In the previous episode of “Alchemy of Souls,” Mu Deok poisoned Jang Uk to make Park Jin open his gate of energy. Mu Deok got punished by Park Jin but didn’t reveal the name of the poison. Master Heom, left with no other choice, opens Jang Uk’s gate of energy to save him from dying.
What Special Energy Did Jang Uk Receive?
As soon as Jang Uk wakes up, he brings Mu Deok to Sejukwon to get treated, but Park Jin denies letting Mu Deok get treated as she had poisoned Jang Uk. Jang Uk lies to Park Jin to save Mu Deok. He tells Park Jin that he poisoned himself and Mu Deok only followed his orders. Park Jin now gets mad at both of them for risking Jang Uk’s life like a joke. Park Jin expresses his worry to Jang Uk’s maidservant now that Jang Uk’s gate of energy has opened.
Jang Uk tends to Mu Deok himself because others can not find out that Mu Deok is a soul shifter and also because she is his Master now. After both of them have recovered, Mu Deok starts Jang Uk’s training at the riverbank. One has to master three techniques to control water: Jipsu, Ryusu, and Chisu. Mu Deok was one of the few mages in Daeho who had mastered all three in a very short time. However, she doesn’t have those powers now, and she needs to train Jang Uk to get them back.
Mu Deok has to clean up the Sejukwon’s yard as a payback for the free treatment she received. While cleaning, she finds out from one of Master Heo’s pupils that the Master has given his own torrent of energy for 10 years to Jang Uk for a faster recovery. After hearing this, Mu Deok rushes to Jang Uk and checks the surge of energy by putting her hands on his belly. She confirms that it is true and that Jang Uk has to control and take over that energy before Master Heo takes it back from him. However, to master someone else’s energy, one has to breathe like the owner, and every mage’s family has a unique way of breathing.
Seo Yul is from the same family as Master Heo, but he cannot ask him or Master Heo because they don’t want anyone to know about it. Dang Gu sees Uk and Mu Deok staring at Yul, and to cover it up, Uk tells Dang Gu that it is because Mu Deok likes Yul. Dang Gu promises to help Mu Deok and sends her to help Yul, while Uk gets summoned by Master Heo. Mu Deok is determined to find out Yul’s breathing technique and follows him inside the men’s bath. When she hugs him, Yul confronts her about such behavior, but she tells him that she is in love with him and hugs him again. Yul is no fool and asks Mu Deok if she is trying to find his breathing pattern to help Uk.
On the other side, Jang Uk bribes Master Heo with a rare wine and gets him drunk. The Master is unable to take back the energy after taking such a bribe, and Jang Uk has to carry him to his room. As Jang Uk carries the Master on his back, he finds out his pattern of breathing. With his gate of energy opened, Jang Uk appeals to Park Jin to accept him into the Songrim. Uk was confident, but he gets a big shock as Park Jin bans him from entering Songrim, let alone accepting him. Park Jin knows Uk’s fate and what Jang Kang hasn’t told anyone. Jang Uk has to stay low and unnoticed to not face his fate. He is supposed to be the next king of Daeho, but the circumstances under which he was born will only complicate things for him and may cost him his life if people find out about it.
Why Do Jang Uk And The Crown Prince Get Into A Fight?
Uk was ordered to return his spirit plaque to Songrim, but when he tells them that he has lost it, he gets the punishment of a hundred floggings. Jang Uk specifically requests the last flogging from Park Jin himself. Park Jin abandoning him is more painful to Uk than getting a hundred floggings. Uk still has hope in the form of his father’s sword. Park Jin has promised to accept him into Songrim if he can unsheathe his father’s sword. With the energy in him now, he is determined to achieve that as soon as he can.
Jin Mu is the Master of the crown prince of Daeho, and he provokes him by saying how Jang Uk disrespected Chunbugwan and his Master by taking the swords from him. The crown prince gets offended and visits Jang Uk. He orders Uk to hand over both his father’s and Naksu’s swords to him. However, he refuses to give his father’s sword, but the prince is also adamant. They decide to fight in a duel, and whoever wins gets to keep the swords. The prince is more powerful than him, and Uk has been getting hurt so far in their duel. When Uk is on the verge of losing, Mu Deok brings dirty water and throws it between both of them, which makes the prince cross the line and lose the duel.
Dang Gu, Yul, and Cho Yeon have come to visit Uk and see what is going on. The prince admits to his defeat and lets Uk keep his father’s sword. However, someone has to pay for the prince’s humiliation, and Mu Deok becomes the target. The prince picks his sword to behead Mu Deok, but Uk saves her by counterattacking the prince with his father’s sword. Getting hit by the prince has surged the energy inside him, and he is able to unsheathe the sword. Uk’s energy is concentrated in his right hand, and he cannot control the movement of the sword. Yul has to stop his hand, and Cho Yeon binds the hand by her spellbound chain.
The prince feels disrespected and refuses to leave until he punishes someone. He is mad at everyone, including the four seasons, and the situation has heated up. To break out of the intense situation, Mu Deok tries to drink the dirty water, but Uk, his maidservant, and Dang Gu join her. The prince gets sick of the drama and lets them go. Mu Deok gives the Naksu’s sword to the prince herself and indirectly tells him to not bother Uk again.
‘Alchemy Of Souls’ Episode 4: Ending
Jang Uk has been happy since he has been able to unsheathe the sword and goes to Park Jin, even though he is abandoned to enter Songrim. He unsheathes Jang Kang’s sword in front of him, but Park Jin orders him to control the sword without the binding bracelet. Jin refuses to take Uk in as he cannot control his energy. At the same time, he finds out that Uk fought with the prince and orders him to lock him up. It hurts Park Jin to punish Uk again and again, and hence, he visits him in the lockup. He asks Uk to do business or medicine, but Uk is adamant about proving that he is Jang Kang’s son.
Park Jin reveals to Uk that Jang Kang is not his father and that he was born out of her mother’s affair. No one knows who his father is. Uk is shocked by this sudden knowledge and has stopped eating or drinking as he still cannot believe what he heard. He even refuses to take the training from Mu Deok because he is not Jang Kang’s son anymore. Mu Deok asks Dang Gu for help, and he takes Master Heo with him to meet Jin Mu to ask for forgiveness for Uk. However, Mu Deok intervenes and proposes the idea of a formal duel between the prince and Jang Uk. Both Heo and Jin Mu agree on it without asking Park Jin about it first.
Master Heo believed the prince wouldn’t fight owing to his royal status, but he accepted it for his Master, Jin Mu. This is threatening news for Uk, as a formal duel between mages can end in the death of any one of the mages. Uk is definitely at a disadvantage, and to save him, his friends send him off to Mu Deok’s village. However, Mu Deok has a different plan and is going to take him to Naksu’s village to train him within two weeks.
Can Mu Deok make Jang Uk powerful enough to fight with the prince within two weeks? Let’s find out in next week’s episodes.
