The command was that of a madman. Master Feng, his face pale and slick with sweat, stared at the boy on the cot, his mind screaming that this was suicide.
"Are you mad?" the old alchemist choked out, his arms trembling as he fought the raging energy. "Add a Yin toxin of that potency now? We'll all be blown to bits!"
"You're trying to dam a flood with your bare hands, you old fool!" Li Xuan rasped, pushing himself up on one elbow. "The life force has no enemy, so it rages! Give it a war to fight! The venom is a death-attribute toxin. The fern is pure life. Add the venom now, or this entire building will be a crater in the next ten seconds! DO IT!"
The insane logic slammed into Master Feng. In a moment of desperate clarity, he chose the madman's chance over certain failure. "Lu! The venom!"
Young Master Lu, acting on pure terror, poured the single, viscous black drop into the heart of the raging green inferno.
There was no explosion. Instead, the cauldron let out a deep, guttural hum. A wave of inky, toxic energy collided with the violent, verdant life force of the fern. The cauldron shook as if two primordial beasts were now locked in a death struggle within.
Li Xuan watched, his mind a sea of cold, professional calm. 'Perfect. The two forces will exhaust each other, grind each other down. The balance will be crude, the energies impure, but for this mortal world, it will have to do. A simple Lesser Soul-Healing Pill. Barely worthy of the name, but enough to counteract the Silent Ghost venom.'
He began to issue sharp, precise commands from the cot. "Lu! The Silvermoon Moss, now! Cool the base!" "Old man, stabilize the vortex! Don't fight it, guide it!"
Under his guidance, the warring energies subsided. The violent light softened. A rich, medicinal, and strangely peaceful aroma filled the room. The refinement was complete.
Master Feng and Lu peered into the now-silent cauldron. At the bottom sat two small pills. They weren't a swirling masterpiece of cosmic law. They were a simple, milky-white, with a single, thin black line running through the center, like a crack in a piece of jade.
To Li Xuan, they were a crude but functional product. To Master Feng, they were the greatest miracle he had ever witnessed.
The old master's professionalism finally shattered. The sixty years of pride, of being the undisputed authority of alchemy in Yan Town, crumbled to dust. His eyes took on the wild, fanatic light of a believer who had just seen his god descend from the heavens.
He stumbled forward, not towards the pills, but towards the small cot. He fell to his knees before the ragged, blood-stained boy. The entire room—Lu, Captain Gao, the guards, Chen, Meili—stared in absolute, stunned silence.
Master Feng, the venerable head of the Three Flower Alchemist Association, reached out with a trembling hand, not daring to touch the boy, but aiming for the hem of his filthy trousers as if it were a sacred relic.
"I don't know who you are, but Master!" the old man cried, his voice cracking with emotion, his forehead nearly touching the dusty floor. "What is your name? Honor us by telling your name! And please… who is your master? Who in all the heavens could possibly teach such divine techniques?"
Li Xuan looked down at the groveling old man, his expression a mixture of profound annoyance and utter exhaustion. 'Great,' he thought, a fresh wave of weariness washing over him. 'A follower. Just what I needed.'
Before he could offer a suitably dismissive reply, a pained gasp came from the other side of the room. The children.
His blurry eyes snapped towards the examination table. The crisis was not over. His tone became hard and urgent, cutting through the old man's worship.
"Get up, you old fool, and stop wasting time," he rasped, his voice barely a whisper. "The Lesser Soul-Healing Pills are ready."
He paused, letting his final words land with the weight of a death sentence.
"But the poison has already reached their hearts. You have less than a minute."
(Author's Note - A Message from MythicNovelist
Hello, my fellow Daoists!
First, a huge thank you for reading this far. I'm a new author, and being able to share the journey of Li Xuan with you is an incredible experience. As we're still at the very beginning of this epic, I want to build this story with you. Your feedback is like a rare spirit herb that will help this novel grow strong!
I have a few questions, and I would be honored if you could share your honest thoughts in the comments. This will help me a lot.
1) Chapter Length: What do you prefer?
Let me know which release schedule you would enjoy more:
* A) Two longer chapters per day (around 1500+ words each).
* B) Three shorter chapters per day (around 800-1000 words each).
2) Story Direction: What are you excited about?
My goal is to write a story grounded in logic and common sense (because I'm a reader first, just like you!). I want to explore new ideas and avoid some of the more common tropes. For example, my plan is to make this a grand adventure novel, focusing on Li Xuan discovering the many realms of the cultivation world, rather than having him join a sect or an academy for hundreds of chapters. Does this sound exciting to you?
3) Your Ideas!
Are there any cool concepts or ideas you'd love to see in a cultivation novel? While the main plot is set, I'm always open to considering awesome suggestions for side quests, characters, or unique treasures!
Your feedback is the most valuable resource I have. Please, take a moment to drop a comment below with your answers (e.g., "1A, and I love the adventure idea!").
Thank you again for your support. Now, let's see what happens next!)