His First Spirit Stone Earnings

"Rogue cultivator Wu Meng seeks a master alchemist to refine twenty batches of Qi Gathering Pills. Payment is three Low-Grade Spirit Stones per batch, with a required success rate of at least forty percent."

Xu Yan's eyes lit up as he read the task that had just appeared on the Crystal Stone.

Since the Spirit Herbs for twenty batches of Qi Gathering Pills were quite valuable, the task included further conditions.

"I, Wu Meng, require the master alchemist accepting this task to complete it within the Alchemy Hall. I will hand over the materials in person and cover the Alchemy Hall's fees."

With that, Xu Yan finished reading the task's full details.

Though the task appeared substantial, the payment per batch was relatively low.

An ordinary First-Tier Low-Grade Alchemist had a success rate between thirty and forty percent. Thus, those posting tasks generally accepted a thirty-percent success rate by default, but this man demanded forty percent.

Although the fee per batch had been increased by one Low-Grade Spirit Stone, this still was not a good task for an alchemist.

It seemed to have been posted for quite some time without any alchemist accepting it, which was why he had come across it again while browsing.

This is the one.

Xu Yan felt a flicker of delight. Other alchemists might find this task as unrewarding as a chicken rib—hardly worth eating, yet a shame to discard—but it suited him perfectly. With the Mysterious Green Pearl's help, even ruined pills could become normal pills once their pill toxins were devoured.

By that reckoning, his success rate would be at least sixty percent. Even after giving this rogue cultivator forty percent, more than twenty percent of the pills would end up in his Storage Bag. Together with the fee for each batch, that made for a handsome return.

With that thought, he took a Low-Grade Spirit Stone from his Storage Bag and tossed it toward the Crystal Stone.

Just before the Low-Grade Spirit Stone touched it, a waterlike ripple appeared on the Crystal Stone's surface, giving off a hazy glow. Then the spirit stone sank straight into it.

At the same time, his Identity Jade Token flashed brightly. When he looked up at the Crystal Stone, the task had already vanished.

Seeing this, he nodded, then turned and left the Thousand Mechanism Hall for the Alchemy Hall.

Whenever someone accepted a task on the Crystal Stone, the poster's Identity Jade Token would notify them. Since this man had specified a face-to-face handover, he was probably somewhere near the Alchemy Hall.

The two halls were not far apart. After walking for roughly the time it took an incense stick to burn, the Alchemy Hall came into view.

From a distance, Xu Yan spotted a man built like an iron tower standing beside the Alchemy Hall, looking this way and that as though waiting for someone.

"Looks like he's the one who posted the task."

Muttering to himself, Xu Yan walked slowly toward the man. When he drew close enough to make out his features, his expression changed slightly.

How could it be him?

Xu Yan was a little startled. This burly man was none other than the cultivator at Qi Refining Perfection whom he had met while registering, the one dressed in a shabby beast-hide outfit.

The reason for Xu Yan's surprise was simple. This man had registered to join the Rogue Cultivator Alliance at the same time as him, yet the task clearly seemed to have been posted long ago.

That led him to a bold conjecture: this man had come on behalf of whoever had posted the task behind the scenes. Still, these suspicions did not affect his decision to accept it. No cultivator would dare cause trouble within the Rogue Cultivator Alliance.

The burly man immediately looked over when he saw someone approaching. Once Xu Yan showed him the Identity Jade Token in his hand, a smile spread across his face.

"Wu Meng greets you, Master."

"Greetings, fellow Daoist. My name is Lin Yan, and I've accepted your task. If you have no objections, hand over the Spirit Herbs, and I'll begin refining your pills." Xu Yan nodded to the burly man and came straight to the point.

"Quite right, Master Lin. But I trust you've read my requirements." Rather than immediately taking out the herbs, the burly man watched him and spoke slowly.

"Naturally, I'll follow your requirements." Xu Yan nodded with an air as calm as drifting clouds and a gentle breeze.

