Alchemy is a highly practical skill that cannot be learned from books alone; one must practice it hands-on. Since Mufeng had no teacher to teach him alchemy, he had no choice but to find a convenient senior brother to learn from.
"I couldn't ask for anything better!" Sun Simiao was overjoyed. He was deeply obsessed with alchemy; otherwise, lacking sufficient aptitude, he would never have invented gunpowder and stubbornly pursued the path of cultivating immortality through scientific methods.
Ge Hong's book on internal alchemy and external elixirs, Baopuzi, was considered by the ancients to be far more precious than Emergency Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold.
Chapter 175