(Brendan POV)

"I need the crushed Ginkgo berries next. Careful not to inhale it, their smell is quite nasty."

"Understood... Are these the ones, Master Brendan?"

I looked up from the cauldron to see Liehui holding a vial of orange liquid, her hand holding it far away from her face like it was poison. I'm guessing she actually took a whiff of it despite my warning against doing that.

"Yes, that's the one. Bring it to me, please."

She handed the vial to me without much preamble, watching me pour the contents of it inside the cauldron.

"You know, Master Brendan…" Liehui muttered. "I mentioned that I never was interested in alchemy myself?"

"Mhmm... And?"

"I'm still not. And I don't think you will be able to teach me that either. I don't have the patience for it."

I turned my head to her, looking her up from head to toe.

It was clear that she was not a traditional type of Practitioner but more of the physical type, belonging to a group known as Martial Practitioners. They train more of their body than mind and even without the use of Quarks, they are reputed to be capable of superhuman feats like crushing stones with their bare hands.

 Liehui hailed from the Raging Winds Sect, which was one of the few Sects that actually answered Queen Guiying's call to arms. I remembered they even fought side by side with the foot soldiers during the war, striking down the Dong soldiers with their fists.

The Raging Winds Sect focuses more on physical enhancement Techniques that increase their speed over anything else and they train mostly in martial combat styles, even going so far as setting up a martial school for non-Practitioners that were interested to learn.

As one of the lower ranked Sects, I believe they were hoping to further improve Heaven Sect's and Raging Wind Sect's relations by sending her here, maybe even using her to catch Master's eye and secure familial relations.

That would propel their Sect's standing further and secure it in one of the top spots.

"I am well aware of your lack of talent for alchemy, Liehui. You need not remind me," I assured her.

"Then why, pray tell, are we back in your alchemy room, Master Brendan?"

My fellow sisters were right in saying that she's a rather fiery one. At least she still tries to be polite when she remembers to, which seems to be quite few and far between when Master isn't here.

"Because," I said slowly, dropping in a few Ginseng roots in the cauldron. "I need to prepare my materials first before I can start your lesson. Also, sister Kiyomi is using the courtyard now, we'll still need to wait for her to be done before we can use it."

"I see… Understood."

She remained silent for the rest of the time, standing at an arm's length away from me and staying completely still, almost like a statue.

I know from experience that she had just entered into her meditative state.

This girl only has an 'always on edge' and 'completely quiet' state, nothing exists in between those two apparently.

I concentrated my quarks on the cauldron, mixing everything together to make the potion I needed.

The cauldron rumbled and shook before settling down suddenly, the liquid cooling down to a metallic gray colour.

I transferred the newly brewed potion into my prepared vials, filling each of them up to the brim.

Normally I would make these into pills but that would take up even more time which I don't really have right now. 

Storing the vials back into my storage ring, I made my way to the window to open them up, checking the state of Master's courtyard.

Oh, looks like Kiyomi was just finishing up. Both her and Marie seemed to be heading towards the laundry room for some reason though.

Well, that means I can use the courtyard now.

"Liehui, we're good to go now. The courtyard's free for us," I called out, waking her from her meditation.

She nodded, turning to lead the way out of the alchemy room and into the courtyard. Sometimes I really wonder who's the servant between the two of us…

Ah well, I don't really care to be honest.

Liehui took a spot at the edge of the courtyard, making sure she was still within the range of the protection inscription before turning back to me.

"Alright then, let's spar," She decided without asking for my input.

Well, I'm already used to her overbearing personality and since this was already the plan from the start, I didn't rebut her and took my position opposite her instead.

She brought up her fists and bent her knees, adopting a defensive stance against me.

Sighing to myself, I held my hand up for her to stop.

"Sparring is fine and all, but I at least want you to know what we're doing here."

She lowered her fists, just slightly, "It's just the two of us having a spar right? What else is there?"

"I'm also supposed to teach you here, or did you forget about that part?"

Liehui tilted her head at me with genuine confusion, "Teach? There's no alchemy here, Master Brendan."

I took out the potion I had just brewed a few minutes ago, "Alchemy is more than just staying inside a room and making drugs, as you had so eloquently called it. I'm not sure if there's anyone else, but I did incorporate it into battles so you're here to test yourself against one such Practitioner."

She actually snickered at me, "Are you going to try to make pills while in a fight?"

"Pills are pushing it, but I can combine potions while in battle, yes. You would do well not to look down on me, Liehui. I hate to use His name like this, but you should remember who my Master is."

She grinned, "Interesting… I shall not hold back then, Master Brendan. Please don't disappoint me."

Good, at least she won't hold back now. There wouldn't be any meaning if she held back intentionally and not learn anything from our spar. I wouldn't be able to face Master if He finds out that my progress was way below expectations and even used His name in vain.

I brought out a coin, "Alright, I'll flip this coin and we'll start once it lands on the ground."

"You sure you don't want a handicap of some sort, Master Brendan? I was an Elite Practitioner, you know? I can still fight with one hand behind my back."

I shook my head, "There is no meaning if this was not taken seriously. Just come at me with your full power and I will do the same."

"Mmm… If you insist... Understood."

Well, this would be especially embarrassing if I wound up getting my ass kicked. No going back now though…

I flipped the coin into the air, watching it spin through the air before landing on the ground with a sharp 'ting'.

By the time I looked back at Liehui, she had disappeared from my vision before reappearing right in front of me, her fist raised and already punching towards my face.

Oh, crap...

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