Lu Yang said goodbye to Zhou Lulu and arrived at Dan Ding Peak. As soon as he reached the foot of the mountain, he was hit by a strong herbal scent. "No wonder it's called Dan Ding Peak; even the air is fragrant. The legendary paradise and immortal mountains can't be much better than this."
He couldn't help but take a few deep breaths, feeling light as if he might float away into the sky.
"Junior brother, don’t inhale!"
A loud voice came from not far away. The person who spoke saw Lu Yang take in more of the scent and grew increasingly anxious. "Junior brother, quickly use the Turtle Breathing Technique. Oh wait, you seem to be a mortal. Then cover your nose quickly! This smell is from a failed alchemy attempt of mine, and it’s toxic..."
That was the last thing Lu Yang heard before he fainted.
"What a strange place; even the air is poisonous..." Lu Yang murmured, feeling unsteady as the world spun around him. Then everything went black, and he collapsed to the ground.
It turned out that the fragrance didn’t necessarily mean it was safe.
When Lu Yang woke up again, he saw a large face right in front of him, which startled him awake.
The person chuckled awkwardly. "Junior brother Lu, you’re awake! Does it hurt?"
The jade pendant around his neck confirmed Lu Yang's identity.
He blinked, feeling sore all over, as if someone had rolled him into a ball and then flattened him with a rolling pin.
He was in an alchemy room filled with a strong herbal scent, and it was much warmer than outside. In the middle of the room was a huge alchemy furnace, surrounded by shelves stacked with bundles of herbs and white porcelain bottles, which probably contained successfully made pills.
There were also piles of sketches showing how to make pills and some little white mice in cages. For someone unfamiliar with the place, it would be hard to find a place to step.
The alchemy room had only one bed, which was the one Lu Yang was lying on.
"My name is Wu Ming. I’m sorry, junior brother. I got distracted while thinking about something during alchemy and lost control of the fire, turning the pills into poison."
"But don’t worry! Even though I often mess up and make poison, I’ve never actually killed anyone." Wu Ming said proudly.
...Hearing that made Lu Yang even more worried.
He struggled to sit up, shifting his body to lean against the corner of the bed, which felt a bit better.
His head was itchy, and after scratching his scalp for a moment, he finally asked, "If I just inhaled some toxic gas, why is my head wrapped in bandages?"
Wu Ming explained sheepishly, "When I was moving you, I got distracted and you bumped your head on the ground. But don’t worry too much! As long as you’re alive, I can heal you here at Dan Ding Peak!"
"The pills I have are too strong for you to take. Look, while you were unconscious, I specially made some pills that even mortals can take." Wu Ming proudly presented two pills to Lu Yang.
The pills were golden in color with three circular rings on them, which Lu Yang recognized as pill patterns, indicating they were almost perfect.
Lu Yang still hesitated to eat them.
He had only come to Dan Ding Peak to ask for a few pills to suppress hunger, and now he was lying in bed with a bandaged head.
If he took anything else, even the King of Hell would probably think he was asking for trouble.
"They're not poisonous, really." Wu Ming reassured him repeatedly.
Seeing that Lu Yang didn't believe him, Wu Ming grabbed a little white mouse to demonstrate.
The mouse seemed to know its fate was near, squeaking loudly as Wu Ming picked it up, saying goodbye to its family.
After swallowing the pill, the mouse fell to the ground and stopped moving, while its family cried out in despair, as if they were seeing their own future.
Lu Yang: "..."
Wu Ming: "..."
"It was an accident! The mouse is small, so it couldn’t handle even a little poison. A person would be different. I know what went wrong; just wait a moment, and I’ll make you another batch."
Lu Yang quickly changed the subject to distract Wu Ming. "Senior brother, you mentioned you were lost in thought. What were you thinking about?"
Wu Ming indeed shifted his focus. He summarized, "Pills, pills, the key is in the ‘medicine’ part. Pills can heal and save people, but why is the Suppressing Hunger Pill also considered a pill?"
"If the Suppressing Hunger Pill is a kind of pill, then pills aren’t just for healing; they can also be food."
"But if the Suppressing Hunger Pill isn’t a pill, then what should it be classified as?"
Lu Yang thought that to come up with such questions, one would have to roast their brain in the alchemy furnace for three days and nights.
"Speaking of the Suppressing Hunger Pill, the only one here that mortals can eat is the Suppressing Hunger Pill. We have strawberry, apple, and watermelon flavors. Do you want some? It’s not poisonous." Wu Ming took out a handful of colorful candy-like pills.
Thinking of the King of Hell's expectations for him, Lu Yang declined Wu Ming's offer. There were many people at Dan Ding Peak practicing making Suppressing Hunger Pills, and whoever they were, they would be safer than Wu Ming.
"Junior brother, if you need any pills, just come to me. They’re free." Wu Ming warmly saw him off as Lu Yang left.
Lu Yang hurried away, limping a little.
The next day, the seventh elder of Dan Ding Peak learned about Lu Yang's unfortunate experience and sent him real pills that could heal mortals, along with a gourd of Suppressing Hunger Pills.
Lu Yang recovered.
...
In the following month, Lu Yang was very busy. He moved around the Scripture Pavilion, Yan Chuan Peak, and the cave dwellings, greedily absorbing the knowledge of cultivation he had never encountered before, like a traveler in the desert finding a clear spring, quenching his thirst.
A month later, everyone got what they wanted and became disciples of the elders. Meng Jingzhou became a disciple of the third elder, Man Gu became a disciple of the fourth elder, the fire spirit root Li Haoran became a disciple of the fifth elder, and the feathered immortal body Tao Yao Ye became a disciple of the sixth elder...
This puzzled Lu Yang. He thought Man Gu would join Meng Jingzhou under the third elder, who was a famous body cultivator in the cultivation world. No one dared to fight him, and with Man Gu's ancient barbarian bloodline, he would be best taught by the third elder.
On the other hand, the fourth elder was a scholar, known for his knowledge, not his strength. Lu Yang didn’t understand why Man Gu chose the fourth elder as his master.
The fifth elder was skilled in crafting weapons, which suited Li Haoran, who had a fire spirit root.
Lu Yang had never seen the sixth elder, but he heard she was a breathtakingly beautiful woman with a celestial body similar to Tao Yao Ye.
However, the most eye-catching was Lu Yang himself, who became a disciple of the mysterious sect leader.
It was said that the sect leader hadn’t taken a disciple in over a hundred years and lived a carefree life. The other disciples were puzzled as to why he chose Lu Yang as his student while still in seclusion.
Under the envious gazes of everyone, Lu Yang was brought to Tianmen Peak, where the sect leader resided, by Senior Sister Yun Zhi.
(End of Chapter)