As Qinghe looked at Baiyun and pondered his intentions, Baiyun finally spoke.

  "I want you to introduce me to your alchemy master. Tell him or her about my capability to modify pill recipes and forge pills despite being a servant."

  Qinghe was silent for a moment as a complicated expression clouded her face.

  "This..." she mumbled.

  Baiyun did his best to mimic the fmes of ambition in his eyes. Though, he was still prideful at heart and not fully sincere. An elder from this world? He was confident they would be a mere junior to him, even with their unique alchemy techniques.

  That said, his path forward would be smooth if he managed to enter an alchemy cn. Hm. Perhaps a little too smooth.

  A sudden unease overtook him for a moment. A path that easy? But from the experiences of his past life, it felt like the heavens would py tricks on him in the most crucial moments.

  Somehow, he felt like something would go wrong. Something would take the perfect path from him.

  He faltered for a moment and quickly rethought, thinking of how it could go wrong. A servant able to gain comprehension of alchemy was certainly strange, but the cultivation world had no shortage of strange constitutions and geniuses.

  Baiyun furrowed his eyebrows. No, no, no. Clearly, he was just being paranoid, wasn't he?

  To the side, Qinghe was confused by his sudden change of expression.

  It really did seem the worst he would face was rejection. Even if they decided to search him, Baiyun had soul arts that could conceal the state of his body. The only thing he seemed to have of value on him was this supposed "talent" or "constitution", something that could only be made useful by accepting him into their ranks.

  Baiyun didn't think they'd experiment on him. Rare constitutions were notoriously difficult to research to the point where they were deemed "Heavenly Secrets", beyond the means of cultivators to study. He was sure that was just nonsense researchers made up to save face however.

  That said, it would be a bit awkward if they decided to research his background and question the light spirit. Baiyun had requested old cultivation books from her occasionally in his younger years, but she had never given him any books reted to alchemy. At that time, acting as a clueless child, he cimed hugging books to sleep might let him absorb their knowledge.

  He did show a strange proficiency in tending to herbs however, growing the rgest of herbs and harvesting them with the hands of an expert. Even the caretakers thought Baiyun might have had some rare constitution, so it was something the light spirit would definitely notice.

  At that moment, Qinghe finally came up with an answer, putting an end to his long monologue.

  "Well, I could. But don't get your hopes up. There are no records of servants ever becoming alchemists." she said.

  To that Baiyun could only ugh softly. She wasn't wrong about its absurdity. It was only made possible by his status as a reincarnator.

  "That's fine. So do we have a deal? If you'd like, you can charge a fee." he said.

  "Oh, not that again." Qinghe groaned. "Have a little more faith in me."

  Baiyun didn't know what to say.

  "Hah. Fine, I'll do it." she grumbled. "And I'm not charging you for it, just to be clear."

  "Yes, yes." Baiyun smiled.

  Qinghe looked like she was tempted to smack him for some reason.

  "Oh, right." he continued. "Qinghe, I have a 2nd request as well."

  Baiyun paused, finally noticing the look on her face. Ah. Was that bad timing?

  "...go on." Qinghe said.

  Baiyun coughed.

  "I want you to help me refine two medicines. I might have the theory down, but I still haven't figured out a way to make higher tier pills."

  Qinghe looked at him with a strange look.

  "At that point, wouldn't it make sense to buy them directly?" she asked.

  "How will I test my recipe then?" Baiyun said, slightly exasperated.

  He still needed show off his capabilities after all. Qinghe still had yet to see any of his recipes and he would be too ashamed of showing her his crude mortal methods. For the odds of her alchemy master accepting him to be high, he needed to evidence of truly monstrous talent.

  Well, that and he wasn't willing to pay the increased price of a complete pill even if Qinghe had them in stock.

  Qinghe sighed again.

  "Whatever. I have some free time anyway."

  "You promise?" Baiyun suddenly smiled.

  "Huh? Sure?"

  At the suddenly devious look on Baiyun's face, she seemed slightly uneasy.

  "Great! Here is the first recipe." he said.

  Baiyun handed her a piece of paper. It was torn from one of the guidebooks he recently purchased, with one page scrawled with illustrations of a herb. On its other face, he had scrawled a recipe for a pill with a chunk of charcoal, somehow managing to keep his handwriting semi-presentable.

