The next morning, Bia Yuzhen was summoned to the family's storehouse. He already had a pretty good idea why. Inside, his grandfather sat with two elders and the steward who managed the family's assets. No one looked stressed, but nobody seemed exactly relaxed either. On the table between them lay a list, a jade token, and a small black ring.
Yuzhen stopped a few steps away and bowed. "Grandfather."
Bia Zhenyuan looked up. "Sit."
Yuzhen sat down.
For a moment, no one said anything.
The old steward finally broke the silence. "Young Master, the Family Head has ordered us to prepare everything you might need for your cultivation recovery. That includes weapons, herbs, spirit stones, protective artifacts, and basic supplies."
Yuzhen glanced at the list. It was long. Way too long. That was just how his grandfather operated. He wouldn't say much directly in front of others, but he'd make sure you got more than enough through his actions.
Yuzhen lowered his eyes for a second, then looked back up. "Thank you, Grandfather."
Bia Zhenyuan waved it off. "The family has supported you for fifteen years. You don't need to thank me for doing what I should."
One of the elders let out a soft snort. "If you really want to thank the family, then stop scaring us every few months." The words were blunt, but not unkind. Yuzhen almost smiled. "I'll try." The elder shot him a look that clearly said he wasn't buying it.
Bia Zhenyuan tapped the table once. "Choose what you need."
Yuzhen carefully read through the list. Spirit stones. Common healing pills. Cultivation chambers. A defensive robe. Low-level spirit weapons. A few travel artifacts. Access to the herb storage. Furnace options.
His eyes lingered on "Furnace options." He kept his expression neutral.
The steward noticed. "Is the Young Master interested in alchemy?"
"You can't just wield a sword forever," Yuzhen replied calmly.
The elder on the left raised an eyebrow. "A new hobby?"
"A new direction," Yuzhen answered.
This brought a hush to the room. It wasn't out of disapproval, but more out of understanding. A new direction meant he'd come to terms with the fact that things couldn't go back to how they were.
Bia Zhenyuan studied him for a long moment. "Why alchemy?"
Yuzhen had anticipated this question. He had his reasons: it suited his elemental affinity, it provided cover, and he had a hidden library spirit guiding him. But he only offered a practical explanation. "My wood-fire roots are well-suited for it. Besides, if I only focus on combat, my path will become too narrow. Alchemy can support both my cultivation and the family."
That answer was solid enough to satisfy everyone present. One elder nodded immediately. "That's sensible." The other elder added, "Even if you don't become a master, knowing the basics will be helpful."
Bia Zhenyuan remained silent for a moment, then pushed the jade token across the table. "Take this to the third storehouse room. You can select one basic furnace and a reasonable amount of herbs."
The steward's mouth twitched. He clearly wanted to ask what "reasonable" meant when it came to the Family Head's favorite grandson, but wisely decided against it. Yuzhen picked up the token, feeling its coolness in his hand.
His grandfather looked at him again. "If you're going to do this, do it properly. Don't just dabble for a few days and then lose interest."
Yuzhen met his eyes. "I won't." That, at least, was the absolute truth.
After Yuzhen left the room, the steward personally led him to the third storehouse. The Bia family's storehouse was so vast that even the "third room" was larger than the treasury of some smaller clans. Shelves lined the walls, filled with neatly stacked boxes and jars. Herbs were kept behind formation glass, and weapons rested on separate racks. Towards the back, several furnaces sat on raised stone platforms.
The steward clasped his hands behind his back. "You may look around, Young Master. If you'd like some advice, I can fetch Elder Qin from the family alchemy room."
"No need for now," Yuzhen said. "I'll look around first." The steward nodded and stepped back.
Yuzhen walked directly to the furnaces. There were seven on display. A red-bronze furnace with carved flame patterns. A dark iron furnace designed for stability over speed. A pale green one that looked expensive but a bit gaudy. Two practical black furnaces. A silver furnace clearly meant for someone wealthier or more skilled than he could openly admit to being. And in the corner, an old brown furnace that looked almost plain.
Yuzhen stopped in front of the old brown one. The steward looked surprised. "The Young Master likes that one?" Yuzhen rested a hand lightly on the lid. The metal felt cool and was heavier than it appeared.
"It's stable," he said. The steward blinked, then after a pause, nodded. "It is. This one belonged to an old guest alchemist the family hosted years ago. It's not the prettiest, but it holds heat evenly and doesn't easily reject spiritual energy."
That was precisely why Xiaoren had advised him to choose something ordinary. Not weak, just ordinary. If he'd picked the best furnace available, it would have raised too many questions later.
"This one," Yuzhen decided. The steward bowed slightly. "Understood."
Next, Yuzhen moved to the herb shelves. He chose carefully, not taking too much. Spirit grass for replenishing qi. Clearheart leaves. Small marrow root. Blue dew petals. A few meridian-calming stems. Some lower-level binding vines. Two types of common neutral herbs that could be used in multiple recipes. Nothing rare. Nothing attention-grabbing. Just enough to appear as a young master seriously trying out alchemy without seeming ridiculous.
The steward watched all of this with growing surprise. By the time Yuzhen finished, the man couldn't help himself. "Has the Young Master studied before?"
"A little," Yuzhen replied. That wasn't entirely a lie; he had spent the previous night studying until his head ached. The steward looked at the chosen herbs again. "These are... practical."
