The Spurious Pill

"Don't be so quick to bow..." Daoist Zhen said haughtily. "The lesson you are due has barely begun. "Ordinary cultivators cannot detect the tricks played within a pill, nor discern the state of its impurities or whether its medicinal properties are abundant. But for a cultivator who specializes in this craft, it is an entirely different matter. That is why, outside of a pill assembly, if a trusted alchemist is present, transactions may also be mediated through an appraisal of the spirit pills." Delight showed on Wei Taiping's face, and he hurried to say, "The Daoist speaks of alchemy as though counting family treasures. You must be an expert in the craft. Would you grant us an appraisal or two to broaden our horizons?" Daoist Zhen looked at Qian Chen and smiled. "Does the fellow Daoist still wish to trade spirit pills for the map? If it can pass my inspection..." He trailed off meaningfully, turning his gaze toward Wei Taiping. Wei Taiping took the cue and patted his chest. "Then I will take charge and trade the map of Jiuzhen Great Marsh to our fellow Daoist." Qian Chen had no objection. Fearing Daoist Zhen might fail to recognize fine goods, he deliberately put away the Jade Primordial Spirit-Tempering Pill he had initially prepared for the exchange. The effects of a pill that tempered the Dao foundation and fundamental true qi were not quite direct enough. This Daoist Zhen sounded reliable, but what if his eyes played tricks on him? Qian Chen switched it for a Qi-Replenishing Pure Yang Pill, which directly boosted cultivation... Surely he wouldn't misjudge that! The Qi-Replenishing Pure Yang Pill was a pure crimson color, yet its medicinal nature was exceptionally gentle. Condensed from primordial qi, it possessed virtually no impurities. Resting in Qian Chen's palm, it was truly a sight to behold—sleek, lustrous, and perfectly round. A probe of spiritual sense into it felt like slipping into a warm spring, bringing soothing comfort to the entire body. Qian Chen assumed there was no way such a spirit pill could be looked down upon. Yet when Daoist Zhen took the pill and scrutinized it for a long while, he suddenly sneered. This time, Qian Chen was genuinely taken aback. This was the spirit pill he had specifically chosen for having the finest appearance and the simplest medicinal properties. What sort of trouble could possibly be found with it? Daoist Zhen spoke: "In the Dao of alchemy, it takes ten years of stoking fires and three years of arduous training in ocular arts before one can read the color of the flames and master the heat. Then comes another ten years of sorting herbs and poring over alchemical texts before one may attempt to refine pills with spirit medicines of simple properties. During that time, one must study hundreds of scrolls of alchemical treatises until every medicinal property is thoroughly committed to heart... One must also open the nasal acupoint to distinguish medicinal properties and perceive their subtle shifts from the scents wafting from the furnace. Finally, one must open the tongue acupoint to taste the flaws in the heat and ingredients within a pill, adjusting continuously. "Only after thirty such years may one formally fire up a furnace to refine pills. "A fine cauldron of pills must begin with sorting the spirit medicines, tasting them on the tongue to discern whether their potency is thin or concentrated. The quantities are measured strictly against those properties; a fraction too little or a fraction too much, and no matter how well refined the remainder is, it will end as waste pills. Then selecting the proper season, the right location, and even the cauldron itself—all have their secret methods. Before lighting the furnace, one must warm the cauldron, offer sacrifices to it... What water to use, what fire to apply, all follow meticulous principles. "Once the cauldron is formally fired, the heat must shift in harmony with the changing medicinal properties inside, without the slightest deviation. "Throughout the process, magical power must maintain the balance, which is impossible without a profound, robust cultivation to sustain it... When opening the furnace at the end, the techniques used to collect the finished medicine are secret arts. These various methods are known as pill arts—a heritage alchemists guard with their very lives. Unless one is an indoor disciple, one cannot hope to catch even a glimpse. Even during a pill assembly, an alchemist may conceal their execution of these arts. "Setting aside the