Haha, This Young Master Made It!

"Senior Sister Su, the alchemy room has been cleaned!"

After Lu Chen put away his tools, the entire alchemy room looked brand-new.

"Mm, not bad. This is your reward. You may leave!"

As Su Qingqing spoke, she tossed Lu Chen a spirit stone.

Lu Chen caught it and saw that it was actually a Low-Grade Spirit Stone. He was overjoyed.

He worked himself to the bone in the alchemy room for a month and only earned ten Mixed Spirit Stones.

One Low-Grade Spirit Stone was worth a hundred Mixed Spirit Stones.

That was ten months of his income.

"Thank you for your reward, Senior Sister..."

Lu Chen hurriedly put away the spirit stone, withdrew, and casually closed the door behind him.

"Hand it over..."

The moment Lu Chen turned around, Manager Pang's hand was already stretched out before him.

"What..."

Lu Chen froze.

"Playing dumb in front of me, are you? Hand it over!"

Manager Pang grabbed Lu Chen by the collar with one hand and shoved the other into Lu Chen's chest, roughly pulling out that spirit stone.

"This was Senior Sister Su's reward for me..."

Lu Chen watched helplessly as the Low-Grade Spirit Stone, which he had not even warmed in his hand yet, was snatched away by Manager Pang. His anger blazed.

But he had neither strength nor backing. He had no ability to resist at all.

"What, not convinced? I'm not afraid to tell you: here, whoever has the harder fist is the boss. I'm at the Qi Refining, Fifth Level, while you're a worthless piece of trash at the Qi Refining, First Layer. You're meant to be trampled beneath my feet. Besides, you skipped work for three days. I haven't even settled that score with you yet!"

Manager Pang tucked the spirit stone into his robes, then tossed Lu Chen the door plaques for three alchemy rooms. "Before dinner, clean alchemy rooms One, Three, and Six for me. If you don't finish, not only will you go without food, I'll beat you to death myself!"

After cursing Lu Chen out, Manager Pang turned and left, beaming with delight.

"Pang Yong..."

Lu Chen clenched his fists. He took a deep breath, forced down the fury in his chest, silently picked up the door plaques from the ground, and turned toward alchemy room One.

He endured it.

He worked until evening before finally cleaning all three alchemy rooms.

He found no discarded pills in any of them.

After leaving the alchemy area, Lu Chen secretly slipped into the back mountain, hid in a secluded cave, and sat cross-legged on the ground.

"Yin-Yang Cauldron..."

With a thought, the Yin-Yang Cauldron flew out of his dantian and hovered in the air before him.

He took out that discarded pill and carefully placed it into the cauldron.

The next moment, the character "one" appeared on the cauldron's surface.

In other words, it only took one strand of Yin-Yang Essence to refine and reconstruct this discarded pill.

"Reconstruct!"

Lu Chen did not hesitate in the slightest.

A strand of Yin-Yang Essence emerged from the Yin-Yang Cauldron and fused with the discarded pill inside.

The entire Yin-Yang Cauldron was immediately suffused with spiritual energy.

Before long, the Yin-Yang Cauldron gradually calmed down.

Lu Chen impatiently opened the lid.

Inside lay a pill, quietly gleaming with sky-blue spiritual light.

A wave of pill fragrance washed over him.

At the same time, a line of words appeared on the cauldron's surface: Qi-Gathering Pill, lower ninth grade.

"Haha... this young master made it..."

Lu Chen was beside himself with excitement.

With this Yin-Yang Cauldron, who cared if he couldn't live off the Holy Maiden?

Without hesitation, Lu Chen recalled the Yin-Yang Cauldron into his dantian, swallowed the Qi-Gathering Pill, and circulated the Five-Element Qi Refining Art to refine its medicinal power.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth around him began gathering toward him.

More than two hours later, he had completely refined the Qi-Gathering Pill's medicinal power.

He felt the vital energy within him surging like mighty waves, and his cultivation broke through to Qi Refining, Second Layer in one breath.

"Phew!"

Lu Chen let out a long breath of turbid air.

"Grrr!"

Just as Lu Chen was about to stand up, a wave of hunger surged over him.

Only then did he remember that, eager to test the Yin-Yang Cauldron's effects, he had rushed to the back mountain without eating dinner.

He stood and was about to leave the cave.

Just then, two people arrived outside.

By the moonlight, he recognized them as Manager Pang and his lackey, Hu Biao.

The two stood beneath a large tree beside the cave entrance.

"Kill Lu Chen. Three Low-Grade Spirit Stones. Are you in?"

Manager Pang whispered to Hu Biao.

"What... Manager Pang, private fighting is forbidden within the sect. If I kill Lu Chen, I'll be in trouble too!"

Hu Biao was startled.

"Who said it would be private fighting? It's time for the disciples guarding the Waste Pill Repository to take turns. Aren't all of you unwilling to guard that place? Tomorrow evening, I'll organize a competition. Whoever has the lowest cultivation goes to guard the Waste Pill Repository. During the competition, just strike with lethal force and kill Lu Chen. Wouldn't that solve everything?"

