Chapter 50

Liu Ming glanced at the pale young man lying unconscious at his feet and sighed heavily.

Indeed, the struggles between cultivators were vastly different from the other fights he had experienced before. A seemingly simple ice spike attack could suddenly take an unexpected turn.

And the opponent was just a mid-stage Spirit Apprentice who appeared to have practiced few secret techniques.

If it were a Spirit Apprentice with longer cultivation time or who had learned more advanced techniques, wouldn't he have had an even harder time dealing with it?

With this thought in mind, Liu Ming slightly moved his shoulders and then began to search the three people on the ground without any hesitation.

After a thorough search, he obtained three talisman weapons, over thirty spirit stones, a half bottle of spirit grain pills, and some miscellaneous materials, including herbs and some unknown animal bones.

Liu Ming packed all these items together, slung them over his shoulder, and then flew off in the direction of the Man鬼 Sect.

Half a day later, when he entered the second floor of the sect's steward hall again, the hall was already bustling with people, with a good half of them gathered in front of the crystal stele for posting tasks, pointing and discussing something.

Liu Ming found this somewhat strange but did not rush over. Instead, he walked to the stone platform on the other side.

He placed the fish basket on the stone platform.

A middle-aged steward immediately leaned over to take a look inside and nodded in approval, saying, "Not bad, it's indeed the hawk-beaked fish. Although Brother Bai is young, he has completed quite a few tasks recently. I have high hopes for you, Brother. Keep up the good work."

As he spoke, the middle-aged steward skillfully took the emblem from Liu Ming, tapped it with a golden rod, and threw a small cloth bag filled with spirit stones.

"Thank you, Brother. By the way, what new tasks have appeared recently, and why are so many brothers gathered there?" Liu Ming took the emblem and the cloth bag, smiled, and asked.

"Hehe, it's because Elder Zhang of the Poison Spirit lineage needs a few furnace attendants. The contribution points are not mentioned, but the additional reward is a willingness to guide in alchemy, which is why many people are interested. After all, Elder Zhang is our sect's top alchemist. If one can truly learn a bit of alchemy from him, it would be beneficial for a lifetime. But one must truly satisfy Elder Zhang!" The middle-aged steward chuckled, but a look of disbelief flashed across his face.

"Brother, is there something else to it?" Liu Ming's heart stirred as he asked.

"Hehe, Brother, why don't you look at who the disciples are who are preparing to take on the task?" The middle-aged steward smiled and said.

Liu Ming was naturally surprised and turned to look back.

A moment later, he couldn't help but show a look of surprise, while the middle-aged steward continued calmly, "Elder Zhang has posted similar tasks several times before. Many disciples have taken them, but no one has ever truly completed them. Those who took the tasks were scolded to the point of being covered in bruises and wasted months of time, and in the end, gained nothing in alchemy. So, when this task appeared again, the older disciples completely ignored it. Hehe, only the younger disciples still harbor the hope of becoming alchemists and are willing to try."

"I see, thank you for the advice, Brother." Liu Ming was somewhat enlightened.

Although the other party didn't say much, he clearly heard that this "Elder Zhang" of the Poison Spirit lineage was not easy to please, so he naturally gave up the idea of taking on this task.

Failure was one thing, but wasting several months of time would be a waste for him.

Of course, he had already heard from some people that alchemists, array masters, spirit plant masters, spirit beast masters, and spirit qi masters, who were proficient in special skills, were very popular in the cultivation world, especially the rarest alchemists, who were almost indispensable to a sect.

However, deep down, he was still quite interested in becoming an alchemist.

After all, if he were an alchemist himself, the green-furred giant rat meat he obtained last time could be refined into a pill, maximizing its effectiveness.

With this thought in mind, Liu Ming turned and left the stone platform. As he passed the crystal stele, he paused and glanced at it, quickly finding the task posted by Elder Zhang.

Sure enough, as the middle-aged steward said, a three-month furnace attendant could earn 100 contribution points and receive guidance in alchemy, but with the additional condition that if Elder Zhang was not satisfied, no rewards would be given.

Liu Ming smiled wryly and left the second floor hall, exiting the steward hall and flying back to his residence.

In the following two months, Liu Ming did not leave Jiuying Mountain and focused on practicing the Bone Meditation Technique.

One day, while practicing in his room, Liu Ming suddenly felt his body become light, and a sensation that made his soul tremble surged from his dantian. He couldn't help but open his mouth and let out a long howl.

