Behind the secluded staff counter at the edge of the ground-floor lobby, Jun Li and the senior alchemist looked over the spoils of their transaction.

  Jun Li was stuffing taels of Purple Jade into her various Spatial Rings, finding gaps to fill wherever she could. The senior alchemist, on the other hand, was holding the Jade Slip that Jun Li had recorded her batch-production method on and letting out a huff of incredulity every few moments as he read more and more of her method.

  "I suppose this bodes pretty well for me making a name for myself…" Jun Li spoke offhandedly, drawing her senior's attention. "You want fame?" He paused for a moment, contemplating Jun Li's nature. "...That shouldn't be too hard for you. In fact, there might be a good opportunity coming up in a month."

  "Oh yeah?" Jun Li spoke casually. The courtesies of seniority had been undermined from the moment the two realized the discrepancy between their learnings as alchemists.

  "To be quite honest, I've not paid much attention to it myself, but there's a large event that has the whole Tian'an Stadium booked." His train of thought was interrupted suddenly by a realization. "Oh, the Tian'an Stadium is the largest venue in the city, to be clear. I forgot you're new here."

  "It's a contest that our Branch Director is organizing, and it's set to draw in alchemists from a dozen Sects and Alchemists' Association Branches." He stowed his new Jade Slip and shrugged as he spoke, projecting his disinterest in the event. "A lot of people seem invested in it, but I doubt there's much value in it for someone like me. Competition is restricted to under-fifties, and I don't think I can learn much by just watching."

  "Is it hard to get in?" Jun Li quickly identified the most pressing question. "Oh no, not at all. The more delusional idiots they have crowding the venue, the better their promising young geniuses look. They have no motive to deny even the most vague and nameless of entrants."

  "Normally…" The senior alchemist continued. "...I'd say you should try and register early, maybe even try to make some connections, put yourself in a position to get some easy wins and stand out… But I think it's obvious you don't need to rely on that sort of thing."

  "Just show up on the day of the event, and I'm sure you'll naturally make an impact." His honest words somewhat surprised Jun Li. "That's some high praise… You think my skills would stand out that much?"

  "Definitely… I can't imagine you'd be the best alchemist at the event; there are bound to be plenty of people with decades more experience than you… But your methods are too remarkable to ignore." He winced at the thought. "In fact, you might draw more attention than you care to. Just think twice before you show off to such a large crowd of influential alchemists."

  "I'll keep that in mind…" Jun Li's number one priority was sending out an unmistakable signal for her master, Zhu Enlai, to find. But if she died or made a great deal of trouble for him in the process, it wouldn't be worth it. 'It sounds like a good opportunity, but I need to be careful…'

  "...Well, I have plenty of time, so I'll focus on my Cultivation in the meantime." Although Jun Li considered asking for recommendations on where to spend her newfound funds, she felt it would have been a unique sort of discourtesy, considering the former nature of those funds.

  Instead, her mind drifted to a more particular question. "Before I leave, I wanted to ask… I saw a pagoda when I was travelling here from the city's lower tiers. Everything around it seemed deserted, but the pagoda itself seemed to be in good condition. What is that place? I was almost tempted to just walk in and look around."

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  Hearing that last sentence, the senior alchemist's eyes widened, and he laughed nervously. "Oh, that's… It must be hard to imagine, but you almost died there." The very mention of the pagoda seemed to elicit a visceral reaction from the man.

  "That pagoda is… how do I put this…? A popular suicide destination, perhaps?" Seeing Jun Li's skeptical expression, the senior alchemist continued. "That pagoda is older than the city, as I understand it, and it used to be a location of great interest, with many influential organizations vying for control of the land around it."

  "It was left there, allegedly, by an Arihant, a living martial god, who left this world millennia ago. And, also allegedly, it contains some part of their legacy, left behind for a worthy soul to inherit… Hah!" He scoffed openly at the idea. "As if…! Thousands of well-recorded years have passed, and countless fools, geniuses and the desperate alike have walked through those doors and never been seen again."

  "If you ask me, that place is a bad joke, a trap left behind out of sheer malice. And don't go thinking my opinion is out of the ordinary here, there's a reason nobody wants to go anywhere near that place anymore… unless all they want is to die quietly and without a trace."

  "...I'd like to think it was some sort of intuition that kept me from walking into that place, but… that's fairly bleak." Jun Li scratched her head, visibly becoming frustrated. "...maybe they should put a damn sign up…"

  The two were quiet for a moment, trying not to contemplate Jun Li's unknowing brush with death too deeply. "...Do you know if this branch stocks any Spiral Shell Chestnuts or Winter Lotus Seeds?"

  Eagerly taking Jun Li's offered change of subject, the senior alchemist answered. "Oh, I think I've seen them around! I'll run you through how to skip the queue. We have clerks specifically for the needs of our in-house alchemists."

  … … … … … …

  Leaving the Alchemist's Association Branch behind, Jun Li was almost unsure what to do next. She had gained a great sum of money, and she had refreshed her stock of Medicinal Plants, the likes of which could reinforce the frost aspect of her Qi that had faded over time.

  Even more, the next time she returned, the certification of an officially licenced 'Alchemist of the Association' would be waiting for her. On the other end, she had only lost an hour of time and the cauldron she had left in the poisoned demonstration room.

  If it had been the Jun Li of a few months ago, she would have immediately immersed herself in Cultivation for a month, waiting until the event her senior had mentioned was almost upon her.

  However, profound fatigue, the likes of which had caused her some concern in the demonstration room, now dulled her will. Looking out over the busy streets, watching the many people who walked without hurried steps, Jun Li hesitated.

  'I could try to return to the Murong Clan's estate… they'd probably let me stay for a while. I could try to find my own place, or even leave the city, and…' She let out a sigh, willfully allowing her train of thought to derail. 'Why do I feel so… dull?'

  Stumbling off with intentionless steps, Jun Li retraced the path she had taken on her way to the Alchemist's Association Branch. 'Come on… You have something important to do, don't you?' Her mind turned to her family in the Zhao Kingdom, and the impossibility of her return. An impossibility that could only be overturned with extreme power.

  Yet, in this moment, even that failed to light ambition in her heart. It was as if her heart was made of sodden kindling, utterly incapable of supporting the flame of motivation. 'Everything's going well… so why do I feel so stagnant? Why does it feel like I'm forgetting something important…?'

  Even as she allowed her feet carried her back in the direction of the deserted pagoda, Jun Li could not identify the contrasting sentiments and desires that had begun to seep into her soul from outside… nor could she reconcile them.