"Who was that guy just now? He even turned down invitations from Senior Sister Dong, Senior Sister Ju, and the others without the slightest hesitation. Is he even a man?"
"Exactly. Several senior inner disciples wanted to join them earlier, but they were all turned down. And that kid had the nerve to refuse when they invited him themselves. What a big shot."
"Seems he was just too cowardly, afraid the Demons and Ghosts would kill him, so he didn't dare go with them. The senior sisters were left speechless too. He'd completely spurned their good intentions."
"Haha, he doesn't even dare to slay demons and vanquish evil. What a loser."
Qin Dongcheng, the man everyone had mocked, returned home in a calm state of mind and continued focusing on his cultivation.
The life-and-death battle against the Rat Demon had yielded a hundredfold reward. It was the equivalent of fighting a hundred such battles.
The gains from that single encounter had sent his combat experience and fighting skills soaring to heights that Martial Artists of the same rank could scarcely imagine.
To put it bluntly, even if Dong Hongyan, Ju Xiaojing, Liang Qiuyue, and the others were combined, their combat experience and fighting skills wouldn't amount to a tenth of Qin Dongcheng's.
Though they'd fought many battles, the number of life-and-death crises they'd faced combined was still less than ten. How could they compare to Qin Dongcheng, who had effectively experienced a hundred life-and-death battles?
With every gesture, he could unleash the full power of the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist. Once he activated the Dragon Vigor Tiger Might Strange Phenomenon, even the five of them working together wouldn't be a match for him.
Even if he had gone along to slay demons and vanquish evil, it was hard to say who would have been protecting whom.
Besides, form was emptiness, and emptiness was form. He wasn't so shallow. No one could stop him from cultivating, making pills, or gathering herbs...
A few days later, Qin Dongcheng went to the Five Elements Library and spent five hundred Sect Contribution to exchange for a technique from the Third Realm of Martial Arts.
Evergreen Flesh Refining Fist!
It was said to belong to the same lineage as the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist and the Diamond Skin Refining Fist. Though it was difficult to comprehend, practice, and improve... it had a high chance of awakening a Strange Phenomenon, and combined training methods with combat techniques.
He could start practicing it once he reached the Fourth Martial Realm.
His cultivation was already nearing the late Skin Phase. It shouldn't take long for him to break through to the late Skin Phase.
Several days later, after a tenfold critical hit, Qin Dongcheng began his breakthrough.
His Blood Qi surged and grew, constantly tempering and strengthening the hardness and flexibility of his skin until it grew more and more resilient.
Layer upon layer of Blood Qi washed over him like the tide, growing ever more powerful as it tempered his skin.
With a cracking sound, the bottleneck burst open, and Qin Dongcheng's cultivation entered a new level.
Late Skin Phase!
With a casual movement, he could unleash more than 1,400 kilograms of force. Once he activated the Dragon Vigor Tiger Might Strange Phenomenon, his strength doubled outright, exceeding 2,800 kilograms, and his destructive power surged even further.
He could shatter a head-sized rock with one punch. A person stood no chance.
A blow like that landing on someone would shatter their internal organs in an instant.
His strength had increased by a huge margin, especially his defense, which had improved even more.
After consolidating and adjusting to his sudden increase in strength, Qin Dongcheng happily rewarded himself with a lavish meal. He paid no mind to the sarcastic remarks of the Official Disciples around him.
What had happened outside the Mission Hall that day had eventually spread to Osmanthus Garden. Some of the Official Disciples living near Qin Dongcheng now wore strange expressions whenever they saw him.
Had he not been an Alchemy Apprentice, someone would probably have mocked him to his face by now.
Even so, some disciples still looked down on him, thinking him too cowardly and timid.
A whole group of charming women had dared to charge to the front lines, while he, a grown man, had been offered their protection—and still hadn't dared to go slay demons and vanquish evil. He'd disgraced the entire male sex.
Some of those mocking him were his own colleagues, fellow Alchemy Apprentices who had also spent Sect Contribution to hire others to help them slay demons and vanquish evil.
And yet they had the nerve to mock him. What utter nonsense. Qin Dongcheng couldn't help wondering whether those fools hadn't hired people with their own money too.
My reputation means as little to me as floating clouds. Things have been a little too lively lately anyway. I might as well lie low for a while and avoid attracting anyone's attention.
Qin Dongcheng was perfectly happy with that. His life wasn't affected at all; if anything, it grew more peaceful.
"You picked a ten-year-old Ginseng. Congratulations, you triggered a hundredfold critical hit and received one hundred ten-year-old Ginseng roots!"
A calm mind brought coolness, and good things kept coming.
Less than two days after breaking through to the late Skin Phase, he triggered a hundredfold critical hit while gathering herbs in the Herb Field, receiving one hundred Ginseng roots that were ten years old.
A single ten-year-old Ginseng root was worth a dozen or so taels of silver. A hundred of them would be worth over a thousand taels—more than ten million in his previous life.
Even for Qin Dongcheng, this was a fortune, far exceeding the handful of coins he'd earned by advising the Herb Field laborers.
Though he gave the Herb Field laborers advice for free, they carefully saved the precious herbs for him. That was how he'd triggered critical hits time and again.
This single haul had made Qin Dongcheng a killing.
It was a fine day, and Qin Dongcheng gathered herbs with even greater enthusiasm, leaving the Herb Field laborers utterly puzzled.
The herbs he was gathering weren't even his. Why was Alchemist Qin working so hard, and looking so excited about it?
Even they, the growers, weren't this happy when gathering herbs. After all, the harvested medicinal ingredients still had to be handed over to the sect.
But Alchemist Qin was merely gathering them, and he was already this happy.
Who would've thought Alchemist Qin had developed such an odd hobby back when he was a Herb Field laborer? It was truly strange.
After finishing the harvest, Qin Dongcheng brought more than a hundred precious medicinal plants back to Osmanthus Garden.
This critical-hit reward was generous. Next time he went to the Bamboo Forest Black Market, he'd be able to buy far fewer herbs.
That would let him hand over more finished pills to the sect in exchange for Sect Contribution. A technique from the Fourth Martial Realm would cost at least several thousand Sect Contribution, so he had to start saving up as soon as possible.
Recently, the Mission Hall had also received many more alchemy commissions, most of them for Golden Wound Pills and Detoxification Pills. He could hand in his surplus pills to complete the missions, which offered more Sect Contribution than usual.
The disciples who went out to slay demons and vanquish evil were certainly busy and in danger. But as a member of the support staff, Qin Dongcheng was just as busy. If he didn't seize this chance to earn more, he wouldn't get another opportunity this good.
If he simply traded pills for Sect Contribution instead of using them to complete missions, he'd receive much less. Sometimes, when the sect had too many pills, it wouldn't even allow such exchanges.
One day, while buying herbs at the Bamboo Forest Black Market, Qin Dongcheng soon spotted something that caught his interest.
Before you continue