  "You're not telling me what pill you're making?" Qinghe asked as she read.

  "Keep reading." Baiyun continued to smile.

  "I don't like that look on your face..."

  Qinghe's eyes darted across the paper as she read, her eyebrows furrowing deeper and deeper.

  Then her eyes widened as she stood up and yelled.

  "Wait! Isn't this the recipe for the Earth Foundation Pill? Are you crazy?" she smacked the table twice.

  Baiyun finally couldn't hold it back longer and burst into ughter.

  "Correct. I'm gd you memorised the recipe."

  The worn books showed her diligence, but their age implied it had been a while since she read them. It would have been awkward if she had forgotten.

  Various emotions ran through Qinghe's face before morphing into exasperation.

  "Baiyun. You know I am just a Qi Gatherer, right? You want me to concoct a Grade 2 medicine, intended for Foundational alchemists?" she huffed.

  "Naturally. I've taken that into account." Baiyun said.

  With the way they frowned at each other, it was as if they were having a staring contest. A few moments passed before Baiyun broke the silence. A sudden doubt made his confidence wane for a moment and he grew tense.

  "Qinghe... you looked through the recipe, didn't you?" he said with slight hesitation. "I've only written Qi Gathering techniques from your textbooks in it."

  "I did." Qinghe pursed her lips. "But..."

  "If I can concoct Grade 1 pills as a mortal..." Baiyun's voice trailed off.

  Qinghe nodded, understanding his implication. She turned her eyes towards the note once more, her eyes deep with concentration.

  Baiyun clenched his fists. He had ughed from the absurdity of the situation he had created earlier, but he was feeling strangely nervous now.

  In a sense, he had gambled on Qinghe's talent, that she could glimpse a hint of the potential within the recipe. From his experience teaching disciples in his past life, he could tell she was a bright seedling, perhaps even enough to be called a genius.

  He had not seen her at work, but the alchemic products around her room was evidence. Qinghe had not been sincere with her cim.

  With divine thread, he could tell from the contents of her fsks and beakers that she had managed to extract low tier Grade 2 essences successfully. Despite calling him crazy for wanting her to concoct a Foundational tier medicine, it seems she had pns of her own.

  Of course, for her to actually create a Grade 2 pill was a different story from extracting essences, especially when the Earth Foundation Pill involved middle tier essences. But Baiyun felt like he could do it. He could guide such a genius into transcending tiers!

  He could only hope she would give the answer he sought.

  Qinghe finally put down the paper. Then she ughed and ughed, so loudly that Baiyun began to feel unsettled.

  "You-" Baiyun started.

  "Okay. Okay! I'll do it! I'll do it!" Qinghe shouted.

  Her actions were such a departure from her usual demeanour that Baiyun was stunned. Qinghe coughed and covered her mouth. When her hand retracted a second ter, she was back to her usual self.

  Somehow, it felt like that brief bravado was more to convince herself than Baiyun.

  "You won't be able to avoid a fee this time. I can waive a few small ones, but this is different." Qinghe spoke calmly. "This concerns the pride of an alchemist. Our services aren't cheap, and I will not work for free."

  "...right." Baiyun said.

  He didn't feel like arguing with her about what values an alchemist should have.

  Qinghe then tore up the recipe in her hands and Baiyun spluttered, his eyes widening like saucepans.

  "I won't be working with something so grungy and soot covered," she said. "Don't write with charcoal, I'll sell you a pen and some actual paper. 10 tokens for a stack of paper, and 40 for the pen. This is non-negotiable."

  This kid! Did she do that to get back at him?

  "You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Baiyun frowned.

  Qinghe ughed. Perhaps she would have ughed harder if she knew there was an actual old man.

  Baiyun grumbled as he reached into his bag for the tokens, but she continued.

  "Next, the cost of my services. Normally, I'd charge more, but I'll make an exception this time. 500 tokens for a single session, 1000 in total since you want me to make two medicines. You will have to acquire the ingredients yourself, though I'll be happy to sell any you ck."

  Wait. 1050 tokens in total... that was the exact amount he had on hand. If he agreed, he would become completely penniless!

  He was stunned by how exact her price was. Was this an absurd coincidence, or was this her way of telling him she knew exactly what he was up to?

  If she somehow managed to surveil his every action in town without him noticing, it was possible for her to find out exactly how many tokens he had on hand.

