Trouble

Cheng Yang headed along the stone path toward the alchemy room.

The alchemy room stood on the southern slope of the Five Elements Sect's main peak, right beside a medicinal herb garden.

After walking for roughly a quarter of an hour, he caught the rich fragrance of medicine from afar.

He arrived at a cluster of rooms.

A wooden plaque hung over the entrance, bearing the words "Alchemy Room." The door was half-open, and from within came the dull rumble of grinding wheels rolling through iron troughs.

Cheng Yang pushed the door open and entered.

The interior was far more spacious than it appeared from outside. Rows of medicine cabinets lined the front, their surfaces covered with porcelain bottles and bronze jars of every size. Freshly refined pills sat upon the shelves against the walls, arranged in neat rows.

Two disciples were grinding herbs inside, while a white-haired old man sat at the workbench in the innermost part of the room, holding a small scale as he weighed some powder.

Hearing the footsteps, he raised his head, his gaze lingering briefly on Cheng Yang.

"Alchemist Zhao?" Cheng Yang handed over his mission token. "Cheng Yang of Li Fire Court. I accepted the mission to gather Seven Baleful Blood Lotus from Myriad Poison Ridge."

Alchemist Zhao set down his scale, accepted the mission token, and gave it a glance before nodding.

He took a cloth pouch, a porcelain bottle, and a flat jade case from a drawer beneath the workbench and laid them on the table. The pouch contained three Miasma-Repelling Pills, each the size of a pigeon's egg, their surfaces gleaming with a faint azure sheen.

The porcelain bottle contained Detoxifying Powder, with a label pasted onto it.

"Three Miasma-Repelling Pills. Chew one before entering the ridge, and it will