Elder Yang

When Chen Chong stepped through the mountain gate, he was surprised to see a strange Big-Eyed Beast.

The beast crouched in the shadow inside the stone gate. It was no bigger than a stocky mastiff, with short, thick legs and dark gray fur somewhat like the leopard demons that pulled carts. But its eyes were enormous.

Its two eyes took up half its head. They were round, black as ink, with no whites at all. It crouched there without moving, like a stone carving.

Two guards stood nearby, dressed in the Pine Roost Sect's blue-gray tunics, swords at their waists. Both had steady auras and were at the Flesh-Nourishing Stage.

The guards inspected his token. One side of the wooden plaque bore a pine branch and a roosting bird; on the back were the words "Pine Roost." The guards nodded and stepped aside. Then the Big-Eyed Beast moved.

It raised its massive head and fixed its two black eyes on Chen Chong, scrutinizing him.

Chen Chong felt an invisible force sweep over him, from head to toe, from skin to flesh, from sinew to bone.

It was like being touched all over by an icy hand. It felt as though something were peering into his heart.

A chill ran down his back. The Profound Abyss Dragon-Tiger True Canon circulated on its own for an instant. His skin tightened and his blood surged, shutting that sensation out.

The guards waved him through.

Not long after Chen Chong entered, he came upon a great hall. It had white walls, dark tiles, and upturned eaves. A black lacquered plaque hung beneath the eaves: Pine Roost Hall.

Inside, the hall was spacious and plain. A portrait hung at the front, depicting a Daoist seated beneath a pine tree with a zither across his knees. Three sticks of incense stood in a burner before it, their smoke rising in straight threads.

A man in Pine Roost Sect attire stood by the entrance. He was around thirty, with a gentle face, and came forward when Chen Chong entered.

Chen Chong handed over his token and explained that he had come to serve as an alchemist.

The man looked at the token, then at Chen Chong. He nodded without asking anything more. He led Chen Chong out of Pine Roost Hall and along a stone stairway to the side. They passed through a pine grove, rounded a ridge, and reached another peak.

A stone bridge connected this peak to the main one. Below it lay a deep valley wreathed in cloud and mist. The place was secluded and rarely visited; only the occasional birdsong broke the silence.

Chen Chong was led to a courtyard.

The courtyard was enormous. Its walls were low, but it sprawled across several acres, following the contours of the mountain.

Medicinal plants of every kind grew inside. A patch of astragalus covered the sunny slope, honeysuckle vines climbed the fence, and rows of clay pots stood along the wall, filled with herbs. Some were flowering; others had gone to seed.

There were pill furnaces of all kinds, too. Five or six bronze furnaces stood around the courtyard, large and small. Some had three legs and two handles; others were square cauldrons with four legs. Different patterns were cast into their sides.

The largest furnace stood in the middle of the courtyard. A low fire still burned in its firebox, heating a clay pot that steamed at the mouth and filled the air with the scent of medicine.

A white-haired old man was tending to a medicinal plant in the courtyard.

He crouched before a red ganoderma, loosening the soil with a small trowel.

His movements were slow and gentle. The trowel's tip traced the roots without harming them in the slightest. He wore a gray Pine Roost Sect robe with its sleeves rolled up, exposing thin forearms.

His hair was completely white and pinned up with a wooden hairpin. His face was lean, his cheekbones slightly high, and a wisp of white beard hung from his chin.

"Elder Yang, Elder Qin recommended this young man to serve as an alchemist."

The old man turned his eyes toward Chen Chong.

"Old Qin?" Elder Yang rose and brushed the dirt from his hands. His gaze rested on Chen Chong's face for a moment. "I haven't heard that name in a long time."

He sorted the herbs in his hands as he spoke. "An alchemist, you say. You don't look very old. Refine a batch of pills first, and we'll see."

Elder Yang gave Chen Chong a pile of herbs. They were all common things: astragalus, angelica, Sichuan lovage, licorice, poria, atractylodes, and dried tangerine peel. They lay in a jumble on the table, unsorted and unpaired. They had not even been weighed.

