The village training grounds, once a place of earnest but clumsy sparring, had become a private stage for a master and his prodigy. Xiong Zhan’s voice was a low, steady rumble as he guided Ying Xia through the intricate forms of spear combat. The other guards, and even the curious villagers, had long since abandoned their spectating, drawn away by a sudden, joyous uproar from the village entrance.

  "Huh? Where have they all run off to?" Xiong Zhan muttered, rubbing his chin as the distant sound of cheering reached their ears. A slow smile of understanding spread across his face, and he smacked a fist against his open palm. "Oh! That's right. Senior Sister Jinyan is truly a genius…"

  Ying Xia paused, leaning on her spear as she tilted her head in confusion, her breath coming in sharp, focused pants. Before she could ask, a wave of villagers swept past the training grounds, their faces alight with a jubilant energy, all rushing towards the main gate. Leading them was Wen Renge, his usual weary expression replaced by a radiant, almost boyish grin.

  "I can't believe you made it to Stage 2 already, after just a few months in seclusion!" Renge exclaimed, clasping hands with the young man at the head of the returning group.

  "Of course! I, Lei Xiao, am not one to be left behind!" the young man boomed, his own smile just as bright. His aura, a confident and stable pulse of Qi, confirmed his new status. "Not bad yourself, Renge! You look stronger!"

  Behind him, nine other villagers followed, each one carrying themselves with a new, quiet confidence. The faint, shimmering auras of the Qi Sensing Realm's 1st Stage clung to them like a battle shroud. "Heh," Renge murmured, his gaze sweeping over them with pride. "Our guard will definitely become much stronger."

  Just as the celebration reached its peak, a hush fell over the crowd. Every head snapped forward, every back straightened, every hand cupped in a gesture of profound respect. Xia Jinyan had arrived.

  Her fiery orange eyes swept over the ten new cultivators, and she clapped her hands together, the sound sharp and final. "Bravo," she declared, her voice carrying an authority that was absolute. "You have all done well. I was expecting another result of three out of ten successors, but to see a complete ten out of ten… you have truly outdone yourselves!"

  One of the men looked up, his face a mask of earnest gratitude. "Young Master, if I may! Lei Xiao achieved the first stage much earlier than all of us! But he stayed behind to help us grow and taught us how to seek Qi more prominently!"

  Jinyan’s gaze shifted, landing on the young man at the 2nd stage. A flicker of genuine approval shone in her eyes. "Oh? Then you shall be rewarded with more pills. From now on, you will stand as the left hand of this village, alongside the right hand, Renge."

  A wave of pure, unadulterated joy washed over Lei Xiao’s face. He dropped to one knee, bowing his head low. "I, Lei Xiao, thank Young Master for this opportunity!"

  From the edge of the training grounds, Bi Kan watched the scene unfold, a jolt of dawning comprehension shooting through him. I see. This is what she made those lower-grade Qi Sensing pills for… then that means… they already have an alliance with Jinyan’s home sect. The thought was immediately followed by a wave of profound, humbling awe. He turned to face her as she began to walk away from the cheering crowd.

  "Senior Sister Jinyan, does that mean you've dealt with the bandits beforehand?"

  She nodded without breaking her stride. "Of course. When I first came, they were living in constant fear. A month went by before the bandits returned. I dealt with them easily." She glanced at the celebrating villagers, her expression one of cool, pragmatic satisfaction. "Then I began my experiments, giving them pills to unleash their potential. Those who reach the Qi Sensing Realm will be brought back to my sect."

  Bi Kan took an involuntary step back, his eyes widening as a single bead of sweat traced a path down his cheek. S-Such a grand contribution! That makes my recruiting of Dai and Lin's hunter village a small feat! To bring ten new disciples back to the sect… that is an astonishing achievement!

  "Senior Sister is truly beyond words," he said, his voice laced with a newfound, genuine respect. "Not only a master alchemist but a brilliant tactician as well!" An awkward laugh escaped him, his earlier frustration completely forgotten. "My respect for you has grown even greater, Senior Sister."

  A long, weary sigh came from Jinyan as she walked past him, her golden hair catching the afternoon sun. "Flattery won't get you anywhere with me, Junior Bi Kan." She paused, glancing back at him over her shoulder. "Now come. Let us continue our lessons."

  Bi Kan's slumped shoulders straightened. He watched her for a moment, his own ambition reignited, burning brighter and fiercer than ever before. He followed a few steps behind her, his gaze fixed on her back.

  I must learn her ways!

  "What?! How could Young Master have a disciple already!"

  The shout, sharp and laced with a venomous jealousy, ripped through the celebratory air. Lei Xiao, his face flushed with a mixture of pride and wounded arrogance, grit his teeth as he glared at Bi Kan. He felt his moment, his triumph in front of the woman he admired, had been stolen by this outsider.

  W-What… I know Xiao has always had a little crush on the Young Master, all that praising earlier was because he wanted to impress her, but he's overstepping his boundaries..! Wen Renge’s mind raced, a jolt of cold dread shooting through him. He placed a firm, cautionary hand on Xiao’s shoulder, pulling him back a step. "Hey! Don't be so disrespectful!"

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Smack!

  Lei Xiao violently slapped the hand away. "Get away from me!" His own hand balled into a tight fist before his finger shot out, jabbing accusingly at Bi Kan. "How could an outsider like you become her disciple?! You have no right! A homewrecker trying to steal her atten—"

  Thud.

  The sound was deep and sickening. Bi Kan’s fist was buried in the man’s gut. The air was driven from Lei Xiao’s lungs in a pained, strangled grunt, his arrogant tirade cut short.

  "You tread on thin ice," Bi Kan’s voice was a low, chilling whisper that held no heat, only the promise of absolute finality.

