May I seek good fortune and avoid misfortune, and live a long and prosperous life.

After an incense stick had burned, Li Heng appeared in the outer market of Chixia Mountain.

The market was quite lively.

Many low-level rogue cultivators were walking back and forth in the market.

At this time, shouts and conversations rose and fell on both sides of the street in the market.

"Take a look, have a look! Low-grade flying swords, on clearance sale!"

"How much is your flying sword? Which master craftsman forged it?"

"Freshly made low-grade Qi Gathering Pills! Ten spirit stones per pill, 10 or more get a 10% discount! Everyone hurry and buy them!"

"Ten spirit stones for a low-grade Qi Gathering Pill? That's too expensive! Can you make it cheaper?"

Li Heng disguised himself to look his age and wore very shabby clothes. Many vendors around him didn't bother to greet him and assumed he couldn't afford anything.

In fact, Li Heng was indeed short of money and didn't have many spirit stones left. He came to the market to see if there was any suitable job for him.

Suddenly, Li Heng walked up to a rather luxurious building. The tall plaque on the building bore three simple and elegant characters: Baicao Pavilion.

A servant was posting a notice in front of the Hundred Herbs Pavilion. By this time, many independent cultivators had gathered around, wanting to see what the notice was.

Li Heng also went over to see what was posted.

After squeezing into the crowd, Li Heng carefully read the announcement and realized that Baicao Pavilion was recruiting three alchemy assistants.

The compensation is fifty spirit stones plus two low-grade Qi Gathering Pills per month.

This treatment is actually quite high for a menial job; in theory, this kind of work would be fiercely sought after by independent cultivators.

However, many rogue cultivators frowned upon seeing the alchemy servants.

Because they knew that alchemy errand boys were different from other errand boys. Alchemy errand boys had to deal with waste pills, and doing this for a long time would inevitably consume a lot of their lifespan. In the end, even if they had spirit stones, they wouldn't have the life to spend them.

However, other menial tasks could not offer the same high pay as alchemy menial tasks, so many rogue cultivators hesitated and weighed the pros and cons.

Li Heng, on the other hand, did not hesitate at all. When he saw the announcement from Baicao Pavilion that it was recruiting alchemy assistants, his eyes lit up instantly. It was truly a case of finding something without even trying!

Since he left the Tianyan Sect, the number of Qi Gathering and Qi Condensation Waste Pills he took with him has been decreasing with each use. Currently, he has completely used up all his waste pills. If he doesn't find a new way to obtain waste pills, his cultivation will start to slow down to a snail's pace.

The Qi Refining stage is the first realm of cultivation. The entire stage is actually very simple: it involves refining spiritual power, expanding the dantian, and laying a solid foundation for building the Dao foundation in the future.

Therefore, cultivators with poor aptitude in the Qi Refining stage rely heavily on Qi Gathering Pills and Qi Condensation Pills. These two pills can help Qi Refining cultivators quickly accumulate and refine their spiritual power. If they have enough pills, they can completely save themselves from forty or fifty years of arduous cultivation.

Even those Qi Refining prodigies with a single spiritual root desperately need Qi Gathering Pills and Qi Condensation Pills, as these can help them break through to the Foundation Establishment realm as quickly as possible, saving them about ten years of cultivation time.

It can be said that the difference in cultivation between a single-spiritual-root prodigy and a multi-spiritual-root cultivator is enormous.

A single-spiritual-root prodigy can successfully cultivate from the first level of Qi Refining to the twelfth level in a maximum of ten years.

For cultivators with dual or triple spiritual roots, it would be impossible to advance from the first level of Qi Refining to the twelfth level without thirty to fifty years of arduous cultivation. It would be slightly better for those with dual spiritual roots, who could usually advance in thirty years, while those with triple spiritual roots would need fifty years.

If a cultivator has four or five spiritual roots, they will never be able to reach the twelfth level of Qi Refining unless they have a large supply of medicinal pills. They can only reach the ninth level of Qi Refining at most.

