Seo-jun, along with Chun-bong and Namgung Su-a, confidently entered the Cheon-yak-dang.
It was a place he hadn’t even known existed, but that wasn't too strange.
After all, the Namgung Family's estate was massive. It wasn’t just large, it was vast—so expansive that it was bigger than most villages. Seo-jun, who didn't have much reason to wander around, knew less than a tenth of what buildings were on the estate.
And so, today’s guide.
“Cheon-yak-dang handles most things related to elixirs within the family,” Namgung Su-a explained as she led the group.
“Oh,” Seo-jun muttered, glancing around in awe.
Cheon-yak-dang wasn’t just a single building. The entire area they were standing in was Cheon-yak-dang.
As Seo-jun curiously looked around, Namgung Su-a chuckled.
“It’s not just about refining the elixirs we acquire externally. Here, we also have all the alchemy techniques that exist within the family. Sometimes, they even develop new elixirs.”
“Like that Changcheon Elixir from before?” Seo-jun asked.
“Yeah, that’s right. The Changcheon Elixir was developed by the Namgung Family a long time ago.”
As Namgung Su-a provided this helpful explanation, Chun-bong, who had been wandering around like a child on a field trip, suddenly pointed ahead.
“There’s someone over there,” she said.
Following the direction of her finger, they saw what appeared to be a person—or rather, something close to a person.
“Oh... what is that?” Seo-jun said, spotting what looked like a body sprawled on the ground. It wasn’t a corpse yet, but judging by its state, it looked like it could soon become one.
“Oh? The head of Cheon-yak-dang?” Namgung Su-a hurried over and crouched next to the body.
After inspecting it for a moment, she gently shook its shoulder.
“Master of Cheon-yak-dang, you can’t sleep here,” she chided.
“Shut up... I’m the head of this place... I can sleep wherever I want,” the man muttered.
“Master, there are guests here,” she said, trying to wake him fully.
“Guests...?”
The man lifted his head, his gaze sweeping across Seo-jun, Chun-bong, and finally settling on Namgung Su-a.
“Gah...! Lady Su-a!” he exclaimed, quickly reviving and standing up to bow his head.
“What brings you here, my lady?” he asked, now fully awake.
“Seo-jun was curious, so we came to look around. We have my father’s permission to visit,” she explained.
“Oh, oh... Seo-jun, Seo-jun... Ah, the young master!”
The head of Cheon-yak-dang looked at Seo-jun with interest before giving a respectful bow.
“I am Namgung Yeongbo, the head of Cheon-yak-dang.”
“Oh, yes. I’m Lee Seo-jun,” Seo-jun replied, offering a casual bow in return.
“I’m Chun-bong!” Chun-bong chimed in.
Namgung Yeongbo eyed the duo curiously before offering an awkward smile.
“My apologies, but Cheon-yak-dang has been quite busy lately. I’m afraid I don’t have the time to give you a proper tour.”
“Oh, that’s okay. I’ll be guiding them myself,” Namgung Su-a reassured him.
“I see... Well, I’ll leave you to it then,” Namgung Yeongbo said, bowing again before hurriedly walking away. It seemed like he had a lot of work to do.
“Sister,” Seo-jun called.
“Hmm?” she responded.
“Does the Namgung Family work people to the bone or something? That guy looked like he’d drop dead with a tap.”
“No, it’s not like that... but I heard they’re really busy with the final stages of developing a new elixir.”
“A new elixir?” Seo-jun’s eyes lit up with interest, and Chun-bong perked up as well.
“Hey, Goldie,” Seo-jun called.
“What is it, you punk?” Chun-bong replied.
“Doesn’t that sound fun?”
“Hmm, it sounds like a good idea.”
The two exchanged glances and nodded in unison.
“Let’s go!”
They started following Namgung Yeongbo, looking very much like they were up to no good. Namgung Su-a, trailing behind, laughed awkwardly.
“Um... I don’t think we should disturb them.”
Despite appearances, Seo-jun was surprisingly good at respecting boundaries when it mattered. Namgung Su-a hurried after them, just in case.
One of the most important facilities within Cheon-yak-dang was the alchemy room.
As the group entered the room, they were immediately hit by a strange smell.
“Ugh...”
Chun-bong scrunched up her face and pinched her nose.
The scent was pungent and bitter, yet also somewhat sweet and salty. The sheer variety of odors made it hard for their noses to adjust. It was clear that while they were in this room, they'd have to endure the smell all day.
On top of that, as they stepped further in, they were greeted by a wave of heat. It was obvious this wasn’t a place to linger.
“Lady Su-a?” Namgung Yeongbo said in surprise when he spotted them.
“I’m sorry. Seo-jun was curious about the alchemy process. Could we watch for a bit without getting in the way?” she asked politely.
“Ah, of course. Please, go ahead,” Namgung Yeongbo said, quickly hiding any discomfort. Since the family head had given permission, he had no reason to worry about information being leaked.
After all, they were members of the Namgung Family.
As long as they didn’t show too much interest in the alchemy techniques, there wouldn’t be any issues.
“You! Get rid of that and start over! What’s the point of holding onto a failed batch?” he shouted at one of his subordinates.
“Yes, sir!” the subordinate responded.
