Chapter 34: Emotional Turmoil
"Hmm, serene water, turbulent water, murky water... you were truly quite innovative in utilizing the properties of these waters to theoretically create a water path Gu that can affect emotions," Chen Wei is reviewing the recipe for the Flowing Emotions Gu, which has been modified by him and Wang Mei several times throughout the day as they strive for perfection before truly beginning the refinement of the Gu.
"Yes! I had this idea after drinking one of the teas my father enjoys, as the tea made me feel radiant and excited!" Well, that's partly true, as although the tea inspired Wang Mei to create this Gu, she based her creation on tonics that she saw in her world that promised miracles like curing all sadness and providing maximum energy, rather than the teas themselves.
Of course, as a high-class lady, she never even visited the fairs selling these tonics to test their effectiveness, but based on what she heard from her father, she believed they were nothing but scams targeting the poor masses, who were a significant part of the population.
After starting her studies in a new branch of science called psychology, which focused on the human mind, she became even more skeptical of these remedies, popular among the lower class as miraculous cures.
But in this world of magic, where miracles considered imaginary by her are commonplace occurrences, like people creating fireballs or controlling furious waves of water, everything she deemed impossible was daily life for others.
"Hmm, now I understand why everyone calls him a genius..." These are Wang Mei's thoughts after being impressed by how easily he grasped the concepts behind the Gu, and with her help and his own understanding of Gu refinement, he perfected the recipe, making it much more stable and secure than the original one created by Wang Mei.
"Well, from what I see, there are no major errors or compromising factors in the recipe, so we can start now." Of course, they are no longer in one of the visiting rooms of the Chen family mansion but are now in Chen Wei's private refining room, with all the necessary materials for refining at hand, as Wang Mei came prepared, and even the new materials added to the refining were easily brought by Chen Wei's servants.
"You can assist me, but due to the dangerous nature of the refinement, don't let your guard down." Chen Wei warns her, and he himself is particularly vigilant as he refines a Gu that is not in his specialty Path. Although it's not the first time, and he has quite some experience with Water Path but due to its Emotion Path characteristics, he still feels some apprehension towards this Gu.
Chen Wei begins the refinement by taking four jars of water, each containing a different type of emotional water. This water is commonly used by Gu Masters in high-quality tea recipes when they want to induce a sense of calmness or happiness in those who drink it, much like what inspired Wang Mei to create this Gu.
Most Gu Masters never stopped to ponder why these waters have these effects, and even if they did wonder, they would hardly discover the real reason. Even Wang Mei, who plans to use this effect, has no knowledge of why it occurs, but Chen Wei is fully aware of the intrinsic reason, not only for this but for all Gu effects.
In the end, all these effects and results, which according to the books and knowledge taught to him by his teachers, only within the clan have various different theories and explanations battling among themselves to prove which are correct or not, all come down to one thing - Dao Marks!
And this knowledge, along with the scientific and methodological knowledge he acquired from the novel, has been his great ally, allowing him to advance much more rapidly than the rest of the clan members in his research. Of course, his immense talent also contributes significantly to his progress.
"Mei'er, observe carefully, as this is a good practical example of refinement for you." He carefully pours each of the waters one by one into a large basin with an oyster in the middle, ensuring to use the correct dosage, starting with the serene water, then turbulent water, murky water, and finally, cheerful water.
As soon as the four waters are in the basin, they begin to react chaotically as the different emotions clash with each other but remain in a stalemate, with no emotion gaining dominance due to being perfectly balanced by Chen Wei.
In the midst of all this chaotic water, there is a celestial blue oyster, which, left unchanged, is just a common oyster, but anyone from the He An Clan would recognize it as Valentine's Oyster, one of the main gifts given by young people asking for a girl's hand in courtship.
"Now it's your turn... be careful, Mei'er." Chen Wei makes room for Wang Mei to finish the refinement. Although ideally, he would want to complete the whole process himself, he realizes the necessity of her emotions for the Gu refinement to be correct since the Gu would need an emotional connection with her.
Wang Mei quickly approaches the Gu refinement and retrieves nine pearls of different colors, each known to represent a human emotion. She then carefully arranges the pearls inside the water basin in a way that begins to stabilize the chaotic emotional situation.
