Emerging from seclusion, Wei Yuan found that in just a few days, a high stack of jade paper had accumulated on the desk in his study. Over four hundred matters had been reported up, more than thirty of which required his personal decision.
Two Dao Foundation warriors in the study had already changed into scholar robes and were carefully reading through newly delivered sheets of jade paper. Every reported matter was first run through the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, where it was analyzed and processed before being handed to Wei Yuan.
For routine items of low importance, the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World automatically generated handling proposals, requiring only Wei Yuan's signature. For significant matters, it provided analyses along with suggested options, so in most cases, Wei Yuan only had to choose between options one and two, or three and four.
Among the important items to address at the moment were the reclamation of five hundred thousand mu of new farmland, the completed reorganization of the first ten-thousand-man New Army, more than ten sparring injuries at the military academy, and so forth. As for minor matters, they were far too numerous to count.
Wei Yuan reviewed them one by one, feeling that more and more daily administrative tasks followed identical patterns and could be delegated entirely to the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World.
Soon, someone brought in another letter. It was written by Xu Henshui, stating that he had acquired four more batches of primary ingredients for the Great Sun Morning Splendor Pill and wished to invite Wei Yuan to co-refine pills ten days from now. At that time, a senior from the Monastery of Creation would also visit to observe and offer guidance.
Wei Yuan's spirits lifted. He was exceptionally interested in pill refinement these days, mainly because every cultivator possessed at least some knowledge of pill refinement and artifact crafting, which meant they would inevitably be struck dumb by Wei Yuan's mastery of the Dao of Alchemy.
The Great Sun Morning Splendor Pill was currently the most useful pill in existence, without exception.
From the last batch Wei Yuan refined, twenty pills were placed on the exchange list. Only a few months had passed, yet they had been swept entirely clean, forcing Wei Yuan to rake in around a million liang of immortal silver. In the end, he had no choice but to bring out the reserves from the bottom of his chest, specifically setting aside two double-banded spirit pills as the grand finale on the treasury list.
The appeal of the Great Sun Morning Splendor Pill to cultivators with sufficiently high Dao Foundations—such as Earth Tier or Heaven Tier—was unmatched by anything else. Ever since word spread, over a dozen foreign Dao Foundation forebears had relocated to Qingming along with their entire clans.
They intended to put down roots here and pool their families' collective strength to earn contributions, striving to trade for a Great Sun Morning Splendor Pill as early as possible in hopes of breaking past the limits of their cultivation paths, advancing from Dao Foundation forebears into dharma idol eccentrics, and soaring from then on.
Ever since their previous refinement session, Xu Henshui had kept saying that he lacked primary ingredients. Now, four portions of primary ingredients had suddenly appeared, along with a senior master from the monastery coming to observe and guide. One could only wonder what lay behind the scenes.
To Wei Yuan, this was naturally a wonderful thing. As long as he refined them, he got a share, and getting a share meant restocking the exchange list. Though exchanging them at half the market price seemed like a heavy loss where he had to endure the pain of earning a mere tenfold return, Wei Yuan felt that as long as Qingming's cultivators were satisfied, taking a bit of a loss was well worth it.
With some time left before the elder from the Monastery of Creation arrived, Wei Yuan began pondering how the Great Sun Morning Splendor Pill might be further improved. He could not let the monastery senior make the trip for nothing.
The Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World was no stranger to pill refinement, having already established three separate research academies for the Dao of Alchemy, and naturally took on the task.
The crouching dragons and phoenix fledglings within had long revered Xu Wenwu's records of the otherworldly realm as holy scripture, drawing countless spiritual nourishments from them. As a result, the solutions they offered strayed further and further from the orthodox path of the immortal Dao.
Over the next few days, Wei Yuan studied the refinement improvement proposals one after another. Many were bizarre enough to leave him deeply shocked, yet on careful reflection, they seemed quite reasonable. Wei Yuan therefore hurried off to find Yu Zhizhuo, handing him a stack of blueprints and urging him to forge a batch of pill refinement apparatuses as quickly as possible.
