63: Chapter 63: Discussing the Way of Alchemy and Debating Pharmacology

At the entrance outside the altar, two figures arrived side by side.

Jiang Changge walked with his hands behind his back, his pace composed, while Zhou Tianchen followed beside him.

"Senior!"

Ancestor Zhou Huaixu's voice was filled with respect and excitement.

He rose from his seat, came to a halt in front of Jiang Changge, and bowed deeply.

"Greetings, Senior."

Within the Hundred Herbs Altar, hundreds of gazes shifted toward them simultaneously.

Ancestor Zhou Huaixu—at the Peak of Undergoing Tribulation, the Old Ancestor of the Zhouwu Dynasty, an existence standing at the very top of this world—was actually performing such a grand salute to a young man?

"Who is that person?"

"To make Old Ancestor Zhou so respectful, what is his background?"

"I've never seen him. Since when did such a figure appear in the Southern Desolation?"

...

Dan Qingzi sat in the main seat at the center of the altar. His murky eyes fell upon Jiang Changge, and his pupils contracted slightly.

He recognized him; it was the white-robed young man outside the Purple Bamboo Forest whom Ancestor Zhou Huaixu had treated with absolute deference.

Nangong Mu's brow furrowed as his gaze swept back and forth across Jiang Changge, attempting to perceive the other's cultivation.

After a moment, his expression darkened slightly; he could perceive nothing at all.

That person stood there like a deep pool, seemingly calm and without ripples, yet bottomless.

"This person is not simple," Nangong Mu muttered in a low voice.

He was an Alchemist of the Heavenly Sword Sect, a Revered Master of both Alchemy and the sword.

When the Sect Master returned earlier, he had sent people to investigate this person's origins, but they had found nothing.

Yang Danzi set down a gourd from his waist, took a swig of spiritual wine, and narrowed his eyes as he studied Jiang Changge thoughtfully.

Ancestor Zhou Huaixu stepped aside to lead the way, bringing Jiang Changge and Zhou Tianchen to the Zhouwu Dynasty's seating area.

Ancestor Zhou Huaixu gave up his own main seat and sat in a lower position, his posture extremely respectful.

Seeing this, Yao Li also hurriedly moved to the side.

Jiang Changge did not stand on ceremony and took the main seat, his gaze casually sweeping across the altar.

Zhou Tianchen sat down beside him, his eyes looking toward the Ancient Towering Medicinal Tree in the center of the altar, a trace of complexity flashing in his gaze.

He had been to Medicine King Valley several times.

Every time he came in the past, he had arrived with the heart of a pilgrim, piously seeking guidance on the Dao of Alchemy from every Elder here.

But now, sitting in this Hundred Herbs Altar once again, his state of mind was completely different.

In the altar, those Earth Rank Alchemists were still whispering about something, their gazes drifting toward them from time to time.

Just then, the melodious sound of a bell rang out from deep within Medicine King Valley.

"Dong—!"

The bell's toll was deep and long, echoing through the valley.

Dan Qingzi stood up, his green robes fluttering slightly in the spiritual wind.

"The Alchemy Exchange Convention begins now."

His voice was not loud, yet it reached everyone's ears clearly.

"Fellow Daoists, please speak freely. Discuss the Dao of Alchemy, debate medicinal principles, and express your views."

As his voice fell, the altar became quiet for a moment.

Huo Lingzi was the first to speak, his voice like a resonant bell: "I shall start by offering my humble opinion."

He stood up from his seat, his crimson Daoist robes snapping in the spiritual wind.

"In the Dao of Alchemy, the most important factor is the control of the heat."

"If the heat is insufficient, the Medicinal Pill will not form; if the heat is excessive, the Medicinal Pill will be destroyed."

"This is the most basic principle of Alchemy, but among everyone seated here, who dares to say they have truly mastered the essence of heat control?"

Huo Lingzi's words caused many Alchemists present to nod in agreement.

Daoist Xuandan stood up and spoke at a steady pace: "What Fellow Daoist Huo Lingzi says is absolutely correct; heat control is indeed vital. However, in my view, the subtlety of ingredient pairing is even more important than heat control."

