"Found it on the mountain out back"

The prettier the woman, the better she was at lying.

One moment, this woman called her "little sister," and the next, "little girl," acting as though they knew each other well while occasionally putting on the air of an unfathomable expert.

And those seemingly casual forms of address really did have an effect, making it easy for someone to lower their guard without realizing it.

If Xiao Yan really had been nothing more than a fourteen-year-old girl, she probably would have been sweet-talked until she could no longer tell north from south.

But Xiao Yan was no sweet, gullible little fool.

She had made up her mind: no matter how honeyed this woman's words were, she would not let her stay by her side.

As for getting stronger, now that her talent had returned, she had her own ways...

"Do you want to become an Alchemist?" The woman's voice sounded beside Xiao Yan's ear, carrying a hint of temptation.

"...???"

"You mean I can become an Alchemist?" Xiao Yan's breathing grew a little quicker.

Alchemists held the most prestigious profession on the continent. As long as their alchemy and Dou Qi cultivation were at roughly comparable levels, a Dou Wang could wield influence over Dou Emperors, and a Dou Emperor over Dou Zongs!

Hearing the woman's words, Xiao Yan could not help growing excited.

"Clever girl." Xiao Yan's excitement and wild delight improved the woman's mood somewhat, and she revealed a foxlike look of smug satisfaction.

She looked Xiao Yan up and down, inwardly quite pleased with her aptitude, though she did not show it.

"Hmm... you only barely qualify, but, well, since I owe you a favor, consider this repayment."

"..."

Xiao Yan really wanted to slap her. That claim about barely qualifying could not have sounded more false.

If aptitude like hers only barely qualified, then hardly anyone in this world would qualify at all.

After all, the three most important things for becoming an Alchemist were nothing more than Soul Power, Dou Qi cultivation, and Fire Control Ability.

There was also one mandatory requirement: Fire-Wood Attribute Dou Qi, with fire as the primary attribute and wood as the secondary.

Her Soul Power absolutely qualified, and now that her cultivation talent had returned, she could build up her Dou Qi as well.

As for Fire Control Ability, it was simply a matter of practicing more if she was bad at it.

So, as long as she possessed Fire-Wood Attribute Dou Qi, she had more than enough to become an Alchemist.

This woman really had grown old without growing any more truthful.

Still, Xiao Yan could not be bothered to press the matter. Amid her delight, however, she retained a few doubts:

"Even if I meet the requirements, Alchemists are usually taught personally by a teacher, step by step. Are you... an Alchemist too?"

"..." The woman seemed to hesitate. "Girl, I thought you were pretty clever. Don't you think that question is... a little unnecessary?"

"...Ahem... Senior, may I ask what tier of Alchemist you used to be?"

Xiao Yan had lived two lives, and had grown up in that sort of environment in her previous one. Her signature skill was knowing when to bend and when to stand tall, so she immediately became respectful toward this unknown woman.

Having the talent to become an Alchemist already meant smoke was rising from one's ancestral graves.

And most "wild" Alchemists could only feel their way forward alone. Since pill formulas and the like were generally closely guarded secrets, few Alchemists ever achieved much.

Take Pill King Gu He, for example. Without attaching himself to the Misty Cloud Sect, he could never have reached the sixth tier.

The odds of possessing an Alchemist's talent and also meeting an Alchemist willing to teach her were scarcely better than the odds of her ancestral graves catching fire.

She would have been a fool not to seize an opportunity like this.

"What tier?" The woman tilted her head, touching her chin with the fingertips of her right hand as though pondering. "What tier was it? I don't remember."

"..."

"Don't get worked up, don't get worked up. Calm down first. Why are children these days so hot-tempered?" The woman shook her head. "Just tell me whether you want to learn!"

"Yes! Why wouldn't I?"

"Hehe, so you're willing? Then pay your respects and become my disciple."

"? I have to become your disciple too?"

"Little sister, you want me to teach you everything without even becoming my disciple? Where would you find such a bargain?" the woman asked with a smile.

"You didn't notify me before you started absorbing my Dou Qi either."

"...There's no having a conversation with you!"

In the end, Xiao Yan did become her disciple.

What could I do? She said I could become an Alchemist!

Besides, Xiao Yan could tell that the woman bore her no ill will. Otherwise, she would already have quietly squeezed her dry... ahem, sucked her dry.

Or the woman could simply have stayed hidden. She had plenty of ways to dispose of Xiao Yan and find another "host."

So-there really was genuine affection in this world after all.

In that case, learning a little alchemy from this woman without having her Dou Qi drained was not a bad arrangement.

She could not let herself be milked for nothing, after all.

Watching Xiao Yan perform the formal bows with painstaking propriety, the woman's mouth twitched speechlessly.

This girl was even more interesting than she had imagined. Not long ago, she had been suspicious of every shadow, yet the moment the woman mentioned accepting her as a disciple, she knelt without the slightest hesitation.

"Hehe, whatever the case, now that the ceremony is complete, you are my disciple. Your big sister will certainly teach you everything she knows."

"From now on, call me Apothecary-or big sister, if you like. I don't mind."

Tch. An old fox spirit who's lived who knows how many years, and she still wants me to call her big sister. Trying to make yourself sound young, are you...? Xiao Yan grumbled inwardly.

"As for my origins, it isn't convenient to tell you yet. I wouldn't want to distract you. All you need to know is that I wouldn't even take that so-called Pill King Gu He as a pill boy to assist me," the woman continued.

Xiao Yan: "..."

Still, she did not doubt her all that much.

After all, this woman clearly was not some "artifact spirit." She seemed more like the remnant soul of a powerful expert.

Although Xiao Yan did not know how strong she had been in life, as far as she knew, even a Dou Wang-or perhaps even a Dou Emperor-could not leave behind a remnant soul like this, could they?

Perhaps they could, and she simply did not know.

She did not know the specifics, but in Xiao Yan's view, if the woman was not exaggerating, she must have been at least a Dou Emperor in the past, as well as an Alchemist above the sixth tier.

So Xiao Yan immediately decided, I have drifted through half my life... No, she decided to latch onto this powerful patron.

"Teacher, do you have any Mystic Rank cultivation methods or Dou Techniques you don't need, any lowly third- or fourth-tier pills, or any divine weapons you can't use that are just taking up space?"

For an expert like her, the "trash" she disdained would be an enormous... priceless treasure to the Xiao Clan as it was now, wouldn't it?

Besides, this "Apothecary" had absorbed her Dou Qi for three years and promised to compensate her, so Xiao Yan asked with perfect confidence.

As for becoming her disciple... wasn't teaching one's disciple only natural?

Their master-disciple relationship was one thing, and compensation was another. Each should be considered separately.

Besides, putting "waste" to good use would not cost her teacher anything, would it?

"..." Apothecary did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Still, she really did have some things that were merely "taking up space"-quite a few, in fact.

Even Mystic Rank Dou Techniques, which were exceedingly rare to the Xiao Clan, were beneath her notice. She only accepted them when other people begged her to.

She was hardly reluctant to part with those things, and giving this girl a few would be no problem, but...

"How would you explain where these things came from?"

"Found them on the mountain out back."

"..."