Dual Cultivation

After consuming an Appearance Reforming Pill and changing his face to the mature Su Yang, he said to Bai Lihua, "Now that you have recovered, and since you have already learned how to concoct pills by yourself, I am going to skip the basics and focus on your alchemy skills. Therefore, I am going to watch you concoct pills and see what you need to improve on."

"Once you have reached an acceptable level in pill concocting, I will begin teaching you the more advanced techniques."

"I understand." Bai Lihua nodded.

Sometime later, Bai Lihua brought Su Yang to another building that was recently renovated just so she could concoct pills there without bothering the other disciples and vice versa.

After the preparations, Bai Lihua sat before the cauldron and began concocting an Elementary-grade pill, the Minor Spirit Refreshment Pill.

"..."

Su Yang stared at Bai Lihua with a sharp gaze and watched her every movement while she concocted the pills, even remaining silent when he spotted mistakes.

One hour… two hours… three hours…

Eight long hours have passed since Bai Lihua began concocting the Elementary-grade pill yet she showed no signs of finishing the pill any time soon. Of course, this did not mean Bai Lihua had no talent in alchemy. In fact, it was quite the opposite, as the average Alchemists in this world usually require over 12 hours to concoct the lowest grade pills with some even taking an entire day.

After another hour of effort, Bai Lihua finally retrieved her alchemy flames and opened the cauldron a moment later, taking out a grey colored pill from within.

"What do you think, Su Yang?" she asked him with a slightly proud expression on her face.

However, Su Yang merely glanced at the pill before speaking in a nonchalant voice, "How can you act so proud after producing that rubbish?"

"R-Rubbish?!" Bai Lihua's eyes widened with shock, as she didn't expect him to respond in such a rude manner.

"If that is not rubbish, I don't know what is. Even a starving dog wouldn't even dare to eat that pill if you fed it." Su Yang said.

"You don't have to be so rude…" she said with a frown.

"Rude? I am merely telling you the truth. A pill that cannot be consumed is no different from trash that cannot be recycled. If that is not rubbish then what is?" Su Yang shook his head before continuing, "I am here to lecture you, not to praise your failures. If you want positive feedback, you should make something worthy of praises."

"..."

Although Bai Lihua disliked his attitude, she could not refute his words.

'You're even stricter than me when it comes to lecturing our disciples,' she sighed inwardly.

"Anyway, you can toss that trash to the side. I am now going to tell you everything you did wrong or could have done better so listen up."

Su Yang proceeded to explain to her every mistake she made from the moment she sat down till the moment she retrieved the pill from the cauldron. Once Bai Lihua realized her mistakes, Su Yang began telling her how she can improve or fix her mistakes.

Many minutes later, Su Yang said to her, "Go ahead and concoct another Minor Spirit Refreshment Pill."

Bai Lihua nodded with a serious expression before facing the cauldron once again.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Seven hours later, Bai Lihua stared at the white pill in her hands with a bewildered expression on her face. Not only did it take less time for her to concoct this pill but it was also much easier. Furthermore, compared to the low-quality pill she concocted previously, this pill was near the medium-quality.

'How is this possible? I only followed Su Yang's instructions, even screwing up a few times during the process, yet the pill still came out almost medium-quality?' Bai Lihua doubted her own eyes, as her improvements were simply too fast, even jaw-dropping.

She looked at Su Yang, who was calmly standing there with a casual expression.

"If you continue to listen to my lectures, you'll only improve faster," he said after seeing the expression on her face.

Bai Lihua nodded in a dazed manner.

"Get some rest. We'll continue tomorrow morning after you've freshened up."

When she saw that Su Yang was leaving, Bai Lihua quickly shouted, "Wait!"

"What's the matter?" he turned around and asked.

"..."

After a moment of silence, she asked him with a serious expression, "Are you… are you not going to respond to my feelings?"

Hearing her question, Su Yang showed a slight smile on his face and said, "I will give you an answer once you've improved enough."

"W-What?! That's not fair!" she quickly said.

However, Su Yang did not respond and left the room shortly later, leaving Bai Lihua speechless.

