The day after I secured my position as the leader of the Palace’s young alchemists, an attendant appeared at the entrance of my workshop. After a brief explanation, he led me away, up a series of twisting tunnels, and out onto the plaza that sat atop the mountain’s summit.

I had come here a few times before, but this time, our destination was not the elder’s audience hall. The attendant guided me around the massive structure and brought me to a hill that had been hidden behind it—the mountain’s true peak. Chapters first released on novel[f]ire.net

There were no roads or buildings on this hill. There were no signs of human habitation at all. This peak held only a single, odd sandalwood tree that was covered in green bark.

When the attendant brought me to the base of this tree, I knew what was expected of me, so I didn’t hesitate. I cupped my fists and gave a deep bow. “Greeting, Sovereign Enkhtuya.”

After waving one of her branches to dismiss the attendant, the Sovereign let out a soft burst of qi. “Pill Emperor Su, congratulations on being chosen as the leader of our alchemists. I wish you the best of luck in our struggle against the other Palaces.”

Cupping my fists once more, I bowed yet again. “Thank you, Sovereign.”

The leaves of the tree rustled faintly in a non-existent wind, giving me the impression that the Sovereign was pleased. “Alchemist Su, what expectations do you have for the upcoming contest? Do you believe that you will be able to emerge victorious?”

I hesitated, considering my reply carefully. “Based on everything I know, I don’t believe that the alchemists of the True Martial Domain pose much of a threat. However, those from the Nine Rivers Domain might be… troublesome.”

The Sovereign’s lower branches swayed ominously. “You do not intend to go easy on your former homeland, do you?”

“No, Sovereign. I owe allegiance to neither the Nine Rivers Domain nor any of its inhabitants. My worry is genuine. Their lead alchemist, Yong JinZhan, is an opponent that I may be incapable of besting.”

A subtle strand of wood qi emanated from the side of the hill. I couldn’t be sure, but something made me feel that it had been released by that vine creature.

The human speaks the truth.

This was about the sloppiest form of ‘secret’ communication that I had ever seen, making it clear that the urgamal didn’t expect anyone to be able to understand them. The humans around here might not even know that these bursts of qi were words.

“I understand,” said Enkhtuya, simultaneously responding to both me and her hidden messenger.

The tree creature then paused for several long seconds, and I couldn’t help but glance around, wondering if she was expecting me to leave.

“Alchemist Su,” she said, suddenly. “Are you certain that you wish to enter the Temple of the Herb Saint?”

I had been pondering this question ever since my talk with Emperor Chan. Even aside from the dangers of absorbing urgamal blood essence, my goal was to gain a better understanding of this domain and find a safe place to settle my clan. Running off to an entirely separate island would only make this task significantly more difficult.

“Certain? No,” I said, honestly. “But this is the path that is laid out before me, and I truly believe that I am the only person capable of defeating Jon—Young JinZhan—in the upcoming competition.”

“Alchemist Su,” The leaves of the tree rustled in a mix of complex emotions. “I have no interest in your secrets. I do not care where you came from—only that you serve the Palace faithfully. You have done this. However…”

As the Sovereign paused once more, I focused on a pill bottle within my inner world, ready to escape back in time at a moment’s notice.

“Alchemist Su, I do not have any issues with a human becoming one of our Ancestors—or even our next Saint. If Khörs chooses to place a human in charge of the Temple, then I will have faith that his decision is correct. However, before aspiring to such a position, understand this: If you become one of the Temple’s Ancestors, your journey of reincarnation will come to an end. After investing so much of its karma into you, the Temple will expect you to ascend this world and leave your Final Gift behind.”

I blinked. “Ascend the world? To… Saint?”

As I did my best to wrap my mind around this, Sovereign Enkhtuya paused, and the faintest hint of suspicion entered her qi flows.

“No. To immortality. Only the chosen of Khörs may become Saints. All others are forced to ascend on their own.”

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I wanted to ask, “Who the hell is Khörs?” but from the Sovereign’s tone, I could tell that she felt this was information a serial reincarnator such as myself was supposed to know. After stopping to think for a second, I realized that I did know. There was only one dark god that she could possibly be referring to.

“I… see. Thank you for the advice, Sovereign.”

Feeling our conversation coming to an end, I looked for a graceful exit, but the Sovereign had other intentions.

“Alchemist Su, while I suggest you carefully consider whether or not to join the Temple, your decision will have no bearing on the upcoming contest against the other two Palaces. No matter what you decide, I hope that you will do your best to lead our team to victory. To that end,” the Sovereign infused the ground with a wave of qi, creating a visible, easy-to-follow path. “I have prepared a gift for you.”

Following the path of Enkhtuya’s qi led me to a tunnel that was covered in dense foliage. It wasn’t just the entrance that was covered. The entire length of this tunnel was chock-full of abundant plant life.

