The ancient bronze alchemy cauldron stood eight feet tall in the center of Taichu Sanctuary Hospital’s master compounding hall.
Its three thick legs were cast in the shape of crouching dragons clawing into the stone floor. The heavy bronze walls gleamed with a deep green patina from two centuries of herbal brewing, carved with intricate Taoist cloud patterns.
Dr. Gu Qinghe wore clean white linen robes and silk gloves.
He carefully weighed bundles of pure mountain codonopsis, wild cliff gentian, and sun-dried poria harvested by Old Man Yao’s villagers. Each root was cut with a silver knife to ensure zero metallic contamination.
Beside the cauldron, Little Guo’er stood on a small wooden step stool, holding a polished jade vial in her two hands.
Inside the vial rested three crystalline drops of morning dew gathered from the petals of her Nine-Heart Spirit Lotus. The dew glowed with a faint, iridescent green halo.
“Dr. Gu, is it time?” Little Guo’er asked in a serious, focused whisper.
“Yes, young director,” Dr. Gu smiled warmly. “Add the morning dew.”
