As the four’s auras gradually faded into the distance, the cave fell silent again, leaving only the occasional crackling from the fire.
“Senior…” Su Wan’er said with a sob in her voice. “I… I don’t know how to do alchemy.”
Lai Li’an picked up a skewer of roast meat and took a bite.
“What’s there to be afraid of?”
He chewed the meat, his words slurred, but Su Wan’er heard every word clearly.
“There are still three months.”
Su Wan’er looked at him blankly. ‘Did Senior mean… three months? Could he teach me alchemy in three months?’
She opened her mouth, wanting to say it was impossible. How could alchemy be learned quickly? It required years of accumulation. What could three months do? But the words caught in her throat. With Senior here, the word “impossible” seemed not to exist. Su Wan’er took a deep breath and nodded firmly.
“Mm!”
Lai Li’an continued to focus on eating the meat, but his mind was racing.
‘Three months. Teach someone who has never even touched an alchemy furnace to do alchemy, and have her participate in the most prestigious Alchemy Grand Assembly in the Cangwu Realm.’
‘I don’t even know how to do alchemy myself. The Ancient Pill Scripture is in my head, but it runs on autopilot. Can I just dictate the words to Su Wan’er?’
‘Forget it. I’ll take it step by step.’
Outside the cave, after walking a certain distance, Meng Qiuran and the other three stopped at the same time. The four were silent for a long while.
“Senior Brother Meng,” Ye Shuang’s voice was a bit floating. “That Senior said he had Fellow Daoist Su participate in the Alchemy Grand Assembly to ‘broaden her horizons.'”
Meng Qiuran nodded.
“Fellow Daoist Su is his disciple,” Ye Shuang said again.
Meng Qiuran nodded again.
Ye Shuang took a deep breath.
“An alchemy grandmaster who refined a ninth-grade pill, summoned Heavenly Punishment, yet emerged unscathed and casually ate roast meat… his disciple participates in the Alchemy Grand Assembly to ‘broaden her horizons.'”
“That one’s disciple,” Meng Qiuran said with a bitter smile, “probably has alchemy skills that are far from ordinary. I really know how to cause trouble for myself.”
Ye Shuang nodded vigorously.
“Definitely! That one’s disciple can’t possibly be an ordinary pill cultivator!”
Li He muttered, “Suddenly I feel a bit helpless. Should we withdraw from the competition?”
The several of them nodded simultaneously, and with extremely complicated feelings, disappeared into the depths of the forest.
Su Wan’er lowered her head, fingers twisting the hem of her skirt.
“Senior, can I call you… Shifu?”
As soon as the words left her mouth, she hurriedly waved her hands, adding rapidly, “I mean, just now Senior called me your disciple in front of Fellow Daoist Meng, so… that earlier test… did I… pass?” Her voice grew softer and softer, and her head almost buried itself in her chest. She didn’t dare look Lai Li’an in the eyes.
Lai Li’an took a bite of roast meat and chewed slowly.
‘A test? What test?’
He had asked Su Wan’er to hunt because he was hungry, and he had been busy opening his Spirit Root and couldn’t spare the time. From beginning to end, he had never thought about any test.
‘But hearing Su Wan’er, she seems to have imagined a whole “trial” scenario for herself.’
‘This girl’s ability to mentally supplement is the strongest I’ve ever seen. She doesn’t need me to fabricate any profound tests; she convinces herself perfectly.’
But that said, he really did need Su Wan’er to stay by his side. Not entirely because of Fantasy Value. After these past few days together, he found it hard to treat this little girl as just a pure tool. Lai Li’an was not made of stone. In these three years since crossing over, scamming his way through meals, he had seen too much of the warmth and coldness of human relationships.
The more he saw, the more he knew how precious Su Wan’er’s simple-minded trust was. To abandon such a girl and leave her behind, to be honest, he couldn’t do it.
“Calling me Shifu is out of the question.”
Lai Li’an put down the skewer, his tone calm.
Su Wan’er’s shoulders trembled slightly, and she lowered her head even deeper. She shouldn’t have hoped for it. What kind of person was Senior? Allowing her to stay by his side was already a tremendous blessing, and yet she had dared to dream of becoming his disciple…
“However.”
Lai Li’an paused.
“You can call me Master.”
Lai Li’an looked at her stunned expression, his lips unconsciously curling up, but quickly suppressing it. He picked up the skewer again, his tone still calm.
“A Shifu teaches skills; a Master transmits the Dao. Your mother’s Shifu was this Venerable Self. Back then, I only taught her skills for three years and did not accept her as a disciple. You are different.”
He paused, his tone growing heavier.
“You have more fortune than she did.”
