"Ah, whatever, you wouldn't understand even if I explained. The mysteries here are far too complex. Just stick close to your Master, watch carefully, and learn well."
"Oh, I see." Li Huowang pretended to ponder, but his mind was elsewhere.
The Elixir Master Danyang had given him clearly worked, which also meant the laws of this world were completely different from his own.
If I want to deal with Master Danyang, I need to learn much more about this strange world. Practitioners of the Cultivation of Truth, like in the novels? It doesn't seem like it. When did practitioners start refining pills with people as ingredients? When did they start enslaving mortals to aid their own Immortal Cultivation? And according to convention, shouldn't a normal Cultivation Sect have given me a Foundation Establishment Cultivation Technique? Why didn't I get one?
The more Li Huowang learned about this place, the weirder this Daoist Temple felt. It was completely unlike any practitioner of Daoist Cultivation he had ever conceptualized.
"Right, Junior Brother Xuanyang, let me tell you something useful—you'd better have everything prepared before Master even has to ask for it."
"Take yesterday's Elixir, for example. You missed the designated hour because your hysteria flared up. If you bring the Medicinal Guide over before the Zi hour two days from now, wouldn't that be the same as apologizing to the old Master in advance?"
"Don't mind Master's mood swings. As long as you keep him happy, you'll get your share of good things."
"Yesterday's Alchemy Ingredient?" Li Huowang was stunned for a moment.
"Yeah. What, you forgot? What did Master tell you to bring yesterday?"
"Bai... Bai Lingmiao." Li Huowang's pupils shrank to pinpricks. So much had happened, but this matter still wasn't over.
If he didn't find a solution before the day after tomorrow, that girl with albinism would end up like all the previous Medicinal Guides—beaten into a pulp!
Li Huowang had no idea how he got back to his residence. He lay on his stone bed, the golden anklet tangled with red thread pressing on his chest like a red-hot piece of iron, urging him to come up with a plan.
But now, not only was there a vast gap in strength between Master Danyang and himself, but the entire Daoist Temple was also full of his people.
The example set by his dead senior brothers also made it clear that blindly trying to escape was useless.
After tossing and turning all night, morning finally came. Before the morning lesson began, Li Huowang put on his clothes and headed out of the cave.
He wanted to go to the Alchemy Room to see if he could find any other way out of this.
Holding an oil lamp, he had just stepped out when a pointy-faced, monkey-like face popped out of the darkness, startling him. It was Gouwa.
"Hehehe, Senior Brother Li, it's nothing. I just saw you didn't come to the storeroom all day yesterday and got a little worried, so I came to check on you."
"Is Junior Sister Bai alright?" Li Huowang asked, taking a step back.
"She's fine, she's fine. You personally requested for Junior Sister Bai to oversee the storeroom, who would dare disobey? Hehehe, you're really something, Senior Brother Li. See? Since you took charge of the storeroom, not a single person has been taken away."
Hearing Gouwa say this, Li Huowang felt extremely annoyed. He fended the man off with his oil lamp and strode out.
When Li Huowang reached the Alchemy Room, he saw a few early-rising apprentices already scrubbing the Pill Furnace and the floor with burlap.
One apprentice was even standing inside a stone urn, forcefully scrubbing the leftover bits of flesh off the stone wall with a pig-hair brush.
As a disciple of Master Danyang, no one dared say a word to him for entering the Alchemy Room.
Li Huowang pretended to wander about casually, his eyes scanning the place carefully.
The entire Alchemy Room was extremely simple. Besides the huge black Pill Furnace that took up a third of the space, there was only Master Danyang's stone urn and stone club for bashing people.
Forget books on alchemy, there wasn't even a single calligraphy scroll on the walls. The room was also incredibly empty, offering no cover whatsoever.
"What are you looking at?" A familiar but chilling voice suddenly sounded behind him.
Li Huowang turned, saw who it was, and immediately cupped his hands in salute. "Master."
"I asked, what are you looking at?"
Li Huowang's mind raced for a second before he came up with an excuse. "Disciple was in awe of Master's profound Alchemy Dao and was wondering when I might be able to reach such a level."
Master Danyang looked very pleased with Li Huowang's change in attitude. It seems the kid has finally seen the light.
He clasped his hands behind his back, pacing around the black Pill Furnace. "Ambition is a good thing. But it's not that this Daoist Master won't teach you; the path of External Alchemy is not that simple."
"Ordinary Elixirs are one thing. But if you want to become an Immortal through alchemy, you must refine both External Alchemy Pills and your inner core together. This Daoist Master has refined his cultivation to the brink of the Mahayana stage, and it has taken a great deal of effort."
Master Danyang's face grew proud and excited, as if savoring the divine life he would lead after becoming an Immortal.
"Master... you're about to become an Immortal?"
Hearing this, Master Danyang's expression retracted. "Becoming an Immortal isn't that simple. The road is long, but this Daoist Master will definitely succeed. Do you know why?"
"I do not."
Master Danyang's expression grew animated. "Because the method for becoming an Immortal is written in the Lord's Heavenly Book, and the Lord delivered it to me personally! I ask you, who else in the world could become an Immortal? He said I could, so I definitely will!"
The Lord? Who is that? One of the three statues in the shrine? Li Huowang was confused by this mythological-sounding explanation.
Though he hadn't understood a single word, Li Huowang still flattered him, "Master speaks the truth. You will certainly become an Immortal and live as long as heaven and earth!"
Master Danyang was clearly delighted to hear this, his ugly face splitting into a wide grin.
"Hahaha, good, good, good! Since you want to learn alchemy, I'll start by teaching you a simple Pill Recipe for the Blood-Nourishing Pill. Write this down. Twelve liang of Red Pills, half a jin of Xiangfu root, two liang and four qian of Yangqi stone..."
Although it was an unexpected windfall, Li Huowang was hardly going to refuse.
He hurried to find a brush and ink to write it down, but looking around, he found there was none in the entire Alchemy Room.
In his urgency, he grabbed a chunk of charcoal from under the Pill Furnace and began jotting it down on the hem of his Daoist Robe.
"...Start the furnace at the third quarter of the Chou period. Bathe properly. Use the eyes for silent observation, the breath for fanning, the spirit for steaming, and nourish slowly with a gentle fire. Open the furnace at the fourth quarter of the Mao period."
"Take this Pill Recipe and practice with it. This Daoist Master will first see what kind of talent you have."
Li Huowang tossed the charcoal aside and held up the hem of his robe to Master Danyang. "Master, please check. Did your disciple miss anything?"
But when the charcoal-smudged hem was presented before him, Master Danyang's gleeful face instantly turned stormy.
He lifted his right foot and kicked Li Huowang away. Li Huowang crashed into the Pill Furnace with a loud CLANG before falling heavily to the ground.
With a livid face, Master Danyang stormed out with his hands behind his back, muttering curses and leaving Li Huowang lying where he had landed.
As the emotional rage gradually faded, Li Huowang felt that something was very strange. He hadn't done anything wrong, so why the sudden change in attitude?
Li Huowang looked down at the Pill Recipe on his robe and began to think. My handwriting is ugly, but it's still clearly legible.
Suddenly, a thought struck him. He glanced around the Alchemy Room, devoid of any calligraphy or paintings, and then recalled that during the morning lesson, no one had any Scriptures.
A sudden idea burst into his mind. Could it be that this scabby-headed bastard is illiterate? That he can't read a single word?