Chapter 13: Professional Matters

What stood in her way wasn’t skill, but money…

Lian Mu spent three days in the library, studying without rest, and finally finished learning the basics of Alchemy Cultivation.

When she emerged, she was so hungry her vision blurred. Without even returning her jade token, she rushed straight to the dining hall and ate to her heart’s content.

Only after eating did she remember something important.

Reading books wasn’t enough—she needed practical experience.

She had heard that Yinxing Peak had a vast spiritual herb garden filled with all kinds of rare herbs used for alchemy.

According to her books, rebuilding her spiritual root required medicinal baths and spiritual pills. She had memorized the formulas.

A month would pass quickly; she had to make the most of Gui Xian Sect’s resources.

That night, under the cover of snow and wind, Lian Mu extinguished the light in her room and quietly snuck into Yinxing Peak.

To allow alchemists to refine pills immediately after gathering spiritual plants, an alchemy room was built next to the spiritual plant garden, equipped with alchemy furnaces. Typically, alchemists refine pills within the sect, and when needed, they store the finished pills in a Spatial Pouch to take them outside.

More skilled alchemists directly commission artifact craftsmen to create a portable alchemy furnace. When not in use, it shrinks into a bell that hangs at their waist.

For pills below the third grade, alchemists do not need to infuse spiritual energy themselves because the spiritual plants already contain spiritual energy. These pills are suitable for beginner alchemists to practice with.

The spiritual plant garden was open, so Lian Mu entered with ease.

She picked a few spiritual herbs she recognized and headed to the nearby alchemy room.

Each alchemy room was an individual, private space. Once inside, one could close the door. At this hour, three other alchemists were in their respective rooms, with flickering firelight faintly visible through the windows.

Lian Mu chose the most secluded alchemy room, closed the door, and tossed the spiritual herbs into the furnace. Beneath the alchemy furnace was a compartment for burning fuel, and beside it was a basket filled with alchemy firewood.

Lian Mu touched the smooth surface of the firewood and clicked her tongue in admiration.

A great sect truly lived up to its reputation. This firewood was called Sui Spirit Stone, a byproduct of spiritual stone veins. It held the same status as spiritual stones, but while spiritual stones were used as currency, Sui Spirit Stones were primarily used for alchemy.

For her first attempt at alchemy, Lian Mu chose to practice with the most basic pill. She lit a Sui Spirit Stone, threw it into the lower compartment, and began controlling the fire.

“Strange, hasn’t the senior left?”

Outside Lian Mu’s alchemy room, two patrolling alchemists stopped at the door, whispering.

“I don’t think it’s the senior. He left an hour ago.”

“Maybe he came back,” the other alchemist said. “It can’t be anyone else. The senior instructed two days ago that this alchemy room was reserved for him alone.”

“We’d best not disturb him.”

The two alchemists exchanged glances and tacitly chose to remain silent before leaving.

Inside the alchemy room, Lian Mu was completely unaware. She had already completed her second batch of pills. With her knowledge growing more she practiced, she refined all the foundational pills she had studied in the library over the past three days in one go.

In reality, spiritual root reconstruction had different levels and was not an unattainable high-level technique. Transforming a crippled root into a single or heavenly spiritual root was as difficult as ascending to the heavens, but changing a crippled root into three or four spiritual roots was quite simple.

After refining an entire basket of spiritual herbs, Lian Mu felt she was not far from reconstructing her spiritual root. All she needed to do was refine a Purification Pill and a Reconstitution Pill according to the formula.

She figured she would start with a lower-grade version. Even forming three spiritual roots would be better than having none.

She took a stroll around the spiritual plant garden to locate the required ingredients for the Purification Pill and Reconstitution Pill, memorizing their locations.

However, time was running out. By the time she finished scouting, dawn was approaching, so she quietly returned to Hanlai Peak, planning to come back another time.

Once again, she took the shortest route home, and by the time she arrived, she was covered in snow like a walking snowman.

However, as she reached the door, she noticed firelight inside. She distinctly remembered extinguishing the lamp before she left.

Lian Mu frowned and kicked open the bamboo door. “So rude! Who let you in?”

