Chapter 1
The Alchemy of Destiny
"My lady, how many days will you need this time?"
A small maid in a bright pink dress asked her master with a cheerful voice. She followed her lady closely along the long corridor filled with beautiful young women busy with their tasks. But whenever the two master and servant walked past, they all bowed their heads showing the highest respect with humility.
"You know the pill I'm going to refine this time isn't easy..."
The voice that answered back was full of charm and tremendous power. Though it held coldness, those close to her knew well her lady didn't mean it at all.
In a world where power reigned supreme and was filled with cultivators, a young woman who grew up decisively and established her own residence alone amid war and chaos was no ordinary young woman.
"Bai Fanxian" was a name that stood as the pinnacle of this era. The sole mistress of Goddess Alchemy Palace. Her abilities in the art of alchemy were unmatched. Many great clans and sects wanted her. But she firmly rejected them by decisively creating her own residence. All they could do was offer her vast treasures and bow humbly when begging her to refine pills for them.
Many desired her. Besides her abilities, she was a beauty who could topple cities. Her charm and coldness made young men want to conquer her.
But unfortunately, she also had power in abundance.
Because she was called the "Alchemy Empress," she never lacked pills and treasures. When cultivating, every pill she used was refined by herself. No one knew how many times throughout her life she'd used her own body as a test subject for the pills she refined.
Her qi and body surged to boundaries beyond any being in the world. Even the imperial clans who'd inherited special cultivation techniques for thousands of years couldn't compare to a fraction of her power.
The world's scholars of that era even established a new power level higher than the world had ever seen just for her.
"Semi-Immortal Being"—that's what they called her.
"What will you name this pill, my lady?"
Her maid asked adorably.
Bai Fanxian showed a faint smile. Even she wasn't confident about the pill she would refine this time. She couldn't predict its results either.
"I haven't thought of one yet..."
"Then I'll wait for you to come out, my lady..."
When both reached the huge door, her close maid didn't press further. Many ancient characters were carved above the door. It would respond only to her power and open the door only for her. As long as no one in the outside world had power surpassing hers, this door would remain sealed forever.
She simply called it her workshop.
But she also used it when refining pills and cultivating. When she reached the level surpassing everyone in the world, she'd lost track of time inside this door for a full three years.
Bai Fanxian walked into the room. The sounds of many mechanisms echoed behind to close the door to its original state. After this, only she would be in this vast room.
Her workshop was fully equipped with raw materials for refining medicine of every kind. Many bookshelves lined up filling the walls. Legendary rare materials she'd gathered to satisfy her own curiosity filled every corner.
She walked to the center of the room and flicked her hand once. An alchemy cauldron three times larger than her appeared from a rift in midair, seemingly from another dimension.
Bai Fanxian gently stroked her alchemy cauldron. This was the finest work of a grandmaster craftsman who was one of her few companions, created for her. The same person who also built this workshop for her.
Whoosh!
Just from her gentle stroke, blue flames ignited. The heat and rapidly rising temperature weren't a problem for Bai Fanxian. She flicked her hand again. A number of materials appeared in midair. If these materials appeared in the outside world, they would spark a war. Because each type was valued as priceless. But now they were being tossed into the cauldron by Bai Fanxian like turnips.
When each material type was thrown in, tremendous pressure gradually formed from the giant cauldron's center. Every piece added made that pressure grow heavier. The outside air trembled visibly.
Bai Fanxian remained still. She watched the results happening calmly. When the final material was thrown in, she did something no one expected.
She jumped into the cauldron!
Fortunately she was alone. Otherwise many people would have died from shock!
"Ten Thousand Year Ginseng..."
Bai Fanxian murmured softly. She stood in the center of the alchemy cauldron. Around her appeared many materials she'd thrown in before, swirling around her as though she were the center of the universe.
A not-very-large ginseng root appeared before her. Its roots glowed brilliant gold and trembled continuously. It trembled lightly once more when touching Bai Fanxian, then floated to her right and became the only material not swirling around.
"Ten Thousand Dragon Bone..."
Another material appeared before the young woman. This time it didn't glow like the Ten Thousand Year Ginseng. It was merely a pile of ashes clumped together sending out a dark aura.
When it touched Bai Fanxian's body, it trembled lightly then moved itself to her left side, next to the ginseng.
"Ten Thousand Day Tears..."
The next item was just a single drop of water. The tiny droplet hovered before her. It sent out no aura. Yet it looked so crystal clear it could dilute anything in the world.
"Ten Thousand Night Blood..."
The polar opposite of the clear pure water before, the next drop of water that appeared was pitch black, so dark that even light couldn't penetrate it. It floated alongside the Ten Thousand Day Tears, then lunged into the young woman's body like plunging into a vast ocean.
There was no resistance when it made contact with her skin. They sank stubbornly into Bai Fanxian's body.
But the owner of that body furrowed her brow once. The power within her body exploded outward. Even the world's finest alchemy cauldron trembled.
The stream of pure qi she released drew the numerous materials to circulate continuously. The blue flames appeared once more, gradually burning the spinning materials. Suddenly, the Ten Thousand Dragon Bone and Ten Thousand Year Ginseng shone brilliantly—one white and one black—intertwining in a circle with the young woman's body standing calmly still at the center.
She was being wrapped in an exquisitely beautiful cocoon.
The heat of the blue flames gradually intensified, melting the surrounding spinning materials into the surface of the white and black cocoon. As the materials were melted and merged, powerful auras were gradually released. Bai Fanxian, at the center of the entire process, closed her eyes. She allowed the qi flow within her body to gradually guide the energy currents of the surrounding materials, until finally the external tremors subsided.
Only a spherical mass of energy remained floating at the center of the cauldron.
Merely a single "pill"...