“Alchemist Jai, how have you been?” Alex asked as he watched Jai Heiyu walk into the room.
“Your Majesty,” the girl quickly bowed. “I have been doing very good, thanks to your grace.”
“I’m happy to hear that,” Alex said. “Come sit, I have something to say to you.”
The girl quickly walked up to the empty chair in front of Alex and sat down. “Your Majesty, you could’ve called me to the palace. You didn’t have to come here at all.”
“It’s alright, I’ve been holed up in that place for a long time, so I needed some fresh air,” Alex said. “Besides, I wanted to come and see how my favorite alchemists were doing.”
Jai Heiyun gave a bashful smile and nodded. “We’ve all been doing great, your Majesty,” she said. “Speaking of great, what is happening in the palace, your majesty? It feels like someone is breaking through each day there.”
“Haha, it does, doesn’t it?” Alex asked. “Actually, that’s why I’m here.”
Alex brought out a talisman and handed it over to Jai Heiyun. The girl took the talisman and read it.
“Soul Trancing pills? That’s the first time I’ve ever heard of a pill like this,” she said.
“I would hope so,” Alex said. “I only just came up with it a week ago.”
“Oh, you came up with this recipe, your Majesty? It must’ve been hard,” the girl said. “I don’t think I’ve ever interacted with 3 of the ingredients on this list.”
Alex nodded. “It was hard. That’s a culmination of 9 years of work right there,” he said.
“9 years?” the girl looked surprised, as she should be. “And you are just handing it over to me, your majesty?”
“What else should I do with it then? Keep it locked up so only I can benefit from it?” Alex asked.
The girl was sure that was the correct thing to do, but she didn’t say it out loud. She wasn’t a King, so she didn’t understand what would be going on through the head of someone like that.
“What does it do exactly?” the girl asked. “This Soul Trancing pill.”
“It puts you into a trance where you become the closest you will ever be to learning a Dao,” Alex said. “That’s what you have been sensing in the palace for the last week. Centuries of understanding amplified by a single day of comprehension, making everyone learn Dao one after another.”
“Woah,” the girl said. “This is such an amazing pill. I can’t believe you are going to give it away to just anyone.”
“Just anyone?” Alex asked. “I’m giving it to you, Senior Royal Alchemist. You will learn that recipe and teach 10 of your fellow Alchemists. Then, you will make the Soul Trancing pills for everyone in the army. That’s nearly a thousand pills for each person, so you better prepare.”
“I won’t disappoint you, your Majesty,” the girl said quickly.
“I don’t doubt it,” Alex said. “Right, how’s the technique coming along? Have they learned it yet?”
Jai Heiyun shook her head. “It’s simply too complicated for everyone to learn it, your Majesty. Even though it’s nearly been a decade since we were handed the Pill Splitting Qi technique, there are still more than half of us that can’t use it properly while making pills at all.”
“Not to mention the fact that using double the amount of ingredients messes up so much of the recipe that it’s impossible for many to even do it properly without the Dao of Heat,” Jai Heiyun said while sighing a little. “But don’t worry, your Majesty. I will only have the best of the best work on this pill. I will promise to only make pills over 90% in harmony.”
Alex smiled at her determination. “Keep working hard, miss Jai,” he said. “I will be returning now.”
“Returning? So soon, your Majesty?” the girl asked.
“I have to,” Alex said. “Actually, the truth is that I haven’t eaten that pill yet as I wanted to let the others have a go at it first. However, it looks like things are dying down, so I want to eat the pill myself too.”
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Alex smiled and stood up. “Work hard, as you will be representing our Alchemists in the Eastern Continent in 3 years,” he said. “Goodbye.”
Alex left the Alchemy Institute and returned back to the palace where all the elders were coming out closed cultivation after learning a Dao or two one after another.
They all greeted Alex as he walked in, explaining to him what Dao they learned.
Dao of Cold, Dao of Metal, Dao of Stagnation, Dao of Heaviness, Dao of Water, Dao of Wind, Dao of Mist, and maybe more Daos that he hadn’t even heard of before, he was now hearing that the elders had learned them.
He congratulated the elders and went to the backyard. He brought out his sword and started training his techniques. He wanted to feel what was going on in his body when he used the technique. He wanted to feel the pathway his Qi took, and understand why that was the correct one.
He used many different attacks, and many different techniques, and it all felt the same. He had done it all a thousand times, so he knew what he would feel and what he knew.
So, after making sure that he knew everything he needed to know, Alex quickly sat on the ground and took out a 6-veined Soul Trancing pill which he ate without stopping.
He felt the pill release its energy inside his stomach and soon enough he was starting to feel drowsy once again. He tried to keep his wits even when tranced, but that wasn’t possible at all.
He was too much in a trance to be able to do anything.
Alex had no way of knowing what he would think when he took the pill, which was why he had bothered training so much beforehand. He hoped that this would help him get his mind on track, and it did.
He started thinking about the different skills, their Qi, their pathway, and the intent behind them.
The world stirred a bit as the worldly laws moved a little. It was faint enough at first that no one noticed, but as time went on, it started becoming more and more obvious.
Scarlet felt the profoundness of the Dao Alex was learning and shook her head. ‘This kid really is something,’ she thought.
The elders sensed the worldly laws as well and wondered who was trying to comprehend a Dao.
There were still many in the palace that could do so.
The Worldly laws hovered in the sky for a couple of hours, and by that time everyone was aware that it was Alex who was trying to comprehend it. They made no sound and left him alone to comprehend the dao on his own.
Alex subconsciously started learning aspects of the Dao that he had previously not even imagined would be part of it. There were little things that he had simply looked over or didn’t think were as important, which he was now realizing were actually very important.
He slowly learned bit by bit, comprehending again what he had thought he had already comprehended, and comprehending even more new things.
The elders and the rest were left stumped as they watched the Worldly laws hover in the air for 2 whole days without moving a bit. Even Scarlet was agitated as to whether Alex was going to learn it this time around or not.
However, after half a day more, she got the answer.
The world seemed to darken in the eyes of many Saints as they sensed a strong wave of Worldly laws descending onto the land. They had never sensed something this strong, so they were left wide-eyed and open-mouthed as they watched the descent fall on the Palace.
“Who could’ve learned that?”
“It must’ve been her Majesty.”
“Yes, I can’t imagine who else could learn something like that.”
Not many people even guessed Alex could have learned such a strong dao.
The worldly laws remained on the ground for a couple of minutes longer before leaving away. When they were gone, Alex finally opened his eyes.
He was now fully conscious, and in his head was an understanding of techniques that he hadn’t before.
“I… did it?” he thought. He hadn’t realized what he had done during the trance. It was like someone else took over for him when he was in the trance.
“Haha, I succeeded. I didn’t fail this time around,” Alex said happily.
“Congratulations,” Scarlet said as she walked out of the dome. “I was worried you would fail this time around too, but it seems my worry was for nothing.”
“Thank you,” Alex said excitedly.
The elders came to the backyard as well and started congratulating Alex. This had been a one-of-a-kind event for them as they hadn’t felt a dao this strong ever. “What sort of Dao did you learn, your Majesty?” they asked.
“It’s…” Alex paused. He tried to find words to explain what he had learned, but it was so complex that his words wouldn’t be enough at all. “In Essence, the Dao helps me improve techniques and modify them as I want to their fullest capability.”
The elders were surprised, but not as much as they would’ve been had he learned a dao that helped with fighting. He shook his head.
“I wish to test the Dao. Please leave me alone for a bit,” Alex said.
The group nodded and left. Once alone, Alex started testing out what his new Dao helped him do.