'Is he really going to leave me hanging?! I don't even know why I like him!' Bai Lihua sighed inwardly before cleaning herself and going to bed, instantly falling asleep due to her exhaustion.

The following morning, Su Yang appeared before her again.

"I am now going to tell you your mistakes from yesterday." Su Yang wasted no time beginning the lecture.

Once the lecture ended, Bai Lihua began concocting the Minor Spirit Refreshment Pill.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Six hours later, Bai Lihua opened the lid to the cauldron and retrieved the pill from inside.

"A medium-quality pill! I have successfully concocted a medium-quality pill!" Bai Lihua was ecstatic at this moment. To think she would be able to concoct medium-quality pills after just spending a single day with Su Yang. What will happen if she received lectures from him for an entire year? What kind of progress would she make?

"What are you, a child? Don't be too quick to celebrate. It's only medium-quality, not to mention the pill itself is only Elementary-grade." Su Yang shook his head at her.

"You're right. I shouldn't be too happy about this." Bai Lihua did not refute his words, even agreeing with him.

She then stared at him in silence, clearly waiting for his lectures to begin.

"Although your techniques have improved compared to yesterday, there were still many mistakes in your flame control and other things." Su Yang said before giving her more pointers.

Sometime later, Bai Lihua began concocting pills again.

The two of them would continue this routine for the next few days until Bai Lihua could concoct high-quality Minor Spirit Refreshment Pills consistently.

"I didn't think I would ever become an Alchemist, much less concoct high-quality pills, as it has never even crossed my mind before," she spoke with a profound gaze as she stared at the white pill sitting on her palm. Compared to just a few days ago, the results were like night and day.

"Now that I can concoct Elementary-grade pills with great results constantly, do I move onto Profound-grade pills now?" she asked him a few moments later.

"You think you'd mastered Elementary-grade pills just because you can concoct the same pill over and over again with good results? You can start working on Profound-grade pills once you can concoct over ten different types of Elementary-grade pills with similar results."

"Ten different pill recipes? Where am I going to get such recipes? I only have one recipe on me, the Minor Spirit Refreshment Pill, and they don't sell pill recipes just anywhere." Bai Lihua said to him.

"Who do you think you are talking to?"

Su Yang suddenly waved his sleeves, causing over one hundred small scrolls to pile on the floor.

"T-These are…" Bai Lihua looked at the pile before her and swallowed nervously.

"They are all pill recipes for Elementary-grade pills. I want you to be able to concoct at least half of these consistently at the high-quality."

"Half?!" Bai Lihua's jaw dropped upon hearing his words. How long would that take? Months? Years?

"You are underestimating your talents, Bai Lihua." Su Yang suddenly said to her.

"W-What do you mean by that?"

"Not everybody can learn to concoct pills by themselves and be able to concoct high-quality pills only a week later. Although I am helping you, your recent improvements are mostly due to your own talents."

"Su Yang…" Bai Lihua could feel her face heating up facing his intensive stares. This is her first time getting his compliments after many days of straight insults and strictness from him.

"If it's you, you will be able to master these pills in no time." Su Yang said in a reassuring voice.

After a moment of silence, Bai Lihua looked at him with a resolute expression and said, "If I master all of these pill recipes, will you give me an answer?"

"I will," he nodded.

"It's a promise then."

"I will also come by here once a week to see your progress. If you need anything, you know where to find me."

"Thank you, Su Yang…" she said with a gentle smile on her face.

"Don't even mention it."

"Then if you need anything from me, just let me know."

"A favor, huh? I actually have one," he suddenly said.

"What do you need from me?"

"Well, it's like this…"

Su Yang proceeded to explain his situation with the Hellfire Seeds to her and how he needed partners for the aftermath, dumbfounding Bai Lihua who definitely did not expect this kind of favor, even regretting giving him such an offer in the first place.

"Let me get this right. You want me, the Sect Master, to help you recruit cultivation partners within my own sect?" Bai Lihua asked him afterward.

"That's right." Su Yang nodded with a straight face, leaving her speechless.