9: Chapter 9 Joining Danfeng

"Junior Brother, stay here and don't wander off. I'm going to find Revered Master." After saying that, Xiao Hao headed straight for Alchemy Peak.

Yun Ming was confused and looked at Li Ping. Li Ping, with a face full of smiles and envy, looked at Yun Ming: "Junior Brother, oh Junior Brother, your Opportunity has come."

Yun Ming took out two Spirit Stones, placed them on the table, and asked, "Please enlighten me, Senior Brother, who exactly is this Senior Brother Xiao?"

Li Ping gave Yun Ming a strange look. "You don't know Senior Brother Xiao Hao?"

Yun Ming shook his head. "To be honest, Senior Brother, I only recently became an Outer Sect Disciple and know very little about the affairs within the Sect."

Li Ping said, "I see. Then I'll give you a brief introduction to our Sunset Glow Sect."

"Our Sunset Glow Sect is a great Nascent Soul Sect. The Sect Master, True Lord Luoxia, is a Nascent Soul Cultivator. In our Sunset Glow Sect, the Elders of the six major peaks—Alchemy, Sword, Artifact, Talisman, Array, and Beast—are all Golden Core True Persons."

"Senior Brother Xiao Hao is the Personal Disciple of Elder Li, the Elder of Alchemy Peak! His cultivation has already reached Qi Refining Level 10 Perfection, just one step away from Foundation Establishment. Furthermore, Senior Brother Xiao Hao is a First-Tier High Grade Alchemist. If Alchemy hadn't delayed his cultivation, I'm afraid Senior Brother Xiao Hao would have reached Foundation Establishment long ago."

Yun Ming truly hadn't expected Xiao Hao to have such a powerful background. He had to cling tightly to this powerful backer so that he wouldn't have to worry about offending Elder Qian anymore.

After a while, Xiao Hao returned alone. It seemed he hadn't been able to bring his Revered Master along.

"Revered Master is in secluded meditation, but I can conduct the assessment on his behalf. Also, let me ask you: are you willing to join Alchemy Peak?" Xiao Hao said with a helpless smile after his failed attempt to fetch his Revered Master.

Yun Ming naturally wouldn't refuse. "I am willing, of course I am willing."

"Good! What is your current cultivation level?"

"Qi Refining Level 4."

"Hmm, that's barely passable. What is your Spiritual Root?"

"Five Elements Mixed Spiritual Root."

Hearing that Yun Ming had a Five Elements Mixed Spiritual Root, both Xiao Hao and Li Ping frowned simultaneously.

Even if Yun Ming had Four Spiritual Roots, it would be better than Five Spiritual Roots. He had originally wanted Yun Ming to directly become an Inner Sect Disciple of Alchemy Peak, but now it seemed that wouldn't be possible.

Xiao Hao thought of a compromise. "How about this, Junior Brother? Having Five Spiritual Roots indeed means your talent is too poor. If you can Breakthrough to Qi Refining Level 5 within half a year, I will make an exception and let you join the Alchemy Peak's Inner Sect directly. What do you think?"

"No problem," Yun Ming agreed immediately. He was confident—not just in Qi Refining Level 5, but even breaking through to Qi Refining Level 6 within half a year.

"Good! In that case, refine another batch of qi gathering pill in front of me. If you succeed and reach Qi Refining Level 5 in half a year, you'll join the Inner Sect. If you fail, you can still join Alchemy Peak after reaching Qi Refining Level 6, but the timing will have to be delayed."

"I can do it!" Yun Ming was incredibly confident.

"Good, in that case, Junior Brother Li, please find us a quiet room."

Li Ping then led the two of them to Room A-3. Its appearance alone was much more luxurious than Room C-26, and the space was much more spacious. It was like the difference between a standard room and a presidential suite.

Once in the room, Li Ping didn't choose to leave. Instead, he stayed aside with Xiao Hao because he also wanted to see for himself whether this Yun Ming truly had ability or was just playing them.

Looking at the Pill Furnace in front of him, Yun Ming's expression suddenly stiffened, and he spoke sheepishly, "Senior Brother, could you first lend me a set of qi gathering pill Materials?"

"Pfft, I thought it was something major." Xiao Hao patted the Storage Pouch at his waist, and a set of qi gathering pill Materials flew out on its own.

After catching the Materials, Yun Ming looked at Xiao Hao's Storage Pouch with envy, thinking to himself that he would buy one too once he had the money.

