As soon as Xuan stepped into Open Sky Alchemist Guild’s building, he was hit by the familiar thick and pungent smell of medicine.

It was similar to his wife Ling’er’s place, in a way, but the smell here was a lot lower-class. One gaze at the wooden cube shelves lining the walls told Xuan everything he needed to know, thanks to the Divine Asura Eye—all the herbs here were at most Heaven-Grade, meaning the best pills they could be made into were also Heaven-Grade. Under the assumption that no higher-grade herb is used in the refinement process, that is.

“For the biggest and only alchemist guild in Cloud Catcher City, the herbs here are quite low quality,” Xuan commented. “But… this is not the extent of it, correct?”

“Hmph. You’ve got a sharp eyes… or should I say nose?” Grandmaster Dun snorted. “Come with me. The area down here are just herbs that we sell to the general public. The second floor has the premium herbs, and the third floor… that is where your special reward will be waiting.”

Saying that, the old man headed up the wooden stairs in the hidden room behind the receptionist’s desk, prompting Xuan to follow. The two ascended two floors from there, soon reaching the third and highest one, where the layout was distinctly different from the previous two.

“These are all… private offices?” Xuan wondered aloud, observing his surroundings as they walked down a polished rosewood hallway.

“Good catch,” Grandmaster Dun grunted. “If the doors didn’t all have nameplates on them, that is.”

Xuan ignored the old man’s sour jab and instead continued looking around, all the while trailing behind him. For such a large building, there were very few private offices. Each Grandmaster was given a large amount of space for themselves, which made sense, considering alchemy was the sort of craft that required lots of empty room around the practitioner. Though… Xuan didn’t exactly know why.

“… You know, I’ve been wondering this for a long time now, but… why do alchemists need so much space?”

It couldn’t be for storage. In Xianxia Online, artifacts like Space Rings were so common that pretty much any cultivator above the Flowing Qi stage should have one. Of course, the storage in these were limited depending on how high-grade the artifact was, but even Earth-Grade Space Rings should be enough to hold everything one might need for alchemy: herbs, and a good pill furnace.

As such, this was a genuine question. In Xuan’s past life, he’d never paid much attention to alchemy, instead focusing on the cultivation Dao. His wife had taught him a thing or two about pill refinement and pill analysis, but never covered any broad questions like this.

“It is for the atmosphere,” Grandmaster Dun replied. “The larger their room is, the better circulation of World Qi inside. This leads to a higher chance of forming pill veins and producing better-quality pills in general. Not only that, but to practice alchemy, one needs a calm and clear state of mind. Would you feel more similar to that in a small, cramped space, or a large open room?”

“I see…” Xuan furrowed his brows in understanding. It certainly made sense, now that he thought about it.

“We’re here.”

Before long, Grandmaster Dun stopped in his tracks, and Xuan paused as well. They stood in front of a door at the very end of the long corridor, with a golden nameplate on it reading ‘Grandmaster Zong’.

“Brother Zong, I have brought you the winner of the alchemy test of this year.”

“Yes, yes. Come in, come in!” the voice inside ushered warmly, welcoming and friendly. Grandmaster Dun turned to Xun and nudged his head towards the door, gesturing for the young man to enter by himself.

Since there was no reason to refuse, Xuan entered the room alone just as intended and gently closed the door behind him. Inside, an old man who appeared similar in age to Grandmaster Dun sat at the rosewood desk, facing the newcomer with a warm smile. Being the genius he was, Xuan deduced that this geezer was no doubt Grandmaster Zong, the same person who had refined all those pills used in the test—a man of exceptional alchemy skills.

“Greetings, Grandmaster Zong,” Xuan said politely, though he did not bow or perform any gestures that may have made him seem inferior in terms of status. “Your pill refinement techniques are truly masterful, able to hide treasures like that under the guise of a poison-like taste.”