This was something Lai Li’an made up off the top of his head. He didn’t even know what An Zhi looked like, let alone any “three years of skills.” But these words created ripples in Su Wan’er’s heart. Her mother had studied skills under Master for three years.
And now, Master wanted to accept her as a disciple and transmit the “Dao” to her. Su Wan’er’s tears fell. The warmth surging from deep within her chest—from her mother’s death, the sect’s betrayal, and her flight all the way until now—she felt for the first time that she was not a rootless duckweed. She knelt upright and respectfully kowtowed three times.
“Disciple Su Wan’er pays respects to Master.”
This time, she did not hesitate, nor was she anxious. Every word was spoken clearly and distinctly.
Lai Li’an looked at her with her forehead pressed to the ground, and suddenly felt a bit hollow inside. He nodded slightly.
“Rise.”
Su Wan’er straightened up, wiped her tears haphazardly with her sleeve, and revealed a silly smile. That smile was as clean as the sky after rain, making Lai Li’an involuntarily look away.
“In the coming Alchemy Grand Assembly, you will do your best.”
He said this offhandedly, intending to change the subject.
Su Wan’er’s smile instantly froze. ‘Master wants me to strive to win the competition?’ These words echoed in her mind. ‘Master never speaks idle words; when Master says “do your best,” it means he truly hopes I will win.’
‘But… I’m a sword cultivator. I’ve never even touched an alchemy furnace. How can I beat the most outstanding alchemy geniuses of the Cangwu Realm?’
Su Wan’er’s fingers unconsciously tightened on her skirt, but soon she relaxed. ‘Master is here. Three months. If Master says he can teach me, then he definitely can. Master used a stone cauldron and ordinary fire to refine a pill that summoned heavenly thunder. Such a Master, since he said he would teach me, will definitely not let me lose.’
Su Wan’er took a deep breath, and the light in her eyes reignited.
“Master!” She suddenly became full of energy. “When do we start learning alchemy?”
Lai Li’an paused in the middle of biting his roast meat.
‘Start what? This girl doesn’t really want to learn alchemy, does she?’
He glanced at Su Wan’er’s eager face and couldn’t help but smile slightly. This girl, just crying her eyes out a moment ago, now she was fully revived.
Su Wan’er saw Master smile and was puzzled. ‘What was Master smiling at? Did I have oil on my face?’ She subconsciously raised her hand to wipe the corner of her mouth.
“Wan’er.”
Lai Li’an put down the skewer.
“The matter of alchemy is not urgent. This Venerable Self has a few questions to ask you first.”
Su Wan’er immediately sat up straight.
“Master, please ask.”
Lai Li’an pondered for a moment. His most urgent need right now was not to teach Su Wan’er alchemy, but to learn cultivation himself. His Spirit Root had just been opened. The System Panel showed “Lower-grade Wood Spiritual Root.”
When he first saw those four words, he cursed the System furiously in his heart, but at least it was a real Spirit Root. With a Spirit Root, he could truly cultivate those Heaven-grade Techniques. But the problem was, he didn’t know how!
The Ancient Pill Scripture could run automatically because the System had directly imbued it into his mind, like an instinct. But cultivation techniques were different. The System just stuffed the content of the techniques into his head, like throwing a textbook at him and saying, “Learn it yourself.”
He needed a teacher, and wasn’t one right in front of him? Su Wan’er came from a proper sect. From Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment, her fundamentals were absolutely solid. Letting her teach him would be ten thousand times better than fumbling around on his own. Of course, he couldn’t just say, “Master doesn’t know; teach me.” He had to phrase it differently.
“This Venerable Self asks you,” Lai Li’an said unhurriedly, “when you were at Tianlan Sect, how did you perform Qi Induction? How long did it take you to enter the gate?”
Su Wan’er was taken aback. ‘Why is Master asking this?’ But she answered honestly anyway.
“In reply, Master, your disciple was guided personally by my mother back then, not taught at the sect. I first sensed the existence of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy, then used a specific breathing technique to draw the spiritual energy into my meridians and circulate it through the cycles. From initial perception to successfully achieving Qi Induction, it took me about three months.”
Three months. Lai Li’an noted this internally. Even someone as talented as Su Wan’er took three months. With his lower-grade Wood Spiritual Root, he would probably need at least half a year.
“Mm.”
Lai Li’an nodded slightly.
“Now, demonstrate the method of Qi Induction from beginning to end.”
Su Wan’er blinked. Suddenly she understood: Master was testing her! Since Master wanted to accept her as a disciple, of course he had to see if her foundation was solid. Qi Induction was the most basic thing, but the more basic it was, the better it showed a person’s cultivation attitude. She gathered her resolve, dared not be negligent, sat cross-legged, closed her eyes, and began to circulate the method.