Manager Pang said coldly.

"Fine, I'll do it. I'm at the Qi Refining, Third Level. Killing Lu Chen, who's only at the Qi Refining, First Layer, will be as easy as turning over my hand!"

Hu Biao's eyes gleamed. Three Low-Grade Spirit Stones—that was worth several years of his income.

In the cave, Lu Chen was shocked and enraged.

Manager Pang actually wanted to kill him?

"Manager Pang, why do you want Lu Chen dead?"

Hu Biao could not help asking.

Lu Chen immediately pricked up his ears. He wanted to know the reason as well.

"Someone higher up wants Lu Chen dead. They want Lu Chen to die in a reasonable way, without drawing anyone else's attention. Don't worry, nothing will happen to you. Go all out, understand?"

Manager Pang patted Hu Biao on the shoulder and said,

"So that's how it is. Looks like Lu Chen offended some Senior Sister from the inner sect. Rest assured, Manager Pang. I, Hu Biao, guarantee that Lu Chen won't live past tomorrow night."

Hu Biao sneered.

"Mm. Only you and I know about this. Don't let anyone else find out."

Manager Pang reminded him.

"Understood, understood... hehe!"

Hu Biao nodded repeatedly.

After chatting a few more words, the two left.

Only after they had gone far away did Lu Chen emerge from the cave.

"Who exactly wants him dead? Liu Fuyao? Impossible. If she wanted him dead, she would not have been intimate with him for three days and then let him return. If it wasn't Liu Fuyao, then who was it?"

Lu Chen racked his brains but could not remember when he had offended an inner sect Senior Sister.

Right now, finding a way to stay alive was what mattered.

Lu Chen was about to leave when, after only a few steps, a Five-Colored Spirit Chicken suddenly flew out of the grass.

"Perfect. I'm starving. I'll fill my belly first and worry about the rest later."

Lu Chen chased after it.

Yet the Five-Colored Spirit Chicken fled all the way into a bamboo forest.

Lu Chen followed it straight in.

After passing through the bamboo forest, the view before him suddenly opened up. A Spirit Spring appeared in front of him, and a long-haired woman stood with her back to him in waist-deep water.

Her smooth, flawless skin seemed to be shrouded in a layer of sacred radiance beneath the moonlight.

"Damn..."

Lu Chen was greatly alarmed. He had actually barged into the back mountain's Spirit Spring area and caught an inner sect Senior Sister bathing.

This was bad.

He turned and ran.

Just then, a cry rang out. With a splash, a figure shot out of the Spirit Spring.

"You lecherous bastard! How dare you peep at your grandaunt bathing? You're courting death!"

An angry rebuke rang out.

"..."

Lu Chen's scalp went numb, and he fled for his life.

The moment he escaped the bamboo forest, a tremendous force struck him from behind and sent him flying. He crashed directly into a muddy pool several yards away, his face and body covered in foul-smelling black mud.

Just as he crawled up, a longsword was already pressed against his throat.

"Speak! Who are you? How dare you peep at me bathing!"

Lu Chen saw an exquisitely beautiful woman with skin as white as it glowed glaring at him with murderous intent.

"Senior Sister, spare my life! Even if you gave this little one ten sets of courage, this little one would not dare peep at Senior Sister bathing. This little one was merely chasing that Five-Colored Spirit Chicken and accidentally entered the Purple Bamboo Forest."

Lu Chen hurriedly explained.

"You still dare quibble? Since when are there any Five-Colored Spirit Chickens at the Purple Bamboo Spirit Spring? You won't talk? Then I'll send you off to reincarnate!"

The white-robed Senior Sister was about to raise her sword and kill Lu Chen.

"I'll talk, I'll talk! My name is Hu Biao. I'm a menial disciple from the alchemy rooms... I, Hu Biao, swear to heaven that I truly did not mean to peep at Senior Sister bathing!"

Lu Chen dropped directly into the stinking pool, trembling all over.

Hu Biao, Hu Biao. You wanted to kill me, so don't blame me for being impolite.

His head and face were covered in mud anyway. This woman could not possibly see what he looked like.

"I wondered who had the gall of a dog and leopard to peep at me bathing. So it was merely a lowly menial disciple? Then you deserve death all the more!"

As the woman in white spoke, she was about to kill Lu Chen with one stroke.

At that moment, Lu Chen suddenly sprang up and flung a handful of mud straight at the woman in white.

The woman in white cried out and dodged.

But with the distance so close and the attack so sudden, how could she possibly avoid it?

Mud splattered all over her at once. Her pure white dress was covered in foul-smelling sludge.

Taking the chance, Lu Chen burst from the pool, plunged into the trees, and ran for his life.

"Ah..."

The woman in white was driven mad with rage. She wanted to chase after and kill that hateful fellow, but the stench on her body nearly made her vomit up last night's meal.

"Hu Biao, was it? A menial disciple from the alchemy rooms, was it? You're dead! If I, Yun Feier, do not kill you, I swear I am not human!"

The woman in white roared furiously, then turned and charged back into the Purple Bamboo Spirit Spring.