Alchemy Failure!

Freewheeling King's Manor, alchemy chamber.

A complete mess.

Fragments of the pill furnace littered the floor. The air was thick with a scorched smell, mingled with faint traces of medicinal fragrance.

It was the scent of failure—the scent alchemists least wished to smell.

Li Xuanyu sat in a grand chair, his face so gloomy it seemed ready to drip water. His hands gripped the armrests tightly, knuckles whitening and veins bulging.

"Failed?"

His voice was terrifyingly calm, like the stillness before a storm.

Master Yang stood before the wreckage of the pill furnace, his beard and hair disheveled, his Daoist robe covered in medicinal dregs and ash.

His expression was no better, his eyes filled with bitterness and helplessness.

"Young Prince, this old man... this old man is ashamed."

He cupped his hands, his voice hoarse.

"The difficulty of refining the Nine-Orifice Immortal Pill far exceeded this old man's estimates. This ancient pill formula has been lost for ages. Though this old man obtained the formula, the control of the heat and the timing of pill condensation cannot be comprehended through words alone. This old man... was still lacking by a measure."

He sighed and took a jade bottle from his storage ring, handing it to Li Xuanyu.

"These are the failed pills this old man refined. Four in total, all ruined. That Nine-Orifice Immortal Vine... was destroyed as well."

Li Xuanyu accepted the jade bottle and pulled out the stopper. A scorched stench rushed at his face. Looking at the four gray, dull failed pills within, a flash of violence crossed his eyes.

"Ruined? All of them?"

His voice finally wavered, with fury suppressed to its very limit.

Master Yang gave a bitter smile and explained, "Young Prince, there was only one Nine-Orifice Immortal Vine. If there were another,