Mortal: I have a gathering technique

Yellow Maple Valley, the main hall of the sect.

Fang Qing stood relaxed to the side, his eyes occasionally sweeping over the sect leader Zhong Lingdao, who stood at the head of the table, and the late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator who had brought him back to Huangfeng Valley.

On the way back, Fang Qing had already inquired and learned that this senior's surname was Zhao, and he was a little older than Zhong Lingdao. Because he had no hope of forming a core, he was now in retirement.

The three of them were waiting inside the hall because they were waiting for someone.

To be precise, they were waiting for Li Huayuan.

In the entire Yellow Maple Valley, if you were to ask who is most suitable to be Fang Qing's master, it would undoubtedly be Li Huayuan, who possesses the Three Yang Body.

Therefore, after learning about Fang Qing's aptitude, Zhongling Dao immediately sent someone to Li Huayuan's cave to ask for his opinion.

Time passed little by little.

Before long, a vigorous and energetic old man strode into the entrance of the main hall.

Upon seeing this person, Zhong Lingdao and the old man surnamed Zhao's expressions turned solemn, and they respectfully stepped forward to pay their respects.

"Lingdao (Yuntian) greets Martial Uncle Li!"

Fang Qing bowed to the two men and, upon hearing this, confirmed that the visitor was indeed Li Huayuan.

Li Huayuan nodded, his gaze falling directly on Fang Qing, and beckoned, "Come here, let this old man see your aptitude."

Fang Qing didn't dare to hesitate and quickly stepped forward.

As soon as she got close, Li Huayuan grabbed her wrist, and soon, a surge of intense spiritual energy began to flow through her meridians.

The next moment, Li Huayuan's loud laughter echoed in the hall, "Good, not bad, indeed a body of extreme Yang!"

Li Huayuan was all smiles, his attitude almost excessively enthusiastic:

"Fang Qing, right? I'm sure you know your own aptitude very well. Let me tell you clearly, as long as you can successfully establish your foundation, there will be a great benefit waiting for you."

Upon hearing this, both Zhong Lingdao and the old man surnamed Zhao were stunned.

They could tell that their Uncle Li was very satisfied with Fang Qing's aptitude. Based on their understanding of Uncle Li, the latter should have accepted Fang Qing directly.

Even if they wanted to play it safe or suppress the issue, they should at least grant him the status of a "nominal disciple".

But right now, not only has it not been mentioned, but the so-called great benefits don't seem to indicate any intention to take him as a disciple.

"What's Uncle Li up to?"

Zhong and Zhao looked at each other, each lost in thought.

On the other hand, Fang Qing was completely bewildered.

He had thought that Li Huayuan would at least accept him as a disciple, but it turned out to be just empty promises.

"As the saying goes, you can try your luck even if you don't have a chance. Li Huayuan may be stingy, but surely he wouldn't even give me a nominal disciple status?"

Fang Qing's mind raced, and he immediately sensed something was amiss.

"No, although Li Huayuan is notoriously stingy, he's incredibly enthusiastic about taking on disciples. It seems he has the most Core Formation disciples in the entire Yellow Maple Valley."

How could someone so generous with the title of disciple possibly let go of someone with an extremely yang physique?

"Just now he only mentioned the benefits, not taking on apprentices, yet he was excessively enthusiastic. All these strange phenomena combined suggest only one possibility!"

"As expected, someone else probably has high hopes for me."

"And in the entire Yellow Maple Valley, the only one who could make Li Huayuan give up the idea of ​​taking on disciples is probably a Nascent Soul Grandmaster."

"So, it's Old Monster Linghu who has taken a liking to me and wants to take me as his disciple?"

Thinking of this, Fang Qing's eyes lit up. Even he couldn't help but feel excited at being valued by a Nascent Soul cultivator.

What Fang Qing could think of, Zhong and Zhao naturally couldn't be an exception.

The two exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes. Then, they both looked at Fang Qing with extremely complicated expressions.

At this moment, Fang Qing had calmed his excited emotions, and he respectfully bowed to Li Huayuan:

"Yes, disciple will definitely cultivate diligently and strive to reach the Foundation Establishment stage as soon as possible!"

"Okay, okay!"

Li Huayuan laughed heartily, then offered a few more words of encouragement. Before leaving, he took out a small, dark shield, about the size of a palm, and handed it to Fang Qing.

