‘Alchemy of Souls’ Clarifies Why Bu-yeon Is a Powerful Priestess – and It Is Not Because of the Ice Stone
Fans learn much more about Bu-yeon and the source of her immense powers as a priestess in Alchemy of Souls. The K-drama revealed that Mu-deok is Bu-yeon, the Jin family’s long-lost daughter and also born from the Ice Stone. Fans soon started to wonder who Bu-yeon’s father is, as Woo-tak said he was not. Alchemy of Souls answers the mystery and how it connects to the immense power Bu-yeon possesses.
[WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Alchemy of Souls.]
Fans theorized Bu-yeon is the reincarnated soul of Seol-ran in ‘Alchemy of Souls’
Once fans figured out that Mu-deok resides within her body alongside Nak-su, they also realized that Mu-deok is Bu-yeon. In the Alchemy of Souls storyline, Bu-yeon disappeared as a young girl after being used by Jin Mu to retrieve the Ice Stone. After succeeding, Bu-yeon fell into the lake. A comment made by Jin Mu proved that Bu-yeon is a powerful priestess. She is even more powerful than her sister and mother.
A theory emerged that Bu-yeon is the reincarnated soul of Seol-ran, the founder of Jinyowon, who helped originally harness the Ice Stone. Seol-ran was also blinde like Bu-yeon. The theory intensified when learning that Lady Jin asked Jang Gang to use the Ice Stone to bring back to life her unborn child, Bu-yeon.
The details led fans to believe that Bu-yeon is so powerful because she was born from the Ice Stone and part of the Jin family. But when Woo-tak tells Sol-i he is not Bu-yeon’s biological father; fans question who her father is and if he is also responsible for her powers.
Woo-tak is revealed to be a descendant of the great Mage Choi in the K-drama
Alchemy of Souls Episode 19 begins with the reveal of what happened the day Bu-yeon disappeared. It is revealed that it was not only Jin Mu but Woo-tak who was with Bu-yeon when she retrieved the Ice Stone. But Woo-tak honestly believed that Bu-yeon was not his biological daughter and instead the daughter of Jang Gang. He explains that it is the only reason why Jang Gagn would willingly have used the stone to save Bu-yeon.
But the shocking truth is explained by Jin Mu. He reveals that Woo-tak’s “inferiority complex and jealousy were what led Jin Bu-yeon to her death.” In reality, Bu-yeon is Woo-tak’s biological daughter. Woo-tak is not an ordinary mage or just the brother of Shaman Choi.
Jin Mu reveals that Woo-tak and his sister are descendants of the great Mage Choi, who was born from the King’s Star and harnessed the Ice Stone’s powers. But Jin Mu specifically uses the words “of the fallen Choi family,” meaning no one knew of their lineage. It is also revealed that Shaman Choi had a family heirloom, a book of spells that explains the Alchemy of Souls.
While everyone believed that Bu-yeon’s priestess powers also came from the Ice Stone, it is not the whole truth. Bu-yeon is the product of two of Deaho’s two most powerful mage lineages, the great Mage Choi and the priestess Seol-ran.
Why did Jang Gang save Bu-yeon with the Ice Stone in ‘Alchemy of Souls’
While fans now know who Bu-yeon’s father is, it still begs the question of why Jang Gang decided to save Lady Jin’s baby. Woo-tak seems reasonable to speculate that Bu-yeon was not his daughter, as Jang Gang was against the use of sorcery.
Later in the episode, fans learn a bit more about the night that Jang Gang went to stop Shaman Choi from using dark sorcery. As they burn her spell books, Jin Mu finds what she describes as the family heirloom. While it is thrown into the fire, Shaman Choi plunges in to save it. Jan Gang gathers the book and discovers it explains the Alchemy of Souls.
As descendants of Mage Choi, who first used the Ice Stone, it makes sense for the sibling to possess the instructions on how to perform it. Could it be that Jang Gang saved Lady Jin’s baby, knowing who she would become? The K-drama never answers why Jang Gang saved the baby. Even when he atones for his sins and dies as a soul shifter.
Watch Alchemy of Souls on Netflix.
