Chapter 131 - The Transcendent Lotus-Heart Pill and the Shameless Sale
Chapter 131: Chapter 131 - The Transcendent Lotus-Heart Pill and the Shameless Sale
Liu Meng looked at the single low-grade Immaculate Lotus-Heart Pill inside the cauldron.
Before today, she had already heard of this matter from her master.
At that time, Liu Meng had listened. She had believed her master would not lie. But belief and understanding were different.
Liu Meng slowly clenched her fingers.
The Fallen-Star Sanctuary suddenly became more important to her.
If that mystic realm truly contained spirit herbs unaffected by the changes in the outside world...
Then she had to see it.
For her path.
She did not want to become an alchemist who merely succeeded. She wanted to become an alchemist who could draw nine pills from one furnace.
That was the Dao of alchemy refusing to accept that decline was normal.
Su Bai also looked at the pill.
His thoughts moved in another direction.
The current herbs were already weakened. If he forced one batch to produce several pills, the medicinal structure would probably collapse or the grade would fall.
For now, one pill from one batch was still the safest path.
Su Bai raised his eyes.
It’s time for his own refinement to start.
He moved to a jade table at the side. He did not need a cauldron.
Liu Meng followed almost instinctively.
She had watched Su Bai use Cold-Forging before, but watching it applied to a new pill was still valuable.
Ji Ruyue silently stood on the other side.
Li Xuanzong and Lu Canghai also approached.
Su Bai arranged one batch of ingredients on the table.
The same sequence. A different method.
Su Bai raised his hand. Ashen-Frost Blight Flame appeared silently.
The temperature in the pill room dropped.
Liu Meng watched seriously. She wanted to see was how Su Bai would adjust Cold-Forging to the Immaculate Lotus-Heart Pill.
Su Bai first picked up the lotus-heart root.
The pale root hovered above the jade table.
Ashen-Frost Blight Flame curled around it.
The outer layer froze first. Then the cold sank inward.
During Liu Meng’s refinement, the lotus-heart root had softened first, releasing its foundation essence gradually.
For Cold-Forging, Su Bai could not simply freeze it from the outside.
If the essence remained asleep, freezing it would only preserve dead medicine.
He needed the moment after awakening.
Before weakening.
The lotus-heart root trembled faintly.
A thread of white essence rose.
Su Bai’s eyes sharpened.
’Now.’
Coldness closed.
The white essence froze into a thin petal-like crystal.
Liu Meng nodded slightly.
That timing was right.
Purification dew came next.
The clear drops floated into the air.
Instead of pouring them into flame, Su Bai let them spread into mist.
The mist tried to expand.
He froze it while it was still moving. Into suspended clarity.
The purification dew became a ring of tiny translucent beads around the lotus crystal.
White jade marrow followed.
This ingredient was troublesome.
During Liu Meng’s refinement, it gave weight and stability to the mist.
In Cold-Forging, if frozen too early, it would become hard and dead.
If too late, it would sink and suppress everything.
Su Bai released a thin stream of Ashen-Frost Blight Flame beneath it, not above.
The white jade marrow slowly softened.
Then, when its heavy nature awakened, Su Bai froze only its outer layer while leaving a faint warmth sealed inside.
A half-frozen weight.
A stabilizing heart.
Li Xuanzong’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Lu Canghai stopped smiling.
This was no longer only copying the sequence.
Su Bai was translating the recipe into another path.
Then came the miasma-cleansing flower.
The moment Su Bai picked it up, the flower trembled.
Its medicinal nature was sharp.
Even without flame, it seemed to want to cleanse the cold around it.
The Ashen-Frost Blight Flame touched its petals.
The miasma-cleansing flower reacted instantly.
A pale cleansing light burst outward.
It tried to scatter the lotus foundation.
It tried to purify the blight within the cold.
It tried to reject the entire method.
Liu Meng’s expression turned serious.
This was the same difficulty she had sensed earlier.
