Free Web NovelChapter 1926: Chapter 1923: The Legendary Alchemy Cauldron
The older the elders get, the more they care about tradition. It’s estimated that some of the young members of the Zhang Family don’t even know that their family once flourished in the art of alchemy. Those who do know probably feel only regret, unlike Zhang Guoyao, who truly feels anguish and bitterness.
From Lin Tian’s perspective, this might be the reason for the Zhang Family’s fall from grace in alchemy. As the saying goes, if the youth are strong, then the family is strong. With young members not caring at all, the Zhang Family’s art of alchemy slowly fades.
After a while, the group stood up. Lin Tian had intended to offer some comfort, but the old man ignored him, as if the earlier events hadn’t occurred.
Zhang Guoyao walked to a wooden box, gently blew away the dust, and then wiped it to reveal the dark purple hue of the wooden box. The elder pressed a side of the box and with a click, the lid opened automatically.
Inside the wooden box was a piece of bright yellow silk cloth which, when unfolded, revealed a dried twig.
"This is the Blood Vine, stored in the medicine library for over a hundred years." Zhang Guoyao murmured with a tinge of nostalgia, then closed the wooden box and handed it to Zhang Lingyu.
The elder moved to another shelf, which also had a wooden box. Upon opening the wooden box, a jade box was inside. Inside the jade box was a green plant, resembling a budding sprout in spring.
"The Jade Flower Bud, picked more than eighty years ago. I remember being ten years old at the time, picking it in the deep mountains with my master."
"After picking, my master immediately packed it in a specially made jade box. Thus, even after over eighty years, the Jade Flower Bud retains its vibrant freshness, with its efficacy nearly untouched."
"It’s just a shame that it’s been lying here for more than eighty years, and no one can use it, nor will anyone use it." Zhang Guoyao shook his head with a sigh.
Zhang Lingyu continued to collect them, while the elder moved to another shelf, this time with a large box instead of a wooden one. It also had a mechanism lock, which Zhang Guoyao pressed a few times, and after several clicks, the lid opened.
A dazzling array of colors immediately scattered from the chest. Lin Tian fixed his gaze and saw inside a section of stone shaped like bamboo shoots, reflecting red, blue, and yellow under the lamp’s light.
This color was vastly different from jade, which is generally pure in color, while the colors before his eyes seemed rustic, as though sedimented through countless years, giving people the feeling of wandering through time.
"This is the Ten-thousand-year-old stalactite, but what you need is not this..." Zhang Guoyao introduced briefly, then bent down to pick up a fist-sized porcelain bottle from the corner.
"Stalactites form as water droplets fall over the years, dripping onto the rock bed, creating a large pit. The rock pit gathers water droplets, and once full, overflows automatically, with stalactites’ essence slowly sedimenting at the bottom of the pit."
"After numerous years of brewing, these essences form stalactites, known for their extraordinary efficacy." Zhang Guoyao explained tirelessly,
This left Zhang Lingyu quite astonished. She thought to herself that today Elder Yao seemed overly excited; ordinarily, he’d be too lazy to even budge when she came to collect medicine.
Then she noticed Lin Tian and immediately understood. Elder Yao’s eagerness and excitement were surely due to Lin Tian, the pharmacist. Zhang Guoyao’s lifelong pursuit, aside from demon exorcism, was indeed alchemy, though he had never been fortunate enough to gain access to the path of alchemy.
Today, a pharmacist coincidentally arrived, offering a glimmer of hope, naturally sparking such excitement.
With Zhang Guoyao’s proactive effort, the ingredients for the Spirit-Boosting Pill were found one by one. Lin Tian marveled at the Zhang family’s collection, a fitting treasure for an ancient family, amply stocked with medicines. freewebnσvel.cøm
No wonder back in Xikou City, Zhang Lingyu’s back injury was healed effortlessly by a prescription from the beautiful Heavenly Master, with effects so miraculous that her wound left no scars.
"Alright, you’ve basically gathered the medicines you need now, Lin Tian, do you have any other requirements?" Zhang Guoyao asked with great anticipation upon locating the last ingredient.
This time, he directed the question at Lin Tian, focusing solely on him, unlike earlier when he had completely ignored the two women upon entering.
Lin Tian found himself a bit unaccustomed to the warm enthusiasm and thought deeply, realizing something crucial was missing, he gestured: "I’m missing a medicine cauldron. And I don’t mean the kind used for cooking medicine, but rather a specialized pharmacist’s cauldron."
Upon finishing, Lin Tian noticed the peculiar expressions among the three. Zhang Lingyu blinked hesitantly and asked, "Elder Yao, could you be intending to..."
"Your guess is right. Let’s go to the top floor." Zhang Guoyao’s expression quickly firmed up, decisively turning and exiting the basement.
Not knowing what this meant, Lin Tian intended to ask Zhang Lingyu about the situation. However, the little girl didn’t have anything to say, and Zhang Ruyan remained silent. So, he carried the medicines and followed the three.
Leaving the basement, they continued upward and soon reached the top floor. The top floor contained no rooms, or rather only one room that occupied the whole area.
Thus, this room was very spacious, comparable to a classroom. However, the room was neither square nor round but octagonal in shape. Accurately speaking, the room was in the shape of the Eight Trigrams, with the floor etched with signs representing all eight positions.
The center of the Eight Trigrams was empty, with nothing placed there; the room contained no objects, not even a small stool.
Zhang Guoyao tapped on the wall near the door a few times, and clattering sounds echoed. Then, the center of the Eight Trigrams floor opened up, revealing a gap, and a stone platform slowly rose.
On the stone platform was a pitch-black tripod, with three legs, a round body, and on the side facing the entrance, there was an Eight Diagram. The top was an octagonal pagoda, pressing down on the whole body.
Compared to the Sword Furnace of Qingshuang Pavilion, this tripod was much smaller and lacked the imposing aura of Nine Dragons convening. However, it possessed an aura of timelessness, even antiquity.
"What is this?" Lin Tian vaguely guessed it was a medicine cauldron but still asked, as he wasn’t sure what kind of cauldron it was.
"The Eight Diagrams Tripod." Zhang Guoyao raised his head, speaking in a solemn tone, and stepped forward, moving to the tripod, gazing at it for a long while before continuing: "This is the medicine cauldron forged by the Zhang family’s first generation Heavenly Master."
"The first generation? Then handed down through the generations, it is over a thousand years old!" Lin Tian was extremely shocked; such an item, if introduced into the archaeological community, would undoubtedly be an astounding discovery.
Zhang Guoyao nodded earnestly: "Indeed, it is very ancient. Legends say our ancestor crafted this by referring to the legendary Furnace of Eight Trigrams, using it to concoct the Nine Revolutions Dragon Tiger Pill!"
"The Nine Revolutions Dragon Tiger Pill is a high-level elixir, which means the Zhang Family’s ancestor was not only a towering figure in the Demon Exorcism World but also a high-ranking pharmacist; extraordinary, your ancestor was like an immortal descended to earth." Lin Tian was genuinely astounded.
