Nano-engineering Immortal Cultivation Chronicle

Episode 12: Truly Learning Pill Refining

The next morning.

Wuji Perfected One summoned Jang So-cheon.

"Master! Did you sleep well last night?"

"I did. I called you this early because there’s something I want to discuss."

"With me?"

"Yes. I’d like to sell a few of the Spirit Herbs you gathered this time on the market. With that money, I plan to expand the Refining Room and set up a herb field in front of Wuji Hall. Are you alright with that?"

"Master! I may have contributed to gathering the Spirit Herbs, but I’m still young and my cultivation is lacking. I think it would be better to discuss such important matters with the Sect Leaders. I’ll follow your decision no matter what."

"It’s true you’re young, but considering your contributions to Present Ghost Peak, your opinion deserves respect. Are you sure you’re fine with leaving it all to me?"

"Of course. I trust and rely on you completely, Master, so please do as you wish with the Spirit Herbs. Just being able to learn the Spirit Refining Technique is already a great fortune for me."

"Thank you. Having you as my disciple is my own great fortune. From now on, I’ll pass down all my knowledge to you."

"To me?"

Wuji Perfected One nodded and summoned all the disciples at Present Ghost Peak.

Then, he announced that he would make Jang So-cheon his Direct Disciple.

Originally, there was no such thing as a Direct Disciple at Present Ghost Peak.

Everyone was simply an inner disciple, but today, Wuji Perfected One suddenly declared Jang So-cheon as his Direct Disciple.

Even Jang So-cheon was stunned, let alone the other disciples.

They all stared at their master with expressions of disbelief.

Still, no one dared to object to their master’s words.

Absolute authority.

That was what Wuji Perfected One was at Present Ghost Peak.

But not everyone remained silent.

"Master! Besides inheriting your secret arts, what other benefits are there to being a Direct Disciple?"

Makjang from the Herb Gathering Hall asked.

"There are no special privileges for being a Direct Disciple. You can enter any building at Present Ghost Peak and, if needed, learn from the Herb Gathering Hall or Law Enforcement Hall. That’s all."

"Do I have the authority to give orders to my seniors?"

"You can ask for favors, but you don’t have that kind of authority."

"Understood."

Many looked relieved after Makjang’s questions ended.

Aside from learning the secret arts, there wasn’t anything particularly special.

After sending the other disciples away, Wuji Perfected One gave Jang So-cheon his tasks.

The first was to organize the library.

Then, he was to go to the Law Enforcement Hall and learn how to manage medicinal ingredients.

And above all, he was repeatedly told not to neglect his cultivation.

Now that he had set foot on the path of cultivation, nothing was more important than advancing his level.

*

That night, Jang So-cheon suddenly woke up, feeling something strange.

He heard a faint gasp of surprise.

A girl with two tails.

A young fox from the Red Fox Tribe stood there, covering her mouth with her hand, staring at him.

When Jang So-cheon stared back, the fox girl’s eyes widened.

"Can you see me?"

When Jang So-cheon nodded, the girl stepped back in shock.

"That’s impossible… You really can see me?"

Whoosh!

The girl flipped acrobatically to the other side of the room.

But Jang So-cheon’s gaze followed her exactly.

Specifically, he was looking into the fox’s eyes—the space between the young girl’s brows.

"My illusions are famous even among the fox tribe… Did you learn Divine Eye Communication or something?"

This time, Jang So-cheon shook his head and smiled wryly.

"You’re here on behalf of Princess Eun Dan-bi of the Red Fox Tribe, aren’t you?"

"Yes."

"Where’s the book that translates the ancient script?"

"Over there."

At Jang So-cheon’s question, the fox girl pointed to a table in the corner of his room.

There was a book there he hadn’t seen before.

Jang So-cheon got up, walked over, and picked up the book to check its contents.

He confirmed it was exactly what he’d been looking for.

"Could you tell the princess that I’m truly grateful? Really, tell her I’m thankful…"

"I will."

"My name is Jang So-cheon. What’s yours?"

"Soso. I’m the princess’s attendant."

"I see. Thank you for coming all this way. Sorry I can’t offer you any hospitality in this humble place."

