Below Qi Condensation, Everyone is Just Cattle and Horses!

The next day-early morning.

As the great sun first appeared and the purple qi came from the east,

Qin Lu harvested a wisp of the eastward-emerging purple qi, smelting it into his elixir. When pill patterns surfaced, the Muxuan Pill was complete!

This time, a total of seven pills were made.

A pill fragrance drifted and drifted, radiating a trace of spiritual charm and precious light, unlike ordinary goods.

Judging by the look of it, Qin Lu's alchemy had improved quite a bit, and his aura was thick, already at the True Martial Seventh Realm perfection, waiting only to break through the barrier.

"This is the Muxuan Pill..."

Gongsun Zhe grew interested, picked one up, scrutinized it thoroughly, and then swallowed it straight into his belly, savoring the efficacy within.

As the medicinal power dispersed, he instantly felt a surge of spiritual power welling up from his Dantian.

In just the span of morning and evening, it was already refined in a flash!

Gongsun Zhe exhaled turbid qi, his face flushed, and he gave a very pertinent evaluation:

"This pill has abundant spiritual essence and balanced pharmacology. Taken by those in the True Martial Realm, it can increase cultivation, and it also has a certain effect for breaking through the small bottlenecks of the fourth and seventh realms."

"However, after the True Martial Seventh Realm, its utility is insufficient, making it suitable only for low- and mid-tier Warriors."

"It can be rated as: a First-Tier Mid-Grade elixir."

"In the mortal world, this pill is priceless."

"As for the price in the cultivation world, it can sell for one-third of a Spirit Stone."

"Ten pills to a bottle can be worth three Spirit Stones."

Hearing this-

Qin Lu showed a puzzled look, asking in incomprehension: "This junior is foolish and dares to ask the senior, this pill is priceless in the mortal world, how is that to be understood?"

"Hehe~"

Gongsun Zhe chuckled dryly, tilting his head back to stroke his beard.

It was as if he had long known Qin Lu would ask this question.

"There are many complicated matters involved in this."

"There is profound learning to it, and seeing as you have just entered the Hundred Arts Office, I will do you a favor and make an exception to explain it to you."

"First of all, as everyone knows."

"How vast is our Great Zhou State, sitting upon millions of miles of rivers, mountains, lakes, and seas, but look here, just how many cultivators are there among them?"

"In the entire Great Zhou State, cultivators who have achieved the Qi Condensation Realm or above might only number a mere tens of thousands."

"And for cultivators to practice, they need resources, but how can a cultivator population of tens of thousands set foot everywhere in the Great Zhou State?"

"Yet look again."

"How numerous the Pseudo-Immortal Seedlings are!"

"Their quantity is ten times, or even dozens of times, that of cultivators! Even more!"

"They exist between immortals and mortals, with an efficiency far surpassing ordinary mortals. They only need some inferior elixirs to make them throw their lives away and risk death."

"Are they not human-shaped treasure-seeking rats?"

"They are simply perfect cattle and horses, born slaves."

"Therefore-"

"The Precious Pills circulating in the mortal world are mostly low-tier elixirs called Yang-Strengthening Pills."

"This pill barely counts as a First-Tier Inferior-Grade elixir, and its greatest function is to assist mortals in breaking through to the True Martial First Realm."

"That is to say, this process from 0 to 1."

"Moreover, the raw materials are simple to plant and the price is low. Therefore, its circulation is extensive. In order to herd the mortal dust, many immortal factions will scatter some Yang-Strengthening Pills down."

"Because of this, many low-tier Warrior lineages have appeared in the mortal world."

"When these low-tier Warriors break through to the fourth realm and find that the Yang-Strengthening Pills are insufficient to continue improving their cultivation,"

"they will work for the immortal factions in exchange for resources."

"Warriors of this period begin to come into contact with the world of Immortal Cultivation, and the demand for elixirs, Law Artifacts, and talismans will appear..."

"And we, as the controllers,"

"can use some low-tier elixirs to squeeze these Warriors dry."

"It is just like harvesting leeks, reaping one crop after another."

"This is why Precious Pills have a market price of a hundred liang."

"It is precisely to catalyze more immortal slaves to work for the immortal factions."