final collection technique, even the birth charts, physiques, and Dao foundations of the furnace boys who gather the pills must follow strict rules. Pure Yang pills require pure Yin maidens; pure Yin pills require pure Yang boys..." Listening, Qian Chen clicked his tongue in quiet amazement—was alchemy truly so difficult? What ocular arts, nasal and tongue acupoints? Weren't those simply natural outcomes of using spiritual sense to observe minute details after breaking through Sensing? Medicinal properties were fundamentally the primordial qi of heaven and earth; so long as one could sense primordial qi, one could naturally observe the properties, couldn't they? What? Changes in heat had to be watched with physical eyes? Wasn't spiritual sense used for that? And why sniff the medicinal aroma with a nose to discern transformations inside the furnace? Shouldn't one directly observe the qi? Something as simple as changes in medicinal properties took ten years to learn? And why memorize the properties of spirit medicines one by one? Every world across the myriad realms had its own unique species. Doing it that way, wouldn't an alchemist be trapped in a single place forever? What would they do when encountering an unfamiliar spirit medicine? Why not observe the fundamental shifts in the source of medicinal properties directly? All medicinal properties were primordial qi; their ultimate foundation remained unchanged! Qian Chen felt like a graduate student using finite element methods in mechanical analysis who had just run into an old veteran relying entirely on empirical formulas... Although it had been grueling to master a thick volume of finite element analysis for boundary value problems of partial differential equations, a brute who could memorize three feet of empirical formulas by sheer rote was undeniably impressive! It was very much the deep sympathy and inspiring lift an average university student might feel upon seeing an intellectually disabled person finally achieve something by memorizing the multiplication table to solve a quadratic equation. How could such a formidable figure not evoke profound admiration and respect? Qian Chen's alchemy was a hundred times superior to Daoist Zhen's, yet even he was impressed. Hearing of such painstaking alchemical craft, the crowd in the main hall grew all the more reverent. Even an old fox like Wei Lecheng showed astonishment. Spirit pills were precious in this world; if Daoist Zhen truly possessed such alchemy, his status was certainly no lower than that of a Core Formation Grandmaster. Countless prominent clans would vie to form ties with him. Wei Taiping spoke even more bluntly. "Since the Daoist knows of such hardships, you must be a grandmaster of the alchemical path. To have you appraise spirit pills here truly broadens our horizons. If the Daoist does not find it beneath him, I would gladly run errands under your tutelage..." Daoist Zhen did not answer directly, steering the conversation elsewhere instead. "Appraising a spirit pill also cannot depart from the four secrets of alchemy: observing, smelling, weighing, and tasting. "To judge the quality of a spirit pill, one first observes its color. In a superior spirit pill, the hue is upright without being deviant, pure without being gaudy... "The purer the luster, the fewer the impurities. If the heat was too light, the pill's color would be pale; if the heat was too heavy, scorch marks would appear. This pill appears remarkably upright in color, pure without contamination. Inspected with ocular arts, it shows no impurities whatsoever..." Qian Chen listened intently. This Qi-Replenishing Pure Yang Pill truly was of impeccable color and free of impurities, so why had this man sneered at it? Daoist Zhen shook his head and laughed. "However, the alchemist likely overdid it. The color is far too pure—one cannot see any transition of medicinal properties or traces of spirit medicines melting and fusing. A pill comes from fire, yet there are not even fire marks. Even with water-refined spirit pills, the condensation of a pill is always a gradual process with signs of human craftsmanship. A master alchemist can perceive how the pill condensed, as well as the time and process involved. "This pill... appears as though formed by nature itself, born this way without the slightest mark of condensation... "Could this possibly be a spirit pill refined by an alchemist?" Daoist Zhen scoffed. Qian Chen thought silently, *That's because it was formed from primordial qi, condensing into a single unified whole. There were no botanical spirit medicines involved, let alone any need to burn plant fibers to shape the pill...