Chapter Seven: Alchemy—Deceiving the Heavens to Cross the Sea

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Just as Elder Xu had said, Wan’er’s departure did not cause Xu Wen much trouble or hindrance. First, the two had only known each other for twenty days, and their feelings remained at the level of fellow disciples sharing the same path of cultivation. Second, with Xu Wen’s twenty-three-year-old soul and way of thinking, it wasn’t difficult to infer Wan’er’s circumstances from the information Elder Xu had provided, and from Wan’er’s own situation. He believed that the head of the Hortonklin family, that dignified and noble man, would never throw his own daughter into a pit of fire. Sending Wan’er away, perhaps, was just as Elder Xu said: to provide her with a safer place to cultivate.

Having figured this out, Xu Wen found peace of mind and devoted himself wholly to resolving the obstacles in his cultivation. He believed that one day, the mystery would be revealed before him, and the day of reuniting with Wan’er would not be far off.

Given his current speed of progress, becoming an inner disciple was already within Xu Wen’s grasp. However, following Wan’er’s departure, a new problem arose...

Ding Yushan!

This fellow, who had already entered the ranks of Second Star, Fifth Level, became restless upon returning from the outskirts of Blackwater Mountains and learning of Wan’er’s departure. He trailed Xu Wen several times whenever Xu Wen intended to replenish medicinal ingredients at the Herb Peak.

This was hardly surprising. With Wan’er gone, Xu Wen had lost his protective talisman; entering Herb Peak alone was no longer a matter of two people. Ding Yushan had no more scruples and could seize the opportunity to reclaim the purple jade pendant at any time when no one was around. Moreover, with Ding Yushan’s arrogance, if given the chance, he would certainly return the disgrace he had suffered in recent times—with a Second Star, Fifth Level facing a First Star, Eighth Level, there was really no contest.

Xu Wen was not one to enjoy being beaten, nor did he want to return the hard-won purple jade pendant so soon... but he also couldn’t afford to completely offend this arrogant youth. Each time, he was forced back to his room, relying solely on his reserves for cultivation throughout the day.

He waited until deep into the night.

At two in the morning, even a man of iron would succumb to sleep. Would a pampered child like Ding Yushan really endure the hardship of standing watch outside for twenty-four hours?

With a storage pouch at his waist, Xu Wen slipped quietly out of his room.

Passing by Ding Yushan’s quarters, he muttered with childlike defiance, “Little rascal, do you really think I can’t handle you? Tomorrow, I’ll show you what’s what.” With a soft snort, he tiptoed toward Herb Peak.

Tonight, heavy clouds concealed both moon and stars. Once outside the cluster of buildings, it was so dark that one couldn’t see a hand in front of their face. Xu Wen rummaged in his storage pouch and pulled out a small crystal, channeling his magic into it. A ghostly white glow illuminated the path ahead.

The luminous crystal—a small invention of the artificers—was inscribed with a miniature magic array. With just a little magic, it could be activated, casting light in a radius of about ten meters for roughly ten minutes (and could be used repeatedly). It was originally meant for registered disciples venturing into the Blackwater Mountains, but it served perfectly now.

Without the luminous crystal, no matter how skilled Xu Wen was, he could never find the medicinal herbs he needed on Herb Peak, a place where even fireballs couldn’t be summoned properly.

Familiar with the path, Xu Wen took less than an hour to return from Herb Peak, his storage pouch bulging at his waist, bouncing as he walked.

He slipped back into his room, shut the door, sorted the herbs, and set the cauldron. He quickly took out some herbs he rarely used, arranging them before him.

“Hm?”

At that moment, atop the seventh Herb Peak, a sudden exclamation echoed from a quiet chamber filled with the rich aroma of medicine.

Inside, Elder Xu sat cross-legged in front of a half-man-tall medicine cauldron, the flames within blazing as he refined medicine. Yet his gaze was fixed on a polished hexagonal mirror beside him. Within the mirror was the humble room of a registered disciple—a boy busily occupied with something inside.

Had Xu Wen been present, he would surely have cursed, “That old voyeur!”

For the scene in the mirror was a perfect reflection of his own room: arranging herbs, lighting the cauldron—every move clearly visible to Elder Xu.

But tonight was different.

With just one glance, Elder Xu noticed that the formula Xu Wen had selected contained as many as twenty different herbs. Not only had he never seen Xu Wen attempt such a complex concoction, but the more ingredients there were, the more intricate the process became. What truly astounded him was that several of the herbs in this formula were actually ones used for Three-Star medicines.

“A Three-Star pill formula?”

Elder Xu could no longer remain calm. Forgetting the cauldron before him, his attention shifted entirely; he sat there, silently watching as Xu Wen skillfully deactivated the cauldron’s magic array, sat down, gathered his magic, and used fire elements to ignite the cauldron’s inner chamber.

