Morning arrived peacefully at Twilight Shadow Sect.
Which was suspicious.
"Why is it so quiet?" Yun Xi asked, stepping out with her brush and scroll.
"Maybe Lin Fan slept in," Han Li offered hopefully.
"Or maybe he finished something," Shen Mo added, sipping tea.
BOOM.
A geyser of smoke erupted from behind the cliff.
Birds flew. A goat fainted. A tree caught fire.
Shen Mo calmly blew the steam off his tea. "There it is."
Alchemy Hall – Or What's Left of It
Lin Fan stood inside a crater that used to be a training hut. His hair was charred. His eyebrows were gone. He looked… pleased.
"Okay, so... fire lotus petals and phoenix pepper oil don't mix."
"They never mix!" Han Li shouted from the smoking doorway.
"That explains the flavor."
Shen Mo walked in, arms behind his back.
"Explain."
Lin Fan cleared his throat, puffing out his soot-covered chest. "I was trying to make a low-grade body reinforcement pill with extra kick—y'know, for Xue Rong."
"So your solution was hot sauce and flammable petals?"
"To be fair, it worked until it exploded."
Yun Xi leaned against the doorframe, pinching her brow. "Are we going to rebuild this hut every week?"
"No," Shen Mo replied, eyes thoughtful. "We're going to reinforce it. With blast-resistant stone."
Han Li groaned. "That sounds expensive."
"You're in charge of gathering the materials."
"I take it back. I like the crater."
Later That Day
Lin Fan set up a temporary alchemy station under a stone overhang with Yun Xi supervising. She had a bucket of sand, a scroll of counter-seals, and a very long stick.
"What's the stick for?" Lin Fan asked.
"To poke you if you go unconscious again."
"Very thoughtful."
He began working more carefully this time—his hands surprisingly steady, his expression serious beneath the soot smudges.
Shen Mo watched from a nearby tree.
"He's reckless," he muttered. "But focused when it counts."
Xue Rong sat on a rock, arms crossed. "I like him. He smells like charcoal and courage."
"That's… disturbingly poetic of you."
"I've been practicing."
"You've been reading the poems Yun Xi left in the training room, haven't you?"
"...No comment."
By Sunset
Lin Fan held up a tiny glowing pill, steaming slightly.
"It didn't explode."
Yun Xi blinked. "It's... stable?"
"It's spicy, too. Want a taste?"
"Absolutely not."
Shen Mo appeared beside them, arms folded.
"Eat it."
"I... what?"
"If it works, you'll feel a boost. If it doesn't, well, we'll rebuild another crater."
Lin Fan hesitated. Then, with dramatic flair, he popped the pill into his mouth.
For a second, nothing happened.
Then his eyes lit up. His muscles twitched. A tiny aura flared around his fingers.
"Whoa. I feel... amazing."
He paused.
"Also slightly on fire."
"That's the phoenix pepper," Shen Mo said casually.
[System Notification:]Lin Fan – Alchemy Pill SuccessPill Grade: Low-Tier Body Flame BoosterSide Effect: Spontaneous hiccupsSect Fame: +3 (Local wandering cultivator witnessed a glowing Lin Fan hiccupping smoke)
Later That Night
The four disciples sat by the fire under the stars.
Yun Xi was sketching training formations.
Xue Rong was flexing and waiting for his turn to eat the pill.
Han Li was snoring on a log.
Lin Fan was hiccuping small embers every few minutes, proudly.
"We're really doing this, huh?" he asked.
"Doing what?" Shen Mo replied.
"Becoming a real sect."
Shen Mo smiled faintly. "Not just a real sect. The number one sect."
"With explosions?"
"With explosions."
They all watched the stars for a moment.
hic
"He's going to start a forest fire in his sleep," Yun Xi muttered.
"Let's put him in a bucket," Xue Rong offered helpfully.