The Alchemical Formula

"Ah, it's no use explaining it to you—the subtleties are far too intricate. Just watch your master closely and learn."

"Oh, I see." Li Huowang, pretending to be lost in thought, was actually occupied with other matters.

The pill Danyangzi had given him was clearly effective. That also meant the rules of this world were completely different from his own.

If he wanted to deal with Danyangzi, he needed to understand much more about this strange place.

"Cultivators from the novels? Not like this. What cultivator would use humans as alchemy ingredients? What cultivator would enslave mortals to help him ascend?"

"And by convention, shouldn't an ordinary immortal sect give me a basic cultivation manual? Why hasn't there been one?"

The more Li Huowang learned about this place, the stranger this temple felt. It had none of the qualities he associated with Daoist practitioners.

"By the way, Junior Disciple Xuanyang, let me teach you a trick. You'd better have everything ready before the master opens his mouth."

"Take yesterday's pill, for instance. Because of your episode, you missed the timing. If you deliver the human ingredient before the day after tomorrow's zi hour, wouldn't that be your apology to the old master?"

"Don't mind his temper—if you can keep him happy, you'll get your reward."

"Yesterday's ingredient?" Li Huowang froze.

"Yes, what, you forgot? What did the master ask you to deliver yesterday?"

"Bai Lingmiao." Li Huowang's pupils shrank to pinpoints. So many things had happened, but this matter wasn't over yet.

If he didn't think of a way before the day after tomorrow, that albino girl would end up pounded into mincemeat, just like all the previous ingredients!

Li Huowang didn't remember how he returned to his quarters. He lay on his stone bed, the gold anklet wound with red thread pressing against his chest like a branding iron, urging him to find a way out.

But not only was Danyangzi far stronger than Li Huowang; the entire temple was filled with his men.

The fates of those dead senior disciples had shown that blind escape was useless.

Tossing and turning, the night passed.

Just before morning lessons, Li Huowang dressed and walked toward the cave entrance. He wanted to go to the alchemy hall, to see if there might be some other method there.

Holding up his oil lamp, a sharp-faced, wizened face emerged from the darkness, startling him. It was Gouwa.

"Hehehe, Senior Brother Li, nothing special. I noticed you didn't come to the ingredient storeroom yesterday at all, so I was worried and came to check on you."

"Is Junior Sister Bai alright?" Li Huowang stepped back.

"She's fine, fine. Since you personally said she should manage the storeroom, who would dare disobey? Hehehe, Senior Brother Li is really something. Look, ever since you took over the storeroom, you haven't taken a single person away."

Hearing Gouwa's words, Li Huowang felt a surge of irritation. He pushed past the man with his lamp and strode out.

When he reached the alchemy hall, he found some of the early-rising acolytes already scrubbing the furnace and floor with hemp cloth. One boy was standing inside a stone vat, using a pig-bristle brush to forcibly scrape off the leftover shreds of flesh from the stone wall.

As Danyangzi's disciple, no one dared to stop him from entering the alchemy hall.

Pretending to stroll casually, Li Huowang carefully scanned the surroundings.

The entire hall was extremely simple. Besides the huge black furnace taking up a third of the space, there was only the stone vat and stone pestle Danyangzi used for pounding.

There wasn't a single alchemy book, not even a scroll or painting on the walls. The whole room was wide open, with no cover anywhere.

"What are you looking at?" A familiar but hair-raising voice suddenly sounded behind him.

Li Huowang turned and saw who it was. He quickly clasped his hands in salute. "Master."

"I asked you what you were looking at."

Li Huowang's mind raced for a second, then he came up with an excuse. "Disciple admires Master's skill in alchemy and was wondering when I might reach such a level."

Danyangzi seemed pleased with Li Huowang's change in attitude. It appeared the little brat had finally come to his senses.

He walked around the black alchemy furnace with his hands behind his back. "Ambition is a good thing, but don't think it's simple. The Way of External Alchemy isn't that easy."

"Ordinary pills are one thing, but if you want to achieve immortality through alchemy, you must practice both external and internal alchemy. Your master here has been at it nearly reaching the great vehicle, and it's taken no small effort."

A hint of pride and excitement appeared on Danyangzi's face, as if he were already imagining his life as an immortal.

"Master... is about to become an immortal?"

At Li Huowang's words, Danyangzi's expression sobered. "Becoming an immortal isn't that simple. The road is long. But I will definitely become one. Do you know why?"

"I do not."

Danyangzi's tone grew fervent. "Because the method of attaining immortality is written in the Heavenly Scripture given by Lord Lao himself. And Lord Lao personally delivered it to my hands. Ask yourself, in all the world, who else can achieve immortality? He said I can become an immortal, so I certainly will!"

"Lord Lao? Which one is that? One of the three statues?" Li Huowang didn't understand this quasi-mythological description at all.

Even though he didn't get it, Li Huowang still flattered him. "Master is absolutely right. You will surely become an immortal and live as long as heaven and earth!"

Danyangzi clearly loved hearing that. His ugly face split into a grin.

"Hahaha, good, good, good. Since you want to learn alchemy, I'll start by teaching you a simple formula for the Moistening Blood Pill. Remember it. Cinnabar twelve liang, Cyperus rotundus half a jin, Actinolite two liang four qian..."

Although this unexpected gain was strange, Li Huowang certainly wasn't going to refuse.

He urgently wanted a brush and ink to write it down, but looking left and right, the entire alchemy hall had neither.

In desperation, he found a lump of charcoal under the furnace and began writing on the hem of his Daoist robe.

"...Raise the furnace at the third ke of the Chou hour, properly bathing; gaze with the eyes, breathe gently, steam with the spirit, nourish slowly with gentle fire. Open the furnace at the fourth ke of the Mao hour."

"Take this formula and practice slowly. Let your master see your talent."

Li Huowang dropped the charcoal and held out the hem with both hands to Danyangzi. "Master, please check if I missed anything."

But when the charcoal-covered hem appeared before him, the just-smiling Danyangzi's face turned in an instant.

He lifted his foot and kicked Li Huowang flying directly, slamming him against the furnace with a dull boom before he crashed heavily to the ground.

Danyangzi's face darkened. Cursing under his breath, he left with his hands behind his back, leaving Li Huowang alone in the hall.

As the spike of anger gradually faded, Li Huowang realized this was very suspicious. He hadn't done anything. Why had Danyangzi reacted like that?

He looked down at the formula in his hands, thinking. His handwriting was ugly, but clearly still legible.

Suddenly a thought struck him. He looked around the alchemy hall—bare of any characters or paintings. Then he recalled that during morning lessons, no one had any scriptures.

A sudden notion leaped into Li Huowang's mind. "Could it be... that this baldy is illiterate? He can't read?"