It wasn't that Ju Jinqi didn't feel honored to be invited along again, but when he thought about everything that an Independent Alchemist needed to know that he had yet to study, the idea of months spent in the wilderness away from his libraries felt impossible.
"Are you sure you can't afford it?" Xiong Dahuo asked, placing a hand on the other man's shoulder. "Your cosmos sack is full to bursting and we're only halfway through our journey. We still have the entire trip back to go, plus anything we obtain in the Azure Flow or at the gold vein. How much will your alchemy progress because of the harvest you've obtained on this trip?"
"Truthfully," Yu Jinqi began, thinking of the herbs he'd gathered along with the unique items harvested from beasts they'd fought and the rare items he'd obtained in Bufa City as well. "I could likely practice for an entire year using the gains from this expedition alone. I might even make it half way to the middle-stage," he said.