"It’s fine. I’ll be going now."

"Alright."

Whoosh.

With another acrobatic flip, she vanished without a trace.

As soon as Soso disappeared, Jang So-cheon felt as if he’d just woken from a dream.

But the book in his hand proved it was no dream.

He’d finally gotten the translation he wanted, but Jang So-cheon didn’t look entirely happy.

Soso was a member of the fox tribe.

The fact that she could enter his quarters so easily showed just how lax the sect’s security was.

If she’d been an assassin…

A chill ran down Jang So-cheon’s spine.

Determined to grow stronger as soon as possible, he locked his door.

Then, using the book Soso had given him, he began deciphering the ancient sword manual he’d received from his master.

But the translation was harder than expected.

It took him a long time just to figure out the title of the sword manual—Dragon Flying Peak Martial Art.

*

A few days later, Wuji Hall became a hive of activity.

They had started a major construction project to expand the Refining Room.

A large herb field was created a little away from Wuji Hall, and workers came to renovate the buildings, making noise day and night.

During this time, Jang So-cheon tried to thoroughly read all the books on herbs and pill refining in the library.

Or at least, he tried.

But in less than half a month, he had memorized all three hundred books in the library.

He’d memorized them all, word for word.

Amazed by his own memory, Jang So-cheon closed his eyes and pulled out a random book, confirming that he’d become incredibly smart.

From the next day, he went to the Law Enforcement Hall to learn how to manage medicinal ingredients.

Medicinal ingredients were mainly divided into animal, plant, and mineral types.

By form, they could be solid, liquid, or gas.

The key to managing them was to classify and store them so their medicinal properties wouldn’t be lost.

The most important thing was preventing spoilage.

To do that, they steamed, smoked, dried, and ground the ingredients.

Then, they were divided into smaller portions for easier use in pill refining—this was the main job at the Law Enforcement Hall.

While learning at the Law Enforcement Hall, Jang So-cheon also watched Gwak Mu-jin refine pills whenever he had the chance.

He insisted that he’d read about a certain technique in a secret pill refining manual from the library and taught them a method to transmit heat to the center of the Pill Furnace.

He also recommended using water with low mineral content for better reactions.

As a result, the efficacy of the Elixir Pills improved so much that their quality surpassed even those sold on the market.

Using his Special Ability, Jang So-cheon checked the efficacy of the pills and immediately bought dozens of Yellow Essence Pills.

He took one every day before his Qi Circulation Meditation.

By the time the Refining Room expansion was finished, he had reached the middle stage of the Third Star Level of the Qi Refining Stage.

At this level, he could attack distant enemies with sword energy or light.

This also applied to the Pill Furnace.

When heating the Pill Furnace with fire-attribute Spiritual Energy, he could transmit heat all the way to the center.

He’d finally met the minimum requirements for pill refining.

Once the construction was complete, Wuji Perfected One called Jang So-cheon and told him he would now be in charge of the Refining Room.

After checking the condition of the ingredients delivered from the Law Enforcement Hall, he called for Dodong to fetch water.

Seeing this, Jang So-cheon spoke up to Wuji Perfected One.

"Master! I’d like to see what kind of water is used for pill refining."

"Go ahead."

Wuji Perfected One knew Jang So-cheon had read the secret pill refining manuals in the library.

That was why he’d assigned him to organize the library in the first place.

But to already understand the importance of water in pill refining…

Wuji Perfected One nodded with a pleased expression.

"Junior, what’s your name?"

"I’m Gong Secheon. Please call me Junior Gong from now on."

"Alright. But why are we going underground?"

"There’s bedrock water here. Master only uses this water for pill refining."

"I see. Is it over there?"

"Yes. According to Master, this bedrock water is clean and low in impurities, making it the best for pill refining. You should use it too when you start refining pills, Senior."

"Hahaha! I’ll keep that in mind."

While watching Junior Gong draw water, Jang So-cheon noticed moss at the bottom of the pool.

To the naked eye, the water looked clear and clean.

But using his Special Ability, he saw there were plenty of problems.

A fair amount of minerals were dissolved in the water.

