This chapter opens with a soliloquy by the young alchemist, chenqin, in which he explains that he is leaving the city because he does not believe that the alchemist has the means to cure him of his poison. He asks the young man if he can tell him the way to purify the poison. Unsure of what he is doing, he asks the alchemist to help him. The young man tells him to go to his "artifact chamber" , which is a place where alchemists store their weapons and other artifacts. Believing that this is the case, the alchemist asks the man to make him an "artpiece" . The alchemist explains that the needle he needs to make is much larger than the other weapons he can make. He says that he will draw the needle on paper for the alchemist so that he can use it to make his own weapon. The needle is made of black obsidian, a substance that is extremely difficult to forge. Intrigued, the man asks if the alchemist's son has entrusted him to use the obsidian to make a sword.