The Martial Saint Started from Scavenging

The days that followed were exceptionally fulfilling for Ye Sheng. Every day before dawn, he would appear precisely at the abandoned pill room.

He no longer rummaged aimlessly like on the first day, but instead learned to observe.

Ye Sheng discovered that the way those outer sect alchemists disposed of their pill residue followed a pattern.

Typically, the quality of the cinnabar residue dumped on the first and fifteenth of each month is the highest.

Those two days were when the sect distributed alchemy materials, and many alchemists would start their furnaces to refine some important pills at that time, but the failure rate was also relatively high.

Ye Sheng focused specifically on those few days, scavenging among the freshly dumped, still steaming piles of elixir residue. As a result, his harvest became increasingly abundant.

[Feedback: Remnants of the "Qi Condensation Pill" have been found, containing a small amount of spiritual energy, which can be used to assist in cultivation.]

[Feedback: A half-burnt root of "Crimson Flame Grass" was found, containing residual fire-attribute medicinal power, which can be used to refine low-level fire-attribute pills.]

[Feedback: A fragment of "cold iron ore" mixed in with the pill residue has been found, which can be used to forge weapons.]

……

These things might be worthless trash in the eyes of alchemists, but to Ye Sheng, they were priceless treasures.

He carefully collected the residue of those pills containing spiritual energy, extracted their medicinal power, used part of it to assist himself in cultivating his inner energy technique, and diluted the other part to help Ye Kai regulate his body.

With the help of these elixir residues, his progress in internal energy cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds.

[Internal Breathing Method: Beginner 145/500 → 180/500]

Ye Kai's health also improved day by day.

Although he still couldn't get out of bed, he could stay conscious for extended periods and even exchange a few jokes with Ye Sheng. The dark lines under his skin had also faded considerably.

Ye Kai removed the pustules he had previously used to disguise his face, revealing his delicate facial features.

Ye Kai felt uncomfortable with his ugly face covered in pustules every day. Besides, since they had successfully infiltrated the Qingyun Sword Sect as low-level servants and lived in this remote abandoned alchemy room, no one should notice them anymore, so Ye Kai simply didn't object.

Over the past few days, Ye Sheng has been carefully collecting all the useful herb roots and mineral fragments, categorizing them accordingly. He plans to dispose of them once he has accumulated a sufficient quantity, perhaps even asking Lin Qingxue for help.

Of course, Ye Sheng didn't forget his "main job." Every day, he would spend one or two hours, like the other handymen, using an iron rake to gather the pill residue together.

He worked at a steady pace, rarely speaking, trying to appear no different from the other indifferent laborers. His days were peaceful and fulfilling.

But Ye Sheng knew that this peace could soon be shattered. Because he was being watched.

That afternoon, Ye Sheng was searching through a pile of recently dumped ore as usual. He was lucky today; after searching for a short while, he found a fist-sized, bright red ore.

[Crafting panel feedback: High-quality "Fire Copper Ore" detected, suitable for crafting magical artifacts; quite valuable.]

Ye Sheng was overjoyed and was about to put the ore away when a strange voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Hey, isn't this the new Junior Brother Ye? You've had a good day."

Ye Sheng turned around and saw three young men, all dressed in gray servants' clothes, standing with their arms crossed, looking at him with ill intent.

The leader was a tall, thin man with a pointed face and a shrewd, greedy glint in his small eyes. Beside him stood a short, stout man with a face full of pimples; the other was tall and burly with a menacing face, looking like a thug.

Ye Sheng recognized these people; they were old handymen from the abandoned pill room. They usually bullied new handymen by forming cliques and taking advantage of arriving early.

Ye Sheng had been deliberately avoiding them, but he didn't expect to be cornered by them today.

"Do you need anything, fellow disciples?"

Ye Sheng stood up and discreetly hid the piece of copper ore behind his back.

"It's nothing, I just saw you working hard here all by yourself, so I wanted to come and get closer to you."

The young man in the lead said with a forced smile. As he spoke, he walked towards Ye Sheng, but his eyes kept glancing behind Ye Sheng.

"Junior brother, what good stuff are you holding? Show it to your senior brothers!"

"It's nothing, just a charred broken stone," Ye Sheng replied calmly.

"Yeah?"

The young man in the lead sneered, "Why do I smell 'fire copper ore'? Junior brother, don't try to fool us. In this abandoned alchemy room, what can escape my nose?"

Ye Sheng frowned. He had forgotten that these seasoned veterans who spent years in the abandoned pill room were extremely familiar with the smells of all kinds of pills and ores.

