The Pill Academy

An elder of the Xuanyuan Sect in Qiyuan Prefecture, Chu Kingdom, had come visiting with newly admitted disciples.

The news had spread throughout the sect. Even some cultivation lineages at the foot of the mountain had caught wind of it, and everyone in the sect had been discussing it these past few days.

What standing did the Xuanyuan Sect hold?

It was the undisputed foremost sect in the Chu Kingdom, its only seventh-rank sect.

Several thousand years had passed since its founding. Its foundations went without saying; even the Golden Core Realm experts it openly acknowledged numbered three.

Looking back over the last few generations of the Chu Kingdom's cultivation world, among today's six great sects, only the Xuanyuan Sect had truly maintained a Golden Core expert in every generation.

By comparison, the Dongyuan Sect was merely a rising newcomer that had chosen its site and established itself a few hundred years ago.

It too had a Golden Core expert overseeing it, and its strength was respectable, but its foundations were ultimately lacking. It ranked last among the Chu Kingdom's six great sects.

"Elder Shen, I'll return to the Pill Academy first, then. My disciple, show Elder Shen and his companions around."

Dragon Head Peak, in the Dongyuan Sect's inner sect.

Outside Evergreen Hall, Elder Shen Yu of the Xuanyuan Sect emerged from the hall with two youths, a boy and a girl. The speaker ahead of them was Hu Zheng, an elder of the Dongyuan Sect and head of the Pill Academy.

"No need to stand on ceremony, Elder Hu. This old man has visited your Dongyuan Sect before. I had the good fortune to come here some seven or eight years ago."

"Seven or eight years ago... ah." Elder Hu Zheng seemed to recall something. "Yes, yes. When we hunted down those two remnants of the demonic path, our two sects contributed the most."

"Haha..." Shen Yu gave a few wry chuckles.

He could now be certain that Hu Zheng had absolutely not been involved back then, or he would never have brought it up.

Because that hunt had failed.

"That works too. My disciple, come back to the Pill Academy with me to prepare. Elder Shen, young friends, feel free to stroll around the sect for a while. I'll send you a voice transmission, Elder Shen."

"No hurry."

Hu Zheng took his disciple Zhou Wen and turned into a streak of rainbow light, flying toward Wendao Gorge.

The kindly smile on Shen Yu's face slowly faded, his expression settling into calm.

He formed a Dao Hand Seal, and a Soundproofing Law Technique slowly took effect around the three of them.

"Wang Xi, what do you think of the strength of these two True Disciples of the Dongyuan Sect?"

The three spoke as they walked.

"..."

The boy curled his lip slightly, his tone somewhat disdainful. "Yu Nanxi and Wang Renming can indeed be called exceptionally strong among the rest of their peers in the Chu Kingdom."

"But in the Xuanyuan Sect, they would merely be above average."

"As for that Song Zhenzong, who's still in seclusion and hasn't shown his face, he should be much the same."

"There's no need to concern ourselves with them in the next Nine Veins Grand Competition."

The girl merely followed beside them, her expression calm, without speaking.

"Elder Shen, a little backwoods sect like the Dongyuan Sect is just the tallest among dwarfs. Calling it one of the six great sects makes it sound nice, but everyone in the Chu Kingdom's cultivation world knows what it really amounts to."

Wang Xi spoke as though it were only natural. "Their Dongyuan Sect has only one Golden Core expert overseeing it. If our Xuanyuan Sect wants the Spirit Vein on Yan'ou Mountain, what of it if we simply take it? Why go around in circles and put up these pretenses?"

Shen Yu waved a hand and said as he walked, "Correct. If it were any other small sect in the Chu Kingdom, that would indeed be the case."

"But this Dongyuan Sect happens to be the most troublesome. Its sect master, Daoist Li Jun, is no clever man. You could even call him a lunatic."

"Huh?"

Wang Xi froze, finding it unbelievable. Even the girl raised her head, her eyes filled with bewilderment.

"In short, just find any pretext. It would be troublesome if this dog went mad and started biting people indiscriminately."

"Just pick an inconsequential Outer Sect Disciple. If a True Disciple he values dies, there's no telling whether he might go mad."

"The sect is currently preparing for the Immortal Welcoming Gathering. There's no need to stir up trouble over such a minor matter."

"Come, let's go to the Pill Academy."

Inside his cave abode, Song Yan sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, refining Spiritual Qi.

The cultivation method he practiced, the "Qi Condensation Chapter," was not complicated. Even where there were profound, obscure passages, handwritten annotations by the sect's seniors accompanied them.

Besides, he had studied medicine from childhood in his village and was thoroughly familiar with meridians and acupoints. That alone eased the difficulty considerably.