He stroked his beard and continued: "The Sovereign, Minister, Assistant, and Courier; Mutual Necessity and Assistance, Mutual Fear and Inhibition."

"The success or failure of a cauldron of pills is determined from the moment the materials are selected. No matter how precise the heat control, it cannot save a batch of pills with improper pairing."

Hearing this, Huo Lingzi frowned and was about to retort, but Yun Yin spoke up first.

Her voice was cold and clear like jade, neither fast nor slow: "Heat control and ingredient pairing are both the foundation of the Dao of Alchemy, but they are not its Peak. I believe the key to Alchemy lies in the unity of mind and spirit."

"If the spirit does not condense, the pill will not condense. If the mind has distractions, then no matter how accurate the heat or how refined the pairing, one cannot refine a High Grade Medicinal Pill."

Once these words were spoken, the altar fell into a brief silence.

Yang Danzi set down his wine gourd and grinned: "Fellow Daoist Yun Yin speaks so abstractly. I'm just a crude man and don't quite understand."

"But I feel that with Alchemy, you just keep refining and it'll eventually come out. Why all these complicated theories?"

At these words, a burst of good-natured laughter rang out in the altar.

Yao Li snorted coldly: "Nonsense and pestering."

Yang Danzi wasn't annoyed either; he chuckled and took another swig of wine.

The other Earth Rank Alchemists also expressed their views, and the atmosphere in the altar gradually grew heated.

The Alchemists present either nodded in agreement or were lost in thought, each immersed in this feast of the Dao of Alchemy.

In contrast, Zhou Tianchen sat beside Jiang Changge with a calm expression, but deep in his eyes, there was a trace of boredom that was hard to conceal.

In the past, if he could sit in the Hundred Herbs Altar and listen to the Earth Rank Alchemists discuss the Dao, he would have been voracious, wishing he could carve every word into his brain.

But now, listening to Huo Lingzi talk at length about the way of heat control, he only felt these remarks were extremely superficial.

Heat control? The discourse on heat control in the Scripture of Alchemy was many times more profound than Huo Lingzi's words.

He recalled that sentence from the Scripture of Alchemy—'Fire is not fire, but the heart. Timing is not timing, but the season.'

Using the heart as the fire and the season as the timing—this was the true essence of heat control.

What Huo Lingzi spoke of was merely scratching the surface.

Daoist Xuandan's discussion on ingredient pairing seemed even more dull to him.

Was the subtlety of pairing limited to just the Sovereign, Minister, Assistant, and Courier?

All things in heaven and earth can be used in a pill, and the Yin and Yang and Five Elements are all part of the pairing; this was the supreme Realm of ingredient pairing.

Daoist Xuandan's words remained only at the level of technique; he hadn't even touched the threshold of the Dao.

As for the unity of mind and spirit mentioned by Yun Yin, it did touch upon some of the essence of the Dao of Alchemy, but that was all.

Zhou Tianchen sat upright, his face showing no emotion, but he secretly shook his head.

To his ears, the discourses of these top Alchemists of the Southern Desolation were nothing more than some old, tired clichés.

On the other hand, his Revered Master beside him hadn't said a word from beginning to end, just sitting there with a calm expression, even with a faint, indiscernible smile playing on his lips.

Zhou Tianchen stole a glance at his Revered Master, his heart filled with even more admiration.

His Revered Master's Realm was indeed not something these Earth Rank Alchemists could compare to.

Even a Heaven Rank Alchemist would not be able to look down upon him.

The discussion continued until noon the next day, and the atmosphere in the Hundred Herbs Altar remained as fervent as fire.

Huo Lingzi and Daoist Xuandan went back and forth, debating until their faces were red.

Yang Danzi still held his wine gourd, occasionally making a remark that seemed off-beat but contained sharp insight, causing the crowd to either laugh or ponder.

The discourses of the other Earth Rank Alchemists were reaching their Peak, progressing from heat control to pairing, from pairing to the mind and spirit, and from the mind and spirit to the perception of the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, deepening layer by layer.

The Alchemists present were enthralled, wishing they could carve every word into their very marrow.

Zhou Tianchen sat upright by Jiang Changge's side, a hint of utter boredom faintly showing in his eyes.