1 Chapter 1: First Encounter

Jang Li sprinted quickly down the alley. He was cursing his employer the whole time. They told him it would be a simple mission for a man of his expertise. He was to sneak into Three Dragons Gang's territory and assassinate one of their members. But his employer set him up and tipped off the Three Dragons. He was ambushed when we wasn't expecting it and became wounded heavily. With staggered breaths he kept running while he tried desperately to reset his elbow, which had been quickly dislocated in the ensuing scuffle.

"Wounded prey appears before me" a young woman appeared before him, smirking.

Jang Li quickly pulled a pill out of his pocket. He made the motion to put it in his mouth but it was suddenly washed away by a torrent of water. powerful torrent of water. "That's quite rude. I finally tracked down infamous alchemist Jang Li and he instantly tried to overwhelm me. You should know how to treat a lady." The woman smirked at him.

"I'm not here to fight with you. I don't even know what mess you got yourself into, but I can help you escape it."

"What's the catch?" Jang Li asked coldly.

"My boss wants you to join our gang. I'm Zou Yue, member of the Brown Lotus gang." Zou Yue smiled at him. She didn't seem hostile towards him, she must genuinely be helping him. He knew he would need the extra protection after this mission's horrible failure.

"I don't really have much of a choice currently. I must accept your offer. Take me back to your base so I can get this fixed." Jang Li told her. He gripped his dislocated elbow again, as pain rang out across his body.

"Lucky for you we have a small hideout near here. Let's hurry." Zou Yue turned and began to dash away, as Jang Li followed behind her.

As they ran for a moment longer she turned and opened a door in the nearby alleyway. Safe at last Jang Li thought to himself. Truthfully though, he was not 100% sure of Zou Yue's intentions. "I've never heard of the Brown Lotus before. Are you some small timers?"

"We haven't done anything major yet, and there's only a few of us. We have some bigger jobs coming up and the boss thought an alchemist would be quite useful, and your name has been making the rounds lately. It's dangerous to be a free-lancer, you made a good choice joining us Jang Li."

"When can I meet the others?" Jang Li asked, "And do you have any gloves in here?" Now that he wasn't on the run he had time to reset his elbow.

"It's just you and I for now. I need to see if you have what it takes to keep up with us, hope you don't mind." Zou Yue handed him some gloves. Jang Li didn't want to expose her to poison by accident. "Is it true what the rumors say? You can administer poison through your palms?" A sly grin plastered her face.

"I don't know if you're going to back stab me or not Zou Yue. I won't be answering questions like that until we are a bit more acquainted. I've had quite a rough night so point me towards the nearest bed please." Jang Li shut down any further questions and turned away from her.

"Hmph, you're not fun at all Jang Li. Take a left in the hall and you'll find your bed." Zou Yue walked into her own room as well.

Jang Li waited in bed a few moments before he finally pulled out his bag. While he was at that other gang's hideout earlier he couldn't help but to take cultivation materials. It was stupid of them to not clear house before inviting him there, they must have been sure of their ability to stop him. He took down four members before he began to get overwhelmed and had to escape. He dug out 4 cultivation pills, but they seemed to be low quality. He popped one in his mouth and swallowed to see if it was worth anything. It had a decent amount of energy packed within, perfect for refining his qi even further. He's currently on the 2nd level of the cultivation world, qi foundation. The breakthrough to the 3rd level is close though, he thought as he hurriedly swallowed another pill. He hoped he wasn't absorbing too much qi too fast, but he needed a quick breakthrough to survive any possible encounters with Zou Yue tomorrow. As he swallowed the third pill he noticed a more full feeling in his Dantian.

He felt qi surging within him like he hadn't felt in previous days, things were getting messy tonight, but this ultimately made everything worth it to him. Power comes at a cost, but that cost does not matter to Jang Li. "Now I must find a way to further improve my ever poisoned palm techniques, this extra qi will help me immensely" Jang Li lamented.

"The ever poisoned palm huh? So the rumors were true after all." Jang Li heard Zou Yue's muffled voice outside his door. He hadn't even felt her presence nearby.

"You have a lot of audacity to spy on your guest Zou Yue. I don't like how you operate" Jang Li opened the door to see Zou Yue relaxing in the hallway.

"Tricks of the trade, Jang Li. I can't help myself. You got a hint of my power during our first exchange. It's only fair that partners should know each other's abilities, right Jang Li?" She had a smug grin on her face.

"Would you like a demonstration of my power then? I'm feeling amazing now, and it wouldn't take much for me to end your life here Zou Yue." Jang Li began taking his gloves off.

"Our boss wants us to get along, so I'm not going to be fighting you. Sorry Jang Li, I can see you're quite excited for this."

"I don't recall swearing allegiance to anyone, so watch your tongue." Jang Li sneered.

"You will once you meet him, he's far stronger than you or I. He's willing to give people like us a family. Ultimately, we will be far more successful if we work together. Good night, partner." Zou Yue smiled gently and waved her hand, walking towards her room again.

"Don't call me partner you wench." Jang Li turned and went back into his own room. He wasn't happy at this turn of events and being forced into some gang he didn't even know. He had learned lessons in his past that made him wary of working with others. He put his gloves on and finally laid down to sleep.