"You may feel at some point that your emotions are easily variable and out of your contr-" He was in the middle of reviewing the refinement steps for her when he realized something went wrong, and the refinement was about to fail. However, Wang Mei didn't notice the imminent failure due to her lack of experience in Gu refinement.
Chen Wei quickly, without bothering to warn Wang Mei, pulls her away from the basin full of water and refining materials while trying to bring the refinement under control to prevent it from exploding in his face since he knows that failing in a refinement always leads to significant consequences.
"Chen Wei, why you-!" Wang Mei, who was pushed forcefully, doesn't have time to finish her question to Chen Wei before she sees a celestial blue glow engulfing him, followed by a loud explosion sound and large amounts of water flying everywhere, soaking the entire refining room but causing little damage to almost anything.
"Chen Wei!! Are you okay!?" She quickly rushes towards him without even worrying about her own condition, which was also slightly affected by the failed refinement, her heart growing heavier and more melancholic with each step, her concern for Chen Wei's well-being at its highest.
"Oh God, please let him be okay!" She doesn't have a clear view of his physical state due to a thick mist of water and smoke surrounding the failed refining place, but when she gets close to the mist, she can see Chen Wei standing still, unharmed, with no visible injuries, but he seems to be in a trance as he gazes into space.
"Damn, I'm useless... how did I fail at such an easy refinement?!" These are Chen Wei's thoughts as his heart fills with melancholy and desolation, almost bringing him to tears of sadness.
"Argh, these servants must have bought defective materials!" But these feelings are quickly replaced by anger and fury at the failed refinement. In fact, if he saw any of the servants who purchased these materials in front of him, he would give them a good beating to vent his rage.
"Well, so be it..." But just as quickly as the anger arrived, it also dissipates as he calms down. "Actually, this is a great learning opportunity." Soon after, he feels quite pleased to experience this refinement failure, as it could give him more experience.
Of course, all this emotional turmoil and constantly shifting emotions are not his immaturity, but rather one of the negative effects of failing in refinement. As he feels a soul-crushing pain and a deafening buzzing in his ears that prevents him from hearing anything.
But before he could calm his emotions, he feels a tight squeeze and something wet on his chest. When he looks down to see what it is, he sees Wang Mei embracing him tightly, crying with her head buried in his chest, worried about Chen Wei's state. He can see her mouth moving as if she's speaking, but he can't hear anything.
"You idiot! Thank God you're okay!" Wang Mei hugs him tightly, afraid that if she lets go, he might die. Normally, she wouldn't be in such a desperate state, but the emotional effect of the failed refinement has also affected her, leaving her in a more precarious situation due to her lesser emotional control than Chen Wei.
Chen Wei, still under the influence of his uncontrolled emotions, hugs her back, trying to calm himself and bring his mental state to one where he can make sound decisions, as well as attempting to refine the Gu again.
In a few minutes, the deafening buzzing in his ears subsides, and he manages to regain control of his own emotions. But it doesn't end there, as he spends the next half hour trying to calm Wang Mei, assuring her that he's fine, that he loves her, and that nothing bad will happen to her.
In fact, witnessing the state they both ended up in has changed his opinion of Emotion Path from considering it a path with no offensive potential, more like a gateway to Wisdom Path, to now being extremely alert and cautious about the means of this path.
"I... I'm already... fine... Do you want to continue... the refinement today?" Wang Mei speaks, feeling embarrassed, as even though she was under the effect of the chaotic emotions of the failed refinement, which were several times stronger than her genuine emotions, that doesn't change the fact that she cried for half an hour in his arms while asking him to say he loves her repeatedly.
"Well, I'm already in the right state, so once you fully recover, we'll try the refinement again." Chen Wei speaks calmly, not bringing up the tearful and pitiful state she was in just a moment ago, as he himself is shocked by how much their emotions were affected.
So, shortly after Wang Mei recovers, they begin refining the Gu again, but not without failing once again before succeeding. At least this time, their mental states were much better prepared, and Wang Mei gained an experience that neither she nor Chen Wei realizes now, but will be the first step for her to make the Emotion Path known to everyone in the future.
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