“Ah, Lin-Lin. How was today’s first round? Better yet, how was my fighting? Wasn’t I extraordinary?” Zhang He gushed over himself as he took a swig of an elaborately-designed wine glass.

This time, they were not having a date in the Water Lily Pavilion, but rather the Gold Stone Lounge, the Magistrate’s personal guest-house where they were invited to dine along with Zhang’s friends and their girlfriends.

“For your level, you seem quite powerful to be able to almost defeat that idiot,” Lin-Lin affirmed as she tried to sip the wine sparingly, afraid to have a repeat of the Rainbow Tea.

Zhang He shifted slightly. “There’s no need to insult him on my behalf. Wu Shan is a powerful warrior deserving of everyone’s respect, including mine and yours,” Zhang He said with a slight scowl which eased upon looking at Lin-Lin’s beauty.

“Wu Shan isn’t weak, that’s for sure,” Lin-Lin nodded. “But he’s still a bit of an idiot on the best of days.”

Zhang He raised an eyebrow. “You know him?”

“Well, he’s my-”

“Zhang, Zhang!” One of his friends came with a tiny arm-sized chest. Lin-Lin couldn’t for the life of her remember his, or any of Zhang He’s friends’ names. In fact, she truly had no idea why she was still hanging out with Zhang He. The novelty of his clothing wore off pretty quickly, and he had already showed her a multitude of tourist attractions within the city, enough to occupy her mind for a long time.

“What is it, Feng?” Zhang looked up crossly before seeing the chest.

“It’s a gift from my grandfather! He seemed to have bet on your victory against that Wu Shan monster come the finals!”

“What’s inside the chest?” Zhang He’s interest was piqued sufficiently. Any gift from Feng Yi, the Provincial Alchemist was sure to be something fairly valuable. Feng Shen kneeled and opened the chest slowly, revealing the three pills.

“Three pills that contain 0.0021% pill impurities. Dao Consolidation Pill, Qi Purification Pill and Cloud Eater Pill, all useful during the Foundation Establishment stage. Please accept them as a token of goodwill!”

Zhang He scratched his chin in consideration while Lin-Lin stared at the pills in complete astonishment.

Zhang He noticed the longing stares and grinned as he came up with a masterful plan to win her heart.

“I’d like to accept them. Please convey my gratitude to your grandfather, Grandmaster Feng Yi,” Zhang He said, accepting the long chest and placing it on the table as Feng Shen departed.

“I’d like to gift you these three pills in order to further your cultivation.”

Lin-Lin phased out after hearing ‘I’d like to gift you these’ and grabbed the Dao Consolidation Pill, looking around at it.

“What a strange object…” Lin-Lin murmured. “It’s not a Dantian or a magical beast core or even a demon core, yet it retains this amount of Qi… How would you even begin to create such an object?”

Zhang He raised an eyebrow. “Do you not know what a pill is?”

Lin-Lin shook her head. “What is it?”

Zhang He sighed. “I’m not an alchemist, so I can only bastardize the true meaning. It is basically the essence of Qi-cultivating herbs and other heavenly minerals that have been melded together by an Essence Flame to create this pill. The pill impurity is low and can be erased after a few weeks of diligent refinement, so it’s safe for you to have it.”

“An Essence Flame?” Lin-Lin asked. “What is that?”

“When one steps into the stage of Core Formation, they will automatically be assigned an affinity or two based on the kind of Qi they have cultivated, ranging between Fire, Wood, Metal, Water and Earth, and whatever their innate element might be. An Essence Flame can only occur when one has received dual affinities of Fire and Wood and have the innate element for fire, water and earth. As such, the probabilities of someone being born with all the required traits are exceedingly rare and if one is tested to be positive of Alchemy traits, cultivators from all over the world won’t hesitate to fund your growth.”

Lin-Lin paused for a moment to concentrate deeply, introspecting.

She possessed a Golden Core, purified by her father for nine days and nine nights. She was created from all the natural Qi types with both Yin and Yang natured Qi to balance her out. In theory, she should possess every affinity.

Concentrating deeper, she entered into her Dantian. In a void of black, one pulsating golden orb lay in the centre of the vast infinity.

Around the orb, in equal intervals stood five braziers. Each brazier had a resplendent flame gushing out of it. One red, one green, one white, one yellow and one black. The five elements of creation.

Deeper still, within the Golden Core was a figure that looked exactly like Lin-Lin.

She recognized it to be her pseudo-soul. She, too, was surrounded by over half a dozen differently-coloured lights.

Blue, yellow, green, red, orange, violet, Indigo. These were the colours that surrounded her soul, and these were her innate elements. Water, light, wind, fire, earth, lightning and darkness.

She qualified to become an Alchemist, plus so much more.

Returning herself back to conscience, Zhang He was waiting with a patient smile. “Look who decided to wake up?”

“I can become an alchemist.” Lin-Lin stated resolutely.

“I believe in you,” Zhang He smiled.

“No. I mean, I can actually become an alchemist! All I need is an Essence Flame to get started…”

Zhang He raised an eyebrow, but with a crooked grin, he nodded.. “Uhm… okay, work hard, Lin-Lin. I’m supportive of you.”