By midday, Liam descended the mountain, a wooden cane on his shoulder and an enlightening annoyance weighing on his mind.

Alchemy was sacred to Liam. It was the noble art that enabled his whole cultivation journey and the only tool that could pave the path toward greater heights.

Moreover, Liam had vowed to surpass his Master in that field, and his boundless respect and gratitude for that greater-than-life figure elevated the mission to the same level as his revenge.

Liam honestly couldn’t think of anything more important in his life. He had staked his entire existence on alchemy, so it angered him when he saw wannabe alchemists taking it so casually.

Alchemy was no side gig. It was something that had to be pursued by putting the entirety of your life on the line or not be pursued at all.

’I understand why Master was grumpy now,’ Liam cursed internally, that feeling subsiding once he reached his cave.

Grace had Grace’s things to do, and the Sect had arranged habitations for her, too, so Liam had complete privacy once he entered that temporary home, which he desperately needed.

Despite the additional hoops the Sect had pushed forward, Liam could still concoct close to a hundred alchemical products for himself, all of the rank 2 type, before the time to depart arrived.

The issue was that Liam didn’t need that many.

Sure, more was always better, especially in the unpredictable cultivation world. Liam could also give whatever he ended up not using to Grace, avoiding any loss.

The unique arrangement inside the Sect was even a priceless opportunity that Liam had to make the best of. He trusted Grace, but periods of drought might arrive.

Everything was also free now, so it made sense to stockpile as much as possible to reduce future, inevitable expenses.

However, accumulating alchemical products wasn’t the only possible use of that opportunity. Alchemy featured an even more expensive phase, one that could surpass Liam’s extreme training regimen in that regard.

Liam summoned his pipe and sat down. He was at his second monthly batch of powder, and it was already close to ending at the pace he was smoking, no matter how busy he had been concocting in public.

The habit had developed two more minor roots, bringing their total number to six, but Liam didn’t focus on his growth now. He would need to concoct more powder, maybe even altering the recipe to delay its expiration date, but that was hardly time-consuming at that point.

Liam glanced at the Qi Repulsion’s tome on the floor. He had been unable to store it inside his ring due to some kind of inscription, but his mental math didn’t involve that, either.

’Recovery-related products are mandatory,’ Liam calculated, ’But they would take me a couple of days at most.’

Liam also had to account for offensive methods. Now that he could, it was wise to mass-produce the new Cloud Pill, fully upgrading whatever rank 1 product he still possessed.

’The Qi Repulsion is hard,’ Liam admitted, ’But its theory matches the alchemical flame’s flexibility. I should have an easier time learning it than what the Sect expected.’

Despite the favorable aspects given by Liam’s training, subtracting the morning lessons, the rank 2 martial art, and the imperative concoctions left him with less than a week to fill with something else.

’The Qilin’s Idea needs improvement,’ Liam thought. ’The same goes for my venom, but I really only have time to focus on one experimental project.’

Liam held the pipe in his teeth while summoning his Master’s green jade, sending his mind into its endless expanse of information.

Alchemy demanded more than secluded training. Grace had proven how imagination played a big part in what alchemists invented.

However, imagination came from understanding life. The more Liam knew and experienced, the more previously unthinkable projects his mind could encompass.

The problem was that maturing took time, which Liam didn’t have. He couldn’t even force that process to happen, but he had a shortcut at his disposal. He stood on the shoulders of a giant whose life had already featured all that.

Liam had taken up the habit of studying his Master’s inheritance whenever he found the time, but it was simply too vast. Besides, merely reading through it wasn’t the same as actually absorbing that knowledge.

As complete as Liam wanted his arsenal to be, alchemy should remain his main focus, his sharpest spear, and he knew he was making poor use of it.

Being an alchemist involved more than throwing poison at enemies. Liam had seen that during his Master’s fight, but that had still only been a fraction of the possible applications.

For starters, alchemy had more poisons, be it in terms of applications and effects. Some could paralyze through superficial contact, others could affect the mind through smell alone, and far, far more. Many could even work in combination with each other, which was how Horace had defeated the white-masked man.

Yet, poison remained a narrow field. Even when not resorting to extreme methods like the Boiling Blood Pills, safer products that provided Qi and physical enhancements existed.

That didn’t even take into account products with effects only slightly below proper magical items. They would be disposable, but valuable weapons nonetheless.

Luckily, the jade was far better than books. Liam only had to add mental requirements, and the item would filter through the sea of information, limiting the options he could inspect.

That still left a lot to go through, but Liam kept thinking and adding filters, knowing what he needed the most.

Liam had a decent personal stash of all-around ingredients. Still, the arrangement prevented him from buying more from the Sect, meaning he would be left with his current accumulation and whatever he could buy immediately after inside the inheritance ground.

Also, Liam had seen how resilient rooting experts were. He had more than one reliable way of killing them, but those involving poison would require slowly wearing down his opponents if they were at Lancelot’s level.

What Liam truly needed, or at least believed he did, was a proper trump card, a life-saving weapon at the same level as the Primal Urge that wouldn’t leave him writhing half-dead on the ground.

Most importantly, Liam needed that trump card to be unaffected by external factors.

’Something that can’t be dodged to avoid variables of aim or reserves,’ Liam thought. ’Something deadly, no matter what others do. Something that won’t be ineffective in open spaces.’

Such a perfect weapon didn’t exist, but a foundation of something similar survived the impossible filters Liam applied to the jade, and reading it put a smile on his face.

After all, the single recipe that had survived Liam’s reasoning belonged to none other than a rank 4 alchemical product, the same weapon his Master had used to bully the Crimson Warrior Sect.