This ranking was four places higher than the eleventh place he had shown before, well within the normal range.
Wang Erniu glanced at Zhou Xun excitedly. Now he could work alongside Brother Zhou.
Zhou Xun smiled faintly, meeting Wei Shangyi's incredulous gaze.
"Impossible!" Wei Shangyi felt as though his brain was no longer enough.
He had clearly seen Zhou Xun enter Alchemy Room B-5. Lin Hongjiu had been personally instructed by him and his elder brother.
Yet now, Zhou Xun had still produced nine pills and successfully become a Pill Refinement Apprentice.
Meanwhile, Wei Shangyi had deliberately avoided the time when the earth fire erupted, only to be struck by an earth fire eruption anyway.
Could it be that Lin Hongjiu colluded with Zhou Xun!
Recalling Zhou Xun's meaningful smile just now, he suddenly felt an endless conspiracy closing in on him.
Before long, all fifteen names had been announced.
Wei Shangyi was not among them.
At this point, Wei Shangyi had no mind to keep listening.
He only wanted to find his elder brother as quickly as possible and see how this could be salvaged.
Zhou Xun, on the other hand, was in an excellent mood. Everything was unfolding according to his plans.
He would become a Pill Refinement Apprentice, break through to a Tier 1 Pill Refinement Master several years later, use that to come into contact with vast quantities of spirit herbs, and improve his spiritual root aptitude.
Then he would break through to Mid-Stage Qi Condensation, Late-Stage Qi Condensation, and perhaps even the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Everything would follow as naturally as water flowing downhill.
"Congratulations to all of you on becoming official Pill Refinement Apprentices of our Danbao Pavilion!"
Lin Zhishan smiled faintly and began introducing the benefits granted to Danbao Pavilion apprentices.
"The first thing after becoming a Pill Refinement Apprentice is that all your monthly salaries will rise to 40 Spirit Essence!"
That was far higher than the 30 Spirit Essence Zhou Xun had earned as a Spirit Contract Laborer at Mystic Talisman Pavilion.
Judging by the numbers alone, the difference might not have seemed great.
But Spirit Contract Laborers had to work from dawn until dusk, rising early and returning late, just to earn those 30 Spirit Essence.
Pill Refinement Apprentices, meanwhile, only needed to complete the most basic pill refinement assignments to receive those 40 Spirit Essence.
Besides, they had not joined Danbao Pavilion for the monthly income of 40 Spirit Essence.
They had come for the bright future of becoming Pill Refinement Masters.
"The second benefit is that the Library Tower of our Danbao Pavilion will be opened to all of you!"
"You should know that Danbao Pavilion possesses more than one Tier 1 High-Grade pill refinement inheritance. Even Tier 2 inheritances can be exchanged for, provided you have enough Contribution Points!"
The moment Lin Zhishan finished speaking, the entire gathering fell silent.
A single Tier 1 High-Grade pill refinement inheritance was enough to produce a Tier 1 High-Grade Pill Refinement Master.
Even Foundation Establishment cultivators would treat such a pill master as an honored guest.
Let alone a Tier 2 inheritance.
That was a treasure on the level of the Foundation Establishment Realm.
It was clear just how lavishly Danbao Pavilion was investing this time.
Danbao Pavilion is sparing no effort to cultivate pill refinement talent. This is my opportunity! Zhou Xun thought to himself.
Grandmaster Yun Ku's status as a Tier 2 Intermediate Pill Refinement Master already made him one of the foremost figures even in a place like White Cloud Immortal City, where True Dan experts held the fort.
As the saying went, one could enjoy the shade by leaning against a great tree.
An opportunity like this must not be missed!
The others thought the same way.
If they seized this chance, perhaps they too could become figures like Grandmaster Yun Ku.
The newly promoted Pill Refinement Apprentices' cheeks flushed red with excitement.
As for the fifteen who had failed, their eyes shone green with envy.
Wei Shangyi in particular.
He could not stop regretting it.
If I had taken the assessment step by step, I would probably have become a Pill Refinement Apprentice like them by now!
Thinking of that Tier 2 pill refinement inheritance made his heart bleed even more.
"Now that I have finished speaking of the benefits, it is time to discuss your obligations." Lin Zhishan changed the subject.
"As members of Danbao Pavilion, the first rule, and the most important one, is that you must not divulge what you learn to anyone. Not even to your fellow Pill Refinement Apprentices!"
"Those who violate this order will have their cultivation abolished and be expelled from Danbao Pavilion!" As he spoke, he released the aura of a Late-Stage Qi Condensation cultivator.
Everyone stiffened.
Without cultivation, what fate awaited them in the law-of-the-jungle Red Leaf Square went without saying.
"The second rule is that each of you must complete the assignments allocated by the pavilion every month. Of course, if you have spare time, you may also accept other tasks. All of those can earn Contribution Points!"
"As for what Contribution Points are used for, I need not repeat myself, do I?"
To exchange for Tier 2 inheritances! everyone shouted inwardly.
Lin Zhishan was not at all surprised by the excitement on their faces.
He then turned and left. Before departing, he cast Zhou Xun a subtle, encouraging glance.
After that, Zhou Xun began his quiet daily life of pill refinement.
One year later.
Zhou Xun had completely integrated into Danbao Pavilion.
Among the fifteen Pill Refinement Apprentices, three had already successfully advanced to become Tier 1 Low-Grade Pill Refinement Masters.
Zhou Xun was not among them.
For him, a ranking neither high nor low suited his circumstances better.
It would not draw attention, yet he could still receive normal cultivation.
Inside his home on Green Willow Alley, in the cultivation room.
Zhou Xun, dressed in white robes, sat down cross-legged.
Before him lay a stalk of Qi-Inducing Grass.
After a year had passed, he could clearly sense that the Spirit Gathering Grass Essence from before had completely fused with him.
This time, he had deliberately purchased a stalk of Qi-Inducing Grass to improve his spiritual roots.
Zhou Xun circulated the Ningshun Sutra and quickly extracted the Qi-Inducing Grass Essence.
He then guided it toward his body.
This time, the motes of light merged in smoothly.
Zhou Xun once again experienced that feeling of "ascension."
The difference was that this time, the sensation was exceedingly faint, better than nothing.
Zhou Xun's brows furrowed slightly, and his expression turned grim.
This improvement had been far from ideal.
He immediately circulated the Essence Cultivation Art. Sure enough, the efficiency of Spiritual Qi conversion had barely improved. If his perception had not been exceptional, he likely would not have noticed the minute difference.
He had spent spirit herbs worth 150 Spirit Essence.
Yet they had brought almost no improvement to his spiritual roots.
Zhou Xun had two guesses regarding this result.
The first was that the Ningshun Sutra only improved spiritual root aptitude the first time, while every subsequent effect was negligible. This was the outcome Zhou Xun least wished to see.
The second was that Qi-Inducing Grass was of too low a grade and could no longer bring any substantial improvement to spiritual roots of intermediate grade or above.
This possibility was also the most likely. He had encountered the same phenomenon when strengthening Pigu Pills before: the more essence he fused in, the weaker the improvement became.
Only Spirit Herb Essence from higher-grade spirit herbs could continue to bring noticeable improvements.
However, whether spiritual roots worked the same way still needed to be verified.
Next, I still need to earn more spirit stones and buy higher-grade spirit herbs!
Zhou Xun let out a sigh.
Over the past year, by selling Pigu Pills and Qi Induction Pills, he had accumulated a fortune of nearly forty spirit stones.
Even among Mid-Stage Qi Condensation cultivators, that placed him in the upper-middle range.
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