"As for elixirs like the Muxuan Pill that can refine and advance cultivation, the reason they are not circulated in the mortal dust is precisely to restrict immortal slaves from practicing."

"And immortal slaves who want to continue cultivating can naturally only choose to sell their lives."

"Its value is naturally incomparable."

"Hence, First-Tier Mid-Grade elixirs and items above are all priceless in the mortal world, and can only be traded and bought with Spirit Stones."

"Even..."

"buying the life of an immortal slave is worth no more than a few Muxuan Pills."

"Secondly..."

"it is in order to better screen out geniuses so they will not be buried in the mortal dust."

"After all, under the rule of the Great Zhou State are hundreds of millions of mortals, with tens of millions born every year. Naturally, they cannot be screened one by one."

"People with genuine talent"

"They do not even need external objects; by virtue of their own aptitude alone, they are sufficient to achieve Qi Condensation and break through realms!"

"It can also be considered a channel for selecting talent."

With that said-

Qin Lu suddenly felt a sense of sudden enlightenment; was this not living, breathing capitalism?

Letting those at the bottom remain at the bottom forever, letting those with ability collude with them-cruel yet realistic.

Yet it solidly protected the interests of those at the top...

Qin Lu gradually understood why the mortal world called elixirs Precious Pills; it was nothing more than cultivators' self-glorification, beautifying objects of cultivation...

As for the Pseudo-Immortal Seedlings, they were not even worthy of being called: Heaven-Forsaken!

Instead, they were naturally exceptional: immortal slaves!

Seeing Qin Lu fall into silence, Gongsun Zhe took it in stride. He had clearly seen this kind of expression many times.

Subsequently, he put away the bottle of Muxuan Pill and offered a kindly hint:

"Well."

"Old man that I am, I should be going too..."

"This bottle of Muxuan Pill is somewhat useful to my grandsons, so this old man will take it."

"This pill formula, I leave to you."

"Consider it this old man's reward to you. Cultivation is inherently cruel and merciless; if you do not advance, there are plenty of people who want to step on you to climb high..."

Amidst his speech-

Gongsun Zhe put down a pill formula and placed a bronze plaque on the table.

"This plaque is the Attendant token of the Hundred Arts Office."

"Its grades correspond to: Heaven, Earth, Xuan, and Yellow. You are a Rank-1 Alchemist, so you are the lowest Yellow-grade Attendant. Your annual stipend will be ten Spirit Stones."

"Correspondingly, every year there will also be alchemy quotas that you need to complete."

"The numbers on the reverse side of the token represent your code name within the Hundred Arts Office..."

With that said-

Gongsun Zhe tidied up a bit and then turned to leave.

When Qin Lu recovered his senses, he bowed to him from afar, performing a junior's courtesy, and responded in a respectful voice:

"Thank you, Senior, for the guidance. In the future, this junior will definitely repay it with propriety."

Watching the bamboo raft drift further and further away until it disappeared on the surface of the river, Qin Lu only then considered it a release of breath, his heart still fluctuating with excitement.

Qin Lu looked at the bronze plaque, a thrill of knowing a secret stirring within him...

With this, he had the imperial court as his endorsement.

And on the reverse side of the token-

it was engraved: Longchuan Prefecture, Dan Shisan.

Meaning, Longchuan Prefecture, the thirteenth Yellow-grade Alchemist Attendant.

Calculated roughly in this way, Longchuan Prefecture and its dozens of subordinate counties, with a population of tens of millions, had produced a total of only thirteen Yellow-grade Alchemists...

Judging by this proportion, its rarity was evident.

With this identity from the imperial court, he figured that as long as he did not invite trouble, even Qi Condensation Realm cultivators would probably not dare to move him lightly.

Was this not a proper establishment, an iron rice bowl!

Subsequently-

Qin Lu cast another glance at the pill formula Gongsun Zhe had left him. The three large characters (Yang-Strengthening Pill) looked smoother and more pleasing to the eye the more he gazed at them...

"Heh heh~"

"Although the cattle and horses suffer, I am not one of them. No matter how much more you suffer, what does it have to do with me?"

"For the prosperity of my Qin Family, you might as well suffer a little more and tire a little more. Presumably, that is only as it should be..."