Raise a sword!

Upon returning home, Jiang Peng immediately dug a deep pit in the yard and buried the ghostly luminous pearl inside.

After observing for a while and confirming that the luminous pearl would not cause any harm, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Jiang Peng took out the incense box and began refining it.

The wooden box suddenly appeared in his mind and was taken into the Purple Gold Cauldron, at which point flames rose from the cauldron.

However, Jiang Peng waited for a full hour, but the refining process continued.

"Strange, I can usually finish refining Qi Condensation Pills in a few breaths, but with this Fragrant King Wood, it has been an hour and there is still no sign of it being finished."

As time goes by.

Jiang Peng was surprised to find that the spiritual energy within her body was slowly being depleted.

Furthermore, as spiritual energy was consumed, the fire within the purple-gold cauldron in his mind grew increasingly intense.

"Is it because the Fragrant King Wood is a second-tier spiritual material, while I am just a mere Qi Refining cultivator?" Jiang Peng suddenly realized.

The spiritual ingredient Jiang Peng was not unrefined.

He had tried refining the materials for alchemy, but there was not much change after refining, probably because the quality of the spiritual materials was too low.

Moreover, using refined spiritual materials to refine pills slightly improves the quality of the finished product.

It would be more convenient to refine it directly into a pill.

Jiang Peng waited silently, losing all interest in cultivating.

It wasn't until the third day, when Jiang Peng's spiritual energy was almost completely depleted, that this refinement finally ended.

The refined material was smaller, and the original wooden box became a fist-sized lump of wood.

[Fragrant King Wood: Tier 2 Spiritual Material]

"The attribute indicating loss of medicinal power has disappeared, and this item has become a normal second-tier spiritual material."

The result of the refining was as expected, but the twists and turns of the process left Jiang Peng somewhat apprehensive.

This was the first time that the golden cauldron in his mind had drawn upon his spiritual energy for refining.

The refining process cannot be stopped!

"If the spiritual energy is exhausted, will the refining process fail, or will something else be extracted, such as lifespan?"

Jiang Peng felt a little scared.

It's true that the Purple Gold Cauldron can help him manage cultivation resources, but the actual cultivation still depends on himself.

Jiang Peng only has a mid-grade spiritual root, and the Foundation Establishment stage is still a long way off. If he damages his foundation because of the cheat system, then it would truly be a loss.

"I must never use the Purple Gold Cauldron beyond my level again," Jiang Peng silently warned himself.

...

Because of the beast tide, the market town has become increasingly deserted.

But this doesn't affect Jiang Peng.

His income came entirely from the sale of pills; he never had trouble selling either Qi-Condensing Pills or Rejuvenation Pills.

For the next few days, Jiang Peng continued to refine pills every two days and spend the rest of her time cultivating steadily.

His cultivation level is steadily increasing, and he is getting closer and closer to the fourth level of Qi Refining.

Before I knew it, it was time again to hand over the pills to Cangshan Pavilion every month.

...

Inside the Cangshan Pavilion, Jiang Peng met Liu Quan.

After handing over the pills as usual and receiving the new materials, Liu Quan stopped Jiang Peng from leaving.

"Fellow Daoist, you've been in the market for some time now. Have you ever considered aligning yourself with a powerful force?"

Jiang Peng was taken aback.

If it were someone else, he would have shaken his head and refused without even thinking about it.

He's living a pretty good life now, with no shortage of resources for cultivation, and earns sixty or seventy spirit stones every month.

Jiang Peng even considered moving to a more upscale house, but she gave up the idea for fear of attracting too much attention.

"Fellow Daoist Liu, I'm used to a leisurely life and I'm afraid I can't stand any constraints," Jiang Peng said cautiously. "I'm honored by your high regard, but I'm merely a beginner in Qi Refining..."

Before Jiang Peng could finish speaking, Liu Quan waved his hand to interrupt, saying, "Your alchemy skills are quite good. The alchemists in the sect have seen the pills you submitted and said that the quality is good. You are a promising talent."

Seeing that Jiang Peng remained silent, Liu Quan shook his head and said, "Think it over carefully. I have two options for you. One is to join the Cangshan Sect's Pill Hall. With your alchemy skills, you can become an inner disciple at the mid-stage of Qi Refining."

"As for the second place... there is a group of independent cultivators in the market called the 'Mutual Aid Association,' which has many capable individuals."

"Compared to sects, mutual aid associations are much more loosely organized. They only meet once a month to exchange cultivation experiences and trade some resources."

Jiang Peng's heart stirred. If his identity and background were disregarded, he would naturally be willing to join the sect.

After all, it's good to have a big tree to lean on.

But he was unregistered.

The management of a sect is not as lax as that of a marketplace.

Since joining any sect requires an investigation into one's background, and he had appeared out of nowhere with no one of standing to vouch for him, he naturally didn't want to take that risk. After considering all the options, he decided to join the Mutual Aid Association.

"What about the responsibilities? Joining a mutual aid society can't just be all benefits, right?"

Liu Quan smiled slightly.

"It's basically about helping members when they encounter trouble. Those with money contribute money, and those with strength contribute their strength, but of course, it's within a limited scope... However, this requirement is not mandatory, but if you refuse once, you will be expelled from the mutual aid association."

"There aren't that many freebies in the world. The senior brother who founded the mutual aid association certainly didn't promote rogue cultivators entirely out of a sense of charity."

Hearing this, Jiang Peng thought it was worth getting involved in the mutual aid association.

Jiang Peng was just right in terms of contributing money and effort.

He was only at the early stage of Qi Refining, and no one knew that he had a copper skin and iron bones and was skilled in combat. He was not the one who had to do the physical work.

As for paying...

Just consider it a membership fee paid to the platform.

"What if you've had enough and want to leave?"

"Go if you want, we won't stop you."

Jiang Peng felt relieved.

"In that case, I'd be willing to join this mutual aid society."

Upon hearing this, Liu Quan took out a token and handed it to Jiang Peng.

"On the evening of the third day of each month, go to the third floor of Yutang Tower. You may enter with this token."

Jiang Peng gave a slight bow.

"Understood, thank you for your guidance, fellow Daoist."

"It's just about recruiting talented people, go ahead."

...

Back home, Jiang Peng fiddled with the token in her hand.

He thought he hadn't done anything out of line since arriving in the market, but he never expected to be targeted.

Fortunately, it wasn't a bad thing.

"I never thought I'd become so sought after. Even being so low-key has attracted attention. I'll have to be more careful in the future."

With a renewed sense of vigilance, Jiang Peng put the matter aside and went into the cultivation room to get busy.

...

A few days later, the first batch of cultivators sent to the front lines returned.

Experiencing something like this for the first time, Jiang Peng arrived at the entrance of the market early and looked around in the crowd.

Everyone who returned was injured.

Jiang Peng idly counted the number of people.

One hundred and seven.

Seven families and five hundred independent cultivators went.

That's all that came back.

Although it was clearly none of her business, Jiang Peng still felt sad.

"Just because they live in the market, they are subject to a purge by the Cangshan Sect every twenty years."

Even so, these people didn't run away, didn't curse, and you could hardly hear them complain.

Jiang Peng felt heavy-hearted.

He knew that this was probably not just because the Cangshan Sect had long held sway.

Perhaps it's also because the cultivation world outside the marketplace might be even more dangerous.

Experiencing life and death only once every twenty years is a privilege many independent cultivators would rather not have.

This was the first time Jiang Peng had faced the cruelty of the cultivation world from an outsider's perspective since personally experiencing the ordeal of Dan Laomo.