Mortal Alchemy

Xu Fengshan led Chen Ping forward and, arriving outside the prayer mat, cupped his hands in salute: "Subordinate Xu Fengshan greets Left Hall Master!"

"Subordinate has brought back this batch of new bloodline seeds to the Pill Hall."

Chen Ping quickly followed suit, bowing respectfully: "Subordinate Chen Ping greets Left Hall Master!"

The beautiful woman slowly opened her phoenix eyes, glanced at Chen Ping, and said in a gentle voice:

"Now that you've entered the Pill Hall, Chen Ping, what are your plans?"

This was asking Chen Ping whether he wanted to become the Mu family's son-in-law or work freely for the Mu family for sixty years.

If he hadn't awakened his bloodline inheritance, Chen Ping would definitely have been willing to become the Mu family's son-in-law to get better treatment and resources.

But that was if.

Chen Ping took a deep breath, maintaining his bowing posture:

"Subordinate is wholeheartedly devoted to the Dao."

"I understand. Once you make a choice, don't regret it for the rest of your life," the Left Hall Master said calmly:

"From today onwards, you will follow Xu Fengshan to learn pill refinement, and officially take over pill refinement tasks in half a year."

"You will work for sixty years to repay the Mu family's kindness in nurturing you."

"Yes, subordinate will remember!"

"Retreat. Xu Fengshan will teach you the relevant precautions of the Pill Hall."

Chen Ping and Xu Fengshan slowly retreated.

Chen Ping felt a chill down his back, his clothes soaked with cold sweat.

Not only was he nervous meeting a Foundation Establishment cultivator for the first time, but this Left Hall Master seemed a little dissatisfied with his choice.

If the other party wanted to kill him, she could probably annihilate him with a lift of her finger.

Leaving the core area of the main hall, Xu Fengshan sighed:

"Junior Brother Chen, you should have seized the opportunity just now. The Pill Hall hasn't had a new disciple for so long. If you had nodded in agreement, the Left Hall Master would definitely have offered to arrange a marriage for you, choosing a good female descendant of the Mu family."

A Foundation Establishment cultivator arranging a marriage for him, that would really be good luck...

After all, with a Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator as matchmaker, even if the Mu family's female descendant didn't want to marry a Pill Hall's immortal seed, someone would agree out of respect for the Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator's face.

Chen Ping smiled bitterly: "This junior brother has no fate to enjoy the grace of a beauty."

"Forget it, forget it." Xu Fengshan shook his head, then took Chen Ping to his courtyard dormitory, which was a bit remote, close to a small stream, with excellent scenery.

Then, from his storage bag, he took out the Pill Hall's disciple uniform, some corresponding furniture, as well as spiritual rice and meat.

"Junior Brother Chen, tidy up yourself today. Tomorrow I will teach you pill refinement. These are basic pill refinement knowledge. Take some time to read them yourself."

After explaining, he left.

"Junior brother respectfully sees off Senior Brother."

"Mm."

Immediately, Chen Ping cleaned the dojo himself. This place also had a first-order restriction.

After cleaning up, it was already evening. Leaving the dojo, he went to the Pill Hall's spiritual meal hall to eat.

There were many Pill Hall disciples and servants here. Leaving aside the servants, the Pill Hall disciples were almost all forty or fifty years old, some even sixty years old and nearing their end.

Each of them had pale faces, numb eyes, and an unspeakable numbness.

Seeing such a young Pill Hall disciple like Chen Ping, these people's eyes revealed fear, regret, and pity.

This made Chen Ping's scalp tingle. Was this Pill Hall some kind of hell? These people's eyes made him a little scared.

Chen Ping thought of the news he had heard about the Pill Hall in the Jiazi Courtyard in recent years.

Now it was finally confirmed, which made Chen Ping feel suppressed.

After eating his fill, Chen Ping also packed tomorrow's breakfast and returned to the dojo.

Taking a comfortable bath, the dojo came standard with a hot spring pool, which was a step up in terms of living conditions compared to when he was a servant disciple living in the Jiazi Courtyard.

"...One Jiazi, sixty years."

Chen Ping slept comfortably.

