That day, Chen Shi'an had just finished cultivating and was resting in the courtyard pavilion, quietly watching the fish swimming in the pond.
Just then, a voice rang out beyond the courtyard. "Sect Master, Tong Xiao requests an audience!"
Chen Shi'an answered softly, "Come in."
Soon, the courtyard gate opened. A tall, straight-backed young man with jet-black, sword-like brows and blood-red robes strode inside. He came before the pavilion and bowed respectfully to Chen Shi'an. "Greetings, Sect Master."
Chen Shi'an lifted his eyelids slightly and looked Tong Xiao up and down. "Not bad. In less than half a month, your cultivation has actually reached the late first tier."
Tong Xiao lowered his head and cupped his hands. "Everything I have achieved is thanks to your guidance, Sect Master."
Tong Xiao had come from the lowest ranks of Desolate Suppression City's common people. Clever and quick-witted, he had been taken into the Earth Pill Sect at thirteen as a menial disciple, assigned specifically to clean its communal Alchemy Room.
He had spent five years doing that menial work.
He had lost count of how many times he had touched the dozens of Alchemy Pill Furnaces in the Earth Pill Sect's communal Alchemy Room, or how much pill waste and residue he had cleaned away.
Over those five years, he had yearned beyond measure for an Alchemist to think enough of him to teach him a little Alchemy.
Sometimes, he had yearned for it even in his dreams.
Yet among all the Alchemists who had come and gone over those five years, not a single one had spared him a second glance.
The first time Chen Shi'an saw Tong Xiao, he felt that the young man had an extraordinary bearing that set him apart.
Moreover, he had distinctly sensed a faint, indescribable