"Here you go, Xiao Hua. There are plenty of medicinal ingredients and books to start your alchemy journey. Naturally, there are also basic recipes for you to try once you've finished reading and completed your first css."

  Elder Huo handed a Storage Ring to Xiao Hua. Inside, it contained various resources, including medicinal herbs and pill recipes for alchemy. Books, scrolls, and pills of various grades for cultivation were also within.

  "Isn't this a Storage Ring? Isn't this a bit too much, Master?" Xiao Hua was surprised by the generous gift and looked up at Elder Huo.

  Seeing his reaction, Elder Huo ughed. "As my disciple and one of the most talented students in Jia Nan Academy, you deserve this much. Besides, this is merely a medium-grade Storage Ring, so it might seem excessive, but it's not really. Ahahaha!"

  'It's not that, Master... It's just that I already have a medium-grade Storage Ring that I received from the System.' Xiao Hua wanted to mention that he already had one, but when he looked up and saw Elder Huo's warm and happy expression, he couldn't bring himself to say it.

  "Thank you, Master!" Xiao Hua awkwardly expressed his gratitude. After all, Elder Huo had given him this as a symbol of their apprenticeship, so he couldn’t just say nothing.

  "Fufufufu." Xiao Xun Er giggled softly, but Xiao Hua heard her and shot her a stern, annoyed gre, causing her to turn away. Her shoulders, still shaking, betrayed that she was trying to suppress her ughter.

  'Now that I think about it, I told her that I have a medium-grade Storage Ring from my parents’ secret stash that they hid from the Xiao Cn.'

  Xiao Hua remembered the time he expined to Xiao Xun Er how he obtained the medium-grade Storage Ring, though he had to feign ignorance about the grade of the ring, as it would have been suspicious for him to know such details.

  Elder Huo raised an eyebrow in confusion but shook his head, thinking it might be something between them. He decided to move on to the matter at hand.

  "Now, I want to discuss something with both of you," Elder Huo said, gncing at the middle-aged instructor in the room.

  "Since everything is settled, I shall take my leave, Elder Huo." The middle-aged instructor understood the implication and left, leaving only Xiao Hua, Xiao Xun Er, and Elder Huo.

  “First of all, what is your true cultivation realm, Xiao Hua?” Elder Huo decided to be direct now that he was Xiao Hua's teacher and master.

  Xiao Hua was surprised by the sudden question. He had expected Elder Huo to beat around the bush, but it seemed he chose to ask directly since he had become his disciple. With nothing to hide, Xiao Hua decided to be honest.

  “Master, I’m a 3-Star Master and about to break through to 4-Star Master,” Xiao Hua replied.

  Hiss!

  Elder Huo couldn't help but inhale sharply. After all, Xiao Hua was just five years old and already a 3-Star Master. He hesitated, unsure if he should ask more, as everyone has their own cultivation methods.

  “I know what you’re thinking, Master. However, I don’t mind sharing. If you want, I can tell you more about it,” Xiao Hua offered.

  “No, there’s no need. However, I hope it won’t harm you now or in the future. If it ever troubles you, don’t hesitate to tell your Master. Do you understand, Xiao Hua?” Elder Huo shook his head, declining the offer.

  Elder Huo felt pleased with Xiao Hua's sincerity. The fact that Xiao Hua was willing to share his secrets was enough for him to trust his student and not press further.

  “Now, Xiao Xun Er. If you don’t mind, could you tell me about your Heavenly Fme?” Elder Huo inquired.

  “Of course, Elder Huo. Although my Heavenly Fme is just a seed fme, it belongs to the 4th rank in the Heavenly Fme Ranking: the Gold Emperor Incinerating Heavenly Fme,” Xiao Xun Er answered truthfully.

  “The Gold Emperor Incinerating Heavenly Fme?! Just a seed fme?! That’s the fourth-ranked Heavenly Fme, you damn ss! How did you survive absorbing such powerful fme?!” Elder Huo was amazed and wondered how she managed to absorb such a powerful and dangerous fme, knowing it could have severely harmed her.

