Aiden growled as he walked along the edge of the sparse trees barefoot. The small sharp pebbles poked into his feet and annoyed him. The first one made him throw on the sweet grass he was munching on, and the subsequent one attracted a new curse from him. They weren't hurting him, which must be because of the cultivation, but they were annoying to the core.

The softness of the grass invited him, the scent of the flowers enticed him, but he couldn't walk on the grass. In the first five minutes, he had seen some weird insects and snakes rustling through the grass, giving him creeps, so he avoided it all together. If only he had the long leather shoes, he could have run along the route.

There were many ifs in this new life. If only he didn't have to go to Alchemy Hall to give this exam. If he hadn't saved Xu Ma's life and later taken it by his own hand. If only he had a better body so far and so less. However, he had decided he would give this life a try. Xu Ma taught him there were second chances, and he would give it a try.

He believed it would be worth to play to his strengths.

Sifting through Li An's memories last night, Aiden uncovered a crucial task due today—one the original Li An had neglected.

Li An was a pig. Well, he shouldn't be cursing the one who helped him to live on by sacrificing his own life by mistake, but Aiden couldn't say white to black, or red to a yellow. Li An was a pig. That was the truth.

For the last two years, Li An was part of the Alchemy Hall, but he hadn't passed the yearly exam every cultivator had to give, and he had prepared nothing. Li An's plan was to reach peak of the Refinement Realm, and run away from the sect. The fool didn't know that he would have been killed in a few days after deserting the sect. This came from the memories of old man Li.

Stopping at a cross-section, Aiden squatted and picked a flower from the side of the road. It was a Purple Cicada Pearl, and it was used in a Thermal Protection Potion used by miners.

"Alchemy Fire." A thin layer of blue flame covered the flower, wilting it slowly. The scent of the flower vanished as the flower turned into a mound of dark brown ashes. For outsiders, this would be a loss of a nice-looking flower, but for him, this was an essential test for his new skill, Alchemy Fire.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Sneering, Aiden blew away the ashes and revealed a small marble like structure which could be used as an ingredient.

System: You have identified an unknown herb. Purple Cicada Pearl. You have learned Herb Identification.

Herb Identification +1.

System: Do you want to deconstruct Herb Identification? Yes/No.

Aiden clicked on no. He didn't feel it was worth using one of his Deconstruction on a simple skill like this. It might come up with some surprising options like Alchemy Fire, but if it didn't come up, he would be wasting a good skill.

"This is interesting. Bloody interesting," he murmured. In old man Li's memories, he found the description of this skill. It was an alchemist skill which came at a high level, but he learned it so easily in the Refinement Realm. It must be because of his Holy Alchemist class compatibility. It had to be it. Well, he knew the herb and how to refine it because he had old man Li's memories. Old man Li was an Alchemy Hall head, and he knew a lot of things, which was already proving useful for him.

Smiling, he picked up another flower. This cemented his decision to live a good life in the sect for a few more days. The time he spent planning his future last night was well spent.

Last night he had thought about this, and came to a conclusion that living as Li An with old man Li's memories would open up new doors for him, and he could gain a lot of power by just living a normal life.

For now.

Revenge still burned in his mind - he'd definitely get payback once he became strong enough. And he was determined to gain that strength, whatever it took. Only by becoming powerful could he reclaim the life that was stolen from him back on Earth. If he'd had power there, he wouldn't have been tossed aside as a pawn in someone else's scheme, or used as a lab rat in those final days. He clenched his fists, resolve hardening within him.

"Brother An, what are you doing here?" A voice caught his attention, causing him to spin around. There stood a cute girl, her pink top contrasting with dark slacks. Twin braids draped over her shoulders, framing a face adorned with a warm smile and thin red lips. "Heavens, I never thought I would find you as soon as I come back from the dungeon."

Lan Yueya

A name played in his mind, and the smile he was preparing vanished from his face. Why the fuck was she here? He was supposed to live a normal life for a few days and here she was, trying to ruin his plan the very first day.

God, what did he do wrong to meet a girl like her at this moment?