The Martial Saint Started from Scavenging

Upon returning to the servants' hut, Ye Sheng immediately planted the nearly dead main root of the green vine into a broken ceramic pot that had been prepared beforehand, and filled it with uncontaminated soil that he had taken from the back mountain.

After everything was in place, he carried the ceramic basin to Ye Kai's bedside, right next to his younger brother's pillow.

"Brother, do me a favor."

Ye Sheng lowered his voice, his expression quite solemn, and said, "For the next few days, you don't need to do anything; just rest as usual. But you must keep in mind that you want the thing in this pot to come back to life."

Ye Kai nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite. Although he didn't understand his brother's actions, he could sense that this dark, rotten piece of wood was of great importance to his brother.

For the next three days, Ye Sheng did not go to the abandoned alchemy room again, but stayed in the small hut without leaving it. He made the most of his time to cultivate, while also anxiously observing the changes in the Green Wood Vine.

On the first day, there was no movement; on the second day, there was still no sign of life, and the root remained like a lifeless piece of charcoal stuck in the soil.

Ye Sheng grew increasingly anxious: Could it be that he had guessed wrong? Or was the vitality of this Green Wood Vine too weak, and even Ye Kai's "Power of Creation" could not save it?

On the evening of the third day, just when Ye Sheng was almost in despair, he suddenly saw that a tender yellow bump, smaller than a grain of rice, was protruding from the dry, broken end of the black root.

Ye Sheng suddenly leaned closer, holding his breath.

In the dim light, that pale yellow hue appeared exceptionally fragile, yet brimming with boundless vitality.

He's alive! He's really alive!

A surge of ecstasy coursed through Ye Sheng's body like an electric current, causing him to tremble with excitement.

It really worked!

Ye Sheng cautiously probed in with a trace of internal energy and clearly sensed a faint yet continuous life force growing and developing within the tender bud.

Ye Kai, standing to the side, appeared even paler than before, but his spirits were excellent, and his breathing was steady. Clearly, this level of output of "Creation Power" did not place a significant burden on his body.

Ye Sheng felt much more at ease. He moved the green vine to a more secluded corner and covered it tightly with a rag. This item was now his top secret; he couldn't let anyone else know about it, much less let it fall into the wrong hands.

Emboldened by his success, Ye Sheng began to sneak off to the abandoned alchemy room every few days to "scavenge".

He was no longer satisfied with ordinary pill residues, and instead began to seek out seeds or roots of dying spiritual plants that had cultivation value.

His gains also increased day by day.

Half a month later, seven or eight seemingly ordinary but mysterious "bonsai" quietly appeared in Ye Sheng's dilapidated servant's hut.

Among them are the Tranquil Grass, which exudes a calming aura; the Crimson Flame Flower, whose leaves are like fire and can be used to extract fire poison; and even the White Jade Fruit seedlings, which can produce miraculous healing effects.

Any one of these spiritual plants would be enough to cause a frenzy among the outer disciples. But under Ye Sheng's clever disguise, they looked no more than wildflowers and weeds that the menial disciples casually planted in their spare time.

Now that the problem of spiritual plants has been solved, the next step is to refine pills.

Ye Sheng had already activated this skill when he found the recipe for the Soul-Soothing Powder in the Blackwater Swamp, but he had never had the opportunity to practice it.

Now, everything is finally ready.

He "picked up" a tiny, cracked alchemy furnace, no bigger than a palm, from an abandoned alchemy room. He then used the fire copper ore and cold iron ore fragments he had collected to ask a senior brother in the sect who had once worked as a blacksmith to forge a set of the most rudimentary alchemy tools.

Of course, Ye Sheng also spent a lot of copper coins to shut up that senior brother.

In the dead of night, after closing the doors and windows, Ye Sheng lit a high-temperature fire in the small house, ignited with special charcoal.

He was going to refine the lowest-grade and most common elixir—the Qi Condensation Pill. This pill could help cultivators in the Qi Refining stage accelerate their absorption of spiritual energy from heaven and earth, and it was considered a valuable commodity among outer disciples.

Although he didn't have the recipe, he used his innate perception from the scavenging skills on his cheat panel to identify the medicinal ingredients needed to refine the Qi Condensation Pill from the pill residue.