Puzzled, Chen Chong asked, "Where's the formula?"

Elder Yang glanced at him. "Those are the herbs. Let's see what you can make of them."

Chen Chong studied the pile in silence for a moment.

Then he picked up the astragalus, brought it to his nose, and sniffed it. He snapped it open to inspect the cross-section, then picked up the angelica, felt its texture, and pinched it to gauge its thickness.

Next came the Sichuan lovage, licorice, poria, atractylodes, and dried tangerine peel. He handled and inspected each one. It was as though he understood every property of the herbs by heart.

Astragalus replenished qi; angelica nourished blood; Sichuan lovage invigorated blood and moved qi; licorice harmonized the other ingredients; poria drained water and dispelled dampness; atractylodes strengthened the spleen and dried dampness; dried tangerine peel regulated qi and strengthened the spleen. The seven herbs could form a variation on Four Gentlemen Decoction, serve as the foundation of Tonify the Middle and Augment the Qi Decoction, or be used to replenish both qi and blood.

The mastery he had gained from bringing Alchemy to its peak was evidently comprehensive. It had improved his understanding of every aspect of the craft.

Herbal properties, pharmacology, ingredient pairings, heat, timing—everything came together in his mind like a dense web, every node perfectly clear.

Chen Chong took up a knife and began preparing the herbs. He sliced the astragalus, angelica, and Sichuan lovage. Every slice was the same thickness, its cut face smooth. Then he ground, sifted, and blended them.

An expert's skill showed the moment he set to work. Watching Chen Chong prepare the herbs with practiced ease, Elder Yang knew he had real accomplishments in alchemy.

Chen Chong readied the furnace and lit the fire. He had no formula and no reference; everything depended on his understanding of the herbs. He added the seven ingredients to the furnace in the order of sovereign, minister, assistant, and envoy.

Astragalus was the sovereign, angelica the minister, Sichuan lovage the assistant, and the rest the envoys. He began with a gentle fire, raised it to a fierce one, then lowered it again. The medicinal liquid rolled in the furnace, changing from pale yellow to dark brown, then from dark brown to amber. At last, he put out the fire and left the furnace sealed.

The pill was complete. It had none of the so-called fragrance of a pill; it had been refined entirely from ordinary herbs. Yet it was round and full, its color even and its surface smooth as a mirror. Combining common herbs into a pill and finding the best solution in so little time—that was the test Elder Yang had set him.

Looking at the pill, nearly perfect despite the limited ingredients, Elder Yang fell silent.

Old Qin was an old friend who had left the sect for the Hundred Treasures Pavilion. The two had been close, but they had always competed in alchemy.

So when this newcomer arrived on his old friend's recommendation, Elder Yang had wanted to test him.

He had not expected Chen Chong to do so well. He had assumed his old friend had sent the young man to study alchemy under him. Instead, Chen Chong's skills were already so mature.

Still looking at the pill, Elder Yang asked Chen Chong his age.

"Nineteen."

Elder Yang's pupils contracted. He reached out at once, laying his bony fingers on Chen Chong's wrist. He felt along his forearm to the bend of his elbow, then pressed his shoulder blades and collarbones. His bone age was indeed around nineteen or twenty.

After a moment's thought, Elder Yang took a token from his sleeve.

It was different from the one Elder Qin had given him. Jet-black throughout, it bore a carved pine tree. There was no roosting bird beneath it, only the character for "inner."

"Go to Pine Roost Hall and tell them I've recommended you for admission to the sect."

Chen Chong stared at Elder Yang, stunned.

Elder Yang looked at him and said slowly, "There's little more I can teach you about the path of alchemy. In this world, martial strength is what matters most. Alchemy is only a means of making a living. Your alchemy has already reached a respectable level; the rest is yours to grasp. But on the path of martial arts, the Pine Roost Sect can offer you far more than I can."

Chen Chong looked at the old man before him. After a moment's silence, he bowed deeply.