Three days after testing everyone’s soul, Emperor Chan called me up to his workshop and handed me a storage bag.

“This has 100 copies of everything needed to make six-patterned Rank 4 Ascension Pills. If you can make 50 four- or five-patterned pills for my clan, the remaining 50 sets are yours to do with as you please.”

A 2-to-1 trade of herbs for pills was far from fair, but this was the deal that Chan and I had already agreed to.

Having a large stockpile of Ascension Pills would be important once I took my clan out of storage, but they wouldn’t be of much use until then. So, instead of squirreling away as many pills as possible, I decided that it would be better for the Chan Clan to “take advantage of me” as a way of encouraging other factions to offer me similar deals, significantly increasing the number of herbs and Ascension Pills that I had access to.

More importantly, though, this allowed me to start repaying Emperor Chan. He had already given me a lot, including a Rank 7 moon spade, and it was time for him to start seeing some returns on this investment.

As I accepted Chan’s storage bag, I sensed that something was off about his demeanor, but I couldn’t pinpoint the cause.

“Su Fang, this…” Chan winced and changed what he was going to say. “This bag also has the necessary ingredients for three Rank 5 Ascension Pills, but are you sure you want them now? These ingredients aren’t easy to come by, especially not the carcasses of recently slain Peak Rank 4 demon beasts. Maybe—”

“Rank 5 won’t be a problem,” I said, interrupting him. “I won’t be able to handle Rank 6 without an Emperor’s will-lock, but my current affinities should be sufficient for Rank 5. While I might be mistaken about this, even if I am, attempting these pills will still provide me with valuable information.”

I looked at Chan with a steady gaze. “You could have just sent this bag down to my workshop. Tell me, why did you really call me up here?”

“That… Lau ZiMing—Lau CoiHung’s mentor.” Chan let out a slow breath. “Lau ZiMing has asked if you would be willing to give her disciple private alchemy lessons.”

I nodded in thought. I had already invested a significant amount of time into helping everyone strengthen their souls. How much more time was I willing to spend on this group?

My immediate goal had to be defeating Jon in the upcoming alchemy competition, and I had a hard time believing that this competition wouldn’t, eventually, come down to a 1-on-1 competition between me and Jon. However, it was a team

competition. Even if my alchemy skills were far higher than my teammates, there should still be a way for me to make use of them. So, helping them would be the same as helping myself.

“Two hours a week,” I said, looking at Emperor Chan. “I’ll do a group lesson two hours a week, with any of the eight remaining competitors free to attend at their leisure.”

“That…” Chan flinched, as if I had struck him a physical blow, and it was obvious that Lau CoiHung’s mentor was looking for more than a simple alchemy lesson.

I had a guess as to what the woman might be hoping for, but I had no interest in pursuing such things. I was willing to help the Palace’s children learn to concoct better pills—nothing more.

While I was confident that my recent show of soul strength was enough to quell the discontent in the hearts of the Palace’s young alchemists, I still wasn’t sure how many of them would willingly choose to attend my optional lecture. After all, showing up would be the same as admitting that I was the superior alchemist—someone so far above them that I could be considered their teacher.

However, when I arrived at the lecture hall, I found four of the group’s young men already waiting for me. Then, a few minutes later, as I was making a few final preparations, Mandakh arrived.

When Mandakh looked at me, I could feel several streams of conflicting emotions warring within him. He still didn’t want to acknowledge me. He still wanted to lead this group himself. However, when I turned to face him, he forced himself to lower his head in supplication. Chapters first released on novｅlfire.net

I nodded in return. Mandakh was hard-headed, but he was talented, and his blessing could play a pivotal role in the upcoming competition. I just needed to fix a few of the man’s more obvious personality flaws. Soul cultivation was already helping with this. Once I completed the next stage of my research into herbal teas, I would be able to pull him over to my side completely.

Mandakh had been the last of the group’s young men to arrive, so the only people we were still waiting on were the group’s three young women.

Less than a minute before the lesson was set to begin, the doors of the lecture hall opened and all three women walked in together, with Lau CoiHung in the lead.

With everyone in this group being either a Pill Lord or a Pill King, no one was short of money, so everyone was dressed in expensive, high-quality clothing. Usually, though, this clothing was of a more utilitarian design. While the men were all wearing robes worth hundreds of spirit stones, these robes looked like the clothes of well-off craftsmen—except for Mandakh, of course. Mandakh’s robes were as gaudy as ever.

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These three women, however…

Lau CoiHung walked in wearing a light blue hanfu that had been sewn from the thinnest of silks. Her skirt had been embroidered with dozens of beautiful, white peonies, and her sleeves had been formed from sheer, white lace. CoiHung’s face had been covered in a light dusting of powder, giving it the glow of pure jade, and her lips had been painted a vibrant crimson.

The two women at CoiHung’s side were dressed similarly, but with CoiHung taking the lead, everyone’s eyes were instantly drawn to her.

Lau CoiHung walked into the room with her clasped hands held down at her waist. Then, ignoring everyone else, she walked up to me and gave me a mix between a curtsy and a bow. “Senior Brother Fang, thank you for taking the time to teach us.”

My face took on a grim cast, and I waved a hand to dismiss her. “No need. This is my duty. Please, take your position behind one of the workbenches.”

