Pulling her consciousness away from her Crimson Palace, Jun Li looked down over her body. A flaky black substance was spread over her skin, having been extruded from her pores after her breakthrough. ‘It reeks…’

  Shaking off her hands, Jun Li remembered seeing a similar thing happen to Zhao Xiaoli when she broke through during their stay in the forest.

  The black substance expelled upon breaking through to the Crimson Palace stage was the accumulated impurities built up over a lifetime of worldly living.

  In Jun Li’s eyes, it was a rather vague concept, one that she would have no notion of without her inherited memories. ‘Well… if I’m losing impurities from Cultivating correctly, I guess it can’t be a bad thing.’

  The sight and smell of the tar-like impurity was so distracting that Jun Li took a few moments before she began to realize the more tangible effects of her newfound Cultivation.

  Having shaken the flaky impurities from her body, Jun Li stretched her limbs, creating an uncanny keening sound from her bones and tendons that bounced off the walls in the seclusion room, creating a tense atmosphere.

  Jun Li felt exhausted, but somehow full of more energy than ever before, as though her Dantian was now comparatively emptier than ever before.

  Jun Li felt like she could refine another bottle of Icefeather Elixir, and it still wouldn’t be enough to bring her to her new peak capacity.

  Picking up her satchel of belongings, Jun Li marveled at how it felt as weightless as paper mache.

  Stepping out from the seclusion room, Jun Li was immediately greeted by the sight of her Master, Zhu Enlai, who had seemingly been waiting for her to leave.

  A short while ago, he had sensed a slight disturbance in the building's atmosphere and quickly tracked down the source.

  He had a pensive expression on his face and waited a long moment before speaking. “Jun Li… I’d like to speak with you before you return to your Sect.” Seeing her Master, Jun Li’s expression tightened. After breaking through to the Crimson Palace stage, she found she was able to perceive her Master’s Cultivation on a drastically more visceral level.

  It was as though Jun Li had been seeing a simple stone all these months, and only now noticed it was merely part of a much vaster mountain.

  Noticing Jun Li’s expression, the Director tapped his head in thought. “Ah, I suppose your newfound perception might be a bit disorienting. Come, let’s sit down for a moment. I’ll teach you a bit about Cultivating past the Qi Condensation stage.”

  Feeling she had crossed a much larger threshold than she imagined, Jun Li was eager to learn more about her current state. “Then, I’ll be relying on your guidance, Master Zhu.”

  … … … … … …

  A short time later, Jun Li had cleaned herself off a bit more thoroughly and was now sitting in the Director’s office.

  In the wide room, the scent of Medicinal Herbs was deeply soaked into every piece of furniture, but no lingering smell could overpower the sharp pungency of the medicinal tea Zhu Enlai had prepared.

  Too daunted by the stench to drink the tea herself, Jun Li waited silent and still for her Master to speak.

  “At first… I wasn’t all too eager to take you on as a disciple.” Zhu Enlai spoke, idly clinking a spoon through his tea. “It was just an excuse so I could meet with you regularly to take advantage of your unique alchemical knowledge. And… I certainly have taken advantage of it.”

  He smiled to himself. “There are some truly fascinating pieces of knowledge you’ve shared with me so far, enough for me to make some great strides in my own alchemical proficiency.”

  Though she wasn’t sure how this related to her breakthrough, Jun Li simply stayed silent and listened for now. “For a while I figured that would be the extent of things, after all, even if you stumbled across some sort of miraculous encounter, someone born disadvantaged in a mortal kingdom probably wouldn’t ever have the opportunity to make a name for themselves outside of it.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “But…” Zhu Enlai pointed a dripping teaspoon at Jun Li. “You’re pretty talented.” He grinned.

  “You know, up north there’s a place called the Blue Silver Empire, it’s not like these mortal kingdoms, and Cultivation is normal there, to the point that you’re not even considered an adult until you’ve broken through to the Crimson Palace stage.”

  Hearing this anecdote, Jun Li’s eyes widened. ‘An entire empire of people in the Crimson Palace stage…’

  Zhu Enlai quickly spoke again. “That’s not to downplay your own achievements, you know. The environment up there is far better suited to Cultivation. Not only is the natural Qi denser there, Magical Beasts and Medicinal Herbs are so common that it’d just be weird if normal families didn’t Cultivate, even if only for the health benefits.”

  “How old are you now anyway?” Hearing her Master’s question, Jun Li had to think for a moment, realizing how long she’d been at the Sect. “…I should be turning 17 this year, I started Cultivating when I was about 14.”

