Han Yu felt like a pickpocket walking into a library.
A junior disciple at the door asked his na and motioned him inside.
Soon, Han Yu stood before Instructor Gai Qing.
The man wore white and gold robes with a narrow purple sash—a mark of a specialist educator. He sat behind a long table stacked with jade slips, scrolls, and spiritual compendiums.
From the looks of it and the spirit qi fluctuations that were coming from him, Han Yu could tell he was in the Core Condensation realm and quite high too as he couldn’t totally estimate the man’s base.
His gaze was neither angry nor warm. Just... bland. Exhausted. Like soone who had read far too many disappointing essays in his life.
"You are Han Yu?"
"Yes, Instructor."
Gai Qing slid a jade slip across the table. "You failed to attend both mandatory sessions for the Newcor’s Theory curriculum. Do you have a reason?"
Han Yu bowed politely. "I do, sir. I beca deeply engaged in refining the Flesh nding Spirit Pill over the last week and—"
"You were refining?"
"Yes, I’ve been working day and night to understand practical applications of pillcraft. I’ve sold over sixty-five refined pills and earned a rit profit of over twenty-two thousand points."
Gai Qing blinked.
He picked up another jade slip, scanned it with his spiritual sense, and after a mont, his brows lifted as he confird Han Yu’s words.
"...You refined that many Flesh nding Spirit Pills?"
Han Yu nodded. "Yes, sir."
A pause.
Then Gai Qing sighed.
"I hate it when the talented ones are irresponsible."
Han Yu first wondered if the man was really angry with him, but no wisps of red eight emotions energy of anger ca out. Instead what he saw were Dark Blue wisps of sadness stemming from disappointnt as well as a single wisp of yellow energy of joy.
’Looks like he’s different than how he looks.’ He thought to himself.
Han Yu then grinned sheepishly. "I’ll take notes better next ti?"
Gai Qing pointed a finger at him. "You are not off the hook, Han Yu. Mandatory makeup classes. Three sessions. You will attend them without fail. If you miss even one, I will suspend your pill room access for a month."
Han Yu winced. "Yes, Instructor."
Gai Qing scribbled sothing on a slip and handed it to him.
"Your schedule. Don’t forget. You’re dismissed."
Han Yu bowed once more and quickly left the building.
Outside, the sunlight felt a little more intense than before.
He sighed and muttered, "I make one mistake and the whole world wants to take my cauldron from ..."
The next day’s sun had barely risen when Han Yu received a ssage talisman, flashing with an instruction: he was to report to the Lesson Hall of Golden Instruction for his first mandatory make-up lesson within the hour.
He sighed as he tucked the jade slip away. "Well, better get ready to learn... again."
But before he could even leave Li i’s pill hut, she turned around from her desk where she’d been organizing a stack of spiritual compendiums.
"So," she said, voice neutral, "how’d it go with Instructor Gai Qing yesterday?"
Han Yu stretched lazily and offered a nonchalant shrug. "It went fine. He didn’t really scold . Just said I need to show up on ti."
Li i narrowed her eyes. "That’s it?"
"Well," Han Yu added with a small smirk, "he also said I’m irresponsible... but talented."
He emphasized the last word, grinning proudly as if it were a dal of honor.
Li i scowled imdiately. "Don’t let it get to your head, ’genius alchemist.’ Miss one more lesson and I’ll personally kick you into the Stinging Nettle Fields."
Han Yu recoiled with mock horror. "You wouldn’t."
"I absolutely would," she said flatly. "I still have your taste records on file. I’ll make sure it stings everywhere."
Han Yu raised both hands in surrender, chuckling. "Alright, alright! I’ll be good. No skipping. Not unless a heaven-grade beast attacks the peak and eats the lesson hall."
But then sothing clicked in his mind. He squinted at her.
"...Wait a second," he said. "Now that I think about it, I don’t rember ever seeing you at lessons either. Are you skipping out too?"
Li i paused, then in one smooth motion reached for the spatula on her worktable and smacked him on the forehead with it.
Thwack!
"Ow! What was that for?!"
"I’m not skipping anything," she said with an indignant huff. "I already passed all the lesson phases. I’m done with the curriculum. If I had a higher cultivation base, I’d have been promoted already. Might’ve even beco an instructor by now."
Han Yu blinked, rubbing his forehead. "Wait, you’re saying you could teach? Like officially?"
Li i crossed her arms. "If I took the formal assessnt, yes. I already have the knowledge base and practical experience. The only thing keeping from becoming a rank-advanced alchemist is my cultivation base."
That made Han Yu pause. "But... can’t you just make your own Core Establishnt Pill? Or buy one? You’ve got more money than half the peak disciples."
Li i’s expression shifted. Her lips tightened slightly, and her eyes turned down to the floor for a mont.
"...It’s not that simple," she said quietly.
Han Yu blinked. "What do you an?"
Li i leaned back against her worktable, fiddling with one of the tongs absently. "The pill I took when I was younger. The one that... froze my age like this. It had so side effects."
Han Yu’s posture straightened. "What kind of side effects? Wait—don’t tell it bottlenecked your cultivation? Or blocked your ridians?"
For the first ti in a long while, Li i looked almost bashful. She bit her lip, hesitated, then said, "No. Nothing like that. I can still cultivate. But... if I break through to the Core Formation realm, it’ll really solidify my body’s current state."
Han Yu tilted his head, not understanding.
She sighed and looked at him with embarrassnt creeping onto her face. "I’ll stop growing. I an physically. Height, body, everything. If I break through, I’ll stay like this. Possibly Forever."
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