An old man in black spoke. His hair and beard were pure white, his face was lined with wrinkles, and his cultivation was around the fifth level of the Qi Refining Realm. He came out of the alchemy room with his back hunched.
When he saw Lin Changheng lift the curtain and enter the rear courtyard, he chuckled.
Lin Changheng instinctively wanted to reply,
When an alchemist's furnace exploded, could you really call it an explosion? It ought to be called a fire in the Alchemy Furnace...
But when the words reached his lips, they turned into a rueful smile. "Master Mo, please don't tease me."
Master Mo did not answer. He beckoned Lin Changheng over, then, just as Lin Changheng entered the alchemy room, abruptly asked, "Were you making Crimson Flame Pills?"
"Yes."
"When did the furnace explode?"
"While combining the ingredients..."
"Mm... Once I finish this batch, I'll make Crimson Flame Pills next. Watch closely from the side and find out where you went wrong."
"Yes! Thank you, Master Mo!"
Delighted, Lin Changheng thanked him repeatedly.
Master Mo was a longtime guest elder of the Xu Family. He had once been a first-tier mid-grade alchemist with formidable skill, but age had caught up with him, and he had suffered an internal injury.
Unable to endure the demands of refining mid-grade pills, he had volunteered to oversee Zichuan Market, a resource-driven market town in gradual decline. There, he spent his years making low-grade pills for sale.
Even so, the chance to watch an alchemist refine pills with his own eyes was a considerable opportunity for Lin Changheng.
After all, knowledge gained from paper always felt shallow. How rare was it to have someone demonstrate the proper method?
"No matter."
"Keep an eye on the furnace fire. There are Wood Origin Pills inside."
After giving that instruction, Master Mo made to leave for a while.
"But... I know nothing about refining Wood Origin Pills. Senior Brother Xu usually watches that furnace."
Lin Changheng promptly raised the issue.
"Xu Hanzhou was summoned back to the Lineage. He left early this morning with a group that came from the clan on business."
After explaining in passing, Master Mo added, "From now on, I'll be relying on you to tend the fires for both batches when I refine them at once."
"All right."
Lin Changheng paused, then nodded, his expression shifting slightly.
The Xu Family Alchemy Shop had originally had two alchemists, four alchemy apprentices, and eight Xu Family members doing odd jobs.
Later, the nearby vein of first-tier high-grade Red Iron Ore had been mined out. With the land left scarred and no profit to be had, cultivation powers and cultivators had swarmed in, then swarmed away again.
Zichuan Market had declined by the day. Its people had dwindled, and its former prosperity was gone.
The Xu Family had made adjustments accordingly.
Five years ago, it had withdrawn one alchemist and two apprentices.
Now, every pill sold in the shop came from batches refined by Master Mo.
As a rule, Master Mo started two batches of low-grade pills at different times each day, producing ten pills per batch, then rested for a day.
For a mid-grade alchemist like him, refining two batches of low-grade pills at once was easy. It practically counted as a way to preserve his health.
For Lin Changheng, though, it would take up even more of his time.
Of course, there was an upside: he could gain access to the formula and refining techniques for a new pill, the Wood Origin Pill.
The Xu Family kept tight control over such knowledge and rarely let it spread.
Lin Changheng had spent more than ten years here, yet had learned only the formula for the Crimson Flame Pill. His grasp of its refining techniques was still shallow, the details vague and obscure enough that he had to work them out for himself.
For the next hour, Lin Changheng tended the furnace fire while turning the Crimson Flame Pill's refining method over in his mind.
Master Mo came by once during that time. He did not send Lin Changheng away. Instead, he performed more than thirty pill-forming hand seals before the Alchemy Furnace right in front of him, then tossed him a yellowed jade slip.
It contained information on refining Wood Origin Pills.
Only after watching Lin Changheng swear a Dao oath not to disclose its contents did Master Mo stroll away.
At noon, Master Mo returned. After performing an intricate sequence of pill-forming hand seals, he lit the fire beneath another Alchemy Furnace two zhang away to begin refining Crimson Flame Pills.
"Come and watch closely."
The old voice called to Lin Changheng.
"Yes." Lin Changheng's spirits lifted.
He had accumulated quite a few questions, along with possible solutions he wanted to test by watching.