At that, delight appeared on the burly man's face, and he led Xu Yan into the Alchemy Hall.

The one who received them inside was the middle-aged cultivator Yun Feng. Once the burly man had paid the Spirit Stones required to use an alchemy chamber, Yun Feng led them to one.

After taking the Jade Slip that controlled the formation from Yun Feng, Xu Yan looked at the burly man and said slowly, "Refining your twenty batches of Qi Gathering Pills will take about three days. You can come here to collect them then."

The burly man cupped his hands toward him. "Sorry for the trouble, Master Lin. It's only three days. I can simply wait here."

With that, the burly man sat cross-legged outside the alchemy chamber and half-closed his eyes, seemingly entering a state of cultivation.

Xu Yan gave a wry smile at the sight, well aware that the man feared he might run off with the Spirit Herbs. He paid it no mind, stepped into the alchemy chamber, and activated the isolation formation.

Three days later, inside the alchemy chamber.

Xu Yan sat cross-legged on the floor, slowly circulating his cultivation technique.

Eight white jade porcelain bottles stood before him, holding the Qi Gathering Pills he had successfully refined.

As he looked at the fruits of his labor, traces of exhaustion showed on his face. Refining Qi Gathering Pills nonstop for three days had been an immense test of his divine sense.

Still, he was in excellent spirits. Perhaps because his technique had grown more practiced, his success rate for these twenty batches had reached exactly forty percent, yielding eight successful batches.

Each batch yielded three Qi Gathering Pills, the normal number produced from each batch of Spirit Herbs.

The other twelve batches had all become ruined pills, and the Mysterious Green Pearl had devoured all their toxins. After it absorbed those pill toxins, Xu Yan vaguely sensed that the energy accumulated inside the Green Pearl was almost full. His heart stirred at this. If the Green Pearl could feed that energy back to him, he could use it to break through to the next level.

Once he felt his body had recovered, he slowly stood, ready to hand the eight bottles of pills to the burly cultivator.

Just as he was about to open the formation, something occurred to him, and he took one of the eight bottles and put it into his Storage Bag.

Then he steadied his emotions, slowly deactivated the formation, and opened the alchemy chamber's door.

Outside, the burly middle-aged cultivator had long been waiting. Excitement immediately appeared on his face when he saw Xu Yan emerge.

"Ah! If I weren't short on Spirit Stones, I never would have accepted this task of yours." Before the middle-aged cultivator could speak, Xu Yan launched straight into a complaint.

Pretending not to notice the slight change in the burly middle-aged cultivator's expression, he continued, "Of your twenty batches of herbs, only seven succeeded. I'm one batch short, so deduct it from my payment in Spirit Stones."

With that, Xu Yan tossed him all seven bottles of pills.

The burly middle-aged cultivator caught the jade bottles and opened them one by one to inspect them. Only after confirming that nothing was wrong did he say slowly, "These pills are all fine. Since one batch is missing, we'll do as you suggest, Master Lin. Each Qi Gathering Pill is worth three Low-Grade Spirit Stones, so the missing batch comes to nine Low-Grade Spirit Stones."

"Here are fifty-one Low-Grade Spirit Stones. Please take them, Master Lin."

As the burly middle-aged cultivator finished speaking, he waved his large hand, and a small pile of Spirit Stones appeared out of thin air.

Xu Yan nodded expressionlessly and put all the Spirit Stones into his Storage Bag.

There was a reason he had taken away a bottle of pills at the last moment. If he had produced eight bottles, the burly cultivator would have suspected that his success rate exceeded forty percent. Not only might that draw unwanted attention, it would also leave the burly middle-aged cultivator feeling dissatisfied.

That did not suit his cautious way of doing things. Thus, after a little thought, he had decided to begin with that bout of complaints.

Once they had completed the exchange, the two left the Alchemy Hall.

Now that he had Spirit Stones, he recalled the special Pill recorded in Lin Dao's cultivation insights. He planned to visit the Rogue Cultivator Market to gather materials and try refining it.