Chen Huaixu

Biodata

Background / History

Chen Huaixu was Jichuntang Hall’s only alchemist capable of operating a pill furnace. Unlike the hall’s attendants, who prepared ordinary medicinal pills, he could combine multiple ingredients through furnace refinement to produce true pill medicine. His reputation was significant enough that even Chief Steward Yuan Zhiwu treated him with courtesy. 5 7

By the time Chen Chong became a courtyard guard, Chen Huaixu was already elderly and no longer had the stamina to sustain large-scale refinement. He therefore focused on high-value pills rather than mass production, leaving Jichuntang with a need for a younger alchemist. 6

His declining endurance also prevented him from keeping up with the cumbersome process of refining Essence-Nourishing Pills, which required nearly two hours per furnace. Before Chen Chong began producing them, Jichuntang purchased these pills from other shops at a very thin profit margin. 9

After witnessing Chen Chong refine three usable Tiger Bone Pills on his first furnace attempt, Chen Huaixu immediately admitted him to the alchemy room. He later allowed Chen Chong to use his former workshop, shared profits from pill production, and provided him with a booklet of basic formulas. 6 7 8

As Chen Chong’s reputation surpassed his own, the title “Alchemist Chen” gradually shifted to the younger man. Chen Huaixu accepted this without resentment, enjoying retirement and asking Chen Chong to guide his granddaughter, Chen Qian. 10

During the rebel occupation and looting of Dingshan County, Chen Huaixu remained in his courtyard after its valuables had disappeared. He had arranged for Chen Qian to join Li Zhaoning and sent his two maidservants to his granddaughter, prioritizing their safety over the preservation of his possessions. Chen Chong visited him with tea, wine, and pastries before leaving the county. 37

Appearance

Chen Huaixu is an elderly man with a short, neatly trimmed grizzled beard. His movements are notably steady and quiet, even when carrying alchemical equipment. 5

• Usually carries a copper kettle used in pill refinement. 5
• Maintains the bearing of an experienced craftsman, carefully observing furnace conditions and medicinal changes. 5 6
• In private, he lives comfortably with attendants and often presents himself as a leisurely retired elder. 8 16
• During the county’s looting, he wears a gray linen robe washed nearly white, with its sleeves rolled up, and rests in an old bamboo rocking chair beneath his pomegranate tree. 37

Personality

Chen Huaixu is a disciplined and experienced craftsman who believes alchemy depends on repeated practical work rather than written theory or shortcuts. He is initially skeptical of Chen Chong’s claim to have learned alchemy, suspecting him of seeking pill formulas, but quickly changes his judgment once he sees genuine fire-control talent. 5 6

Though outwardly stern and prone to dismissing praise, he is generous toward promising talent. He gives Chen Chong access to the alchemy room, shares profits, provides formulas, and uses Chen as an example for younger apprentices. 7 8

He is also indulgent and playful in private. He enjoys tea, wine, pastries, and the comforts of retirement; on one occasion, he pretends to read a medical text while holding it upside down. Despite this carefree exterior, he remains perceptive enough to offer Chen Chong practical advice about drawing out Chief Steward Wang’s weaknesses. 8 16

The collapse of order in Dingshan County reveals his composure and protective priorities. Though willing to lose money and possessions to looters, he refuses to leave the people under his care exposed to them. Despite the disappearance of his household’s comforts, he remains calm enough to eat dry flatbread, sing, and joke about drinking fine tea before thieves can take it. 37

Abilities & Skills

Furnace Alchemy

Chen Huaixu is a true furnace alchemist with decades of practical experience. He can refine multiple medicinal ingredients into genuine pill medicine and carefully regulate the furnace’s temperature through direct tactile control. 5 6

• Demonstrated the refinement of three pills using medicinal powders, a blue-green auxiliary pill, and a charcoal-fired bronze furnace. 5
• Teaches that ingredient proportions, flame intensity, and furnace temperature must be learned through hands-on practice. 5
• Can judge pill quality and fire-control skill at a glance, recognizing Chen Chong’s exceptional precision during his first refinement attempt. 6
• His age and lack of martial cultivation limit his endurance, preventing him from maintaining prolonged or high-volume refining work. 6 7
• His Tiger Bone Pills serve as a quality benchmark: after Chen Chong reaches mastery in alchemy, his pills become comparable to Chen Huaixu’s. 8
• Can no longer sustain the lengthy procedures required for regular Essence-Nourishing Pill production. 9

Instruction and Assessment

Chen Huaixu serves as a mentor and evaluator for Jichuntang’s younger alchemists.

• Publicly teaches attendants the difference between ordinary medicinal preparations and true furnace alchemy. 5
• Accepted Chen Chong into the alchemy room after personally testing him with the Tiger Bone Pill formula. 6
• Uses Chen Chong’s apparent diligence as an example to admonish wealthier apprentices who lack focus and perseverance. 7
• Provided Chen Chong with more than a dozen basic pill formulas, including Essence-Nourishing Pills, Qi-Congealing Powder, and Blood-Invigorating Paste. 8

Practical Judgment

• Advises Chen Chong to increase the “bait” offered to Chief Steward Wang rather than passively waiting for him to reveal a weakness. 16
• Arranges protection for his granddaughter and maidservants through Li Zhaoning as the county becomes unsafe. 37
• Recognizes that Chen Chong is “not simple,” though no specific knowledge of his hidden cultivation or mysterious panel is established. 37

