Liu Yang continued to explain the principle of alchemy, he said that drugs are divided into two categories: yang medicine and yin medicine, and the key to mastering the principle of alchemy is to understand and use the sexual intercourse, growth and change, mutual assistance and mutual restraint between yang medicine and yin medicine. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

After this process, the yin and yang phases are systematized, so "the death of the yang soul and the death of the yin spirit is the love of the husband and wife, and the smooth qi of yin and yang", the cultivation will be successful, and the great dan will be born.

If this principle is violated, then "solitary yin is sterile, and oligo-yang is not born", which will inevitably lead to failure.

The so-called yang medicine, which is easy to burn, red yellow in color, and easy to fly (sublimation) when it sees fire, is classified as positive. For example, gold is "fumigated by the breath of the sun, and the essence of the sun"; Sulfur is the "essence of flint".

The bright red color of Dansha is due to the fact that it was born in the "Yanfang" (south), "the breath of fire"; Born in the "Mountain of the Sun", once heated in the fire, it will soar; Zeng Qing is blue in color and belongs to Oriental wood in the five elements, so they are all masculine.

And those who are immovable, stagnant, stubborn, and cannot be burned or formed next to the Yin Mountains and Mountains, are subordinate to the negative, such as black lead, which is dark in shape, and belongs to the northern water in the five elements.

The mercury is white, and its shape is like water and silver; Saltpeter is produced near the lake or in the damp corner, and is considered to be born from the "land of cold and frost" in late autumn; Clay and alum stone are born in Yinshan, white crystals, and are considered to be "ice condensation, water becomes".

Therefore, these drugs are all negative, and their function is to subdue the golden stone of the extreme yang.

"Dao Chief, I just want to ask, is lime yang or yin?" Yu Wenwen suddenly asked, Liu Yang was stunned when he heard this, and he wanted to say something but couldn't say it.

Lime is a common and visible thing, stonemasons mine limestone from the mountain, and after roasting with fire, the limestone is crushed into powder, which is quicklime, and the quicklime heats violently when exposed to water, and is dissolved in water for hydrated lime.

To make lime, you need to 'fire attack' limestone, so it stands to reason that the limestone before fire attack should be yin, and after being attacked by fire, 'go to cold', then quicklime is yang, and when exposed to water and heat, it means that it is 'masculine' violent.

Hydrated lime dissolved in water is naturally yin when subjected to 'water attack', so even if it is dissolved in water after drying, it will not release heat, but the problem is not nothing: after the 'fire attack' of hydrated lime again, it still cannot be exothermic like quicklime when it encounters water.

From ore to quicklime and then to hydrated lime, no medicine has been added, it is a simple 'fire attack' and 'water attack', and eucalyptus said that the attributes of lime should be converted between yin and yang, but why is this happening?

So is the attribute of this lime yang or yin?

Liu Yang couldn't answer, he couldn't explain the properties of limestone, quicklime and hydrated lime, when he was young, he once asked Master about the attributes of these three, and Master just smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"It's very simple, limestone, its composition is calcium carbonate, after heating, the carbonate breaks off and becomes calcium oxide and water, this calcium oxide is quicklime, and calcium carbonate becomes calcium oxide is an endothermic reaction, so it is necessary to heat it with fire to provide heat." Yu Wenwen directly pointed out the principle.

"When calcium oxide meets water, the calcium oxide at this time combines with water to become calcium hydroxide, which is hydrated lime, and its reaction process is an exothermic reaction, releasing heat, and even making water hot and boiling."

"It's not impossible to turn hydrated lime into quicklime again, but the heating temperature needs to exceed 1,000 degrees, and the heat provided by firewood alone is not enough."

"All in all, limestone is calcium carbonate, quicklime is calcium oxide, and hydrated lime is calcium hydroxide, and although it doesn't seem like a big difference, it's three different substances." Yu Wenwen came to a conclusion, a natural conclusion.

"What... Carbonate caps? Raising a painting cover? Exothermic reflection? Liu Yang couldn't understand what Yu Wenwen said at all, but seeing that the other party was speaking confidently and straightforwardly, he also began to be surprised.

If it is really as the other party said, then everything is explained in the past, although he doesn't understand whether this theory is right or not, but it is much better than the explanation of yang medicine and yin medicine.

"This is chemistry, and you can see the essence through the phenomenon, but it is just the difficulty of junior high school chemistry." Yu Wenwen waved his hand, "The yin and yang doctrine of alchemy can't be said to be completely wrong, it's just that 'the slightest mistake is a thousand miles', and it is used in the wrong place." ”

"Could it be that in chemistry, there is also the way of yin and yang?"

"Yes, the so-called anions, cations are also."

