Golden Toad Elixir, Flower of the Other Shore

"Table ninety-three: General Tso's Chicken, spring rolls, dumplings, Kung Pao chicken..."

Manager Hu Bayi coordinated everything in an orderly manner, the smile on his face growing much more confident.

Panda Express had been open for two months. The moment it launched, it became wildly popular, instantly conquering local taste buds with its affordable prices, delicious flavors, and fast service.

Most Chinese people did not care for this kind of flavor, but the locals praised it endlessly.

They had already begun preparations to open a second branch.

Hu Bayi and the other man both received a share of the restaurant's profits. A man gained confidence when he had a career, and Hu Bayi no longer kept avoiding Shirley Yang.

He owed it all to Huang Bai. He was immensely grateful to this fellow Chinese countryman. This benefactor had changed him, giving him the means to establish himself in the United States.

This time, he truly intended to wash his hands of it all.

A middle-aged man arrived outside.

"Boss Hu, the package from China has arrived."

"Good."

Hu Bayi drove his little van all the way to a detached villa in the suburbs.

This was Huang Bai's residence. Since opening the restaurant, Huang Bai had stopped managing its affairs. Hu Bayi's usual task was to collect strange and unusual materials for him.

The moment he drew near, Hu Bayi caught a faint scent of smoke and fire.

A pavilion stood in the villa's courtyard.

Inside the pavilion, Huang Bai sat cross-legged. Before him, a three-legged, two-handled pill cauldron burned with multicolored materials, while the radiant smoke of the elixir faintly formed the shapes of dragons and tigers.

"Golden Lord–Wood Mother Five-Mushroom Elixir... Gold refers to lead, while Wood Mother refers to mercury. This is the Lead-Mercury School's External Elixir art. The Five Mushrooms refer to Stone Mushroom, Wood Mushroom, Grass Mushroom, Flesh Mushroom, Fungus Mushroom, and so on..."

This was the method for refining External Elixirs from the Twin-Pupil World.

An iron cage stood beside Huang Bai, housing several enormous toads. Coin-sized holes had been cut into their backs, with verdigris-colored cinnabar placed over them.

This was a method of cultivating External Elixirs known as the Golden Toad Elixir Technique, using the poison glands on the toads' backs to temper the elixir and make its medicinal properties milder.

This was Huang Bai's first attempt at refining elixirs himself.

Before long, the cinnabar was finished. Huang Bai used a small knife-like measuring tool to scoop the medicine from the holes in the toads' backs, roasted it over the fire, and swallowed it.

This amount was called a Dao Gui, an ancient term alchemists used to measure elixirs.

He closed his eyes, examined his body inwardly, and sensed the mysterious medicinal power circulating within him.

Watching this scene, Hu Bayi felt an indescribable sense of strangeness.

He had traveled far and wide, robbed countless tombs, and seen plenty of bizarre things, yet he still felt that Huang Bai was being far too superstitious.

"You're here?" Huang Bai opened his eyes and smiled gently.

Hu Bayi voiced his doubts. "Is this an elixir made by ancient occultists?"

"That's right. Taking it grants unimaginable divine power."

"Does it specifically let you cultivate into an immortal, or give you some unimaginable superpower?" Hu Bayi was now convinced that Huang Bai was a Daoist priest.

"Once the path of External Elixirs is cultivated to a profound enough level, one may cast aside the mortal shell and let the soul ascend as an immortal."

In Huang Bai's view, the Corpse-Liberated Immortals of the Twin-Pupil World should have been high-level ghosts. The deities worshipped by the Spirit-Striking Dharma Sect in horror films, or the evil gods that possessed people, should have belonged to the same category.

Such ghosts and gods had little ability to actively influence the real world. They seemed low-level, but they were gods nonetheless—still better than wandering, lonely ghosts.

"Cast aside the mortal shell and let the soul ascend as an immortal... Is immortality without a physical body truly worthwhile?"

Hu Bayi had seen the tombs of emperors and generals from every dynasty. All of them had pursued immortality without success. Even if one truly could live forever after death, what would be the point without a body?

He did not want Huang Bai to go astray. With Huang Bai's intelligence and talent, he could enjoy a full lifetime. Why pursue something so illusory?

Huang Bai put the lid on the cauldron, extinguished the flames, and slowly walked to the edge of the pavilion.

