Medicine Cauldron Upheaval, Wuchen and Qingwan Make a Wager

I stared at the speck of butterfly powder in my palm. It had already gone cold, like a forgotten grain of sand. Candlelight reflected between my fingers; the spot of light flickered once, and I ground it into my skin without leaving a trace.

The jade box made no sound when it opened. The Hundred-Year Blood Ginseng lay quietly within, scarlet from root to tip, its fibrous roots like hair and still carrying the cold, damp air of the secret chamber. I had taken it casually last night while fetching the medicinal guide. No one had seen, and no one had noticed. I placed it in my medicine pouch, fastened the leather strap, turned, and pushed open the door.

Dawn had barely broken, yet disciples were already moving about before the Medicine Hut. I crossed the courtyard without haste, every step landing upon the seams between the stone slabs. Outside the Elder Council hall, the gatekeeping disciple tried to stop me. I said only one sentence: "Ji Wuchen destroyed my Medicine Cauldron, ruining three furnaces of Meridian Condensing Pills and contaminating the spiritual ingredients." He immediately stepped aside.

Incense smoke curled through the hall. Several Clan Elders sat upon the raised platform, discussing something among themselves. I walked in, knelt, and bowed. My voice was clear. "Reporting to the elders: Ji Wuchen of the eastern courtyard trespassed into my residence last night and shattered my Azure Jade Medicine Cauldron, causing the unfinished spiritual medicine to be tainted by foreign energy and rendered unusable. I ask that this matter be thoroughly investigated."

The moment my words fell, an uproar broke out in the hall.

"Ji Wuchen? That man with Wasted Meridians?" A white-bearded elder frowned. "How could he possibly break your Medicine Cauldron? Could it be that you lost control while refining medicine yourself?"

"The pattern of the cauldron's destruction could not have been caused by external force." I raised my eyes, sweeping my gaze across the crowd. "It collapsed from within. The cracks formed a spiderweb pattern, with the bottom damaged first. Only the simultaneous effect of extreme heat and immense spiritual pressure could have caused such a phenomenon. And at the time, he was the only one who had appeared in the room."

"You saw it with your own eyes?" another elder pressed.

"I did not chase after him," I said. "But I collected the debris. It contained fluctuations of aura that belonged to no known Cultivation Technique—extremely faint, yet carrying backlash force suppressed to the utmost limit. If the elders do not believe me, you may send someone to inspect the jade fragments embedded in my floor. They still retain residual warmth."

Several elders exchanged glances. At last, someone nodded. "Summon Ji Wuchen."

After waiting about half the time it took an incense stick to burn, two guards escorted him into the hall. He wore those Black Martial Robes, washed so many times they had faded white. His steps were unsteady, and his face was several shades paler than usual, as though he might collapse at any moment. Upon reaching the center of the hall, someone shoved him. He fell to his knees with a thud, his head bowed very low.

"Ji Wuchen!" the presiding elder shouted sternly. "Ye Qingwan accuses you of destroying her Medicine Cauldron. Is this true?"

He neither raised his head nor spoke. His shoulders merely trembled faintly, as though even breathing took effort.

I watched him, my fingertips lightly rubbing the medicine pestle within my sleeve. Did he know I would use this move? Or did he simply not care at all?

Just as I was about to speak and add more evidence, he suddenly lifted his face.

For that instant, I almost thought I had seen wrong.

His gaze was terrifyingly clear. The distraction was gone; so was the madness. Instead, he was like a blade hidden in a broken scabbard, its edge only slightly revealed, yet sharp enough to cut through the air. He looked straight at me, and an exceedingly faint smile curled at the corner of his lips.

Then he spoke. His voice was not loud, but every word was distinct. "Since Miss Ye has brought up the Medicine Cauldron, why not open your medicine pouch before everyone?"

The entire hall fell silent.

My expression did not change, but my heart sank sharply.

"What did you say?" I asked.

He slowly raised his hand and pointed at my waist. "You say the spiritual medicine was contaminated. What about you? The Hundred-Year Blood Ginseng stolen last night—is it in your medicine pouch right now?"

My fingers froze.

The hall instantly exploded into commotion.

"What? The Blood Ginseng was stolen?" An elder in charge of the storeroom abruptly rose to his feet. "That ginseng was perfectly fine in the secret chamber yesterday! We only discovered it missing this morning! How did you know?"

Everyone's eyes turned toward me.

I did not panic. I had anticipated that he would strike back and had prepared my response. Slowly, I removed my medicine pouch, untied its cord, and poured out the Blood Ginseng. It landed on the table, its red hue painfully glaring.

"Correct." I met his gaze. "This ginseng is indeed in my possession. The fact that you can recognize it proves you are not entirely ignorant. But that also proves—you know the affairs of the Medicine Hut like the back of your hand and have entered it more than once."

He smiled. This time, the smile was more obvious.

"Then do you dare to wager?" I stepped forward, lightly tapping the ground with my medicine pestle. "Within three incense sticks' time, you and I will each refine one furnace of Meridian Condensing Pills. If you succeed, I will admit my mistake before everyone and never again pursue the matter of the Medicine Cauldron. If you fail—" I paused, and my voice turned cold. "From this day forward, you will not set foot in the Medicine Hut again."

