Zhuge Ming was a straightforward man, and after waiting only a moment, he could no longer contain himself. "Yang Kai, what pill were you trying to refine just now?"
Yang Kai replied respectfully, "Grand Master Zhuge, the pill this disciple wished to refine is called the Ink-Expelling Pill!"
"What pill?" Zhou Fang's voice shot up a notch.
"The Ink-Expelling Pill!" Yang Kai repeated, enunciating every syllable.
Zhuge Ming and Zhou Fang exchanged a glance. Most pills in this world had names that gave away their purpose, but this one sounded rather unusual.
Zhuge Ming's brow furrowed deeply. "The purpose of this Ink-Expelling Pill—is it perhaps..."
Yang Kai nodded. "Exactly as Grand Master Zhuge suspects. The Ink-Expelling Pill is designed to purge the Ink Force that has corroded into the body."
Zhuge Ming and Zhou Fang both sucked in a sharp breath. Tang Jun, standing beside them, had his jaw hanging open, his face a mask of disbelief.
Yang Kai continued at an unhurried pace. "In the ancient era, when the Ink Battlefield first saw human cultivators battling the Ink Clan, our predecessors possessed remarkable ingenuity. They developed the Ink-Expelling Pill specifically to counter the Ink Force's corrosion. However, so much time has passed since then that the formula was lost long ago. By chance, this junior recently came across a damaged journal left behind by an ancestor alchemist in a Secret Realm. The journal contained the formula for the Ink-Expelling Pill, but because the journal was damaged, the formula was incomplete. I have spent these past days trying to restore the missing parts, but I have not yet succeeded."
Zhuge Ming pressed urgently, "A journal left behind by an ancestor alchemist? Where is this journal?"
Zhou Fang gazed at Yang Kai with equal eagerness.
Though both men were already among the greatest alchemists in the world, the Dao was endless, and new insights could always sharpen one's craft. They were naturally extremely curious about the ancestor alchemist's journal Yang Kai had mentioned. If they could examine it, it might prove enormously beneficial to them both.
Yang Kai harbored no desire to hoard his finds. He produced the journal and held it out.
Zhuge Ming was quickest on the uptake, snatching it first. He poured his spiritual sense into the damaged pages, scanning its contents. Zhou Fang, having failed to grab it, was practically vibrating with impatience, glaring daggers at Zhuge Ming with undisguised intent to bore holes through him with his eyes alone.
He had assumed the old fox would pore over it for ages, but after only a short while, Zhuge Ming looked up with an expression of utter speechlessness. "I can't make heads or tails of it!"
"Knowledgeless and incompetent!" Zhou Fang scoffed immediately, snatching the battered journal from Zhuge Ming's hands without a shred of courtesy, and submerged his consciousness within.
Zhuge Ming watched him sidelong. "If you can read it, I'll write my name backward!"
Zhou Fang's consciousness plunged deep into the journal. His expression grew solemn, his focus absolute. After a good while, he finally withdrew his spiritual sense, his face the very picture of bitter frustration. "The wisdom of the ancients is indeed vast and profound..."
Zhuge Ming let out a derisive snort. Much of the text recorded in the journal was written in extremely archaic characters—neither of them could even recognize them. Some characters they did recognize, but strung together in that arrangement, their meaning was completely opaque. Clearly, the way language was expressed in those ancient times differed greatly from the present.
A journal of this kind was undoubtedly priceless, but without understanding its content, it was of little practical use.
"You can read it?" Zhou Fang ignored Zhuge Ming's mockery and looked at Yang Kai.
Zhuge Ming also perked up. Having watched Yang Kai's refining process earlier, he knew the initial steps had progressed splendidly—it was only at a certain critical juncture that everything had suddenly fallen apart. That meant Yang Kai had already grasped the first half of the Ink-Expelling Pill formula.
Yang Kai replied, "I can understand most of it."
He did not recognize many of the characters in the journal either, but because he had refined the numerous Alchemy Dao Marks left behind by the ancestor alchemist, even the ancient script became intelligible to him upon sight.
Zhuge Ming and Zhou Fang both straightened. The former urged, "Tell us the Ink-Expelling Pill formula in detail—perhaps we two old men can be of some help."
Zhou Fang nodded vigorously beside him. The two had never been on good terms, each convinced his own alchemy surpassed the other's, and they rarely saw eye to eye on anything. But for the sake of this Ink-Expelling Pill formula, their rivalry could be set aside.
Yang Kai said that was precisely his intention.
He proceeded to relay the formula as he understood it in full detail, while Zhuge Ming and Zhou Fang listened with rapt attention.
The formula took a full half-hour to recount. When he finished, Yang Kai let out a sigh. "That journal is far too old and has suffered considerable damage. Of everything recorded in it, the most valuable entry is the Ink-Expelling Pill formula—but due to the journal's deterioration, that formula also has gaps. I attempted to refine it many times over these days. Every step of the early process went smoothly, but each time I reached the critical juncture, it failed. My suspicion is that the missing portion of the formula recorded one or several crucial medicinal ingredients. If that gap can be filled, the formula can be brought back into the world!"
Zhuge Ming nodded upon hearing this. "Your reasoning is likely correct. But what exactly is missing—there's no clue at all... No, not entirely without clues. The first and second halves of the formula are both quite complete. Only the middle section is damaged. We should be able to extrapolate the missing information from the content of the second half."