9: He was transferred to the alchemy room.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

Ever since Jiang Yan returned from the Scripture Pavilion, he seemed like a changed man.

Zhu Gan, Ma Zi, and the others could hardly sense his presence anymore; if they hadn't seen him returning to the Zayou Place to rest every day, they would have thought he might vanish at any moment.

To everyone's regret, however, Liu Ruyan hadn't returned to the Zayou Place since the day she left, depriving them of much entertainment.

Of course, this was a good thing for Jiang Yan, as he had no desire to be pestered by Liu Ruyan.

'It seems this flawed version of the Breath Concealment Technique is quite useful. It's just a pity that even at the level of Mastery, it can only guard against the prying eyes of the Foundation Establishment Stage.'

'But it's enough for now. After all, if I don't go to the inner sect, I won't run into the Peak Master.'

Nighttime, at the Yutong Courtyard of Little Bamboo Peak.

Steward Pang stood respectfully at the entrance of the small courtyard with his head bowed.

"It's been over a month. How have you been handling things?" Li Chunsheng slowly walked out of the courtyard.

"Senior Brother Li, there's nothing I could do." Steward Pang had a helpless expression. "As you know, the Middle Zone of the Spirit Beast Peak is the most dangerous for a Utility Disciple, but who would have thought that kid would actually be fine?"

Hearing this, Li Chunsheng raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying it's my fault then?"

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare." Steward Pang waved his hands repeatedly. "It's just that the kid has good luck. I believe that within a month, he will definitely be injured by those Vicious Beasts."

Li Chunsheng snorted coldly. "No need to wait a month. Transfer him to the Pill Refining Room. Junior Brother Yan happens to be short of someone to do Menial Tasks."

Ah?

Steward Pang was slightly stunned, but he understood Li Chunsheng's meaning in the next moment.

"Yes, I will arrange the transfer for him tomorrow." Steward Pang bowed.

Logically, the most dangerous place for a Menial Servant was the Spirit Beast Peak, while the most comfortable place was none other than the Pill Refining Room. After all, one could not only obtain Medicinal Pills there but also have plenty of time to Cultivate. Thus, many Menial Servants tried every means to enter the Pill Refining Room.

Watching Steward Pang depart, a flash of murderous intent flickered in Li Chunsheng's eyes.

That morning, the mist had yet to dissipate.

Just as Jiang Yan was preparing to head to the Spirit Beast Peak, he was intercepted by Steward Pang, who was waiting at the door.

"Jiang Yan, you've performed well in your work lately. In a while, go to the Pill Refining Room with Zhu Gan. Starting today, you will begin doing Menial Tasks there."

After giving the instructions, Steward Pang left before Jiang Yan could even react.

'Doing Menial Tasks in the Pill Refining Room?'

'Is there really such a good thing?'

Jiang Yan felt that something wasn't quite right, yet he couldn't sense where the danger was coming from.

The pattern felt familiar, but he couldn't guess exactly what the problem was.

'Forget it, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.'

'It's just a pity that I won't be able to hunt those Spirit Beasts anymore.'

'It looks like the plan to become an Outer Sect Disciple will have to be moved forward.'

Originally, Jiang Yan had planned to lay low for four or five months before signing up for the Outer Sect Disciple trials, but things change faster than plans, so he could only implement his Outer Sect Disciple plan ahead of schedule.

During this half-month, he had inquired about many Outer Sect Disciple missions.

Missions such as patrolling the Spirit Beast Peak, slaughtering Spirit Beasts in the Lower Area, and stockpiling fodder in the Middle Zone were tasks that many Outer Sect Disciples avoided.

Just as Jiang Yan was thinking about his future plans, Zhu Gan's voice drifted over.

"Little Brother Jiang, let's go!"

"Hey, coming." Jiang Yan responded and quickly caught up.

On the way, without him even needing to ask about the rules of the Pill Refining Room, Zhu Gan began to introduce them.

The place they were going to was the Outer Sect Pill Refining Room, which mainly refined qi yuan pills and small spirit pills.

As for Fasting Pills, Qi Nourishing Pills, and Heart Clearing Pills, the Outer Sect Pill Refining Room rarely took those orders; most of them were handled by the Inner Sect Pill Refining Room.

As for them, the Utility Disciples, they were responsible for Furnace Cleaning, Furnace Scrubbing, Furnace Replacement, and Furnace Watching.

Basically, one would clean at most three furnaces a day. As for Furnace Replacement, it was a rare task to come across. However, Furnace Watching was a bit of an ordeal, though it also provided an opportunity to earn Spirit Stones.

When Outer Sect Disciples had other business, they would ask the Utility Disciples to help keep an eye on things to ensure nothing went wrong with their Medicinal Pills.

If the Earth Fire was insufficient, the Utility Disciple would need to control the Formation to increase the Earth Fire.

If the Earth Fire was too intense, they had to weaken the Earth Fire within the Formation.

Of course, the Spirit Stones consumed during this process were paid for by the Outer Sect Disciples.

What Jiang Yan didn't expect, however, was that the person in charge of the Outer Sect Pill Refining Room was actually Yan Jun!

