10 Gold Prizes
Jang-Uk is frustrated with Mu-Deok for not being honest with him about her feelings. She realizes that she’s in love with him, but can’t bring herself to face the truth. Instead, she claims that this feeling of missing someone and of love is likened to poison. He should see this as her “poisoning” Jang-Uk. Our mage is understandably hurt and proceeds to give her the could shoulder for much of the first half of this chapter.
Dang-Gu is curious about the whistle and asks Yul about it. Yul tells him that it was given to him by Naksu, the previous owner of the songrim. Dang-Gu is surprised and asks Yul more about it. Yul reveals that Naksu left the songrim for unknown reasons and never returned it. Dang-Gu is interested in this information and asks Yul more about it.
Jang-Uk is jealous of Yul because she believes she’s in love with him and this whistle is indicative of that. Naturally, this causes Jang-Uk to feel jealous when he learns about their romantic ties.
Meanwhile, Hemp Master Lee admits to Yeom that he has a fondness toward Jang-Uk and wants to watch his progress carefully. Yeom conversationally reveals that Jin just wants to lock him up. Before they can continue, Yeom ends up splashing food over Lee, who’s horrified and hurries off, desperate to get the stains out his new clothes.
Jang-Uk is not exactly enthusiastic when talking to the other mages about Yul and Mu-Deok’s closeness. He’s sleeping poorly and clearly jealous of Mu-Deok. Of course, this is only compounded by their earlier chat where she shrugged off him admitting to missing her.
Meanwhile, Park Jin speaks to Jin Ho-Gyeong about the lineage of Jinyowon and who could be taking over the throne from her when she steps down. Although one would think it’s going to be Cho-yeon, her unaccounted-for eldest daughter (Bu-Yeon) could also be a pick. Now, we’ve heard whispers about her in the previous episodes, but interestingly, Ho-Gyeong reveals that she was born on the exact same day that Jang-Gang picked. Park Jin is speaking with Jin Ho-Gyeong about who will take over as queen when she steps down from her position. It seems like Cho-yeon is a likely candidate, but there’s also a chance that Bu-Yeon will take over. This information was revealed by Ho-Gyeong herself; she was born on the same day as Jang Gang, who is thought to be the most likely candidate for succession. ..
Ho-Gyeong hides her own secrets from Park Jin, given that we see flashes of her asking to use the ice stone to save her baby’s soul. She conveniently doesn’t tell him this. ..
House Jinyowon has been in collusion with Jin-Mu for some time now, and Park-Jin does not know it. He has done some research and realized that he was the previous guest before him.
Hi-Gyeong’s daughter, Jin-Mu, walks through his ranks in Cheonbugwan to find who this could be. When he learns that So-I is not actually blind, she looks set to meet a messy end… until So-I gives him an interesting decision. ..
The woman who saves her own skin by pretending to be blind and passing the sorcerer’s test is Ho-Gyeong’s eldest daughter, Bu-Yeon. She is also Jin-Mu’s puppet.
Meanwhile, the Crown Prince and Mu-Deok agree to a bet. Mu-Deok promises to wager the most precious thing she has - the jade stone pendant. She has complete faith that Jang-Uk can prove himself. And as for our star mage, he receives a pep talk from Maidservant Jim, which convinces him to head off and study. ..
He’s cornered by the other maids who bring him in to fight at the Training Center. This is, of course, all of Mu-Deok’s doing.
Jang-Uk, completely unprepared, heads into the center of the competition and is thwarted by numerous different mages. Despite Jang-Uk not being interested in competing, Mu-Deok has essentially pushed him into this. If Jang-Uk can’t beat at least one of the 10 total mages before all the gold toads are swiped up (the mages’ reward for beating Jang-Uk), then he’ll lose that precious jade stone he gave Mu-Deok last episode. ..
Dang-Gu, a young man in his early twenties, has been in love with Cho-Yeon for as long as he can remember. He’s always been upfront with her and has never hidden his feelings for her. Recently, he’s become even more determined to win her over and make her his wife. If Cho-Yeon returns his affections, it will mean she is free to marry whomever she chooses - including Dang-Gu. He admits that he would be happy to receive flowers from her so that he can properly propose to her. ..
The love triangle between Maidservant Kim, Lee and Park Jin continues, with the Hemp Master getting her some flowers and growing flustered. Park Jin is clearly jealous, with Kim telling him he should be getting her something to show how much he cares.
The man outside Kim’s place is shorter than Kim and he assumes this is because the man is a guy. Park-Jin checks over some flowers to see if he’s buying someone’s affection and decides to send the whole shop’s worth to the man.
When Dang-Gu and Cho-yeon show up, the truth is revealed. Park Jin is not happy, pointing out that he’s the heir to Songrim. When more details about Jin-Mu are uncovered too, Park Jin brings his concerns to Hemp Master Lee. He’s worried that Jin-Mu could become powerful enough to attack Songrim if he manages to take over Jinyowon. Not only that, but he believes the sorcerer is in possession of the ice stone too. ..
As we cut across to Jin-Mu, we see the power this stone has as he enacts the alchemy of souls once more. The poor young man is defenceless as his soul is switched, and another mage in Cheonbugwan is saved. He’s determined to make sure all of them live forever. Eventually, they’ll be able to overcome death and become eternal.
Jin-Mu’s plan to win over Ho-Gyeong begins with grooming her into his puppet. He wants her to target Ho-Gyeong, win over her heart and bring her to this dank basement. As the green flames flicker, an ominous shadow is cast over our characters.
The South Korean government is facing increasing scrutiny over its handling of the Jang-Uk scandal. Jang-Uk, a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Unification, has been caught up in a bribery and corruption scandal. He has been beaten by mages from different countries for 7 days now. ..
Jang-Uk is fighting to the death to protect his gold Toads. If he loses, the kingdom will be lost and he may never be able to reclaim it. Mu-Deok watches on, but is also worried about Jang-Uk’s safety. What if he gets hurt?
The Episode Review
The Alchemy of Souls episode this week was very good. It deepened the romance between the different characters and added some new plotlines. The supporting characters were also well written and expressed their true feelings. This was a great episode to watch.
There are also the triangular relationships between Lee, Kim, and Park-Jin, which continue to feed into the comedic core of this chapter and balance out some of the more serious elements. ..
It’s clear that Jin-Mu is preparing for a much darker plan, one that could potentially see Ho-Gyeong meet an untimely demise. With Jin-Mu serving as puppet master, he’s primed to use So-I to his advantage and infiltrate Jinyowon. Not only that though, but he could also become powerful enough to strike Songrim, which is something Park Jin is concerned about later on.
It seems that Jang-Uk may have learned some valuable lessons from the constant fights with the mages, as he has been able to thwart their attempts to harm Jin-Mu.
The story so far has been well-worked, and the extended 20 episode run is definitely welcome given how deep and rich the lore and worldbuilding is in this weekend K-drama.
The ending of this story is left hanging in the balance, with plenty of questions left unanswered about where it could go next.
