Chapter 291
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As soon as Zhang Xiaohua’s divine sense withdrew from the pill furnace, the flow of true qi from his hand ceased, and the incantation formed by his right hand naturally came to a halt as well.
In that instant, the flaw of starting directly with advanced incantations without first practicing the foundational ones was immediately laid bare. Typically, one progresses step by step in cultivation; only after attaining mastery over the basic incantations does one proceed to more complex techniques. In doing so, one becomes intimately familiar with the interplay between incantation and true qi, gaining complete control—so that when executing them, everything flows smoothly and effortlessly. Unlike Zhang Xiaohua, who, upon his very first attempt, flooded the entire pill furnace with a surge of roaring flame!
“Practice makes perfect, practice makes perfect…”
Zhang Xiaohua muttered to himself, perhaps as a form of self-encouragement. Then, with stubborn perseverance, he resumed the task he had left unfinished. Indeed, he was someone with great determination—after nearly an entire afternoon of practice, he finally gained control over the technique. At once, he impatiently tossed that seabird, which had long gone cold, into the pill furnace with a flick of his hand.
Yes, this fellow was actually using his divine sense to guide the seabird, intending to roast it over the pill furnace’s true fire for a meal!
It is said that even ten thousand years ago, in the golden age of the Immortal Dao, there may not have been anyone so extravagant.
But then again, how could that seabird possibly withstand such a grand setup?
The instant it was licked by the true fire, it was reduced to ashes—disappearing without a trace.
Zhang Xiaohua was dismayed. That tasty roast meat was gone just like that—it was truly frustrating. Alas, his control was still too coarse; he would have to work harder.
Little did he know, the pill furnace was meant to refine the essence of medicinal herbs. Though the seabird was large, it was but mere flesh and blood, lacking any trace of herbal essence. Under the true fire, it was naturally incinerated to dust.
But Zhang Xiaohua was unaware of this. Believing the failure lay in his lack of fine control, he threw himself into further practice. For the next month, he waged a daily battle with the pill furnace and the seabirds—each day, hunting seabirds with his flying sword and tossing them into the furnace, continuing with his grand plan to roast meat.
Ah, one must admit—such persistence speaks to his remarkable willpower. The most direct result of this effort was that the population of seabirds around the deserted island dropped sharply. His flying sword technique, however, reached a state of near-perfection. Wherever his thoughts went, the sword followed like a streak of black lightning, striking down seabirds with flawless precision. It was far more effective than all his dull days spent cultivating that nameless sword art.
Moreover, the seabird flocks, upon catching sight of anything resembling a flying sword, would immediately spread their wings and soar away, now several degrees faster in their flight. In time, the seabirds of this deserted island became a dominant presence across the surrounding seas—a change that could very well be credited to Zhang Xiaohua himself.
Truly, it must be said—there is nothing in this world that is too difficult, only people who lack the will. In the end, this fellow actually managed to gain exquisite control over the pill fire, even refining his skill to the point where he could roast meat with it. Munching away with oil running down his chin, Zhang Xiaohua gazed at the dwindling number of seabirds over the waters around the deserted island, utterly pleased with himself.
Boredom, after all, was the best fuel for cultivation.
What Zhang Xiaohua was cultivating wasn’t the Immortal Dao—it was loneliness!
After finishing his roast meat and thinking it was time to get acquainted with the pill furnace by conducting actual alchemy experiments, he suddenly realized—he didn’t have any medicinal herbs. So how was he supposed to practice?
Looking at what he had on hand, there was only that Huangjing he had once found sweet and delicious but now found cloying. Still, Huangjing was an herb—could it be used for alchemy?
Zhang Xiaohua closed his eyes in thought, going over the contents of the alchemy manual from beginning to end. All of a sudden, his brows relaxed, and a faint smile crept onto his lips.
“Fasting Pill”—it was made primarily from Huangjing, along with a few other common herbs. A low-grade pill with the effect of quenching thirst and suppressing hunger—was this not the perfect test subject, tailor-made for Zhang Xiaohua?
With a loud shout, Zhang Xiaohua somersaulted through the air from the mountaintop and dove headfirst into the ground. In the blink of an eye, he emerged in the Huangjing patch, and swiftly dug out a few stalks. With another flicker of movement, he returned to the mountaintop, tossed one into the pill furnace, and began silently reciting the incantation, going over the pill-refining steps in his heart as he ignited the pill fire. That thick stalk of Huangjing—still covered in dirt and leaves—was quickly refined under the true fire. In less than a moment, it transformed into fine powder—this was the very essence of the Huang Jing.
“Huh? According to the alchemy manual, refining the essence of medicinal herbs is supposed to be the most difficult part—too much heat and it burns away, too little and the essence can’t be extracted. Why did the Huangjing’s essence come out so easily for me? Could it be that I am a legendary genius? Or is the Fasting Pill just so basic that it’s easy to refine?”
What he failed to consider was this: if he could roast seabirds to perfection, then using the same technique to refine the essence of herbs was nothing short of effortless.
However, when it came time to condense the pill, something unexpected happened. First, he increased the flow of true qi to refine the powder into a liquid. But the moment he struck the liquid in the pill furnace with a hand seal, a powerful force of attraction surged forth from the incantation, instantly drawing out nearly half of the true qi in Zhang Xiaohua’s body and pulling it into the pill furnace. At that moment, his hand seal faltered slightly—and with a sharp “sizzle!” the nearly-formed pill flashed and vanished, turning into a cloud of ash that scattered across the base of the furnace.
Zhang Xiaohua’s first attempt at alchemy ended in failure.
