Is This a Beauty Pageant?

Song Ankang preferred to plan before acting, especially when it came to something as important as opening up a new source of income for all of Chaoyun Manor.

The original owner's memories already contained considerable knowledge about refining medicinal herbs, and Jiang Yunhe had deliberately brought him relevant books before.

Read a book a hundred times and its meaning would reveal itself. Though he had never put it into practice, Song Ankang knew the fundamentals of medicinal herb refining like the back of his hand.

He was even more than eighty percent confident that, without relying on a teacher's guidance, he could refine Ninth-grade Low-tier Pills on his own.

If he was confident he could even refine pills, then deeply processing a few basic medicinal herbs was even less of a challenge. Song Ankang was absolutely certain he could do it.

That was precisely why he had dared to sign such an agreement with Huachun Hall's head shopkeeper.

As for why he was so confident, Song Ankang felt that aside from the original owner's exceptional memories and comprehension, the main reason was that after this period of training, his mental will had improved tremendously, surpassing that of ordinary people by several times.

Everyone knew that the most important requirement for becoming an alchemist was powerful mental strength; nimble hands and a clever mind came second.

Having fused with the original owner's soul and spiritual power, along with the spiritual power gained from cultivating the Seven Injuries Demonic Scripture and absorbing its side effects, it would have been impossible for Song Ankang's mental strength not to be formidable.

Even Jiang Yunhe, who had once possessed astonishing strength, could not compare to Song Ankang in terms of mental power.

Thus, while ordinary people found pill refinement incredibly difficult, and even the vast Huachun Hall had only a handful of alchemists, becoming one was a piece of cake to Song Ankang.

Moreover, alchemists held quite a high status among the Human Race, much like scientists on Earth—except they were the sort of scientists with an astonishing ability to make money.

Even an alchemist who could only refine Ninth-Rank Low-Tier pills had a status comparable to that of a mid-to-upper-level professional on Earth earning tens of thousands per month.

If Song Ankang revealed the abilities of a Ninth-Rank Low-Tier alchemist, many of the Tang Family's upper ranks would see him in a new light.

Yet no matter how high the status of a Ninth-Rank Low-Tier alchemist was, it could not compare with a First-rate Warrior of the Earth Gate Realm. At best, it could only rival a Second-rate Warrior around the Inner Refinement Third Layer.

Song Ankang's current combat power was already no weaker than that of a warrior at the Inner Refinement Fourth Layer, and the path of cultivation held far greater promise than refining herbs or pills.

Naturally, Song Ankang would not abandon the bright Great Dao of cultivation to pursue herb and pill refinement instead.

Even if he spent time and energy studying medicinal herb processing and alchemical techniques, it was still for the sake of his own cultivation.

Over the next two days, Song Ankang used the tools and utensils he had bought from Huachun Hall to easily process several types of basic medicinal herbs. Though he encountered a few minor problems along the way, they were not difficult to solve.

By then, Wang Yuliang and Hao Jiyong had also selected ten nimble-fingered tenant farmers, who would be the first group to study medicinal herb processing under Song Ankang.

Chaoyun Courtyard, beneath the pavilion.

Song Ankang looked at the ten tenant farmers Wang Yuliang and Hao Jiyong had selected, and the corners of his mouth twitched.

All ten were only around their teens. Each was a pretty young girl; even the least attractive could score above sixty, while the best was probably a ninety.

Song Ankang wanted to select promising talents who could master medicinal herb processing as quickly as possible, not hold some sort of beauty pageant at Chaoyun Manor. What were Wang Yuliang and Hao Jiyong doing?

Qiushi's expression beside him was also somewhat strange, but she said nothing. No displeasure appeared on her delicate, childlike face.

"I asked for ten nimble-fingered, intelligent, quick-witted talents. I didn't ask you to find me maidservants." Song Ankang looked at Wang Yuliang and Hao Jiyong, displeasure written across his face.

Wang Yuliang smiled. "Manor Lord, you misunderstand. They truly are the ten promising talents we carefully selected. Every one of them is nimble-fingered, intelligent, and quick-witted. Manor Lord, you mustn't judge people by their appearance."

"Uh..." Song Ankang wore an expression that plainly said, You'd better not be lying to me. "Really?"

Hao Jiyong nodded repeatedly. "Absolutely true. If Manor Lord doesn't believe us, you can teach them properly. If any one of them fails to meet your requirements, you can throw her out at once."

"In that case, let them stay." Seeing that even the honest and kind Hao Jiyong said so, Song Ankang finally relaxed. He led the ten girls to a nearby processing workshop.

The processing workshop was a courtyard Song Ankang had specially cleared out for processing medicinal herbs. It covered more than a thousand square meters, and everything inside had already been arranged properly.

Watching Song Ankang leave with ten nimble-fingered, flower-like beauties, Wang Yuliang and Hao Jiyong exchanged smiles. Everything was understood without a word.

They had not lied to Song Ankang. These ten pretty girls were indeed nimble-fingered, intelligent, and quick-witted, but they were not the very best of the lot.

After the two announced Song Ankang's requirements, more than a thousand tenant farmers in Chaoyun Manor went wild. Everyone hurried to sign up, hoping to earn this considerable extra income and thereby weather this year's hardship.

After carefully selecting candidates, Wang Yuliang and Hao Jiyong had picked out dozens of promising talents, both male and female, most of them teenagers.

But after giving it some thought, the two decisively chose ten of the prettier girls rather than the ten with the best results.

The reason was simple: Manor Lord Song was a man. Though he had no dirty thoughts, compared with teaching men, Manor Lord Song would probably prefer teaching young, beautiful girls in the bloom of youth.

It cost them nothing, and girls were more attentive besides. Song Ankang would not be overly harsh while teaching them either. It was a single move that yielded several gains.

Wang Yuliang and Hao Jiyong had no intention of pimping anyone out. Both understood clearly that, never mind the devastatingly beautiful young miss, even Qiushi alone, his Concubine Maid, could crush any girl in Chaoyun Manor.

Under such circumstances, it was basically impossible for Song Ankang to do anything improper to these ten girls. Of course, even if he did, perhaps they would be willing—then they could cling to the powerful Manor Lord.

Even Qiushi, his Concubine Maid, had no other thoughts. The reason was simple: Qiushi trusted Song Ankang.

She was so beautiful and was Song Ankang's Concubine Maid. If Song Ankang wanted her, he could have her whenever he wished.

Yet even under such circumstances, Song Ankang had still restrained himself and had not done anything indescribable to her. Qiushi had great faith in Song Ankang's character.

So after seeing Song Ankang take the ten flower-like girls away to teach them, she skipped toward the kitchen, intending to prepare a lavish lunch for Son-in-law.

Son-in-law would be teaching ten girls next, so he would surely be exhausted. He definitely needed a proper nourishing meal at noon.

By the time several dear readers had read this far, you must be tired too, right? Why not have some happy fat-otaku water at noon to replenish yourselves?