Entering the Alchemy Room

The next morning.

Lu Yun discovered that Chen Chong was not at his patrol post. He stood in the passage outside the alchemy room and waited for half an incense stick's time, but saw no sign of him. Joy surged up in his heart, impossible to suppress.

He hurried toward the chief steward's quarters, arranging his words along the way.

First, he would say that the brat had neglected his duties and abandoned his post. He had only been a courtyard guard for a few days, yet he already dared to slack off. Then he would add fuel to the fire and say that Chen Chong disrespected his elders; when they had handed over the cultivation technique last time, his attitude had been arrogant, as though no one else existed in his eyes.

Outside the room, he stopped, drew a deep breath, suppressed the expression on his face, and put on a respectful look before raising his hand to knock.

"Come in."

Yuan Zhiwu sat behind his desk, reading an account book with a brush pinched in his hand. He did not even raise his head.

Lu Yun bowed in salute, then began speaking with great animation.

"Chen Chong did not report for duty today. I searched everywhere but could not find him. Such neglect of duty is truly unacceptable. And last time, when we handed over the cultivation technique, Chen Chong's attitude was disrespectful. He does not know how to respect his elders. If this goes on, I fear he will be difficult to restrain."

Yuan Zhiwu turned a page of the account book and made a mark on the paper with his brush.

"Chen Chong has talent in alchemy. Chen Huaixu has taken him to the alchemy room."

Lu Yun's voice came to an abrupt halt.

It was as if someone had frozen him in place. He stood there dumbly, his lips still held in the shape of speech, slightly parted, yet unable to force out a single word.

The alchemy room. Chen Huaixu.

That was Jichuntang Hall's only alchemist, a figure whom even Yuan Zhiwu had to treat with some courtesy. He had personally asked for Chen Chong.

Yuan Zhiwu's gaze swept over him. It was not heavy, yet Lu Yun felt as if ice water had been poured down his back. He lowered his head and squeezed out a "Yes" from his throat before leaving in dejection.

Once outside, the sun shone over him, yet he felt chilled to the bone.

He wandered without purpose, crossed two streets, turned into an alley, and stopped outside a tavern.

The tavern was small. A greasy wine banner hung beneath the eaves, and several old tables had been set outside the entrance.

At one of the tables sat two burly men in their mid-thirties, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, dressed in the short brown garments of courtyard guards. One was Zhao Da, the other Qian Hu. Both were veteran guards of Jichuntang Hall, good friends of Lu Yun's, and frequent drinking companions.

When they saw Lu Yun arrive, Zhao Da called out, "Brother Lu, sit."

Lu Yun dropped onto a seat, snatched up the wine jug, poured himself a bowl, and drained it in one gulp. Wine ran down from the corners of his mouth, but he did not bother wiping it away.

"What happened?" Qian Hu asked.

Lu Yun poured himself another bowl. Only after draining it did he wipe his mouth and curse, "That Chen Chong is lucky! He stepped in dog shit!"

The more he spoke, the angrier he became. "How many days has he even been here? A former menial laborer who clawed his way up, and he's only been a courtyard guard for a few days! Yet he already dares to look down on his elders! When we handed over the cultivation technique, I tested him a little, and he actually dared to strike back! He's relying on a bit of talent, but he only reached the Skin Tempering Realm at seventeen or eighteen. What the hell does he amount to?"

Zhao Da and Qian Hu did not respond.

Lu Yun continued, "And now? Chen Huaixu has taken him to the alchemy room! The alchemy room! What kind of place is that? Old Chen barely pays any attention to Chief Steward Yuan, yet he actually took the initiative to ask for someone! That brat—I spit!"

In the past, Zhao Da and Qian Hu would have chimed in with a few agreeing words. Whenever the three drank together, whatever Lu Yun said, they cursed along with him. But today, both men merely held their wine bowls in silence.

The alchemy room. An alchemist. A new alchemist personally trained by Chen Huaixu.

Anyone who had spent long enough at Jichuntang Hall understood the weight carried by those words. Alchemists were not martial artists, but they were more valuable than martial artists. Any alchemist capable of opening a furnace and refining pills would be someone any pharmacy owner in Dingshan County would hold in the palm of their hand and worship like an ancestor.

Chen Huaixu was old. Sooner or later, Jichuntang Hall would need a new alchemist to take his place. And that person was now Chen Chong.

Zhao Da lowered his head and drank. Qian Hu picked up a peanut and chewed it for a long while.

Watching the two silent men, Lu Yun's voice gradually fell quiet. He drained another bowl, slammed it onto the table, and said nothing more.