Seated at the table, picking at green beans, Ji Mingyue: “…”

Ji Mingyue coughed lightly. “It’s me.”

Lian Mu got a good look at the person. “Why are you here?”

She had thought Ji Mingyue wasn’t in Gui Xian Sect. She hadn’t seen her among the new disciples when she visited Yinxiang Peak.

“Sorry for intruding,” Ji Mingyue pointed at the small scorpion on the table. “I came to take it back. It’s cold outside Hanlai Peak, and when I saw you weren’t home, I let myself in.”

Seeing that it was Ji Mingyue, Lian Mu relaxed. But then again, even if it were a thief, there was nothing to worry about—her house was so bare that it contained only a bed and a bamboo cabinet. There was nothing to steal.

A thief couldn’t possibly take her bed, right?

“It seems to like your fluorite. That must be why it ran away from me,” Ji Mingyue said, lowering her gaze to the black scorpion perched atop the pagoda-shaped fluorite.

Lian Mu said, “Why not take it back as a toy? I’ll sell it to you for a thousand spiritual stones.”

Ji Mingyue: “…No need.”

That fluorite didn’t look valuable. She didn’t want to be ripped off.

“Alright then.” Lian Mu was a bit disappointed. This person was hard to scam. “Hurry up and take it away. I need to rest.”

She hadn’t slept in four days. Though there were no classes tomorrow morning, she still needed to study pills for spiritual root reconstruction.

Thinking about pills, Lian Mu glanced at Ji Mingyue’s attire. “Are you an alchemist?”

“Yeah.” Ji Mingyue smiled. “Surprised? But I can guess what you are. If you joined Gui Xian Sect, you’d definitely be a sword cultivator.”

With an alchemist right in front of her, Lian Mu wasn’t going to waste the opportunity. “Can I ask you something? About alchemy.”

Ji Mingyue: “I’m busy.”

Lian Mu clicked her tongue and shook her head. “Then you must not know. I’ll just ask a more skilled alchemist another day.”

Ji Mingyue gritted her teeth. “Speak!”

She wouldn’t let a sword cultivator question her dignity as an alchemist!

Lian Mu, knowing exactly how to provoke someone’s competitive spirit, seized the opportunity. “I have a friend with crippled spiritual roots who wants to join Gui Xian Sect and become a three-root cultivator. Is there a way to change spiritual roots?”

Ji Mingyue: “?”

She had expected a difficult question, but this was so simple. “Of course. A crippled root can be turned into three spiritual roots by taking a pill, but it’ll cost some spiritual stones.”

Generally, alchemists didn’t specialize in spiritual root transformation pills. They only had a surface-level understanding of the subject, knowing that such pills existed.

That was because refining pills that could turn someone into a top-tier spiritual root cultivator was nearly impossible. In a thousand years, only one master from the Feng family had ever succeeded, and their method had long been lost. Furthermore, those who could enter a great sect already had decent spiritual roots, so there was no demand for pills that transformed roots into three or four attributes.

Three-root cultivators were fine since that was the minimum threshold to enter a great sect, but four-root cultivators were barely better than ordinary people with slightly stronger physiques.

“Has your friend seen an alchemist?” Ji Mingyue asked. “If their body isn’t suited for cultivation, even taking the pill won’t help.”

Many ordinary people dreamed of becoming immortal sect disciples, but not everyone could achieve it.

Lian Mu thought about it. “She should be fine.”

Over the years, she had worked hard to improve her physique. She could now sense faint traces of spiritual energy circulating within her, though she lacked the spiritual root to harness it.

Ji Mingyue explained, “Refining a pill to turn crippled roots into three spiritual roots is easy. The necessary spiritual plants can be found on Yinxiang Peak. But your friend should be prepared—most people can’t overcome this hurdle.”

Lian Mu’s gaze was firm. “She’s been preparing for years and can endure any pain.”

Ji Mingyue’s expression darkened slightly, and she shook her head. “The hurdle isn’t pain—it’s wealth. Those who reconstruct their spiritual roots inevitably damage their dantian and require a constant influx of spiritual energy, which means endless spending on spiritual stones.”