Lau CoiHung showed no signs of disappointment at my behavior. She just gave me another half-bow and followed my instructions.

As she did so, I caught Mandakh’s reaction out of the corner of my eye. His very presence here indicated that he was coming to accept my position as his leader, but Lau CoiHung’s display had been enough to reignite the young man’s resentment. This made me annoyed at both CoiHung and Mandakh. These were the two best alchemists the Palace had to offer. If anyone were going to help me defeat Jon, it would be them, but they needed to end these sophomoric games and rivalries. I needed them to concentrate on alchemy.

With a tinge of anger in my steps, I walked onto the platform at the head of the lecture hall and sat down in a large, comfortable armchair. Then, I picked up the eight storage bags that I had prepared and used my soul to send one to each workbench.

“Use the herbs in those bags to concoct whatever pills you choose.”

After saying this, I leaned back in my chair, closed my eyes, and fell into a deep, meditative state.

The eight young men and women all glanced at each other, confused and annoyed by my behavior. A few—including Mandakh—even looked like they were about ready to storm out. However, they forced themselves to follow my instructions.

I paid this little mind. I was already concentrating deeply on the pit of my soul and couldn’t afford to become distracted.

Circulating qi through my soul in a set pattern, I activated one of the techniques that I had purchased from the System, creating a soul avatar to the side of Mandakh’s workbench.

Everyone immediately stopped working and stared at the clone I had just created, but I didn’t have any attention to waste on them. I was already pulling on my soul and casting the technique once again. Moments later, a second avatar appeared next to Lau CoiHung’s workbench.

I continued creating avatars, one after another, until all eight workbenches had an avatar overseeing them.

This was an incredible strain on my soul. While I had known it was possible, I had never used this technique to create more than a single avatar, so immediately jumping up to eight at once stretched me to my limits.

This was my goal, though. I needed to train the Palace’s young alchemists, but I wasn’t willing to spend countless hours doing nothing but watching them work. So, I had decided to use these lessons to train my soul by simultaneously observing the eight alchemists from eight different viewpoints.

After the last of my avatars was in place, I returned my focus to the youths who were still staring blankly at the scene around them. With a flex of my soul, I sent a command to all eight avatars at once, causing them to all speak in unison.

“Continue.”

Every single one of the young men and women jumped as a look of horror crossed their faces. Then, they hurried to follow my instructions and got back to work.

At first, everyone had been unnerved by the sight of my avatars looming over them, but they were all trained professionals who were used to performing alchemy in front of both their mentors and large audiences. So, after taking a few minutes to adjust, they buckled down and got to work—most of them, at least.

While everyone else was carefully sorting through the herbs in their storage bags, Lau CoiHung approached my avatar. “Senior Brother, do you have any advice on which pill I should work on?”

Not willing to expend the mental bandwidth needed to give a verbal response, I instructed my avatar to simply shake its head.

“Ah, I see.” Lau CoiHung rummaged through the storage bag and pulled out a spear-based variant of a Rank 5 ganoderma. Then, she lifted a hand and tried to rest it on my arm. However, since this avatar was incorporeal, her hand passed right through it. Undeterred, Lau CoiHung lifted her hand once again and held it where my arm appeared to be. “What is this herb used for, Senior Brother? I don’t believe I have seen it before.”

Again, I had my avatar shake its head.

Lau CoiHung giggled. “I see. You want me to figure it out on my own, right? I can do that.”

Watching this scene play out right in front of him, Mandakh’s fists clenched in anger, crushing the herbs that he was holding. Then, when Lau CoiHung smiled at me, he slammed the herbs down on his workbench and stormed out of the lecture hall.

Instead of being shocked by this response, Lau CoiHung just glanced at me and let out another soft giggle.

I did my best to maintain my composure throughout the rest of this lesson, but it was difficult when the other two girls were doing their best to copy Lau CoiHung and flirt with my avatars. Because of this, the moment the lesson was over, I stood from my chair and headed directly for the exit. Before I could leave, however, the doors opened to reveal the elderly woman who was waiting on the other side.

“Greetings, Alchemist Su,” she said, cupping her fists in a martial salute. “I am Emperor Lau ZiMing, CoiHung’s mentor. Would you allow me to take up a moment of your time?”

I returned her salute and gave a slight bow. “Greetings, Emperor Lau. Apologies, but I must be going.”

I moved to walk past the woman, but she stepped in front of me, blocking my path.

“Alchemist Su, please, the matter I wish to discuss is of utmost urgency.” She scanned the room of young alchemists before returning her eyes to me. “You and Lau CoiHung are a match made by the Heavens. So, I am here to offer you a marriage contract. I have tried to discuss this with Emperor Chan, but he has insisted that he cannot agree to anything without your approval. Please, come with me, and we can discuss the details.”

Lau CoiHung had a gentle smile on her face as she walked up to take a position next to me.

To anyone else, she might have looked like a young woman in love. However, all I could sense from her was a desire to grow stronger. She didn’t have any feelings for me at all.

I looked at Emperor Lau coldly. “Apologies, Elder. I have no interest in any marriage alliances at this time. If you would, please convey this to any other mentors who might be having similar thoughts.”

Without waiting for a response, I walked forward and used a shield of soul power to stop the old woman from blocking me.