Invitation

Bubble, bubble~

The water in the kettle boiled, and Wu Bai moved his hand away.

Just then, a knock came from outside the courtyard.

Wu Bai went to open the gate with a spring in his step. Sure enough, it was Han Yue.

She held a transparent jar with a crimson Fire Seed suspended inside. The faint silhouette of a striped tiger was just visible within it.

"Miss Yue, please come in."

At the sight of the Fire Seed, Wu Bai immediately swung the courtyard gate open.

Han Yue noticed his undisguised gaze. She nodded slightly and followed him inside.

"Please wait a moment, Miss Yue. I'll make some tea."

"All right. Sorry for the trouble."

Han Yue set the Fire Seed on the table and glanced around the courtyard. It was clean and tidy, the ground almost unnaturally level.

The ground in everyone else's quarters was pitted and uneven. After all, practicing Dou Techniques inevitably left craters in a courtyard.

Trees had suffered especially badly. Quite a few at the Han Family School had been battered over the past six months, all by members of the Han Family. They had shown no mercy to their own property.

This genius Alchemist was different. From the look of his courtyard, it was as if he had never practiced a Dou Technique at all.

Han Yue considered this, then decided it made sense.

In just six months, he had started from scratch and reached the level of a Third-Rank Alchemist. He must have devoted nearly all his energy to alchemy, leaving none for Dou Techniques.

Given the choice between becoming a Third-Rank Alchemist in six months and mastering a Yellow Tier Dou Technique?

Well, a Yellow Tier Dou Technique could be mastered in six months. A Black Tier Dou Technique would take at least two or three years to yield results.

If it were me, I'd probably make the same choice.

Han Yue lowered her eyes. As the eldest daughter of the Han Family's main line, she was young but hardly ignorant.

A Yellow Tier Dou Technique made little difference even in a fight between Dou Zhe.

A Third-Rank Alchemist, on the other hand, could persuade a Da Dou Shi to set aside his pride and do his bidding.

Splash...

Hot tea poured into a cup with its distinctive sound.

"This is the Fire Seed from a Sixth-Rank Crimson Sun Blazing Flame Tiger. What do you think of it, sir?"

Han Yue took a small sip of tea. Noticing Wu Bai's eyes lingering on the Fire Seed, she set down her cup and asked the question.

Wu Bai chuckled twice. He saw no reason to hide his thoughts. A Sixth-Rank Fire Seed was more than enough for him right now.

"I'm very pleased. Thank you, Han Family Head, and thank you, Miss Yue."

"With your exceptional talent, sir, my father was naturally happy to give it to you. As for the Pill Formulas, you need only make a complete copy of each one you wish to study. You may then examine the Han Family's collection at your leisure. As for Medicinal Herbs, my father said you may take whatever you need for pills below the fifth grade."

"Thank you. I don't even know what to say..."

Wu Bai smiled awkwardly. It had been so long since he had thanked anyone that he had no idea what else to say.

Han Yue nodded in understanding. This genius Alchemist did not seem very good with people.

But that was fine. As long as he was not an ungrateful wretch, he could swear in every sentence for all she cared.

"By the way, sir, do you have any plans for what comes next?"

"Plans? If you have something in mind, Miss Yue, please say it."

"It's like this. In a few months, my father is sending me to Jia Nan Academy on the Northwest Continent to train. I'll be alone in an unfamiliar place, without much support. So I'd like to ask you to come with me."

As she spoke, Han Yue blinked. Her cool expression softened, and the young woman's hope was plain to see.

Wu Bai froze. He had not expected an invitation like that. Would the Han Family really let him leave?

With my talent for alchemy, aren't they worried I'll run off?

Wait. If Han Yue is going with me, is the Han Family trying to win me over through her?

Wu Bai could not be bothered to dwell on such schemes, but that did not mean he was oblivious to them.

The thoughts passed in an instant. Wu Bai said with a self-deprecating smile:

"If you don't mind having me along as dead weight, Miss Yue, I'd like to get out and see the world too."

"How could you be dead weight? You're too modest, sir."

Han Yue shook her head at once. A Third-Rank Alchemist would be an asset anywhere!

"Then it's settled."

"Yes. I'll follow your lead, Miss Yue."

Han Yue blushed faintly. Even this somewhat precocious young woman was caught off guard by such frank words.

"You should refine the Fire Seed first, sir. I'll come back another time."

With that, Han Yue left the courtyard.

Wu Bai sat for a while, rubbed his forehead, then got up and shut the gate. Taking the Fire Seed, he went to the alchemy room.

Life was hard to predict. He had never expected things to turn out this way.

Then again, with a brilliant young Alchemist like him right in front of them, who could resist?

"Teacher, do you think Han Yue and her father will regret this? Once I get to Jia Nan Academy, won't she have a whole crowd of rivals?"

"Isn't it obvious? You're so outstanding, Little Bai. Unless those young women are blind, they're bound to go crazy for you!"

"Uh... I hope it won't go that far."

The words "go crazy" made Wu Bai shudder. They reminded him of the obsessive fangirls from his previous life. That lot had been terrifying.

Some of them had even put on wedding dresses for men who had never met them...

The Yellow Springs Demon Saint did not know what Wu Bai was thinking, but he could see that the boy had returned to his usual state of mind. There was not a trace of arrogance in him. He was nothing like an ordinary young man.

Anyone else who had achieved so much at his age would be bursting with pride!

Yet Wu Bai seemed to see nothing worth boasting about.

This child grew up in such a harsh environment. It didn't lead him astray, but it forced him to mature too early and made him far too guarded.

The Yellow Springs Demon Saint sighed inwardly. The boy had had a hard life. His family had nearly ruined such a promising talent.

The world had no shortage of geniuses, but very few ever fulfilled their potential.

External circumstances were not the only reason. Their upbringing mattered too.

As a legendary expert of the past, the Yellow Springs Demon Saint understood the saying: "Fine horses are common, but discerning judges are rare."

Teach a genius as though he were mediocre, and his talent would go unnoticed. In time, he would grow mediocre too.

Then those mediocre teachers would fail to recognize their own mistakes. Instead, they would blame their descendants for disappointing them and complain that their family had produced no geniuses.

Refining the Fire Seed of a Sixth-Rank Beast Flame was not especially difficult, particularly for Wu Bai, whose Soul Power was unusually strong.

Besides, he had prepared thoroughly, making Pulse-Protecting Pills and Ice Heart Pills in advance.

The Flame Tiger's Fire Seed was not one of the Heavenly Flames, either. Wu Bai was eighty to ninety percent confident he could refine it.

Wu Bai swallowed a Pulse-Protecting Pill, opened the container, seized the Flame Tiger's Fire Seed, and gulped it down whole.

He circulated his Cultivation Technique, drawing the crimson Fire Seed into the nebula-like Dou Qi Vortex.

A few breaths later, the Sixth-Rank beast's lingering consciousness began to invade Wu Bai's mind.

The next instant, an Ice Heart Pill slid down his throat. Combined with Wu Bai's formidable Soul Power, it suppressed the beast consciousness, which had nothing left to sustain it, in the blink of an eye.