The miasma-cleansing flower was not passive medicine.
It was a guard dog pretending to be a herb.
If awakened too freely, it would attack everything it considered impure.
And Su Bai’s Ashen-Frost Blight Flame was clearly something it disliked.
The lotus crystal trembled.
The purification beads became unstable.
Su Bai’s Qi began to drain faster.
Then a faint purple mark appeared on his forehead.
He activated the Dao-Shattering Jade.
Clarity descended.
A chunk of his Qi vanished as if swallowed by an unseen mouth.
But Su Bai’s eyes became frighteningly clear.
The movement of every thread of essence slowed in his perception.
The miasma-cleansing flower was not simply scattering. It was searching for impurity.
If he resisted with more blight, it would fight harder.
If he suppressed it directly, its essence would collapse.
Then he should not fight it.
He should give it something to cleanse.
Su Bai shifted the Ashen-Frost Blight Flame.
A thin layer of false impurity formed on the outer edge of the half-formed pill structure.
The miasma-cleansing flower immediately rushed toward it.
At the same time, the white jade marrow pressed inward.
The purification dew ring rotated.
The lotus-heart foundation stabilized.
Su Bai froze the miasma-cleansing flower essence at the exact moment it completed its cleansing motion.
At completion.
The pale light became a frozen outer petal.
Su Bai exhaled softly.
The most dangerous step passed.
The auxiliary herbs followed.
Compared to the main four ingredients, they were easier, but not simple.
Each had to be awakened, flash-frozen, and placed in the structure without breaking the balance.
...
Time passed.
The cold on the jade table grew thicker.
A quarter hour.
Half an hour.
One hour.
The frozen lotus structure finally shrank.
The ash-gray frost withdrew.
A pale white pill slowly formed above the jade table.
Its surface was flawless.
A clear lotus pattern bloomed across it.
Around the lotus pattern, there was a faint outer ring like translucent petals ready to fall away.
The pill did not release violent pressure. It simply existed quietly as if it had slipped through a gap the world had forgotten to close.
Liu Meng moved first.
She took out a jade box almost instantly and caught the pill with both hands.
The room remained silent.
Then Lu Canghai slowly inhaled.
"Transcendent Grade."
Li Xuanzong stared at the jade box.
His face was calm. His eyes were not.
Just like that, a Transcendent-Grade Immaculate Lotus-Heart Pill was born.
Lu Canghai’s smile slowly widened.
"The heavens did not notice."
Su Bai looked at the jade box.
He did not look proud, only thoughtful.
Compared to the Nine-Severing Frost Pill, this refinement had not been as unnerving.
Compared to the Corpse-Chill Yin Pill, it required more precise sequencing.
The difficulty was not force. It was timing.
The Immaculate Lotus-Heart Pill had to be caught at each ingredient’s correct moment.
Especially the miasma-cleansing flower.
If that step failed, the structure would scatter.
Still, he had succeeded.
That was enough for now.
Liu Meng held the jade box carefully.
Her eyes were shining.
"Senior Brother Su, the sequence was correct."
Su Bai looked at her.
"The flower is the key."
Liu Meng nodded.
"Its cleansing nature must be guided, not suppressed. If forced, it scatters the foundation. If released, it purifies the structure. You made it complete its cleansing before freezing it."
Su Bai nodded.
That was also his conclusion.
Ji Ruyue said quietly, "It tried to cleanse your cold."
Su Bai answered, "It dislikes my method."
Lu Canghai looked at the remaining materials.
"Continue."
No one objected.
The refinements resumed.
Liu Meng returned to the cauldron.
After her first success, her rhythm improved quickly.
Her second pill was still low-grade, but smoother.
Her third almost reached mid-grade.
Her fourth was mid-grade.
By the fifth refinement, low-grade pills stopped appearing.
Mid-grade became her lowest result.
Li Xuanzong watched with growing satisfaction.
Liu Meng did not rush.