Yuzhen gave him a neutral look. "Should I have chosen decorative flowers instead?" The steward coughed. "That's not what I meant." Yuzhen's mouth tilted up ever so slightly. "I know."
The black ring from the table was also sent with him. It turned out to be a low-grade storage ring. It wasn't huge, but it was enough for a furnace, herbs, clothes, and some travel items. By midday, he was back in his courtyard with all his new possessions.
His room suddenly looked different. The furnace sat by the inner wall near the window. The herbs were sorted into boxes on the shelf. The ring rested on the table next to his brush and inkstone. Two bottles of common recovery pills lay nearby. A pouch of low-grade spirit stones had been left under the token. It all felt real now. Not like some secret miracle. Not like a ruined young master clinging to a sliver of hope. It felt like a proper beginning.
Yuzhen stood there for a long moment, taking in the setup. Then he closed the door, checked the formation on the windows, and entered the pendant space. Xiaoren was waiting by the spring. It took one look at Yuzhen, then at the furnace he'd brought in, and gave a short nod. "At least you listened."
Yuzhen placed the furnace on the grass. "Did you expect me not to?"
"I expected you to be tempted by something expensive and foolish."
Yuzhen ignored that. "I brought herbs too."
"I can see that." Xiaoren walked around the furnace once, then slapped its side with one tiny hand. The metal let out a low hum. "This will do." That, apparently, was high praise. Yuzhen let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
Xiaoren turned sharply. "Don't just stand there. Sit." Yuzhen sat cross-legged in front of the furnace. "The first thing you learn," Xiaoren said, "isn't pill formulas. Not yet. First, you learn the furnace."
Yuzhen rested his hands on his knees. "I know that much."
"No," Xiaoren said flatly, "you *think* you know that much."
And then it began. For the next several hours inside the space, Xiaoren taught him nothing glamorous. How different metals conduct heat. How to channel spiritual energy into the furnace without it resisting. How to detect subtle shifts in internal temperature. How one careless breath at the wrong moment could ruin an entire batch. How some herbs needed steady warmth while others required sudden spikes. How an impatient alchemist wasted more than just herbs.
Yuzhen listened. Then he practiced. Then he was corrected. Then he practiced again. By the fifth attempt at controlling the inner flame formation, sweat had soaked through the back of his robe. By the eighth, his head started to ache. By the tenth, the furnace let out a sharp burst of heat that nearly singed his sleeve. Xiaoren didn't even blink. "Again."
Yuzhen frowned. "You could at least pretend to be encouraging."
"I *am* encouraging. I haven't called you hopeless yet." That earned a tired huff from him. He kept going. When Xiaoren finally let him stop, he sat there breathing hard, one hand braced on the ground. The furnace in front of him was warm, stable, and finally responding to him instead of fighting him. Barely, but still.
Xiaoren folded its arms. "Not terrible." Yuzhen looked up. "That sounded like it pained you."
"It did." He laughed then, a short, quiet, but genuine laugh. Xiaoren stared at him for a second, then looked away first. "We'll start herb recognition again tomorrow. Then extraction. If you can't separate essence cleanly, don't even think about making pills."
Yuzhen nodded and glanced towards the spring. "How long will that take?"
"Inside? Half a day." Yuzhen's expression shifted immediately. "Outside?"
"Not even that much. Relax." He didn't fully relax. That was the problem with this place; it gave him time, but it also made him greedy for more. He could already feel the pull. One more hour. One more lesson. One more batch. One more try. Xiaoren saw it on his face instantly. "Go out."
Yuzhen frowned. "I can still continue."
"That's exactly why you need to go out." He hated that the little thing was right. Yuzhen stood, brushed off his sleeves, and looked one last time at the furnace. When he'd brought it in, it was just an object. Now it felt like the first real step. Not a pill. Not a breakthrough. Not some miraculous shortcut. A setup. A quiet one. A believable one. Something he could build on without drawing the entire world's attention too soon.
Before leaving, he fed ten low-grade spirit stones to the spring. He did it carefully, one by one. Each stone disappeared the moment it touched the water, swallowed without a ripple. Only a faint light spread beneath the surface, as if something deep down had opened an eye and then closed it again. Yuzhen stared at the glow. "So it really eats them."
Xiaoren snorted. "Did you think I was joking?"
"Ten stones did almost nothing."
"What were you expecting?" Xiaoren asked. "A palace? More land? A heavenly storm?" Yuzhen didn't answer. Xiaoren smirked. "Bring more." That, more than anything, made the path ahead feel clear. Cultivate. Learn alchemy. Earn spirit stones. Grow the space. Hide what needed hiding. Get stronger. Simple when laid out like that. Hard in every way that mattered.
When Yuzhen returned to his room, the late sunlight had just begun to shift across the floor. He looked at the furnace by the wall. The herb boxes. The ring on the table. Then he sat down, pulled a fresh sheet of paper toward him, and wrote three things:
Learn the furnace.
Refine the first pill.
Earn more spirit stones.
He stared at the words for a while, then added a fourth. Reach Cangyuan Sect stronger than anyone expects. This time, when he put the brush down, he smiled. Just a little. For the first time since his foundation was ruined, the road ahead no longer looked like something he had to survive. It looked like something he could take.