Chapter 114 - Diary of an Outer Disciple
Su Ming thought about the state of the current world. In this day and age, even Saint Rank alchemists were rare, treated like legends by the major sects. A Saint could already transcend mortal limitations, creating pills that carried supernatural properties. But this diary did not even care about Saints.
An Alchemy King was a tier above Saint. An Emperor was above King. And beyond that was the rank of Immortal.
’To refine pills without fire or cauldron...’
It was a level of mastery that completely shattered his current understanding of the path. He stared at the yellowed bamboo slip, the simple words carrying a weight that made his hands tremble slightly. The ancient world had reached heights that the current era could not even hope to match.
He rolled the slip back up with slow, deliberate movements and placed it inside his ring. He would have to keep this mystery in mind and investigate further.
He then took out the three dry seeds he had bought at the auction. They rested in his palm, looking like ordinary grey pebbles. They were rough, cold, and completely devoid of any Qi fluctuation. If he did not know better, he would have thrown them away.
To prevent them from drying out further and turning to dust, he needed to revive them. Su Ming closed his eyes and reached into his soul sea. He pulled out three drops of gold-white Samsara Resin, placing a single drop on each seed. The resin sat on the grey shells, glowing with a soft light, but the stones did not crack yet.
Su Ming did not hesitate. He placed his hands over the seeds and channeled a massive amount of his own Qi. The dense, pure energy flooded into the stone shells, forcing the Samsara Resin to merge deep within the dry cores. The strain made his meridians ache.
Under the joint force of the Samsara Resin and the heavy flow of Qi, the grey stone shells finally shuddered. Fine lines appeared on the surface. With a series of soft clicks, the dead grey skin cracked and sloughed away, falling onto the desk.
What remained beneath were three distinct seeds, each pulsing with a faint, quiet vitality. They were no longer lifeless pebbles, and Su Ming knew they were saved from turning to dust for at least ten years.
He inspected their new forms.
The first seed had turned a matte amber colour, warm to the touch. When Su Ming pushed his Qi to test it, the seed drank the Yang Qi hungrily.
The second seed had smoothed into a soft charcoal coloured, cool to the touch. It showed a clear affinity for Yin Qi, absorbing the cold energy easily.
The third seed had become a cloudy grey jade. Its inner structure seemed to shift slightly under his Essence Sight. It did not accept pure Yin or Yang Qi, only reacting when Su Ming fed it a perfect blend of Yin-Yang Qi.
’Three different affinities,’ Su Ming thought, looking at the colored seeds. ’They are not ordinary plants at all. I must plant them where they can grow.’
He stood up and walked out of the study, heading toward his personal herb chambers. Along the way, he passed the ancient spirit tree. He glanced toward its roots and paused. Under the shade of the branches, Yunxiao was resting. She had entered a deeper state of evolution. A thick, cloud type substance cocooned her body, glowing with a quiet, steady rhythm. Su Ming smiled, leaving her to her sleep, and walked into the garden chambers.
He entered the Yang greenhouse chamber first. The air inside was dry and hot. He walked to the center of the chamber, dug a small hole in the rich soil, and placed the amber seed inside. He covered it and channeled a trace of Yang Qi to settle it.
Next, he went to the Yin greenhouse chamber. The cold air misted before his face. He planted the charcoal seed at the center, letting the Yin formations nourish it.
Finally, he entered the Yin-Yang Fusion chamber. He planted the grey jade seed at the center of the room, where the two polar energies met and balanced each other.
After completing the planting, Su Ming returned to his study. He took out the Frost Cicada Shell. The translucent white shell lay in his hand, releasing a thin, freezing mist that left frost patterns on his skin. He studied it with his Essence Sight, noting the icy properties and the tiny, dormant spirit essence preserved deep within the crystal structure.
It was a rare treasure, far more valuable than a simple alchemical ingredient. After a few minutes of quiet study, he put the shell back into his spatial ring, as he did not have any specific use for it yet.
He leaned back in his chair, looking out the window at the quiet peaks of White Lotus Peak. The auction was over, and the seeds were sown. Now, he only had to wait for them to sprout.
***
Several weeks passed after Su Ming returned from the Qiancheng auction. He spent his days in the quiet sanctuary of his private study on White Lotus Peak, studying the two most mysterious items he had in his arsenal.
The first was the Thunder Fire Seed, the suppressed seed in his soul sea. The space and time laws, as well as the pure yang energy, emanated from it.
Beside him lay the painting scroll, Ten Thousand Stars Beneath Nine Heavens, signed by the ancient master, Wan Go.
Su Ming stared at the name Wan Go. A strange sense of familiarity stirred in his mind, but he could not connect the dots exactly.
The painting itself looked simple. Faded ink mountains rose under a dark sky painted with dust like star markings. The brushstrokes were abstract and complex. There was no obvious spiritual energy radiating from it, but Su Ming had seen the complex seals hidden beneath the surface with his Essence Sight.