160: Chapter 160 gets more and more interesting as you read on.

Chen Yuan was startled, then smiled bitterly: "Of course it's the latter. I can always save up contribution points, but a chance to observe a Golden Core Elder refining a third-rank pill from start to finish—such an opportunity doesn't come around even once in several years. The last time the Sect had a similar mission was six years ago."

Su Cheng patted his Senior Brother's shoulder.

"Then wait."

Chen Yuan was stunned: "Wait for what?"

"Wait for the next opportunity; I'll help you get the news in advance," Su Cheng said calmly. "You've been in the Sect for so many years, your connections are wider than mine. The problem isn't that you're not qualified, it's that your news channel was a step slower than others. We just need to make up for that step."

Chen Yuan opened his mouth to say something but swallowed it back down.

His Junior Brother's tone had always been like this—not excited, not making promises, not painting grand pictures, just telling you 'I've noted this matter.'

Yet, it was precisely this tone that made one feel more reassured than any guarantee.

"Alright." Chen Yuan nodded vigorously. "Then I'll listen to you."

Su Cheng turned to walk down the mountain, but after a few steps, he suddenly stopped and turned to ask: "By the way, Senior Brother, roughly when will True Man L<ü Yuan refine that batch of huayuan pills?"

"I heard it's next month. Why?"

"Nothing, just asking."

Su Cheng continued down the mountain.

In his mind, he was indeed pondering a few thoughts.

The third-rank pill, huayuan pill, primarily functions to assist Golden Core Cultivators in stabilizing the quality of their Golden Core and slightly improving the efficiency of spiritual power conversion.

This item was temporarily useless to Su Cheng himself, but it would be of great use to Fang Zhenhai. Fang Zhenhai was about to charge for the Golden Core stage; if he could have a huayuan pill to help stabilize after Core Formation, his Foundation would be much more solid.

But the huayuan pill was a third-rank pill.

Third-rank was different from second-rank. Back in the Qi Refinement Stage, Su Cheng could rely on the qiankun creation furnace to refine second-rank pills across ranks.

But at the hurdle of the third-rank, the limitations of the creation furnace became apparent. His current Divine Sense strength couldn't withstand the consumption during the refining of third-rank pills, and the purity of his spiritual power was also a notch below.

He could refine second-rank pills with ease, but third-rank was out of the question for now. As for when he could reach it, that would have to wait.

So for now, if he wanted to get a huayuan pill, refining it himself was out of the question.

Either he could get the Pill Formula and save it for later when his cultivation increased.

Or more directly, could he get one pill from True Man L<ü Yuan's batch?

The spots were already decided internally, so the formal channels were blocked, but Su Cheng was never someone who only took formal channels.

He returned to his Immortal Cave, closed the door, and sat on his prayer mat to organize the situation.

His Senior Brother, Chen Yuan, was straightforward and loyal. Having spent over half a year with him on Qingmu Peak, Su Cheng knew he wasn't the type to backstab.

Since Chen Yuan's opportunity was snatched, Su Cheng helping him out with a word or an idea was normal fellow-Disciple camaraderie; it wasn't a loss.

But Su Cheng never did business at a loss when helping.

That night, Su Cheng looked up True Man L<ü Yuan's personal information. It was available in the public records of the Dharma Transmission Pavilion. This True Man was skilled in many types of third-rank pills, and among them was a name that made Su Cheng's eyes light up.

The spirit nurturing pill.

True Man L<ü Yuan knew how to refine spirit nurturing pills.

Su Cheng's train of thought suddenly opened up.

The Pill Formula for the spirit nurturing pill was tightly held by the Alchemy Hall. He couldn't buy it through regular channels, and his attempts to reverse-engineer it using the creation furnace had also failed.

This path had been blocked for a long time, and he hadn't found a Breakthrough.

Originally, he planned to participate in next year's Alchemy Hall Competition, but now there was no news of a precious artifact pill furnace or Exotic Fire, so it was hard to say if he would succeed.

But what if he could establish a connection with True Man L<ü Yuan?

