Jun Li had seated herself in one of the rows of chairs in front of the podium that had been used during her aptitude test.

  Seated here, she couldn’t help but think of how the instructor who had been overseeing her test had walked out. ‘I thought I had been doing pretty well too… er, up until that last bit…’

  Jun Li was not left alone with her thoughts for long, however, as mere minutes after the first instructor had left, another man had soundlessly appeared in the room with her.

  'Does every higher-level Cultivator move around like that…?' Suppressing her surprise, Jun Li looked the man over.

  He wore a large coat with a vibrant trim of red fur at the collar, a style Jun Li hadn’t yet seen from anyone before, not in this world at least.

  The man, who seemed neither young nor old, spoke up when he felt Jun Li’s gaze. “Good morning… or, perhaps it is the afternoon now? Either way, I am the director of this branch of the Alchemist’s Association, Zhu Enlai.”

  As the director said this, he gave a vague bow. “And I will be taking over as the witness for your aptitude test.”

  Before Jun Li could process the fact that the branch director himself had taken the time to preside over her test, a strange sight caught her attention.

  When the director approached the podium in the center of the room, Jun Li noticed a vibrant purple ring on his hand.

  As the director raised his hand to the podium, an unnatural purple glint sparked forth from his ring. From the light of the director’s ring, a pile of Medicinal Plants spilled onto the table, filling the room with a powerful mix of aromas that energized body and spirit.

  “Let’s get right into it.” The director quickly spoke, turning to Jun Li. “There’s no point in dragging out the rest of your test. I’ll ask just one thing of you, considering the fact that you are apparently incapable of using alchemical tools yourself.”

  The director gestured to the pile of Medicinal Plants on the podium as he spoke. “Assemble a bundle of ingredients from that assortment and describe to me what sort of medicine you would create with it.”

  Without waiting for Jun Li to answer, the director turned and walked to the wall of the room, speaking in a way that lacked the formality one might normally expect of his station. “One last thing; impress me, yeah? It’s about all that actually matters for the test anyway.”

  As he finished speaking, the director leaned against the wall behind him and shut his eyes, seemingly uninterested in observing anything but Jun Li’s final result. Jun Li, on the other hand, felt somewhat overwhelmed, having seen and heard so much without having been able to say so much as a word herself.

  “Uh… okay…” Still somewhat in thought regarding the spectacle of the director’s strange ring, she felt unable to muster a proper response.

  Jun Li, slowly processing her task, stepped back up to the podium. ‘Relying on my inherited knowledge of alchemy worked out so far… with a bit of luck, I should be able to pull something good enough out of these memories…’

  By this point, Jun Li had found a degree of comfort in being able to rely on her inherited memories to guide her path.

  Though such reliance made her feel uneasy, Jun Li believed she didn’t have any other options, as disadvantaged as she otherwise was.

  Jun Li began sorting through the Medicinal Plants gathered on the podium, separating them almost unconsciously by their properties, moisture, acidity, size, and most notably, how aspected they were to each of the Five Phases: Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, and Wood.

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

  ‘I need to put something good together… what would I.. no, what would that old Immortal create first?’

  Slowly, Jun Li found herself slipping into an odd mindset as she sorted the Medicinal Plants in front of her, trying her best to emulate whatever immortal she inherited her memories from.

  As Jun Li reached a calm state, she found herself working quickly and steadily at the pile in front of her.

  Even after the moment the pile had been entirely sorted, Jun Li’s hands continued to move, quickly testing plant after plant for some particular property, occasionally setting one down at the edge of the podium, seemingly having found a number of appropriate specimens. After a short few moments, Jun Li had assembled five Medicinal Plants in a pentagonal formation.

  Looking down at what she had assembled, Jun Li slowly reasoned out her intuition, identifying the intention behind the instinct that had driven her to form this collection.

  ‘It’s basic but… the director should be able to understand how valuable it is…’ Jun Li cleared her throat, reassured herself, and finally turned to the director. “Director Zhu, I’m finished.”

  Hearing this, the director opened his eyes and began to make his way from the wall to the podium. “Let’s see if you’re the genuine article…”

  Looking down at the assembled Medicinal Plants, the director’s expression shifted subtly. “Five Medicinal Plants… each one strongly tinged with separate aspects of the Five Phases, yet…”

  The director furrowed his brow. “…it seems so mild.”

  “It doesn’t seem like the sort of collection that would make a good pill…” The director raised his attention to Jun Li, quite skeptical.

  “And making an elixir with these ingredients wouldn’t produce anything of note either. What’s the idea behind it?” Under the director’s pressing gaze, Jun Li struggled not to let the strain of expectation weigh her down.

  “These ingredients, actually… aren’t intended to be made into a pill or elixir.” Jun Li opened. “They’re actually for the creation of an… alchemical solution of sorts. Specifically, one made to replace water in the alchemical process.”

  Hearing this, the director raised an eyebrow. “A… water substitute? It certainly doesn’t sound practical; you believe this solution, used in the same quantity as pure water, wouldn't throw off the medicinal balance of a pill or elixir?”

  “Right, Director, in fact… it should maintain a medicinal balance even more stable than that of pure, mundane water.” Jun Li found herself smiling; she quite enjoyed being able to display knowledge surpassing that of her ‘betters,’ even if it wasn’t her own.

  “It’s not very strong, but even mundane water can slightly shift the medicinal balance of a pill or elixir, to the point of being detrimental to heavily fire-aspected medicines, such as those designed to affect the heart and blood flow.”

  “This assortment of Medicinal Plants, however…” Jun Li gestured to the selection she had assembled into a pentagon. “As you mentioned, each of these five Medicinal Plants is aspected singularly to each of the Five Phases, with a bit of trimming, you could reach a perfect balance, effectively imparting no bias whatsoever onto any medicines made with it, less so than even plain water.”

  “I see…” The director tapped the side of his head in thought. “It sounds like it could be made to work, but… it all sounds terribly inefficient. Even if the final result would be of a higher quality, you have to consider how much water vapor is lost during the alchemical process. If this solution is meant to replace water, then so much of it would be lost during the process that it wouldn’t be worth making.”

  “Ah, that’s not a problem at all.” Jun Li stated, as though it were simple. “Typically, you would carefully remove vapor bit by bit during the alchemical process so that the efficacy of the mixture won't escape during the refinement. But in this case, the solution itself is profoundly rich in Qi, and is a medicine in and of itself, for the creation of an elixir, you wouldn’t need to release any vapor at all, effectively resulting in a greater volume of elixir than you would normally get when using water.”

  “Oh, but for the refinement of pills…” Jun Li’s speech halted for a moment as she found herself unable to dredge up an answer from her inherited memories, forcing her to try and fabricate an answer of her own.

  “Oh, I know! When you release vapor with medicinal essence during pill refinement, you could just cultivate with it on the spot, simultaneously to the alchemical process!” Feeling she had come up with something good, Jun Li appeared quite proud.

  The director, on the other hand, couldn’t help but laugh slightly. “Indeed… this ‘water replacement’ solution you’ve put forward is certainly interesting, you pass.”

  Before Jun Li could savor her success, however, the director continued. “Just one question… Just where did you learn all this? The left-behind inheritance of some great alchemist of eld, perhaps?”

  Seeing Jun Li’s expression turn stiff when she heard his words, the director's smile widened, and he had to stop himself from laughing. 'Oh dear, it seems that was more accurate than she's comfortable with.'