by Gore, A. P.
Maybe Wei Lin could do that undoable thing.
Fire swirled around the central cauldron, raising the temperature so high that Wei felt sweat pouring out of his body from twenty feet away. For this attempt, Li Wei had raised the temperature to 1500 degrees, and cracks had already appeared on the shiny teal metal surface of the cauldron.
“Let’s hope this works.” He bit his lower lip, tasting blood. Then he spread his divine sense into the Fire Generating Array to maintain a stable temperature of 1500 degrees. He had to make it work this time, because more temperature would crack the cauldron, and he didn’t know of any better cauldron than the Three Padded Fire Cauldron he had once seen in his previous life.
Fire spread around the cauldron, cracks expanding on the metal surface. Hungry fire tried to swallow the whole cauldron, but Wei maintained a formless seal on the top with his divine sense to separate the internal space of the cauldron from the fire. In his last try, he had tried using a metal lid, but the intense temperature had melted the lid and his attempt had failed.
Failing to enter the cauldron, the fire spread around it and burned a ten-foot patch of grass around it. A burning smell assaulted Wei’s nose and made him a little dizzy.
It was a sign of exhaustion.
Wei’s forehead tightened. Maintaining the 1500-degree temperature was taking a toll on his mental energy. Although he could conjure anything in the dream space, one couldn’t surpass their mental state. If he hadn’t had a strong soul and his divine sense, he wouldn’t have reached this stage, and yet doing the whole hundred-step process fourteen times had stretched him to his limits.
“Condense!” Li Wei shouted, and the central cauldron shook violently. This was the final step, and this was his fifteenth try. The previous fourteen tries had been unsuccessful. If he failed in this step, he might have to give up on the whole thing. It was too taxing for his mind.
But he didn’t regret failing fourteen times.
In fact, they’d all acted as a practice ground for him. When he started the final condensation, the system had provided him fifteen different simulations. With every failure, it adjusted the next simulation, and he had finally reached the final simulation. So far, everything had gone smoothly and he had mastered all steps. He was a hair’s breadth away from achieving success.
“Raise.” This was the final step where he had to increase the temperature by another hundred degrees.
Fire leaped across the metal cauldron, drawing it from everywhere. A white mass of ingredients could be seen floating in the air at the center of the cauldron, and an invisible pressure bore down on the white mass in the cauldron, pushing it to condense into a pill shape. This was the most critical step, and a single mistake would mess this up completely. In the fifteenth simulation, the system had asked him to apply two tons of pressure from all sides, and he had done it using a Weighing Boulder Array, a simple array used in refining to flatten tough metals.
The white mass of ingredients gathered at the center, and soon a tiny ball was formed from two thirds of the ingredients.
His heart soared, but his frown didn’t disappear. The white mass was condensing into a pill nucleus that retained 70% of the pill’s efficacy. It was the most vital part of the pill.
Wei’s lungs tightened, and he placed his hand on his chest while the white mass gathered together.
Boom!
A small explosion took place inside the cauldron, and the cracks caused by the fire grew, nearly shattering the cauldron. It held together tenuously. Wei couldn’t let it shatter yet.
“Come on, condense.” Wei prayed to all the alchemy masters in the world. This was the fifth day, and he was fed up with processing the same materials again and again. He could do it in his sleep, too. In fact, he’d done that a couple of times.
Formless energy swept out of the cauldron, and a white ball condensed at the center of all the ingredients.
Life washed out of the white ball, and a translucent pill floated in the middle of the cauldron.
“Damn it. I did it!” Wei jumped up and dashed forward to watch the pill contracting and expanding like it was taking a breath.
“Young man, halt. If you touch the cauldron, you’ll fail. Let the process of Alchemy Breath finishes.” An excited voice boomed in his ears, and he froze. It was the tool spirit, and it had once again helped him.
Thirty-five breaths passed, and the remaining ingredients started forming a pill shape around the pill nucleus. As per the recipe, the pill would form in twenty breaths, but the pill had taken over thirty-five breaths already.
Anxiety drove Wei mad. Out of fourteen tries, he had reached this final step on the tenth and eleventh try, but it had failed and the pill had broken apart in ten breath’s time. Alchemy Breath - it was a measurement of the pill’s quality, and this damn pill had already taken fifty breaths.
And the fucking cauldron was shaking like it would break apart any time.
“Young man, Alchemy Breath is a normal measurement of quality in alchemy. Don’t be impatient. Let it take its own course.”
Wei remained silent, but his heart was on the verge of bursting.
Boom!
Another explosion took place, and the cauldron shattered into tiny pieces that were refined like processed sand, but Wei didn’t look at it, his eyes were focused on the white pill floating in the air.
He had succeeded. Five days, and he had finally done it. He had concocted a Gold Grade pill, a Golden Meridian Healing Pill that could heal one from grave injuries and even expand one’s meridians to aid in cultivation.
Suddenly Wei kneeled on the ground, his mental energy washing out like a tidal wave. Even his face turned pale as a white sheet of paper.
This was the most arduous task he had done in either of his lifetimes. Even after becoming an Array Master, he hadn’t done something like this.
