Fame Skyrockets

"Boom..."

A few days later, after harvesting a batch of precious medicinal herbs and triggering multiple critical hits, Qin Dongcheng was, as usual, guiding Lu Gen and the others in their cultivation.

Accompanied by a booming sound, Lu Gen actually condensed his blood-qi energy, stepping into the realm of a Martial Artist.

Qin Dongcheng quickly signaled for the others to step back, leaving enough space for Lu Gen to properly improve and consolidate his breakthrough.

The surrounding herb field laborers also realized what was happening and hurriedly moved aside, watching Lu Gen in the center with envy.

"Alchemist Qin is truly amazing! He helped Lu Gen comprehend the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist so quickly and succeed in his cultivation, condensing his blood-qi. You have to realize that Lu Gen spent over a year trying to comprehend it before and couldn't even grasp the basics."

"Looking at all the Alchemy Apprentices and Martial Artists who started as herb field laborers, who else could help us like Alchemist Qin? If Alchemist Qin needs anything in the future, no one is allowed to shrink back."

"It's too fast. In just a few months, not only did Lu Gen comprehend the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist, but he also succeeded in his cultivation and stepped into the Body Phase. Perhaps in another year and a half, we will have another Official Disciple among us."

"If it were up to Lu Gen alone, the possibility wouldn't be high, unless he had the help of Alchemist Qin."

Amidst the low murmurs, Lu Gen had already entered the Body Phase and consolidated his cultivation realm, running toward Qin Dongcheng with a face full of excitement.

"Thud..."

Lu Gen actually knelt directly before Qin Dongcheng: "Thank you, Alchemist Qin, for your guidance. Without you, I fear I would never have been able to comprehend the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist in this lifetime, let alone succeed in my cultivation and step into the realm of a Martial Artist."

Qin Dongcheng quickly helped him up: "It was all your own hard work; it has little to do with me. Besides, even without my guidance, you would only have needed to spend some sect contribution points to ask others for help."

"That would have taken who knows how many years. By then, I fear my body would already be on the decline, making it very difficult to step into the realm of a Martial Artist," Lu Gen said with a bitter smile. "And even if I spent money to hire others, how could they be as dedicated and thorough as Alchemist Qin? I fear that even after spending the money, I would still struggle to comprehend it, let alone reach the Martial Artist realm."

Just as Lu Gen said, over the years, countless herb field laborers had spent money only to fail to reach the Martial Artist realm, ultimately wasting both their wealth and time for nothing.

Furthermore, he hadn't known any better at the time and had chosen one of the most difficult body-strengthening techniques, the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist, which made the difficulty of cultivation even greater, making it extremely hard to even grasp the basics.

He had thought he would never reach the Martial Artist realm in this life, yet he never expected that with Qin Dongcheng's help, he would comprehend the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist and succeed in his cultivation so quickly.

This could be considered the grace of entering the path; how could one not be moved to tears of gratitude?

Moreover, Lu Gen knew clearly in his heart that compared to others, Qin Dongcheng took better care of him and often gave him extra pointers; otherwise, he wouldn't have improved so quickly.

After all, his natural talent and aptitude were only average among the many herb field laborers, not even as good as many of them.

Looking at the deeply grateful Lu Gen, Qin Dongcheng also felt a bit sentimental.

To be honest, in the beginning, it was Lu Gen who took care of him. Later, after obtaining the Heaven Rewards Diligence System, he helped Lu Gen quite a bit, partly out of gratitude for the help he had received in the past.

He hadn't expected Lu Gen to give him a huge surprise in return; the value of that Treasure Map was at least ten thousand taels of silver, if not more.

This single Treasure Map was enough to offset all the help he had given Lu Gen, and even exceed it by a wide margin.

He hadn't expected Lu Gen to still feel indebted; such an honest and loyal person was quite rare, so he would continue to help him in the future.

Even if Lu Gen had limited prospects in the future, that Treasure Map alone was worth thousands of bottles of pills to Qin Dongcheng.

Besides, when making friends, one shouldn't just look at the other person's future or background; that would be too snobbish.

After giving Lu Gen some more pointers to help him better consolidate his cultivation and adapt to his surging strength, Qin Dongcheng took his leave.

He planned to wait a few days until no one was around to give Lu Gen some Blood-Replenishing Pills to accelerate his cultivation.

With Lu Gen stepping into the Martial Artist realm—and doing so via the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist—Qin Dongcheng's reputation in the area skyrocketed, and even more herb field laborers requested his guidance.

To this end, they didn't hesitate to give away many of their accumulated medicinal herbs and specifically transplanted precious herbs together to make it easier for Qin Dongcheng to harvest them.

There were even many herb field laborers not under Zhang Jing's jurisdiction who came to request guidance, while also being willing to set aside precious herbs for Qin Dongcheng to harvest.

These actions undoubtedly allowed Qin Dongcheng to harvest more precious herbs, saving him a great deal of time and energy.

Among the herbs planted by some of the veteran laborers, there were even century-old Ginseng and Fleeceflower Root; as long as he triggered a critical hit once, Qin Dongcheng would strike it rich.

Thus, he turned no one away; after all, he was only taking occasional breaks to provide guidance, and it didn't require much time.

As his cultivation entered the Skin Phase, Qin Dongcheng's insights into body strengthening grew deeper, and even for those not practicing the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist, he could offer a pointer or two.

After trying a few times and helping those herb field laborers who practiced other fist techniques solve their difficulties, more and more laborers came to seek his guidance.

Qin Dongcheng only needed to set a specific time for everyone to come and receive guidance together, which didn't cost much time or energy.

However, this move also affected some Official Disciples who earned money and sect contribution points by guiding herb field laborers. If it weren't for the fact that Qin Dongcheng was an Alchemy Apprentice, someone would have likely come to cause him trouble.

Qin Dongcheng also deliberately reduced the number of people he guided to avoid going too far and inciting public anger.

Moreover, Official Disciples had many ways to earn money and sect contribution points, and guiding herb field laborers was merely pocket money, so no one cared too much.

Qin Dongcheng's status and reputation in Bamboo Forest Valley grew higher and higher, and even though he deliberately kept a low profile, he gradually attracted more attention.

Fortunately, he had many hidden trump cards, and even if this brought him trouble, he could fully resolve it with his hidden strength.

The situation in Luo Cloud Prefecture, however, was becoming increasingly dire. It was said that other prefectures nearby could no longer withstand the demons and ghosts and had begun to divert the disaster, leading them into Luo Cloud Prefecture.

This infuriated the Five Elements Sect, the overlords of Luo Cloud Prefecture. They taught those who diverted the disaster a harsh lesson, then gritted their teeth and began dealing with the massive influx of demons and ghosts.

More and more Five Elements Sect disciples received mandatory missions to slay demons and eliminate devils, and even the various alchemists, artifact refiners, and formation masters... began to receive mandatory demon-slaying missions.

Qin Dongcheng was no exception; he also received a mandatory mission to slay demons, requiring him to go to Tongxin Village, a thousand miles away, to deal with a group of Rat Demons causing chaos.