She did not become arrogant after improvement. Each time, she reviewed what went wrong. Each time, she corrected the next batch.
This was the mark of a true alchemist. Not someone who never made mistakes. Someone whose mistakes became steps.
Ji Ruyue also began trying.
Her first attempt was silent for half the process. Then the cauldron gave a muffled boom.
A puff of pale smoke rose.
Ji Ruyue stared at it expressionlessly.
Lu Canghai looked at the smoke.
"Very clean explosion."
Li Xuanzong nodded.
"Controlled."
Ji Ruyue looked at the ruined batch.
"Again."
Her second attempt lasted longer.
Then the miasma-cleansing flower froze the upper layer and scattered the foundation.
The result was not a pill.
It was a white lump that smelled oddly refreshing.
Su Bai looked at it.
For some reason, he felt interested.
Ji Ruyue’s third attempt finally succeeded.
But the pill she refined was strange.
Its color was pale blue instead of white.
The lotus pattern was inverted.
Instead of forming a protective outer layer, it formed a cold inner shell.
Liu Meng inspected it carefully.
"This is... not a normal Immaculate Lotus-Heart Pill."
Ji Ruyue lowered her eyes.
"I failed."
Su Bai stepped closer.
His eyes brightened.
"No."
Everyone looked at him.
Su Bai looked at the pale blue pill.
"This may be useful."
Lu Canghai’s brows rose.
"What does it do?"
Su Bai thought for a moment.
"Normal Immaculate Lotus-Heart Pills protect from outside miasma."
He pointed at Ji Ruyue’s pill.
"This one does the opposite."
The room became quiet.
Ji Ruyue looked at the pill again.
Her failure had become something strange.
Su Bai was very satisfied.
As expected, Ji Ruyue’s mistakes were high quality.
Ji Ruyue noticed his expression.
"Why do you look happy?"
Su Bai answered honestly.
"Senior Sister Ji’s failed pills are valuable to me."
Ji Ruyue stared at him.
Lu Canghai laughed.
The refinements continued.
Su Bai remained the slowest.
Every Cold-Forging attempt took much longer than Liu Meng’s cauldron refinement.
He needed to observe the essence, flash-freeze at the exact moment, guide the miasma-cleansing flower’s cleansing direction, and stabilize the sacrificial outer petal layer.
But every successful yield was Transcendent Grade.
One batch.
One pill.
Always Transcendent.
By the fifth Transcendent-Grade pill, Lu Canghai muttered, "If this continues, my heart may recover and break again."
What shocked them even more was not only Su Bai.
It was Liu Meng.
Each refinement strained concentration, spirit, and Dao Heart.
A failed batch could shake confidence.
A successful batch could create pride.
Repeated refinement could make the mind restless, greedy, impatient, or dull.
Most young alchemists needed rest between attempts.
Liu Meng did not.
She refined again and again.
Each batch made her calmer. Each correction made her eyes clearer.
Her Dao Heart did not wobble. It became more focused.
Lu Canghai watched her for a long time.
Then he said softly, "That girl is frightening."
Li Xuanzong nodded.
"A pure alchemy heart."
They had thought Liu Meng was talented.
Now they realized they may have underestimated her.
Su Bai was abnormal. That was expected.
But Liu Meng was not abnormal in the same way.
She was a true alchemy genius.
The kind who could walk very far if given enough materials, failures, and time.
Lu Canghai looked at Su Bai, then at Liu Meng, then at Ji Ruyue calmly studying her strange reversed pill.
After a while, he suddenly laughed.
"Why were we worrying about other factions?"
Li Xuanzong’s expression remained calm, but his eyes softened.
"Yes."
Their own disciples were already good enough.
...
Later that day, when the refinement session paused, Lu Canghai left the pill hall with one jade box.
He did not say where he was going.
Su Bai watched his master leave and silently felt that someone was about to lose spirit stones.
His guess was correct.
Lu Canghai went directly to Thousand Fragrance Pavilion.
Tang Yuyan received him in a private room.