He didn't need to dream too big; someone certainly wouldn't give you something like a Pill Formula upon the first meeting.

But as long as he could demonstrate enough value during the Alchemy assistance process to make True Man L<ü Yuan look at him in a new light, whether it was asking for a few spirit nurturing pills later or gradually accessing the core information of the Pill Formula through long-term cooperation, it would be a hundred times better than being completely in the dark as he was now.

Even if he couldn't get the Pill Formula for the spirit nurturing pill, just being able to get a few High Grade huayuan pills or High Grade spirit nurturing pills from True Man L<ü Yuan in the future would make this worthwhile.

It would be much better than the Medium Grade ones sold within the Sect.

Thinking this way, the assistant spot wasn't just about helping Chen Yuan anymore.

He had to get in there himself.

True Man L<ü Yuan needed five Foundation Establishment assistants to refine the third-rank huayuan pill.

The core work of an assistant was nothing more than helping with the pre-processing of ingredients, maintaining the stability of the medicinal liquid, and replenishing spiritual power at critical moments.

These tasks weren't highly difficult for a Second-Rank Alchemist, but they had a significant impact on the quality of third-rank pills. The higher the level of the assistants, the more guaranteed the success rate and quality of the Medicinal Pill.

Wei Tian and the others had Exotic Fires and resources, but Su Cheng didn't fear anyone because he had the Qi of Creation.

The key issue was how to squeeze himself in.

The spots were already full. Forcing his way in was impossible; he had to make True Man L<ü Yuan speak up personally.

But the prerequisite for making True Man L<ü Yuan speak up was to make him realize that among the existing five people, it would be better to replace one.

But this couldn't be done too ungracefully.

Squeezing anyone out would offend people, and it wouldn't be good for his reputation if word got out.

Then he wouldn't squeeze anyone out.

He would create a sixth, or even a seventh spot.

How to create it?

The next day, Su Cheng made a special trip to the Dharma Transmission Pavilion, pulled out several ancient texts involving the refining of third-rank pills, and found the relevant chapter on the huayuan pill.

The more he read, the more interesting it became.

There was a widely recognized difficulty in the refining process of the huayuan pill: the main ingredient, yuanling grass, required an extremely delicate pre-processing step before being put into the Pill Furnace—active extraction.

yuanling grass was a third-rank Spirit Medicine with high spirituality; its medicinal properties were fierce yet fragile, and the slightest carelessness would lead to a massive loss of core medicinal power during the extraction process.

The usual way to handle it was to slowly roast it with spiritual fire to force out Impurities, but during this process, the yuanling grass would instinctively retract its spirituality for self-protection, resulting in extremely low extraction efficiency and thus compromising the final quality of the pill.

The ancient texts stated clearly: if one of the assistants possessed a natural affinity for the medicinal properties of spiritual plants and could soothe the spirituality of the yuanling grass during the extraction phase, making it actively cooperate in releasing its medicinal power, the final quality of the pill would increase by at least twenty percent.

Su Cheng closed the book.

Spiritual plant affinity.

Wasn't this his old specialty?

The wood-attribute cultivation technique he practiced, disguised as the "Evergreen Art," had an affinity for spiritual plants that even his Revered Master, Elder Qingmu, found astonishing.

He could even revive a thousand-year-old vine like the dragon beard vine that was nearly dead.

Soothing the spirituality of a single third-rank yuanling grass was a piece of cake for him.

The problem was, True Man L<ü Yuan didn't know him.

Why would a third-rank Alchemist believe an Early Foundation Establishment Stage Disciple from Qingmu Peak who ran up and said, "I can help you process yuanling grass"?

He had to let True Man L<ü Yuan see it for himself.

Su Cheng leaned back in his chair and began to calculate in his mind.

He tended to the Spirit Fields on Qingmu Peak every day, but that was his Revered Master's territory, and outsiders couldn't see it.

The matter of the dragon beard vine couldn't be spread even more; his Revered Master had repeatedly warned him.

Then he would find another place to display it.

Was there any public occasion in the Sect where he could naturally show off his skill in spiritual plant affinity without it seeming too deliberate?