Alchemy

Li Huowang carefully watched the small pill furnace before him, with three incense sticks standing beside it for keeping time.

In this environment without an alarm clock, Li Huowang could only rely on such crude methods to calculate time.

When the last incense stick had completely burned out, he immediately extinguished the furnace fire and opened the pill door. A scent mixed with peculiar herbal aromas drifted out from within.

Li Huowang's heart leaped with joy—the refining was successful. The finished pill material was shaken continuously inside a sieve. After all the useless ash-like pill residue had been sifted away, what remained in the container were some black pills of various sizes.

These pills were what Danyangzi called Blood Nourishing Pills, a very simple type of pill used to stop bleeding.

One must not consume more than one tael at a time, otherwise there was a risk of the entire body's blood completely coagulating.

It sounded rather useless—perhaps better for harming people than healing them.

But because this pill was the simplest, Danyangzi had given it to Li Huowang to practice on.

Counting carefully, Li Huowang ended up with thirteen Large Blood Nourishing Pills and twenty-six Small Blood Nourishing Pills.

Li Huowang's gains weren't limited to these alone. Through the process of refining Blood Nourishing Pills, he had also learned some basic knowledge of alchemy.

Alchemy was far harder than he had imagined. Besides differences in timing, even herbs that grew facing different directions had to be carefully distinguished.

If even one step went wrong, the pill's efficacy and success rate would differ vastly. The pile of charred waste beside him was proof of that.

Li Huowang took out a Small Bamboo Tube and collected all the pills into it. Then he took a deep breath, put on a Daoist Robe beside him, and walked toward the door. "It's about time. Zi Hour is almost here."

When Li Huowang reached out and pushed open the door of the Material Room, all the laborers stood up in unison, staring at him in terror.

In the eyes of others, he was now the spitting image of the King of Hell.

Li Huowang looked at them with a complicated expression. Under everyone's gaze, he walked past them and finally stopped before Bai Lingmiao.

The girl's white hair trembled along with her body. She tried to hold back her tears, but in the end, she couldn't. Tears streamed down beside her pale pink pupils, a characteristic of her albinism.

With a grave expression, Li Huowang reached out, took her hand, and led her out of the Material Room toward the Pill Refining Room.

Inside the damp Karst Tunnel, Bai Lingmiao choked out her final words to Li Huowang.

Li Huowang listened in silence, saying nothing. When he deliberately stopped at the entrance to his own quarters, he turned and pulled her inside. "Take off your pants."

Bai Lingmiao's eyes went wide as she froze in place, as if frightened by his actions.

Three quarters before Zi Hour, Li Huowang brought Bai Lingmiao to the Pill Refining Room. Danyangzi had only just arrived as well.

When he saw that Li Huowang had brought the medicinal guide ahead of time without being told, a hint of satisfaction appeared on Danyangzi's face. He looked at this youngest disciple with slightly more favor.

"Heh heh, good disciple, come here." With a casual wave of Danyangzi's hand, Bai Lingmiao flew straight over. He grabbed her by the neck and threw her into the stone urn.

Seeing this, Li Huowang's heart pounded violently. His hands clenched into fists.

Just as the several-hundred-jin Pestle was about to smash downward, Danyangzi suddenly stopped.

"Ah, why did the monthly red come at this very moment? Now the medicinal properties have completely changed." Danyangzi frowned slightly as he looked at Bai Lingmiao's bloodstained pants.

Seeing this, Li Huowang let out a silent sigh of relief. His plan had succeeded.

After Li Huowang understood how alchemy worked in this world, he had found a way to break the deadlock.

Since the properties of metals, stones, and herbs were so variable, then human medicinal guides would also have changes.

Moreover, in his impression, in Daoist belief, a woman's monthly red was something unclean. Making Bai Lingmiao pretend to be on her period was his countermeasure.

And to avoid arousing suspicion, this couldn't be said by anyone else—Danyangzi had to discover it himself.

Now it seemed his goal had been achieved. Bai Lingmiao's life was saved.

Danyangzi's wide Daoist Robe swept through the air, and Bai Lingmiao inside the stone urn flew straight out, crashing heavily to the ground.

The fall was severe. It took Bai Lingmiao a long time to cover her knee and get up, but Li Huowang couldn't help. He could only watch coldly from the side.

"Xuan Yang, take this medicinal guide back." Hearing Danyangzi say this, Li Huowang finally felt completely at ease. He respectfully bowed to Danyangzi. "As you command, Master."

When Bai Lingmiao walked up to him, Li Huowang noticed that her head seemed to have been cut open. Bright red blood flowed down her cheek.

Even so, Bai Lingmiao still cast a grateful look at Li Huowang. In the face of death, suffering a little hardship like this was nothing.

"No matter what, I've managed to get through this round. It'll probably be a long time before Bai Lingmiao is called again." Li Huowang led Bai Lingmiao toward the door.

But just as they were about to step out from under the shadow of the giant alchemy furnace, Danyangzi's light voice came from behind.

"Xuan Yang, since this medicinal guide won't do, go bring another one. I recall there's still one more White Medicinal Guide. Go quickly and return quickly—don't miss the hour."

These words made Li Huowang's body tremble slightly. Then he turned and respectfully bowed to Danyangzi again. "Yes, Master."

Li Huowang didn't know how he made it back to the Material Room. He could only numbly walk up to another albino man, reach out, and pull him toward the exit.

The man wailed in despair, kneeling on the ground and kowtowing to him repeatedly, begging for mercy. But Li Huowang could do nothing. He could only personally send this man to the Pill Refining Room.

Trembling, Li Huowang turned to leave, but Danyangzi called him back. "Aren't you yearning for the way of alchemy? Come, take a close look. Such a complex and rare pill refinement can't be seen elsewhere."

Li Huowang walked over, carefully observing and listening as Danyangzi explained when to add what ingredient and when to increase the fire. He was like an eager student watching the entire alchemy process.

When the flame beneath the furnace died out and the Alchemy Furnace opened, seven fully formed black pills lined up and came before Danyangzi.

"Not bad, not bad. You have great talent. None of my other disciples are as eager to learn as you. Come, Master rewards you." Danyangzi took one pill from his palm.

"Thank you, Master, for bestowing the pill!" Li Huowang solemnly performed a grand bow to Danyangzi, his hands trembling as he held the pill.