Chapter 52: Fallen Ears of Grain

"Swallow a golden elixir into my belly, and only then do I know my fate is not determined by heaven!"

Chen Yu muttered to himself, lifted the lid of the alchemy cauldron, and without waiting for the heat to dissipate, used a ladle to scoop the pill onto a plate.

Authentic alchemy cauldrons usually feature a small, openable vent near the fire port to release the pills. His cauldron, however, had no such thing, so he had to fish them out manually.

He brought the pill before his eyes and examined it closely.

The pill was pitch-black, its surface coated with medicinal residue. It didn't look perfectly round; in some places, it was bumpy, pitted, and uneven.

A master alchemist would have shaken his head at the sight.

"Low-grade." Chen Yu hadn't expected to produce the legendary top-grade treasure elixir described in the alchemy texts on his first try—flawless, pure, and perfectly formed!

Looking through the records, such a result for a common pill was perfectly normal. In the orthodox alchemy sects, where they used lead and mercury casting combined with centuries of refined techniques, the probability of producing a treasure elixir was much higher.

"At least it formed into a pill."

He was reasonably satisfied. This was his first attempt following the alchemy manual; he had initially feared it would turn into nothing but "medicinal powder" or "sludge," but at least this was something recognizable.

Even if it was indeed quite ugly.

After blowing on it to cool it down, he pinched one and popped it into his mouth. He swallowed it with a gulp of water.

It didn't melt in his mouth; it was dry and carried a rich, bitter taste. Still, it was better than peach blossoms, which were truly difficult to eat.

"Oh, I forgot to let Brother Chicken and the gluttonous deer try it first!"

If he had followed the prescription strictly, this wouldn't have been necessary, but he had poured a significant amount of mental energy into the process and successfully infused it with spiritual liquid.

In truth, the recipe noted the pill should be crimson, but his was pitch-black—likely the result of the spiritual liquid. He just didn't know if the medicinal properties had changed or if it was merely a change in color.

Never mind, what's done is done.

Chen Yu felt it probably wouldn't be a big problem... probably.

However, there was no reaction in his belly for a while, and even after circulating the Spirit-Invoking Body Strengthening Technique, he received no feedback, as if the pill had simply vanished upon entering his stomach.

This time, it truly was "my fate is determined by heaven, not by me."

Leaving it to fate, Chen Yu cleaned the cauldron. He had expended quite a bit of mental energy; the environment of the fire was much more intense than usual, and as his mental energy entered the cauldron, it felt as if every inch of his flesh was being seared. Fortunately, he had succeeded in the end... he should have succeeded.

This time, the spiritual liquid hadn't dissipated; he had kneaded it into the medicinal ingredients. At the very least, it was equivalent to having drunk an extra two drops of spiritual liquid.

He put away the equipment and rubbed his head, not forgetting his evening practice.

Everything that needed to be done had to be done: the Cloud Crane Technique had to be practiced, and the Spirit-Invoking Body Strengthening Technique had to be modified. As he breathed and circulated energy, guiding the Qi into his acupoints, he simultaneously converted primal blood while summarizing and improving his methods.

Through testing, the modified breathing method had a certain effect on Qi, but it was very faint, not even as convenient as direct manipulation via mental energy.

After all, the circulation of the technique also required mental and physical effort.

What to do? He could only keep modifying it.

In comparison, the progress of the God-Summoning Technique and the Viscera Rebirth Technique was much faster, especially the latter. Under the nourishment of the Qi seeds, the speed at which his five internal organs were being tempered and strengthened was astonishing.

Except for the spleen, the other parts were on the verge of reaching perfection.

"Is the spleen actually the spleen, or the stomach? Or perhaps both?"

After a bout of idle thoughts, Chen Yu decided to condense a Qi seed in both the spleen and the stomach. The two organs were close together and often linked in Taoist medical texts, so he might as well temper them together.

His gaze fell to the lower dantian.

Once he had incorporated all his internal organs, including the spleen and stomach, into the Qi seeds, the rate at which fetal breath leaked out was no longer as high as when he had first opened his channels at the foot of the mountain.

