Chapter 1288: Chapter 31: Opportunity Beyond the Mountain
Lady Lian had originally planned to wait a few months, and after the Southern Dragon Pillar Meeting was over, summon her people and go to Divine House Mountain to give Zhang Yan a hard time.
Yet she had never thought that this time the Zhongtai Sect would actually be defeated so miserably, and that her two sworn elder brothers would also perish in the battle.
Losing two great helpers at once, even though there were still clansmen supporting her from behind, her status within the sect likewise plummeted, and some concubines who had always been at odds with her saw an opening and went everywhere seeking out her faults.
In such circumstances, she was unwilling to hand others a handle against her, so she restrained her conduct greatly, shut her doors and did not go out, and would not mention the matter of seizing the treasure with so much as a word.
With no one to take the lead, Elder You would certainly not be foolish enough to rush forward alone, and so this matter was simply set aside.
No matter how bloodily the two sects fought, it had nothing to do with Zhang Yan; taking advantage of this rare peace and quiet, he polished his cultivation in the Cave Mansion every day, Refining the Junyang Essence, and would occasionally come out to point out secret essentials of the Cultivation Technique to the Disciples.
Thus, in a blur, a full sixteen years passed in calm.
Within a Cave Mansion in the belly of Cangzhu Cave Peak Mountain, there was a dragon‑patterned Large Cauldron set below the hall; thick White Qi was billowing up, condensing upon the lid into a spiritual canopy, coiling and circling, shaped like a clump of low‑lying cloud and mist. From within the Furnace came a burbling sound, like water at a rolling boil; every sign showed that this batch of Elixir Pills was about to be refined.
Zhang Yan sat upon the high platform to the due north; Daoist Wen and Zhao Ge sat to his left and right. Besides these two, there were three Disciples standing below in the hall, watching the state of the tripod furnace with nervous eyes.
Daoist Wen looked for a moment, then said across to Zhao Ge, "Junior Brother Zhao, your senior brother is ignorant of the Alchemy Dao. Since Sect Leader senior brother entered the sect, you have followed him the longest, so you should be able to see some of the subtleties. I wonder whether He Cheng and the others can refine this Furnace Tripod of Elixir Pills to completion?"
Zhao Ge shook his head and said, "Hard to say. I have seen with my own eyes how He Cheng and the others cultivate diligently every day, but I have heard that this Furnace Tripod of Elixir Pills is extremely testing of effort and eye power, by no means comparable to those usual cooperative batches of Elixir Pills; thus, it is truly hard to say."
Zhang Yan now smiled and said, "You two junior brothers may as well wait at ease; in a moment, the result will be clear."
The three Disciples standing below in the hall bore the Daoist names He Cheng, He Tong, and He Guang. They had originally been Disciples of the Han Yuan Sect, but after sixty or seventy years of Cultivation had only just barely entered the Ming Qi Realm; their innate aptitude and endowment were all quite ordinary.
After Zhang Yan took charge of the Mountain Gate, he deliberately selected Disciples to whom he would transmit the Alchemy Method. The three of them felt that this generation had no hope of the Great Dao, but if they could learn this art, they would still be held in esteem within the sect. They simply cut off other thoughts and devoted themselves single‑mindedly to this path, and after sixteen years of study, they had already gained considerable insight into the Alchemy Dao.
And today was precisely the test question set by Zhang Yan: so long as this batch of Elixir Pills was refined, they could be appointed as heads of the Elixir Institute of the Mountain Gate; all Elixir Pills refined within the sect would come under their control, and in future any Disciple who saw them would have to treat them with courtesy. But if they failed, they could only hand this seat over to another.
At this moment, the sounds coming from the Furnace Tripod in the hall grew ever louder, spiritual cloud churned upon the lid, clearly on the verge of opening the furnace. The three could not help but tense their hearts; whether they succeeded or not would be decided in this very moment.
They each steadied their Heart and Spirit, and at the same time formed an Inner Skill spell, sending a ray of radiance apiece into the Pill Furnace.
They did not know how many times they had performed this action; one could say they were incomparably practiced. Once the radiance struck, it immediately touched the spiritual mechanism. After a short while, there came a sound like metal and jade striking; the furnace lid was pushed up by a gush of Clear Qi, rising five or six feet high. A faint gleam of light appeared within the furnace, and a rich fragrance spread through the hall; with a light inhalation, one felt the Heart and Spirit clear and refreshed, the senses sharpened with Spiritual Wisdom.
Daoist Wen widened his eyes and said, "Has it succeeded?"
Zhao Ge stared fixedly, but he did not speak.
In these past ten‑odd years, Han Yuan Temple had opened up a thousand‑acre Medicine Garden in the mountains, planted with all manner of rare flowers and strange herbs; now that they also had Pill Masters, they no longer needed to rely on the immortal city.
At this time, a Child stepped forward, craned his neck for a look, then reported, "Sect Leader True Master, the Elixir Pills are complete."
Zhang Yan said in a clear voice, "Bring them here for my inspection."
The Child placed the Elixir Pills from the furnace onto a Jade Plate and carried it to the foot of the steps, saying, "Sect Leader True Master, all the Elixir Pills are here."
He Cheng and the other two did not know whether they had passed this trial, and at once became somewhat uneasy and apprehensive.
Zhang Yan cast his gaze down. If he were the one doing Alchemy, this furnace could have refined more than three hundred Great Origin Pills, yet now only a little over a hundred had come out; forty percent of the Elixir Materials had been wasted. Moreover, the pill nature was fierce and forceful, somewhat lacking in gentleness; it could not be called truly fine. But this was only the first time these three had refined this pill, and to have achieved this step was already extremely difficult.
He nodded slightly, looked toward He Cheng and the others, and said with a gentle expression, "The perseverance and endowment you three possess upon the path of Alchemy are outstanding among the younger generation of Disciples in my sect. Now you have already grasped the rudiments. From today onward, the Elixir Room established in the sect shall be under the charge of you three."
