done nothing—why had Danyangzi suddenly treated him like that?

Li Huowang lowered his head and stared at the pill formula in his hands, thinking. His handwriting was ugly, but it was clearly still legible.

Suddenly, Li Huowang thought of something. He looked around the Pill Refining Room, which held no calligraphy, paintings, or decorations whatsoever, then remembered that during morning lessons, no one had possessed any scriptures either.

A sudden thought sprang into Li Huowang's mind. Could it be that this Leper Head is illiterate? He can't read?