In deference to how off-balance his comments had made Jun Li, the director pulled back slightly. “In the end, it doesn’t really matter where you got your knowledge from.”

  He smiled kindly. “All that matters is that you have it. Plenty of people in this world have stumbled across all manner of strange inheritances, hidden in obscure corners of the world; such individuals are quite valued in the Jianghu.”

  “The… ‘Jianghu?’” Jun Li looked somewhat unfamiliar with the phrasing.

  “Ah, well…” The director paused, trying to find a way to explain. “Let’s just say it means ‘the martial world’ for now. It has some more… ‘connotations,’ but you will learn in time, if your inheritance is as valuable as it seems.”

  “Most importantly…” The director couldn’t help but smile. “The Alchemist’s Association is always on the lookout for any old inheritances that contain alchemical knowledge and secrets. Just like yours.”

  Jun Li’s expression betrayed her concern. “So, what does that mean for me?”

  The director crossed his arms, bearing his own anxieties openly. “Well, it means that I would receive some considerable benefit from bringing your existence to light in the Association, but… let’s just say I’m not out here in this backwater kingdom by choice.”

  The director’s face contorted in a wry smile. “If I go seeking a reward from the Association, that’s just going to be another reason for my enemies to try and come after me…”

  Rather casually revealing his frightening situation, the director’s good mood seemed unshaken, especially compared to Jun Li, who had begun to feel anxious simply being in the presence of such an apparently contentious person.

  “So, let’s keep your inheritance quiet, yeah?” The director beamed, manifesting a smoking pipe from the light of his strange, purple ring.

  “Now then, I’ve got a deal of sorts for you… You become my disciple, and I’ll train you in the use of alchemical tools. In exchange, you will teach me some alchemical theories, straight from your inherited memories.” The director pointed his pipe in Jun Li’s direction. “How about it? Sound good?”

  At first, Jun Li thought this deal was too good to even consider refusing, but after thinking for only a moment, she felt some guilt.

  This deal undoubtedly benefited the Alchemist’s Association more than her, and realizing just how powerful the Association was, even just this branch, she knew just how easy it would have been for them to alleviate the struggles of her home outside the city.

  For the Alchemist’s Association, it would have been as easy as a flick of the wrist to uplift that shanty town to a safe and prosperous village, and yet they didn’t. ‘I suppose it wouldn't even cross their minds… Everyone's just looking to benefit themselves…’

  Thinking of this, Jun Li realized that even if she couldn’t refuse the offer, she couldn’t let the Alchemist’s Association buy her for cheap. “…Alright, I’ll become your disciple, but I’ll be relying on you to do more than teach me the basics.”

  “Oh?” The director sounded amused. “And just what would you have of me?”

  In swift response, Jun Li pulled a small box from a deeper pocket of her robe and presented it to the director. “I want you to refine this into an elixir. Today, specifically. And I'll be counting on your help for this sort of thing until I become skilled enough to do it myself.”

  The director opened the box, quickly understanding as the energizing medicinal haze of the Lingzhi seeped from the box. “I see… they don’t give out Medicinal Plants like this for free, that inheritance must be benefiting you with more than just alchemical knowledge, hmm?”

  The director quickly closed the box, hoping to preserve as much medicinal essence inside the mushroom as possible. “Very well then, wait right here and I’ll have this done within an hour or so.”

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  As he walked to one of the side-rooms, he paused and turned to Jun Li. “Oh, and… good on you, asking for more from our deal, keep that up and I’d say you’re well suited to the life of an alchemist.”

  As the director made himself scarce, Jun Li was left to wait, reflecting on a compliment she wasn’t entirely sure she appreciated.

  …

  On the first floor of the building, the receptionist who had struggled to bear Jun Li’s presence was hard at work, scheduling private receptions and translating all manner of managerial minutiae to paper.

  Hearing someone descend the stairs, the receptionist was caught off guard by the sight of Jun Li.

  Only now did the receptionist realize how long she had been in the building, certainly far longer than he expected her to linger.

  Watching Jun Li leave the building, the receptionist was at a loss for a moment, unsure why it had taken so long for her to fail the aptitude test and be sent on her way.

  Thinking a moment more, the receptionist sneered. ‘What a scene she must have made, to delay her expulsion so long.’

  Returning to his work, the receptionist felt most certain he would not be seeing any more of Jun Li.

  Outside, Jun Li was entirely ignorant of how viscerally her presence had affected the receptionist.

  She had been able to get more than she expected from this trip to the Alchemist’s Association, as evidenced by the weighty medicinal gourd that now hung from her hand by a vibrant red rope.

  She didn’t end up taking a pill furnace or cauldron, however, it would be pointless to take them to the sect without knowing how to use them, something she planned to remedy in the coming weeks.

  Every week, Jun Li would return to the Alchemist’s Association to study the practical aspects of alchemy under Zhu Enlai, the director. At the same time, she would demonstrate alchemical theory from her memory.

  For now, however, Jun Li had to get back to the sect to take advantage of her newly refined Lingzhi elixir.

  Retracing her steps through the bustling city, Jun Li slowly found her surroundings had become less and less chaotic, the buildings at her sides eventually giving way to the towering walls and unnaturally clean streets that surrounded the royal palace grounds.

  Walking the path back to the sect, Jun Li stopped herself from gawking at the palace again, resenting the fact that she even thought of it.

  Directing her focus forward, Jun Li continued up the path to the sect, yet she did not turn right, into the Outer Sect grounds when the plaza came into sight, instead, she walked directly to the Repository, glancing across the area to make sure Ren Liwei wasn’t in sight.

  Unable to spot Ren Liwei in the slowly growing midday crowd, Jun Li eventually made her way into the Repository, giving a short bow to Elder Shao before making her way to the third floor.

  Jun Li lacked the martial upbringing most of her peers at the sect had, and as such, her body was fundamentally weaker. Although one’s basic cultivation was most important, the effect of a thoroughly refined physique couldn’t be understated.

  It was in an attempt to remedy this that Jun Li now rifled through the shelves and racks of the Repository’s third floor, where innumerable tools were kept. “Ah, these should work perfectly.”

  On one of the higher shelves in the room, Jun Li had found what she was looking for, stored in a small wooden box. Opening the box to confirm its contents, Jun Li found rows of thin silver needles, tied in rows to the inside of the box’s lid, and a plush cushion fastened to the bottom of the box.

  With this acupuncture set and the Lingzhi elixir, Jun Li had everything she needed to rapidly improve both her Cultivation and her physical strength.

  Progression in Jun Li’s Cultivation would come naturally as she absorbed the Qi of the elixir; it was just a matter of absorbing and refining it slowly, as absorbing too great a quantity of Qi at once would leave her at risk of losing control and facing a potentially disastrous Qi Deviation.

  To improve her basic physical strength, however, was more difficult. Simply spending as much time on her physical training as possible would improve her strength, but it would take too long.

  If she wanted to see noticeable results by the time of the next Outer Sect Trial in two months, she would have to seek alternative methods, namely, directly administering a medicinal elixir to her muscle and bone through the acupoints.

  It was a clumsy method compared to some of the more resource-intensive techniques in her inherited memories, but it was far more thorough than the traditional medicinal baths her peers might use.

  With this method, so long as she rationed out her elixir, she should be able to see a benefit to her physicality before the next Trial.

  “Oh, right… There’s also the jade slip I found in the Repository. I need to see if I can memorize its contents well enough to train with…’ Realizing how busy the following two months would be, Jun Li was in high spirits, having so many resources lined up made Jun Li excited to see the end result, even if it was still far off in her eyes.