Pills

"Elder Sister Wu Qing is truly mighty! No matter how thorny the road ahead, she can cleave through it with a single sword, relying on nothing but her own strength!"

By the time Wu Ming returned to the fort, even more news had arrived, leaving him secretly stunned.

He had already learned that someone intended to target Wu Qing, and had planned to warn her and secretly lend his support. He had never expected her to break through the crisis so forcefully by relying on her own strength.

The power of Supernatural beings belonged to themselves—a stark contrast to the path of gathering the strength of many.

"Still... though an individual's strength may be formidable, the potential of a faction cannot be underestimated either!"

Wu Ming had his own path: to walk two roads in parallel, protecting himself with his own martial strength, then sheltering himself beneath layer upon layer of wings.

This was a road where the individual and the faction advanced side by side.

Though only the power that belonged to oneself could never be taken away by others, all living beings followed the same path of cultivation: seizing the essence of Heaven and Earth to nourish themselves. Drawing on outside power was therefore extremely important.

Even Wu Ming acknowledged the benefits that external institutions and factions could offer an individual!

A cultivator's wealth, companions, methods, and place of cultivation were all basically external aids. How could he afford to ignore them?

He immediately ordered Zhao Song to reorganize the patrol office and increase the daily patrols. The Village Militia were handed over to Feng Han to whip into shape, while the fort itself was placed under heavy guard.

Though Wu Qing's letter had made everything clear, Wu Ming was not the sort to entrust his safety to someone else's assurances.

Besides, this place was different from the mountain stronghold.

A fort was easy to defend and hard to attack. Some of the household guards and patrolmen were even born into Wu Ming's household and had signed contracts of indenture. Their lives, deaths, honors, and disgrace were all in his hands; even if he killed them, he would merely have to pay a fine. Naturally, they were utterly loyal.

With them guarding the place, there was nothing to fear unless an army laid siege or a Supernatural expert used brute force to overcome skill.

As it happened, even the Zhou family could manage neither of those things. After making all these arrangements, Wu Ming finally set his mind at ease.

"Since there's no hope of entering the Dao Academy, I can study this Yellow Court Yin Talisman Scripture..."

Inside the quiet room, Wu Ming had specifically dismissed the servants. Incense burned in the room, its blue smoke curling through the air as he sat in peaceful concentration. A simple celadon vase held a sprig of plum blossoms; morning dew still clung to the pink petals, and their subtle fragrance filled the room.

Plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum were beloved by cultivators and Confucian Qi Refiners alike, for they embodied the character of a gentleman and a proud, lofty spirit that would not bend.

On the table beside the vase lay the Silver Seal Jade Book he had obtained from the old Daoist Qing Ping, opened to reveal densely packed Runes.

This was a true method! The foundation of cultivation, and unlike petty arts such as the Great Yin Corpse Refining Method, a genuine path to becoming an Immortal!

"Observing the Way of Heaven and carrying out its course—the account of becoming an Immortal is complete!"

Wu Ming also unrolled a silk scroll covered in tiny characters, with annotations beside them. It was clearly the Jade Book's contents.

He had obtained it by exchanging for the Main God Hall's translation function, at a cost of one hundred minor merits. No cheating, no haggling.

"Without a method, you can spend your whole life without finding the way in. But even with a true method, it's useless if you can't understand it..."

Wu Ming sighed.

Daoist Qing Ping had been lucky enough to obtain the Yellow Court Yin Talisman Scripture, but he lacked the necessary foundation and had even misinterpreted Daoist terminology. After all his exploration, he had only managed to reach the level of an Ordained Daoist. What a tragic end—and now the scripture had fallen into Wu Ming's hands.

But when it came to Dao Foundations and the accumulation of Classics, Wu Ming was even less equipped than Daoist Qing Ping. He naturally didn't dare interpret it recklessly, and could only seek help from the Main God Hall.

"The Daoist path to Immortality has five realms: Daoist, Refining Master, Mage, True Person, and Celestial Master. In the Yellow Court Yin Talisman Scripture, the sections on Daoists and Refining Masters are complete, but the Mage section is incomplete. Filling in the gaps costs one hundred and fifty Great Merits!... Still, for my purposes right now, this is enough!"

Wu Ming straightened his clothes and calmed his mind, bringing himself into the best possible condition before carefully reading the classic.

Reading a classic all the way through for the first time was a rare opportunity. It allowed one to imprint the Dao's resonance in one's heart, and was of utmost importance. This was a little trick he had learned from Wu Qing.

Amid the curling incense smoke, time passed bit by bit. At last, Wu Ming sighed with satisfaction and set down the ancient scroll.

"The Dao follows nature! In plain terms, Daoist cultivation is a process of tempering one's Dao nature through a series of means—food and elixirs, Foundation Establishment, profound scriptures, fist techniques, talismans, visualization, and the like—until one finally becomes one with the Dao... All the other arts and divine abilities are merely incidental..."

With the Main God Hall's translation, the Yellow Court Yin Talisman Scripture had become plain and easy to understand. Wu Ming's knowledge of Daoists had grown deeper as well.

"I heard Elder Sister Wu Qing say that when she first entered the Dao Academy, she recited the Classics and meditated to refine Qi every day. That cultivates the Dao nature of the body. Once the Dao nature is perfected, one can open the Sea of Consciousness and develop magical powers! Other Daoist lineages call it lighting the heavenly lamp, the emergence of the heart's light, and so on..."

"But this step is extremely difficult. The Daoist sects have a shortcut: they bestow talismans to help people break through. That's why it's called 'receiving a talisman'!"

"Only after receiving a talisman does a Daoist truly qualify as a Daoist, with the right to wield spells! Those who came before might perform arts, but they were all crooked and unorthodox. They even had to expend their own Qi and Blood and true essence. They could only be called wandering charlatans!"

