By turning the offer into a public demonstration, the Roaring Thunder Sect could spin the story as an alchemical consultancy, which many forces at its level would pay a fortune to obtain.

Also, there was a deeper goal. The Roaring Thunder Sect might not have alchemy masters, but many apprentices occupied its caves. They were self-taught, only having expensive books to rely on, and a public, prolonged, and interactive demonstration could change that.

The Roaring Thunder Sect wouldn’t develop alchemy masters overnight, but improving its apprentices would benefit it in the long run, creating a permanent edge over the other Sects rather than just the temporary one given by Liam’s products.

In a different situation or relationship, Grace wouldn’t have hesitated to promise Beatrice the world, selling Liam in the best way she could, despite understanding that unspoken goal.

Yet, Grace didn’t do any of that. Surprisingly, even her business instincts remained silent, prioritizing respecting Liam’s personal line.

’That’s why you don’t mix business with pleasure,’ Grace cursed internally. ’It’s like an illness.’

Luckily, Liam hadn’t earned Grace’s trust randomly.

"Senior, I can do both," Liam promised, "But ..."

Beatrice’s true intentions didn’t escape Liam’s mind. He understood Sects better than the outside world, and he had even seen the issue she hadn’t mentioned inside the Pale Moon Sect.

Besides, the more of the world Liam experienced, the more tassels his brain had at its disposal to create pictures. He didn’t know the exact definition of a master, but it was clear that people believed he was one, just like how priceless that was.

Liam had already proven himself publicly, too. So, it was obvious to him how Beatrice wanted to use him to train the Roaring Thunder Sect’s disciples in alchemy. It literally was the only possible explanation.

Nevertheless, that made Liam hesitate, albeit not due to the humility or blindness Grace had mentioned earlier.

Liam’s knowledge wasn’t his. It was his Master’s. Moreover, he hadn’t learned it through public lessons. It had come from the Master-disciple relationship, which was a sacred bond inside the cultivation world.

Liam was Horace Rauret’s sole heir, meaning that those teachings couldn’t be shared randomly. They had to be passed down in the same way he had received them. Only Liam’s disciple or disciples could get them.

"I can teach some basics," Liam explained, "Training drills that can build a proper foundation, the same I did, but nothing else."

Beatrice had never mentioned teaching, but Liam wasn’t one to play into those political games. His stance was simple but uncompromising.

Still, that also was all Beatrice wanted to hear, so she replied in kind. "Wait here."

Beatrice’s figure disappeared past the formation, and Liam and Grace straightened themselves. They didn’t relax. That was akin to enemy territory after all, but it was evident that the meeting had gone well.

Which was precisely why Grace found it strange when Liam’s presence became glum. The shift was slight. Grace only instinctively felt that change, but she trusted her hunches with her life.

’I’m back in a Sect,’ Liam thought, starting at the fake barren peak, ’As a rooting expert and an official alchemist.’

Not long had passed since Liam’s departure from the Pale Moon Sect, especially not in the cultivation world’s terms. It wasn’t even three full months, but much had changed already.

Liam’s mindset was the worst offender there. His brain now considered so many things simultaneously, aspects of life and the world he wouldn’t have been able to conceive even if someone had explained them to him.

And all that had a single goal. All that growth, be it personal and in terms of power, was toward getting stronger until Liam could get everything he desired, and even a fraction of that would be unthinkable for ordinary cultivators.

’The Church must be working for the Dragon King,’ Liam thought. ’It’s only fair I take everything I can from their sacred grounds.’

More plans were forming in Liam’s mind, only for Grace to bump her shoulder on his, snapping him out of that tense reasoning.

"I lost count of how many times my nose bled by plotting things far outside my reach," Grace casually announced, looking away, feigning ignorance toward her previous gesture. "Even the longest journey is just a series of small steps. You’ll only stumble if you focus too much on what’s too far away."

Grace crossed her arms, feeling annoyed. The occasional tease was fine. Even revealing her story had been strangely easy. She was in control in those moments, which wasn’t true now.

Certain levels of care required an exposure Grace wasn’t used to. She didn’t even like feeling like that, but she hadn’t been able to help herself.

Besides, it was even more annoying how Liam had preferred to keep whatever problem he had to himself instead of confiding in his trusted, inseparable partner.