"Yin pear? Yang pear? Where is this? ”

"It's not the pear you eat, it's the departure that leaves, and the so-called ions are... Well, it's hard to say, let's talk about it later. Yuwen Wen touched his chin, looked at the stunned Liu Yang, and smiled slightly: "Then Daochang Liu, let's talk about it, what kind of principle is the utensils used in alchemy?" ”

Come on, tell me all about your life's work that you are proud of! I want to refute them one by one, so that your three views will be ruined!

Liu Yang didn't come back to his senses for a long time, seeing Yuwen Wen urging continuously, he swallowed a mouthful of saliva with difficulty, and continued to explain after coughing a few times, but he had lost his previous momentum, and he showed no confidence in his words.

He said that according to the experience summed up by the ancestors of the past dynasties, it is believed that the reason why gold and stone minerals can be cultivated into divine pills in the alchemy furnace (Danding, Dan Cauldron), and the low-quality lead, tin, copper and iron can be ignited into gold and silver is because a "small universe" has been formed in the alchemy furnace.

"Universe" is not a foreign term, the Central Plains has existed in ancient times, even the "Thousand Character Text" compiled by Liang of the Southern Dynasty, at the beginning there is "Heaven and Earth Xuanhuang, the universe is desolate", and then Hou Jing, who troubled the south of the Yangtze River, proclaimed himself the "General of the Universe".

Yu Wenwen almost couldn't help laughing when he heard the words "small universe", which reminded him of the setting of a classic anime in later generations, but he still put down his chopsticks and stopped eating, saying that he was listening carefully to the commentary.

Alchemists have their own theories about refining minerals into gold pills, and they first summarized a 'law' by observing minerals in nature: natural gold and stone substances will naturally change in the direction of self-improvement over time.

Alchemists also believed that certain substances could be gradually transformed into gold or even into the elixir of immortality in nature. However, the time required is extremely long.

This idea has been circulated among alchemists everywhere, and it is both quite old and long-lasting. For example, there is such a saying: "Orpiment turns into male yellow for a thousand years, and realgar turns into gold for a thousand years." ”

"The true liquid and the qi of the palace (south) have been combined into mercury for more than a thousand years, and have been formed into cinnabar for another thousand years, such as pine resin into the ground and amber for thousands of years."

"There is lead and silver (mercury) in the dansha, and the right male and the left female. Holding the yin and yang qi of the sun and the moon, 4,320 years is full of qi, and he has become an immortal and heavenly man, that is, the elixir of longevity. ”

Based on this realization, alchemists had a very radical idea of artificially creating an environment to speed up this natural evolution, and in their opinion, metal smelting was a strong proof of this possibility.

Therefore, they believed that by placing the golden stone medicine in the danding, relying on the combination of yin and yang, imitating the principle of heaven and earth, supplemented by the promotion of water and fire, they could greatly accelerate the evolutionary agenda.

Then the artificial cultivation of the Divine Pill and the transformation of copper and lead into gold and silver can be completed in a short period of time.

According to this idea, they think that Danding is a small universe that shrinks, and in this small universe, time moves very quickly because of the combination of fire and water, and the medicine can be equivalent to many years in the outside world on one day.

Many alchemists believe in the following saying: Dansha is born in the south, close to the sun, and is born after years of accumulation, and after 4,320 years of qi, it will naturally return to Dan. But if there is an immortal recipe, this process can be quickly shortened.

As long as the fire is according to the festival symbol, the charcoal is a few catties and two should be trigrams, the Qiankun is implemented day by day, and the fire is naturally invited, then one hour can be a year, and a year of December, January 30, a day of twelve hours, a year of three hundred and sixty days, so one year in the Danding is conceived, it is equivalent to four thousand three hundred and twenty years in nature.

Since it is necessary to form a "small universe", how to make the alchemy furnace (Danding, Dan Cauldron) of alchemy has become the key, Liu Yang couldn't help but dance when he said this, and at this time, Yuwen Wen was difficult again: "Excuse me, has the Taoist used realgar to refine the pill?" ”

Liu Yang nodded when he heard the words and said: "Realgar can be used in the fire, it is a commonly used thing, its color is golden, and it is one of the raw materials for turning other things into gold. ”

Yu Wenwen asked again: "Is the alchemy furnace used by the Dao Master made of earth or iron?" ”

"What is used in the poor road is the lower iron and the upper soil, that is, the lower kettle is iron, and the upper kettle is soil, and when the two are combined, the iron is under the kettle to contain things, and the kettle on the soil is the cover."

"When the Dao Elder was refining realgar, did he combine it with herbs?"

"Yes."

"Then I have three questions, the first question, when Dao Changxionghuang is combined with herbs, I think it is necessary to apply a layer of mud on the inner wall of the iron kettle, otherwise what will be refined is not a yellow pill, but a black muddy and sand-like object appears on the wall of the iron kettle, right?"