  No no. That didn't make sense. If she had been tracking him, she would have seen him concoct the very pills he had shown her, and there would be no need for her to question him. Or was it a ruse to let his guard down?

  Baiyun clenched his teeth as a sudden paranoia overwhelmed him for the 2nd time today. It couldn't be, could it?

  At that moment, Qinghe turned around and hummed to herself as she reached for a drawer beneath the table, pulling out a stack of paper and a pen.

  A chance! Baiyun quickly rushed to her and smacked her back, activating Intention Reading at the same time.

  "Ack!" Qinghe yelped. "What was that for!"

  "Nothing." Baiyun turned away and whistled innocently.

  It wasn't as if he had an excuse to shake her hand like he did with Ying Shi, so he decided the best approach was to treat it like a childish prank.

  Vague information about Qinghe's intentions entered his mind, and he could finally heave a sigh of relief.

  Phew. It seemed she had no idea what funds he had and it was just a coincidence. If Qinghe turned out to be some absurd mastermind who managed to dupe a former elder like him despite being a kid, Baiyun didn't know how he would live with himself.

  Qinghe stared at him coldly and spped the paper repeatedly, as if demanding he handed the money over immediately. Baiyun forced a pained smile as he handed every token he owned to her.

  He felt like he was being robbed by a bandit.

  "You have a lot of paper now, so make sure you rewrite the steps in extensive detail." Qinghe said. "I can tell you had to summarise a lot to cram all those instructions on a single page."

  Baiyun nodded as he stashed the pen and paper away. He would have done that even if she hadn't told him.

  "I'll be back when I'm done writing." he said.

  "Hmph. It better not be night by then. You're lucky I wasn't sleeping back then, or I'd have strangled you."

  Baiyun sweated. She was right, he probably shouldn't have bothered her during such te hours back then. It slipped his mind entirely.

  He returned to his room and pced the paper and pen on the table, ready to get to work.

  But he paused as he held the pen. It was made of silver and covered in an ornate pattern that aided its grip, a small oval window showing its ink reserves. A mortal tool, but a well-made luxury product a cultivator would not be ashamed to own.

  The paper was made with fine white pulp, smooth to the touch and just as luxurious.

  Hah... if he had been less stingy back in the town marketpce, he could have saved many tokens by buying cheap paper and an ink brush instead. But it was too te for regrets. At least he could write at any time without having to grind an inkstone. Or perhaps it was self-consotion.

  Baiyun tested drawing a few lines with the pen, then began writing at lightning speed. 5 sheets of papers were filled with dense instructions on both sides in an instant. He nodded in satisfaction as he quickly flipped through the pages, reviewing his own writing. It had been a little too quick however, so he decided to wait it out before showing Qinghe.

  She certainly was lucky, he mused to himself. Back in his old world, there were countless disciples that would kowtow and offer their life savings, begging for him to take them in as outer disciples. Aoyang rejected them of course. He only accepted disciples from rge cns due to their "generous donations". Yet Qinghe received such an honour for free, and he even had to pay her on top of that!

  Hah... it was truly ironic. Baiyun shook his head. Having indulged in his ego enough, he took out Qinghe's textbooks and continued to read.

  A few hours passed before he jolted to his senses, rushing over to her room. He didn't pn on losing track of time yet again.

  Qinghe's door was already open when he arrived, so he marched in and handed her the instructions.

  "Here." he said.

  She merely nodded and snatched it out of his hands. Her face was neutral at first, but her lips pursed as she read further, her grip on the paper gradually tightening enough to crease it. Baiyun feared for a moment she might rip them up again.

  Qinghe took a deep breath as she put the papers down. She ran her finger over the words and confirmed the ink was still fresh.

  "Baiyun. You really wrote this?" she asked. "I know I asked you the same about the pills, but I have to ask again."

  "Yes. If you don't believe me, I can walk you through the steps and expin my decisions."

  "No need." Qinghe took a deep breath. "But I have to say, I thought I had prepared myself for anything after seeing your note from earlier, but you- I have no idea how you come up with stuff like this."

  Baiyun ughed loudly. Perhaps part of it was out of relief.

  "Okay. Let's head out immediately. I'll take you to a better location." Qinghe said.

