Fates Parallel Chapter 300 - Elixir

Lee Jung stared down at the softly glowing golden pill in her palm uncertainly. Jia, Eui, Narae, and Luo Mingyu were gathered around her—at first the entire group had tried to crowd around them, but the alchemist insisted that they give her space. As heartening as their support was, she appreciated the quieter environment.

“Are you certain that this is safe for me to take?”

Luo Mingyu pursed his lips at her question.

“I won’t lie to you, Miss Lee—I can’t make that guarantee. However, my original claim to fame was a qi refining pill that allowed me to awaken despite being far too old. While this elixir tested my limits, you could say that creating medicine that is safe for mortal consumption is something of a speciality of mine.”

“But it might not be safe?”

“The power contained in that pill is enough to burn out the meridians of even a low level cultivator. It’s designed to control the flow of that power through your meridians and combat the corruption that plagues you, but even a small mistake could lead to ruptures or worse.”

Jung frowned down at the thing nervously. It was hard to believe that someone had gone through such effort to create something like it for her. Narae gave Jung’s hand a comforting squeeze.

“It’s okay, Mommy! Mister Doctor didn’t make any mistakes, right?”

Luo Mingyu smiled softly.

“I was meticulous in my preparations, and I’m not aware of any errors. However, the elixir is rather volatile. You should take it soon, or else it might lose potency or worse.”

Jia put a hand on Jung’s shoulder and smiled.

“It’s okay, Big Sis. We’ll be right here if anything happens.”

Jung reached up with her free hand to stroke Jia’s cheek. Little Jia—the girl she’d watched over for all those years, who’d somehow grown into a beautiful young woman that defied the heavens themselves. Jia protected Jung and Narae so fiercely that it made Jung guilty—surely the clumsy caretaking of a clueless little girl wasn't worth all that?

There was nothing Jung could ever do to even begin paying Jia back for everything she’d done, but she knew that her ‘little sister’ didn’t think of it that way. She loved so absolutely and so innocently that it inspired Jung. How had she ever managed to raise a girl like that?

To Jia, all Jung had to do to repay all that kindness was to live. And so, she would. What did she have to fear, with a little sister who would fight death itself for her sake?

“Thank you, Jia.”

Without another moment of hesitation, Jung swallowed the elixir.

—-

Mortal souls were hard to distinguish with soul sight. While cultivators were bright, shining beacons, a mortal was more like a soft glow in a hazy cloud—easy to miss if you didn’t know to look. Jung’s in particular was so faint that it almost blended into the background essence, but the moment she took the elixir, it lit up like a brilliant star.

Jung lurched forward and clutched her chest as the golden energy flooded her meridians. Jia reached out, but Luo Mingyu held up a hand to stop her.

“Don’t touch her! Even the slightest imbalance could ruin everything! Everyone back away and give her space!”

Jia gritted her teeth, but followed his instruction, watching anxiously as Jung groaned in pain. Eui glared at Luo Mingyu.

“You didn’t say anything about this!”

“The first moments are most critical—it has to purge the existing impurities quickly and establish a stable equilibrium with the heart of corruption. I never promised the experience would be pleasant, but it has to be this way or the qi will start pooling in her meridians and cause more damage.”

Luo Mingyu was right—Jia could see it happening. The golden energy would spend itself on the corruption in Jung’s soul, then spread throughout her meridians. As it ran out of impurities to clean, the essence built up in her meridians, gradually increasing the pressure as it ran its course.

Just when Jia was afraid that the pressure would be too much for Jung’s fragile soul to bear, the golden essence finished winding its way through the infinite winding labyrinth of her meridians and slowly dulled until it had reduced to the same soft golden glow of the pill.

Luo shouted triumphantly as Jung gasped for breath, her entire body shaking.

“Yes! It looks like things are stabilizing now. How do you feel, Miss Lee Jung?”

Jung wiped the sweat from her forehead unsteadily and took a deep breath.

“Honestly? I feel amazing. That was indescribably painful, but now I suddenly feel as if I could outrun Yumi!”

“Perfect! Although I should warn you that feeling is very temporary, and not reflective of your physical health. Your body is still quite weak, so please don’t push yourself.”