The three continued drinking their dull wine. The tavern's banner swayed in the wind, pedestrians came and went along the street, and no one spared them a second glance.

Elsewhere, in the alchemy room.

In the courtyard, Chen Chong stood guard beside the pill furnace. The furnace fire reflected off his face, casting it in shifting light and shadow. It was still Tiger Bone Pills.

Over the past few days, he had repeatedly refined this one kind of pill. From his initial mistakes and flaws, he had progressed to precise control of the heat. Every furnace now produced three pills, each one round and flawless.

Chen Huaixu sat on a bamboo chair beneath the corridor, surrounded by a group of children. A dozen or so half-grown youngsters held bamboo slips and sat obediently. Chen Huaixu pointed at Chen Chong's back and spoke sentence by sentence.

"Look at Chen Chong. What was his background? A menial laborer. When he first came to the pharmacy, he knew nothing. He only cut herbs, washed herbs, and dried herbs. But he had determination. While he was still a menial laborer, he diligently studied herbal knowledge, committing the properties, flavors, and meridian channels of every herb to heart. Later, after becoming a courtyard guard, he would patrol to the alchemy room every day, stand outside the door, and secretly listen to me teach about pill refinement. He listened a little each day, remembered a little each day, and that was how he learned Alchemy."

The children widened their eyes as they looked at Chen Chong.

"Ask yourselves whether you have been diligent," Chen Huaixu said. His voice was not loud, yet every word fell into the courtyard. "When you came here, your families spent silver to buy you pill formulas and furnish you with tools. Your conditions are better than Chen Chong's by who knows how much. But what about the pills you refine? Either they burn, or they scatter apart. Why? Your hearts are not still, and your effort is lacking."

Chen Chong listened from the side, feeling ashamed. He had not done anything like what Chen Huaixu described. What diligently studying herbal knowledge? What secretly listening every day?

He had merely used the panel to simplify things, then repeatedly practiced lighting the fire. But Chen Huaixu had imagined such a story of diligence and eagerness to learn, and Chen Chong could not exactly explain it. He could not possibly say, "I have a panel," could he?

The fragrance of medicine drifted from the pill furnace. Chen Chong withdrew the fire, lifted the furnace lid, and poured out three Tiger Bone Pills. They were a deep brown, round and plump, with a faint flowing sheen over their surfaces—several degrees better than in previous days.

Chen Huaixu walked over, picked one up to inspect it, then sniffed it and nodded.

"Mm. You are very stable now." He set the pill back onto the porcelain plate. "From now on, you will live here and refine this kind of pill first. We will settle the daily output by sharing the proceeds."

Chen Chong paused in surprise and hurriedly said, "It is all thanks to Elder Chen's excellent teaching. This disciple never thought of taking any share—"

Chen Huaixu interrupted him with a wave of his hand. "Enough. Stop putting on an act. I'm a sack of old bones. What would I do with so much money, buy myself a coffin?"

He patted nonexistent dust from his robe and walked toward the courtyard gate, muttering, "Just refine more pills in the future so I can suffer less in this alchemy room. I'm old. Refining pills is truly exhausting. Stand for half an hour, and my waist feels like it's about to break."

Chen Chong hurriedly followed, his face piled high with smiles. "What are you saying, Elder Chen? You are vigorous in old age, and your furnace mastery has reached perfection. This is precisely your golden age of pill refinement. For this disciple to receive your guidance is a blessing earned over three lifetimes. The moment you sit here, you are the needle that steadies the sea, and this disciple's heart is at ease. You absolutely cannot stop coming. This disciple is still counting on you to guide the younger generation—"

The corner of Chen Huaixu's mouth lifted slightly, then he quickly pressed it down and snorted with a stern face. "Stop flattering me."

Yet his steps had clearly grown lighter.

In the courtyard, the leaves of the old pomegranate tree were rimmed with gold in the sunset. The children gathered their bamboo slips and dispersed. As they passed Chen Chong, each of them looked at him a few more times, their eyes carrying envy as well as a trace of unwillingness to accept it.

Chen Chong paid them no mind. He returned to the pill furnace, crouched down, looked at the three Tiger Bone Pills on the porcelain plate, and opened the panel.

[Alchemy (Mastery 998/1000)]

He had entered the alchemy room, his status was settled, and the path to silver had already been laid out. He picked up one Tiger Bone Pill and held it toward the setting sun. The pill was translucent, with faint fine patterns seeming to flow within it.

He smiled, set the pill back onto the plate, and turned to tidy the medicine table.

Tomorrow, there was still another furnace of pills to refine.