Request to Resign

"Perhaps I can find a second-tier spirit medicine similar to the Red Blood Vine to use as the main ingredient."

With a plan in mind, Song Wen began to consider which second-tier spirit medicine would be suitable.

He took out Rong Jingyun's Alchemy notes, which recorded over a hundred Pill Formula and naturally covered a wide range of spirit medicine, with detailed descriptions of the medicinal properties of each spirit medicine.

After reviewing the entire Alchemy manual, Song Wen identified three potentially suitable second-tier spirit medicine as the main ingredient.

These are Fire Pomegranate Fruit, Azure Sky Flower, and Yellow Essence Fungus.

Of these three spirit medicine, the easiest to obtain is the Yellow Essence Fungus, followed by the Azure Sky Flower, while the Fire Pomegranate Fruit is the most difficult to obtain.

After finding these three spirit medicine, Song Wen immediately ruled out the Fire Pomegranate Fruit.

The Fire Pomegranate Fruit is a rare and precious spirit medicine that can assist cultivators in developing their eye techniques. It is more expensive than many third-tier spirit medicine.

Even if Song Wen uses the Fire Pomegranate Fruit to develop a new 'Bloodburst Pill', he cannot use it to refine Alchemy and consume them in large quantities. The Fire Pomegranate Fruit is too rare, and even with enough Spirit Stone, it is not guaranteed that it can be purchased.

Having found a direction for improving the Bloodburst Pill, Song Wen couldn't wait to try it out. However, he didn't have any readily available spirit medicine and needed to gather the necessary spirit medicine first.

Song Wen estimated the time in his mind. He had been in the Alchemy room for less than a day, and going out now would arouse suspicion.

He then took out the remaining ingredients for the Qi-Gathering Pill and continued Alchemy. Since he couldn't leave anyway, he might as well refine more pills to deal with Su Huayue later.

He had a total of six portions of Qi-Gathering Pill ingredients, two of which were leftover from this batch, and the other four were leftover from previous batches.

Another day passed.

Song Wen walked out of the Alchemy room looking somewhat haggard, and handed the Qi-Gathering Pill to Su Huayue.

"Steward Su, you have lived up to expectations and successfully refined three Qi-Gathering Pills."

Su Huayue took the jade bottle, examined it, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Thank you for your hard work, Alchemist. Go back and rest. Remember to report to the Alchemy Chamber promptly at Chenshi (7-9 AM) tomorrow."

After saying goodbye, Song Wen turned and left.

Back at his lodgings, Song Wen immediately became radiant; his earlier haggard appearance was merely a facade.

He probed the storage ring with his Divine Sense and began to search it carefully.

He had amassed quite a few storage rings, each containing some spirit medicine. He wasn't entirely sure what spirit medicine he actually possessed.

Following the Pill Formula for the Bloodburst Pill, Song Wen selected the necessary spirit medicine one by one.

Although the Bloodburst Pill is a second-tier pill, not all the spirit medicine needed for its Alchemy are second-tier; some are first- spirit medicine. These first-tier spirit medicine are common auxiliary spirit medicine, and Song Wen has quite a few stored in his storage ring.

After searching through the storage ring, Song Wen discovered that he was only missing two kinds of spirit medicine needed to refine the Bloodburst Pill.

One type is a second-tier spirit medicine called Ghost Needle Grass, which is an auxiliary ingredient in refining the Bloodburst Pill. Ghost Needle Grass is not rare, but it has few uses, so this spirit medicine was not in the storage ring I obtained.

The other is the main ingredient.

Song Wen planned to try using Yellow Essence Fungus first, since it was the cheapest and easiest to obtain among the three main medicinal ingredients available.

After quickly tidying up, Song Wen went out to the dining hall.

It was noon, lunchtime.

Sometimes, Song Wen could obtain useful information from Duan Jie and other visiting Alchemist. Therefore, whenever he had free time, he would go to the canteen to eat and chat with Duan Jie and the others.

Upon entering the dining hall, Song Wen discovered that Duan Jie was not there, but Qi Xiong and several other Alchemist were among them.

Without needing anyone to greet him, Song Wen was very outgoing. He walked to Qi Xiong and the others' table, found an empty seat, and sat down. He then greeted everyone at the table warmly.

Before long, servants brought in the food and served it to them.

Seeing that the people at the table were somewhat silent, Song Wen swallowed a mouthful of food and took the initiative to start a conversation.

"Deacon Su Huayue forcibly increased the tasks by 50%, which is really hard to bear, and she didn't even give us Spirit Stone as compensation. If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't Su Clan."

A female Alchemist in her thirties took over the conversation, lowering her voice and speaking softly.

"Once I receive this month's salary, I plan to leave the Su Clan."

Upon hearing this, the people at the table all paused and turned to look at the female Alchemist.

"Gao Yan, are you determined to leave the Su Clan?" someone asked.

Gao Yan nodded. "The Su Clan and the Du Clan are bound to clash sooner or later. It's best for us outsiders to stay out of it."

"That makes sense," someone echoed.

A moment later, a male cultivator said, "Then I'll leave with you."

Gao Yan said, "Alright, things haven't been peaceful around the Su Clan lately. Traveling with someone will make us a bit safer."

"Then I'll go too."

"I'm leaving too."

In an instant, two more people announced that they wanted to leave the Su Clan.

Qi Xiong, who had been silent until now, spoke with a worried expression.

"The salary offered by the Su Clan is quite good. Are you all really leaving? Once you leave the Su Clan, it will be difficult to find a master family that offers the same treatment."

"What's the use of a high salary if you're not alive to spend it? Putting aside the conflict between the Su Clan and Du Clan, this sudden increase in workload will exhaust all our energy. Where will we find the time to cultivate?" Gao Yan said.

The others nodded in agreement.

"But I..."

Qi Xiong looked hesitant.

He knew very well that Gao Yan and the others had made the right choice.

But Su Huayue had promised to give him a Realm-Breaking Pill, and now that he hadn't received Realm-Breaking Pill, he was unwilling to leave.

"Qi Xiong, come with us. We've known each other for years and trust one another. Let's start over somewhere new. With our Alchemy skills, we can do well anywhere."

Qi Xiong looked troubled. "But Deacon Su promised to bestow upon me the Realm-Breaking Pill in a month. I want to make a decision after I receive the Realm-Breaking Pill."

One of the male cultivators, who had decided to leave, scoffed.

"You've taken the benefits from the Su Clan, and you think you can leave so easily? You're dreaming!"

The atmosphere quickly became somewhat tense. The group finished their meal in silence and then left the dining hall in batches.

Qi Xiong seemed to have been intentionally isolated by the group, and left alone.

Watching Qi Xiong's departing figure, Song Wen recalled a scene from the forbidden valley of the Su Clan, where dozens of cultivators were bound by chains and dragged into the valley's formation.

It seems that the Su Clan, under pressure from the Du Clan, has accelerated the process.

Su Huayue had originally promised to give Qi Xiong the Realm-Breaking Pill three months later, but now it has been changed to one month later.

However, Song Wen still doesn't know why the Su Clan is capturing cultivators of the Longevity Art Technique.

"If only we had the chance to perform a soul search on the core members of the Su Clan."