The vent was repaired, and smoke now curled up into the night.

In the courtyard of the residence behind, Young Master Wei and Young Master Wang were eating hotpot and wiping away sweat.

When they saw the smoke rising hazily into the windless night, they both breathed a sigh of relief.

"That Shopkeeper Bai is an agreeable fellow. Every time we’ve come knocking, he’s already taken care of everything."

Young Master Wang exhaled and looked at Young Master Wei.

"Your clan uncle is about to come out of seclusion, isn’t he? Have you figured out a way to get on his good side?"

Young Master Wei drank his fruit wine. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"In a couple of days, I’ll go out and look around again. There ought to be some curiosities in this city."

Just as he spoke, he suddenly felt a cold drop on the bridge of his nose.

"It’s really starting to rain. So suddenly?"

The two scrambled, hastily grabbing the table and carrying it inside.

...

"What a downpour!"

"This is terrible timing!"

Some ten miles outside the city, Han Meng was sprinting through the storm.

He saw three Cultivators in brocade robes lifting the hems of their garments as they ran to a nearby pavilion for shelter.

Han Meng couldn’t discern the auras of the three Cultivators, so he immediately averted his gaze and continued sprinting away.

"Senior Brother, look! It’s pouring, and that man isn’t even stopping to rest!"

The young woman said, pointing at Han Meng’s retreating figure.

The young man next to her, who was about the same age, quickly pushed her pointing finger down.

"Senior Brother is usually lenient with you, but I have to say something."

"Pointing at people like that out in the world is just asking for trouble!"

The young woman fumed. "Qin Yu, give me a break!"

"Who would dare cause trouble for us!?"

"You...!" The young man was speechless with frustration, pointing at her.

"Senior Brother, look at her!"

Their senior brother watched them with a chuckle, as if seeing a reflection of his own youth.

"Qin Yu has a point, Junior Sister. You really should be more careful."

Hearing this, the young man immediately looked smug.

"Still, it’s just as well he didn’t stop. It saves us from crowding together, which would have been needlessly awkward."

The senior brother was tall and slender, with a distinguished air about him.

"Judging by his sharp, fierce aura, he’s likely a beast hunter from Celestial Barrier Mountain. Immortal Arrival City is full of such Cultivators."

"Sprinting through the rain and pushing his physical limits like that is also a form of cultivation."

"Don’t underestimate any Cultivator in this world."

The young man and woman dropped their previous attitudes and listened intently.

After listening, Qin Yu asked,

"Senior Brother, this rain is quite heavy and shows no sign of stopping. Should we find lodging in Immortal Arrival City first and continue our journey later?"

The senior brother considered this for a moment, then nodded.

"Alright."

The young woman immediately piped up, "We left in such a hurry, and we don’t have any friends or relatives in Immortal Arrival City. We don’t even know where we’ll stay!"

The senior brother waved his hand dismissively and said with a chuckle,

"Don’t worry!"

"I previously saw in the sect’s registry that a newly accepted Daoist Child is from Immortal Arrival City."

"A proper Pill Master should have a decent-sized place. We can just pay him a visit and ask to stay the night."

...

Bai Mo was still awake.

He stood watch by his Pill Furnace, then lifted the lid and took out a single brown Pill.

He sniffed it, examined it for a moment, and after a brief hesitation, his tongue darted out and touched its surface.

"Ptooey, ptooey!"

It felt as if a fire had been lit in his belly. Bai Mo quickly circulated his Qi Guiding Art to suppress the feeling.

’It’s starting to have the right properties, but the medicinal strength isn’t there yet.’

’The approach is right, though.’

He casually crushed the half-finished product in his hand and tossed it into the waste basket.

Bai Mo opened the window to check the rain.

’What a downpour.’

The clouds were so thick they blotted out the sky.

’Perfect. I won’t have to open the shop tomorrow. I can just focus on my research.’

Bai Mo sat down and recorded the ingredient ratios and techniques he had just used in his Alchemy.

He then placed a bowl on top of the paper to hold it down, turned, and flopped onto his bed, falling into a deep sleep.

「The next day.」

Hungover from the night before, Young Master Wei and Young Master Wang were fetching water to wash their faces.