Master Mo's movements flowed like clouds and running water. In his hands, the complex work of alchemy took on a beauty of its own.
Lin Changheng watched with all his concentration, afraid to miss the slightest detail.
"Mind the fires."
With that instruction, Master Mo left.
Lin Changheng barely heard him. He was so absorbed that he did not notice Master Mo leaving until the old man reached the door, whereupon he hurried to see him off.
Surprise flickered across Master Mo's face, but he took no offense. He waved a withered hand and departed.
Around the hour of the dog that night, the two batches of pills finally finished refining, one after the other.
As the furnace fires died down, pill-drawing hand seals drew the pills out. Fragrant with medicinal herbs, they flew from the furnaces into specially made wooden boxes and settled into their places one by one.
Lin Changheng stood to one side with his hands at his sides, watching. He was already secretly delighted. Observing the refining had taught him a great deal: not only could he now solve the problem that had caused his last furnace to explode, but many steps and the transitions between hand seals had become much clearer.
Suddenly, Lin Changheng heard Master Mo give a soft exclamation. He watched him take out a red pill marked with cloud patterns and examine it in his palm.
Then Master Mo shook his head and put it away separately, outside the wooden box.
Lin Changheng was curious. This was the first time he had been allowed to stay and watch Master Mo collect the pills.
"This is a flawed pill."
Master Mo took the opportunity to instruct him. "Whether because the ingredients differ, the refining goes awry, or some accident occurs, every batch inevitably produces a few flawed pills, sometimes even ruined ones. Ruined pills can't be used. They're scorched and fail to take shape. You should be quite familiar with those..."
Lin Changheng smiled awkwardly. The pills from his exploded furnace yesterday had been ruined ones.
"Ruined pills are recognizable at a glance. Flawed pills are different. They still take shape, but they contain too many impurities and retain pill toxins. Cultivators must not take them, or ailments will follow and their Dao Paths will be destroyed. They're also called 'poison pills.'"
"For a batch of ten, it's acceptable if ruined and flawed pills account for no more than half. When I refine pills, they generally account for only ten to twenty percent."
As he spoke, Master Mo stroked his long beard with evident pride.
"I see. Thank you for explaining, Master Mo. Everyone acknowledges your superb alchemy skills. Hardly anyone in Zichuan Market can match you."
Having learned something new, Lin Changheng naturally offered a couple of compliments.
Seeing Master Mo in good spirits, Lin Changheng had an idea and seized the chance to ask, "How are flawed pills dealt with?"
"Once, an alchemist from a certain clan, a man of poor character, mixed flawed pills in with genuine ones and sold them, harming Rogue Cultivators. When the truth came out, the victims banded together for revenge. His entire Lineage was targeted as well. Clan members who ventured out suffered heavy casualties, and the clan fell into ruin and was struck from the rolls!"
Master Mo gave this example with a grave expression, then pointed out the crucial lesson.
"The Xu Family is different. Our family conduct is upright. We do business for the long term, and our good name is on everyone's lips."
"Ruined pills are destroyed outright. Flawed pills are either destroyed or sold cheaply to families that command or raise beasts, to feed the beasts they rear for meat."
Lin Changheng considered this, spotted a loophole, and asked, "What if those families claim to be buying them for their beasts but actually resell them? Wouldn't that damage the Xu Family's reputation too?"
Approval appeared in Master Mo's eyes as he looked at Lin Changheng, but he did not answer. He meant to test him.
Lin Changheng thought for a moment, then blurted out, "Cut the pills!"
Once split in half, the pills could no longer be sold as pills, but they would still serve to feed beasts raised for meat.
"Exactly. Cut the pills." Master Mo regarded Lin Changheng appreciatively with his aged eyes. Little else about the young man had changed, but in recent years his temperament had grown gloomy and impatient.
Now it had changed again. Perhaps, with so little time left before the agreed date, the pressure had broken him down only for him to rise anew.
As they talked, the two walked out of the alchemy room. Lin Changheng seized the chance to ask about three things that puzzled him. Master Mo did not refuse; in a few words, he gave incisive guidance that cut to the heart of each question.
The old Lin Changheng might have struggled to understand. Now, the words cleared the fog from his mind, and he took in every one.
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