Of course, Grace would never directly ask. She wasn’t even that ready to admit that she wanted Liam to rely on her beyond money. She would rather drive him into a corner until he had no other option but to do so.

On the other side, the metaphor landed, and Liam even connected it to something else.

’Despite everything,’ Liam realized, inspecting Grace from under the hood, ’I’m really lucky.’

Liam’s prospects after leaving the Sect had been nothing but grim solitude, but there he was, walking that impossible path with a friend. He also knew how he felt about that, so he would voice it.

Liam knew the regret of having failed to express his feelings due to his cluelessness, so he wouldn’t make the same mistake now that he wielded proper understanding.

"Grace, I’m glad that I’m with you," Liam stated. "I’m happy that we found each other."

Grace turned her head slowly, throwing a look at Liam that was a mixture of a glare and utter surprise.

"You are quite insidious, aren’t you?" Grace commented. "You do realize that you’ll have to bear the cost of what you are causing, right?"

Liam blinked under the hood, but the environment suddenly changed, or rather, a window into its true face opened.

A section of the barren area ahead twisted and vanished into smoke, revealing the extensive structure stretching over the upper side of the mountain.

Wooden streets and bridges connected various balconies, railed plateaus, and structures that seemed to encircle the entire peak. A dim yellow light also illuminated everything, creating a halo that reached as high as the dark clouds above.

Unlike the Pale Moon Sect, the Roaring Thunder Sect seemed to hide nothing inside the mountain, expanding completely outside, freely carving through the rock to create room for its presence. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

It was nothing short of a village or town, just magical and stretching both vertically and horizontally. Also, it was bigger than the Pale Moon Sect, even when including what the mountain hid.

The opening in the formation not only showed the mountain’s true face. Philip and Beatrice were right past that entrance through the invisible barrier, the former already bowing politely.

"Juniors, you have been granted hospitality in the Roaring Thunder Sect," Beatrice announced. "Chief Grace, you’ll follow Disciple Philip to arrange your accommodations and stay’s logistics. Master William, you’ll follow me to the Sect’s vault."

Liam and Grace could only bow and comply. The two split, Grace heading for the quasi-town while Liam followed Beatrice toward the lower areas of the mountain’s peak.

"It goes without saying that we expect your secrecy," Beatrice warned while navigating the inclined surfaces and large crevices as if they were an ordinary floor. "The vault I’m about to show you is just for low-ranking ingredients, but it’s still one of the Roaring Thunder Sect’s valuable locations."

Liam just nodded, treading that environment just as easily.

"We would have preferred not to reveal the location altogether," Beatrice admitted, "But you’ll soon see how tied our hands were."

The two soon reached an inconspicuous plateau, a horizontal rocky platform that could barely fit them both. It was nothing short of a natural protuberance, but Liam’s senses had already captured something.

As expected, Beatrice waved a wooden token at the slope rising from the tiny plateau, and a vertical line appeared on the rocks before they moved left and right, rumbling to create a short passage.

Braziers lit up as soon as Beatrice stepped into the passage, and Liam’s gaze flickered when he joined her, peeking into the immense chamber expanding under him.

Down on the rocky floor below the entrance, hundreds of shelves filled to the brim with flasks and other containers stuffed the immense chamber, even stacking upon each other to create additional floors.

Wooden stairs also rested on those shelves, used to reach the highest ones that stood at over five meters from the floor.

’This is a Sect’s accumulation,’ Liam acknowledged, the ongoing calculations in his brain suggesting that the Pale Moon Sect had been far inferior in that regard.

What Liam had used during the tournament felt like a child’s play. The Sects were in a different league. They played a game of their own, one that no Guilds or lone cultivators could have access to, but that Liam had somehow entered thanks to Grace.

"You’ll have assistants to retrieve the ingredients you need," Beatrice explained. "The Elders are also writing lists of what you must concoct. As long as you complete those commissions, you are free to use everything else."

Naturally, the list involved more than commissions. It would act as a limit on what Liam could have time to concoct for himself. That much was obvious and even necessary from the Roaring Thunder Sect’s perspective.

However, despite some subconscious parts of Liam connecting those dots, the rest of his brain was on something else. If he had access to so much, he could finally unleash his extreme approach to, well, the extreme.

’Finally, I can go wild,’ Liam thought, already deciding, unaware that nothing could have prepared the Roaring Thunder Sect for the alchemy his Master had taught him.