After looking over the designs, Yu Zhizhuo was likewise deeply shaken, and felt a profound surge of sympathy for Xu Henshui.
In the blink of an eye, the appointed day arrived. Xu Henshui's Pill Monastery had been swept spotlessly clean. All the disciples had bathed, changed their robes, and groomed themselves to the utmost vigor. Xu Henshui was already waiting by the monastery gates early in the morning.
When the hour came, an old Daoist materialized out of thin air at the main gates. His hair and beard were white as snow, his face ruddy and glowing, and smoke rose with every step while his sleeves swirled into clouds—a true picture of immortal grace. Behind him stood several senior disciples of the Monastery of Creation, each holding their heads high and looking down their noses at everyone.
The moment Xu Henshui saw the old Daoist, he was both surprised and overjoyed. Hurrying forward, he fell to his knees in homage and said, "Greetings, Grandmaster Zhidan."
The old Daoist nodded slightly. "This is not the Monastery of Creation. No need for ceremony. Let us head inside."
A moment later, once the old Daoist had taken his seat in the main hall, Wei Yuan, having received word, hurried over as well. Along the way, he had already learned the senior's background. The old Daoist went by the Daoist name Zhidan Sanren; his true name had long been lost to time.
Zhidan Sanren was already thirteen hundred years old and was one of the four Scenery Command pill masters of the Monastery of Creation. By strict reckoning, his seniority was several generations higher than that of Temple Master Danmingzi.
To adopt "Zhidan"—Understanding Pills—as his title showed just how profound his alchemy was. It was said that if Danmingzi had not made a sudden, meteoric rise back then, the position of monastery head would have belonged to him.
Wei Yuan had not expected someone with such immense standing to arrive. He had thought that a peak dharma idol pill master would be more than enough.
Zhidan Sanren spoke slowly: "Though the Great Sun Morning Splendor Pill is low in grade, it directly concerns the number of a sect's core cultivators. It is the very bedrock of a sect's prosperity, a matter of paramount importance. Today, entrusted by the temple master, I have specifically come to assess Henshui's skill in the Dao of Alchemy. Hearing that Domain Lord Wei is also proficient in alchemy, why not join in refining two cauldrons together? Perhaps this old Daoist can offer a few words of guidance."
Wei Yuan understood clearly. If he wanted to assess Xu Henshui, when could he not do so? Did he really need to choose this exact moment? The old Daoist was here to inspect him.
Why the old Daoist wanted to see him, however, Wei Yuan did not know.
In any case, since the Monastery of Creation was willing to provide the materials, Wei Yuan naturally would not refuse. After all, turning in five pills per cauldron was enough, and for banded pills, he only needed to hand over a single one, keeping the rest for himself. If he didn't pull in a cool million or so from this cauldron, Wei Yuan would feel he had done the pill furnace an injustice.
The old Daoist continued, "The Dao of Alchemy also lies in weeding through the old to bring forth the new. This time, I have brought some new supplementary ingredients. You may try modifying the pill formula."
With a flick of his broad sleeve, two medicine cabinets materialized before Wei Yuan and Xu Henshui. The cabinets opened of their own accord, revealing dozens of different herbs inside.
Xu Henshui visibly froze; clearly, he had not expected such a requirement either.
Yet these medicinal ingredients were ones he had known intimately since childhood. He could identify their properties with his eyes closed. Right away, he produced a cold-jade couch, placed it in the pill chamber, and sat in meditation on the spot to contemplate.
Wei Yuan also inspected the ingredients, only to discover he did not recognize most of them. Thicker-skinned than most, he simply grabbed a disciple of the Monastery of Creation and asked, and the disciple answered frankly, withholding nothing.
Yet after describing only two herbs, Zhidan Sanren spoke: "What you said about this ingredient is broadly correct, but off in the finer details. And it is precisely those subtle nuances that the Great Sun Morning Splendor Pill requires. It seems you have been slacking in your studies. Go face the wall for seven days and reread your pharmacopeia thoroughly!"