“Of course. Thank you, Sir Luo.”

The alchemist waved off her thanks.

“I did as I was required. Besides, I do have some bad news. I didn’t want to say anything before on the off chance that the elixir failed but...”

Jia frowned.

“Is there a side effect you didn’t warn us about?”

Luo Mingyu raised his hands in a placating gesture.

“Not exactly, no! That surge of energy she’s feeling is the result of her body working overtime to handle the sudden flood of qi. Within a few hours, she will likely have exhausted herself just from sitting at rest, and that state is going to persist for...well, if my calculations are accurate, approximately a year.”

Eui rounded on him with an incredulous glare.

“A year?! That would kill her within a day!”

Luo Mingyu waved his hands urgently and shook his head.

“It won’t! Think of this state as like...a temporary simulated awakening. She has qi flowing through her meridians like that of a cultivator, and it helps sustain her body. That qi has been carefully crafted to maximize compatibility with Lee Jung, and will also fight the corruption within her. It’s just very taxing, so she will likely be requiring much more rest than before.”

Jung smiled sadly.

“I already spend most of my time sleeping these days—how much worse could it be?”

Luo Mingyu grimaced.

“Er, well...once your current rush wears off, I expect that your waking hours will instead be measured in minutes.”

“Oh...”

Eui grabbed Luo Mingyu by the collar.

“That is not what we agreed on!”

The alchemist stared her down defiantly.

“Wasn’t it? What I’ve done here is practically a miracle! This was always going to be a temporary solution while you searched for something more comprehensive, and I believe that I’ve more than quadrupled Lee Jung’s life expectancy.”

Jia put a hand on Eui’s shoulder and gently pulled her back.

“He’s right, Eui. Thank you for what you’ve done Luo Mingyu—I know I already said this, but we’re in your debt.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, but I will believe it when I see it.”

“Of course. What happens when the elixir’s energy runs its course?”

Luo Mingyu scratched the back of his head and averted his eyes.

“Erm, if the heart of corruption hasn’t already been comprehensively removed? Certain death.”

“Understood. Could you give us some time alone, please?”

“Of course...”

Luo Mingyu bowed and left to give them as much privacy as could be managed in the small campsite. As soon as he was gone, Narae all but tackled her mother with a hug.

“Don’t worry Mommy! We’ll find someone to cure you for real, I promise!”

Jung returned the hug and ruffled her daughter's hair.

“I’m sure you will, sweetheart. This is already more than I could have ever hoped for—you’re all so much more than I deserve.”

Jia knelt down next to Jung’s litter and hugged her as well.

“I’m sorry about the side effects. I wanted to give you more time, but if you’re asleep for most of it...”

Jung shook her head and chuckled.

“Oh, don’t be! I was already asleep more often than not, and I know that you’re still searching for a more permanent solution.”

Jia remembered Master Ienaga’s warnings about wasting their remaining time together and hugged her sister tighter.

“I’ll try not to miss a single minute.”

“That’s sweet, dear, but I wouldn’t mind some privacy now and then. For now I...I think the rush is starting to wear off. Give my thanks to Yumi and Princess Seong Misun, would you?”

Jia gave her sister a questioning look as she helped her lie back down.

“Misun?”

Jung nodded.

“Oh yes...she’s quite sweet, actually. You just...have to...”

She drifted off before she could finish speaking, leaving Jia to wonder just what secret depths Jung had managed to discover in the spiky princess.

—-

“Alright, moment of truth! Where’s my wastrel of a sister?”

Seong Misun’s announcement sent a ripple of tension throughout the camp. Now that Jung had taken Luo Mingyu’s elixir, it was time for them to move on. But first, they had to address the matter of their two newest members leading enemies straight to them.

Eunae had been hard at work exploring the limits of her newfound control over her power, and it was time to see if her efforts had borne fruit.

Once everyone had gathered together—less Narae, who stayed to watch over her mother, and Eui, who was watching over her—Eunae stepped forward nervously to present her solution.

