Raise a sword!

Lan Yingying's words made Jiang Peng ponder for a long time.

Only after the teacup in his hand was emptied did Jiang Peng look at Lan Yingying with a half-smile.

"Miss Lan is trying to recruit me, Jiang."

Lan Yingying smiled and said, "It's not about recruiting, it's about cooperating."

"It's just a different name," Jiang Peng shook his head and said. "They want to take over all my pill production right off the bat. Will they add all sorts of restrictions later, such as not being able to leave the market easily, or how many pills they need to refine each month, and so on?"

Lan Yingying was about to speak when Jiang Peng waved his hand.

"Of course, I understand that you will definitely set conditions... such as how much higher the purchase price is than the market price, a monthly allowance of spirit stones, or some pill formulas."

Jiang Peng's expression turned serious.

"I know one thing well: there's no such thing as a free lunch! Miss Lan is also a shrewd person, and I'm sure she understands my concerns."

Lan Yingying took a deep breath.

"I understand, Brother Jiang is afraid that if he agrees, he will be slowly boiled alive by me and the people behind me... Brother Jiang's foundation in the market is not deep, and his cultivation is not high. He is too easy to manipulate, so he has to be careful."

"That's exactly right," Jiang Peng nodded.

After a moment of silence, Lan Yingying stood up and said, "There is still room for discussion on this matter, but I cannot make the decision."

"Then there's no need..." Jiang Peng wanted to refuse.

Before Jiang Peng could finish speaking, Lan Yingying added, "This matter may not necessarily be a bad thing for Brother Jiang. After I go back and discuss it with the person in charge, I will come back to ask Brother Jiang again."

As soon as she finished speaking, Lan Yingying, as if afraid that Jiang Peng would refuse again, quickly left the courtyard.

Seeing this, Jiang Peng couldn't help but feel a little surprised.

Why would someone so lowly, a mere first-tier low-grade alchemist, be so courted?

...

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, we had a gathering at Yutanglou.

During the trade fair, Jiang Peng and Liu Quan chatted idly in a corner.

Jiang Peng casually mentioned that she had been recruited and that the other party seemed unwilling to give up, thus revealing her doubts.

After listening to Jiang Peng's story, Liu Quan smiled and patted Jiang Peng on the shoulder.

"Brother Jiang, you underestimate yourself!"

"What do you mean, Brother Liu?"

Liu Quan explained, "Our Cangshan Sect is not known for its alchemy skills. There are actually not many alchemists, either within the sect or in this market."

"There are only about seventeen or eighteen alchemists in the market, most of whom are only first-grade low-level alchemists and it is difficult for them to improve further. Moreover, they have all been recruited by various forces long ago."

"There are only four true rogue alchemists, one of whom is only a high-grade alchemist... Elder Feng is advanced in years and has a close relationship with our sect, so no one else can recruit him."

"The remaining three include a mid-grade alchemist, but his cultivation has already reached the late stage of Qi Refining. It can be said that his alchemy skills have reached their peak, and he is focused on Foundation Establishment. Ordinary forces cannot recruit him."

"There are also two low-grade alchemists. One of them has quite good talent, but unfortunately he is Elder Feng's apprentice. Once Elder Feng passes away, he should join our sect."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Peng suddenly realized.

"Am I the remaining rogue alchemist?"

"That's right. Moreover, Elder Qin has personally recommended Brother Jiang's alchemy skills. In addition, he is young and will achieve even greater things in the future. Therefore, it is normal for him to be recruited with great effort."

Jiang Peng thanked her.

Only someone like Liu Quan, who works in the Cangshan Pavilion, could have such a thorough understanding of the situation in the market.

This also explains why Jiang Peng was able to establish himself in the market so quickly. After only meeting Lan Yingying once or twice, Lan Yingying became a regular customer and even took the initiative to build a relationship with him.

"So I'm actually quite popular," Jiang Peng thought to himself.

......

After the gathering ended, Jiang Peng returned home and began her seclusion.

Three days later, Jiang Peng successfully broke through to the fourth level of Qi Refining and finally became a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

"If you count the years, less than three years have passed since I transmigrated... That's definitely not slow."

Jiang Peng exhaled a breath of stale air, feeling her spiritual power increase by nearly 50%, and a look of joy appeared on her face.

This breakthrough was foreshadowed. Since switching cultivation techniques, Jiang Peng's talent as a mid-grade spiritual root has truly come to fruition.

The original bottleneck was already on the verge of collapse even without any further training.

If Jiang Peng hadn't wanted to miss the mutual aid society gathering, she could have broken through much earlier.

After her initial excitement, Jiang Peng quickly discovered that starting from the mid-stage of Qi Refining, the amount of spiritual energy required to advance seemed to have doubled compared to the early stages.

Because the quality of spiritual energy is even higher, the actual cultivation speed will probably be more than twice as slow as in the early stages.

As for the exact amount, Jiang Peng doesn't have a figure yet.

"Song Lian, the genius of the Song family with a superior spiritual root, is said to have started cultivating at the age of 16. He reached the middle stage in one year, the late stage in three years, and it took him another ten years to finally reach the peak of Qi Refining."

"Such a genius would not lack Foundation Establishment Pills, yet he remains at the peak of Qi Refining without breaking through."

In addition, Liu Qinghe from the mutual aid association was also like this.

He reached the peak of Qi Refining early on, but then stagnated for several years.

Jiang Peng didn't know the reason, but he realized that the real difficulty in the Qi Refining stage was probably in the later stages, and he was still far from that point.

The slight sense of satisfaction in my heart vanished completely.

"Take it one step at a time. I still have more than thirty years. Reaching the peak of Qi Refining before the age of sixty is not difficult."

......

The Cangshan Sect is located deep in the northern foothills of the Diming Mountains.

This place is rich in spiritual energy, a place where the spiritual veins of the northern foothills converge.

Amidst the towering mountains, Lan Yingying walked onto a bluestone path leading uphill.

At the end of the road, a huge rock stands by the roadside with the words "Cangshan" written on it.

The sect's formation was just ahead. Lan Yingying was not a disciple of the Cangshan Sect, so she could only wait obediently outside the sect gate.

Before long, disciples arrived.

"Fellow Daoist Lan, Senior Sister Sun is already waiting for you."

"Thank you for leading the way, fellow Daoist." Lan Yingying bowed respectfully.

"You're too kind, fellow Daoist."

After entering the Cangshan Sect, Lan Yingying was led to a somewhat remote mountain peak.

The mountain was extremely quiet, and a spiritual cave had been carved out at its top.

The disciple who had led the way left quietly.

A beautiful figure was walking in the sacred field.

Lan Yingying looked at the person, just as the person looked up as well.

She wore a light blue ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), without any makeup, and her delicate and beautiful face was adorned with a warm smile.

"It's Sister Lan."

"Sister Yinxi." Now that there were no outsiders around, Lan Yingying greeted her warmly.

Sun Yinxi, with peak Qi Refining cultivation, ranks fifth among the true disciples of the Cangshan Sect.

Some say that if the peak master of her sect, Ni Chang Peak, hadn't been so insignificant within the sect, this woman's ranking among the true disciples might have been even higher.

After catching up, Sun Yinxi led Lan Yingying to sit down in the spirit field.

"Sister Lan, has something gone wrong with recruiting that Fellow Daoist Jiang?"