  She packed up the alchemist tools, samples and other random belongings scattered messily around her room, before stepping out of her room.

  "Wait!" Baiyun stopped her before she could walk further.

  He ran to his room and grabbed the Bckhorn root he had left there, as well as some items he stole from the mole previously, before rushing back out. Qinghe tapped her foot impatiently until Baiyun returned, walking with such speed that he had to break into a little jog to keep up.

  The innkeeper raised his head in surprise at the sight of them leaving the inn together, but it went unnoticed as the door shut behind them.

  "Where are we going?" Baiyun asked.

  "You'll see."

  Baiyun wondered which spot she would choose for alchemy, only to be surprised by her walking straight into the surrounding grassnds. It was quite a distance from town before she stopped, as if she was worried someone might be watching.

  Qinghe reached into her bag and tossed a grey stone disc onto the ground. The intricate carvings on it began to glow as mechanical stone rings shifted, a field of qi erupting from it and creating a simple formation around them.

  "Beast warding disc." her expnation was short.

  She walked a few metres away from Baiyun before pulling out a metal stake and stabbing it into the ground. With a few pulses of qi from her, it began to shake and she quickly backed off.

  Space distorted as a rge structure burst out of the stake like a balloon, shredding grass and mud in its path. A pin stone building smmed into the ground; but "building" was a generous way to describe it, from how it resembled a rge boulder with a door.

  "Workshop." she said.

  Qinghe somehow managed to give an even shorter expnation this time.

  Baiyun nodded and frowned slightly. He wondered a while ago if she wasn't receiving allowance from her cn. But it was becoming clear that wasn't the case from the sheer amount of expensive artefacts she seemed to have. Why was she so stingy over pocket change then?

  Qinghe entered the portable workshop and he followed her in, though hesitating slightly. If an assassin triggered the mechanism that made the building colpse into storage space, it would become a lethal weapon that could instantly kill them both. He couldn't help but find the design irresponsible.

  The inside of the alchemy workshop was just as pin as the boulder appeared to be from outside. There was a simple artefact brazier in its centre simir to the one she lent him, and the pin stone walls had rows of empty shelves and hooks affixed to them.

  Qinghe began to retrieve various tools and a massive cauldron from her bag, stocking the workshop quickly. The cauldron immediately caught his attention from how gigantic it was, towering over the two of them with its great height.

  Was there a need for such an exaggerated cauldron? Baiyun reached out with divine thread to scan it, only for it to be blocked to his surprise. No matter. He could examine it with divine touch ter.

  He decided to follow her example and stocked the workshop with ingredients for the Earth Foundation Pill.

  First was a grey pouch of 99 tiny impure qi stones. They were purchased from the town's artefact shop, sold as fuel for the ultra-bright qi ntern he previously purchased. Though, he had no need for that much fuel and bought them for use in alchemy.

  More items cluttered the shelves as he pulled other items obtained from town. Simple focus pills from the town pharmacy. White ash soil sold as mould killer. Dried Hair-root sold as stomach medicine. Crystal bracket fungus sold as decorative pieces. A mysterious bag of white powder...

  Last were the most precious of them all. Bckhorn root stolen from the beetle and Gold-Veined Mudroot from the mole's herb collection. There was a final mystery ingredient however.

  It was a dead slug at the 9th level of qi gathering. He found it hidden in one of the mole's herbs, killed by the shock of being stuffed into a spatial environment.

  Qinghe suddenly jumped.

  "What the hell is that?" she pointed at the dead bug.

  "Oh. I forgot to include it in the recipe." Baiyun smiled sheepishly.

  That was a lie. He had a feeling she wouldn't agree if she knew he wanted to use it as an ingredient.

  Qinghe frowned and shook her head, before checking the rest of the ingredients he took out. But she suddenly spluttered as she noticed the bag of white powder.

  "BAIYUN! WHAT?" she shouted. "Where did you even get that? Why?"

  It was another ingredient Baiyun neglected to mention. He smiled sheepishly.

  "Let's just say I bought it in town..."

  He thought back to a moment from before briefly.

  ...

  Not too long ago, Baiyun had visited the town market.

  ...

  It was morning, moments after buying a giant pile of stale qi grass, accompanied by nosy merchants that gossiped about his strange actions. Baiyun was in an exceptionally good mood and didn't let that bother him; he walked around town with a jolly gait.