  Nodding his head, Zhu Enlai couldn’t help but laugh. “In the Divine Xia Empire, kids typically start Cultivating at about 8 to 10 years old and reach the Crimson Palace stage at around 16 to 20.”

  “Even with both the gap in resources and starting late, you still beat out the average.” Taking a sip from his pungent medicinal tea, Zhu Enlai averted his eyes from Jun Li, just slightly. “As an alchemist, all the knowledge in the world won’t make up for a lack of Cultivation. Too many alchemical geniuses have wasted away in obscurity due to a lack of talent in Cultivation.”

  “I judged you by your background and didn’t think you had what it took to grow as a Cultivator... so I never fully considered you as a ‘real’ disciple, and never taught you more than the utmost basics of alchemy.” He struggled to bring himself to look Jun Li in the eyes.

  “I’m sorry for underestimating you and treating you as little more than a library of obscure alchemical knowledge.” Seeing Zhu Enlai lower his head towards her, Jun Li was taken aback.

  Not even an hour ago, she felt crushed into silence by sensing the mere aura of his Cultivation, and now he was bowing his head in apology to her.

  A bit panicked at seeing someone she respects bowing to her like this, Jun Li waved her arms trying to placate him. “It’s fine, really! Don’t worry about it!”

  Raising his head, Zhu Enlai gave Jun Li a harsh look. “No.” With a single word, Jun Li was forced into silence.

  “I thought you were a common idiot from a mortal kingdom who just happened to stumble across some treasured knowledge, but now it’s obvious that I was quite mistaken.” Sighing deeply, Zhu Enlai furrowed his eyebrows with a complex expression. “As a Cultivator, you don’t always get to survive misjudging someone that badly…”

  “Now that you know I’ve not been taking you seriously as a disciple, I wouldn’t blame you if you wished to part ways here, but if you’re willing to forgive my neglect…” Zhu Enlai grinned to himself as he imagined an amusing sight.

  “…I swear that I will train you not merely into a talented alchemist, but a genius Cultivator that will leave a deep mark in the future of the Alchemist’s Association!”

  Surprised by Zhu Enlai’s intensity, Jun Li paused for a long while. In the first place, although her self-confidence had grown in the past few months, there was no way Jun Li would hold ill will towards someone for underestimating her.

  Hearing that she was talented even by the standards of some distant divine empire, Jun Li struggled to wrap her head around the concept, but it slowly sparked an odd feeling deep inside her, a desire to fulfil her potential, and live up to her 'supposed talent.'

  ‘Just a few years ago… even the concept of becoming a Cultivator was such a distant thing…’ Jun Li looked down at her hands. With her newfound perception, she could see the Qi seep from her pores as she guided it down her arms. ‘Just following the path laid out by my inheritance… it wasn’t easy, but…’

  “…It wasn’t hard…” Hearing Jun Li’s whisper, Zhu Enlai narrowed his eyes and listened intently.

  Looking up from her hands, Jun Li spoke slowly. “Getting to this point wasn’t… easy. But it’s not like I put my heart and soul into it or anything. If I really wanted to, I could have done it faster, I just… waited to get rewards from the tri-monthly Outer Sect Trials before each of my breakthroughs.”

  “I could have made money from alchemy, and brought Medicinal Herbs, or even ventured out to find them myself, or just sacrificed a few more hours each day to build towards a breakthrough even without using any medicines…”

  Made curious by Jun Li’s odd speech, Zhu Enlai spoke up. “What do you mean by that?”

  “I’m saying…” Jun Li smiled softly, a spark of ambition alighting in her heart. “…I can do better than this.” Jun Li clenched her fists, feeling a surge of strength well up from her Dantian, flooding her body and making her hair stand on end.

  “If you think you can train me to be a genius… then I don’t merely want to meet your expectations...” Jun Li looked her Master in the eye. “I'd like to surpass them. I think I could, too.”

  Left a bit speechless by Jun Li’s change in demeanor, Zhu Enlai laughed to himself. “Don’t go underestimating me, brat! I misjudged you once. Subverting my expectations again won’t be so easy!” Despite chiding, Zhu Enlai’s smile only grew wider.

  Unflinching under the weight of her master's lecturing, Jun Li stood from her chair and gave a deep bow. “I’ll be in your care, Master Zhu!”

  Seeing his disciple reprise her intent to study under him, Zhu Enlai laughed. “Hah! Don’t expect me to go easy on you. Even for my First Disciple, I won't hold back and coddle you!”