Chapter 12: Herbal Prescription

"Oh, you wouldn't understand anyway. The profound mysteries are too complex. Just watch and learn carefully from the Master."

"Oh, I see," Li Huowang feigned contemplation, but his mind was elsewhere.

The pill Danyangzi gave him was clearly effective, which meant the rules of this world were completely different from his own. To deal with Danyangzi, he needed to learn much more about this unfamiliar world.

"Cultivators from novels? Doesn't seem like it. Which cultivator refines people into pills? Which one needs to enslave mortals to help them achieve immortality?"

"And according to custom, shouldn't a normal immortal cultivation sect give me a foundational cultivation technique? Why didn't they?"

The more Li Huowang learned about this place, the stranger he found the Daoist temple. It completely defied his prior understanding of Daoist cultivators.

"Oh, right, Junior Brother Xuanyang, let me give you a piece of advice. You'd best have everything prepared properly before Master even opens his mouth."

"Take yesterday's pill, for example. You missed the time because of your delusions. If you deliver the medicinal primer before midnight the day after tomorrow, won't that be like apologizing to the old Master?"

"Don't let Master's unpredictable temper fool you; as long as you make him happy, there will naturally be benefits for you."

"Yesterday's medicinal ingredients?" Li Huowang paused, surprised.

"Yes, why? Did you forget? What did Master ask you to deliver yesterday?"

"Bai... Bai Lingmiao." Li Huowang's pupils instantly constricted. So many things had happened, but this matter wasn't over. If he couldn't find a solution before the day after tomorrow, that albino girl would be pounded into a paste, just like all the previous medicinal primers!

Li Huowang didn't remember how he got back to his lodging. He lay on his stone bed, the golden ankle ring wrapped with red thread pressing against his chest like a red-hot iron, urging him to come up with a plan. But Danyangzi and Li Huowang's strength difference was immense, not to mention the entire temple was filled with Danyangzi's people. The precedents of his deceased senior brothers also showed that blindly escaping was useless.

He tossed and turned, and the night passed.

On the eve of morning lessons, Li Huowang got dressed and walked out of his cave. He wanted to go to the alchemy room to see if there were any other solutions there.

Holding an oil lamp, he had just stepped out when a sharp-faced, monkey-like face emerged from the darkness, startling Li Huowang. It was Gouwa's face.

"Hehehe, Senior Brother Li, nothing's wrong. I just noticed you didn't come to the ingredient room all day yesterday and was a bit worried, so I came to check on you."

"Is Junior Sister Bai alright?" Li Huowang asked, stepping back.

"She's fine, she's fine. You personally told Junior Sister Bai to manage the ingredient room, who would dare disobey? Hehehe, Senior Brother Li is truly impressive. Look, ever since you took charge of the ingredient store, you haven't taken away a single person."

Hearing Gouwa's words, Li Huowang felt extremely irritated. He used the oil lamp to push the man away and strode out.

When Li Huowang arrived at the alchemy room, he found some early-rising child attendants already cleaning the alchemy furnace and floor with burlap cloths. One child attendant even stood in the stone vat, vigorously scrubbing the residual meat paste from the stone walls with a pig bristle brush.

As Danyangzi's disciple, no one dared say anything about his entry into the alchemy room. Li Huowang pretended to walk around casually, his gaze meticulously scanning his surroundings.

The entire alchemy room was very simple. Besides the huge black alchemy furnace that occupied a third of the space, there was only the stone vat and stone rod Danyangzi used to hit people. There were no alchemy books, not even a single painting or calligraphy on the walls. The room was extremely empty, with no hiding places.

"What are you looking at?" A familiar yet chilling voice suddenly sounded behind him.

Li Huowang turned to see who it was and quickly bowed with clasped hands. "Master."

"I asked what you are looking at?"

Li Huowang quickly thought for a second and immediately came up with an excuse. "This disciple is greatly admiring Master's remarkable alchemy skills, and wondered when this disciple might reach such a level."

Danyangzi was very pleased with Li Huowang's change in attitude. It seemed this young man had finally understood. With his hands clasped behind his back, he circled the black alchemy furnace. "Having ambition is good, but it's not that I, your Daoist master, won't teach you; it's just that the Dao of External Elixirs is not so simple."

"Ordinary pills are easy enough, but if you want to achieve immortality through alchemy, you must refine both external and internal elixirs. I have spent a great deal of effort refining until now, and I am about to achieve great mastery."

A trace of pride and excitement appeared on Danyangzi's face, as if he was envisioning his immortal life after achieving immortality.

"Master... are you about to become an immortal?"

As Li Huowang spoke, the expression on Danyangzi's face retracted. "Achieving immortality is not that simple; the journey is long. But I, your Daoist master, will definitely become an immortal. Do you know why?"

"No."

Danyangzi's expression became somewhat agitated. "Because the method to achieve immortality is written in Lord Lao's Heavenly Book, and Lord Lao himself delivered it to my hands! I ask you, who else in the entire world can become an immortal? He said I can become an immortal. I will definitely become an immortal!"

"Lord Lao? Who is that? One of those three statues?" Li Huowang was a little confused by this mythological description.

Though he didn't understand it at all, Li Huowang still flattered, "Master speaks truly. You will certainly achieve immortality and live as long as heaven and earth!"

Danyangzi was clearly very happy to hear this, and a broad smile spread across his ugly face.

"Hahaha, good, good, good. Since you want to learn alchemy, I'll first teach you a simple Blood-Nourishing Pill formula. Write it down. Red Cinnabar 12 liang, Cyperus Rotundus half a catty, Actinolite 2 liang 4 qian..."

Although he had unexpectedly gained something, Li Huowang certainly wouldn't refuse. He quickly wanted to find pen and ink to record it, but he looked around and found no writing tools in the entire alchemy room. In a rush, he found a piece of charcoal from under the alchemy furnace and simply recorded it on the hem of his Daoist robe.

"...Start the furnace at the third quarter of the Ox hour, bathe at the right time; illuminate with the eyes, fan with the breath, steam with the spirit, and slowly nurture with a gentle fire. Open the furnace at the fourth quarter of the Rabbit hour."

"Take this formula and practice slowly. I'll see what your talent is like first."

Li Huowang discarded the charcoal, cupped the hem of his robe in his hands, and presented it to Danyangzi. "Master, please see if your disciple has missed anything in his notes?"

But upon seeing the charcoal-covered hem presented before him, Danyangzi, who had just been beaming, instantly looked displeased. He raised his right foot and kicked Li Huowang flying, who crashed against the alchemy furnace with a clang, then fell heavily to the ground. Danyangzi, his face livid, swore under his breath and walked away with his hands behind his back, leaving Li Huowang stunned in place.

As the emotional anger in his heart gradually dissipated, Li Huowang felt that this matter was very strange. He hadn't done anything, so why the sudden change in attitude? Li Huowang looked down at the alchemy formula in his hand and pondered. Although his handwriting was ugly, it was clearly legible.

Suddenly, Li Huowang thought of something. He looked around the alchemy room, which had no calligraphy or paintings, and then remembered that during morning lessons, no one had any scriptures. A sudden thought popped into Li Huowang's mind, "Could it be that this bald-headed man is illiterate? He can't read?"