Chapter 2: Garbage Sold as Treasure
The next morning, I awoke. The sunbeams piercing the crack in the walls were as feeble as this body of mine. Every muscle ached. It was a pitiful vessel, indeed. In my past life, one breath of mine could cause stars to tremble. Now, sitting up seemed an unachievable task.
Patience, Ling Chen, patience,
I told myself. A soul of a god in a human frame is a dragon in a coil. Strengthen the cage first. And for that, I need pills.
My plan was simple. I would make a batch of "Nine Orifice Tempering Liquid." It's such an easy recipe that I would send my youngest apprentices to make it in a normal day. However, its effect on an untuned body is miraculous. It will flush out the marrow, purify the meridians, and acutely increase physical power. With such rubbish for a body, it was the perfect start.
But one needs resources to make a plan. I needed a cauldron, a set of silver needles for channeling Qi, and most of all, the herbs. I possessed nothing. The previous occupant of this body didn't even have two copper coins to ring together.
Hmph. Minor issue. For an Alchemist God, it is easier to find money in a human town than to inhale.
I put on my frayed, patched robes and exited the shack. The objective was clear in my head: Green Leaf Town's largest and most prestigious medicine store, the Hundred Herbs Hall. If there was any good quality ingredient in this retrograde region, it would be found here.
The climb there took about a quarter of an hour. The streets were already jammed. Consumers screamed their wares, and guards walked lazily along. Everyone who noticed me stayed at arm's length, their faces sympathetic and disgust-stricken. The title of "Ling Chen the Trash" seemed to ring out clearly. I didn't pay them any attention. What does a dragon care about ants' thoughts?
The Hundred Herbs Hall was a large three-story structure, definitely the largest thing in town. Its entrance was protected by two stone lions that glared as fiercely as they possibly could, and the scent wafting out from within was the pungent, multifaceted scent of hundreds of various herbs.
I approached the entrance.
"Hold!" A burly guard blocked my path, his hand on the grip of his saber. He looked me up and down, and his features twisted into a scowl. "What do you want, beggar? The Hundred Herbs Hall is not a charity house. Off with you!"
I did not even look at him. I was already scanning within the hall. The first floor was packed with patrons. Behind a wooden counter running from side to side, several clerks were attending to them. Along the walls were shelves with wooden drawers and porcelain jars stacked side by side in neat rows. On a raised stage in the center of the hall, several objects were laid out under covers of protective glass.
My gaze fell on the most obvious thing: a single pale-green pill sitting on a silk pillow. Alongside it was a small plaque that read: "First-Grade High-Quality Qi Gathering Pill - A masterpiece by Alchemist Zhang. Thirty Silver Taels."
My heavenly nature almost vomited blood from sheer absurdity.
This. this is their masterpiece?
The pill was strangely shaped. Its color was crude, meaning the refining work had been poor. I could find no fewer than thirteen types of medicinal residue still mixed in it. Swallowing this pill would not only pile up Qi, but clog a cultivator's meridians with filth and destroy their foundation irrevocably. It was not a pill, it was a slow poison! And they were asking for thirty silver taels for such trash? The ignorance was appalling!
"Hear me, lad? I said get lost!" the guard shouted, angry at being ignored. He reached out with a hand to shove me.
Before he could touch me, a gruff voice cut through the atmosphere. "What all this commotion? Don't you know how to treat our valuable customers?"
An elegantly dressed middle-aged man appeared. He sported a wispy goatee and a smug face. This was Sun De, the floor manager.
He looked at me, and the warm smile vanished immediately, his face twisting into a scowl of disgust. "Oh, you're here. Ling Chen. What are you doing here, trash like you? Do you really think you can spend something in this hall? Hahaha!"
His mocking laugh was thunderous and caught everyone's attention. People began pointing and murmuring.
"Isn't that the forsaken young master? The one who's unable to cultivate?"
"What's he doing here? He must have come to beg."
"Manager Sun is justified in sending him away. His bad luck would taint the hall's Feng Shui."
Their words were buzzing flies, disturbing but completely irrelevant.
I glared straight at Manager Sun, my eyes frosty. "I am here to do business."
"Business?" Manager Sun laughed so uproariously that he had to hold his stomach. "Hahaha! What business could you have? Are you going to sell your damaged shack? I don't think it's even worth a single silver tael!"
His words created yet another wave of derisive laughter from the crowd.