"By the way, if you see a furnace start to shake or roll, you must flee immediately to avoid being injured by an explosion," Zhu Gan warned.

"Thank you, Brother Ge," Jiang Yan said gratefully.

"Working in the Pill Refining Room is very easy. While those Senior Brothers are inside refining pills, you can sit outside and Cultivate. If you get friendly with a Senior Brother, you might even get some Medicinal Pills," Zhu Gan said with a smile.

Jiang Yan nodded noncommittally.

Now that he knew Yan Jun managed the Pill Refining Room, he felt that something must be waiting for him there.

It wasn't that he was overly sensitive, but rather the intuition of someone with a modern Soul.

They passed through the Outer Sect Disciple Peak and arrived at the Little Bamboo Peak Pill Refining Workshop.

In his imagination, he thought the so-called Pill Refining Room should be like those in movies and TV shows.

But after seeing the Outer Sect Disciples actually refining pills, that sense of novelty vanished instantly.

Giant cauldrons or Pill Furnaces for Alchemy? They were completely non-existent!

Rather than calling it Alchemy, it was more like preparing traditional Chinese medicine!

He could even see some Disciples scraping medicine by hand and rolling pill paste with their fingers... 'Is this freaking Alchemy?'

'How is this different from Che Kun's memories and the Alchemy books I read?'

Noticing Jiang Yan's strange expression, Zhu Gan explained with a smile, "Little Brother Jiang, don't misunderstand. These are all Alchemy Apprentices. They have to start by decocting medicinal paste. We don't do Menial Tasks for them."

"Oh." Jiang Yan finally understood.

He had felt the style was off; it turned out he had been mistaken.

But Zhu Gan's next sentence immediately rendered him silent.

"Let me tell you, actual Alchemy is pretty much the same as what these Disciples rolling medicinal paste are doing. It's just that they use a Pill Furnace inside. Before refining, they roll the Spirit Medicine into balls and then slowly refine them."

Hearing this, the corners of Jiang Yan's mouth twitched violently.

'Is this just the same thing in a different guise?'

'Or are the Alchemy books I read in the Scripture Pavilion all fake?'

He didn't know that the Alchemy books he had read all referred to the Alchemy methods of Inner Sect Disciples.

Outer Sect Disciples lacked sufficient cultivation, so they could only rely on external forces to extract the essence of spiritual plants.

Inner Sect Disciples, on the other hand, were at minimum at the Peak of Qi Refining. They could fully rely on the Unity of Qi and Spirit to control the quality of the refined Medicinal Pills.

When Jiang Yan followed Zhu Gan into the Pill Room, the two of them happened to run into Yan Jun, who was in charge of the Pill Refining Room.

"Greetings, Senior Brother Yan." The two bowed together.

"Mhm." Yan Jun nodded slightly and pointed at Jiang Yan, saying, "From now on, you will be responsible for Furnace Watching."

"Yes," Jiang Yan bowed.

He didn't object to the task of Furnace Watching; after all, it was a rare job to come across.

You see, Outer Sect Disciples only received three Spirit Stones a month. No one would waste Spirit Stones to let a Menial Servant like him squander them, so most Outer Sect Disciples wouldn't use a Menial Servant for Furnace Watching.

What he didn't know was that Yan Jun had an entirely different motive for assigning him to Furnace Watching!

As the Outer Sect Disciples began refining pills in the morning, Jiang Yan and Zhu Gan sat outside to Cultivate.

Of course, Jiang Yan had no intention of Cultivating. After all, if he did, the commotion would surely be noticed. So, he simply closed his eyes and feigned sleep.

Time passed slowly, and soon it was mid-morning.

Just as he and Zhu Gan were preparing to return to the Zayou Place for a meal, Yan Jun suddenly called out to him.

"Jiang Yan, you stay behind for Furnace Watching." Without giving Jiang Yan time to react, Yan Jun tossed him a Spirit Stone and left the Pill Refining Room.

"Not bad, you've got work on your very first day," Zhu Gan said enviously.

Jiang Yan smiled noncommittally. He didn't plan on explaining, as it was just his speculation.

"By the way, you know how to use the Earth Fire Formation, right?" Zhu Gan asked.

"Yeah, I've already learned by watching," Jiang Yan replied.

He had indeed learned it, and his operation of it was very smooth.

Zhu Gan nodded. "Alright then. When I come back later, I'll bring you two Sesame Cakes."

"Thanks." Jiang Yan bowed and watched Zhu Gan leave.

As Jiang Yan sat before the Pill Furnace, the Earth Fire flames gradually began to shrink, causing him to frown slightly.

'So impatient?'

Facing the gaze from not far behind him, Jiang Yan merely gave a disdainful smile. He knew very well that this was Yan Jun's doing.

Placing the Spirit Stone into the Formation, the Earth Fire within the Formation slowly grew as the Spirit Stone rotated.

As the Earth Fire flames grew, he quickly picked up the Spirit Stone to prevent the fire from becoming too large and causing the furnace to explode.

Seeing Jiang Yan's actions, Yan Jun, who was hiding nearby, was furious.

He had thought he could easily handle this Muddy-legs, but then this scene had unfolded.

"Damn it, let's see how you defend against the next one!"