NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 4
Chapter 4: First Alchemy:
A thousand years ago, Lingxu City was just a small cultivation town backed by Pure Void Sect and Flame Sun Palace. Today, it had grown into one of the most renowned cities in Cangzhou. The streets were bustling, full of shops and facilities catering to cultivators. There were even several entrances to secret realms scattered throughout the city. Many sects had set up teleportation arrays here for easy travel, resource trading, and training expeditions.
However, after Pure Void Sect’s internal strife ten years ago, it had stopped paying maintenance fees for its teleportation array, which was promptly repossessed by Lingxu Hall. Thus, Tang Mo had no choice but to carry the injured woman down the mountain on foot. The original owner hadn’t even owned a lifebound sword, let alone one that could be used for flight. Fortunately, the journey was short, and by the time he reached the city, it was still early evening.
With the large crowds and mixed company in the city, Tang Mo was extra cautious about his unknown and heavily wounded companion. He wrapped her up tightly, concealing her face, and donned a hooded cloak himself before heading straight to Baicao Pavilion.
As he entered, Xiao Feng, the apprentice tending to medicinal herbs at the front hall, froze at the sight of a hooded man carrying someone in his arms. He stood there dumbfounded, even forgetting to greet the guest—until Tang Mo pulled back his hood.
“Alchemist Tang?” Xiao Feng exclaimed, then glanced at the cloaked figure in his arms. “Senior Sister Ye, is she…?”
Tang Mo had no interest in explaining.
“Is Elder Fang here?” he asked bluntly.
“My master went out to collect herbs. He left yesterday morning.”
“Do you have Three Yin Meridian-Replenishing Pills?”
Xiao Feng shook his head again. “No, my master hasn’t refined any recently. That’s a near fourth-grade pill… Senior Sister Ye’s meridians—?”
Tang Mo sighed helplessly, glancing at the unconscious woman in his arms. “Bring me Three Yin Blood Ginseng and Bining Flower as the primary ingredients. Also, Dragon Mark Ganoderma, Ghost Vine, and fifty-year-old Frostwood Root—one portion each.”
Xiao Feng was stunned. Each of those three extra ingredients had detoxifying effects. Had Senior Sister Ye been poisoned? But Tang Mo didn’t seem interested in explaining, so Xiao Feng could only sigh internally. He’s still so devoted to those ungrateful women. Shaking his head, he hurried off to gather the herbs.
When he returned with the requested ingredients, Tang Mo reached into his storage pouch, preparing to exchange some pills for spirit stones—but Xiao Feng quickly waved him off.
“We’ve known each other for ten years! I’ll just tell my master. You can pay later—saving a life is more important!”
“Thanks.”
Tang Mo didn’t argue, quickly stowing the herbs and leaving like the wind. Xiao Feng watched him go, sighing in pity. A man this kindhearted… How many lifetimes of good karma does it take to meet someone like him? Those three from Pure Void Sect… They were worse than animals.
Tang Mo soon arrived at Tianxin Inn. The innkeeper gave him a knowing look as he rented a Human-Tier Room. Despite being called an inn, Tianxin Inn was as grand as a modern luxury hotel. It exclusively served cultivators and was equipped with all necessary facilities. Every room offered exceptional security and privacy, with an independent spirit-gathering array inside. Some rooms even had alchemy and artifact-forging chambers—though guests had to bring their own pill furnaces and forging tables.
Higher-tier rooms had stronger arrays and jade stone beds that absorbed spiritual energy more efficiently, making them ideal for cultivators without private residences. Some guests remained in seclusion for years inside these rooms.
After entering the room, Tang Mo carefully placed the unconscious woman onto the jade stone bed. Sighing, he muttered, “Haven’t even started earning yet, and I’m already spending.”
But as he looked at her delicate features—pale and twisted in pain, as if she were a fragile string ready to snap—he had to admit… he couldn’t bring himself to abandon her.
Shaking off the thought, he turned and headed for the alchemy chamber.
Closing the door behind him, Tang Mo retrieved the original owner’s pill furnace from his storage pouch and set it in the center of the darkroom. It was a second-grade bronze pill furnace, used by the original owner for four years. Though well-maintained, its built-in pill fire was mediocre, making it difficult to refine anything above third-grade pills. Yet, Three Yin Meridian-Replenishing Pills were near-fourth grade.
Tang Mo could only rely on the miraculous properties of his Pill Spirit Root to compensate. After all, ten years ago, the original owner had used this very furnace to refine a fourth-grade Gathering Essence Pill—the pill that saved Ye Li’s life.
Tang Mo cast a Dust Cleansing Spell to remove any impurities. Skipping this step could weaken the pill’s medicinal effects—or worse, cause an explosion. Cultivators with resources often used spirit-infused water for a deeper cleanse.
He embedded a mid-grade spirit stone into the furnace’s central slot. Once activated, the furnace’s pill fire ignited, transitioning from a soft yellow to blazing orange. With the furnace preheated, it was time to begin.
Tang Mo opened a wooden box and carefully placed the primary herb, Three Yin Blood Ginseng, into the main chamber. Once the ginseng began to soften under the flames, he added Bining Flower and Luo Ling Sunflower, which he had picked on his way down the mountain. He waited until the ginseng melted into a scarlet liquid before adding the final catalyst—Coagulated Blood Grass.
Once all four ingredients had liquefied into shimmering medicinal pools, Tang Mo infused his spiritual energy into the furnace to filter out impurities. Removing unwanted toxins was one of the hardest steps in alchemy. A single mistake could ruin everything—turning the pill into poison instead.
But Tang Mo’s Spirit Eyes made the impurities glow like stars in the night sky. With flawless precision, he extracted and redirected every impurity into the waste channel. By the time he expelled the last speck of waste, he was drenched in sweat.
Tang Mo increased his spiritual output, controlling the pill fire temperature while carefully stirring the essence. A single mistake could cause an explosion.
Suddenly—his consciousness detached from reality. His mind entered a state of complete immersion. This was “the Selfless State”—a phenomenon so rare that even master alchemists might never experience it in their lifetime. Once achieved, every pill produced had a minimum of three medicinal lines.
Tang Mo had no idea. He simply continued, his hands working with divine precision. Even a fourth-grade alchemist watching him would have cried in shame, wondering what the hell they had been doing all these years. As the medicinal essences merged, an intense aroma seeped through the room.
Lying on the jade bed, the injured woman’s nose twitched. Even in unconscious agony, she subconsciously inhaled the scent, her expression easing slightly. The hellish nightmares plaguing her began to fade. Slowly, Li Weixi’s eyes fluttered open.
She wasn’t in the forest anymore. She had escaped the nightmare. Tears welled in her eyes—but before she could process her relief, a fresh wave of agony dragged her back into her suffering.