The moment she saw his smile, her mood worsened.
"What did you do?"
Lu Canghai placed a jade box on the table.
"Why must you assume I did something?"
Tang Yuyan looked at the box.
"Because you are smiling."
Lu Canghai sighed.
"You wound me."
"Open it."
Lu Canghai opened the jade box.
A pale white pill rested inside.
The lotus pattern on its surface was clear and flawless.
Around it lay a translucent outer petal ring, delicate and complete.
Tang Yuyan’s expression changed.
She reached out, but stopped before touching it.
Her eyes became sharp.
"Transcendent Grade."
Lu Canghai smiled.
Tang Yuyan looked up slowly.
"You..."
Her voice became colder.
"So the Transcendent-Grade pills that suddenly appeared months ago were indeed from Radiant Sky Sect."
Lu Canghai smiled wider.
"Guess."
Tang Yuyan’s face darkened.
"How did you do this?"
She stared at the pill again.
"I did not sense pill tribulation. I did not hear thunder. There was no heavenly movement."
Her eyes narrowed.
"How can the Heavenly Dao accept something like this?"
Lu Canghai shook his head.
"That is not important."
Tang Yuyan stared at him.
"It is extremely important."
"To alchemists, perhaps."
"You came to an alchemist."
"I came to a merchant."
Tang Yuyan’s eyes became dangerous.
Lu Canghai gently pushed the jade box forward.
"I only want to know one thing. Are you buying?"
Tang Yuyan froze.
For a moment, she had truly thought he had come to show her the result.
Perhaps even give it to her as proof.
Then she realized.
This shameless old man had brought a Transcendent-Grade Immaculate Lotus-Heart Pill to sell to her.
Tang Yuyan’s fingers twitched.
Lu Canghai said seriously, "Yuyan, this is a survival pill. Transcendent Grade. No tribulation trace. No public knowledge. If word spreads, how many old fellows do you think will beg, threaten, or cry for it?"
Tang Yuyan’s anger paused.
That was true.
Lu Canghai continued, "The Tang Clan has clients. Important clients. People who can afford the best."
Tang Yuyan’s gaze moved back to the pill.
"Price."
Lu Canghai named a number.
Tang Yuyan’s face turned cold.
"Robbery."
"Market urgency."
"Shameless."
"Rare grade."
"Old thief."
"Old friend."
Tang Yuyan nearly laughed from anger.
Lu Canghai smiled kindly.
"In addition, I want more materials."
Tang Yuyan stared at him.
The room became silent.
After several breaths, Tang Yuyan said slowly, "You bought materials from me earlier."
"Yes."
"You used those materials to refine this pill."
"Yes."
"Now you are selling the pill back to me."
"Yes."
"And asking for more materials."
Lu Canghai nodded.
"That is the complete transaction."
Tang Yuyan closed her eyes.
Her breathing became very steady.
Lu Canghai tactfully leaned back a little.
After a long moment, Tang Yuyan opened her eyes.
"Lu Canghai."
"Yes?"
"You did not lose a single thing."
Lu Canghai smiled.
"I lost effort."
"You did not refine it."
"I worried while watching."
Tang Yuyan almost crushed the table.
But in the end, she bought it.
She had to.
A Transcendent-Grade Immaculate Lotus-Heart Pill was not something the Tang Clan could ignore.
Even if she hated the seller’s face.
Especially if she hated the seller’s face.
After the spirit stones and additional materials were settled, Lu Canghai accepted everything with the dignified air of a gentleman receiving tea.
Tang Yuyan stared at him.
"Shameless old man."
Lu Canghai winked.
"Only to people I trust."
Tang Yuyan’s expression stiffened.
Then a violet needle appeared between her fingers.
Lu Canghai immediately stood.
"Suddenly, I remember the disciples are waiting."
"Leave."
"I shall visit again."
"Do not."
Lu Canghai left Thousand Fragrance Pavilion in excellent spirits.