“Haha, no need to flatter me,” Grandmaster Zong dismissed with a hearty wave of his hand, but his expression was laughing. “This old master is in his final few years. Unlike cultivation, alchemy does not directly increase a person’s lifespan. If there is one thing I would like to do, it is find another successor to my legacy…”

Xuan tilted his head in curiosity. “Oh? Is that my ‘special reward’?”

“Indeed, indeed,” the old man replied, stroking his beard. “That is not a fully accurate conclusion, but you might as well think of it that way. Before that, though… I would like you to answer me something truthfully. Just now, after consuming the Soul Nourishing Pill… did you develop a mutated knowledge sea?”

Grandmaster Zong’s eyes were narrowed, serious. Xuan stared back at them fearlessly, however, and spoke the truth.

“I did.”

Normally, he would’ve said no—that is, if it wasn’t for the other presence he felt in the room. It was very faint and wasn’t hostile by any means, but it was there. The most dangerous part about it was that if it wasn’t for Xuan’s Soul Strength stat of over 16 billion, he’d never notice her—and even with it, he wasn’t able to pinpoint her location.

Grandmaster Zong, hearing this answer, sighed in relief and patted his own chest. “Good. That is all I needed to hear.”

Xuan lifted an eyebrow. “… You’re not going to question which kind of mutated knowledge sea I developed?”

“You came here for alchemy, did you not? As a Body Tempering stage cultivator who studies alchemy, what mutated knowledge sea could you get except Flora?”

‘Well… about that.’ Xuan chuckled in his head.

He could’ve argued, but he chose to play along instead. “Yes, that’s true. About what you said earlier, though… what do you mean I might as well think of it that way?”

“What Master means to say, is that there was secretly a second test involved for the real special reward,” a voice suddenly interjected out of nowhere. “The test of whether or not someone was able to develop a mutated knowledge sea. If they weren’t, the ‘special’ reward would’ve just been some extra Spirit Crystals, not Grandmaster Zong’s entire inheritance. So, to you… congratulations!”

There it was—the presence he’d faintly felt earlier. He tried harder this time to look around for her presence, but still ultimately was not enough.

‘Impossible. Even with my mutated knowledge sea and Soul Strength of 16 billion, I’m still unable to pinpoint her exact location?’

“… Who are you?” He asked at last, giving up.

“Your future senior sister,” the voice replied, still not showing herself. “I never thought a Body Tempering stage cultivator would be able to possess such an extraordinarily powerful Divine Sense, though. It’s surprising!”

Meanwhile, Grandmaster Zong sighed in exhaustion, rubbing his eyebrows. “Stop fooling around, Zhi Ruo, and greet our guest properly.”

“Yes, yes, Master…”

With a somewhat reluctant tone, a shadow suddenly dropped down from the ceiling above Xuan, landing in front of him with a soft thud. A beauty by every means, she had dazzling purple eyes that seemed to be filled with knowledge and a well-endowed figure to match. Her silky smooth black hair was split into two parts, crossed over her head and secured with a purple headband, forming two thick locks that reached below her chest in front of her. Worthy of being ranked amongst the top 10 of the Beauty Leaderboards—she could even compare to Xuan’s four wives.

Stretching, she stood up from her crouching position, and beamed at Xuan.

“Whew. Hello~ I’m Zhi Ruo,” she said with a wink. “Sorry about just now, by the way. I couldn’t help but tease you a bit—you're special, you see~” she smiled playfully with her tongue out.

“Apologies…” Grandmaster Zong said, shaking his head. “She’s usually not this problematic around guests, but since you could potentially become her new junior brother, I’m afraid she couldn’t contain her curious urges this time around.”

Xuan, however, ignored their words and instead kept his gaze focused on Zhi Ruo as he spoke.

“… You’ve already progressed your knowledge sea to a knowledge ocean?”

A brief pause.

“Oh, you know quite a lot,” Zhi Ruo complimented, clapping her hands together in surprise. “Well, since you’ve already guessed it, then there’s no reason to hide it anymore. I’m sure you’ve also figured it out by now, but that was also the reason why you weren’t able to sense me with your Divine Sense despite how powerful it was.”