Snapping back to his senses, he calmed his mind. After a brief period of regulating his breath, Yun Ming began refining the qi gathering pill.

The qi gathering pill was the most basic and simplest Pill Formula. However, for a beginner, failing dozens of times was the norm because there were too many things to learn; the stage of starting from nothing was naturally the most difficult.

As Xiao Hao and Li Ping watched Yun Ming refine the pill, they became more and more alarmed and surprised.

It was clear from Yun Ming's technique that he hadn't undergone any systematic learning; it was entirely a layman's technique. However, his control over Spiritual Qi and his mastery of medicinal power were incredibly precise. This was talent.

In the blink of an eye, an hour passed, and the qi gathering pill was a success without any surprises!

It was another batch of twenty-five pills, each one plump and full of Spiritual Qi.

Xiao Hao kept examining the qi gathering pill in his hand, confirming that Yun Ming hadn't lied to him.

Li Ping was astonished. Succeeding three times in a row, even with qi gathering pill, was not that simple. At the very least, he knew that Xiao Hao, a First-Tier High Grade Alchemist, couldn't do it.

Xiao Hao was very happy. He felt he had truly found a promising talent for an Alchemist. "Good, good, good. Junior Brother, not bad. From today on, you are a Named Disciple of my Alchemy Peak's Inner Sect. Additionally, you need to refine three batches of this quality of qi gathering pill every month. The Materials will be provided by Alchemy Peak, and I'll count each batch as twenty Spirit Stones for you."

"Alright, thank you, Senior Brother!" Yun Ming was equally happy.

When others refined Medicinal Pills, they only got Contribution Points and no Spirit Stones. But he not only got Contribution Points but also Spirit Stones. It was a total steal! This way, in a month, the Spirit Stones distributed by the Sect alone would reach a staggering one hundred and sixty.

In the past, that would have been worth half a year's Spirit Stones for him.

Afterward, Xiao Hao left with the batch of qi gathering pill.

Yun Ming had to hurry and Cultivate to Breakthrough to Qi Refining Level 5 as soon as possible. After greeting Li Ping, he also left.

Meanwhile, on the other side...

Outer Sect Elder, Elder Qian, was watching three cripples wailing and howling in front of him.

"Elder, you must avenge us!"

"Yes, Elder, that kid went too far."

"He didn't respect you at all, Elder."

Looking at these three useless trash, Elder Qian was fuming.

"You three useless trash, shut up!"

The few of them instantly quieted down, very obedient.

Elder Qian paced back and forth, then rubbed his brow. It was the first time a Utility Disciple had dared to cross him. It was simply outrageous.

"A mere Utility Disciple at Qi Refining Level 3, with no background and no strength. If I can't even deal with him, I don't need to stay in the Outer Sect anymore!" Elder Qian shouted angrily, "Ma San!"

A burly man ran up to Elder Qian. "Elder, you called for me."

"Ma San, you're the one I favor most. You're already at Qi Refining Level 5 now, right? Joining the Inner Sect next year is just around the corner." Elder Qian looked at Ma San. He was someone he had promoted personally. Most importantly, he was obedient—if told to go east, he would never go west; if told to hit a wall, he would never jump off a building.

"It's all thanks to the Elder." Ma San knew the Elder was going to have him do dirty work again. Although it wasn't the first time he had done such things, he still felt some resistance in his heart. However, since he was personally groomed by Elder Qian, it was indeed hard to refuse.

Elder Qian didn't beat around the bush and said, "Recently, there's a kid, just a lowly utility worker, who cut off my source of income. This month's Spirit Stone earnings have dropped by a full thirty percent. Because of him, your cultivation resources will also drop by thirty percent."

Hearing that his cultivation resources were going to drop by thirty percent, Ma San couldn't sit still. He was preparing to Breakthrough to Qi Refining Level 4, and every bit of resource was extremely important; he couldn't accept a thirty percent drop.

Seeing Ma San get a bit agitated, Elder Qian comforted him at the right time: "Don't be in a hurry, I haven't finished. This kid is unusual. He could defeat Zhu Dachang at Qi Refining Level 4 while only being at Qi Refining Level 3. So I'm sending you. As long as you can cripple him, not only will I not decrease this month's resources, I'll even increase them by thirty percent for you!"

Ma San clenched his fists and bowed to Elder Qian, saying, "Rest assured, Elder!"