Li i leaned against her workbench, her expression calming.
"Refining a Spirit Fla is a very personal, very dangerous process. You’re essentially rging your Qi with a fla—sothing inherently unstable—and transforming it into sothing alive. Sothing that responds to your will."
Han Yu leaned forward, now completely focused.
"There are many kinds of Spirit Flas. So refined internally, so obtained externally." she continued. "The Internal one is hard to refine as one needs to compress and ignite their spirit qi to create it. Without great control and resilience, this can easily cause a backlash. Plus, if you don’t have Fire Elental affinity, this process is a lot harder, or simply impossible for many." Li i explained before taking a pause.
"In the case of external ones, so are born from rare spirit herbs. Others are harvested from deep volcanic veins or ancient beast cores. But no matter the source, you need one thing above all: compatibility."
"That’s where elental affinity cos in?"
"Exactly," she nodded. "If your elental affinity is Fire, then fla-type materials will resonate with you more naturally. Your Qi will stabilize the fla faster, and your spiritual channels will be less likely to suffer backlash. It’s like trying to raise a wild beast—Fire users already speak the sa ’language’ as the fla."
Han Yu nodded slowly. "And if your affinity is sothing else?"
"It’s harder," she said bluntly. "Not impossible, but harder. If your affinity is Wood, then you’ll be better at understanding herb reactions, balance, and energy resonance during pill formation. That’s invaluable, especially for high-grade concoctions."
She lifted another finger.
"Water affinity, on the other hand, helps during purification. Washing away impurities, drawing out dicinal essences, cooling volatile reactions... it gives you more control over dangerous blends."
"There are hybrid elental Spirit flas, but they are very hard to find and even harder to refine." Li i added at the end. "You best give up on these."
"But those with Fire affinity have the easiest ti refining the Spirit Fla?"
"Yes. The process of creating and taming a Spirit Fla often involves enduring high temperatures and redirecting wild fla Qi through your own ridians. If you’re not innately attuned to fire... your chances of exploding rise sharply."
Han Yu winced. "That’s not very encouraging."
"It’s the truth." She crossed her arms. "Now, back to you. What’s your elental affinity?"
Han Yu blinked again. "...I told you. I don’t know."
There was a pause.
A long pause.
"...Unbelievable," Li i muttered. "You’ve done this much while operating in the dark?"
"I make do," Han Yu replied, deadpan. "Adapt, improvise, explode less than necessary."
Li i rubbed her temples again. "I need to take you to the Hall of Guidance myself before you decide to blow yourself up by trying to bond with a fireseed."
"Wait, I was actually thinking of trying that—"
"NO."
"Got it," Han Yu quickly nodded. "No trying random fireseeds without knowing my affinity."
Li i shot him a dry look.
"Please go find out. If you’re Fire, we can actually talk about finding a spirit fire source. If you’re not... we’ll have to take the scenic route."
Han Yu tilted his head. "What if I’m sothing rare? Like Lightning or Wind or—"
"Then alchemy is going to be an uphill climb," she said. "Not impossible, but you’ll need custom techniques to work around your lack of innate resonance."
"Well, at least now I know." He stood, stretching his arms. "I’ll head to the Hall of Guidance tomorrow."
Li i pointed a ladle at him. "Good. And don’t you dare try to refine anything explosive until then."
"Who, ? Never," Han Yu replied with the most unconvincing smile.
Li i sighed, but her lips curled ever so slightly.
"...You really are a nace," she said.
"A charming one, though."
"Barely."
As Han Yu left her hut, the thought of discovering his elental affinity stirred sothing in his chest.
A new path—one he’d ant to walk long ago—was opening again.
And this ti, he had both the skill and the fire to walk it properly.
A while later...
The sun hung low in the sky as Han Yu followed Li i toward the Hall of Guidance—one of the oldest structures in the Twin Leaf Peak Sect. Located near the central plateau that connected the Inner and Outer Courtyards, it was built partially into the side of the mountain, its slate-black roof gleaming with runic tiles that shimred faintly under daylight.
Groves of immortal bamboo spiraled around its carved stone pillars, and a pair of jade guardian statues stood at either side of its entrance—silent watchers etched with ancient symbols of clarity and attunent.
It wasn’t a large hall, but it had a gravity to it—both taphorical and spiritual. The sect’s crest lood overhead on a massive wooden plaque: Two leaves, leaf bisected by a ripple of light and dark, symbolizing balance through duality.
As they approached, a young inner court disciple guarding the entrance looked up, frowning at first—until he recognized Li i.
"Alchemist Li i," he said, straightening. "Do you require access to the Spirit Attunent Stone?"
"I do," she replied coolly. "The disciple with needs to have his elental affinity tested."
"Permission granted," the disciple said imdiately, stepping aside with a respectful nod. "The stone is ready."
They passed through the stone archway and into the Hall.
Inside, the air was calm and quiet, imbued with spiritual stillness. The wooden floor beneath their feet glead with a waxed polish, and strips of paper talismans hung from the beams, each inscribed with ancient characters and faded qi. Low-placed lanterns burned with blue fire, casting the surroundings in a gentle glow.
At the center of the hall sat the Spirit Attunent Stone—a large crystalline monolith standing nearly two ters tall, pulsing gently with a soft, neutral hue. The stone was translucent, shot through with veins of silver and gold, like spiritual rivers sealed within. It rested atop a pedestal of polished granite, surrounded by shallow steps that ford a circle around it.
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