Drenched in cold sweat, the disciple hurried off to face the wall.
Zhidan Sanren stepped up beside Wei Yuan and said, "Since you haven't studied medicinal ingredients much, I will explain them to you from the beginning."
The old Daoist picked up a sword-shaped leaf and said, "This is night-full swordhemp. At first glance, it looks virtually identical to void-night swordhemp, but in fact, its medicinal properties differ slightly..."
Wei Yuan listened with utmost seriousness, nodding repeatedly, though in truth he had never heard of night-full swordhemp or void-night swordhemp.
Even so, Wei Yuan's attentive manner pleased the old Daoist. Stroking his beard, he explained each item in meticulous detail. Wei Yuan nodded continuously, recording everything directly into the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World.
Once the lecture was finished, the old Daoist asked, "Have you memorized it all?"
"All memorized."
The old Daoist casually picked up an ingredient and asked, "What is this? What are its medicinal properties?"
The remaining disciples of the Monastery of Creation showed faint glimmers of gloating amusement. This grandmaster was notorious for his strictness and loathed nothing more than ostentatious, superficial scholarship.
If one admitted honestly to forgetting, it would be fine, but if caught boasting, seven days of wall-gazing would be getting off light. Wei Yuan had answered without hesitation; boasting was easy, but he would lose face in a moment.
Wei Yuan naturally caught everyone's expressions. Feigning difficulty, he hesitated and said, "This is a hundred-and-thirty-year deerblood flower. Its properties are..."
He faltered slightly as he spoke, but everything he said was completely accurate. The disciples' hearts rose and fell as they listened, until their faces soured with disappointment. It was like watching someone cross a single-plank bridge—they seemed on the verge of falling several times, yet never fell, leaving the onlookers thoroughly exasperated.
Wei Yuan could not fathom what was going through these disciples' heads. Why would seeing him fail make them so happy? Were they even in a position to measure themselves against him?
Zhidan Sanren frowned slightly, displeased by Wei Yuan's hesitation. He picked up another herb and asked again, "What is this?"
"Th-this is..." Wei Yuan pretended to rack his brain. Just as the disciples were about to beam with delight, his thoughts suddenly flowed smoothly, and he recited everything in one breath from start to finish, identical to what the old Daoist had just taught, without changing the order of a single word.
The Monastery of Creation disciples stood dumbfounded, and Xu Henshui was equally stunned. With an impassive face, the old Daoist tested him repeatedly, but Wei Yuan answered each question with total ease, reciting the old Daoist's exact words right down to his habitual filler phrases.
The disciples' faces flushed red and turned pale by turns. They finally realized Wei Yuan had seen right through their petty thoughts and was merely toying with them.
A smile finally surfaced on Zhidan Sanren's face. "Good, very good!"
Nearly a hundred supplementary herbs, with detailed ages and explanations of their properties—the old Daoist had spoken for over half a shichen, yet Wei Yuan had committed every word to memory. He truly deserved praise.
Wei Yuan broke into a wide grin. "Photographic memory is simply a disciple's duty. If one cannot even manage that, how could they have the face to call themselves disciples of the Monastery of Creation?"
The disciples shrank back in shame, and even Xu Henshui's expression turned awkward. To be entirely truthful, though he recognized all of these herbs, there were two subtle nuances he had failed to recall. Wei Yuan's remark had managed to scold him along with the rest.
Having finished explaining the herbs' properties, Zhidan Sanren told Wei Yuan to research the formula proportions himself and proceed with a free hand.
At once, the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World erupted. Though many crouching dragons and phoenix fledglings knew nothing about pill refinement, that did not stop them from directing others on how to do it. In an instant, Wei Yuan received hundreds of pill formulas—some seemingly quite sound, others utter nonsense.
Wei Yuan felt it was perhaps high time to implement a filtering and screening feature in the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World.
Chapter 652