“Sweet-talker.”
Wu Ying walked around the pill cauldron, inspecting the chest-high metal vessel with his fingers, listening and touching. Due to his delay, all five rental cauldrons had been taken out, leaving Wu Ying to rent one of the many public use cauldrons for his lesson with Liu Tsong. It meant the cauldron was much larger than what he required, but at this point, he had little choice. At least the mortal-tier pill formula he was using would be scarcely affected by the other pills concocted in this cauldron. The pill formula was so low-tier, minor changes in the elemental energies would make little difference. It was when one went to produce higher-tier pills than such care was required.
As he walked around the cauldron, he listed the flaws he saw to Liu Tsong, who stood by the side while offering helpful pointers as necessary. When Wu Ying finally came to a stop, Liu Tsong pointed out a few more flaws he had missed before highlighting the issues Wu Ying truly needed to be concerned about.
“And lastly, the thinner material in the north of the cauldron will see a difference in heat. When stirring and mixing, it is best to do it quicker there. I would estimate it is hotter by about twenty percent, so you will need to adjust your mixing speed by that level,” Liu Tsong said, finishing up her listing of the flaws. “Are the ingredients ready?”
In answer Wu Ying rolled forward the table that held his ingredients. There were five equally divided portions on the table, the various herbs, flower petals, and roots weighed and apportioned evenly.
Liu Tsong looked over the work before sighing and pointing at two bowls. “This is done wrong.”
“But I weighed everything!” Wu Ying protested.
“Refining is not solely about weighing and dividing the portions,” Liu Tsong rebuked Wu Ying. “Look at what you did. See what is wrong with them.”
Wu Ying frowned, eyeing the sets of material before he dared venture a guess. “The second portion has more top root material than the other. In fact, it’s mostly made up of it.”
“Exactly. The amount of fire chi from the three-eyed root is concentrated mostly in the top of the root. By dividing the portions unequally, you have ensured that both of those pill sets would fail,” Liu Tsong said.
“My apologies, Senior.” Well, it had not been in any of the books he had read.
“That is fine. Now, go over the ingredients again.”
A short while later, Liu Tsong was reviewing the proportions once more before she sighed. “Decently done. Except the northern ash tree shavings are of extremely poor quality. They are not sufficient to produce five sets. Distribute the last set among the others.”
“I can return the ingredients…”
“One payment, one set of merchandise[19]. You paid for the ingredients and accepted them already. There are no returns,” Liu Tsong said. “This is why transactions take so long among the experienced pill refiners. We have to check everything the apothecary’s guild trades to us.”
Wu Ying nodded as passing conversations and trades conducted in Elder Li’s residence made more sense. For common material which the sect had a lot of, trading for the right material was simple enough. But when the sect had two or three portions, it was better to get it from the source. Nevermind the difference in quality.
“Now, let us begin,” Liu Tsong said. “You have read over the formula?”
“Yes, Senior.”
“Then watch carefully. I will try to dictate all the steps I take, but much will be up to you to grasp,” Liu Tsong said.
Immediately after Wu Ying acknowledged her words, the pill refiner began. Liu Tsong brought the slow-burning wood to a higher temperature. As she worked, Liu Tsong spoke about the heat, the right temperature, and the different ways to vary and adjust the temperature in the cauldron. In one hand, she held a small fan, useful for bringing up the flames and temperature when necessary. In the other, she held a simple ladle, ready for her to scoop up and drop the ingredients for the pill formula when needed.
“To test the temperature, you should use water. The time required to boil off will inform you of the temperature within.” Liu Tsong followed her words with actions. “The pill formula used here follows the basic, most common formula—that of inserting those items with the most restrictive chi first. In order, it is metal, earth, wood, water, and fire chi.” As Liu Tsong spoke, she scooped up the glistening purple ivy leaves and dropped them in the cauldron. Immediately, the leaves crisped and emitted a slight fragrance. At the same time, Liu Tsong used her left hand to dump a ladle of water into the cauldron, watching the leaves boil. After replacing the ladle, Liu Tsong returned to fanning the flames, increasing the temperature of the cauldron. “Next, we wait for eleven breaths…”
Wu Ying made note of her comments. Curious she said eleven instead of the twelve in the formula, but he had no time to ask as Liu Tsong continued to speak. Even so, Wu Ying kept track of the breaths as best as he could. It would take many hours of practice before he would achieve the regulation breath the apothecarys used. That the regulation breath[20] was a fixed amount of time had been a revelation to Wu Ying, almost as great as when he realized pill refiners needed to relearn this breath each time they progressed their cultivation. After all, as chi increased and the body perfected itself, the need for oxygen changed—and so, the way the body reacted altered.
Herb after herb, root after leaf went into the cauldron, punctuated by Liu Tsong’s commentary. Wu Ying watched, fascinated until the end, when Liu Tsong tapped the side of the cauldron and five pills flew out, landing in the waiting bowl with a flourish.
“Don’t do that. You scoop them out,” Liu Tsong said, eyeing the pills she’d created. “Huh. Upper mortal tier. Not bad for the ingredient level.”
“You can tell the tiers?” Wu Ying said, walking forward to stare at the pills.
“You will too. Now, it’s your turn.”
“Maybe I should watch again…”
“You won’t learn until you try. Now, begin.”
“Yes, Senior.”
Wu Ying stepped forward and checked the heat of the cauldron, splashing a few drops into the cauldron with his hand and watching the droplets sizzle. When Wu Ying looked at Liu Tsong, she half smiled at him.
“For your first run, I will not comment or correct.”
Wu Ying gulped, realizing he was walking along the cliff’s edge of failure. Yet, perhaps the knowledge he was likely going to fail freed him. Knowing he would fail meant he had nothing to lose, and the fear of failure disappeared. There was no fear in certainty—just freedom. As if a door had opened in his mind, Wu Ying straightened up and fanned the flames harder. Another, more confident, toss of water in and he began.
When the process finished an hour later, Wu Ying frowned at the brown sludge, rather than perfectly rounded pills, that came out of the cauldron. He pushed at the sludge, trying to scoop it up from the cauldron before Liu Tsong interrupted him with a hand on his elbow.
“Behind you is a container for you to toss the remnants away. Then bank the fire. You’ll need to scoop up what you can then wash out the remainder with water and repeat the exercise till the majority is gone. Then the brush beside you to finish the initial cleaning. After which, we’ll need the herb bundle. Soak the bundle in the pot beside you. Not that one. The other one. You’ll want to use the distilled water for initial and final cleaning,” Liu Tsong said. “And while you work, I’ll discuss what you did wrong. And right.”
Wu Ying’s nose twitched as the bitter smell of the burnt pill formula hit his nose, and he began the process of cleaning the cauldron. Still, at least Liu Tsong was willing to talk to him while he finished the cleaning. Afterward, Wu Ying knew he had two more chances before this day’s attempts were done.
Later that evening, Wu Ying stared at three sets of pills. After his first unsuccessful attempt, he had managed to create two sets of pills from the remaining ingredient portions. Of course, the results were mostly due to the aid Liu Tsong provided. Her quick corrections of his mistakes allowed him to undertake corrective action while improving the scope of his knowledge and technique. Liu Tsong had even mimed the motions he needed to take on occasion, something which made Wu Ying smile in recollection.