“Well, well! This boy is actually trying to refine a Three-Star pill!?”

From this distance, Elder Xu couldn’t yet discern all the herbs Xu Wen had laid out, nor could he tell what exactly the boy intended to make. But he was certain that Xu Wen was doomed to fail.

Three-Star pills were an entirely different level from One- or Two-Star pills.

One- and Two-Star were merely entry-level! And Xu Wen, who had never truly refined pills with his own magic, hadn’t even built a foundation. No matter how clever or gifted he was, he couldn’t leap straight from a novice to the realm of a Three-Star alchemist!

Refining a Three-Star pill required not only at least Second Star Fire Magic, but also deep knowledge of medicinal properties and their transformations. Even with Second Star Fire Magic, the rate of failure for Three-Star pills was not low. Xu Wen simply wasn’t qualified to attempt this.

Even so, Elder Xu continued to watch the mirror intently, curious to see how this otherwise successful future inner disciple would react to failure.

Just as he expected...

Barely ten minutes into the process, the flames inside the cauldron flickered out. In the mirror, Xu Wen began to clear away the blackened residue, his first attempt having clearly ended in failure.

Elder Xu shook his head unconsciously, stroking his beard, and turned his gaze back to his own cauldron—until he saw Xu Wen relight the fire.

This time, Xu Wen had switched to making a more familiar Focus Pill, abandoning any attempt at a Three-Star pill, and even reactivated the cauldron’s magic array.

Seeing this, Elder Xu relaxed at once, knowing the boy was about to refine Focus Pills for his fire magic practice as usual.

“Fine, I’ll take some time tomorrow to warn old Ding’s little grandson, so he doesn’t let this foolish kid delay his own cultivation progress.”

Elder Xu murmured to himself, stroking his beard with a thoughtful look.

After a while, he glanced back at the mirror and found, to his surprise, that Xu Wen had changed position, now sitting with his back to the mirror, blocking the view of the cauldron...

If it weren’t for the fact that Xu Wen would occasionally take herbs for Focus Pills from the pile, and then fill a bottle with finished pills, Elder Xu might have thought the boy had discovered the device.

Time passed. As Xu Wen remained unmoving, Elder Xu gradually lost interest in staring at his back and returned his focus to his own alchemy.

“...Old voyeur,” Xu Wen muttered under his breath, finally relaxing once he sensed the feeling of being watched had faded.

After discovering he was being observed, Xu Wen knew the peeping old man would not give up so easily. Through some careful questioning of Senior Sister Michelle, he confirmed that the Six-Pointed Star Image Transmission Array did indeed exist in this world.

With just a transmission array and a special crystal, short-range image transmission was possible. Though such crystals were rare, the Hortonklin family owned a set.

Xu Wen had encountered this technology before. It was only effective against those with little power or awareness. Drawing on his memories, he quickly found the grain-sized crystal installed in the corner by his bed, perfectly positioned to cover the entire room.

Naturally, Xu Wen didn’t destroy it. Such crystals were expensive, and deliberate damage might incur Elder Xu’s wrath. Since he had no embarrassing habits in his daily life, he gritted his teeth and endured it. But this time...

Heh.

Xu Wen sat cross-legged, perfectly blocking the crystal’s view of his alchemy process. Once finished, he deftly took up a vial of cooling liquid from under the cauldron, corked it tightly, and tucked it into his lap pouch.

With practiced hands, he drew out more herbs from the pouch, then pretended to select Focus Pill ingredients from the “little mountain” at his side... He activated the cauldron’s energy-gathering array, letting it “automatically” refine pills while he continued to meditate, restoring the nearly depleted magic from his efforts.

Elder Xu had entirely miscalculated...

He hadn’t factored in the purple jade pendant’s effect. With the pendant’s continuous supply of magic, Xu Wen—whose power was nearly at First Star, Ninth Level—essentially possessed more than Second Star, Fourth Level strength. Coupled with the “Drunken Breeze” alchemy insights engraved in his mind, he mastered the process after only two failures and succeeded. Only the fact that the “Introduction to Alchemy Knowledge” contained but a handful of Three-Star pill recipes made him pretend to fail; if Elder Xu saw through him, his secret would be out!

To deal with Ding Yushan and avoid Elder Xu’s prying eyes, Xu Wen had spent the better part of the day devising this foolproof “smoke and mirrors” strategy.

Having successfully brewed several bottles of “Drunken Breeze,” and with all the surrounding herbs used up, Xu Wen finished his meditation, grasped the porcelain bottle full of “Drunken Breeze,” and a faint smile curled at his lips:

Everything was ready!

“Ding Yushan, you little radish-head, just you wait.”