  Before Lei Xiao could even double over, Bi Kan’s hand shot downward, a blur of motion that guided Xiao’s head straight into the pavement.

  CRACK!

  A small spiderweb of cracks formed in the stone as Lei Xiao’s head connected, creating a small hole. He was out cold before he even hit the ground completely. Bi Kan stood over the unconscious form, his expression a mask of cold indifference. "It's one thing to be jealous," he stated to the stunned silence, "but to disrespect me any further? You think I'll let that slide?"

  Wen Renge’s panic overrode all other instincts. He threw himself between Bi Kan and his fallen friend, his hands raised in a desperate, placating gesture. "P-Please, Young Master Bi Kan, forgive him! He didn't know his place!"

  From the training grounds, Xiong Zhan simply crossed his arms, an appreciative grunt rumbling in his chest. "Heh, I knew he wasn't a pushover."

  Ying Xia, who had run over to see the commotion, let out a short, surprised laugh. "O-Oh! I didn't know Bi Kan was that prideful! Haha!" A wide, almost feral grin spread across her face. This was a side of him she hadn't seen before, and she found it thoroughly entertaining.

  Xia Jinyan slowly turned, a long, weary sigh escaping her lips. "Let it go, Bi Kan," she said, her voice carrying a note of finality. "You've punished him well enough. You have saved your face." That Lei Xiao, she thought, a flicker of annoyance in her tired eyes, does he not know not to insult someone so brashly? A fool.

  "Very well, Senior Sister," Bi Kan replied, his composure returning instantly. The cold killing intent vanished as if it had never been there. He turned to her, his expression now one of eager anticipation. "I'm ready for my lessons." He then followed Jinyan back towards her hut, leaving the aftermath in his wake.

  "D-Damn it, look what you've done," Wen Renge muttered, his shoulders slumping as he stared at his unconscious friend. He turned to the other newly ascended villagers, who were still frozen in a state of shocked disbelief. "That Young Master Bi Kan will surely hold you in contempt now." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Help me carry him! He's been knocked out cold!"

  The air in the small hut was thick with the scent of refining herbs and the almost palpable tension of intense concentration. Bi Kan sat before the obsidian furnace, his forehead beaded with sweat, his entire being focused on the delicate, chaotic dance of elements within. The concepts Xia Jinyan had hammered into him were a raging storm in his mind, a torrent of information that threatened to overwhelm him.

  "Ugh, too much information," he groaned, his head throbbing. He grit his teeth, forcing the swirling theories of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water into a semblance of order. "But I think… I’m getting the hang of it."

  With a final, delicate manipulation of his Qi, he cut the flow of energy. He let out a long, shuddering breath and slumped back, utterly spent. He slowly opened the cooling chamber, his heart a frantic drum against his ribs. There, nestled on the clean cloth, lay two perfectly formed, shimmering Qi-Recovery Pills.

  "Hah! They're no longer deformed!" A wave of pure, triumphant joy washed over him. He picked one up, his fingers tracing its smooth, flawless surface. "This time, skill was involved, not just luck! If it were purely luck, surely one of them would have been just ash!"

  A slender hand reached past him, plucking the other pill from the cloth. Jinyan popped it into her mouth without a word and sat, cultivating for a brief moment. She opened her eyes, her expression unreadable. "Hm. Not bad. You really are improving." She paused, her gaze sweeping over his exhausted, sweat-soaked form. "Despite the fact that the effort has nearly broken you."

  Bi Kan clutched his chest, the compliment a sharp blade coated in honey. He could feel his lip almost bleeding from how hard he was biting it back. "W-Way to wound my pride, Senior Sister."

  She simply scoffed. "I only say it as it is."

  How cruel… Bi Kan thought, but the sting of her words was already fading, replaced by the deep, satisfying warmth of his own progress. He shifted, looking up at her from his position on the floor. "Oh, right," he said, the purpose of his journey crashing back down on him. "I've been fooling around for so long I almost forgot my objective."

  His playful exhaustion vanished, replaced by a sharp, analytical focus. He crossed his legs, his eyes narrowing as he met Jinyan’s gaze. "Seeing as you've clashed with the bandits, do you or any of the villagers know anything more about them? Aside from their misdeeds, I have a feeling they are much more complicated than I think they are."

  Jinyan tilted her head, her fiery orange eyes staring off into the distance, as if recalling a half-forgotten memory. "How do you mean?"

  Bi Kan leaned his back against the wall, his posture relaxing but his mind sharp. "Well, for starters, it's quite obvious they're more organized than the usual rabble. That leads me to believe there's a mastermind pulling the strings. Not only that," he continued, laying out the pieces of the puzzle he had gathered, "I have intel that they capture slaves from villages and sell them to nobles and elite families across this region. But other than that, I have nothing."

  A long, weary sigh escaped Jinyan’s lips as she absently fiddled with the herbs on the table. "So that's all you know?" She finally looked at him. "I might have said I dealt with the bandit problem, but I actually ordered someone else to do my dirty work. If anyone has gathered information, it would be him and the villagers that helped alongside him."

  Bi Kan shot to his feet. "I see." Without another word, he excused himself and headed out, his next step now clear.

  As the door clicked shut behind him, Jinyan leaned back, a thoughtful expression on her face. Hmm, I wonder if Xiong Zhan gathered any more intel, she mused. I did hear he faced a Body Tempering Realm bandit. Paired with Bi Kan's intel… this is certainly a much more serious situation than I initially thought.

  Her gaze drifted towards the window, to the moon now hanging high in the night sky, a silent, silver sentinel. She had made enough pills. The perfect ten-out-of-ten succession of new cultivators was a resounding success. Her job here was done. She could finally return to the sect.