I walked through the sect grounds, heading towards the little chamber the Old Man had to himself. The scent of alchemical elixirs mixed in potions drifted from the chamber, a smell that I’d become quite familiar with by now.

“Ah, Lu Jie, come in. Come in,” the Old Man said, as his long sleeves swept to the side, brushing aside the Qi filled plume of smoke rising from his cauldron.

“Master,” I bowed, greeting the Old Man, as I entered the chamber.

“From the looks of you, it seems your quest for the library went well,” the Old Man stated, and I nodded.

“I’d gotten some guidance from the spirit of an elder, and a companion to go with me. There were some troubles, but things turned out well,” I replied and the old man nodded, smiling.

“Ah, how you’ve changed Lu Jie. It is good to see you at peace with your new path, child. This Old Man had sensed the turmoil that had always plagued your heart, the anger that you’d kept hiding within your chest. In its place, I see peace now, and curiosity. Almost as if you became a different person entirely,” the Old Man said, rubbing his beard and I stared at him with mixed emotions.

I felt something I hadn’t in a while. The emotions kept within Lu Jie’s memories, the fragments of emotion, and the regret. I pushed those emotions back, pushing them back to where they’d come from, as I bowed.

“This Apprentice is ever grateful for Master’s generosity. I wouldn’t have been able to walk this path of knowledge, had I not been given your guidance, master,” I said in a single breath, before raising my head to look at the Old man. “Now I’ve come once again, asking for guidance.”

I could see the wrinkles of Old man’s head turning inwards with a light frown, as he looked at me. “What do you wish for, disciple?”

“I want to try and make the three pills to gain the Junior Alchemist rank. I think I’m ready.”

The old man looked at me for a moment, before gesturing for me to move further in. I walked into the room, taking a seat as the Old Man moved to his cauldron, emptying the contents from within. Qi swirled around his arms, and plumes of smoke rose high as the fire beneath the cauldron blazed. There was no thermometer, no equipment, or anything, but I could feel the heat on my skin coming from the flames, and feel the precision with which the old man directed his Qi. This world may lack technological advances, but it certainly didn’t lack in the mastery of skills such as these. The superhuman senses and decades, if not centuries of training probably helped.

I clenched my hands, looking down at them as I envisioned being able to do what the Old Man did. I didn’t have the precision and neither did I have the control yet. But every time I saw the old man refine a pill, a part of me felt hope build up, to see how much he could achieve even if his Qi pool was not the largest.

The Qi flared around the cauldron before the flames faded and I could tell, the pill was formed.

“It has been about three months since you came to me, Lu Jie. And though our lessons hadn’t been many, your growth makes this old man proud. But before we proceed any further, this old man wishes to ask you, apprentice. What purpose does alchemy have to you?”

I looked at the old man silently for a moment, before I took a long breath in. To me, alchemy was…

“It was an escape, master. From everything that had happened. When I first came to after the spar, I’d felt confusion, pain, anger. My heart had been in turmoil, and I’d felt afraid of everything. The soothing nature, and the ease with which the pills had their essence flow through me, had soothed my heart. It had given me respite, and I’d clung onto it.” I replied, sitting straighter.

The old man hummed, taking out the pills from his cauldron. “What is it to you now, Lu Jie?”

I closed my eyes, and envisioned a simple lab with mostly basic equipment. A little garden of herbs, and Labby and Sheldon happily playing around, with Labby helping me around the Lab at times.

“My future, master. I see my path in Alchemy. I see knowledge to be gained within it. I feel the desire to walk along this path, to bring change to many around me. To teach and to grow. I see the ability to help many people, and I desire to gain the skills that would allow me to do so.”

“Very well, Lu Jie. We will begin with the very first of the three pills,” the old man said, and I smiled, as excitement built up in my chest.

“The Poison Flame pill is a pill that embodies the essence of fire. It takes seven poison, within the pill, and grants immunity to all of them. The flames within the pill serve to burn away the impurities present within your dantian and most importantly, your pathways. Allowing Qi to flow more freely.” the old man said, walking around the room as he picked some herbs from containers.

“But just like fire, it is a pill to be treated with respect. It has the potential to cause harm just as much as the potential to cure.”

I nodded awkwardly. Definitely had first hand experience with the dangers of fire, though perhaps I’d inhaled something that had stopped making my logical part of the brain since I never stopped enjoying those explosions either.

I mean, why do Alchemy when you couldn’t at least explode some things in your face.

“After fire, there would be the water essence pill, followed by the earth essence. If you’re able to form all of these, then you could call yourself a Junior Alchemist my apprentice.”

I was about to nod, when I realised something. Fire, Water, Earth. Hold up just a minute, what am I the chosen arrowhead monk who has to master all four elements and save the world from the fire murderhobos?

I chuckled lightly, before I quickly killed off the laughter. Yet the thought continued to greatly amuse me. Hah! Maybe I should’ve picked up some wind arts while I was at it.

