"What do you mean you don't recognize any of the ingredients?!?!"
"This world's flora and fauna are completely different from the organisms from the Nine Heavens…" the Emperor stated, examining the instructions. "This is… problematic."
"No shit!"
Yunfan's heart ached at the thought of 10,000 credits going to waste just like that. He tried to calm himself down. A few deep breaths later, he felt slightly better. However, that didn't actually help him with the problem.
He scanned the text on the walls, almost instantly memorizing it. Not that it would help, since he didn't know the first thing about alchemy. "How are we supposed to do this???"
"I don't know!"
"I don't even know what an…" Yunfan squinted, reading the text again. "…Antelope Step Pill is!"
The Alchemy Emperor slowly turned his head, his eyes sparkling. "Antelope Step Pill…?"
Chu Yunfan noticed the strange tone of the Emperor's voice. "Yes? What about it?"
"I made the Antelope Step Pill!"
Yunfan's jaw dropped. "What???"
"I made that pill recipe when I was fifteen! It became so popular that it spread to the rest of the Nine Heavens within three decades!"
"How does this help, though?" Yunfan deflated. "You still don't recognize any of the ingredients."
"Your Federation scientists must have found ingredients from Earth to replace Kunlun Realm ingredients…" he muttered. "Now that I know what to look for, the instructions remain very similar to my original recipe!
"My Divine Sense should be able to detect the simulated virtual properties of the herbs. Using my knowledge, we can synthesize the recipe without recognizing the ingredients!"
"What are you waiting for then?! We're on a timer!" Yunfan cursed. "Help me!"
"Okay, okay! Stop rushing me!" the Emperor berated his student.
He closed his eyes, breathing deeply as he tried to recall something. When he opened his eyes, he took another few moments before he spoke.
"The best way for me to help would be to possess you.
"Are you sure you trust me enough for that?"
He gave Yunfan a piercing stare.
The boy paused, looking at the Alchemy Emperor for a few moments. After a beat of silence, he said, "I do."
The Emperor's eyes widened slightly. However, it was so brief Yunfan couldn't be sure he saw anything. "Then follow my instructions."
"First, crush that dark-looking purple herb. It has the highest spiritual affinity.
"Add some distilled water from that jug. Mix until it becomes like ink.
"Use it to draw a circle. Then, write these symbols exactly how I tell you, unless you want your soul scattered in the ten directions."
Chu Yunfan dutifully followed the Alchemy Emperor's instructions. Once he was done, he had drawn a deep, violet hexagram about one meter wide in the center of the room. The spell formula was incredibly complex— every inch was covered in at least twelve symbols —and it had taken Yunfan almost thirty minutes to complete.
"Now what?" he asked, anxiously eyeing the timer on the wall. They had less than half an hour left.
The Alchemy Emperor opened his mouth, before closing it with a frown. He mulled over something for several moments before saying, "You don't have any Qi so instead, we'll work with the fire. Toss the rest of the purple ink into the flame under the pill furnace."
Yunfan did as he was told. As soon as the dark purple fluid touched the fire, the flames leaped upwards and turned into a deep, dark blue with yellow at the base. Chu Yunfan danced back, hissing as he blew on his singed fingers. "A warning would've been nice!"
"This is a simulation anyways. It's not real," tsked the Emperor.
"My pain is still real!" Yunfan whined, clutching his fingers.
"Whatever," the Emperor said while rolling his eyes. "Take the fire and throw it into the center of the hexagram."
Yunfan frowned.
"Take the fire… how?"
The Alchemy Emperor grumbled under his breath about "uninformed mortals" and "ignorant fools" before explaining. "Circulate Internal Energy through your fingers and hands and just… scoop it up."
"Just… scoop it up?"
"Yes. Are you hard of hearing, or something?"
Yunfan scowled, as the Emperor stuck his tongue out at him.
