Pills and Medicine

Pill Manual Hall's elder wasn't with Ku Mu when Mu Yu returned. Ku Mu, however, was in a foul mood. He gave Mu Yu the death stare when the latter entered the house. Thus, Mu Yu asked, "Gramps… y-your leg isn't broken, is it?"

"Why'd you tell him I was back, you little runt?!" Ku Mu clobbered Mu Yu over the back of his head.

Mu Yu didn't dodge since it wouldn't and didn't even tickle. Still, Mu Yu hissed and rubbed his head to protect Ku Mu's self-esteem. "You never warned me not to," Mu Yu uttered.

Ku Mu first gave Mu Yu another death stare, then threw a book at him.

"Speed Alchemy. Did Guardian Elder give it to you?" asked Mu Yu, whilst silently cursing, "Threw it out, my foot. You made me spend ages searching for it."

"Elder? If I still had my cultivation, I'd have snapped both of his legs!"

"Yeah, toss him! Did he make you sign a contract to prostitute yourself? Damn him. When I'm strong enough, I'll sell him off to a quarry owner," exclaimed Mu Yu, waving his fist.

"Enough with the pretence!" Ku Mu, feeling better, said, "He's your shishu's ancestor. Don't sell him to a quarry owner."

"Ah, yes, I shouldn't have said that." Mu Yu played along with a grin.

"He should be sold to a brothel. He can slave away as a gigolo!"

Mu Yu filled Ku Mu in on the reversal pill cauldron he brought back. Unexpectedly, Ku Mu scoffed, "Even if you can mix them, don't. When the phenomenon draws everyone over, stop. That'll burst one of that old man's veins."

Mu Yu:He's more confident in me than I am.

Mu Yu's top priority was to learn the contents of Speed Alchemy under Ku Mu's tutelage. The manual was a mental cultivation manual. Mastery of it equipped alchemists with the ability to accurately use herbs and forcibly modify the effects of spiritual energy on herbs, consequently gaining the ability to combine that which originally couldn't be combined.

Previous learners of Speed Alchemy found that the ability was only effective on rank three herbs. Owing to the mental cultivation style altering one's spiritual energy usage, it overruled and inhibited one from cultivating via their initial style.

"The manual is silly. Didn't he realise the drawback when he authored the manual? His teachings have ruined so many disciples."

"It's their fault for assuming they could fathom Pill Progenitor's mental cultivation. The fools who were looking for shortcuts deserved it."

Mu Yu tried cycling his spiritual energy one cycle as per Speed Alchemy's instructions. It was much more challenging than he anticipating as the methodology contradicted usual methods. Circulating one's spiritual energy was playing with fire. Rejection from one's meridians combined with distraction potentially led to meridians suffering damage. Over time, the damage would hold one back from progressing their cultivation. Accordingly, their cultivation would plateau for good.

"Draw qi to your dantian and circulate it in reverse. Did he really design something so dangerous?"

"… Absolutely. Do you know its true secret, though?"

I wonder if it has anything to do with the reason Ku Mu chose to pursue poison.

"Do you know why he is called Pill Progenitor?" queried Ku Mu, speaking with a grouchy undertone similar to someone suffering from an injustice.

"Because he created the complete pill system in his later years?"

"Exactly. The entire spherical pill shape was the revolution he initiated. Pills were powder or liquid before he came up with it. Pills and powder weren't convenient, which is why he came up with the compact spherical design. Since it was convenient and prevented contents from leaking, people adopted pills and credited him as Pill Progenitor."

"But he conjured the mental cultivation prior to the pill system? I suppose that explains why the method didn't work with more modern alchemy arts."

Thrilled, Ku Mu stuttered, "C-c-correct. Sp-speed Alch-"

"Gramps, don't forget he tried to prostitute you!"

"For crying out loud, stop bringing that up, will you?! Remember what he did to me, and make damn sure you return the favour for me! He's more of a scumbag than Shi Dengtian is!"

"Pfft."

I'm not looking for a shortcut to death.

"Speed Alchemy was designed for powders and liquids. You can practice it but strictly never use it in pill concoction. Otherwise, you will damage your meridians permanently. It reverses the flow of qi. In saying that, it doesn't conflict with your usual cultivation. In fact, it could expedite your cultivation without any side effects. Those who suffered as a result of using it used the wrong tool in the wrong context," Ku Mu explained and ended with a sneer.

"Why didn't you share that with them?"

"After I learnt it, I never manufactured spherical pills again, only the best powders and liquid. They, however, refused to accept that. By the same token, they refused to believe me."

Ku Mu's poisons were stored in vials precisely because he used Speed Alchemy. The different path he chose to walk was a bitter solo journey that nobody could comprehend.

"Pills, or rather, alchemy, wasn't termed alchemy in the past. People simply called it medicine. Speed Alchemy's original name was Speed Medicine. Medicine is actually more advanced than alchemy nowadays. People just fail to see it. Alchemy these days is used more in cultivation, while medicine is reserved for patients. As a result of experimenting with medicine, pharmacists commonly end up poisoned."

The reason Ku Mu named his work Poison Scripture instead of Medicine Scripture despite it entailing how to treat ailments was attributed to Ku Mu's personal hobby. People called him a poison master, so he went along with it.

"What did you want me to grab Speed Alchemy for, then? Since it can't be used in pill concoction, how am I supposed to win?"

Ku Mu gave Mu Yu the "idiot" look and then rhetorically questioned, "Do you really think I haven't found a way to convert medicine and pills after all these years of studying?"

"You can use Speed Alchemy's mental cultivation without the drawbacks?"