“It’s said that the Feng family master who reconstructed their root into a heavenly spiritual root had to deplete an entire spiritual stone mine every five years just to sustain themselves. On average, they spent at least 100,000 spiritual stones per day.”

100,000 spiritual stones per day.

Lian Mu’s fingers twitched slightly. “…”

So the real obstacle was never technique—it was money.

Ji Mingyue patted her shoulder. “Since you helped take care of my scorpion, if your friend needs help, bring her to Yinxiang Peak. I’ve never refined such a pill before, but I can offer some advice on post-treatment.”

Lian Mu steeled her resolve. For the sake of cultivation, she had to try.

“She’s busy for now. Can I ask you instead and pass it on to her later?”

Ji Mingyue agreed. “Sure. I’m free tomorrow. Where should we meet?”

Lian Mu thought for a moment and chose her favorite spot. “Yasui Peak’s dining hall.”

Ji Mingyue: “…Fine.”

Why was everyone suddenly making plans at dining halls?

She secretly grumbled but said nothing. After bidding goodnight, she left.

The next morning, Lian Mu first went to the dining hall for a meal.

Lian Mu had been in Gui Xian Sect for nearly ten days now, and she had come to the conclusion that the sect’s dining hall food tasted like dog shit. When she first arrived, she thought it was decent, but after eating it too much, she found it unbearable.

That was because all the dishes were made from spiritual plants. Cultivators did not care much about taste, so the cooks would simply toss the spiritual plants into the pot, stir-fry them a few times, and then take them out. Some were even half-cooked, making it feel like she was gnawing on raw plants straight from the Lingzhi Garden at Yinxiang Peak in the sweltering summer heat.

Lian Mu grabbed a few steamed buns and sat to the side to eat. She had been waiting for Ji Mingyue, but instead, someone else arrived.

“Good morning, my friend.”

Xu Xianxing approached from a distance, greeting her while carrying a plate of green vegetables. He plopped down beside her.

Lian Mu swallowed her bun expressionlessly. “What do you want?”

Xu Xianxing smiled. “Nothing, just wanted to have a meal with you.”

Lian Mu replied, “You’re putting on an act.”

“You saw through me.” Xu Xianxing leaned in, eyes full of curiosity. “I heard recently that a new disciple on Hanlai Peak challenged a senior in class. Was that you?”

Lian Mu frowned. “How could that be me?”

She was so quiet and well-behaved. How could she possibly be the type to challenge a senior?

Xu Xianxing, however, was certain. “It must be you. Besides you, there’s no one else as dazzling and unique.”

He had always felt that Lian Mu was different from others.

He couldn’t quite explain why. Maybe it was because she walked with such a swagger, like she was collecting debts wherever she went? Either way, she just stood out.

Since he was convinced she was capable of such a thing, he couldn’t help but admire her even more.

“Your name is Lian Mu, right?” Xu Xianxing mused. “Now that I think about it, you’ve never introduced yourself to me. I had to ask around to find out.”

Lian Mu scooted away, not wanting to smell the bitterness of the vegetables on his plate. “Why were you asking about me?”

Xu Xianxing replied, “You’re the only person I know in Gui Xian Sect. I spent the past two years on Qianling Peak, and it was lonely. The other artifact refiners were all busy, and I had no one to chat with.”

Lian Mu knew he was a chatterbox. Once he started talking, it was like a floodgate had opened—impossible to stop. She had experienced this firsthand five years ago.

Xu Xianxing continued rambling. Lian Mu let his words pass through one ear and out the other, occasionally responding to feign interest. In reality, she was already thinking about what to discuss with Ji Mingyue later.

Just then, she caught sight of a familiar figure and stood up. She left Xu Xianxing with a quick, “I have something to do,” and walked off.

Xu Xianxing had just been talking about how he stood out among artifact refiners and became a disciple of Qianling Peak’s master when Lian Mu suddenly got up and headed elsewhere.

Watching her back as she walked toward someone else, Xu Xianxing’s expression grew puzzled.

“…Lian Mu actually knows that new Heaven-Spirit-Root pill refiner?”

They seemed quite familiar with each other.

Xu Xianxing thought to himself: As expected, experts are always surrounded by other experts.