He frowned slightly, but there was nothing he could do for now.

People in this world didn’t know chemistry.

He couldn’t explain that there were heavy metals like lime, zinc, or manganese dissolved in the water.

After drawing the water, Wuji Perfected One poured an appropriate amount into the Pill Furnace.

He then heated the furnace with fire-attribute Spiritual Energy and added several ingredients.

Using Divine Sight, he checked inside the furnace—Wuji Perfected One was clearly skilled at pill refining.

When it was time to add ingredients, he did so at the exact right moment.

Then, suddenly, the mixture began to heat up.

The water in the furnace started to boil, and the medicinal components from the ingredients rapidly reacted.

Yet, the master didn’t open the lid.

If he did, the contents might overflow.

Instead, he infused Spiritual Energy to apply pressure below the surface and fanned the furnace to cool it.

After the first heating phase ended, the furnace remained stable for quite a while.

But the reaction wasn’t over.

Watching through Divine Sight, Wuji Perfected One added more ingredients at just the right time.

Half a moment later, the second heating phase began.

But something was off.

The internal temperature of the furnace far exceeded Wuji Perfected One’s expectations, and some ingredients reacted first and sank to the bottom.

Barely managing to finish the process, Wuji Perfected One opened the lid, but his expression was grim.

He was clearly dissatisfied with the result.

"What I just refined was an Enhanced Spirit Energy Pill, meant to help cultivators at the Spirit Refining Stage. But it seems I failed."

"That’s unfortunate. I’ll clean the Pill Furnace."

"Go ahead. I’ll wait a few days before the next session."

"Understood."

After Wuji Perfected One left the Refining Room, Jang So-cheon opened the lid and scraped out the congealed Spirit Fluid with a wooden spatula.

He thought that the failed Spirit Fluid might not be entirely useless.

Overall, it was a failure.

But here and there, some properly refined Spirit Fluid remained.

He gathered those bits together and managed to form a small Elixir Pill.

It was an Enhanced Spirit Energy Pill.

Jang So-cheon tucked the pill into his robe, cleaned the Pill Furnace, and returned to his quarters.

He took out the Enhanced Spirit Energy Pill, examined it, then sat cross-legged and swallowed it whole.

Crunch, crunch.

Gulp!

After chewing and swallowing the pill, Jang So-cheon immediately began Qi Circulation Meditation.

His stomach grew hot, and a tremendous surge of Spiritual Energy spread through his Four Limbs and Hundred Seas.

The Enhanced Spirit Energy Pill was meant for those at the Spirit Refining Stage—someone at the Qi Refining Stage shouldn’t have been able to handle it.

It contained too much Spiritual Energy.

But the pill Jang So-cheon had just taken had much weaker effects.

And it was small, so he could absorb its energy without much trouble.

Tap, tap!

After finishing his meditation, Jang So-cheon tapped his lower abdomen with his palm.

His stomach felt solid.

Grinning, he pulled out the Mystic Flask from his Heaven and Earth Pouch.

But nothing happened.

The beauty painted on the flask was still as beautiful as ever…

And the white fox kept her eyes closed.

Still, Jang So-cheon shook, tilted, and tapped the flask.

He even blew Spiritual Energy into the opening and pricked his finger to drop some blood inside.

But nothing worked.

Disappointed, he put the Mystic Flask back in his Heaven and Earth Pouch and took out the Primordial Divine Sword.

He had finished deciphering the Dragon Flying Peak Martial Art a few days ago, thanks to his master.

Now, he knew exactly where to break up the complex flow and patterns.

The martial art contained thirty-six techniques in total.

But strictly speaking, they were divided into eighteen Initial Forms, twelve Middle Forms, and six Final Forms.

But these weren’t human techniques.

The Initial Forms could only be performed by beings with Divine Power, like the dragon and phoenix.

They were meant to be performed while flying through the sky, so it was no wonder Jang So-cheon hadn’t been able to imitate them.

The twelve Middle Forms were said to have the power to topple mountains and overturn seas.

But even those paled in comparison to the last techniques.

The final six forms written in the Dragon Flying Peak Martial Art claimed to have the power to control space and time.