"After receiving a talisman, a Daoist becomes a true Daoist and gains magical powers. But the body is frail, so the next step is to practice Internal Cultivation through the circulation of energy. That's the Refining Master realm!"

As a warrior built like a shield, Wu Ming couldn't help comparing the two paths:

"Martial arts and Daoist cultivation are completely different roads, so even their realms differ. Take a spell, for example: if someone has prepared in advance, its use can give even warriors with astral energy or extraordinary transformations a headache. But if the distance is closed, an Innate Martial Artist could deal with several Ordained Daoists who lack protective magic artifacts... So which is stronger can only be known after a fight!"

"Still, there are a few points of comparison... In terms of physical strength alone, a Daoist who has perfected Internal Cultivation and completed Foundation Establishment is somewhat similar to a Samurai in the Innate realm... Of course, that only means their physical Qi and Blood are equivalent. In a real fight, he'd certainly lose to a martial artist! Still, at that point, a Refining Master has keen senses and a nimble body. Ordinary martial artists can hardly catch him off guard anymore. He can dodge while casting Daoist spells, and might even threaten a martial artist at the extraordinary transformation level..."

"Though a martial artist's blazing sun astral energy counters Daoist spells and divine abilities, I've heard that unless a Grandmaster has reached the realm beyond extraordinary transformation, he'll still be thoroughly defeated when faced with a Mage who can conjure spells at will..."

"Clearly, the Daoist profession is the rich, handsome favorite of Heaven. A meat shield has no future..."

Wu Ming sighed.

He knew that the Great Zhou World was no game, and there was no such thing as balance.

Daoists surpassed Samurais from the very beginning. Their starting points were on entirely different levels—that was just how cruel it was!

"Still... you get what you pay for. The cost of cultivating Daoist arts is truly horrifying..."

Wu Ming had only taken a brief look at the materials required to cultivate the Yellow Court Yin Talisman Scripture, along with the various food and elixir formulas that followed, and his heart had already begun to tremble.

Even though he considered himself something of a little tycoon, and had recently made a huge profit by robbing the Zhou family, seeing all this still left him dizzy.

"Scholars need books, martial artists need wealth, and cultivating Daoist arts can bankrupt a family"—it was no idle saying.

"The previous expenses went toward acquiring magic artifacts, Thunder Talismans, and translating the cultivation method. With the remaining merits, I can fill in the Mage section of the Yin Talisman Scripture. I've been saving them for this..."

Wu Ming memorized the first layer of the cultivation method, tucked away the Yellow Court Yin Talisman Scripture and its translation close to his body, then summoned Steward Wu and wrote out a list. "You're handling the New Year's supplies, right? See how much it'll cost to add these."

Steward Wu took a look. The list included cinnabar, realgar, alum, copper sulfate, lodestone, and several medicinal herbs. Though surprised, he remained composed—until he saw the quantities at the end. His eyelid twitched. "To get enough for Young Master's portion, it'll take at least five hundred taels of silver!"

"Mm. I'll write you an order. Withdraw the money from the storeroom and get them as soon as possible... Also, don't sell that batch of fine jade we had before. Keep it all!"

After sending Steward Wu away, Wu Ming's face twisted into a bitter smile.

This was only for ordinary ingredients. He hadn't expected Steward Wu to find the truly rare materials; he planned to exchange for those himself at the Main God Hall.

Several days later, in the dead of night.

The stars blazed outside, but Wu Ming sat inside with a grave expression, keeping watch over a little furnace.

The charcoal beneath it roared with flames. It was the finest silver-threaded beast-head charcoal, and gave off almost no smoke.

Wu Ming watched intently, lifting the lid now and then to drop in a few medicinal ingredients.

"The master, minister, assistant, and courier ingredients, each complementing the others through the four seasons... This batch should be about ready! If it fails again, everything I've put in so far will be wasted..."

What he was refining was naturally the elixir recorded in the Yin Talisman Scripture, made specifically to assist in opening the Sea of Consciousness. Even among Daoists, it was a rather precious formula.

A single batch cost a fortune. If the Main God Hall's raw materials hadn't been much cheaper than finished products, the few batches Wu Ming had ruined earlier would have bankrupted him completely.

Once the third quarter of the Zi hour had passed, a delicate fragrance suddenly rose from the furnace. Wu Ming's face lit up. "It worked!"

He opened the furnace and saw pills shaped like bird's eggs, translucent and sparkling, glowing with a jade-like sheen.

"Five Stone Return Bright Powder. Even among Daoists, it's an auxiliary pill used during breakthroughs, able to stabilize the Sea of Consciousness and awaken the heart's light. It's exceedingly rare. To use it right from the start is an extravagantly fast track to advancement... But I don't have the Daoist foundation, nor the time to slowly temper myself. My Daoist merit is lacking, so pills will have to make up for it. It'll have to do..."

Daring not to delay, he used a jade spoon to take out the pills and sealed them in several jade vials. Only then did he let out a long breath.

The reason for using jade was that the medicine was incompatible with the Five Elements. It hadn't quite reached the point of being "damaged by metal upon contact, scorched by wood," but prolonged contact would still greatly diminish its medicinal properties.

"Such extravagance... Just these few ingredients, gathered from all corners of the land and subject to such strict requirements for season, quantity, and properties—probably only imperial relatives could assemble them all..."

After putting the pills away, Wu Ming first steadied himself, then sat cross-legged and took out a jade vial. He uncorked it, revealing the pill inside, and lightly pierced its thin membrane.

The pill looked just like an egg, shimmering with light as a drop of silvery medicinal liquid slid out.

Boom!

Wu Ming held it beneath his tongue. At once, a sensation like an electric shock spread through his entire body.