Just as they spat, they saw a plume of smoke shoot up from Bai Mo’s shop, only to be instantly shattered by the heavy raindrops.

"At this hour... tsk tsk."

Young Master Wang couldn’t help but marvel.

Young Master Wei wrung out his washcloth.

"There’s a reason he’s achieved such skill with Pills at his young age!"

The joy of Alchemy was truly something an outsider could never understand.

Bai Mo didn’t hear their conversation.

However, his reason for getting up so early wasn’t entirely diligence.

Having finally made a breakthrough on a Pill Formula, any Pill Master would be too excited to stay still.

He had only rested for a few hours to keep his mind clear.

He quickly took care of breakfast.

Bai Mo picked up the Pill Formula he had been working on the night before and replayed the Alchemy process in his mind.

’The properties of a few of these herbs are completely different from the original Pill Formula’s description. I can substitute them.’

’Also, I can remove the Dustfall Leaf. Its presence is redundant...’

’And the heat control at this stage was wrong. A good portion of the medicinal energy was burned away.’

After about fifteen minutes of contemplation, Bai Mo finally snapped back to reality.

He lit the Pill Furnace and set the bronze pot in place.

Pill experimentation burned through Spirit Stones, but that was just a minor expense on the path of the Alchemy Dao.

It was hardly worth mentioning.

An hour later, the rain began to let up.

Bai Mo started two consecutive batches.

The first batch was a failure, producing nothing but a black, pasty dreg.

Not daring to be careless, Bai Mo found some oiled paper, carefully wrapped the dregs, and tossed the package into the waste basket.

He then washed the Pill Furnace, cleaned his hands, adjusted his mental state, and began a new batch.

Giving it his all, Bai Mo gradually found his rhythm.

A moment later, he lifted the Pill Furnace’s lid, and a rich Pill Fragrance wafted out.

’Success? Are the heavens smiling upon me?’

He was pleasantly surprised.

’I just don’t know if it’s the Pill I was trying to make...’

With that thought, Bai Mo reached in and took out the Pill.

As soon as the Pill left the furnace, his vision blurred.

[Pill Master: Bai Mo]

[Realm: Qi Refining Third Layer]

[Identity: Pill Disciple (1/900)]

[Aptitude: Infer the Whole from a Part, Insight Awakening]

Staring at the progress bar that had finally moved again, Bai Mo froze on the spot.

Based on his predictions,

the progress bar should have only moved after he successfully refined a Tier Two Pill.

Bai Mo raised the fragrant Pill in his hand, examining it closely.

’This is a Tier Two Pill?’

’The techniques involved were certainly much more complex.’

’Without the experience of refining hundreds of batches, one could never control the changes in the medicinal properties.’

Bai Mo mused.

However, he had experience refining the Qi Blood Pill, which was considered one of the most difficult Tier One Pills to create.

This naturally gave him the foundation needed to refine Tier Two Pills.

The changes in this Pill’s properties were only a notch more difficult to manage than those of the Qi Blood Pill.

’Maybe I should have my good neighbors give it a try?’

’I’ll be right here watching. He won’t die.’

Bai Mo was uncertain about the new Pill’s properties.

Even though it was based on an existing Pill Formula, there was no guarantee he hadn’t created something entirely different.

A Poison Pill containing Yang Poison, for example.

Just as he was considering this, a series of rapid knocks echoed from his door.

KNOCK KNOCK! KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

Bai Mo snapped out of his thoughts, frowned, and called out,

"Who is it?"

After a moment of silence from outside, a warm, refined male voice replied.

"Junior Brother Bai, fellow sect members have come to impose. Would you be so kind as to open the door?"

Bai Mo paused for a second as it registered.

’Senior Brothers from the Xuandao Sect!?’

Keeping a packet of medicinal powder ready in his sleeve as a precaution, Bai Mo quickly opened the door.

Outside stood three Cultivators, soaked to the bone and looking rather disheveled.

The trio was about to step inside but paused upon seeing the cluttered state of the room.

It was only when the senior brother smelled the rich Pill Fragrance pervading the room that he sighed and remarked,

"This truly is the abode of a Pill Master!"

"Junior Brother Bai, forgive our intrusion!"