The fog had greatly hindered Bai Zhou’s voyage, but he still made it to shore without any real trouble.

"Why is the fog so thick?"

Bai Zhou found it strange. He had lived on the Chali island for a long time, and fog this thick was extremely rare.

The fog was also strange. It carried a bizarre, rotten smell that was almost acrid.

Puzzled, Bai Zhou stepped onto the island and followed the familiar path back to the Chali village.

The island remained shrouded in fog, and the paths had grown muddy.

The sight of Chali figures moving within the fog made Bai Zhou sigh in relief.

After what had happened on the human island, Bai Zhou had become extremely sensitive, even fearful, of anything that seemed amiss.

Seeing the Chali people going about their normal lives, Bai Zhou finally relaxed a little.

’Maybe it’s just extreme weather.’

When the Chali people saw Bai Zhou, they greeted him enthusiastically and peppered him with questions, just as they always had. Nothing had changed.

"Teacher, you’re finally back! When will you start teaching again?"

"I have so many questions for you..."

Seeing that the Chali people were just the same as always, the last of Bai Zhou’s suspicions finally faded away.

After the pleasantries, Bai Zhou went to find his apprentice.

"Master?" Seeing Bai Zhou, the apprentice was very surprised. "I didn’t expect you to be back so soon!"

Bai Zhou nodded and took out the small root-carved figurine. "Yes, I’m back. Take this."

But the apprentice didn’t immediately take it. Instead, he looked at Bai Zhou with confusion, his eyes full of worry.

"Master, what’s wrong?"

Hearing his apprentice’s question, Bai Zhou knew he must have sensed his mood again.

"Something happened on the island."

Bai Zhou shook his head. He didn’t know how to explain it.

The apprentice saw Bai Zhou’s dejection and didn’t press further. Instead, he said mysteriously, "Teacher, let me tell you a secret. I’ve learned how."

Bai Zhou was taken aback. "Learned how?"

"Yes, I’ve learned how," the apprentice said, his face alight with excitement. "I’ve learned how to be immortal!"

Immortality?

Bai Zhou subconsciously thought he had misheard.

’Am I hallucinating again?’

Looking at the small root-carved figurine in his hand, Bai Zhou shook his head.

But everything before him was incredibly real. His apprentice was looking at him with great expectation, as if waiting for praise.

"You really learned how?" Bai Zhou asked in disbelief. "Tell me about it. How did you learn?"

The apprentice nodded, probably thinking Bai Zhou was testing him, and began to explain earnestly.

"That day, Master, you told me to think about what is eternal. I thought for a long time, and I also remembered you telling me that the secret to immortality was hidden in the knowledge you taught us."

"After ruling out many things, I thought about the trigrams—how there are positives and negatives, life and death. Suddenly, it all clicked!"

"Isn’t death eternal?!"

"Consuming a pill doesn’t mean you’re consuming life itself. Rather, you’re using the pill as a price to extend your life. But since the pill isn’t eternal, the life gained in exchange must be limited, depending on the age of the medicinal herbs."

"If you want to achieve immortality, that path won’t work."

"Therefore, you can only use death as the price to obtain life. Death is eternal, so the life obtained in exchange is also eternal. That is immortality!"

The apprentice explained excitedly.

Seeing his apprentice’s utter confidence, Bai Zhou was stunned. He hadn’t expected the few lines he’d casually made up could actually lead him to some sort of epiphany.

But anyone can spout nonsensical theories. ’Immortality is just a fool’s dream until it’s actually achieved.’

Looking at his completely engrossed apprentice, Bai Zhou didn’t have the heart to tell him the truth.

Bai Zhou himself had once been obsessed with immortality, but only after continuous research and hitting a dead end did he realize it was all just an illusion.

However, the process of summarizing, organizing, and mastering knowledge was no illusion.

It’s always a good thing to remain curious about the unknown and to keep exploring.

If it weren’t for Alchemy, he wouldn’t have learned about so many medicinal herbs.

If it weren’t for crafting Immortal Artifacts, he wouldn’t have come up with so many fantastic devices.

Thinking of this, Bai Zhou decided to offer his apprentice some guidance and encouragement, hoping to keep him from going too far astray.

Pretending to be pleased, Bai Zhou nodded in affirmation. "Your thinking isn’t wrong. But have you thought about how to put it into practice?"

"I’ve already practiced it!"

’He’s already practiced it?’

This time, Bai Zhou could no longer maintain his profound and mysterious demeanor.

"How did you practice it?"

Bai Zhou wasn’t actually curious; he was just worried his apprentice might have done something reckless.

Among humans, it wasn’t uncommon for Alchemy Masters to die from testing their own concoctions. He worried that if his apprentice had truly gone off the deep end, he, as his master, would be unable to escape the blame.

At this thought, Bai Zhou began to regret ever fooling his apprentice with the idea of immortality.

"Master, come outside. I’ll show you."

Under Bai Zhou’s worried gaze, the apprentice led him to an open space outside.

"Watch closely!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the apprentice’s body suddenly went rigid and fell straight to the ground.

Seeing this, Bai Zhou immediately rushed over.

A faint voice came from within a tree root: "Master, I’m immortal..."

Immediately after, a transparent, teardrop-like thing floated out from the body, slowly drifting toward the sky.

’Is that a Soul Spirit?’

Realizing something was wrong, Bai Zhou grabbed the tree root that was wrapped around his own body and whipped it toward the ever-rising Soul Spirit.

After the root lashed out, the Soul Spirit in the air vanished.

Before long, the apprentice lying on the ground slowly came to.

"Master, I’m back."

The moment he spoke, Bai Zhou slapped him on the forehead.

"You call that immortality?"

"Ascending to the heavens is immortality?"

The apprentice lowered his head, not daring to speak loudly. "But you really can be immortal, as long as you stay in that state..."

"How is that any different from being dead?"

"Dead people don’t float up to the sky."

"..."

Bai Zhou was speechless.

After calming down, Bai Zhou earnestly advised, "Don’t do that again. Humans haven’t achieved immortality either. It’s all a hollow pursuit. I don’t know how to do it either; I was just fooling you."

Looking at his apprentice, Bai Zhou asked with concern, "When you were floating in the sky, what did it feel like?"

"I didn’t feel anything. It was just... very freeing."

"A Soul Spirit isn’t bound by a physical body, so feeling free is normal. Was there anything else besides that? Did you feel any discomfort? And now that you’re back in your body, does anything feel wrong?"

Bai Zhou looked at his dizzy-looking apprentice, extremely worried.

The apprentice stood there for a moment, sensing himself. He shook his head, but then, seeing Bai Zhou’s scrutinizing gaze, he nodded.

"What is it?" Bai Zhou asked anxiously.

"I’m a little hungry."