* "Next is smelling..." Daoist Zhen handed the Qi-Replenishing Pure Yang Pill to Wei Taiping. "Give it a smell." Wei Taiping carefully brought his nose close to the pill and inhaled deeply. He strained so hard that his face scrunched into a knot, drawing chuckles from the attendant boys nearby. Yet Wei Taiping did not feel foolish in the slightest. He nodded and said, "Even when I sniff with all my might, I only catch a faint medicinal fragrance... There is no pill flavor at all." "Indeed. A pill's fragrance allows one to distinguish its medicinal properties. The properties of this pill are fine—replenishing qi and nourishing essence. But such a faint fragrance indicates that its potency is equally thin," Daoist Zhen explained. Wei Taiping also noticed that after smelling the fragrance, his true qi had improved slightly, but it was so minuscule as to be imperceptible; the potency was truly feeble. Naturally, he could not tell that his true essence had also grown imperceptibly purer, nor could he distinguish the difference between a spirit medicine stimulating true essence growth through excitant effects and the gentle, pure nourishment of primordial qi. Qian Chen could not help saying, "If the fragrance is too strong, won't its potency dissipate?" "What?" Wei Taiping had not expected anyone to dare talk back. Feeling that the expert in his heart had been offended, he snapped sharply. Qian Chen kindly explained, "I mean losing its medicinal strength!" Daoist Zhen burst into laughter. "That is the third flaw..." From the leopard-skin pouch at his waist, he retrieved a crystal vial containing a faint, clear liquid resembling water. Daoist Zhen swirled the vial and said, "This is pill wax. To prevent medicinal properties from evaporating along with the fragrance, alchemists coat the exterior with a layer of pill wax once a spirit pill is completed. When appraising a pill, one often rubs away a bit of the wax before sniffing the scent... "Where is your pill wax?" Qian Chen had no way to explain. He could hardly say that his alchemical arts completely surpassed the man's comprehension—that he refined pills using primordial qi, and once the pill was formed, used inert primordial qi to create a shell that sealed the pure Yang primordial qi within. That shell of inert qi served the exact same function as their pill wax! The concept of refining pills from primordial qi did not exist in Daoist Zhen's mind at all. Saying it would only confirm their belief that he was a charlatan. *My market positioning was completely wrong! A high-end product ought to be targeted at high-end clients like Cui Dan. Why did I run off to show off in a low-end market...* Qian Chen sighed inward. Finally, Daoist Zhen hefted the Qi-Replenishing Pure Yang Pill and shook his head. "Lastly, don't you find this pill far too light?" *Because inside is a wisp of primordial qi...* Qian Chen had already lost the will to refute him. "It weighs merely three zhu. Depending on their ingredients, botanical spirit pills weigh between one and three qian; by observing the level of impurities and weighing the mass, one can determine the potency. Mineral golden pills are slightly heavier, ranging from eight qian to three liang. Different spirit pills have different specific gravities, and their weight often reveals whether the medicinal properties are concentrated or impurities are excessive. "Of course, these nuances are subtle and must be judged on a case-by-case basis. But no matter the school of alchemy, no spirit pill is ever this light! "I even suspect this is merely a hollow shell!" Daoist Zhen sneered. Qian Chen sighed inwardly. *You got that right! It really is just a shell...* Daoist Zhen tossed the spirit pill back to Qian Chen. "Having observed, smelled, and weighed it... a pill like this is unworthy of my detailed tasting, so we shall skip the final step! The grade of this pill is lowest of the low... Impurities may be few, but its medicinal properties are even thinner. While not the worst sort—a 'poison pill'—and slightly better than a 'waste pill,' it is still a 'spurious pill'... It is not worth the map of the great marsh." Daoist Zhen stared coldly at Qian Chen. At this moment, Qian Chen was reflecting inwardly: *When did I offend this Daoist Zhen? I've never even met him!* *He seems to hold some malice toward me. Should I just draw my sword and finish him off on the spot?*