With that, Namgung Yeongbo turned his attention back to his work.
Right now, they were working on optimizing the alchemy process. While they had completed the basic formula, it was still too difficult for an ordinary person to achieve, so they were making adjustments.
There wasn’t much difficulty in preparing and processing the materials.
However, the final stage was where they struggled.
The process involved carefully introducing the ingredients in sequence and binding them together in perfect harmony.
The elixir they were developing, the Cheonin Elixir, required the internal energy of the alchemist to guide the flow of energy within the mixture, ensuring it formed the correct structure.
At this stage, there was no room for error. Not even a single deviation in timing, energy output, or the amount of internal energy could be allowed.
The internal energy formation within the Cheonin Elixir was so complex that they hadn’t had a single successful attempt so far.
Drip. Drip.
Sweat poured down Namgung Yeongbo’s face.
His skill in stirring the giant cauldron while carefully managing his internal energy was impressive, but...
Bubble.
The moment a large bubble formed, Namgung Yeongbo grimaced.
“I’m done. I’m not doing this anymore. Who the hell came up with this recipe? Get out here right now!” he yelled in frustration, jumping up and down in place.
Yang Song-baek, one of his subordinates, hesitantly spoke up.
“Uh... you were the one who created the formula, sir.”
“Do you think I don’t know that?”
“I mean... you asked...”
“You! Now that I think about it, you left early last time, didn’t you? Do you want me to end you right now?” Namgung Yeongbo threatened.
“Sir, there are guests here... maybe calm down a bit?”
Oh, right. He’d completely forgotten about the guests. Namgung Yeongbo glanced over at Seo-jun’s group. Fortunately, they didn’t seem too bothered.
Seo-jun was inspecting the failed batch with an interested look, while the others were simply watching him.
‘Is there something there?’ Namgung Yeongbo wondered as he cautiously approached to take a look inside the cauldron. There was nothing special about it—it was just another failed batch.
“Uh, young master?”
“Oh, Master Yeongbo,” Seo-jun said, noticing his approach. He pointed at the cauldron.
“Why did you do it this way? I think I understand what you’re trying to do, but isn’t this process way too complicated?”
It was a beginner’s question, but that was to be expected. Most martial artists didn’t know much about alchemy.
Wiping the sweat from his brow, Namgung Yeongbo responded, “It’s complicated, but each step has its purpose. There’s no avoiding it.”
“Is that so? I don’t think it has to be this way... Do you mind if I try it once?” Seo-jun asked.
Namgung Yeongbo’s eyebrow twitched. He didn’t have time for this.
While nothing would be lost from a slight delay, the fact that they were so close to the end of a project they had been working on for nearly ten years made him impatient.
Just as he was about to refuse, Namgung Su-a spoke up.
“Master Yeongbo, could you allow him to try? I’m sorry to impose, but... who knows? Maybe something unexpected could happen,” she said with a gentle smile.
At that, Namgung Yeongbo felt a strange sense of peace wash over him, and before he knew it, he was nodding.
“Yes, of course. If Lady Su-a wishes it.”
Seo-jun couldn’t help but marvel.
“Wow...”
Truly, the idol of the Namgung Family.
For reasons he couldn’t fully understand, Namgung Su-a’s popularity within the family was almost like a form of worship.
If she asked someone to fetch her water because she didn’t feel like getting up, most people would gladly do it with a smile.
It was truly amazing.
What kind of magic does she use?
Seo-jun received a simple explanation of the Cheonin Elixir’s alchemy process.
He didn’t bother with the details of preparing the ingredients or processing them.
All that mattered was the final stage, and the preparations had already been completed. Seo-jun just needed to focus on finishing the process.
‘It’s definitely complex,’ Seo-jun thought as he listened to how internal energy was supposed to interact with the ingredients.
It was less like martial arts and more akin to sorcery, but since Seo-jun had some experience dabbling in sorcery, he had no problem understanding it.
In essence, he just had to use his internal energy to guide the energy within the elixir into a specific Five Elements formation.
The problem was that the formation was absurdly complicated, and even the slightest mistake in timing or flow would result in failure.
“You probably won’t get meaningful results on the first try. Even I, as the head of this place, haven’t been able to complete half of the process successfully. Don’t worry too much,” Namgung Yeongbo said.
“Got it,” Seo-jun replied casually, stepping up to the cauldron without a hint of tension.
It was indeed a difficult and complex process. Once the internal energy started flowing, even the smallest mistake would lead to immediate failure.
But that was all it was.
‘This is easier than the Heaven-Reversing Sun and Moon Art,’ Seo-jun thought.
Even though Seo-jun could use it effortlessly, Flash Lightning Azure Thunder Art was something that even a martial arts genius like Chun-bong found difficult to start learning.
Compared to that, the Cheonin Elixir’s alchemy process wasn’t that hard.
Success was a given. Now, the only question was how to optimize the process.
He had to find a way to lower the difficulty so that others could succeed as well.
He didn’t expect it to be particularly difficult.
‘I’m more curious as to why they’ve been struggling with this,’ he mused.
In any case, once he completed it by the book, he’d get a feel for how to improve it.
“Here I go,” Seo-jun said, placing his hand over the cauldron.