  “I won’t go into details, but I owe it all to Brother Xiao Hua~~! Fufufu!” Xiao Xun Er giggled while gazing at Xiao Hua lovingly. Xiao Hua cmped his mouth shut and looked away, his face slowly turning red.

  Understanding the situation, Elder Huo shook his head and rubbed the top of his head. “Now I see why you always stick close to Xiao Hua. Nevertheless, this is shocking news. We thought we were recruiting two geniuses with monstrous talent, but it turns out we accidentally recruited two monsters favored by heaven itself…”

  ‘Favored by heaven? If being struck by Heavenly Lightning and troubled by the Heavenly Fme is heaven’s way of showing love, then that’s a unique and insufferable way of showing love. Granted, it benefits us both, but still…’

  Xiao Hua and Xiao Xun Er exchanged gnces and couldn’t help but smile wryly. Having suffered from heaven’s trials, they found it hard to say they were truly loved by it.

  Elder Huo realized something and coughed awkwardly. Naturally, with their talents and the fact that Xiao Hua possessed the Heavenly Suppression Band while Xiao Xun Er possessed a 'Seed Fme' of the 4th Heavenly Fme, it was clear they had endured their fair share of horrible and painful experiences.

  “Anyway, you may return to your dormitory and begin your training. I’ll inform the instructors overseeing your csses to exempt you from them. After all, given your realm, they’d be of little use anywa.” Elder Huo said before leaving the room with Xiao Hua and Xiao Xun Er.

  ---

  After bidding farewell from Elder Huo and Xiao Xun Er, Xiao Hua returned to his room and look at the Storage Ring given to him by Elder Huo and using his spiritual perception, he scanned its contents. Just like he said, there are a variety of resources that help with alchemy and cultivation.

  However, he was only curious about the resources for alchemy. For the cultivation, he has received, from the Huang Css High Level to Xuan Css High Level, Dou Technique and Dou Qi Method. In addition, he realized that most of the Dou Technique that Elder Huo have given him doesn't really fit his style, especially most of them uses sabers and spears.

  'While it's true that I'm pnning to max out my spearmanship and swordsmanship in the Talent section, sabers are another matter. Besides, I doubt I'll have many opportunities to use weapons—the future Xiao Yan and Lin Dong hardly ever do. Moreover, these Dou Techniques and Qi Methods, which are highly coveted by the Xiao Cn, were simply gifted to me...'

  Xiao Hua mented inwardly as he looked at these high-level Dou Technique. Once again, he realized how small Xiao Family is and decided to at least master some of them before sending them to Xiao Family.

  Xiao Hua shook his head and turned his attention to his ACP. From the past few months, waiting for Jia Nan Academy’s Admission Period, and few days to wait to reach Jia Nan Academy, he was able to upgrade the ACP Rate only once, from 10ACP/6 hours to 10ACP/1 hour.

  ‘Damn System! You should call yourself an extorting system instead!’ Xiao Hua cursed the System, yet as usual it was unresponsive. Seeing that nothing changed, Xiao Hua couldn’t help but wondered when he could actually buy these Primordial Heavenly Fme.

  Seeing these upgrades cost for ACP Rate, he feels like the System is trying to tell him get stronger first before buying any of the Primordial Heavenly Fme.

  ‘Basically, Xiao Yan has Yao Lao, his master, as a chain and supporter while I have a System that’s equivalent to it… Fine! When I’m strong enough, I want to see whether you can and how you going stop me System!’

  After grunting for a while, he took out a couple of books that would help him with alchemy. However, he remembered that there was a sequel of Battle Through The Heaven that shows Yao Lao story.

  ‘If I remembered correctly that sequel expins that every pill that created by the alchemist will always have a unique medicinal property. However, what most book records are only the main properties of the pill and never cover the usage of lesser ingredients to make good pills.’

  After contempting a while, he decided to only read it to gain knowledge and experience. Train himself to understand the ingredients then gain more experience. Only then will he be qualified to experiment with whatever in between the recipe.

  Nevertheless, this really shows how good Elder Huo was really a good master. He doesn’t really hesitate to give these resources to Xiao Hua, who he just accepted and become his student. Xiao Hua determined to be successful in alchemy for the sake of Elder Huo.