"This is a little trinket that I casually crafted; consider it a small gift to you as our first meeting."

Fang Qing reached out and took it, gently stroking it, and could tell that it was a top-grade magic artifact.

"Thank you, Grandmaster!"

Fang Qing smiled and saw Li Huayuan off.

At this moment, he was even more certain of his previous guesses.

On the other side, Zhong and Zhao had similar thoughts.

The thought that the little guy in front of them might become the "young master" of Huangfeng Valley in the future made the two of them grit their teeth and each take out an item.

"Nephew Fang, I (my uncle) also have a little trinket here. If you don't mind, feel free to take it and play with it."

Sect Leader Zhong was holding a long wooden box, and Elder Zhao Yuntian had given him a talisman.

The two seemed afraid that Fang Qing wouldn't dare to accept it, so they forced it into his hands before he could respond.

Although the wooden box was not opened, Fang Qing could tell at a glance that it most likely contained spiritual herbs.

As for Elder Zhao's talisman, Fang Qing glanced down at it and recognized it as a mid-to-low-level "Wood Escape Talisman".

Upon seeing these two items, Fang Qing couldn't help but laugh.

Next, Zhao Yuntian, the elder, personally led Fang Qing on a tour of the area inside the gate.

This action was remembered by those who had ulterior motives.

After Master Zhao left, Fang Qing chose a stone house in the new disciples' residence area and settled down.

The disciples of Huangfeng Valley who practice Qi Refining have to complete a certain number of miscellaneous tasks every year. Although Fang Qing was favored by Linghu Laoguai, the latter clearly wanted to hone him.

Therefore, he had no choice but to take on the mission.

Ultimately, Fang Qing, leveraging his strengths, chose the task of "refining ore".

Yellow Maple Valley has many mines. While ordinary people can be hired to mine, cultivators are required to refine the ore.

Although Qi Refining cultivators do not possess true fire, there are Earth Fire Stone Houses in Yellow Maple Valley. Anyone who accepts this quest can use the Earth Fire Stone Houses for a period of time for free.

After receiving a mission, Fang Qing would spend some time in the Earth Fire Stone House.

Of course, he wouldn't personally refine the ore; he was just going through the motions. The materials he submitted were all finished products he had collected from discarded magical artifacts.

As for his time, Fang Qing devoted it all to cultivation.

……

In the blink of an eye, half a year has passed.

That day, Fang Qing had just finished his cultivation and was preparing to rest for two days when an unexpected person came looking for him.

The visitor was none other than Han Li.

That day, after Fang Qing realized that he had been chosen by Linghu Laoguai, he tentatively mentioned Han Li to Zhong Dazhang.

According to Fang Qing, Han Li was his junior brother from a secular sect. Although he only had four spiritual roots, he was lucky enough to accidentally consume a rare fruit and cultivated to the late stage of Qi Refining.

He was unwilling to remain at the Qi Refining stage for his entire life and wanted to join the Yellow Maple Valley, then go to the Crimson Forbidden Land to try his luck with the Foundation Establishment Pill.

Although Huangfeng Valley does not accept independent cultivators, when the "Young Valley Master" speaks, how could Sect Leader Zhong dare to object?

Moreover, it's even more desirable to have someone volunteer to participate in the Blood Forbidden Trial.

Thus, Han Li successfully joined the Yellow Maple Valley.

"Junior brother, aren't you helping Uncle Ma look after the herb garden? What brings you here to visit your elder brother?"

Fang Qing looked at Han Li and teased him with a smile.

Han Li touched his nose, not angry at all. "Take care of the herb garden for a little while. Junior Brother came here specifically to thank Senior Brother."

As he spoke, he flicked his hand, and three small cyan jade bottles appeared on the table.

Fang Qing raised an eyebrow, a strange light flashing in his eyes:

"This is?"

Han Li explained with a smile:

"Junior brother was lucky. He managed to gather all the spiritual herbs needed to refine Rongyun Pills a while ago and successfully refined a batch of Rongyun Pills. These three bottles are specially given to senior brother."

Rongyun Danyao?

Fang Qing knew that the old demon must have used the Palm Heaven Bottle to accelerate the growth of the spiritual herbs, but he did not expose him. He laughed and put the three bottles of pills into his storage bag.

"Since it's a gift from you, junior brother, then I won't stand on ceremony!"