Therefore, cultivation pills are extremely sought after. Even the lowest grade low-level Qi Gathering Pill costs around ten spirit stones in the market.

Don't underestimate ten spirit stones; their purchasing power is enormous. An ordinary laborer can only earn twenty spirit stones a month by working himself to the bone, which is enough to buy just two low-grade Qi Gathering Pills.

The effects of low-grade Qi Gathering Pills are relatively poor. For cultivators with poor aptitude to rely on low-grade Qi Gathering Pills to cultivate to the twelfth level of Qi Refining is simply a pipe dream, requiring a massive amount of low-grade Qi Gathering Pills.

But this did not diminish their desire for the Qi Gathering Pill.

Therefore, even though alchemy and other menial tasks would shorten one's lifespan, the generous compensation still attracted a number of independent cultivators to apply for the job.

Li Heng was naturally among the applicants.

Soon, some rogue cultivators who had come to apply for alchemy jobs were led by the servants of the Hundred Herbs Pavilion to an extremely spacious and luxurious hall.

The servants told them to wait patiently, as someone would come to assess them shortly.

Li Heng and his group of independent cultivators waited for more than an hour. Just as they began to whisper among themselves and were getting impatient, a group of cultivators walked in through the main gate.

This group of cultivators surrounded an old man in a green robe, treating him with utmost respect and subtly regarding him as their superior.

"Elder Zheng, this way please. The rogue cultivators are all ready and waiting for your assessment," a male manager of the Hundred Herbs Pavilion said solicitously.

Soon, the group of people walked to the center of the hall.

The old man in the green robe sat directly in the main seat, his expression showing no change.

The manager of Baicao Pavilion then walked up to the group of rogue cultivators and introduced, "This is Elder Zheng, the chief alchemist we recently hired at a high salary for the outer branch of Baicao Pavilion! Now, the assessment will be presided over by Elder Zheng."

The various independent cultivators then bowed and saluted Elder Zheng.

The old man in the green robe nodded slightly, adopting the demeanor of someone in a superior position.

Li Heng was quite surprised; he hadn't expected to run into an acquaintance here!

It turned out that the old man in the green robe sitting in the main seat was Zheng Bingwen, the alchemist from the outer alchemy room of the Tianyan Sect!

Unexpectedly, after the destruction of the Tianyan Sect, he also came to Chixia Mountain, entered the Baicao Pavilion, and became the chief alchemist.

In that instant, Li Heng felt as if he had met an old friend in a foreign land.

In this life, Li Heng had no relatives or friends left.

Within the Tianyan Sect, the three people who were relatively close friends were Feng Xuzi, an outer disciple; Zheng Bingwen, an alchemist; and Liu San, a handyman in the alchemy room.

All three of them had given him guidance.

But now, Liu San has died on the battlefield between Tianyan Sect and Ziyang Sect, and Feng Xuzi's whereabouts are unknown. The only one he has a good relationship with is the alchemist Zheng Bingwen, who has taken good care of him. Now they have met again.

Li Heng was filled with emotion.

At that moment, a voice brought him back to reality.

"Alright, everyone line up in two rows. No talking. When your name is called, come forward so Old Zheng can take a look! Do you understand?"

"We understand!" the rogue cultivators replied.

"Alright, let's begin then." The male manager of Baicao Pavilion nodded in satisfaction.

"First one, Zhang Qiong, step forward."

After reviewing the document, Zheng Bingwen shook his head immediately: "Mid-stage Qi Refining Level 2, 65 years old. His cultivation is too low, his age is too old, and he has no experience in alchemy or miscellaneous tasks. He is out."

"Zhou Yude, the second one, step forward."

Zheng Bingwen shook his head again: "Elimination."

"The third one, Wang Jian, step forward."

Zheng Bingwen frowned: "Elimination."