"How can a brain with a limited lifespan comprehend the wonder of immortality?"

"In the eyes of a mayfly born at dawn and dead by dusk, a single pond is already the entire world, and it has seen all the beauty existence has to offer."

"A grasshopper cannot survive past autumn. What lies beyond is a hellish winter; to remain alive would only mean endless suffering."

"In the eyes of an immortal, how are humanity's horizons any different from those of mayflies and grasshoppers?"

"You laugh at bats for being blind, while bats laugh at you for being deaf. You laugh at sparrows for being small and weak, while sparrows laugh at you for being bloated, unable to fly, unable to be free."

"Immortality is the measure of life's worth. Only by constantly transcending oneself and rising ever higher can one behold all the splendor of the universe."

This was his answer to Hu Bayi's question, and also Huang Bai's own heartfelt belief.

This was his ambition: the ultimate elevation of life, to behold the myriad worlds in their entirety.

The path of External Elixirs was not the point. He did not necessarily have to cast aside his mortal shell. If he could obtain a method of cultivating the fleshly body, would Dual Cultivation of Nature and Life not be wonderful?

Hu Bayi did not truly understand. Since they were not close enough for such deep talk, he said nothing further. He set down the alchemy materials, exchanged a few pleasantries, and left.

Buzz!

After Hu Bayi left, Huang Bai drew his bronze ritual sword. Forming a hand seal with his right hand, he chanted an Incantation. Finally, he ran his fingers along the blade, adding a touch of sharpness to the divine sword.

The courtyard was deep and secluded, the autumn wind bleak. The Daoist's figure was like a crane, his sword shadows like a rainbow. Fallen leaves danced with the force of his sword, beautiful yet carrying a trace of killing intent.

Drink jade essence and break through the gate; consume the Golden Core and attain immortality.

His path of External Elixirs grew more refined by the day.

Swordsmanship required no flashy forms. In a fight to the death, there was only "fast, precise, ruthless."

After finishing his sword practice, Huang Bai looked toward his left arm, where the Heaven's Dao Talisman Edict shone brilliantly.

"There should be no problem with washing my hands of it now. All that remains is to resolve this knot in my heart."

Elsewhere, a luxurious estate bore a plaque outside its gates: "Global Spiritual Cultivation Society."

Inside the estate, the venue was packed with people. A disheveled middle-aged woman sat upright on a raised platform while devout believers sat cross-legged on the ground below, listening to her lecture.

This woman was Ying Caihong. One of her eyes was amber-colored, and rumor had it that she could communicate with ghosts and gods. She was the leader of the Spirit Cultivation Society.

"All right, today's spiritual cultivation session ends here. Go back and contemplate it yourselves." Ying Caihong's expression was calm, her amber eye reflecting the devout faces of the crowd.

When the lecture ended, Ying Caihong slowly rose and strolled toward the back.

Once she was out of sight, her face turned pale and her body swayed unsteadily. Before a mirror, her long hair slipped away, revealing a bald head covered in a vicious surgical scar.

That was right. She was dying. There was a tumor in her head.

Even with the most advanced methods available, Ying Caihong could not cure this terminal illness.

She was not truly someone who could communicate with ghosts and gods, as people claimed. She was merely a religious leader skilled at bewitching people's hearts.

"I refuse to accept this. I can't die..." Ying Caihong touched the horrific scar, her face filled with unwillingness at the thought of life slipping away.

Footsteps sounded behind her. Ying Caihong put on her long hair and returned to her unruffled appearance.

The visitor was a short-haired woman holding an old, yellowed drawing. It depicted a brilliantly blooming flower, its petals radiating outward like the sun and giving off an aggressively invasive impression.

"Yoko, bring it here." Ying Caihong extended her hand and took the drawing from the woman.

"Mother, what is this?" The woman did not understand why her godmother had paid such a tremendous price to search for it.

"This is the Flower of the Other Shore..." Ying Caihong's amber eyes studied the drawing intently. In its lower-right corner was the artist's information—Ding Sitian, 1964, Grassland Hundred-Eyed Cave.

"In Khitan Myth, the Flower of the Other Shore blooms at the boundary between yin and yang. Whenever yin and yang shift at midnight, it can open the gate of life and death, possessing the power to turn death into life and reverse yin and yang."

"Yoko, find professionals and head to the grasslands at once to search for the ancient tomb."