Hidden Meaning

After being informed of the Five Injuries Rejuvenating Liquid by Huo Shenshou, Shi Li went ahead and asked his master to teach him the concoction process, which the former unhesitatingly did as he was his master. By the time the two of them were finished talking about the upgraded version of the Three Injuries Recovering Liquid, the sun was about an hour away from setting down.

At the moment, Shi Li was intently staring at the bubbling flask in front of him, filled about halfway with vibrant green water. With a quick glance, one would think that this was just a batch of the Three Injuries Recovering Liquid he had concocted some time ago. However, this time, if Shi Li stopped the concoction process, the liquid wouldn't turn out into Three Injuries Recovering Liquid, but instead, green water that had a bitter medicinal taste to it.

The reason behind that was because the green color of the water this time around did not originate from the solidified drops made out of Recova Grass juice and Amalgam Powder. In fact, he hadn't dumped those ingredients into the flask yet.

"Alright. Since the Luminous Water in the flask has taken on a green color, you've successfully mixed the essence of Reju Weed into it," Huo Shenshou said all of a sudden, to which Shi Li nodded in response, asking, "Should I take the Reju Weed out of the flask now, Master?"

Hearing that, Huo Shenshou shook his head. "The Reju Weed inside the flask should only be taken out once you add in the next ingredient. With that being said, add in the Venati Leaves."

And so, with Huo Shenshou instructing him to do so, Shi Li dumped in a few Venati Leaves into the flask, quickly changing the color of the water into a dark cyan. Wondering if the concoction process had failed, Shi Li looked at Huo Shenshou, who solemnly looked at the flask for a bit before saying, "Take out the weed and leaves… now!"

Grabbing a pair of forceps that would more commonly be seen in surgical operations, Shi Li quickly yet deftly removed the Reju Weed and Venati Leaves from the flask, allowing the contents inside the flask to bubble on its own. After a couple of minutes, the water, which used to be dark cyan in color, now took on a light cyan tone, prompting Huo Shenshou to instruct Shi Li, "The final step of this process is to add in the drops of Recova Grass juice and Amalgam Powder."

"Is it still one by one, Master?" Shi Li asked, to which his master nodded in response. With that, Shi Li quickly made a batch of the solidified drops before dropping them into the flask, using the stirring stick to make sure the components melded and mingled with one another.

However, by the time he had dropped the final solidified drop into the flask filled with light cyan water, thinking that his first attempt at concocting Five Injuries Rejuvenating Liquid would become a successful fluke, the contents in the flask started to bubble up more than it should have. By the time the bubbling died down, the light cyan water transformed into murky gray water, prompting Huo Shenshou to let out a light sigh, saying, "Well, that was a fail."

Naturally, Shi Li was confused as to why the concoction process would fail at the very end. Fortunately, Huo Shenshou was there to explain it to him, telling him, "The reason why it failed at the very end was because of the speed you placed the drops into the flask. Also, the speed at which you stirred the contents in the flask contributed to the failure. The next time you try it, try to count to 10 before dropping in another drop. As for the speed of your stirring, imagine yourself carefully grinding tea leaves."

"But for the most part, you've retained everything you've learned from concocting the Three Injuries Recovering Liquid very well. I must say I'm incredibly impressed," he said not long after, allowing Shi Li to feel more confident in himself. Though, before Shi Li could ask his master for one more attempt, Huo Shenshou seemed like he had read his disciple's thoughts beforehand and pointed outside, telling him, "It's getting close to nighttime, so we won't be able to do one more attempt. Even if you tell me that it's fine for you to stay at the pavilion after night falls, I wouldn't allow it. A cultivator must learn how to balance things."

Seeing as Huo Shenshou was adamant in making him go home, Shi Li had no choice but to comply, politely saying farewell to his master… only to be stopped as his master gave him a bunch of silver coins. Confused as to why his master would give him more silver coins, Shi Li looked at his master with a puzzled gaze.