  ---

  The next day, after escorting Xiao Xun Er to her css—something that proved challenging due to her sadness and loneliness without him—Xiao Hua headed to the Alchemy Department to find Elder Huo, who was already waiting for him near the front door.

  “Xiao Hua greets Master,” Xiao Hua said respectfully, bowing before Elder Huo.

  Elder Huo saw Xiao Hua approach, stroked his beard, and smiled warmly, clearly pleased with his disciple’s manners.

  “Oh! You’re here, my good disciple. Come in and sit down. The first thing you must do as an Alchemist is familiarize yourself with pill refining. No matter how talented one may be, Alchemy is all about experience and repeated effort.”

  Elder Huo led him inside and immediately began the lesson. He was eager to start, preferring to quickly test Xiao Hua's refining skills.

  Success in pill refining doesn’t come on the first try, no matter how much aptitude or talent one has in Alchemy. Elder Huo wanted to wrap up the theoretical part of the lesson quickly, so he could observe his disciple in action, offer advice, and help resolve any issues.

  To Elder Huo, csses were merely for teaching general and basic knowledge, which could just as easily be obtained from books. This view was shared by many experienced instructors, regardless of their field.

  What truly interested them was their students' hands-on experience and techniques. Knowledge and talent were secondary. If a student could successfully complete their task, they had no problem. If they failed, then the teacher would offer guidance and insights.

  That was their way of teaching!

  “So, for today’s css, we’ll start with the Art of Refining. However, since you haven’t been exposed to pill refining before, I’ll begin by giving you some general knowledge and a demonstration. The first thing you need is, of course, a medicinal cauldron. Just as a warrior needs a weapon and a schor needs a pen, an Alchemist needs a medicinal cauldron. It’s indispensable for us."

  “The more fire outlets a cauldron has, the higher its tier, and the rarer it becomes. But don’t think that simply making more holes will add outlets. That would show a ck of understanding of the mysteries behind them. However, having many outlets doesn’t make pill refining easy. It also requires a strong soul perception to control these multiple outlets."

  “Next, we need to discuss fmes. The fmes we Alchemists use are created from our own Dou Qi. Even the lowest-tier pills require Dou Practitioner cultivation, which you have already achieved and surpassed.”

  Elder Huo’s smile widened with excitement. Xiao Hua was his first disciple, and he wanted to show the demeanor of a true master and teacher.

  Xiao Hua raised his hand and asked, “Master, aside from fmes produced by one's own cultivation, can an Alchemist absorb and use an external fme? Like Xun’er’s Heavenly Fme?”

  Elder Huo nodded. “Yes, you’re correct. For us Alchemists, the best fmes are the Heavenly Fmes, naturally bred by the energy of heaven and earth. This is just between us, but Jia Nan Academy does possess a Heavenly Fme, though it’s of a lower rank than the one your girl possesses."

  ‘Not just one, Elder Huo. There are two, both the same Heavenly Fme—the Fallen Heart Fme. Though one is just a fme seed possessed by Yao Tian Huo,’ Xiao Hua thought to himself.

  Since he knew the background of Jia Nan Academy, it was only natural that he knew about the Heavenly Fmes it possessed and the one hidden within the magma world beneath the academy.

  In addition, further down in that same underground magma world y the Tou She Ancient God Mansion, containing a fragment of the memory of Tou She Ancient God himself!

  This mansion was what the Eight Ancient Cns had sought for generations, never realizing it was hidden in a pce they considered insignificant. It was also the main reason the Hun Cn destroyed the Shi, Ling, and Yao Cns of the Eight Ancient Cns, stealing their Tou She Ancient God Jade Fragments to locate the mansion.

  ‘Haaa… It seems I cannot avoid fighting against the Hun Cn and the Hall of Souls, as a student of Jia Nan Academy and a member of the Xiao Family.’

  Xiao Hua sighed inwardly as he began to accept his fate—fighting against the Hun Cn and the Hall of Souls. His dual identity, along with his exceptional cultivation and alchemy talent, would inevitably draw the Hall of Souls' attention to him.