The night sky was crystal clear, adorned with twinkling stars.
The tallest building in the capital of Great Feng, the Star-Gazing Tower, served as the office of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau.
A young girl in a yellow dress ascended the tower with light steps. As she passed the seventh floor, she heard a commotion coming from an alchemy room.
A group of white-robed alchemists were arguing heatedly, their faces flushed with frustration.
“Why did it fail again? The steps are so simple!”
“I told you, it must be the wrong amount of salt.”
“No, I think it’s the water.”
“Could it be the fire? I saw Senior Disciple Wan boil the salt earlier.”
“It’s too difficult. This alchemy spells to turn salt into silver is beyond me.”
The yellow-dressed girl, named Caiwei, twitched her lips and muttered, “These people are still trying to make fake silver.”
Two days ago, she had brought news of turning salt into silver back to the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, but her senior disciples initially didn’t believe her.
Is salt turning into silver? Even a three-year-old wouldn’t believe that.
But soon after, the tax silver case was solved. His Majesty, impressed by the power and mystical nature of the fake silver, ordered the Imperial Astronomical Bureau to produce it.
Thus, the alchemists of the Bureau began their grueling work, toiling day and night in their blessed 996 work schedule.
From two days ago until now, they had been working tirelessly, failing repeatedly but persevering.
“Caiwei! It’s Junior Sister Caiwei!” someone exclaimed excitedly.
Instantly, a sea of haggard faces turned towards her, their eyes gleaming with hope.
“Junior Sister Caiwei, how exactly is this fake silver made?”
“Junior Sister Caiwei, come quickly and see if there’s a problem with our process. You’re the only one who has successfully created fake silver.”
They surrounded the yellow-dressed girl.
Chu Caiwei had no choice but to enter the alchemy room and observe her senior disciples’ attempts at creating fake silver.
“Failed again!” lamented a white-robed alchemist who was experimenting.
“Junior Sister Caiwei, where did we go wrong?” The group of white-robed alchemists adopted a humble, teachable attitude.
There’s nothing wrong, this is exactly how I did it… Chu Caiwei pondered before saying, “This is an ancient alchemy technique, profound and abstruse. It’s not something you can master immediately. It requires in-depth and gradual instruction to truly take root. I’ll teach you all a mantra, remember it well.”
The senior disciples assumed a listening posture.
“Hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, neon, sodium, magnesium, aluminum, silicon, phosphorus!” Chu Caiwei channeled her energy and enunciated each word.
“What does this mantra mean?” The senior disciples were impressed but confused. They understood each word individually, but together, they were baffled.
I don’t know what this is either… Chu Caiwei maintained a mysterious smile without speaking.
“Genius, pure genius! The person who created this mantra must be an alchemy prodigy,” one white-robed senior disciple marveled.
Where’s the genius? Senior Brother, don’t let your imagination run wild! Chu Caiwei’s smile remained unchanged.
“Junior Sister Caiwei, who taught you this mantra? Did you perhaps meet an alchemy master who instructed you?”
Chu Caiwei thought, “Good question!” and deftly deflected the responsibility.
“The person’s name is Xu Qi An, the nephew of Xu Pingzhi, the seventh-rank green-robed officer of the Imperial Guard. You can ask him.”
Upon hearing it was a martial artist, the white-robed disciples were displeased.
“Ridiculous! Our esteemed Imperial Astronomical Bureau is full of talent. How could we need an outsider to create fake silver?”
“And a martial artist at that.”
“It would be laughable if word got out.”
Based on different cultivation systems, several interesting chains of contempt had formed.
Daoists looked down on Buddhists, and Buddhists reciprocated the disdain.
Sorcerers looked down on shamans, shamans looked down on poison masters, and poison masters, in turn, looked down on sorcerers.
Then, Daoists, Buddhists, sorcerers, shamans, and poison masters all looked down on martial artists.
As for Confucians, well, forgive my bluntness, but everyone present considered them trash.
However, Confucianism has weakened in recent times.
“Junior Sister Caiwei, why don’t you guide us?”
Caiwei scoffed, “Next time, for sure!”
She squeezed her way out of the group of white-robed senior disciples and continued climbing the stairs.
In truth, she didn’t understand it either.
Last time at the yamen, she had effortlessly created fake silver, but when Caiwei tried again in private afterward, she failed.
She had completely replicated the previous process, but it still failed. She didn’t know why.
The top of the Star-Gazing Tower wasn’t a normal roof, but an octagonal platform, aligning with the Eight Trigrams.