The boy harrumphed, before turning towards the crackling, cerulean blaze. He hesitated for a moment, before reinforcing his hands with Internal Energy. He quickly picked up some of the flames, which burned without any fuel and felt like some kind of very light jelly, before tossing it into the center of the circular symbol.
The ink immediately ignited, the fire spreading along the lines that Yunfan had drawn on the floor. Within the time it took a spark to fly off a piece of flint, every stroke and symbol had been lit with mysterious blue fire. The spell formula began giving off an arcane, mysterious aura that seemed to tug at Yunfan's soul.
"I'll handle the rest."
The Alchemy Emperor flew into the center of the hexagram, muttering incantations and sending out pulses of Divine Sense, Qi, and mental power. Suddenly, Yunfan clutched his head as a wave of nausea washed over him. At the same time, the Alchemy Emperor became indistinct.
Without warning, an icy feeling crept over Chu Yunfan's bones. He shivered, looking down at his body that suddenly felt foreign.
"Relax. It's just me." The Alchemy Emperor's voice seemed to echo out from within his skull.
This feels weird.
"Does it feel painful?"
No.
"Good. I modified the spell that I used to merge with the Heavenly Hexagram Emperor since our souls are already intertwined. I only needed to increase our soul harmony, rather than have you rip a hole in your spirit body to let me in."
I don't understand what you said, but it sounds good.
"It is. Now, let's get to business."
Yunfan's body moved, even though he wasn't controlling it. Yep. Definitely feels weird.
"Yeah, yeah, get over it. And pay attention; you're about to receive first-hand teaching from the one and only Alchemy Emperor!"
Yunfan peered out of his own eyes— an eerie and strange sensation —and watched as his body began smoothly preparing the ingredients.
"The pill is high in Wind Qi, so the main ingredient must have a lot."
He picked a few blades of emerald-colored grass that refracted light through its transparent leaves like a crystal.
After chopping it into small, even pieces, he moved the sliced grass into a dish and grabbed another medicinal herb that resembled a chrysanthemum flower, but seemed to sting with static electricity dancing over the petals.
"We can balance the strong effects of pure Wind Qi with some Thunder Qi…"
The Alchemy Emperor began rapidly picking out herbs from the table and preparing them. The entire time, he explained some basic concepts of alchemy theory and why he chose certain ingredients. The whole process was rapid and smooth— the Alchemy Emperor's experience shone through. After two minutes, he had prepared all the ingredients he felt he needed: six dishes of vibrant sliced, ground, or powdered medicinal herbs.
"First, you add…"
The Emperor launched into a whole new explanation as he began with the second half: concoction.
He began skillfully and carefully adding ingredients into the large, bronze cauldron at very precise times. At specific intervals he would stir clockwise or counterclockwise a certain number of times. The entire time, he was providing a vote of confidence in the in-depth explanation to Yunfan, turning very complex explanations into easily digestible material. Yunfan quickly learned more about alchemy in several minutes than most people did in their lifetimes! His learning speed far outpaced even those with private tutors— partially because of his freakish comprehension ability and partly due to the Alchemy Emperor's complete expertise.
Soon, the Emperor had finished concocting the pill. When he removed the cauldron from the furnace, within was a shimmering orb that glinted with light-green light. It gave off a strong, refreshing medicinal scent.
The whole process only took ten minutes.
Yunfan found himself bored; all he was doing was watching the Emperor control his body. The novelty of the possession wore off quickly and he quickly became preoccupied by an intense desire to scratch his nose. Apparently, the Alchemy Emperor did not share sensations since he did not bother to scratch it for him.
Little did Yunfan know that if any other alchemist was here, their eyes would pop right out of their head!
The skill needed to complete so many steps so fluidly was beyond comprehension. Most people would have required forty minutes for the brewing step, yet with his expertise, the Alchemy Emperor had managed to do the same in a fraction of that time! One would have to have concocted countless pills to attain that level of skill!
Suddenly, the black, blocky words on the wall changed.
[Task completed.]
[Analyzing purity…]
Ding!
[98.0% purity!]
[Congratulations!]