"Hand over the items!"

Another burly man with a face full of scars said viciously, clenching his fists and making a "crack" sound from his knuckles.

Ye Sheng glanced at the three people. His talent for [Qi and Blood Perception] told him that these people were just ordinary people, not even entry-level martial artists. They were just stronger than ordinary people.

In the past, Ye Sheng might have been somewhat wary. But now, he could take down all three of them in the blink of an eye with just one hand.

However, he didn't want to make a move here. Firstly, it would reveal his strength. Secondly, it would attract unnecessary trouble.

"Senior brothers, I discovered this stone first," Ye Sheng said in a deep voice. "According to the rules of the sect's abandoned alchemy room, whoever discovers the remnants of treasures and medicines first gets to keep them."

"Ha! Rules?" The leading youth burst into laughter as if he'd heard the funniest joke. "Hahaha! In this abandoned alchemy room, we brothers are the rules!"

His face darkened, and he gave the two people beside him a wink: "Stop wasting time talking to him, just grab it!"

Immediately, the two pounced on Ye Sheng from the left and right.

Ye Sheng's eyes turned cold, and he was about to teach these three fools a lesson when suddenly, a clear, cold female voice came from not far away.

"stop!"

When everyone turned around, they saw a pretty girl dressed in the outer disciple's robes of the Qingyun Sword Sect standing not far away, looking at them with slightly furrowed brows.

The woman was about eighteen or nineteen years old, dressed in a light blue long dress, with a sheathed longsword hanging at her waist. She was slender, with a beautiful face, snow-white skin, and a cool temperament. Standing in this filthy and smelly abandoned alchemy room, she was like a pure snow lotus, completely out of place with her surroundings.

The three seasoned laborers' expressions changed instantly upon seeing the girl. They immediately stopped what they were doing and bowed and scraped as they went to greet her.

"Senior Sister Shen, what brings you here?" The young man leading the group asked with a fawning expression.

"If I hadn't come, I wouldn't have known you were bullying the new junior brother here."

The woman known as "Senior Sister Shen" spoke in a cold voice, her gaze sweeping over the three faces with undisguised disgust.

"It's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding, Senior Sister Shen."

The young man in the lead quickly explained, "We just wanted to play a joke on this new junior brother and have a friendly spar."

"A sparring match?" Senior Sister Shen sneered, pointing to the piece of fire copper ore Ye Sheng had hidden behind his back. "What's that? Are you going to steal someone else's things during a sparring match?"

The three of them were speechless, their faces turning pale and then flushed, too embarrassed to utter a word. They never expected to encounter Shen Qingqiu here.

This Senior Sister Shen is a cultivator from the Qingyun Sword Sect, and one of the top five genius disciples in the outer sect. At such a young age, she has already reached the early stage of Foundation Establishment.

In addition, she has always acted fairly and uprightly, and she can't stand bullying the weak.

"Get out of here!" Shen Qingqiu shouted coldly.

"Yes, yes, we'll get out of here right now." The three of them felt like they had been granted a pardon and ran away as fast as they could. Before leaving, they didn't forget to glare at Ye Sheng with resentful eyes.

Ye Sheng watched their retreating figures, his eyes icy. He knew that this feud had been forged.

"Thank you for your help, Senior Sister." Ye Sheng walked up to Shen Qingqiu, clasped his hands in a fist and bowed.

Shen Qingqiu didn't look at him, but instead focused his gaze on the piece of fire copper ore in his hand, and said calmly, "I'm not protecting you, I'm just upholding the sect's rules."

She paused, then continued, "This abandoned alchemy room, though a place for disposing of waste, can always yield some useful items. You have a good eye, but you also need to know how to conceal your abilities. You should understand the principle that 'a common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime.' Du Qiang and the others are probably holding a grudge about what happened today, so be careful."

After saying that, she didn't look at Ye Sheng again, turned around and left, her clothes fluttering, quickly disappearing at the exit of the abandoned alchemy room. Ye Sheng watched her departing figure, lost in thought.

This Senior Sister Shen seems to be a nice person.

He looked down at the piece of fire copper ore in his hand and thought to himself: Perhaps Senior Sister Shen is right. In this Qingyun Sword Sect, to survive, strength alone is not enough; one must also learn to be patient and to disguise oneself.

Today's events serve as a reminder to Ye Sheng that he must improve his strength as soon as possible, and at the same time, he must find a way to obtain an "identity" that can protect him.

Those who are at the lowest level of menial labor are ultimately too passive.