Alchemy Peak was one of the most selective factions in the Twin Leaf Peak Sect. Every disciple who joined was thoroughly tested, evaluated for their spiritual fla affinity, pill sense, theoretical knowledge, and more.
The entrance exam wasn’t sothing you could bluff through.
You either had talent, skill, or extre luck.
In Han Yu’s case, he had... a bit of all three, but whether that was enough remained to be seen.
Still, he wasn’t discouraged.
If anything, the thought of finally picking up the path he’d once dread of gave him a sense of clarity he hadn’t felt in a long ti.
"I’ve been running from one crisis to the next for too long. It’s ti I started building sothing. Alchemy... Soul Qi... power that’s mine."
And let’s not forget—becoming a real alchemist didn’t just bring prestige and skill.
It brought connections.
Alchemists were so of the most sought-after cultivators in any sect. Everyone needed pills: for healing, for cultivation, for breakthroughs, for poison resistance, for stabilizing realms.
If Han Yu could ascend as a proper alchemist, he’d gain not just resources—but leverage.
He’d be courted by disciples, elders, even faction leaders.
And in a sect where power and reputation mattered, leverage was everything.
A slow smile spread across his face.
"First step... talk to Li i."
He had no intention of jumping into the Alchemy Peak’s exams blind. If anyone could give him guidance—and maybe a few explosions to dodge—it was her.
She might even let him train in one of her private pill rooms if he promised to be her next "resilience test subject."
Han Yu groaned again.
"I swear, if she tries to make swallow another pill that makes float for three hours, I’m feeding her, her own tea."
Still, he stood up, dusting off his robes and stretching his limbs.
A new direction. A new purpose.
No more just dancing in the shadows. No more living reaction to reaction.
It was ti to chase sothing for himself.
And if that sothing happened to co with fla-scorched robes, explosive pill testing, and the occasional nervous breakdown from trying to stabilize a boiling cauldron?
Well.
That was the price of ambition.
"Ti to beco an alchemist."
A while later...
Han Yu stepped lightly over the wooden threshold of Li i’s pill refining hut, the soft scent of scorched herbs and sweet spiritual incense wafting into his nose the mont he entered. The small structure, nestled on the far edge of the Outer Court like an eccentric hermit’s den, was quiet save for the crackle of flas and the faint bubbling within a pill cauldron.
He paused at the doorway.
There she was.
Li i stood in front of her cauldron, sleeves tied back, her figure illuminated by the flickering light of a controlled Fla Array inscribed beneath the platform. Her long hair was pinned up ssily, a few strands having slipped free and clinging to her sweat-dappled cheek. Her brow furrowed, her pupils narrow and sharp, her entire focus directed at the furnace in front of her.
Her hands moved with practiced precision—asuring with a flick of her wrist, adjusting the fire’s intensity with two fingers, tilting her head to listen for the faint hiss of a particular reaction. The copper-colored cauldron glowed gently at its base, spiritual runes pulsing with warmth.
Han Yu was about to announce himself, raising a hand and opening his mouth—
—but stopped.
His eyes widened slightly as he caught sight of her face in profile.
Serene. Focused. Unwavering.
She looked... unexpectedly cute like that.
There was no trace of her usual mischief. No mocking smirk, no teasing glint in her eyes. Just the look of a true craftsman, lost in the act of creation. It was the kind of concentration that most cultivators struggled to maintain even in ditation, and yet she wore it effortlessly, like a second skin.
Han Yu felt an odd warmth settle in his chest.
Then, as if catching himself drifting too far into dangerous territory, he let out a quiet huff and crossed his arms.
"Focus, Han Yu," he muttered to himself. "You’re here for alchemy, not to stare like a fool."
Still, he knew better than to interrupt her now.
From the sound of the bubbling and the faint, high-pitched crackling, she was deep into the herbal essence extraction phase—a point in the pill refining process that required near-perfect concentration and absolute control of the fla. One misstep and the entire concoction could backfire... sotis violently.
He still rembered the ti she’d nearly lted the roof off this hut with an overexcited burst of alchemical fla. He’d laughed. She’d laughed. Then she’d tried to feed him a pill that made him hiccup fla for three hours.
So now? Now he just watched.
He quietly walked to a corner of the room, pulled over an old, cushionless stool, and sat down, legs crossed, as still as he could manage. His spiritual sense lightly scanned the flow of Qi in the room, gently tracing the stream of essence she channeled into the cauldron.
Ti passed slowly in the alchemist’s hut.
One minute stretched into ten. Ten into thirty. And before he knew it, an hour had passed.
Still, Li i remained locked in place, hands raised in a fluid series of mudras as she directed the fire in a precise rhythm. The cauldron glowed brighter now, the spiritual runes etched into its bronze surface shining with steady heat.
Hissssss...
Han Yu narrowed his eyes. That sound—he recognized it.
"She’s vaporizing the remnant impurities," he realized.
This was the final purification step before condensing the herbal essence into pill form. A mistake here would lead to unstable pill core formation—or worse, an explosion.
It was then that he noticed sothing else.
Li i’s Qi was completely harmonious with the fla. Her control, her breathing, even the minute shifts of her feet on the floor—everything was tid. She wasn’t just using a Fla Array.
She was dancing with it.
Han Yu’s appreciation for her skill deepened. This wasn’t the wild, pill bomb-throwing maniac he’d seen so many tis. This was a real alchemist, one who had earned her place here.
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