The howl was deep and resonant, like a continuous wave, lasting for half a cup of tea before finally stopping.

At this moment, Liu Ming's face was filled with joy as he examined his body and felt the abundant spiritual power surging within him.

He had clearly cultivated the second level of the Bone Meditation Technique and become a mid-stage Spirit Apprentice.

At the same time, in a grand hall on the top of Jiuying Mountain, a middle-aged scholar, upon hearing the howl from outside the hall, turned to the long-haired man sitting opposite him and smiled, saying, "Judging by the strength of the howl, it seems one of our lineage's disciples has successfully advanced to the mid-stage. This is a cause for celebration. Perhaps this is a good omen for the matter we discussed, indicating that everything will go smoothly."

"Let's hope so. No one expected that a casual move back then would bring such a heaven-sent opportunity to our lineage. However, the more so, the more those two old fellows will be unwilling to fulfill the agreement." Zhu Chi replied with a bitter smile.

"Hmph, unless they don't care about the reputation of Jiuyao Mountain, they can't go back on their word. This was proposed by them initially, and if they renege now, I'd like to see how those two old fellows will explain it." The Daoist nun surnamed Zhong, sitting beside him, said with a frown.

"Directly reneging? They are well-known spirit masters and wouldn't do such a thing. However, if they propose new conditions for the distribution, we can't outright refuse them." Zhu Chi replied slowly.

"What, Brother Zhu, have you received some news?" Guiruquan asked, his gaze sharpening.

"Yes, I received a letter from a disciple of Jiuyao Mountain just before coming here. Brother Guiruquan and Sister Zhong, you might want to take a look." Zhu Chi sighed and then flipped his hand, suddenly producing a light yellow scroll, which he tossed to the scholar.

Guiruquan caught it and quickly unfolded it to read.

After a moment, his face darkened.

Seeing this, the Daoist nun surnamed Zhong was somewhat surprised.

"Sister, take a look." The scholar finally handed the scroll to the nun and closed his eyes, pondering something.

"What? They actually want to allocate the spirit fruits through a competition, and only disciples who have been in the sect for less than three years can participate. Isn't this bullying our new disciples who have only been cultivating for a short time? Moreover, Jiuyao Mountain is famous for puppetry among the sects. As long as their disciples have one or two powerful puppets, their strength will increase significantly. How can our disciples compete with them!" The Daoist nun surnamed Zhong was furious after reading the letter.

"But those spirit fruit trees are already under their control. And from what I know, Jiuyao Mountain's new disciples are only a year ahead of ours. They have also promised that the disciples participating in the competition will not use puppets above the third rank, so we can't completely refuse them." Zhu Chi said.

"But among our new disciples, there are only five in total, and only Xiao Feng has just advanced to the mid-stage Spirit Apprentice. How can the others compete with them?" The Daoist nun surnamed Zhong said anxiously.

Hearing this, Zhu Chi frowned.

"Hmph, since they proposed the conditions, there is room for negotiation. We can't agree to all five matches. Let's reply that we will have three matches. This way, even if we do poorly, we still have a chance to get a third of the spirit fruits." Guiruquan finally opened his eyes and said with a huff.

"Three matches? That's a good idea! With Feng's strength, he has a seventy to eighty percent chance of winning one match." Zhu Chi's face showed a hint of joy.

"But what about the other two matches? Who should we send? Should we just give up?" The Daoist nun surnamed Zhong said, still unwilling.

"The other two? Yu Cheng has been practicing very diligently recently, so let's include him. As for the other one, Bai Congtian, didn't he become an early-stage Spirit Apprentice half a year ago? Even if he hasn't improved much, he should have gained some more spiritual power. Plus, he has some experience in competition, so let's include him too. Even if they both lose, it won't be a big deal. If one of them wins by chance, we will have a significant gain." Guiruquan thought for a moment and made a decision.

Zhu Chi nodded in agreement, and after some consideration, the Daoist nun surnamed Zhong reluctantly agreed.

After further discussion, Guiruquan took out a blank scroll, quickly wrote a reply, and summoned a disciple to deliver it.

A moment later, a gray cloud flew out from Jiuying Mountain, leaving the sect's gate and heading in a certain direction.

Half a month later, while Liu Ming was in his room, beginning to comprehend the Spirit Sensing Technique, he suddenly heard a clear male voice from outside:

"Is Brother Bai there? I have been sent by Master to invite you to the mountain."

This voice was unmistakably Shi Chuan's.

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