Seeking Another Path

Ever since Zhou Chengyuan had demonstrated his considerable talent, Yan Feihong had guided him with exceptional dedication. If it weren't for the fact that he had to refine a vast quantity of pills daily and simply could not spare the hours, he would have loved nothing more than to sit right in front of Zhou Chengyuan to teach him.

And Zhou Chengyuan did not disappoint. With a skilled master providing meticulous instruction, coupled with years of accumulated knowledge finally bursting forth, his heart burned with boundless motivation. His refinement of Blood Replenishing Pills grew increasingly proficient.

Over the next several days, although failures still occurred four or five times out of ten, the quality of the pills he successfully formed steadily improved. The quantity produced increased from the original one or two pills to three or four. On his best attempt, he even achieved five pills!

One day, Zhou Chengyuan sat in a side chamber refining Blood Replenishing Pills. The three-legged pill furnace before him glowed orange-red from the intense heat of the spiritual fire, sending scorching waves surging into the surroundings.

Boom!

A loud crash rang out as the pill furnace rumbled and shook violently. The furnace lid was blasted off, sending countless fine fragments exploding in all directions, followed by a thick plume of black smoke rising from within.

Zhou Chengyuan had long anticipated the furnace explosion. A wall of Qi manifested before him, blocking all the flying debris. With a wave of his left hand, he swept out the soot and charred residue from inside the furnace, rinsed it clean with spring water, and set it aside to let the residual heat dissipate.

This entire sequence of actions happened in an instant. Clearly, Zhou Chengyuan had done this many times over the past few days.

"It seems I added the White Flame Grass half a breath too late. The pill liquid's yin-cold nature could not be dispelled in time, triggering the furnace explosion."

Although days of continuous refining had left Zhou Chengyuan mentally exhausted, he forced himself to stay alert and note down the problem.

The stone talisman at his waist displayed a contribution point balance of 8,139.

Over these past few days, because his success rate for refining Blood Replenishing Pills had exceeded fifty percent, his gains outweighed his losses. This reduced his owed contribution points by eleven.

While he was now making a small profit, this was only because Blood Replenishing Pills were simple to refine and their materials were cheap.

If he were refining Qi Nourishing Pills, Qi Returning Pills, or even Green Jade Pills, every failed attempt would incur a considerable debt to the sect. If he went too long without succeeding, the owed contribution points would compound into an incalculable sum.

Nor could he rely solely on refining Blood Replenishing Pills to repay his debt. It was not the Pill Peak offering pills to the sect, but the sect demanding quotas from the Pill Peak.

Each year, the required quantity of pills was fixed: 1,500 Blood Replenishing Pills, 500 Qi Returning Pills, 800 Qi Nourishing Pills... and 15 Green Jade Pills.

It was precisely because Yan Feihong had taken on all the difficult-to-refine pills that Zhou Chengyuan could focus entirely on mastering the Blood Replenishing Pills.

If Yan Feihong had wanted to harm Zhou Chengyuan, he could have easily allocated a portion of those harder pill quotas to him, causing him to fail repeatedly and accumulate a crushing debt.

Years ago, the alchemy elder who had guided Yan Feihong had done exactly that, leaving Yan Feihong saddled with a burden he could never fully shake.

"Why did you blow up the whole room again? Now I have to clean for ages."

Just as Zhou Chengyuan was replaying the refining process in his mind, a somewhat aggrieved female voice reached his ears. Looking up, he saw a young girl in a light yellow dress holding a broom, staring at him with a pitiful expression.

The girl appeared to be around sixteen, with skin as fair as congealed fat and a delicate, petite face. Her light yellow attire gave her a gentle demeanor, and her current pouting expression made her look rather endearing.

Seeing the broom in her hand, Zhou Chengyuan realized she was likely responsible for cleaning the alchemy chambers. He smiled awkwardly and said, "My apologies. I got so caught up in refining that I forgot to clear the debris."

The girl sighed, then picked up the broom and began meticulously sweeping the chamber, using a cloth to wipe the soot off the walls.

However, some spots were too high for her to reach, even when she stood on tiptoe.

Zhou Chengyuan flicked a beam of spiritual light from his fingertip, neatly washing away the high stains. The girl turned around, gave him a bright smile, and then turned back to continue wiping.

Although the girl was quite attractive, Zhou Chengyuan paid her no mind, his thoughts remaining on the intricate details of his last refinement.

"Hey, my name is Yan Zhilan. What's yours?"

Zhou Chengyuan was suddenly interrupted by her voice, but he did not get angry.

The girl's surname was Yan, so she was likely a descendant of Yan Feihong. Since Yan Feihong had treated him so well, a little chatter was harmless.

"My name is Zhou Chengyuan. I'm the newly arrived alchemy elder."

Yan Zhilan gasped in surprise. "Oh, really? You're amazing! You look about the same age as me, yet I'm still in the Spirit Awakening Realm while you're already an elder."

"If you cultivate diligently, you can become one too," Zhou Chengyuan said absentmindedly.

Yan Zhilan did not seem to mind his distance. She continued cleaning while chattering away like a sparrow.

"Tell me, how are pills actually refined? Why do they make such a massive explosion?"

"Is there any pill that can preserve your youth and keep you looking beautiful forever?"

"I want to become a Qi Condensation cultivator too, so Grandfather wouldn't have to work so hard."

Yan Zhilan kept talking, but Zhou Chengyuan remained distracted, occasionally responding with a polite word or two.

Outside the door, Yan Feihong had just finished refining a batch of Green Jade Pills and was thoroughly exhausted. But as he watched Yan Zhilan and Zhou Chengyuan from afar, a small smile crept onto his lips.

Although he was a Pill Peak Elder, his actual status within the Baishan Sect was quite low. The true power was entirely concentrated in the hands of the five Cabinet Elders and the Qing family-the blood relatives of the Baishan Patriarch.

If his descendants had shown promise, he would have fought tooth and nail to secure a place for them within the Baishan Sect to ensure their future welfare.

But unfortunately, very few of his offspring possessed spiritual roots, and not a single one showed any hope of reaching the Qi Condensation stage. Without the protection of a Qi Condensation cultivator, his descendants would be ruthlessly chewed up and spit out by the brutal factional struggles of the Baishan Sect.

He was already over a hundred years old and had barely a decade left to live. Naturally, he had to look for an alternative path to secure his family's survival.

This was the hidden tragedy of many Baishan Sect elders. Though they appeared glorious on the outside, they were constantly exploited by the sect. If their descendants produced a Qi Condensation cultivator, they would gamble everything to secure a legacy in the sect. But if their descendants were mediocre, they could only look for another way out.

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