As Hui stared at the pill furnace in silent dismay, a half-dozen beams of sword light lit the sky, hurtling toward him. The Tier Master, Wan Lu, landed beside Hui. Five disciples in neat, identical robes landed beside him, creating a small formation. Wan Lu squinted at Hui. “Where is Xi Sanji?”

Hui nodded off in the direction she’d flown away. “She’s gone to the library.”

Wan Lu blinked. “Xi Sanji…? The library…?”

“Yes, yes. She, er, I think she had a moment of enlightenment,” Hui explained.

“Is enlightenment the only thing that can force Xi Sanji to go to the library…?” Wan Lu murmured.

Hui hurried over to Wan Lu’s side and gestured him over to the furnace. “Here, here. She made this pill. Can you remove it from the furnace? Small cultivator has no karma with pill cultivation, I never learned how to remove pills from furnaces.”

Wan Lu scowled. “Another worthless…”

He followed Hui to the furnace. His eyes landed on the pill within, and he stared. His jaw dropped. “That… is that…”

“Mhm,” Hui said, nodding.

“A completely ordinary Wakefulness Pill?” Wan Lu asked.

Hui nodded again. “Indeed, Senior.”

“But how?”

Hui cleared his throat. “Er, as small cultivator has never practiced pill cultivation, I asked Elder Sister to give me a demo of how to properly cultivate a Wakefulness Pill. She, er, she followed the instructions I read out to her, and this is the result.”

Wan Lu waved his hand. The elixir flew from the cauldron and hovered over his palm, slowly circulating in a loop. He drew it close to his face and squinted at it. Shock flashed over his face. With a quick gesture, he summoned a lens from his sleeve and gazed through it at the elixir. His eyes widened. “No.”

“Er, is there something strange about this elixir?” Hui asked, a little concerned. Did Elder Sister mess it up in some new and mysterious way? I know there’s people out there who can’t cook even when they follow the instructions. Could it be? Is Elder Sister one of those people?

Wan Lu shook his head, then nodded. “Not strange, but extraordinary. This isn’t an ordinary Wakefulness Pill. This is an Alertness Elixir. It’s a refined version of the Wakefulness Pill that rarely manifests when a true master concocts a Wakefulness Pill. To create an Alertness Elixir is considered proof of true mastery of the Wakefulness Pill.”

“Oh,” Hui said, startled. Who knew that following the directions would level up Elder Sister to such an extent? All she had to do was follow the directions in order to achieve mastery? That’s all it took? And now she’s visiting the library… what kind of monster will emerge from the library?

Wait, hold on. From the start, my plan was to elevate Xi Sanji to a point of respect within the sect while keeping her a complete failure when it comes to pill crafting. But now… now she’s actually a monstrously strong pill cultivator! Or rather, it turns out she was all along, and I merely gave her a push in the correct direction to unlock her talents! Er… whoops! I never expected that my heart demon technique would be so powerful when used in a positive direction. I’d like to apologize to everyone in the Southern Sect Conference. I’ve let you down! I’ve let you all down!

Alright, alright. I’ve failed at my initial attempt, but that doesn’t mean I’ve failed forever. I just need to pivot! Yes, yes. The true sign of a prepared cultivator is the ability to pivot whenever things go wrong! And as long as I pivot now, I can still benefit from Xi Sanji becoming a powerful cultivator! Right… so assuming she gains all the skills she wanted and obtains the ability to create new pills at will, what I should do, is bring her to my side!

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I’m sure there’s a pill cultivation sect somewhere in the Southern Sect Conference, but the fact that it isn’t a prominent sect suggests to me that it’s not particularly stand-out when it comes to pill cultivation. Gaining a powerful pill cultivator could gain us an advantage, or at least give us more equal footing against Eight Tiers Palace.