The hall was so silent that one could hear a pin drop.

Though the Meridian Condensing Pill was not a high-grade pill, refining it still required precise fire control, discernment of ingredients, and guiding spiritual energy into the furnace. How could someone who had not cultivated for three years and whose meridians were completely ruined possibly refine one on the spot?

Several elders exchanged looks. Some shook their heads, while others sneered.

"Absurd!" An elder slammed his palm against the table. "Ji Wuchen's meridians have long since been severed. He cannot even gather Spiritual Energy, so how could he speak of pill refinement? Ye Qingwan, this is plainly an insult to the Direct Lineage!"

Before I could speak, Ji Wuchen laughed first.

He lowered his head for a moment, as if considering it, then slowly raised it. "Sure."

That single "sure" was spoken as lightly as drifting clouds and flowing wind, yet it silenced the entire hall.

He actually agreed?

I stared at him, and my heartbeat skipped.

"However—" He braced himself against the ground and slowly straightened up. Though he remained kneeling, his back was ramrod straight. "If I win, you must answer one question as well."

"What question?"

"Why did you go to the Forbidden Ground last night?" He looked at me, his gaze as sharp as needles. "It was not to investigate the medicinal guide, nor was it to seek materials. You went there to see whether I was there, didn't you?"

My pupils contracted slightly.

He really knew.

I did not answer, nor did I retreat. I had set this trap, and I could not afford to lose.

"Fine." I nodded. "If you can truly refine a Meridian Condensing Pill within three incense sticks' time, I will tell you the truth."

"Then it is settled." He finally rose to his feet. Though his legs still swayed, his bearing suppressed the doubts filling the hall. "The wager is established. Who decides the time and place?"

"Here," I said. "There is a pill-refining platform before the ancestral hall, and the incense burner is here as well. We begin now."

One elder still wanted to stop them, but another waved him off. "Since the wager has been made, we proceed according to the rules. Three incense sticks shall be the limit. Whoever completes first and produces a pill that reaches ninth grade wins. If anyone cheats, they will be severely punished on the spot."

The incense was lit.

As the first wisp of smoke rose, I had already taken out my Medicine Cauldron and arranged the medicinal herbs. I carried the seven primary ingredients needed for the Meridian Condensing Pill with me, and now lined them up one by one. The firestarter struck, blue flames leapt up, and I placed the cauldron over the fire to begin heating the medicinal properties.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Ji Wuchen standing before the pill-refining platform on the other side, his movements sluggish. His hand was still trembling when he picked up the herbs, and he nearly knocked over a stalk of Scutellaria. A disciple snickered under his breath. "Putting on a show. Let's see how he ends this."

He ignored them and merely placed the herbs into the cauldron, slowly.

When the second incense stick had burned halfway down, my medicinal liquid had already begun to merge, its color gradually turning golden. On his side, however, the fire was weak, and the cauldron had not even fully heated through.

My heart settled somewhat.

But he suddenly raised his hand, palm facing down, and lightly covered the space above the cauldron lid. There was no incantation, no hand seal. His hand simply hovered there in silence.

The next moment, the flames jumped.

The dim flame abruptly turned a deep blue, and its temperature soared in an instant. The Medicine Cauldron gave a low hum, while fine patterns appeared across its surface, like ancient Runes flowing and shifting.

My heart jolted.

This was not an ordinary fire-control technique.

It was... using his own body as the guide, borrowing momentum to drive the fire.

He remained standing there, his expression calm, as if he had done nothing more than the most ordinary thing. Yet I knew this method required at least extraordinarily powerful spiritual perception and control. The slightest deviation would bring backlash upon himself.

A third of the third incense stick had burned away, and my medicinal liquid was about to condense into pills.

Meanwhile, he lifted the cauldron lid.

A clear fragrance spread through the air. It was not intense, yet it was so pure that it made one's heart tremble. The medicinal liquid inside had become a deep gold, its surface gleaming faintly as pill patterns emerged indistinctly.

"That's impossible..." I murmured.

Before the three incense sticks had burned out, he had already completed the fusion.

He reached into the cauldron without using any tools, directly stirring the medicinal liquid with his fingertips. His skin touched the blazing heat, yet showed no sign of burning. A moment later, his five fingers closed, and a perfectly round pill flew from the cauldron and landed steadily in a jade bottle.

"It's done," he said softly.

I looked at the medicinal liquid in my own cauldron, which had yet to take shape, then at the jade bottle in his hand. My fingertips tightened slightly.

The incense had not yet burned out.

He had truly done it.

Dead silence filled the hall.

Several elders looked at one another, none daring to speak rashly.

Slowly, I extinguished my fire and removed my own pills. Two of them—one gold and one gray—were barely seventh-grade in quality, far inferior to his single pill, golden throughout with clear pill patterns, bearing the appearance of a ninth-grade pill.

I had lost.

At least, by the rules of this contest, I had lost.

I stared at him, my throat slightly dry. "When did you learn pill refinement?"

He did not answer. He merely placed the jade bottle lightly upon the table, his gaze falling on my face. "Now it is your turn to speak. Why did you go to the Forbidden Ground last night?"