Xuan and Yuan tip-toed across the rooftops, trying to not alert the people below. Xuan didn’t know this old man for long, but he already had a very, very... very good impression of just what kind of person this was.

"Kyaaaaa! There’s an old man on the roof!"

"Guards!"

The women in the bath house yelled, reaching for their towels as they began throwing Qi blasts at Xuan and Yuan. Naturally, that made Yuan finally take things seriously as he grabbed Xuan by the clothes and then sped up, crossing past the tens of bath houses and red light districts, and then arriving at a large estate in the far ends of the city.

"Ahem. Sorry about the detour," Yuan said, setting Xuan down and then patting all the dust off him.

Xuan rubbed his muscles in annoyance and glanced around. This guy was rich, there was no doubt about it. But why were all of his statues made out of jade? More importantly, he didn’t even have a gate to his estate, so just about anyone could come here and steal these treasures.

Whether he was an idiot or someone who was overconfident, Xuan wasn’t sure. Regardless of that, if this was the estate where he’d be staying, he was more than happy.

Though, one realization did set in pretty damn fast.

"Uhh... I just realized, I do have a few companions with me. They’re planning to leave this city soon, and I was going to accompany them. I guess I should cancel on them." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Yuan tilted his head. "Why? I can just accompany you instead."

"You can?" Xuan was a little puzzled. "How are you going to teach me anything?"

"Tsk. Youngsters these days think they need a book for everything. No! You need practical knowledge! The pros of being a Pill Alchemist rather than a Potion Alchemist are simple. You can carry around a cauldron and brew wherever."

He covered his mouth. "Heh... Those Potion Alchemists are jealous. Imagine finding rare materials atop a mountain, and your biggest worry ending up being whether the wind will blow in a shitty direction and mess with your alchemical flame. Heh... Hehehe..."

Xuan noted it down in his mind that this old man was very weird.

"So we’ll be doing everything on the road, then?" Xuan asked for assurance.

And Yuan gave it. "Indeed. I have a dimensional pocket, and all of my materials are stored there. I am open to sharing with my disciple, of course."

A dimensional pocket? Xuan was immediately reminded of an inventory. Obviously, he hadn’t played as many games as Yuelan, but he did know what an inventory was.

"Mm... I guess I’ll have to get a dimensional pocket as well. Anyways, what now, boss?" Xuan asked the obvious question.

Yuan raised a brow. "Boss? Never mind. Call me whatever you want. Uhh... Let’s see. How much knowledge about Alchemy do you have?"

"There’s knowledge? I don’t have anything," Xuan replied. "All I have are recipes in my head, since when I first started, they made me brew a bunch of potions and pills until I got them right. I didn’t really have much theoretical knowledge."

"Ack..." Yuan bit his tongue out of surprise. Holding his mouth, he narrowed his eyes at Xuan. "Disciple Xuan, you don’t have the Alchemy skill? No, rather, have you ever felt like you hit the limit of what you could do?"

Xuan sighed. "I’ve never hit my limit, since I’ve only been brewing Mortal Ranked pills. And no, I don’t have an Alchemy skill."

Realizing just how big of a handful Yuan had gotten for himself, he decided to take things seriously.

"Okay... So I take it all the knowledge you have of Alchemy is purely practical. In that case, I will keep it as such, but I will instill two very important fundamentals into you. Like all professions, Alchemy can be turned into a skill, and once it does, you’ll feel like your life is much, much easier, Disciple Xuan."

Xuan nodded eagerly. "Yes boss."

"From how you brew your pills, and how you said you only follow a recipe, I don’t believe you’ve ever learned to sense the materials you brew. I’m not talking about their Qi, but more like their impurities and purity. If you directly attack those impurities, your pills reach a much higher level."

Yuan sighed.

"Clearly, you don’t have that issue yet. But it’s better to not make good luck a habit. As for the second thing I wanted to teach you, it’s intent. Once a pill reaches 90% Purity, you can infuse it with your intent. It’s a very simple thing to do as well, which is why I believe it’s best I start with it first."

The moment he said that, he pulled out a shabby cauldron and plopped it down in front of Xuan. He took out two seaweeds and a pretzel, also handing them to Xuan.

"Use your Qi to crush the seaweeds so they stick to the cauldron, and then refine the pretzel in the very center. Make sure to compress it, and while doing so, extract the stuck seaweeds and pull them into the center of the compressed pretzel."

Xuan paused for a moment. "What exactly are we brewing? Diabetes?"

"Nothing. It’s not an actual recipe. I’m showing you the freedom of Alchemy. Now shut up and do it. I’ll give you instructions once I sense the pill is at 90% purity."

Xuan stared at him for a moment, then shrugged.

"Yes boss."

With that, he went ahead and did as he was told, using his Void Qi to crush the seaweeds, and finally laying the pretzel down in the center. In the next instant, Xuan began the process exactly how Yuan said.

Except with no recipe to follow, and nothing to take notice of... Xuan found it a little strange to do something without a clear goal. Still, he did the best he could, compressing the pretzel, extracting the seaweeds, and then watching as a small pill began to form.

And at the same time, Yuan finally gave him instructions.