It was just a thin, faint trickle. His mental energy was now sufficient, so instead, he often found himself waiting for the fetal breath to accumulate before he could further nourish and cultivate Qi.

This undoubtedly limited the progress of guiding Qi into his acupoints.

"The Green Spirit Root needs to be prioritized."

He anticipated that the Green Spirit Root could amplify the fetal breath, thereby increasing the stimulation of the liver. Combined with the Spirit-Invoking Body Strengthening Technique, this would improve the absorption of spiritual liquid. This was the reason he had been able to repeatedly exceed the so-called absorption limit.

The spiritual liquid was converted by the liver to nourish the body and generate fetal breath, and the strengthening of the fetal breath, in turn, fed back into the body, including the liver and other organs.

The two complemented each other.

However, he no longer needed the fetal breath to do this; the Qi was sufficient and even more effective. The power generated by the fusion of mental energy and fetal breath nourished the body far beyond the former.

The only drawback was that once the Qi seeds were condensed, they could only remain curled near the organs, difficult to mobilize, no matter how much mental energy he used.

Fortunately, Chen Yu had plenty of fetal breath, and the amount of Qi he condensed was sufficient. He didn't know how others managed, but he didn't need to worry about which organ to condense first.

He had enough to do it all at once and still have some left over.

"Looking at it now, I should be able to condense even more Qi. I just don't know if I can hold out until the Green Spirit Root matures."

The Green Spirit Root hadn't been planted yet, and his belief that it could amplify fetal breath was only an inference based on past experience—back then, he hadn't had such convenient access to mental energy, and many spiritual plants had to be verified by guesswork.

There was also Brother Chicken’s "sharing of blessings and selfless sacrifice."

The uses of Qi were still worth digging into; he didn't want to stop here, nor did he want to be unable to condense new Qi in the future.

...

The next day was another overcast, cloudy day.

Chen Yu rose early, performed his morning practice, and then took down the gourd made from the Primal Spirit Root. He opened it and melted all the spiritual essence inside into spiritual liquid.

He had melted some when he returned to the mountain, but he had used it all up. These past two days, he had used a great deal—watering the fields, alchemy, and not stopping his own consumption.

If this continued, he might run out of spiritual liquid before his fetal breath was even cut off. Fortunately, he had cleared quite a bit of medicinal farmland; he would just plant everything there when the time came.

The prerequisite was that he had enough spiritual energy.

"It should be enough."

The effect of the spiritual energy was too strong; the method of diluting it with soil was something he had discovered by accident. If he applied too much, he might kill the plants, which would be a waste, so he never used too much at once.

Just enough to ensure catalysis was sufficient.

This time, he planned to sprinkle some spiritual liquid after the spiritual energy successfully triggered the growth, to see if the ripening effect of the spiritual liquid was useful for spiritual plants.

If it was effective, it would be of great use.

Arriving outside the courtyard, Chen Yu carried the green grass he had harvested on the mountain yesterday directly to the shed.

The chestnut-red deer kicked its hooves, bouncing its body and nudging its head back and forth.

It was very restless.

He put down the grass, and the gluttonous deer lowered its head to graze. He reached over the deer's neck to examine it closely—no external injuries.

He leaned closer, resting his forehead against its fur. His mental energy seeped out and entered the small deer's body.

Three inches, five inches... one foot, one foot two inches.

This was his current limit. After resting overnight, his mental energy had replenished significantly. He searched back and forth, finally confirming there were no problems; in fact, it seemed to have gained some benefits.

At the very least, he noticed its stomach seemed to have become stronger.

Relieved, Chen Yu looked up. The little deer had a hearty appetite and was eating with gusto.

He untied the rope; it hadn't been tied tightly anyway, just enough to keep it from wandering off. Now that he had let it go, there wasn't even a mark left on its neck.

As for the previous restlessness... Chen Yu pondered, suspecting it was related to its blood and Qi.

The deer's blood and Qi had grown stronger, becoming somewhat uncontrollable. However, this was only temporary; once it finished eating and calmed down, it would return to normal.

Turning his thoughts to the Spring Millet matured by the spiritual liquid, he realized it was indeed a good thing.

Since the results were in, Chen Yu didn't intend to wait any longer.

He would begin the harvest immediately!