As I approached, the foliage separated, allowing me to pass through, but it was a tight squeeze.

After continuing forward for nearly a quarter of an hour, I found myself near the center of the mountain, only a few meters below the floor of the elder’s audience hall. Here, the tunnel around me opened up, and I found myself in the middle of a sizable cavern.

I only needed a second to understand where I was. Off to my left, there was a bedroom and a place to cultivate. To my right, there was a sitting area, complete with several bookcases that overflowed with scrolls and technique manuals. And, in front of me, against the far wall, there was a workbench.

This was an alchemy workshop. The only difference between this and my normal workshop was that, where the walls of my normal workshop had been covered in plants, the walls of this one were plants. Not just basic, living trees, either. The walls were woven from a tapestry of rare and exotic cultivars.

After giving me time to take in my surroundings, a miniature sandalwood tree emerged from the floor and sent out a burst of qi, speaking with Enkhtuya’s voice.

“Alchemist Su, this is our Palace’s best alchemy room. By spending time here, you will be able to acquire a low two-star wood affinity. However, this will take effort on your part. The plants here have been cut off from the mountain’s energy, and you must spend time carefully tending them each day. Be careful, though. They are extremely fragile, and even the slightest moment of neglect could cause them to die.”

The Sovereign paused briefly, giving me a moment to understand her words, then continued, “You may or may not have enough talent to acquire such a high affinity, but aside from providing you with a few extra herbs, this is all that I can do for you. I lack the skills of that monster Wong.”

Twitching slightly, I cupped my fists and bowed. “Thank you, Sovereign. I will do my best to make the Palace proud.”

Before departing, Enkhtuya let out one last wave of qi.

“Again, think carefully about everything that I have said. I must warn you that—even if you place first in the upcoming contest—I can only allow three members of your team to travel to the Temple. Two of you will need to be replaced by those who are not allowed to compete in these games.”

Remembering a comment about the bulbous flower’s ‘son,’ I had a decent guess as to what kind of people Enkhtuya was talking about.

“Talk with your team and decide who will be left behind. Don’t worry, though. Those who choose to stay will be rewarded for their sacrifice.”

Putting off a final decision on how to deal with the Temple, I sat down in my new cultivation chamber and pondered my situation.

Enkhtuya had given me access to a place where I could, potentially, gain my first two-star affinity. However, according to my status screen, I didn’t possess any latent talent for wood. So, spending time in this room would just be a waste.

I could buy a latent wood talent, but what would be the point? Why not just buy the affinity directly?

Back on the Nine Rivers Continent, my System-purchased comprehensions had been one of the main reasons I had been able to achieve everything that I had. Here on the Central Continent, though, with comprehensions transformed into “latent talents,” they seemed useless—worse than useless, in fact.

Here, purchasing a ‘comprehension’ was nearly identical to purchasing an affinity. The only differences were that, not only did comprehensions need to be trained, but they also wasted credits. A 1-credit comprehension could only raise an affinity by a single step. By, instead, purchasing my affinities directly, I could acquire dozens of peak five- and six-star affinities for the same price.

So, what was the point? Why should I purchase a latent talent?

I didn’t have an answer to this question, but I had a suspicion.

Would the Earthly Dao really implement an update that crippled one of the System’s core features? Taking a step back, what had this update even done? Had it changed my comprehensions into something completely different, or had it only updated my status page to accurately reflect what my comprehensions actually were?

More to the point, the change to my status page almost seemed to be highlighting these talents. Shouldn’t that mean they were useful in some way? Why were they useful, though? That, I didn’t know. So, I might as well find out.

I connected to an avatar in my inner world. “System, I would like to purchase a 400-credit latent talent for wood.”

Purchase confirmed. 91 credits remaining.

400 credits was a lot, representing a death as a Martial Sovereign 4, but at the same time, it wasn’t enough. Raising my wood affinity from high three-star to peak three-star would cost a total of 750 credits, which was more than I had.

So, was this purchase just a waste of credits? Possibly, but for whatever reason, no matter how I looked at it, I still felt oddly satisfied. Waste or not, this purchase would help me learn more about this new continent. At most, I would just need to spend a lifetime or two on the Nine Rivers to pay for it.

Standing up, I reached out with my soul and intent, probing the verdant plant life that surrounded me.

These were not rare and valuable herbs. They were mortal plants that were so frail they could be killed off by a stiff breeze. Keeping them alive would be difficult, but Sovereign Enkhtuya had provided me with everything I needed.

In one of the side rooms, I found a watering can, a bag of fertilizer, and a few qi-powered grow lights.

I knew that I needed to keep my focus on alchemy, and I needed to prepare for the upcoming faceoff against Jon, but still… I couldn’t help but wonder what my new latent talent might have to teach me.