Way of Overlord-Chapter 297: Alchemy

He sighed for a moment and then looking at the sky above him, he only smiles and nodded to himself

"Let it flow" he thought to himself.

"Let it be naturally", he mutters. He still have time before he would have to mobilize his army.

Khagai also did not send him any letters yet.

It means things did not yet kick off in the west. So, before the matter in the West started, it would not be bad to focus his attention to seeking the Spirit of the Great Steppe.

" I should ask Mayeux for the maps that he have"

Aeryon then untied his horse and jumping on the back of his horse, he returns back to his tent.

The moment he returns to his tent, he immediately call his servants

He then orders Mayeux to send him the map of the Southern Great Steppe.

When he had finished eating his afternoon meal, the map were all put in his war tent.

It took him all evening to scour through the maps and then he decided to check some of the most suspicious site in the map.

He put down the map on the table. Looking at the place he circles in the map he could not help but sigh

"This is going to be complicated" he mutters under his breath. His eyes keep looking at the map like his eyes would bore holes on the leather map

"This place is the east. It is quite near the territory of Dama. Should I inform him first that I would be going there?"

"Or should I go incognito?"

One of the places that he believe to be related to the Spirit of the Great Steppe is near the east. It is very close to Dama territory.

It is near Lushar tribe border

Aeryon did think for a moment to bring some soldiers with him but that would be too high profiled.

Not to mention, that some of the requirement of meeting the Spirit of the Great Steppe is quite strict.

"the annoying thing is I don’t know if the requirement is true or not"

And even Ashana Angah does not know and could only extrapolate from the stories and carved stones that he had read before. There is even some parchment of animals skins and bark or silk that the Ashana read in front of him about the Spirit of the Great Steppe

Of course, the writing is based on the Old Marynku script during the rule of the Old Empire of the Steppe.

Other than finding that certain place, there is actually another way to feel the trace of the Spirit of the Great Steppe

but that other way would require him to convene all the Ashana that have deep knowledge about Soul to chant and summon the Spirit of the Great Steppe.

And when Aeryon heard this from the Ashana, one could imagine his confusion.

Soul? That was his question. And what is the studies of the soul?

There is the philosophical foundation of what the soul is.

Most of the Ashana that is in this studies usually begins with the philosophical inquiries into its nature, from delving into question about soul origin, its relationship with the physical body and mortal existences and each one would find their own answer.

And then they would try to understand it using some practice.

From the few that the Ashana mentions, the Ashana that delves into the studies of the soul, sometimes would meditate to find some kind of enlightenment for souls

Other times, they would ingest herb to induce dreams that would point them the way

Trance states induced through ritual and meditation. Most of these practise seems to aim to detach the consciousness from the mortal body.

And then there is the kind of Ashana who could still sense Mana and these kind of Ashana would use divinatory arts.

Even in Yan, there are some people who uses this kind of art to divine the meaning of the heavens from predicting the weather to determining the luck of the dynasty.

It is the same in the Steppe. There is some Ashana who could see the fortune of a tribe, could see the trends that is about to form, to see destiny and fate like one would see the sun rising

Some uses bones, some uses leaves, some look at the skies.

These are all divinatory arts. Divinatory arts does have a bit of connection with the practice to explore the soul

Know the heavens, know yourself.

And then there is the study of alchemy. This practice Ashana Angah told him come from the far west. Farther than the Western Zhou.

Further, further west.

There is this study of alchemy.

In Yan, there is also the study of alchemy. But the alchemy studies of these two different regime, one in the far far west and in the south is different

The far west seek to create wealth, to turn metal into gold, to create the so-called Philosopher Stone.

The south seek the truth of the soul attaining immortality.

But the far west is external, a physical object.

The south is internal, intangible.

At least that is the simplest difference

Ashana Angah tell him that while he did not know much about the method of the alchemy of the west, he knows the difference

In contrast, he knows more about the study of alchemy of Yan.

Aeryon look at the map again and shakes his head. He then goes to sit down but he felt like his head is still messy.

Instead, he laid down a small leather blanket on the ground and then lay down. His head is pulsing and he didn’t like it.

For a moment, he just stay there. But then he got up again.

"I do not like leaving things incomplete"

He got up and he walk back and forth inside his tent. His mind is organizing the many new things he had learned from the Ashana

And he had learned a lot.

"I thought the answer to the question would be simple"

He relay thought that the Spirit of the Great Steppe, this thing could easily be found.

What he never expected was to have a history lesson, a magic lesion and hearing stories of myths and legends

"But it is good that I learn more about this world. It does open up some new thoughts that I never considered before"

Aeryon had already learned that there is people that is born with innate strength. He learns of Qi, Mana, Kusa, this energy of heaven and earth that is manipulated by the people of the world

An all-encompassing energy. Sometimes, to strengthen the body., sometime to strengthen items.

And then he thought that he already knows the important stuff.

Turns out, this world has so many more things to explore.

Alchemy.

In this world, the history of this world also seems to mirror his own world with slight deviations on some points.

The geography of Yan for example is like the geography of ancient Han dynasty with a few differences.

And it is the same with the trajectory of history that mirrors his own world.

In this world, there is also a First Emperor of Xun that seeks immortality by trying to ingest alchemy pills.

But just like in his world, this alchemy pill is nothing but a lie.

Hence, Aeryon thought that most magic especially something like alchemy pill is just nonsense

However, after hearing Ashana Angah explains it to him, it seems more like the First Emperor of Xun entrusted his dream to someone that should not be trusted.

It is either that or there is a conspiracy during that time. Since alchemy does exist, and it does work, in some capacity

Ashana Angah tells him that the Yan people sometimes practice cultivation of three forces that embody Heaven, Earth and Humanity.

The Essence, The Vitality (Qi) and the Shen (Spirit)

The restoration, accumulation, and transformation of these three inner forces are what constitute true spiritual illumination and immortality.

This is one thought. After all, the martial art world of Yan has many different schools and its Daoist also have so many Ways and so many methods.

In Daoism two streams of thought and practice always appear, sometimes simultaneously.

One is the process of cultivating natural internal energies or essences and the other is living the most natural life possible.

In the first one, the one practicing it could see all specific practices and methods and in the second we find the philosophy, a living of the Way, so to speak.

This is why those who follow the Path were so apt to seek to be master artists, musicians, or engrossed in whatever their livelihood was to make it an aspect of their personal Dao.

Thus, when reading about Daoism and Daoist there will always be this aspect of cultivating (Nourishing Life Arts) and/or living the Dao through life endeavours.

Ashana Angah said that in his youth, other than just roaming round the Steppe, and reading the Stones in the Cave of the Ashana, he also studies many other foreign language and in doing so he also acquire some knowledge about Yan.

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