  What a good deal that was! With so much qi grass, he would finally be able to make progress in cultivation.

  He still was missing a crucial ingredient however... Baiyun pnned to ask Qinghe for help with alchemy ter, but while he had the ingredients for mole's Earth Foundation pill, he wanted her to concoct the Bck Earth Body Forging Elixir as well.

  It was quite troubling. Baiyun had everything he needed for it, except its primary ingredient, Bck Earth. Qinghe didn't have it in stock either.

  All he could do was walk around town and ask around, but most of the merchants had no idea what it was, let alone having it in stock. Urgh.

  Baiyun mused to himself as his divine thread orbited in circles. He might not have Bck Earth, but Undying Basalt he stole from the prison walls had somewhat simir properties. It might be possible for him to alter the recipe enough for it to be a substitute.

  This was not a simple substitute however. Baiyun had plenty of experience substituting ingredients in recipes, but those were auxiliary ingredients. Repcing the primary ingredient multiplied the difficulty by 50 times! But if he-

  Baiyun suddenly snapped out of his thoughts as he felt something disrupt his divine thread slightly. In a mortal town? He turned in surprise.

  In a building next to him, a dark and grungy room was filled with heavy breathing and strange muttering. A hooded man stood behind a counter with jars and bags of questionable substances stocked in the shelves behind him. Three men with reddened eyes practically fought over the counter, digging through their pockets and bags for every token they had saved.

  This... Baiyun widened his eyes.

  A moment passed before he chuckled faintly to himself. To think that such a thing would be happening in such an innocuous town.

  He walked over to the locked door and touched the lock, sensing its inner mechanisms with divine touch. He arched his arm and struck the door with a loud bang, ratting the springs and pins within. A loud click rang out as a tch inside came loose.

  Baiyun pushed the door open and marched into the illicit store, patting off the dust from spping the filthy door. The people inside jolted and scrambled in panic.

  "Huh! Who are you? How did you get in?" one of the red-eyed men shouted. "Someone chase the kid out!"

  "Wait!" the hooded man yelled. "You... you're not from Ying Shi's party, are you?"

  At those words, the 3 red-eyed men froze.

  Baiyun merely smiled as he approached the counter, scanning the contents of the shelves with divine sense. The men quickly backed off as he drew near, one of them even taking the chance to rush out of the door. Seeing him, the other 2 stumbled after him and ran as well.

  "Wait!" the hooded man shouted.

  Left alone, he could only clutch the counter with pale hands.

  Baiyun reached out and the man recoiled, but the hand shot past him and grasped a bag of white powder from the shelf instead.

  "I'll be buying this, as well as 300 tokens worth of Bck Earth." Baiyun said.

  He knocked on the bricks of the shop, cy with Bck Earth mixed into their composition. Bck Earth was an unusual ingredient for a mortal town to have, but the residents here knew Yingshi's hunting party visited every now and then.

  To hide the den from the prying qi sense of cultivators, Bck Earth was used for its qi-warding properties, though it only resisted divine thread slightly. Baiyun sought the material for the same purpose as well, as incorporating Bck Earth into his physique would give him a small resistance to qi and elemental spells.

  In exchange, the Bck Earth body had the downside of greatly reducing the user's ability to use magic... but he already had the curse of the servant physique, and it wasn't as if his inability to spellcast could go into the negatives.

  "Esteemed cultivator." the hooded man stammered. "I can help, but please keep this a secret."

  "Don't worry." Baiyun smiled. "I'm a customer after all."

  "Oh! Thank you! Thank you..." the man breathed.

  In his relief, he didn't realise Baiyun hadn't made any promises.

  "I'll fetch the Bck Earth immediately, please wait!"

  The man stumbled into a storage room in the back, loud crashes echoing as he threw things aside in his frenzy. He ran back out with several rge sacks of dirt while heaving.

  "300 tokens worth of Bck Earth, and 20... 10 tokens for that jar! A discount just for you, esteemed cultivator!" the hooded man ughed nervously.

  Baiyun nodded in satisfaction as he pced the tokens on the countertop. He didn't bother to linger and turned to leave while whistling.

  It seemed today was his lucky day.

  The door shut behind him and hid the den from the judgemental rays of sunlight once more. A faint sigh came from behind it.

  LunaTheGhost