A Century-Old Ginseng

Faced with a bunch of fierce older sisters, Qin Dongcheng could only beat a retreat.

He hadn't expected that these women, who looked so delicate and charming—with several girls among them who were only in their teens—would speak so brazenly.

It seemed what people said in his previous life was true: the topics discussed in girls' dorms were even more explosive than those in boys' dorms. It was no exaggeration.

From the way Dong Hongyan, Liang Qiuyue, and the others talked, Qin Dongcheng could tell their usual conversations were surely even more outrageous.

It was best not to provoke them. As the only man among them, he was at a real disadvantage. Focusing on his cultivation was the way to go.

Qin Dongcheng also knew that Dong Hongyan was joking to ease the awkwardness and get him to agree to their proposed split.

After all, the Soul Bewildering Pill was valuable and highly practical. It was a good thing for them, too.

A few compulsory missions were hardly worth something so valuable and sought after.

Besides, if they ran out of Soul Bewildering Pills later and wanted more, Qin Dongcheng probably wouldn't charge them. And the compulsory missions assigned to alchemists, artifact refiners, and the like couldn't all involve hunting demons and eliminating evil.

That was why Dong Hongyan had joked around: she wanted to make it impossible for Qin Dongcheng to refuse and get him to accept their offer to share the proceeds.

This big sister seemed hearty and generous, but she was also meticulous. She wouldn't let her younger sisters or brothers lose out.

Ju Xiaojing, Liang Qiuyue, and the others didn't object either, which showed they approved. Qin Dongcheng felt even more warmly toward them.

At first, Dong Hongyan had swept him along, and he'd reluctantly joined their team. But as time passed, Qin Dongcheng had begun to think it wasn't so bad.

He could hire other Official Disciples to handle these compulsory missions, but how could they compare to Dong Hongyan and the others in diligence and reliability? If a mission failed or ran past its deadline, Qin Dongcheng would be the one punished.

After leaving Osmanthus Garden, the others discussed Qin Dongcheng as well.

"I never expected Sixth Brother to be so skilled at alchemy and medicine-making. He can even concoct something as good as the Soul Bewildering Pill. It's much more powerful and practical than those low-level aphrodisiacs, almost as good as some intermediate pills."

"If I'm not mistaken, the techniques he used to make the Soul Bewildering Pill must have included intermediate-level alchemy methods. In other words, Sixth Brother's Alchemy had long since reached the level of a Low-level Alchemist; he just hasn't taken the examination. He might even be among the best Low-level Alchemists."

"Doesn't that mean he'll soon be able to make intermediate pills and become an Intermediate Alchemist? An Intermediate Alchemist so young has boundless prospects."

"We underestimated Sixth Brother. If he can make a pill like this, how could his cultivation be only at the Body Phase Initial Stage? He might not be much weaker than us."

Their opinion of Qin Dongcheng had changed considerably.

Before, they'd only looked after him because he had saved Dong Hongyan. Now, they had truly accepted him.

Every member of their team was a beautiful woman. How could they be short of people wanting to join? Even some True Inheritance Disciples had wanted to join their team, let alone Qin Dongcheng, an Outer Sect Disciple.

Without enough strength, even if he managed to join them, they would sooner or later distance themselves from him.

It was only after he revealed his skill at making the Soul Bewildering Pill that they began to take this Sixth Brother seriously.

No matter how much they speculated, though, they would never have guessed that Qin Dongcheng was now so powerful he was no weaker than any of them.

Even Dong Hongyan, who had one foot in the Tendon Phase Realm, couldn't match Qin Dongcheng in combat strength.

After repaying his debt to Dong Hongyan and the others, Qin Dongcheng felt much more at ease. He couldn't keep expecting a few women to put their lives on the line for free whenever they encountered missions to hunt demons and eliminate evil. He couldn't do that.

If they took on more missions like that later, he could let Dong Hongyan and the others help without worry, and focus on his cultivation.

Though he didn't get much real combat experience, the occasional fight with wild beasts and sparring with Lu Gen and the others were enough to make his battle experience and techniques advance by leaps and bounds. They were in no way inferior to Dong Hongyan and the others' experience fighting for their lives. That was the power of the Heaven Rewards Diligence System.

The occasional critical hit made his battle experience and techniques soar even higher. Among Martial Artists of the same rank, he was firmly among the best, and in many areas he could even match those at higher levels.

He was nothing like other alchemists, artifact refiners, or formation masters. A whole group of Martial Artists at his level wouldn't be able to beat him.

After taking on several missions to hunt demons and eliminate evil, Dong Hongyan and the others hurriedly left the Five Elements Mountain Range. They probably wouldn't be back for another month.

Many disciples skilled in combat took advantage of the opportunity to accept plenty of missions, earning a large amount of Sect Contribution and valuable resources.

Most alchemists, artifact refiners, formation masters, and the like had to pay a hefty price to ask disciples skilled at hunting demons and eliminating evil to take on missions for them.

The missions to hunt demons and eliminate evil, which had once gone untouched, were quickly cleared out. Luo Cloud Prefecture also became more stable with each passing day.

Qin Dongcheng's cultivation returned to its usual course. Zhen Le hadn't come looking for him again recently, so he was probably still recovering from his injuries. Qin Dongcheng couldn't be bothered to find out how he was doing.

With both legs broken, he wouldn't recover for a year or two. By then, who knew how powerful Qin Dongcheng would have become?

If Zhen Le dared to provoke him again, Qin Dongcheng planned to strike hard. Some things could happen once or twice, but not a third or fourth time.

"You have gathered a century-old ginseng. Congratulations, you triggered Double Critical Hit and received two century-old ginseng roots!"

To Qin Dongcheng's surprise, when he gathered a century-old ginseng worth a fortune, he triggered Double Critical Hit and received two roots. One of them naturally belonged to him.

This was an excellent ingredient for making intermediate pills and above. Every root was a treasure that money couldn't buy.

If Qin Dongcheng hadn't helped guide the grandson of an old servant, he wouldn't have gotten the chance to gather it. He hadn't expected to trigger a critical hit, too.

The old servant was named Tian Liang. He was already over seventy and had started working as a Herb Field servant in his teens. He had worked there for more than fifty years.

Several herbs that were decades old grew in the Herb Field under his care, along with some that were around a century old. Only one was gathered once in a while. He was one of the most capable Herb Field servants in the surrounding fields.

Even the stewards thought highly of the Herb Field he was responsible for and rarely let anyone enter.

Qin Dongcheng had earned the chance to gather those precious herbs by guiding Tian Liang's grandson in the Mount Tai Body Strengthening Fist. The rewards from one critical hit were already worth more than the critical-hit rewards he could get from gathering ordinary herbs in many Herb Fields.

The return from this single century-old ginseng far exceeded the small amount of time and effort he had spent guiding Tian Liang's grandson.