Xuan nodded. “Rank superiority. Those with knowledge sea-level Divine Senses naturally won’t be able to sense knowledge ocean-level presences, and those with knowledge ocean-level Divine Senses won’t be able to sense knowledge world-level presences. But my question to you is… how?”

Of course, he could bypass this system slightly due to his ridiculously high Soul Strength stat, but the point still stood.

Knowledge seas, to begin with, were normally developed during Origin Comprehension, beginning with the Origin Transformation stage. At Origin Monarch level, a cultivator’s knowledge sea turned into a knowledge ocean, expanding their size and forming land, while at Origin Emperor level, a cultivator’s knowledge emperor turned into a knowledge world—beginning the formation of a small, pocket world within the cultivator’s body.

Yet from what Xuan could see using his Divine Asura Eye, Zhi Ruo was no more than Qi Transformation Realm. It was simply impossible for her to have a knowledge ocean developed, unless she had some sort of heaven-defying artifact, technique, or…

Or… Xuan panned his gaze down in the translucent profile menu that popped up in front of Zhi Ruo, and saw the row labelled ‘Physique’.

‘Ah… I see.’

All of a sudden, it made sense.

“Um… junior brother? Where, exactly, are you looking?” After a brief pause, she smiled in realization. “Ahh, you've already began to fall for your senior sister, have you?”

“Huh? Oh…” Xuan, snapping back to reality, quickly realized that from an outsider’s perspective, he was staring intently at her crotch area, covered by her black gown. “I thought for a moment that a dark-colored insect was crawling on your gown, but soon realized that was just the decorative texture of the clothing. Forgive me.”

“Allow me to answer your earlier question, young man,” Grandmaster Zong interjected, causing both of the younger individuals present to turn to him. “Before I go any further, though, I need to receive your final answer. Would you like to become my disciple? Or rather… would you like to become Zhi Ruo’s junior brother?”

‘Using the beauty to tempt me into staying?’ Xuan chuckled in his head. ‘What a classic strategy.’

Briefly, he pondered the advantages and disadvantages of accepting this deal. On one hand, he’d be able to have access to the best alchemy resources in the region and refine enough pills to generate stable income out of, but on the other…

“… Will becoming your disciple require any time commitment?” Xuan asked, expression serious. “I’ll be clear with you—I have no intention of making alchemy my main profession. What I seek is the apex of cultivation, slaying gods and demons alike. Not… er, making pills.”

“Haha, worry not,” Grandmaster Zong said with a chuckle. “There is no real time commitment involved, but there is one condition you must agree to.”

Xuan raised an eyebrow. “And that is…?”

“When the time comes, you must accompany Zhi Ruo to the location of my inheritance and open the seal there together. It requires one man and one woman. As for why… you will find out once you obtain the legacy. It has to do with the reason I began practicing alchemy in the first place.”

‘A man and a woman in particular… odd.’

The old man had a distant look in his eyes, as if reflecting upon the fleeting reminiscence of the past. Xuan figured it was another sad story, so he didn’t pry about it and instead simply gave a nod.

“That is all?”

“That is all.”

“In that case, very well. I accept your offer.”

Grandmaster Zong, hearing this, let out a deep breath of relief, and looked up at the ceiling.

“Now, I can finally rest in peace…” After a few seconds, he remembered what he promised Xuan earlier, and turned back to him. “Ah, yes… I promised I’d answer your question. Zhi Ruo has the Flora mutated knowledge sea. You are aware of what that is, correct?”

Xuan nodded. “The mutated knowledge sea that boosts affinity with Plant-attribute techniques and increases aptitude for alchemy.”

“Precisely. This allowed her to develop her knowledge sea earlier than most people, during the Body Tempering stage—just like you, young friend. But all mutated knowledge seas stem from some sort of impactful difference in the cultivator, and in Zhi Ruo’s case… it has to do with her physique: the Medicine Empress Physique.”

