Back at Li i’s pill refining hut, the herbal fragrance of drying spirit roots and simring concoctions filled the air. The two of them sat cross-legged at the low stone table in the middle of her courtyard, a kettle of dicinal tea gently steaming between them.
Han Yu had set down the neatly copied version of his test scroll on the table, and Li i was already poring over it with a focused frown.
She had been quite curious about what questions Han Yu had been asked. It had been a long while since she had given the test herself, so wanted to see if there had been any changes or if the test was harder than usual.
"So these were the questions, huh?" she murmured as her fingers traced the characters. "Most of it’s pretty standard—herbal property balancing, theoretical fla progression, reaction timing in multi-tiered pills..."
She flipped through the pages slowly, her expression calm and unreadable.
Then she paused.
Her eyes narrowed.
"...Wait. This one."
Her finger tapped the final question—one that had required Han Yu to design an entirely new pill composition using only a random selection of seven ingredients, each with clashing properties. The instructions had explicitly forbidden him from referring to any known formula.
"You weren’t kidding when you said the last question was strange," Li i said. "This isn’t standard at all. This is one of those ’how creative can you get before you blow your head off’ type questions."
Han Yu scratched his head. "Yeah. I thought it was a trap at first, so I tried giving them a half-rational answer with stabilizers. But then I figured, what the hell, let’s see what happens if I lean into the chaos."
Li i stared at him. "You made a theoretical pill that converts yang-based heat into a self-stabilizing yin-infusion pill. From clashing ingredients. Using a rhythm thod usually reserved for mid-tier detoxification pills."
Han Yu blinked. "...That’s bad?"
"It’s insane," Li i muttered, "but not wrong. Which is the real problem."
She slumped back, then waved her hand. "Okay, I see why they kept you for the oral defense. Who were the examiners?" Even for Li i, who was more inclined towards the chaotic side for pills, Han Yu’s answers were ’creative’.
She wanted to see just who was willing to entertain such answers.
"Oh. It was Elders Xuan and Zhou. Junior elders, I think," Han Yu said casually as he picked up his tea cup.
Li i nearly choked.
"...You had those two?"
Han Yu lowered the cup. "Why? Are they bad?"
Li i exhaled slowly, a half-smile playing at the corner of her lips. "No. Quite the opposite. You got lucky again, Han Yu."
She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. "Elder Xuan is known for her ticulousness. She believes every answer deserves attention, even the strange ones. And Elder Zhou... well, he was once known as the ’Pill Madman’ in his youth. He tried experintal compositions all the ti. They’re both respected, especially for how they treat the disciples. But more importantly—"
She fixed him with a look. "If it were any other examiner—say Elder Duan, or Elder Ma—you might’ve been kicked out for even suggesting an answer that deviated from convention."
Han Yu blinked. "Wait, seriously?"
Li i nodded. "Most elders hate creative answers, especially from rookies. They expect rote morization, structured logic, and a safe approach. If you’d gotten Elder Duan, your paper would’ve been burned before it reached the fourth page."
Han Yu whistled low. "I really did get lucky."
"No kidding." She shook her head. "Your score wouldn’t have been nearly as high if it weren’t them. Not because you didn’t deserve it, but because they actually read and thought about your answers."
Han Yu leaned back with a small grin. "Well then, I owe them so tea and appreciation."
Li i chuckled. "You’ll get your chance. You’ll be eting them again tomorrow morning, right?"
"Yeah. They told to report to the Alchemy Peak’s Outer Court for assignnt. Sothing about orientation and access rights."
"Good," she said. "They’ll explain how to use the pill refinent rooms, borrow cauldrons, and earn rits from assignnts. If you’re lucky, they might even give you a shot at apprentice-level duties. If you’re unlucky..."
"...I’m scrubbing cauldrons for two weeks, aren’t I?"
"Very likely," Li i replied without hesitation. "Though that’s still an easy chore among the ones that he apprentices are given. If you were given the task of cleaning out the old slag from the dump yard, that’d be a real kicker." She added.
"Oof, I definitely don’t want to touch so toxic slag." Han Yu shivered.
"But that’s part of the path. Even scrubbing cauldrons is an art, you know?" Li i spoke.
Han Yu sighed dramatically. "How far the mighty have fallen. From sabotaging secret plans to washing burned-up pots."
Li i gave him a playful kick under the table. "You’ll live. And knowing you, you’ll find so way to cheat your way into making friends, even with the cauldrons."
Han Yu grinned. "Please. Those cauldrons should be grateful to have the chance of being touched by ."
She rolled her eyes, then reached forward to refill his cup. "Well, tomorrow starts a new Chapter for you, Han Yu. From this point on, you’re officially walking the path of an alchemist."
Han Yu looked down at the steam curling from his cup. The warm, earthy scent of spirit herbs filled his nose.
From the dusty streets of Wujing to secret mines, to the chaotic scheming that had defined his path so far—this was sothing different.
Sothing grounded.
He looked back up and t Li i’s gaze. "Then I guess I better start walking it properly."
She smiled, a hint of pride in her eyes.
"You’re finally catching up."
And so, under the moonlight filtering over the outer courtyard, Han Yu prepared for the morning to co—where he’d face fla, cauldron, and possibly a week’s worth of soot stains.
But this ti, he didn’t mind.
After all, this step was his own.
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