“Young man, you’ve finally succeeded.” The blue ethereal man appeared next to the cauldron and picked up the pill. “You’ve concocted a rank three pill. Not bad. You’ve won a chance to enter the Alchemy Plane.”
“Alchemy Plane? As in an actual plane?” Wei’s heart practically jumped out of his rib cage and splattered on the ground.
Chapter 36
Alchemy Plane
Li Wei’s breath quickened, and his heart drummed against his rib cage like it was trying to get out and run away. This was the second time he’d heard of the Alchemy Plane in his two lives, and the first time he’d heard it was from the strongest man of the Martial Realm. He’d spoken highly about the planes.
The tool spirit touched his shoulder, and they disappeared from the dream space. Sensations returned to Wei, and so too the pain in his arm. The injury he’d received from the nasty wind blades still lingered in his body. Even after five days, his body hadn’t fully recovered.
When he looked around, a huge expanse of space welcomed him. Sheltered by a clear blue sky full of clean air, an ethereal spring poured crystalline water into a lake filled with hundreds of water animals. They swam through the lake, enticing him to take a dive himself. Looking at the lake, he wished he could dive in and clean the dry blood from his skin and then change into a new robe—the current one had turned into rags.
However, he suppressed the thought. This place was a space within the tower, and the tool spirit might not like him invading that space.
This was a fantastic place to live, though, and Wei loved it.
But that wasn’t the best thing about this place. The best thing was the thick essence energy that surrounded him like a whirlpool.
“Recuperate first, and then we will talk,” the tool spirit said.
Nodding, Wei sat cross-legged and stared at the patches of green surrounding the lake which ended in a thick forest filled with chirping birds and the howls of wild animals. This was a paradise in a secret space. On the other side of the lake, a lush green medicinal garden expanded to the horizon. He couldn’t even see the other end of it, it was so vast, and it exuded a great amount of essence
energy. So thick that he could feel it brushing against his skin, exciting his pores.
A smile popped on his lips as he closed his eyes to cultivate. This was a paradise for cultivation, and he had to use it to heal his damaged body. His blue robe was tattered, and a small hole remained on his wounded shoulder.
He started cultivating the Blood Essence Body Cultivation Art. Essence energy gushed inside his body and produced new blood through his unlocked meridians, and soon his injury could be seen healing. While he was in the dream space, his body was healing, but at a slower pace. Unless he focused on cultivating, his body would only heal in a passive state. But as his cultivation realm increased, his passive healing would improve too. That was from the Blood Essence Body. He had not chosen the wrong cultivation art.
Wei opened his eyes after a half hour cultivation session that felt like cultivating for a whole night in the outside world. This was really a paradise for cultivation. “Senior tool spirit. This Alchemy Plane, is it a higher plane than the secret realms?”
The tool spirit stared at him with wide eyes.
A white sphere of energy appeared, floating next to the tool spirit, and demanded, “Kid, how do you know about planes and secret realms?”
Wei observed the white sphere but couldn’t make out what the hell it was. It wasn’t a tool spirit, as no spirit artifact would give birth to two artifact spirits.
“Lord tool spirit, are you sure you want to give him a chance? I see nothing special in this kid,” the white sphere said.
“Young man, tell me, how do you know about planes?”
Wei gulped. That was a complicated question. No one in the Mortal Realm would know about planes. In fact, he doubted even the sect leaders of the Mortal Realm knew about the planes. This world had two realms, the Mortal Realm and the Martial Realm, and then there were secret realms that were essentially spaces like storage rings. Secret realms were spaces separated from the world by unfathomable, powerful individuals from an ancient civilization. These secret realms could have their own world, like the place inside the Alchemy Comprehension Tower. The technique was lost to time. Current artificers could barely make storage rings, and the failure rate was so high that only people from powerful sects could get them.
But there were places beyond these realms called planes. Danmu Su, the strongest man in the Martial Realm, had told him about them once. But he wasn’t sure how to go there. Those places were worlds beyond the Martial Realm.
“I received an Array Master’s Inheritance, and there was a mention of planes in there,” Wei lied. Even though he was talking with a tool spirit, he couldn’t tell the truth. The tool spirit had awakened their spirituality—they were almost human, so keeping caution was a must.
“That makes sense. The high-grade arrays you used were peculiar.”
“Kid, have you ever concocted a pill before?”
“Frankly, no,” Wei replied.
The white sphere flashed through the air and appeared next to Wei’s face. “Then how did you know all those alternative methods to process ingredients?”
Wei looked away.
“Kid, give me truth or you die.” Threat flashed through white sphere’s tone.
Wei clenched his fist. This thing was going overboard.
“Qi Fei. Come back. We’re bound by our master’s laws, and we don’t need to know every single secret from the trial takers.” The tool spirit raised his voice, and the white sphere flashed back to its original position. “And why has your attitude suddenly changed toward him?”
So, it had a name. A girl’s name.
“Young man. Come forward and test your Soul Root so we can decide if you can inherit my master’s alchemy knowledge.”
Wei arched his brows. “Wait, I thought there were six levels. Did I pass the sixth level?”
