How to Make an Origin Fostering Pill
Episode 3 of The Daily Life of the Immortal King (Netflix) has students lugging in their furnaces for a lesson in refining pills. Sun Rong arrives to fanfare and walks straight past Chen Chao to call out for Wang Ling. Oblivious, Wang Ling spots what he believes is a spell sign over her head indicating her crush. As he moves to pop his name, his hand brushes her hair. He says it’s okay then walks off. While Chen Chao cries a bit, Guo Hao ponders Wang Ling’s flirting technique and Sun Rong looks traumatized. In the school lab, Instructor Shengcong Pan flashes through the vitality pill making steps and everyone gets working. While most of the kids have swanky machines, Chen Chao has his family’s massive antique fire furnace and Sun Rong uses a furnace from her family’s factory.
Guo Hao unveils his fully modern personal-sized furnace and Wang Ling proceeds with a microwave. Froggy 2 appears to observe proceedings and notices Guo Hao’s furnace is alive. Meanwhile Chen Chao explodes his family furnace and runs from the room, shouting his father will kill him. Shengcong Pan sets a timer for seven hours of refining and dismisses the class. We get a brief update that Guo Hao may look idle in class but studies at home. While Chen Chao, from a Kung Fu family, believes muscles solve every problem. Back in the lab, Froggy 2 has his eyes on Guo Hao’s magical furnace. He believes eating magical beings will help him once again evolve into a demon king. Just in time Wang Ling returns, having presumed Froggy is up to something. Froggy takes off with the furnace but Wang Ling quickly catches up, grabbing it from his mouth. Meanwhile Chen Chao runs laps, remembering his father’s warning when he borrowed the cauldron – the family treasure. He continues to run/self-berate. Wang Ling rinses the furnace taken from Froggy’s mouth but Guo Hao spots him. Chen Chao continues to race and starts to lose it a little, thinking he’s following Sun Rong who’s running into Wang Ling’s arms. Then he remembers the cauldron explosion and pictures his classmates pushing him out of the presidency while Sun Rong and Wang Ling laugh. In a daze, he wanders seeking Sun Rong. Wang Ling tries to explain about Froggy – but who would believe that story? While Guo Hao aims a gun at him, he suggests they ask the furnace and it quickly confirms. Guo Hao continues to yell at Wang Ling anyway as Chen Chao appears from behind, also ready to kill him. Guo Hao shoots purple liquid; Wang Ling dodges and Chen Chao gets it straight in the mouth. Score! No, wait. Chen Chao instantly hits the floor. Wang Ling assesses that it’s not that bad, but Guo Hao won’t let him touch Chen Chao. Worried they’ll get caught, he forces Wang Ling to help carry Chen Chao into the lab. By this time, Chen Chao has turned a lovely shade of purple from ‘pentatoxic potion,’ which is meant for external use only. Guo Hao believes they only have four hours before he’s in grave danger. But Wang Ling notes it isn’t that bad. Guo Hao insists on creating a cure and sends Wang Ling to collect the ingredients while he magnanimously directs. Once mixed, the pills need four hours to refine – Guo Hao panics as the class will return in two. While he carries on, Froggy 2 returns to grab the furnace. As Guo Hao stops him, they realize that Froggy has the power to fast-forward timelines. They force him to speed up the antidote. Now ready, they test a pill on Froggy to success. Then administer it to Chen Chao who needs to sleep off the purple. Guo Hao tries to stall the class while Wang Ling tidies up the mission. Entering, the instructor walks straight to Guo Hao’s furnace and finds a decent-looking golden pill. Then she checks Wang Ling’s not-very-pill-like creation. Guo Hao presumes that Wang Ling switched the pills to help him and took the scolding himself – making Wang Ling a worthy friend for life. But that’s not what happened. Guo Hao’s vitality pill cooked along with the antidote, while Wang Ling’s pill simply failed in the microwave. Chen Chao, meanwhile, slumbers inside his cauldron. He wakes on the sports field with Guo Hao and Wang Ling and they fudge that he’d passed out from running. He suddenly remembers the cauldron, but the guys have already repaired it for him. Chen Chao cries his apologies to Wang Ling.
The Episode Review
In one quicksilver-like episode, Wang Ling has made two friends, perhaps acquired a pet and has a girl crushing on him. However much he tries to remain under the radar, somehow that just doesn’t seem to be working for him. His pill tanked, likely as intended, if that’s any help. Microwave was likely the best choice to create/char a failed pill. What’s fun about this series is that upfront you get a glimpse of many character’s intentions, rather than just one or two. With all these colliding objectives in the air, there must be an explosion on the horizon. Notice how in this instalment everyone else’s misunderstanding seems to be painting Wang Ling more positively than he’s intended? He’s the guy standing still while everything else is in motion around him. Sometimes it’s funny the way things work out. Have you caught on to the opening song Xian by Wei Bo En yet? The first time I heard it I wasn’t quite sure the groove fit the storyline. My first thought was ‘modernized 70s lounge.’ But a few episodes in and I can see it – perhaps by virtue of his power reducing pills, Wang Ling is pretty chill. No matter what is coming at him. Are you feeling this anime? We’d love to hear your thoughts – just add ‘em in below!