Surprisingly, Huo Shenshou had a slightly apologetic expression on his face as he told Shi Li, "I apologize if I was slightly harsh when you successfully concocted that batch of Three Injuries Recovering Liquid earlier. As you're my first disciple, I'm trying to find the right balance between being stern and being amicable while teaching you alchemy. So, there may be times that I might be overboard in my ways… I hope you can forgive me when that happens."

"Just so you know, I wanted to laugh out loud when I saw you successfully concoct that medicinal liquid. You're improving at quite a fast rate, you know?" he continued.

"But… that doesn't explain the silver coins…" Shi Li could not help but say, instantly turning the somewhat apologetic expression on Huo Shenshou's face into that of a laughing one, telling his disciple, "You've successfully concocted two batches of Three Injuries Recovering Liquid. In other words, I'm just paying you your share in advance. Considering that you concocted two liters of the stuff in total, I can sell about 40 vials, which comes to around 20 silver coins with the price I've previously mentioned."

"With that, I've given you 14 silver coins, the share you deserve," he concluded. "Unless… you want me to give it to you at a later time?"

"I'd rather keep it for myself, Master! Thank you for your kindness!" Before Huo Shenshou even made a move to grab the coins back, Shi Li hurriedly pocketed the coins before bowing towards him, quickly dashing back to his home. Seeing his disciple's actions, Huo Shenshou could not help but laugh as he muttered to himself, "So, this is what it feels like to have a disciple, huh?"

"It feels nice."

…

By the time Shi Li had arrived at his room, there were only a few minutes of sunlight left. Letting out a light sigh of relief, Shi Li counted the number of coins he had received from his master today, coming to a total of 16 silver coins. Realizing how much he had made, he could not help but mutter to himself, "In just a week, I now have enough money to buy enough food for a family of 4 to live off for a couple of months. Alchemy is truly a lucrative profession."

"Nevertheless, I wouldn't have gotten this far if not for Master," he continued, feeling his heart warm up when he recalled the words Huo Shenshou told him before he left. Though, his moment of reminiscing did not last for long as the door to his room was opened, revealing a familiar person to Shi Li.

"Oh? Shi Li? You got home earlier than I thought, son." Hearing that familiar voice, Shi Li could not help but stand up and hug the person. In response, the person lightly chuckled before placing the food she had brought on a nearby table, returning the hug back.

After a while, the two stopped hugging as Shi Languang asked her son, "So, what made my son come home earlier than usual?"

"Well, I guess I wanted to surprise you," Shi Li said before giving her the 16 silver coins he had earned. Seeing so much money being given to her at once, she could not help but look at her son with a solemn expression for a bit before asking, "Where did you get this money?"

"From my job," Shi Li replied. "Master decided to give me payment in advance, which is why I could give you this much money, mother. From now on, you don't have to work hard anymore."

"Master…?" Although Shi Li meant it as his teacher in alchemy, Shi Languang could not help but interpret it as something else, asking her son, "Did you get this money from robbing people? If so, stop doing it, son. Inflicting harm on other people just so we could live a better life is never a good thing. I can provide for the two of us just fine, even if I have to toil for a long time."

Naturally, Shi Li was confused at first, wondering how his mother came to that conclusion. Though, it did not take too long for him to realize what she was getting at, instantly clarifying the situation as he told her, "Mother, I didn't steal anything from anyone. All of this money I've obtained is from concocting medicinal liquids. I'm a disciple of an alchemist."

"Concocting… alchemy?" Shi Languang muttered in response, her expression filled with shock. Though, even after Shi Li nodded in response to her question, it seemed like she was frozen in shock for a bit, giving Shi Li the feeling that his mother was thinking about something else right now. However, a few seconds later, she had snapped back to reality as a light smile appeared on her face, patting her son's head. "What a surprise! Who knew my son would have a gift for alchemy? This is wonderful news!"

And just like that, the two continued to converse for a bit longer, even going so far as to eat dinner together. After all, with the amount of money Shi Li could potentially earn from working as an alchemist, Shi Languang could work less, allowing her to live a more relaxed life. However, even after all that, Shi Li could not help but ponder over the expression his mother had when he told her he became an alchemist. To him, it felt like there was something else to it.

But since his mother seemed to be tight-lipped about it, he decided to place it at the back of his head for now.