Cultivation is just so scientific!

Chapter 324: Chapter 208 Named_2

“Shiming, you just asked me how to get started with Foundation Establishment elixir pills, and you have two choices,”

“One is to accept the sect’s alchemy missions. Alchemy missions from the sect are mandatory for every alchemist, and each alchemist has a corresponding quota of pills they must produce.”

“With my consent, you can take on the task of refining early-stage Foundation Establishment Spirit Pills. For the sect’s alchemy missions, what’s needed is stability. The sect will take eight-tenths of the elixir pills regardless of whether the alchemist succeeds or not.”

“Of course, if your alchemy skills are not up to par and you don’t even have an eighty percent success rate, then you’ll be tasked with producing even lower-grade elixir pills. Therefore, what the sect’s alchemy missions require is stability; you cannot afford to fail.”

“The second option is to accept private alchemy requests from cultivators, which can either be picked up from sect missions or carried out privately.”

“Generally, alchemists get to keep one third of the produced pills. This is the rule among alchemists, and even the best of friends cannot break it!” Master Ma looked at Elder Su as he said this.

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“Old Ma charged me a ‘Three Yang Reviving Pill’ for making a batch of ‘Three Yang Reviving Pills’!” Elder Su said helplessly.

“For Golden Core Stage elixirs, the number produced in a batch depends on the amount of Spiritual Medicine used. No matter what, as long as there’s more than one pill, a Spirit Pill must be taken as compensation. If there are four, then two must be taken as compensation!” Master Ma explained proudly.

Li Shiming secretly clicked his tongue in amazement; these alchemists really knew how to make a profit.

However, upon further thought, since he was now an alchemist himself, it would be other cultivators he’d be making a profit from, so there was nothing to worry about.

“Master, what if there’s a mishap and the alchemy fails during a private request?” Li Shiming asked.

“If there’s a mishap, it’s the cultivator’s bad luck. As alchemists, we’ve been busy for nothing; what else can be done?” Master Ma replied with a shrug.

Li Shiming truly realized the exceptional status of alchemists; it was a profession that could only win and not lose.

Of course, if his failure rate was really high, cultivators would likely hesitate to request his services.

“Shiming, come here every day starting from now and use my Second Grade Medicines to refine a batch of Second Grade Spirit Pills. Once you’ve produced the final product, I’ll let you become an Intermediate Alchemist. That way, you can take on missions for Foundation Establishment Stage elixirs. Consider this my gift to you for beginning your journey!” Master Ma thoughtfully planned.

“Yes!” Li Shiming knew this was Master Ma’s way of looking out for him and he bowed in response.

This would be his first time refining Second Grade Spirit Pills, and he had no idea how much Second Grade Medicine he would need to use. Master Ma, now to be called Master Ma, was certainly not sparing in his generosity.

Master Ma had his own plans too. Based on his judgment of Li Shiming’s current level of alchemy skill, only a bit of familiarity with Second Grade Medicines was needed and he would soon be able to produce Second Grade Spirit Pills.

After all, investing in a disciple with potential was an opportunity that could never be a loss.

“You can go back now!” Master Ma waved him off.

After Li Shiming left, Master Ma, still smiling, took out the jade box brought by Li Shiming and took out some Spiritual Tea, brewing two cups—one for himself and one for Elder Su.

“Did you roast this Spiritual Tea? You’ve applied your alchemy skills to roasting tea, and it is truly extraordinary!” Elder Su took a sip of the Spiritual Tea and immediately sensed its quality, laughing with praise.

“It wasn’t me who roasted it, it was a tribute from my Registered Disciple!” Master Ma also picked up his cup. The Spiritual Tea Elder Su had taken out earlier for Li Shiming to take as an initiation gift was also Second Grade, but it was far inferior to the tea in the cup.

“Shiming roasted it? He knows how to gift such fine tea to others, and not think of me!” Elder Su huffed.

Master Ma was taken aback by this comment, nearly choking on the Spiritual Tea and spraying it on Elder Su’s face.

Li Shiming returned to Sword Holding Peak and saw the three female attendants busy at work. He thought about how he hadn’t really shown his appreciation for them during these days.

“Ye Lingyun, come here!” he called out to Ye Lingyun.

“Greetings to the great one!” Ye Lingyun approached Li Shiming with a respectful attitude and salution.