“This is the sixth level. Where I test your Soul Root.”
Wei gasped. “Senior tool spirit, what’s a Soul Root? Is it similar to the Spirit Root or the Physical Root?”
“Lord tool spirit, this kid doesn’t even know about the Soul Root. He isn’t worthy of our master’s inheritance.”
Wei glared at the white sphere. This girl, or whatever the stupid thing was, was constantly trying to disqualify him. “Senior Qi Fei. May I know how I offended you?” Any other time, he would have smacked or punched whatever that stupid thing was, but here it floated next to the tool spirit, so Wei suppressed his rage.
“Kid, you’re not worthy of speaking my name, nor you can offend me. I just hate your ugly face.”
Wei was taken aback. Ugly face. Really? This stupid wench needed a tough lesson. If she’d had an ass, he would have spanked it until it became red.
“Young man, come forward and place your hand on this stone.” A black stone floated in front of Wei.
System: Interface detected. Downloading information.
Purple light shot from the black stone and entered Wei’s hand, then moved around his body and reentered the black stone. Three lines lit up on the black stone. The stone floated back to the tool spirit. It must be something similar to the Root Apprehension Stone that measured the grade of the Spirit and Physical Roots.
“Gold Grade Soul Root.” The tool spirit shook his head in disappointment. “You’re not eligible to visit the Alchemy Plane, but you have passed the sixth level trial—barely. You may choose to inherit one of three prime disciple’s inheritances.”
Wei was shocked, not because he’d missed out on the inheritance of the tool spirit’s master, nor because his Soul Root was only Gold Grade.
“How could it be?” He stared at the message that had popped up in his mind. “Does this mean . . .”
Chapter 37
Prime disciple’s inheritance
Cold wind rushed over the crystal blue lake, swirling around Li Wei, the only human standing on the shore, sending chills through his exposed skin painted with dry blood. But it failed to pull him out of his trance. He was lost in a different world. Even the fragrance brought by hundreds of different flowers blooming across the lake didn’t rouse his mind.
One message. One line. But so many meanings.
System: Soul Root current condition. 20% unlocked.
He shrugged and felt the chilly wind brush against an itchy injury on his shoulder. Yet he remained bewildered, lost in his thoughts. The line made no sense. If it did, then it meant he could upgrade his Soul Root.
Suddenly he remembered the vixen, Wang Zia, who had tested his Spirit Root using a Root Apprehension Stone. In his previous life, he had tested his Spirit Root multiple times, and it had always been Bronze Grade. But a few days back, his Spirit Root had tested as Silver Grade.
How was that possible if a Root couldn’t be upgraded?
This was insane. He should get his hands on a Root Apprehension Stone to do some testing. This new ability might have been unlocked after he upgraded his system.
That would be fun.
“Young man, are you listening?” The tool spirit’s voice struck his ears, and he came out of his ruminations.
Blood rushed through his body, expelling the chilly feeling that had spread across his exposed arm.
“Yes, senior tool spirit. I’m ready to accept the inheritance.” While Wei was in a trance, the tool spirit had conjured three thought clouds, green spheres, in front of him and told him of the inheritances stored in them.
However, he remembered nada. Nothing. He’d been lost in his own thoughts and missed what the tool spirit had said. He regretted that now. But given that these were three primary disciples of the owner of the spirit artifact, they should have identical information. So, he glanced at the thought clouds and chose one randomly.
Thought clouds were objects used to store one’s inheritance. They were like jade slips but for memories and experience.
“Lord tool spirit, this kid lacks sincerity. He didn’t even listen to your words.”
“Senior tool spirit, I listened to your words, and I choose this middle one.” He t
apped on the middle sphere, and a stream of information shot into his fingers, entering his mind.
System: Information interface detected. Downloading information.
A number climbed up in his mind, and he glimpsed a bunch of information about alchemy piling up in his mind and then vanishing. Another time it would have worried him, but no more. All the information was stored in the system. The system was awesome when it came to storing things. It was the best possible thing to have when thought clouds were at hand.
Thought clouds contained an enormous amount of information, but it was hard to process them in one go. They were like books combined with memories and experience, the same as how his own experience traveled with his divine sense. Given their complexity, it was impossible to understand them all at once; an average person could only absorb ten percent of the total information stored in them. In his previous life, he had come across an inheritance, and he could only absorb nine percent of the total information, and it had taken him months to do so. There was one genius who had absorbed seventeen percent, and he’d improved tremendously in a few mere months.
Even absorbing nine percent had seemed like a good job at the time.
No more. Because his system counter had already reached seventeen percent, and it was increasing slowly.
The tool spirit couldn’t control his awe when the young man chose the middle thought cloud. It had belonged to Xue Qi, and she had forbidden the young man from touching it.
Did the young man do it on purpose? Or did he not listen to tool spirit’s words?
When the tool spirit had offered the young man the inheritances, he’d also explained the content of those inheritances.
The first prime disciple was a master of the concocting process. He excelled in processing herbs, and he was one of the prodigies who had a sixty percent success rate when concocting Human Grade Pills. If the young man had only absorbed twenty percent of the inheritance, he would become a prodigy in alchemy.