It was when I saw a familiar face against the counter that Su Mei'er emerged. She brought with her an older woman who looked somewhat like her, likely her mother. She had turned back as she heard the commotion and now looked at me with a look of conflict. There was embarrassment, sympathy, and a hint of the same bewilderment yesterday. As our eyes met, her adorably cute face had progressed from that colourless whiteness to a gorgeous apple red, and she quickly averted her gaze. A small smile flickered on my lips. Ideal audience.
I ignored the manager's guffawing and pointed to the "masterpiece" pill on the display platform.
"I am here," I declared, my voice not booming, but clear enough to rise above the noise, "to inform you that your so-called treasure is a chunk of absolute, irreparable trash."
The entire hall was silenced. Everyone stared at me as if I had a second head. Manager Sun's laughter was stuck in his throat. His self-satisfied and sunny face turned whiter than a pig's liver.
"What. what did you just say?" he stuttered, his voice trembling with rage.
"Are you deaf?" I replied in a frigid tone. "I told you that pill is trash. The alchemist who purified it is an idiot. The expert who appraised it as high-quality is blind. And you, who display it as a treasure, are the biggest fool of all."
Every sentence was a brutal slap in Manager Sun's face. He was the manager of the city's number one medicine hall! The pill was completed by Alchemist Zhang, a genuine first-grade alchemist! This was a direct insult to the whole Hundred Herbs Hall!
"You. you dare!" Manager Sun roared, his finger shaking as he pointed at me. "You worthless piece of trash! You know nothing about alchemy! How dare you slander Alchemist Zhang and our Hundred Herbs Hall! Guards! Seize him! Break his legs and throw him into the gutter where he belongs!"
The two protectors moved forward, their expressions menacing. The audience gasped. Everyone knew Manager Sun was merciless and that he would do as he pleased.
Su Mei'er was nervous. Her lips parted as if she wanted to say something, but her mother caught her arm and shook her head. They could not afford to incur the Hundred Herbs Hall's wrath.
I remained completely motionless. I spit at the apoplectic manager in disgust. "Break my legs? For speaking the truth? Clearly, the Hundred Herbs Hall not only sells poison as medicine but shuts one's mouth for mentioning it."
"You are courting death!" Manager Sun's fury was so intense his body trembled. Shame and indignation seethed within him. "Puchi!" In fact, a streak of blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.
"Enough."
A new voice, smooth and melodious as the sound of jade bells chiming, came from the second floor. Everyone looked up.
Down the lovely wooden staircase came a woman. She was late twenties, and she was a vision of mature beauty. She wore a lavish, body-hugging purple cheongsam that accentuated her gorgeous curves. Her steps were abounding in elegance and innate sensuous beauty. Her phoenix eyes were bright and intelligent, and she had a pretty fan.
The moment she walked in, the entire hall fell silent with respect. Even irate Manager Sun instinctively bowed his head. "Owner Ya."
This was Ya Fei, the mysterious and beautiful owner of the Hundred Herbs Hall. No one knew where she originated from, but everyone knew better than to cause trouble for her.
Her intense stare landed on me. She looked at my battered clothes and then into my eyes. Anyone else would have pushed me aside, but she paused. A glimmer of surprise flashed on her face. She sensed no fear, no panic. But only an expanse of calm, so deep that it unsettled her.
"You said our Qi Gathering Pill was trash," she responded, her voice flat. "Those are serious words. You would do well to recall that libel against my Hundred Herbs Hall has severe consequences."
I simply smiled. "It is not libel if it is true."
"Hahaha," she let out a small, beautiful laugh. "Interesting. Then please, little brother, tell me, what is wrong with our pill?"
I pointed again at the pill.
"First, the heat control in refining was in disarray. The 'Fire Serpent Grass' was torched, spewing out toxins instead of its essence. Second, the 'Three-Leaved Flower' was added two seconds later, powerless to counter the Fire Serpent's violent properties. Third, the final step of condensation was coarse. I can feel at least thirteen different impurities. A cultivator ranking below the fifth layer of Body Tempering taking this pill would have a ninety percent chance of meridian contamination. You're not selling a pill; you're selling an cripple in the future. And thirty silver taels for it? You should pay people to take it from you." My description was brief, technical, and full of jargon that the average person couldn't understand. But Owner Ya Fei was not the average person. As I described, the casual expression on her face slowly broke apart, to be replaced with one of deep shock. Manager Sun was merely furious, but she understood what I told her. These were not careless words; these were the deliberate words of a genuine master alchemist.
"How, how do you know all this?" she asked, her voice shaking from some of its earlier aplomb.
"My knowledge is as big as the heavens. Yours is as small as a puddle. There's no comparison," I replied with utter arrogance.