Ye Sheng plucked a few leaves from the Tranquilizing Grass and Green Wood Vine that he had cultivated himself, and extracted several kinds of auxiliary medicinal powders from the pill residue he had collected earlier. He then put the medicinal materials into the mini pill furnace one by one.

He then carefully probed his inner energy into the alchemy furnace, attempting to control the temperature of the alchemical fire with his mental power.

This process requires extreme precision; if the temperature is too high, the medicinal materials will turn to ash; if the temperature is too low, the medicinal properties cannot be fully activated.

Ye Sheng was refining pills for the first time and had no experience whatsoever. In less than a quarter of an hour, a muffled "bang" was heard, black smoke billowed from the furnace, and a strong smell of burning instantly filled the small house.

Failed.

He opened the alchemy furnace and saw a pile of dark, murky medicinal dregs inside.

Undeterred, Ye Sheng cleaned the alchemy furnace and tried again.

This time, he was more cautious.

But it failed again. The third time, it still failed...

After failing seven or eight times in a row, and until all the medicinal herbs he had gathered were exhausted, he still had not been able to refine a single decent pill.

Ye Sheng collapsed to the ground, his face covered in soot and looking utterly disheveled. The difficulty of alchemy far exceeded his imagination.

"Brother, don't rush, take your time." Ye Kai woke up at some point and handed over a damp cloth.

Ye Sheng took the towel and wiped his cheeks. Looking into his younger brother's clear yet worried eyes, his agitation gradually subsided.

Yes, I was indeed too impatient.

While the [Skill Panel] can provide some assistance, it doesn't mean that success can be achieved overnight.

Improving any skill requires a lot of practice and accumulation, just like his previous practice of stance training and knife skills.

"Brother, I'm fine." Ye Sheng smiled and rallied his spirits.

Late the following night, he gathered herbs again and continued his experiment. This time, he didn't aim for a one-time success, but instead broke down the alchemy process into individual steps, practicing them repeatedly: purification, fusion, condensation...

After failing more than ten times, the alchemy furnace was opened again, and a faint medicinal fragrance finally wafted out.

Three gray pills, about the size of soybeans, with pitted surfaces and mottled colors, lay quietly at the bottom of the furnace.

Although its appearance is not appealing, the [Craftsmanship Panel] gives positive feedback:

[Feedback: A low-grade Qi Condensation Pill was successfully refined. It contains a small amount of spiritual energy and has the effect of assisting cultivation.]

[Skill: Alchemy (Beginner) Progress: 1/100]

It worked!

Ye Sheng picked up a pill, felt the faint spiritual energy within it, and a great sense of accomplishment welled up in his heart.

With the initial success, the road ahead became increasingly smooth.

In the span of half a month, he worked during the day and refined pills late into the night. His skills became increasingly refined, and the quality of his Qi Condensation Pills gradually improved from inferior to low-grade. Although still not top-notch, they were already rare and excellent among the menial disciples.

Now that the elixir is ready, the next step is to exchange it for the resources needed.

After several days of observation, Ye Sheng quickly figured out the ins and outs of the "underground black market" among the servant disciples.

The so-called "black market" is actually a barter market that spontaneously forms in the small woods behind the sect's servant area late at night on the fifteenth of each month. The participants are all servant disciples who have some connections or "private property".

The items traded were incredibly diverse: treasures salvaged from abandoned alchemy rooms, secretly grown herbs, fragments of cultivation manuals "picked up" from outer disciples, and even wild game sold to improve one's diet.

The "currency" used in the transaction is not the gold, silver, or copper coins that circulate in the secular world, but rather sect contribution points or spirit stone fragments, which are the sect's hard currency.

It happened to be the fifteenth of the month. Ye Sheng put ten low-grade Qi Condensation Pills into a small porcelain bottle, then used the [Thousand Faces Illusion Technique] to disguise himself and quietly slipped out of the hut, heading towards the back mountain.

At this time, twenty or thirty people had gathered in the grove, all with their faces covered by black cloth, speaking in hushed tones, and trading under the dim moonlight.

Ye Sheng found an inconspicuous corner, and imitating others, spread a rag on the ground and placed the porcelain bottle on it.

He didn't shout out his wares; he just sat quietly, waiting for someone who knew his stuff to come and ask the price.