Xuan, of course, already knew this thanks to his Divine Asura Eye, but he played along anyway and even acted a bit surprised, lifting an eyebrow.

“Medicine Empress Physique? The physique said to be descended from the ancient Medicine Empress, one of the Ten True Gods?”

“Many have said I looked similar to drawings and paintings of her,” Zhi Ruo said with a soft giggle. “They said she may be my mother, but hey—what did I, born an orphan, know? Grandmaster Zong was the one who picked me off from the streets, and I’ve been studying alchemy under him ever since.”

“You can leave now, Zhi Ruo,” Grandmaster Zong said, dismissing her from his office. “I have a few things I would like to speak privately with your new junior brother here about.”

“Mkay~ I’ll be going to refine some more pills, then. Call me if you need me~!”

Like a gentle breeze, Zhi Ruo left as quickly as she’d appeared, slipping out the door like a nimble cat and softly shutting it behind her. After her footsteps faded away, Grandmaster Zong opened his drawer, took out a light blue jade token, and slid it across the rosewood table to where Xuan was standing.

“This is your special alchemist token,” he explained. “It marks you as my direct disciple, so you’ll be able to enjoy more benefits than everyone else—status, discounts, it doesn’t matter. More importantly, however, this token will be your key into my inheritance vault. Zhi Ruo has one too, though hers is purple. Keep it safe.”

Xuan nodded and accepted the token, inspecting it for a few seconds before letting it vanish into his player Inventory.

“There are also 100,000 Spirit Crystals in this ring,” Grandmaster Zong continued, placing one of his own metal rings on the table. “Think of them as your reward for giving that Zhou Hai brat what he deserved, hahaha!”

‘Oh, right. I did punch that guy, didn’t I? Grandmaster Zong seems to hate him for some reason… most likely due to him attempting to hit on his precious disciple. Though, of course, Zhou Hai wasn’t exactly a likable character in the first place.’

Seeing no reason to refuse, Xuan took the Space Ring as well, sliding it onto his own finger, just as the old man across from him closed his eyes and leaned back on his chair.

“What is your name, young man?”

“Xuan,” Xuan replied. “But you already knew that, didn’t you? After all, you were watching the test the entire time, from start to finish.”

“Haha, yes, you’re right. However, just out of courtesy, it is best to ask directly once more.”

A brief period of silence. Then, Grandmaster Zong spoke again.

“… I don’t have much time left. I can feel it. You have a good heart, so I won’t ask for very much. All I wish is for you to take care of Zhi Ruo after I’m gone. She’s a very clever girl, but sometimes… that same cleverness can let her end up in danger. After I’m gone, there won’t be anyone to protect her anymore, so I hope you can take my place. I can tell you are a man who only does things when there are benefits involved, so believe me—you will not regret staying by Zhi Ruo’s side. The meaning of those words… you will discover when you unlock my inheritance.”

“No promises I’ll be able to live up to your expectations, but I’ll try,” Xuan replied, as calmly as ever, not denying the impression. It was true; he was a man of equivalent exchange. Why do anything when there was no profit involved for him?

At his words, the Grandmaster smiled warmly, like he could truly let go now. Clearly, his relationship with Zhi Ruo went beyond that of master and disciples. Xuan could faintly sense here the strands of family, though whether or not Zhi Ruo realized that herself was a different story.

“In that case, I can rest easy,” the old man whispered, exhaling deeply. “Just ‘trying’ is enough. You are, after all, a true dragon amongst men. I can leave Zhi Ruo safely in your hands.”

Xuan wondered how a Body Tempering stage cultivator seemed like a ‘true dragon amongst men’ to Grandmaster Zong, but he chose to ignore that and instead simply said goodbye to the old man. Still, though…

‘Good heart? Me, of all people? Seriously?’ Xuan sighed internally, turning away from Grandmaster Zong and heading out of the room. ‘I guess I saved that huntress the one time, but… that wasn’t out of the goodwill of my heart at all…’

He let out a soft chuckle under his breath.

‘If only he knew what I’ve done in my past life…’