“I’m afraid that I don’t have enough fine control over my power to cleanly sever the link to a spiritual tablet. However, with the help of Ja Yun, I believe that we’ve found a potentially workable solution. As her understanding of the concepts involved is better than mine, I’ll allow her to explain.”

Ja Yun stepped up next to Eunae, looking surprisingly calm for having been called on to speak.

“It is commonly assumed that the soul is inviolate to outside influences—obviously, this isn’t true. Not only is Eunae living proof of that, but it has long been held that God-Emperor Qin’s infamous Heavenly Host exhibits signs of extensive soul-manipulation. While such alterations could, in theory, be self-inflicted, many scholars have posited that the God-Emperor may be a master of soul magic.”

Jia thought about the awakening stone that she still carried. If the God-Emperor really was a master of soul magic, then its ability to forcibly awaken the user made a lot more sense. Seong Misun crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently.

“Get to the point!”

Rather than wilting, Ja Yun just bowed.

“Yes, Your Highness. Instead of being inviolate, a popular theory put forth by former Grand Magus Do Hye is that the soul is actually extremely flexible and durable, as well as being capable of self-regeneration. Through our experiments, we’ve been able to conclusively prove this hypothesis.”

Jia groaned.

“Do Hye again? Why is it always him?”

Ja Yun smiled sardonically.

“Prior to his disappearance and presumed betrayal, Do Hye was the most prolific scholar of the century...several centuries in a row. You’d be hard-pressed to find a magical advancement anywhere in the last millennium without his fingerprints on it somewhere.”

Misun rolled her eyes.

“Yes, yes. The Snake was right as usual, what does this have to do with my sister?”

“For that, I’ll let Eunae explain.”

Ja Yun stepped back, leaving Eunae to explain the rest on her own.

“The way my power overcomes this near-invulnerability is rather brutal. It simply digs a wound so deep that even the natural regeneration of the soul leaves behind a permanent scar, fundamentally altering the person in some way. I say ‘simply,’ but the reality is that even I still have no idea how my power accomplishes this. My best guess is that it is a unique property of the esoteric element Soulfire, which has only ever been observed in myself, Seong Heiran, and our spiritual ancestor herself—the Kumiho.

“However, it is possible for Soulfire to leave behind superficial wounds. This is what happens when I strike enemies directly with Soulfire attacks, or when my gaze is met without pushing too hard against the person’s will. My control is still extremely limited, but I have found good results by simply unleashing my power against someone, then reining it in to prevent serious damage.”

Eunae turned and gestured towards Ja Yun.

“With her permission, I have managed to place Ja Yun under a temporary geas that prevents her from expressing her anxiety or nervousness. Her soul will naturally recover within a few hours, leaving no trace of damage behind. It’s not perfect, but I am much more comfortable using this limited version of my power.”

Jia focused her attention on Ja Yun out of curiosity. Sure enough, beneath her calm facade, Ja Yun was a panicky mess—made even worse by how embarrassed she was to be the center of attention. Yet, without magical empathy, Jia would never have been able to tell—her expression betrayed nothing.

Pan Jiaying raised her hand nervously.

“Um, I’m not sure how much of that I understood, but basically you said you can use your power without causing permanent changes now? But you said you couldn’t cleanly break the link to a spiritual tablet.”

Eunae nodded.

“That’s right. Spiritual jade tablets are designed to break only when the soul they are attuned to dies. In order to trick them, the damage would have to be...substantial. It might be possible for me to do it in such a way that you would recover afterwards, but that recovery would not be swift or easy.”

Luo Mingyu buried his face in his hands and groaned.

“Tell me if I am understanding you correctly. You have found a solution which is essentially the equivalent of crippling us so severely that our spiritual tablets think we have died, but leaving us within an inch of our lives so that we might eventually recover.”

Ja Yun stepped forward and shook her head.

“Not quite! Think of it this way—instead of just breaking your soul, she can squish it into a really weird shape that looks broken, then just let it bounce back into shape on its own!”

She made a squeezing gesture with both hands to demonstrate, and the alchemist chuckled weakly.

“Well, I suppose it’s time to put my money where my mouth is. If it’s between that and death...when can we begin?”