"It's... Indeed it is. ”

"The second question, if the alchemy furnace or the pill kettle is too large, or the seal is not tight, does the refined pill have a white frost and snow-like powder, if this powder is taken in small amounts, it will make people feel burning, if you accidentally take too much... Killed on the spot? ”

"Poor Dao Yicheng refined this thing, and after taking it, he did get a fever all over his body, but he didn't die?"

'You've eaten that thing and you're not dead?' Yuwen Wen was so shocked that he almost forgot the third question, but he finally came back to his senses, coughed dryly a few times and began to ask:

"Dao Chief, when refining realgar, did you ever find yellow needle-like crystals on the inner wall of the soil kettle?"

"This is indeed the case, this thing is full of brilliance, and the ancestor once said that this thing is 'Red Snow Liuzhu Dan'."

"I don't know how to explain these three phenomena?"

Liu Yang trembled when he heard this, and began to explain it with the theory of the "small universe" in the alchemy furnace, but Yu Wenwen smiled and waved his hand: "It's not that complicated!" ”

He began to analyze the problem: the first question, the reason why that situation occurred was because there was a chemical reaction, realgar, its chemical composition is tetrasulfide tetraarsenic, and the mixed herbs are directly in contact with the metal kettle wall, and the herbs are carbonized under the heating condition, and the realgar is reduced to the element arsenic, commonly known as 'arsenic'.

The black silt-like object that appeared on the wall of the kettle contained the element arsenic, also known as arsenic.

The second question, that kind of situation occurs, because realgar is heated in contact with air, oxidation reaction, from tetraarsenic tetrasulfide to trioxide/arsenic, this thing is like hoarfrost, commonly known as arsenic, its sex is highly toxic, people eat too much and die directly.

The third question, it is very simple, realgar sublimates when heated, condenses in the kettle on the soil with low temperature, and the condensation is a needle-like crystal, the so-called 'red snow liuzhudan', and realgar is no different.

With a bang, the water cup in Liu Yang's hand fell to the ground, and now Liu Daochang was stunned, and the hand that was still holding the water cup trembled, just like the symptoms of advanced Parkinson's disease.

"How is it possible, how is it possible...", "That hoarfrost and pig intestine fat are steamed, but if you eat it, you can kill the 'three insects' in the body..." ”

Liu Yang only felt that the alchemy world he knew had collapsed, the theories he had once regarded as Guibi, the master's serious teachings, and all kinds of mysterious sayings in ancient books had now turned into mirrors.

Yu Wenwen's simple explanation was like a stone thrown into a calm pool, and the ripples stirred up spread out, turning the moon in the water that was originally close in front of him into a little streamer, and the way of alchemy and immortal cultivation that he pursued all his life turned out to be so boundless.

Alchemy must have dansha, and the refined pill can prolong life after taking it, but the master is very likely to die of mercury poisoning; Then there is the theory of elixir, the medicine is divided into yin and yang, but it can't explain many problems, but now the chemical technique can be conclusive.

The "small universe" of the alchemy furnace that he once believed in was nothing more than a 'chemical reaction', and the 'Red Snow Liuzhu Pill', which Master regarded as a treasure, was just another form of realgar.

Tears overflowed from the corners of his eyes, crossed his cheeks and fell to the ground, Liu Yang thought of his elderly master, who was busy beside the alchemy furnace, remembered the scene of himself squatting by the alchemy furnace day after day, year after year, and remembered the appearance of the little apprentice Qingfeng guarding the alchemy furnace, full of anticipation to add firewood.

His master practiced Dan all his life and passed away with regret; He has been busy for decades, and he has many doubts in his heart, but he has not had the slightest clue; His apprentice will also take over the mantle in the future and continue to refine the pill, just like himself back then, he still has no clue.

Everything is just a mirage...

Thinking of this, Liu Yang was already in tears, he got up calmly, and did not retreat to Yuwen Wen, he walked out of the door like a walking corpse, Yuwen Wen sighed in his heart when he saw this, and stepped forward and patted the other party's shoulder: "Liu Daochang, the stones of his mountain can attack jade, and the alchemy is ethereal, but chemistry is real." ”

"Thank you Lang Jun for mentioning this..."Liu Yang said with difficulty, trying to squeeze out a smile, but in Yu Wenwen's opinion, that smile was more ugly than crying.

Liu Yang staggered away, Yu Wenwen looked at the other party's bleak back, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "The three views are ruined, that's what it looks like..."

The three questions he just asked, along with the symptoms of mercury poisoning, were not because he had studied alchemy a lot, but because when he was a student, the chemistry teacher gave a very good lecture, and when he talked about mercury and arsenic, he specially used ancient alchemy as an introduction to cite those questions.

"It's been so long since I graduated, and these examples are still fresh in my memory." Yu Wenwen muttered to himself quite emotionally, and a figure appeared in his mind, it was the female chemistry teacher in their class, young, beautiful and energetic.

"If all the teachers were like this back then, maybe they would have been admitted to Tsinghua University and Peking University..." )