Besides, based on her background, it sounds like Xi Sanji isn’t too pleased with the Eight Tiers Palace. It’s true that it’s her ancestor who fought, and it sounds like the sect Elders caved quickly, so it’s not likely that she actually saw the fighting… but then again, who knows? Depending on when it got absorbed and how old Xi Sanji is, it’s completely possible that she was alive for it. I still doubt it, but who knows? Not me! Still, the fact that her sect got unwillingly absorbed is a good place to start. It means this attempt isn’t entirely dead in the water from the beginning. It has a chance!

As he thought, Wan Lu gestured. The circulating liquid split into tiny droplets, equal in number to the cultivators slumbering below them. He flicked his hand, and the droplets flew forth, each one landing in the mouth of a sleeping cultivator.

Hui held his breath. Even if Wan Lu said it was a perfect Awakening Elixir, I still can’t help but be nervous! This is something Xi Sanji made, after all.

Beside Wan Lu, a few of the cultivators he’d brought along with him gave him uncertain glances, clearly sharing Hui’s anxiety. Only Wan Lu stood there like a stone, totally unaffected.

A cough rang out. One of the cultivators sat up, rubbing his throat. He looked around, blinking rapidly in confusion.

Beside him, a female cultivator jolted to her feet, instinctively calling a weapon to hand as she turned, searching for the enemy.

Another cultivator let out a deep, mournful moan, slowly rubbing his eyes. “Ugh, I was sleeping so well…”

One by one, the cultivators woke up. As they all climbed to their feet and began reorienting themselves, Hui turned and chased after Xi Sanji. If she’s about to become a monster pill cultivator, I need to get on her good side ASAP! If she really is as displeased with Eight Tiers Palace as the things I heard indicate, then she’s a prime candidate to become an honorary Southern Sect Conference member… or at least someone we can call on in a pinch.

Ah, that reminds me of Xixing… I could always count on her to know what was wrong with Zhubi. Hmm, but she didn’t seem to like it much? Ah, oh well. Everyone knows pill cultivators are practically physicians, and since Zhubi’s a spirit beast, it’s not like there’s a doctor I can turn to. Naturally, Xixing is the one I relied on for his health!

Before him, the central point of the pill cultivators’ tier rose up. A sprawling group of houses with bowl-shaped layouts complete with broad central courtyards tangled together amidst the palaces’ support pillars. From above, where he flew on his practice sword, Hui could make out various plumes of smoke from the pill cultivators’ furnaces and cauldrons. A single tall pavilion stood out amidst the complexes, glittering from within. Hui frowned. Glittering? Is it full of treasure? I know I’m looking for the library, but… eh, I’ll stop by and take a look!

He flew over to the pavilion and alighted on one of the bannisters. Rather than treasures, glass boxes awaited him. Thousands of tiny glass boxes filled almost the entirety of the space. Each one held an herb of some sort, whether a branch, a leaf, a root, or some piece Hui couldn’t recognize. The herbs were all broken apart into their component pieces, and dense text filled the tiny placards beside each piece.

Hui blinked. It’s like a library for herbs! Wait, hold on. Is this the library?

Incredible! From what I remember from my novels, this is basically a pill cultivator’s wet dream. It’s too bad that I have no karma with pill cultivation, but even I can probably benefit from reading up about herbs. After all, if I ever encounter a dangerous one in the wild, I’ll be better off if I’m prepared! Cultivation herbs can have terrifying properties, after all. Anything from wiping your mind to stealing your soul is entirely possible!

Ah, though you usually have to enter extremely dangerous places to find herbs like that, so this small cultivator naturally hasn’t encountered many of them. Who voluntarily enters dangerous terrain? Fools who seek death, and no one!

Down below, Xi Sanji worked her way through the herbs from the ground up. Hui flew down beside her and joined her, slowly working through the displays. As he went, Xi Sanji grew further and further ahead of him, until he could barely see her.

Hui raised a hand to his eyes, peering after her. This is no good. I need more speed. More capacity!

Aha! I think it’s time for the mental clone technique again. After all, I promised Mortal I’d let him out. I might as well keep that promise!

So decided, Hui closed his eyes and reached out to his clones.