“You’ve all been working hard these past days. Here are three bottles of Spirit Pills. Each of you can take one; you distribute them!” Li Shiming handed over three bottles of ‘Mingxin Nine Palace Pills’ and instructed.

“Thank you for the generous gift, sir!” Ye Lingyun took the Spirit Pills and expressed her gratitude.

Indeed, after the three cultivators entered Sword Holding Peak, their respective families continued to provide cultivation resources.

For cultivators like them who had no chance to join a sect, gaining entry to a major sect like Shushan, even as followers, afforded them benefits far beyond what a Loose Cultivator could compare.

Additionally, thanks to Li Shiming’s status, his family continued to provide cultivation resources, so their cultivation progress was not affected at all.

Li Shiming checked their work and saw that all the spirit fields and Spirit Plants were thriving exceptionally well, which clearly showed their dedication.

He didn’t say anything, thinking that he would use Spirit Pills as a reward in the future. There was still a large amount of Spiritual Medicine for the Qi Refinement Realm that he could easily refine to meet the cultivation needs of the three female followers.

“What tasks has the master assigned?” Wan Qian asked curiously.

“The master has given us each a bottle of Spirit Pills as a reward for our recent work!” Ye Lingyun replied with a smile.

The Spirit Pills were secondary; the key was Li Shiming’s recognition of them. That was what mattered the most.

They could say they were tied to Li Shiming, and his recognition was extremely important for them.

Previously, Li Shiming had almost completely ignored them, causing them much private concern.

Ye Lingyun distributed the jade bottles to Wan Qian and Lu Yingtong. Coming from fairly decent families, they weren’t unfamiliar with Spirit Pills.

However, when they each opened their jade bottles and saw the Spirit Pills inside, they all showed delighted surprise.

“These are all high-level First-grade Spirit Pills, a full ten of them, enough for a month of cultivation!” exclaimed Ye Lingyun, her eyes wide with excitement.

The reason they wanted to enter Shushan Sect was for its Spiritual Energy and environment, which were their hopes for cultivation.

If Li Shiming was willing to help them, they could also get Foundation Establishment Pills through his connection with the sect, fulfilling their dreams of reaching Foundation Establishment.

They had not expected that Li Shiming would give them such valuable elixirs. High-level First-grade Elixirs were only given to cultivators who were key focuses of their families’ training.

They felt they had chosen the right master and committed themselves even more diligently to their work at Sword Holding Peak.

Li Shiming wasn’t thinking as much. After returning to his cave dwelling, he immediately began to check the Red Sun Spirit Fire in the Spirit Lake.

In the past, he had never paid attention to the Red Sun Spirit Fire, which absorbed a bit of Fire Thunder Spiritual Power every day. Since it was a small amount, he had not been concerned.

Only after hearing Master Ma’s introduction did he realize that he needed to actively infuse Fire Spiritual Power into the Red Sun Spirit Fire to help it grow.

The daily absorption of Fire Thunder Spiritual Power by the Red Sun Spirit Fire was to maintain its own energy.

With a thought, Li Shiming sent a stream of Fire Thunder Spiritual Power to the Red Sun Spirit Fire and mentally commanded it to absorb.

The Red Sun Spirit Fire engulfed the Fire Thunder Spiritual Power and, as the flames flickered, seemed to grow slightly larger.

He beckoned another stream of Fire Thunder Spiritual Power for the Red Sun Spirit Fire to consume. After swallowing ten streams, the Red Sun Spirit Fire sent back feedback that it could not absorb any more.

Li Shiming breathed a sigh of relief. This absorption had used up nearly one-tenth of the Spiritual Power inside him.

It was because the Five Elements Thunder Spirit Power within him maintained a balanced state of mutual conversion under the influence of the “Five Elements Qi Absorption Array,” and he only needed time to replenish the Fire Thunder Spiritual Power’s consumption with other types of Thunder Spiritual Power, so there was no need to worry about a lack of Fire Thunder Spiritual Power.

Feeling the Red Sun Spirit Fire that had grown in size, he took out the Secret Technique given by Master Ma to conceal the spiritual fire’s aura.

The Secret Technique was not very difficult. It primarily involved using a Spiritual Power control technique to create a Spiritual Power barrier around the Red Sun Spirit Fire, sealing its aura within the barrier.

In roughly two hours, he managed to run the Secret Technique within his Spirit Lake. The aura of the Red Sun Spirit Fire was now imperceptible, unless he used his mind to sense it, proving the effectiveness of the technique.