Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 384 - 383 - The Dance of Aspects

As Lind had grown his elixir mastery, he had learned it all boiled down to control and purity.  Control was basic to any cultivation technique, but purity was the war waged by all.

Purity produced better results and left few issues behind to clean up within the body, but when it came to elixirs, it meant an entirely different thing.

Essence was the beginning.  The very purest shape of each ingredient was boiled down to its essence that only spiritual Qi carefully controlled could pull out of each ingredient.  Herbs grew in the real world so aside from what they needed, they also absorbed toxins, and other impurities.

Alchemists did their best to keep a tight garden but it was impossible to eliminate them all entirely in the growth process.  Concocting then refined the ingredients and the more impurity removed resulted in higher grade pills.

Elixirs involved the blending of the pure essence.  Not every part of an herb was compatible, even those used to make simple pills, but essence fought more fiercely than the plant.

The very impurities and concocting process overcame the conflicts, but Lind had to directly control them.  The better he blended the essence, the higher his grade result would be.

It was only much later that he realized the next step to making elixirs.

Picking apart the essence itself.

It took a very patient and fine hand to extract specific aspects of each essence alone, then to complicate that with mixing them together was like moving a mountain to balance it on your nose.  It felt like it at least.

His first success truly put him on the path to Heaven grade production.

The path forward was much more difficult but the precision was far higher.  At that point it became more about what he had to pick apart than his mixing it.  The mixing also improved but often the compatibility was much higher.

The water Qi in mosses could be removed for mixing with fire stalks found in volcanoes.  The resulting elixirs can be shaped more completely than before.  Lind no longer had to wonder about his results, he knew what he wanted to make and could produce it.

He still had to experiment but now it was seeing what aspects mixed could produce the result desired.

It took weeks to do the process safely but Lind had crafted his elixir mixing pot to carry part of the load.  Discarded aspects were collected into special slots of storage treasures for later.  No waste was produced in the extraction process.

Those aspects could be used later so long as they did not degrade.

Lind was already sweating but it had nothing to do with the heat in front of him.  No matter how many times he practiced, it was a battle of patience and desire to keep the process going.

In the current instance, Lind was shooting to surpass himself but the aspects made essence look like large twigs that could easily be carried by a child.  He had learned that where essence required gentleness, aspects required a hard hand.

It was almost a dance of just enough spiritual Qi to make it all come together.  The withered herbs were covered by the dust of the Qi stones.  The cores had become dark things but the air in front of Lind was like a beautiful show of slow fireworks.

Qi flared like a blooming flower as each aspect was extracted.  Some were brighter than others but Lind felt the final bottleneck passing.  The 6 strands under his control twirled together as the Qi stone aspects reinforced them.

The beast core aspects improved the quality of the water so that it began to glitter until the interior of the mixing pot lit up like a sun.

Myriad colors blazed as Lind reached the critical step.  He had to mix the core he had just created into the waters to make elixirs.  All of that while guiding the discarded aspects safely into the storage treasures built into the pot.

The water began to turn as layer after layer of the core began to disperse evenly into the pot.  The water changed from clear to blue, yellow, green, red, black, and brown.  The dull colors increased in intensity until they matched his Sky Core.

Crimson for fire, gold for light, pine green for air, azure for water, midnight for darkness, and mahogany for earth.  The liquid moved to 6 apertures built in the lower part of the pot into prepared vials.

Once all of it was gone, Lind quickly stoppered the vials and left them out as he cleaned up after himself.  His robes were soaked but a smile was on his face.

He had done it!

There were 6 glittering mid-Heaven grade 5 Tempering Elixirs sitting in the center of the room.  It was his first time!

He closed his eyes to try and remember the feeling and how the aspects came together to accomplish the task but his badge suddenly thrummed once more.  Lind was stunned as it floated over the 6 vials and began to shine with its own light.

The badge touched each vial before sending up a pale column of light to the top of the room.  It hit a very faint stone that was different from the rest.  It was just a slightly darker gray but even Lind's draconic eyes could not make it out until that moment.

The light spread until he saw it reach every corner of the room.

The vials suddenly vanished but Lind made no move or objection.  It reminded him of his early days in the Stone Ward.  A sudden feeling came over Lind that was very familiar.  It was as if the world had changed around him.

He was no longer in a room of the Floating Isles quality of Qi, but like Delenn's alley.  He looked to where the door was and noticed it was gone.  He had moved without even feeling a shift in space!

Only one place ever had such a subtle feeling in his memory.

"Master, it is good to be in your presence again."  Lind cupped his hands and bowed low.  He stayed that way until a familiar laugh entered his ears.

"It is a strange feeling to recognize I gave you this badge but we have never met until today.  You have surprised me in many ways, but the most is that you are a 6 elemental."  A voice that brought tears to his eyes as many happy memories filled his mind.

Lind was back to being a Soul Realm and had no idea what he was or what he could do.

He looked at a square jawed young man with long dark hair and profound robes of pale green and gold.  His complexion was quite healthy but the formless eyes would usually disturb people.  Lind found them very welcome.

"Disciple greets Master Younger Twin."  The spirit nodded and a set of chairs appeared with a table in between them.

"Come, tell me how we met as it is not in the medallion.  I see assessment, notations on skill, but they are very outdated compared to what you just showed me."  Lind nodded and started with the beginning.

He spoke of his years at the Academy as well as what Younger Twin taught him.  He also showed every example of not only elixirs but the tools he had Forged to aid in his work.

Younger Twin narrowed his eyes at those so Lind explained about Lord Skinwalker's Inheritance.  At the mention of that name, Younger Twin jumped.  Lind did not ask but explained how his current proficiency was reached.

He held nothing back and Younger Twin nodded as a smile slowly spread across his face.

"HA!  I am so glad I found such a bright and hard working pupil!  The badge, as I am sure you long understood, was set with my standards of acceptance.  There are no tests or universal standards the higher you go."  Younger Twin caused the badge to float as an extremely complex array appeared.

Lind made no attempt to examine it as he knew the minimum level was the Immortal Realm.

"This formation was created so masters could allow their students to grow and be judged by us.  Rather than having to find us the moment you want to be tested, the badge will test you.  If the formation is altered even a tiny bit, it implodes!"  Lind broke out in a sweat as that seemed very dangerous.

Younger Twin smiled as it pointed to the very center of the formation.

"Don't worry, only you and I can cause that.  It is imprinted with me as the master and you as the disciple.  Anyone else altering it will just cause it to become a slab of metal that any cultivator will know was stolen or not owned."  Lind tilted his head.

"Why the explosion?"  Younger Twin became very grim at his question.

"A master of a profession is not a small thing.  Reaching above your ability is possible but reckless and can lose the trust of the cultivation world.  We need that trust not only to survive with our work but so we will not be used as tools by others."  Lind understood.  The reputation was a large mountain in the cultivation world.

If it became known that alchemists could claim any proficiency without proof, other powers would step in to regulate them.  Someone saw the danger, or more likely lived it, and worked to change the world.

"All it means is, I know you made it this far on your own.  Now, here is where you are incredibly wrong!"  Younger Twin smiled as he began to pick apart Lind's techniques and shoddy control.

Lind's brow twitched as he realized he had forgotten how blunt his master could be.  Still, his instruction filled in many gaps while he had more questions.  The dance of aspects now changed venue from Lind's control to comparison of skills.

Time moved on but the 2 beings in the true heart of the Ruin paid it no mind.

It was nearly a decade later that Lind emerged looking quite haggard but happy.  In his hand was a much darker jade badge with a vial on it.  He was officially a mid-Heaven grade 5 elixir master!