Chapter 21 — Spirit Elixirs Stir the Body, Strength to Move Mountains

The medicine garden outside the village was vast. It was filled with spirit medicines the Alchemist had gathered from the Ruins over the years, and the villagers had long watched them with envious eyes. Yet the Alchemist had raised so many dangerous little insects in the garden that no one dared sneak in and steal the medicine. The Ruins were rarely visited by human beings, and spirit medicines grew there in tremendous abundance, with rare treasures everywhere. Over the years, the Alchemist had gathered countless strange and precious herbs and transplanted them into the garden. He seldom made use of those spirit medicines, but now he had finally decided to spend them on Shen Mu. One had to understand that the Alchemist's standards were exceedingly high. Every spirit medicine he gathered was a rare treasure, and taking any one of them out into the world would cause a sensation. Clearly, the Alchemist had staked a great deal on this. The bonfire gradually died down. The villagers each returned to their homes to rest, and Shen Mu went back to his room as well. He slept in the outer room, and before long he had fallen into a deep sleep. Granny Zhu pulled his blanket up a little, gazed at the sleeping boy's face, and smiled with affection. "My Mu'er... Whether or not you have a Hegemonic Body, you are still the child I raised. I will not let anyone or anything hurt you!" She was clever enough to have seen much from the expressions of the Village Headman and the Alchemist during the bonfire celebration. She simply chose not to expose it. She rose onto her little feet and went into the inner room to sleep. The next day, the Blind Elder came bursting into the house, bamboo staff in hand, and shouted, "Mu'er, get up quickly! It's daylight already. The Alchemist..." "This old lady isn't out of bed yet, and you dare peep!" A deafening crash rang out. Shen Mu opened his bleary eyes just in time to see the Blind Elder fly out of Granny Zhu's room, trace an arc through the air, and soar out of the village. No one knew where he had landed. "Grandpa Blind is truly something!" Shen Mu exclaimed in amazement. Even as he flew through the air, the Blind Elder was sitting cross-legged with his bamboo staff propped beside him, wearing an innocent expression as he was kicked clear out of the village. Shen Mu rose, dressed, washed, and made breakfast. After eating with Granny Zhu, he washed the pots, bowls, ladles, and spoons. Just then, the Blind Elder came running back from outside the village, full of excitement. "You vicious old hag, that kick of yours was brutal! I nearly couldn't find my way back! Mu'er, come quickly. The Alchemist has made a medicinal concoction for you!" Granny Zhu gave the Blind Elder an unfriendly look, glared at him harshly, then rose and hobbled away. "I'm going to Jianglong City to trade. Blind Elder, Mu'er will be in your care for the next few days. If he comes back missing even a single hair, I will hold you responsible! Grandpa Ma, Grandpa Ma, is the ox cart harnessed? Lame Elder, is the bamboo raft tied?" Shen Mu hurried after the Blind Elder to the Alchemist's shop. Before he had even entered, a powerful medicinal fragrance reached his nose. Then he saw a huge vat suspended in midair, with several vermilion birds circling it. Flames roared between their feathers, burning the outside of the vat crimson-red, while a bubbling sound came from within. "Mu'er, this is your medicine." When the Alchemist saw Shen Mu arrive, he took out the final ingredient, a green leaf, and dropped it into the vat. The instant the leaf fell into the medicinal liquid, the boiling liquid suddenly became extraordinarily viscous. With a casual flick of his hand, the Alchemist sent the vat spinning rapidly. A series of tinkling clatters came from inside, and the medicine that had filled the vat transformed into half a vat of white pills. They rolled and tumbled, striking one another with crisp, metallic sounds. The Alchemist waved his hand, and the vermilion birds flew out through the window lattice and vanished from sight. The vat descended to the ground. Shen Mu clicked his tongue. "Grandpa Alchemist, do I have to eat all these pills today?" "If you ate them all, you would die." The Alchemist replied unhurriedly, "Every spirit medicine used in this batch is of the finest quality. Though these are merely the lowest-grade Essence-Consolidating Pills, a single one is worth a hundred made by other alchemists. You may take only one or two at a time. Do not eat more." Shen Mu was dubious. In the past, the Alchemist had given him all sorts of strange and peculiar medicines, always enough to fill a large bowl. Now he was supposed to take only one pill. Could its medicinal power really be that strong? The Blind Elder was skeptical as well. "Every quack in the martial world claims that one pill is worth a hundred. Are these really that potent? Though they do smell rather good." The Alchemist gave a sinister smile. "Why not eat the whole vat and find out?" "Mu'er, grab a handful and give them a try," the Blind Elder urged. Shen Mu was not about to be deceived by him. He simply pinched up one pill and placed it in his mouth. The moment the spirit pill entered his stomach, he knew that something was wrong. It was as though hundreds or thousands of fire dragons, water dragons, golden dragons, and wood dragons were churning the seas within his belly. His body alternately grew tall, shrank short, swelled fat, and grew thin. At one moment, a layer of ice formed over his skin. At the next, smoke rose from his clothes. Then buds sprouted from the fabric, and the fur on his animal hide garments grew wildly. A moment later, his clothes were stained with a metallic sheen, and even his skin turned hard and rigid, making his entire body seem cast from metal. Worse still, sometimes all these symptoms erupted at once, leaving Shen Mu in indescribable agony. He let out a muffled groan and immediately circulated the Profound Body Three Elixir Technique, using primordial qi to dissolve the medicine's power. The Blind Elder's expression changed drastically, and he blurted out, "Alchemist, your Essence-Consolidating Pills don't seem ordinary!" "Correct. Ordinary Essence-Consolidating Pills come in four kinds: Fire Essence Pills, Water Essence Pills, Metal Essence Pills, and Wood Essence Pills." The Alchemist gave another sinister smile. "Essence-Consolidating Pills are made to correspond to the four kinds of primordial qi possessed by the four great spirit bodies, nourishing and supplementing the primordial qi of those spirit bodies. But Mu'er's Hegemonic Body primordial qi has no attribute, so I used a compromise. I refined spirit medicines of all four attributes into this single Essence-Consolidating Pill. It contains all four attributes, and perhaps it will be able to bring out the power of his Hegemonic Body primordial qi. Only Mu'er's Hegemonic Body primordial qi can absorb and dissolve a spirit pill like this. If you had eaten the entire vat of Essence-Consolidating Pills, heh heh..." The Blind Elder shuddered. The primordial qi of four conflicting attributes would have clashed violently within him. Had he eaten them all, two or three tenths of his cultivation would probably have been dissolved by now. Of course, that was the result of eating an entire vat. A single pill would not have harmed him much. "Alchemist, did you refine a tonic or a poison?" the Blind Elder muttered. Suddenly, Shen Mu let out a great shout, broke into a run, and vanished in the blink of an eye. The Blind Elder could not help worrying. "The four attributes are clashing with one another. Mu'er will be all right, won't he?" "He is digesting the medicinal power. There is no need to worry." Though the Alchemist said this, he was secretly uneasy as well. After all, this was his first attempt to improve the Essence-Consolidating Pill, his first time refining the improved pill, and his first time giving it to anyone. He