Manager Sun couldn't take it anymore. "Owner Ya! Don't believe his nonsense! He is the best piece of dung in Green Leaf Town! He can't even till! How can he be a master alchemist? He has likely heard something somewhere and is repeating it in order to cause trouble!"
Ya Fei acted as if she hadn't heard. She stared at me, her mind reeling. This boy, this legendary rubbish, could he possibly be a hidden master? No chance, but his eyes. his eyes held a wisdom that was not supposed to be on a sixteen-year-old.
"Alright," she said finally, making up her mind. "You tell me our pill is garbage. Then I guess you do have something better?"
This was my moment of expectation.
"Of course," I said, curling my lips into a superior smile. "I have a formula. This pill, relative to mine, is not even worth being called a child's toy. My formula uses materials thirty percent cheaper, with a half-refining period, and the finished product is at least ten times more effective with no impurities at all."
The crowd was swept up in a wave of incredulity. Ten times more efficient? Less expensive ingredients? Pure ingredients? That was impossible! Even Manager Sun thought I had completely lost my mind.
"Hahaha! The trash has gone crazy! Owner Ya, let's just throw him out!" he bellowed.
But Ya Fei raised her hand, forbidding him. A fire of greed had been lit in her eyes. It was the fire of a businesswoman who had just discovered an astronomical opportunity.
"You are making a large claim," she said to me. "I will wager a bet. Set down your formula. My own alchemist will try it out. If it is as you say, I will give you five hundred silver taels, a higher-grade bronze cauldron, and pay for you all materials you need for your 'Nine Orifice Tempering Liquid' free. But if you are deceiving me." Her eyes narrowed.
"You will be a slave of my Hundred Herbs Hall until death!" Five hundred silver taels! The crowd gasped in astonishment. That was a huge fortune in Green Leaf Town! And slavery for life was better than death. Heaven and hell were involved.
"Deal," I said quickly.
"Bring him a brush and paper," Ya Fei commanded.
A clerk rushed to bring the items. I went to the counter, not caring about the glaring glances of everyone, even the wide-eyed Su Mei'er who gazed as if seeing a specter. I picked up the brush.
My calligraphy was heaven art in my past existence. Each stroke contained the Dao. And my hand was weak now, but the master soul still lingered. I did not write. I flowed. The brush danced on paper to inscribe a menu of ingredients and recipe steps. But I didn't leave it there. I made notes.
"When mixing the 'Green Rock Powder' and the 'Sun Dew,' maintain the flame at the temperature of a 'newborn sparrow's breath.' It is slightly warmer and the essence will be ruined."
"Use the 'Seven Star Hand Seal' to infuse the Qi into the mixture. This will create a vortex which will naturally expel eighty percent of the impurities."
"The ultimate condensation requires three drops of your very own heart's blood to act as a spiritual catalyst. This will give the pill a bit of spirituality, making it ten times stronger."
It wasn't just a formula. It was a fragment of the Divine Dao of Alchemy.
I put down and discarded the brush. "Here is your 'god-tier' formula," I mocked.
Ya Fei took the paper.
She gazed at it, and her hand trembled slightly. She then passed it to an old man who had slipped silently out from behind the back room. This would be their Alchemist Zhang. The old man took the paper, his face doubting. He read the first line, and he frowned. He read the second, and his eyes widened. His whole body was now shaking like crazy, as if he had been hit by a lightning strike. "The newborn sparrow's breath temperature. The Seven Star Hand Seal. Heart's blood as a catalyst." he croaked, his voice filled with wonder and incredulity. "This. this is not alchemy! This is divine craftsmanship! This is the Dao! The Dao itself!"
He gazed up at me, his old eyes not scornful, but with the fierce, demented glare of a true believer looking upon his deity for the first time.
Ya Fei's beautiful face was pale with shock. She knew. She knew I had not been deceiving her. She had bet on whim, on instinct, and she had just won a treasure a billion times more valuable than any capsule.
She took a long breath, her ample chest rising and descending as she composed herself. She advanced on me, and for the first time, performed the ritual of a proper, respectful bow.
"Young Master Ling," she stated, her voice now one of sincere respect. "It seems that my Hundred Herbs Hall has been blinded. Forgive us our past offense. Your winnings will be prepared immediately."
The entire hall was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. Manager Sun's ghost-like pale face. He looked as if his soul had left his body. Su Mei'er's small, red mouth was shaped in a perfect 'O' of shock.
I nodded only, my expression unchanging.
"Pack my stuff," I told her quietly. "My journey is just beginning."
I had the means. The initial step was completed. Now, it was time to reshape this body and show this mortal world what the true power of an Alchemist God was.