Power Progression

Chen Huaixu is explicitly described as an ordinary alchemist rather than a martial artist. No martial realm, formal alchemist grade, or later cultivation breakthrough is established; his recorded development concerns his demonstrated expertise, declining endurance, and retirement. 6 10 37

Equipment / Items

• Copper kettle — Used to pour prepared liquid into a pill furnace during refinement. 5
• Medicinal-powder box and bronze spoon — Used to measure and add ingredients in sequence. 5
• Porcelain vial containing a blue-green pill — Used during his furnace-alchemy demonstration. 5
• Bronze pill furnace — A three-legged, smoke-marked furnace used in the private courtyard where he tested Chen Chong. 6
• Basic pill-formula booklet — A collection of entry-level pill formulas given to Chen Chong. 8
• Bamboo rocking chair — Used beneath the old pomegranate tree during Chen Chong’s final visit before leaving Dingshan County. 37
• Old porcelain teapot — A lidless pot remaining after his household valuables disappear; contains the coarse tea he has kept for himself. 37
• Songluo tea, wine, and pastries — Gifts brought by Chen Chong during the county’s looting. 37

Relationships

• Chen Chong — Mentor and early benefactor. Chen Huaixu tests Chen Chong’s talent, admits him to the alchemy room, shares profits, gives him formulas, and later relies on him as a successor. 6 7 8 10 Their bond continues after Chen Chong moves to World-Aiding Hall: he seeks Chen Huaixu’s advice and visits him with gifts during the county’s collapse. After leaving, Chen Chong remembers him among the people and places he can no longer readily reach. 16 37 43
• Chen Qian — Granddaughter. He asks Chen Chong to guide her, despite her greater interest in martial training than alchemy. 10 During the rebel occupation, he arranges for her to join Li Zhaoning and sends his maidservants to her for safety. 37
• Yuan Zhiwu — Chief Steward of Jichuntang Hall. Yuan approves Chen Huaixu’s decision to assign his former workshop to Chen Chong and treats Chen Huaixu with notable courtesy. 7 8
• Lu Yun — A Jichuntang guard manager whose attempt to discipline Chen Chong fails once Yuan reveals that Chen Huaixu personally took him into the alchemy room. 7
• Li Zhaoning — The Li Family’s eldest young lady. Chen Huaixu swallows his pride to arrange for Chen Qian to join her as the county becomes dangerous. 37
• His two maidservants — Household attendants who provide massages, tea, and entertainment during his comfortable retirement. 8 16 When looting threatens the household, he sends them to Chen Qian rather than allowing them to be taken by the rebels. 37

Story Role / Major Arcs

Introduction as Jichuntang’s Alchemist

Chen Huaixu demonstrates furnace alchemy before Jichuntang’s attendants, explaining that genuine alchemy requires practical experience, precise ingredients, and controlled fire. His lesson prompts Chen Chong to begin developing fire control through the mysterious panel. 5

Testing Chen Chong

When Chen Chong asks for guidance, Chen Huaixu skeptically provides the Tiger Bone Pill formula to test him. Chen Chong’s precise control during the pill-forming stage overturns Huaixu’s assumptions, leading him to accept Chen Chong into the alchemy room. 6

Establishing a Successor

Chen Huaixu allows Chen Chong to refine pills regularly and share in the earnings, hoping to reduce his own workload. He later gives Chen Chong his former workshop and a booklet of basic formulas as Chen Chong’s alchemical output rapidly improves. 7 8

Chen Chong’s subsequent production of Essence-Nourishing Pills fills a gap created by Chen Huaixu’s declining stamina. The younger alchemist can perform the lengthy refinement that the elder can no longer sustain, reducing Jichuntang’s reliance on purchases from other shops. 9

Retirement and Continued Guidance

After Chen Chong becomes the more prominent “Alchemist Chen,” Chen Huaixu embraces retirement rather than competing with him. He entrusts Chen Qian to Chen Chong’s supervision and later advises Chen Chong to use more “bait” when investigating Chief Steward Wang. 10 16

Rebel Occupation and Farewell

As rebels loot Dingshan County, Chen Chong visits Chen Huaixu’s nearly empty courtyard. The elder has lost the visible comforts of his retirement but remains beneath the pomegranate tree, eating flatbread and singing. He explains that he has sent his maidservants to Chen Qian and arranged for his granddaughter to join Li Zhaoning, making clear that possessions can be surrendered but people must be protected. 37

Chen Chong brings fine tea, wine, and pastries, then prepares a cup using the elder’s remaining coarse tea and cold water. Their conversation is quiet and casual. Chen Huaixu appears to fall asleep, but opens his eyes to watch Chen Chong leave. The visit precedes Chen Chong’s departure from the county. 37

Later, while in Pingyang City, Chen Chong recalls Chen Huaixu alongside World-Aiding Hall, Su Hongyu, and Li Zhaoning as part of the life he has left behind. Reports of the county’s devastation do not establish Chen Huaixu’s subsequent fate. 43

Notable Quotes

“Alchemy is not some mysterious art. In the final analysis, it lies in practice.” 5

“The weights of the medicinal ingredients, the gentleness and fierceness of the fire, the furnace temperature—books cannot record it all. You can only try it yourself, again and again.” 5

“If the fish won't bite, just scatter more bait.” 16

“Beacon fires burn a thousand homes, while I idly watch the clouds rise and fall.” 37

“What did you think, boy? I can let those petty thieves who come and go take my money and possessions, but not people.” 37

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