“Pay attention to the fire Lu Jie,” the old man said, and I coughed, bringing my attention back. I saw the herbs being put into the cauldron, as Old Man’s Qi pulsated, as the fire lit beneath the cauldron once more.

“The flame is the essence of this pill. And as alchemists, it is the flame that we have to master, first and foremost. Now watch.”

I opened all my senses, paying attention to the flow of the Qi, and the fire as I watched. Qi pulsed in waves, spreading across the cauldron in wavelike pattern and the fire danced to its rhythm. The contents within the cauldron swirled, as the Qi guided them, drawing their essence out.

I sensed the whirlpool of Qi the old man had formed, guiding the essence in circular pathways that eventually led into the core of the cauldron, where it all collected together to form the pill, one step at a time.

“The pill has fire within it. To tame the fire, you have to let it spread, and mellow out, before you clamp down on it from all sides.”

Following his words, I sensed the flaring pill release the fire essence, as sparks spread from the rising fire. I watched as the flame within the cauldron spread out and for a moment I was worried the flames would hurt the old man.

My concerns were for naught, as the flames dodged the old man with a light nudge of his Qi, before soon the spreading fire essence began to follow the whirlpool of Qi, turning inwards and inwards. The heat rose and I felt sweat start to cover my arms and face, as I watched the flame now swirling beneath the caldron as well. The fire wanted an escape, yet the easiest path it could take was to be pulled into the pill, which it soon did, coalescing into a fiery pill that let out large plumes of smoke.

The old man picked out the still smoking pill, this one, a brighter shade of deep red, without the swirling brown impurities that could be seen in my drugnades.

“Now it is your turn.”

I nodded, getting up from my seat as I walked up to the cauldron. Walking around, I picked out the ingredients, grabbing the flaming grass at the very last.

I placed the herbs one at a time, feeling the essence within them. I noticed the way the Qi flowed within the herbs, the way it responded to my own Qi. The spirit herb garden, and my cultivation method, had both added a new layer of insight, on the flow of Qi within the herbs root systems. There was a large network of interconnecting threads that kept these herbs filled with Qi. I almost felt as if I could reach out to the herbs in front of me, and guide the Qi within it, urging it to grow.

I dropped the last of the herbs within the cauldron, before I took a breath and closed the lid.

“Remember Lu Jie, do not fight the fire, let it flow out, before you guide it towards where you want it to be.” Old man said.

I nodded, as I circulated the Qi within my dantian, letting it spread through my pathways. I extended my senses, letting my Qi spread through the cauldron and as I adjusted the Qi pressure within the cauldron.

Mentally checking the notes and the many experiments I’d done myself, I lit the fire beneath the cauldron, feeding it Qi to fuel the flames. The heat began to rise, as the herbs began to break down. Essence began to drip out, one at a time, as the herbs continued to break apart, and I maintained my focus, keeping an eye on the flame as I continued to rise the heat.

A minute or so later, I sensed the right temperature, as I felt the fire essence begin to break out of the flaming grass.

I concentrated, as I let the fire essence slowly begin to build up. The heat stung my skin and I began to sweat, from the rising intensity of the fire. I kept at it, keeping the flame beneath the cauldron controlled as the fire essence began to spread.

Then, in a sudden blast, it lashed out, a blast of fire spreading like an explosion. I took a step back, my control slipping as the Qi pressure deviated and for a moment I felt I’d lost it. I renewed my focus on the Qi filling the cauldron instantly as I tried to allow the fire to spread.

The essence licked the herbs, binding them within itself, as it sought an escape. I refocused on what the old man had said. I needed to let it flow. Let the fire flow…

I paused as I realised what I’d been missing all this time. The temperature, the density, the saturation of Qi and the Qi pressure were all factors I’d accounted for in my experiments. But I hadn’t taken the flow of the Qi into consideration, due to the difficulty in quantifying something like that.

Qi flow. I needed to let the Qi flow. Taking a deep breath of hot rising air that stung my nose, I focused on flowing the Qi gently within the cauldron. A singular flow of Qi that all condensed at the bottom. The shape of the cauldron guided the Qi, and I soon found a stable rhythm.

The fire erupted, trying to escape, and I let it. I stood my ground, even as fire came close to me, escaping from the edges of the closed cauldron. Soon, the raging torrent began to swirl with my Qi, slowly but surely, flowing at the centre.

I let myself get lost in the motion. I couldn’t think anything, all my attention fixated onto the pill.

A drop of sweat entered my eye and I blinked, my mind breaking out of its daze. I wiped my forehead, now covered in sweat from the heat as I turned back around.

I saw the Old Man smiling as I felt a thrill of excitement fill my chest. I carefully opened the lid of the cauldron, to peer inside and I saw a deep red pill, with a burning intensity to its Qi.

“You’ve taken the first step, my apprentice. This old man is proud.” The old man said, and I smiled, grinning ear to ear.

Now I just had to master the other two elements, and save the world!