Yet, faced with the failure of his very first refinement, Zhang Xiaohua showed no sign of discouragement. He knew well that pill refinement was a delicate art—one small misstep could lead to complete failure. Even reaching the final step didn’t guarantee success; if the pulling phase went awry, the entire batch could still be ruined. The success rate of alchemy was notoriously low. Back when he was extracting the essence, he’d already mentally prepared for failure. That his first attempt had reached the pill-forming stage was already an extraordinary feat.
Zhang Xiaohua closed his eyes again and carefully reflected on the gains and losses of his earlier process. Then, with a somewhat peculiar look, he glanced down at the now shrunken pill furnace in his hand. Reaching into his robes, he took out four small yuan stones and placed them into the four sunken slots at the base of the furnace. Only then did he once again add Huangjing, infuse it with true qi, and begin the process anew. This time, he easily controlled the pill fire and refined the essence of the Huangjing into liquid form.
“So that’s what those indentations are for—setting yuan stones. Of course, even if I have plenty of true qi, it’s still not enough to support an entire refinement. Using the energy within yuan stones to drive the flame—that’s the true method of fire control!”
This time, the condensation of the pill went smoothly. But when it came to the pulling phase, problems arose again. Pulling the pill refers to dividing the nearly-formed pill into multiple units—it depends greatly on precise coordination between divine sense and the subtle manipulation of hand seals. Moreover, it’s also the aspect that most clearly reflects one’s alchemical skill: the more skilled the alchemist, the more pills they can extract from the same amount of ingredients. Naturally, pulling one pill versus pulling eight from the same batch was a world of difference.
Zhang Xiaohua’s divine sense was unquestionable—after all, seabirds would fall from the sky if he willed it. As for his hand seals, they were certainly valid—he could burrow into the earth in the blink of an eye. But it was precisely the coordination between the two that still had flaws. His divine sense couldn’t precisely synchronize with the minute manipulations of the hand seals, and this mismatch constantly caused failures. He kept trying until night had fully fallen. Only then did he finally manage to pull a single pill!
Yes—just one pill. The other one turned to ash.
That single, ugly-looking, uneven, oval-shaped pill in his hand, was in fact a monumental milestone. It marked Zhang Xiaohua’s first step into the world of alchemy—and at the same time, a great leap forward for the Dao of Immortals. After ten thousand years, once again, someone had succeeded in refining a true Immortal Dao pill!
Looking at the slightly yellow-brown pill in his hand—somewhat resembling a questionable medicinal tablet—he gingerly bit it with his teeth. Surprisingly, he couldn’t make a dent in it. Just as he was about to apply more force, he hesitated, afraid he might chip a tooth. After a moment of uncertainty, he swept it with his divine sense and discovered that there were still fluctuations of yuan qi within. It hadn’t failed! At last, he dismissed the impulse to throw away such a precious pill.
“This is my very first successfully refined pill—my virgin pill. I absolutely can’t disgrace her. After all, it was just refined from Huangjing—there’s no reason it should be poisonous. But something this hard, nearly as solid as stone, who knows if swallowing it will upset my stomach.”
Then, clenching his teeth and assuming the expression of a valiant martyr, he closed his eyes and tossed the pill into his mouth, prepared to swallow it whole. Unexpectedly, the moment the pill entered his mouth, it melted instantly—turning into a stream of liquid that slid smoothly down his throat. A warm sensation surged up from his belly. The hunger he had been feeling earlier vanished in an instant!
“Aiya! How marvelous! Something even my teeth couldn’t bite through melted the moment it entered my mouth—truly worthy of being called a thing of the Immortal Dao. If… if Grandma were still here, she would’ve surely loved this pill!”
Suddenly, Zhang Xiaohua grew quiet and pensive. With a single hand seal, the pill furnace shrank down to the size of a palm. He casually tucked it into his robes, stopped cultivating, and rested his chin in his hand, sitting dazed on a rocky outcrop at the mountain peak, staring blankly at the colorful drifting clouds in the sky and the crashing waves of the sea below.
“This world is so beautiful, yet life is so short. Even the warmth of kinship only lasts a few fleeting decades. In the end, every person becomes no more than a pile of white bones, a handful of earth. I still remember what my Sister-in-law once said—that in ancient times, there were immortals whose lifespans rivaled the heavens. How carefree and unfettered that must have been. Immortal Dao, Immortal Dao—since it is called Immortal, there must be a path to longevity. But the Carefree Heart Sutra—even at its eighteenth level—makes no mention of immortality. So where, then, does this so-called longevity come from?”
“But even if I alone attain immortality, I’d be a solitary man, all alone—like I am now, on this desolate island, where no one knows me. Without Father and Mother, without Eldest Brother and Sister-in-law, without Second Brother… what joy would there be? Heh, though if I could have hundreds of grandsons and great-grandsons calling me Ancestor, that might be rather amusing.”
Watching the sun slowly move westward, dyeing the azure sky in endless fiery hues, Zhang Xiaohua felt a flame rise in his chest. “If there is a Dao of Longevity in this world, then there must be a path to reach it. Since I have stepped upon the Immortal Path, I will exhaust all that I have to pursue that wisp of ephemeral hope. Just like the sun’s boundless radiance—I will let its light shine upon my family, and upon Grandma… though she passed too soon, Father and Mother, Eldest Brother and Sister-in-law, and Second Brother… and yes, the child in Sister-in-law’s womb—for their sake, I must give my all!”
Having made up his mind, the flames in Zhang Xiaohua’s eyes flashed and vanished, leaving behind only a clear and unwavering resolve. He stood up and glanced toward the eastern sea, where dark clouds had begun to gather. Never before had he longed so much for the coming storm. Let the storm come even fiercer!!!