After a round of practice, his spiritual power had returned to its peak.

"Once I finish these next few days of chores at the Pill Academy, I'll set about breaking through."

Song Yan ended his practice and slowly walked out of his cave abode.

N.

The spring mountains were green, the breeze gentle, and the sun warm.

Mist wreathed the mountains, circling the spiritual peaks on the horizon-a true scene of an immortal realm.

He stretched and set off toward the Pill Academy.

As for that mysterious stone bead, his belly was full of questions, with nowhere to begin asking.

Where had it come from, whose hands had made it, and why had it been discarded despite showing signs of having been opened not long ago...

Unfortunately, he could not work out the answer to a single one.

If he could not figure it out, he would stop thinking about it. Work came first.

Outer Sect Disciples were very different from inner disciples. If they did not take on menial assignments, the sect would not give them so much as a fraction of a Spirit Stone.

About two months earlier, Song Yan had accepted a menial assignment at the Pill Academy. The assignment lasted three months, so he still had another month before he could claim his reward.

Below the Qi Refining Sixth Layer, one's spiritual power was meager, making flying on a sword difficult, so he headed to the Pill Academy on foot.

Like the other three academies, the Pill Academy stood in Wendao Gorge.

Coming all the way from Outer Disciple Peak, he passed the Spirit Plant Academy.

Towers crowded the distant mountains, with jade tiles and glazed roofs, great halls and temples, wondrous peaks and strange rocks. The sight could not help but leave Song Yan feeling a sense of spaciousness in his chest.

Several tiny lotus-leaf-hatted little folk suddenly darted onto the mountain path.

"Heeheehee... you can't catch me! Hahaha..."

"Slow down! Wait for me!"

"No, no! You're far too slow."

The translucent little folk ran about playing, bringing a smile to Song Yan's face.

"Oh? Junior Brother Song?"

A slender young man approached from ahead, dressed in blue-green robes, looking at him with a smile.

The Ginseng Fruit Little Demons played noisily, and the most boisterous one actually scrambled up the young man's Daoist robe, reaching his shoulder in no time.

Whether the other two little folk did not know how to climb trees or were simply more polite, they anxiously circled on the ground.

"Are you going to the Pill Academy to attend the lecture too?"

The newcomer was named Lin Qing, another Outer Sect Disciple and someone Song Yan knew fairly well.

"Play all you like, but don't trip Junior Brother Song."

His tone was gentle. He let the little ginseng fruit on his shoulder frolic and bent down to scoop up the other two little folk as well.

"A lecture?"

Song Yan's eyes lit up.

Ordinarily, the four great academies-pill, talisman, artifact, and formation-were places where their respective disciples practiced, and the menial work at each academy involved helping those disciples with their studies.

For example, chores at the Pill Academy usually involved assisting its disciples in refining pills.

Apart from the reward for completing an assignment, it could not really be said that there were no other gains. There was a hidden benefit: the chance to observe the skills and techniques of the disciples in the various academies.

There was another benefit too: when a Pill Academy elder came to lecture, those on chore duty could listen from relatively close by.

"May I ask which elder is giving the lecture this time, Senior Brother Lin?"

Song Yan's rudimentary pill-refining skills had barely taken shape through watching disciples refine pills, listening to elders lecture, and studying the pill book Granny Qin had given him, a street-stall purchase.

The art of pill refining was complex and profound. The more he learned, the more he felt he had learned nothing.

Lin Qing's smile held a hint of mystery. "Today's lecturer isn't an elder of our sect, but an elder of the Xuanyuan Sect-Elder Shen Yu."

"..."

Song Yan nodded thoughtfully.

In truth, however, he had never heard of Shen Yu at all.

But the Xuanyuan Sect was very famous. Even an ascetic cultivator like him, whose ears heard nothing beyond his window, had at least heard of that sect.

"Senior Brother Lin, Senior Brother Lin, when will you come play with us again...?"

One of the Ginseng Fruit Little Demons asked.

Lin Qing thought for a moment, then said solemnly, "Hmm, it'll probably have to be tomorrow."

"Oh..."

"Oh..."

"Burp~"

"Eww, what did you eat? It stinks..."

"I didn't eat anything! I only ate Old Man Bai's golden branch soil..."

"It stinks, it stinks! I'll beat you up!"

The three little folk fought in his arms until heaven and earth went dark, utterly locked in battle. One little fellow even had his lotus-leaf hat knocked off.

With a wry smile, Lin Qing put them back on the ground and let them tussle their way out of sight.

"Junior Brother Song, I happen to be going to the lecture too. Let's go together."

"All right."

Song Yan nodded.