"Yes!"
He Pingsheng respectfully drew his Alchemy Furnace from his sleeve.
It was a small, round, three-legged cauldron, a supreme-grade magical artifact.
A supreme-grade magical artifact bore four layers of restrictions.
"A supreme-grade magical artifact?" Yu Ning was rather surprised to see He Pingsheng's Alchemy Furnace.
Though its rank was far below that of her spirit artifact, anything of supreme grade was difficult to obtain.
She had lived for more than a hundred years, yet she had never seen a supreme-grade magical artifact before.
Supreme-grade items were simply too rare.
Despite its low rank and mere four layers of restrictions, crafting it was far more difficult for an artifact refiner than crafting her middle-grade spirit artifact with its six layers of restrictions.
"You certainly have some fortunate encounters, lad, getting your hands on a supreme-grade magical artifact!" Yu Ning looked at He Pingsheng and praised him.
The Senior Brothers and Sisters around him eyed it covetously, brimming with curiosity.
To dispel their curiosity and any unrealistic notions, He Pingsheng smiled and said plainly, "I wouldn't dare hide anything from you, Master. Wang Dun, a disciple of Spirit Medicine Valley, owed me a few spirit stones, so he left this Alchemy Furnace with me as collateral. Later, he died under mysterious circumstances, and the cauldron became mine!"
Well...
Yu Ning was momentarily at a loss for words. "Your luck..."
The Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters around him once again envied He Pingsheng for his extraordinary luck.
Their earlier curiosity vanished.
He Pingsheng had achieved his aim.
I don't mind you coveting it. What worries me is you getting curious and investigating me.
Heh heh...
"Open!" He Pingsheng called softly. Fire-attributed spiritual power surged from his body into the Alchemy Furnace, which instantly expanded to a foot across. With a wave of his hand, it settled onto the ground.
"Light the fire!" He Pingsheng said. "First, burn pearwood over high heat for an hour!"
As he spoke, He Pingsheng fetched water and poured it into the Alchemy Furnace.
Then, following his usual pill-refining sequence, he added the four ingredients-the immortal bamboo shoot, seven-leaf spirit herb, spirit apricot, and vermilion fruit-to the Alchemy Furnace in order.
The mixture began to simmer.
It was a lengthy process, but the Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters around him watched with tireless fascination.
He Pingsheng's method of refining [Qi-Gathering Pills] differed from the original method in [Thirty-Six Alchemy Formulas], so his techniques were not quite the same as those of most pill refiners.
But the differences were subtle, not particularly obvious.
Thus, even Yu Ning failed to notice the slight differences between He Pingsheng's pill refining and everyone else's.
About three hours passed.
A fragrance wafted from the Alchemy Furnace.
"They're ready!" Delighted, He Pingsheng reached out and lifted the lid.
Twelve [Qi-Gathering Pills] leaped out. He Pingsheng caught them and placed them in a porcelain bottle.
His usual success rate was only thirty percent, roughly three successful batches out of ten. He had never expected his luck to be so good today that his very first batch would succeed.
"Ha!" Yu Ning was overjoyed. "You really did it..."
"Come, let your master have a look!"
She walked over, took the porcelain bottle, and examined its contents. "Although all twelve are low-grade pills, this is already a rare achievement. Very good, very good... He Pingsheng, from this day forward, you are my Personal Disciple!"
"Come with me!"
Everyone returned to Yu Ning Palace.
Yu Ning sat in the seat of honor, while the disciples took the seats below her.
Only He Pingsheng had no seat and stood there rather awkwardly.
"Master... I've been short of Qi-Gathering Pills for my cultivation lately. I'd like our junior brother to refine a batch for me!"
"Me too..."
"Junior Brother, me as well. I'll supply the ingredients. We'll follow the Cultivation World's rules: ten sets of ingredients for one batch of pills!"
"Me too, me too!"
The Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters called out to He Pingsheng one after another.
Yu Ning nodded. "He Pingsheng, what do you think?"
He Pingsheng gave a strained smile. "Master, it isn't that I'm unwilling. I'm at the threshold of breaking through to the sixth level of the Qi Refining Stage, so I'm afraid I won't have time for a while. How about this? Once I've reached the sixth level, I'll refine pills for all the Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters!"
Yu Ning nodded. "Then how about this? Each month, you will provide five batches of [Qi-Gathering Pills] for us, and we will give you fifty sets of ingredients for refining [Qi-Gathering Pills]. Would that work?"
"From now on, you won't have to carry out any of our assignments yourself, and you'll still receive your annual contribution points!"
Five batches?
He Pingsheng frowned.
Five batches was no small amount.
After all, his success rate was roughly one in three. Producing five successful batches meant refining fifteen batches or more.
And he could only refine two batches a day.
One in the morning, one in the afternoon.
Those fifteen batches would take seven or eight days.
If his luck was poor, he might well have to bury himself in pill refining for ten days each month.
The only way to shorten that time was to work extra hours.
Even at three batches a day, it would still take five days.
"All right!" Having only just joined his master's disciples, He Pingsheng had no standing to bargain with her. He could only nod and agree.
"Good, good, good!" Yu Ning smiled. "Today's batch will count toward your quota too..."
"You may all leave!"
Yu Ning waved the disciples away, then added, "He Pingsheng, come with me!"
"Yes!" He Pingsheng hurried after her.
Yu Ning walked from the front of the great hall around to its rear.
Leaving through the back of the hall and crossing a garden, the two arrived before a small building.
Though small, the building was equally resplendent in gold and jade.
Yu Ning opened the door with a wave of her hand, revealing several luminous pearls set into the room's walls.
Beneath their brilliant glow stood a raised platform bearing more than a dozen Jade Tokens.
Each Jade Token bore a name.
Yu Ning!
Hou Muxian!
Xiao Xuejian!
Cheng Siyu!
Yu Ning took a snow-white Jade Token from the Storage Bag at her waist and placed it before He Pingsheng. "Cut your finger and drip two drops of fresh blood onto this. I'll make you a Life Tablet!"
"A Life Tablet?" He Pingsheng looked puzzled.
Yu Ning raised her hand and pointed at the collection of Jade Tokens before them. "As you can see, each of your Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters has a Jade Token!"
"These Jade Tokens are Life Tablets, equivalent to what mortals call life lamps!"
"While the person lives, the tablet remains intact. When the person dies, the tablet shatters. If any of you perish outside in the future, I will know at once!"
He Pingsheng immediately understood what a Life Tablet was.
It was a kind of indicator of life.
An intact tablet meant the person was still alive. Once the person died, the Life Tablet would shatter.
Every sect in the Cultivation World had such things.
They allowed the sects to keep track of their disciples' condition at all times.
The more important the person, the more essential it was to keep their Life Tablet.
"All right!" He Pingsheng took out a dagger, cut his finger, and dripped a few drops of blood onto the snow-white Jade Token.
Then Yu Ning performed several hand seals, completing the snow-white Life Tablet.
She picked up a brush and wrote a name on the Jade Token: He Pingsheng.
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