The next morning, as the sky was just beginning to brighten, Chen Ping got up to meditate and cultivate. This was what Meng Huang'er had taught him back then, and he had always maintained this routine.

After heating up his breakfast and eating it, Xu Fengshan sat outside Chen Ping's courtyard on a cattail fan, his face pale and weak:

"Junior Brother Chen, starting today, we will learn pill refinement. Come with me."

"Yes, Senior Brother Xu."

Xu Fengshan led Chen Ping to the pill refinement hall again. After entering, they walked to the left and arrived at a small hall. This place was messy, with all kinds of discarded black medicinal materials piled randomly in buckets.

This small hall was filled with the choking smell of medicinal materials. Besides a huge pill furnace and shelves for placing medicinal materials, there was also a bed.

Xu Fengshan said:

"Junior Brother Chen, pill refinement can only be done in the Pill Hall. There is a first-order earth vein spiritual fire under this hall."

"And this pill furnace is a magical artifact. You can use your mana and spiritual sense to control pill refinement. This is the best way to refine pills."

"There are no two flowers in the world that are exactly the same, and the medicinal materials for pill refinement are even more different, so you need to control the pill furnace at all times when refining pills."

"The medicinal materials and spiritual water needed for pill refinement can be obtained from the warehouse."

"I won't waste any more words. I will start teaching you pill refinement next."

Xu Fengshan took out a box of pills from the medicine shelf:

"You should be very familiar with this pill, the Essence Qi Pill."

"Junior Brother Chen, watch carefully."

"First, add spiritual water to the pill furnace, and then add the medicinal materials in order. This step cannot be wrong, otherwise what is refined will not be the Essence Qi Pill, perhaps a waste pill, perhaps a poison pill."

"Connect your spiritual sense and mana to the pill furnace, and release control of the earth vein spiritual fire!"

Then began the formal pill refinement. As time passed, Xu Fengshan's condition became worse and worse. The spiritual power and spiritual sense in his body were constantly consumed, controlling the pill furnace, spiritual fire, placing medicinal materials, and observing the progress of pill refinement.

Refining a furnace of Essence Qi Pills took four hours!

And how much spiritual power and spiritual sense does a Qi Refining cultivator have?

Xu Fengshan's face was pale, and he said weakly: "Junior Brother Chen, this is the process of refining Essence Qi Pills."

It took four hours of uninterrupted control of the pill furnace, which was too exhausting.

Chen Ping frowned, no wonder others were unwilling to come to the Pill Hall.

Refining pills like this all day long, let alone improving cultivation, after finishing refining pills, where would there be any state to cultivate? It would be good not to lose lifespan.

No wonder the disciples and servants of this Pill Hall were all haggard and pale. Being able to live while refining pills like this all the time was considered that cultivators had strong enough vitality.

When he was a child, he was exploited to herd cattle in the village, but he wasn't required to herd cattle for four hours at a time without rest.

What kind of ghost place is this Mu family's Pill Hall...

"How much did you remember?" Xu Fengshan asked.

Chen Ping said: "I remembered most of it."

Xu Fengshan nodded weakly: "That's good. For the next period of time, you will stay here with me and learn to refine Essence Qi Pills until you have completely learned it."

"In addition to Essence Qi Pills, we also have to learn to refine Fasting Pills and Qi Return Pills."

"You also saw that once you refine pills, it consumes a lot of energy and spiritual energy. We can refine the latter two kinds of pills for ourselves to take."

"These three kinds of pills are the pills we will refine in the future, and the specific type of pill to refine depends on the hall master's arrangements for you."

Chen Ping was a little puzzled: "Learn to refine these three kinds of pills in half a year?"

"Yes." Xu Fengshan nodded:

"...If you are the Mu family's son-in-law, the conditions are relaxed to one year, how about it, Junior Brother Chen, do you regret it?"

"..." Chen Ping frowned slightly, the difference in treatment was too great.

Immediately, Chen Ping changed the subject and asked: "Senior Brother Xu, what is the reward for pill refining disciples in our Pill Hall?"

Xu Fengshan's pale cheeks showed a wry smile:

"It is calculated according to the monthly salary, and the income is very low."

Chen Ping asked: "How low is very low?"

Xu Fengshan said: