A bit later, the Pill Master asked Pef to demonstrate his practical knowledge of Alchemy, by crafting a pill recipe he was familiar with.
The Divine Cook glanced around the workshop and began to gather some ingredients, while also taking out a few herbs from the Jade Mountains. Then, alongside Icefire he began refining a Universe Pill, and a couple of hours later, he received the Heaven's confirmation via a small Tribulation. Pef just collected the lightning into a marble-size ball, for later. One didn't waste such precious ingredients, even if they were of lower Tier.
"Hmmm. A True God Ascension Pill, also with a cloud. Better than most of those guys outside already. Can you do even better?" the Pill Master asked after examining the pill for a long minute.
"I once made a Tier 6 pill, but the circumstances were complex, including a Tier 8 Tribulation." our hero answered with a modest voice.
His new teacher nodded slowly. "Elder God Realm, not bad. Still under the immortal barrier, which is where most Alchemists stumble as well."
"True enough. It's why I set aside Alchemy for a later time, if I ever found someone to teach me properly." Pef admitted with a shrug.
"I see. But you weren't idle, and continued advancing the Dao by Cooking. Like this marvelous meat bun, made with Phoenix meat if I'm not mistaken." The Pill Master mused with a wary glance at the Phoenix Burger.
"The stronger people in my Legion killed the Elder Phoenix and gave me the body to cook it. You should really eat it, Pill Master. It is good." the Divine Cook urged the Alchemist with an inviting voice.
The man instead sighed and sat down, and took out a handful of Phoenix Feathers. "Although the bird wasn't very forthcoming with his feathers, now the source is gone. There won't be a way to create Phoenix Down Pills anymore. Such a tragedy."
Pef thought for a minute, and realized that his glove now sat on a huge treasure of non-replenishable Phoenix Feathers. "I know the people who have the rest of the feathers. Something can be arranged, no doubt."
The Pill Master's eyes glinted with something, and then he just laughed. "Good enough, I guess. This is the recipe for Golden Nirvana Pill, which also uses Phoenix Feathers. Go and practice, and return when you manage to make such a pill without fail. Buy yourself a Golden Cauldron too, or maybe five. They tend to explode occasionally."
Pef read the scroll and frowned. The recipe also contained Paramita Flower petals, as well as the eyes of a Chaos Beast or lower Demon. But ingredients aside, the refining method was purposefully vague. "Is this a test? Ingredients I can obtain, but there's nothing here than add stuff into a cauldron, and heat them slowly until they form a paste."
The Pill Master tugged at his collar. "Take a thousand Alchemists, and their methods are all different. Different flames, cultivation realms and specific Dao paths. You have good flames and cultivation realm, Divine Cook. But your path is not something anyone else has a say in. And later, a good cauldron will also impact the quality of your pills."
Pef sighed and went to rest his back on the workshop's door. At least the new Formations will be useful. They were all Order-aligned, making the lab a stable environment, and preventing most Qi fluctuations from disturbing the pill refinement process. Plus numerous security checks and privacy seals, also useful for a secretive Alchemist.
"I'm still waiting until you eat my Phoenix Burger, or you return it to me." he said in a casual voice.
The Alchemist glared at the Divine Cook for a second, then took the burger in hand. "Being secretive with your creations, even from your teacher?"
"Not at all. You're welcome to eat it. Just not sell it or trade it away to some old monster. I also need the good Karma flowing towards me." Pef explained in a colder voice.
The Pill Master took a bite from the Phoenix Burger and the rest just melted inside his dantian, granting him the powerful Body of Steel and a bonus to his inner flames.
"I see, this is what you have hidden inside. A nascent Phoenix Heart, with an accent on Yang energy. It will take me some time to adjust my flames." he mused while holding a naked flame in his hand.
"Just imagine eating a hundred such burgers, Pill Master. Your inner flames might even evolve enough to grant you a Steel Alchemist pin. I can already feel the gratitude."
The Divine Cook offered in a light voice, then pushed on the door and managed to open it with a few subverted arrays.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
In the hallway outside, Pef anchored a Portal Array for a faster commute and returned home.
The Pill Master frowned and slammed the door closed, once the young visitor departed. Then he sat down, to let his Dao Heart recover and heal. Somehow, the new Phoenix Heart helped greatly, granting him a tiny bit of the famous Phoenix regeneration. Now, what to do? The Karma debt of his new body had to be repaid, despite the Dean likely waiting to fish something valuable from this affair.
Rarely if ever he was the one on the other end of the scales, even after reaching the peak of Alchemy. But what if the Steel Pin was possible? The young Divine Cook managed to create something similar to his own Iron Pills, but already granting Steel Realm abilities.
A new heart pulse from his heart informed Yangzi that the decision was already taken. The universe will have a new Iron Pin Alchemist soon, even if his treasury will be empty by then.
The returned to his Jade cauldron and started preparing an easier Golden Ascension Pill, even using a precious Phoenix Feather for this task. After several grueling hours of had work, the Heavens bestowed their Tribulation as a pair of Golden Pills jumped out from the cauldron.
Only one of the pills had a cloud, but a line pill as a bonus wasn't bad either. The Elders outside all had some nephew or disciple that would benefit from a rapid Ascension.
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Pef entered the Seven Color Pagoda and found the place strangely empty. But of course, the Bamboo tree and its monk had already left, leaving only the Peach and Mulberry branches with their new caretaker, Lady Si. And a handful of noisy silkworms between the leaves of the Mulberry tree, chattering constantly.
"Lord husband, welcome." Lady Si spoke in a respectful voice, her speech already carrying a tinge of Logos Dao and hues of gold in the air vibrations carrying her voice.
"I don't like this, Si. Soon enough, the tree will take your voice, just like it did to the Silent Monk." Pef muttered with an angry glare at the Mulberry Tree.
The silkworms screeched even louder, while the Peach Tree waved its leaves to gather some Paramita Flower petals and bring them into his hand. Reading his mind, as always.
Pef sat with his back leaning on the Peach Tree, and began his Alchemy refining, managing to reach half towards a clear paste of the Golden Nirvana Pill before his cauldron exploded. Luckily, the glove had collected thousands of similar cauldrons and just dropped them in a pile, beside the mountain of precious spirit crystals.
He collected the broken cauldron shards and kept them into a storage ring. Broken bits of metal will be useful to practice his Forging Dao anyway.
Then he drew a deep breath, and brought another cauldron in front of him. Cultivation was hard, nothing new. He just had to work even harder.
He entered a sort of trance, constantly balancing the flames and his breath, failing countless times, until a Tribulation landed on the cauldron.
Pef curiously opened the lid to discover a Cloud Nirvana Pill, and beside the table a tray with 500 failed pills, some burned, some only a line or three. Failures all.
Lady Si sat down beside him and hugged his side as he examined the pill for a long time. "The Heavens decided it's a perfect pill, husband." she said in a gentle voice.
"They did, right? But I don't feel it is perfect." Pef said with a sad voice. But something was missing. Then he knocked on the Peach Tree. "I know I suck at Alchemy, old tree. What is missing?"
A gust of wind picked up the pill from Pef's hand, and lifted it up among the tree's flowers. Then the pill was flicked into the next tree nearby, where a silkworm ate it and grew into a much larger worm, elephant-sized. 'Food for worms' the Peach tree sent into Pef's mind, confirming his suspicion.
The pill recipe was probably flawed, or lacking a key ingredient.
Pef kissed Lady Si on her forehead, then flew to his favorite beach in the Blue Realm. There he took out the Prison Skull, and dived right in.
The Chaos Fiend was probably as strong as he was now, despite a different type of cultivation realm, not quite in the Steel Realm, by reading his Qi aura.
"The Divine Cook returns! Probably stronger than the last time, right?" the Fiend observed with a doubtful voice, as if he didn't register Pef's cultivation realm at all.
"I was in Tier 10 when we first met. Now I'm at Tier 12, the early parts." Pef answered with a careless shrug.
"You mean your Qi level. Who cares about that, though. Only the Dao matters." the Fiend said in a dismissive voice.
Our hero sighed, admitting defeat. Truly, cultivation was about the Dao and not some Qi measurement scale. All his strength was not enough to craft a decent pill or open the way to the Creation River.
"Cultivation is so hard." Pef whispered, mostly to himself.
"And so it is. Do I smell defeat in your breath, human?" the Fiend asked in a harsher voice.
"I failed many times before. It is a constant of life. I'm getting better though, but it is slow and hard." Pef answered in a sad tone.
"I smell failed Alchemy on you, Divine Cook. Burned pills and exploded cauldrons too. Quite amusing." the Chaos Fiend declared in a lighter voice.
"That's not it, old Fiend. I managed to make a cloud pill in the end. But it was a failure too. Only good for worms." Pef explained as he took out the cauldron and began to refine a new Nirvana Pill.
Repeating the same refining wasn't even hard, and even the Tribulation appeared again to bless a failed pill. Pef threw the cloud pill at the Fiend and waited for his expert advice. But the Fiend just ate the pill and nodded in satisfaction.
"Well? Was it not true? I feel the pill is bad, so it must be true." Pef asked in mild confusion.
"I can't explain it to you like you want me, young human. But I will preach the Dao to you, and focus on Creation a bit more. The Dao will show you the Way." the Chaos Fiend spoke in a gentler voice as his words transformed in golden Words and Pef floated in a enlightment state, just as the River of Creation covered them both.