Chen Wei spoke with impassioned fervor, and by the end, his gaze had grown somewhat distant, as though he were immersed in the future he envisioned for Xiao Yan.
Xiao Yan fell silent as he looked at Chen Wei before him. After pondering for a long time, he finally gave Chen Wei a solemn bow, though it was not the etiquette of taking a master. This bow was simply an expression of his respect for Chen Wei.
"Thank you for your high regard, Senior. Please forgive Xiao Yan for being unable to accept," Xiao Yan replied with a trace of guilt.
Chen Wei looked at Xiao Yan, who had refused him. His gaze grew complicated as it settled on him, and he finally asked slowly, "Can you tell me why?"
Chen Wei felt that his promise had already been generous enough, and he had not been deceiving Xiao Yan in the slightest. He had never expected that Xiao Yan would still choose to refuse after learning all this.
Xiao Yan did not answer directly. Instead, he took out his Alchemist Badge. When Chen Wei saw the badge representing a seventh-tier intermediate alchemist, he could only laugh bitterly. He understood everything. Even in the Pill Tower, a seventh-tier alchemist was someone others looked up to. Xiao Yan had already chosen a broad and promising path, and he was walking it quite steadily. There was no need for him to take the risk of choosing to study formations. Likewise, for Xiao Yan to become an alchemist of such rank at his age, the teacher behind him was surely no ordinary person.
Still unwilling to give up, Chen Wei pressed on, "Then why not study both? Learning formations won't affect your becoming a high-tier alchemist."
"Senior, I don't have that much time. My