Ascending from the mortal realm to become an immortal begins with taking charge of a grotto-heaven.

And so, another half month passed in the blink of an eye.

After investing a great deal of time and energy in figuring it out and experiencing various failures, Zhang Li finally stabilized the success rate of refining the Bigu Pill at around 20%.

After refining all the previously ripened spiritual materials, Zhang Li produced a total of forty-six bottles of Bigu Pills, including five substandard ones.

Zhang Li looked at the neatly arranged medicine bottles in front of him and muttered to himself, "A 20% success rate is still too low. Most of the spiritual materials have been wasted, which is really a pity."

Meanwhile, he secretly calculated in his mind: "Forty-six bottles, forty-one of which are genuine, and each bottle costs two spirit stones, so that's a total of eighty-two spirit stones."

Thinking that he didn't need to spend money to buy spirit herbs and was making pure profit, Zhang Li couldn't help but smile: "I've already accumulated so many spirit stones from just the lowest-grade Bigu Pill. When I refine Qi Nourishing Pills and the like in the future, the profits will be more than ten times higher."

Zhang Li stood up, stretched his body which was a bit stiff from sitting cross-legged for a long time, put the alchemy furnace and fire control array plate into his storage bag, cleaned up all the traces left in the room when he was refining pills, and opened the door to ventilate the room.

The mission deadline has passed, and today is the day for the handover of the herb garden. Soon, fellow disciples will come to take over.

Just as he finished tidying everything up, the restrictions surrounding the herb garden rippled slightly.

Zhang Li's eyes flickered slightly, and he understood: "The person taking over must have arrived."

He didn't linger any longer and walked slowly towards the entrance of the herb garden.

Upon arriving at the entrance of the herb garden, a young outer disciple stood quietly outside the barrier, holding a mission token.

Upon seeing Zhang Li approach, the disciple quickly bowed and said, "My name is Duan Qiang. I've come to take over the duties at the medicine garden and have come to complete the handover with you, Senior Brother."

Zhang Li nodded calmly: "Come with me."

Without wasting words, Zhang Li led the other party through the entire herb garden, repeating the information Li Wu had previously given him.

A moment later, all matters were handed over.

"I've explained everything regarding the affairs within the park. You can focus on your duties from now on," Zhang Li said.

"Thank you, senior brother!" Duan Qiang said respectfully.

Zhang Li didn't linger and stepped out of the herb garden.

……

Even after a month's absence, Hanxi Market is still bustling with activity.

Carrying the finished Bigu Pill he had refined, Zhang Li headed straight for the Pill Cauldron Tower.

Selling directly to shops would naturally result in lower prices, but that didn't matter, as Zhang Li had no intention of setting up a stall to sell in the first place.

A moment later, Zhang Li walked out of the Pill Cauldron Tower with two bottles of Qi Nourishing Pills in his pocket. It really was a case of making money in the tower and spending it in the tower. He didn't even think about taking a single one home. The spirit stones he had just exchanged for were barely warmed up before they flowed back into the Pill Cauldron Tower.

As Zhang Li walked out of the Dan Ding Tower, clutching the newly purchased pills, he was about to return to his courtyard to focus on his cultivation when he overheard a whisper coming from a stall selling miscellaneous items.

If Zhang Li hadn't developed extraordinary senses after his soul transmigrated to this world, and hadn't also possessed cultivation, he might not have been able to hear their conversation in this noisy environment.

Pretending to be nonchalant, Zhang Li stopped in front of the next stall, pretending to browse the items, but his mind was actually focused on the conversation of the people next to him, with familiar words constantly entering his ears:

"...Internal channels...are 20% cheaper than the market price, and there's a commission for bringing in new customers..."

In closing, the stall owner patted his chest and assured everyone, "I know the manager of the Inner Sect's Pill Hall, so the supply chain is very secure. You can take a sample to try it out first. If it works well, come to the back street tomorrow..."

Just as Zhang Li was about to hear the most crucial words and figure out the meeting place, the stall owner in front of him suddenly took the initiative to talk to him, abruptly interrupting his attention.

"Junior brother, I've seen you pick and choose for a while. Have you taken a fancy to this spiritual seed? Let me tell you, you have a good eye. I found this in the cave of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. It's definitely not an ordinary thing."

Zhang Li's mind sank slightly; a mere hair's breadth away from missing the most crucial contact information.

He remained expressionless, looking at the dull, lifeless so-called spirit seed with a flat, indifferent gaze, and casually replied, "It looks ordinary, no need."

"Junior brother, this spirit seed may look ordinary, but if you plant it, it will most likely grow into a high-grade spirit herb, a sure profit! I see you have a knack for it, so I'll sell it to you cheaply for only eight spirit stones!"

Ignoring the stall owner's entreaties, Zhang Li quickened his pace and left the market.

Stepping out of the bustling streets and alleys, the noise gradually faded away, and a mountain breeze caressed my face, finally bringing peace and quiet.

Zhang Li walked along the mountain path toward her small courtyard, secretly reviewing everything she had just heard.

Internal channels, referral commissions, management of inner circle Dantang, free samples.

The rhetoric, the words, even the rhythm of the pauses were exactly the same as Wang Hao's, making it hard for Zhang Li not to connect the two.

"I hope I'm just overthinking it."

With a silent prayer, Zhang Li quickened his pace toward the incense hall.

After the mission was completed, he had not yet gone to the incense hall to hand over the mission token and claim the mission reward.

The reason we came to the market first is because Hanxi Market is located between the medicine garden and the incense hall, which is conveniently on the way.

Zhang Li walked along the Qing Shi Mountain path to the incense hall, which was still crowded with people. Many outer disciples were queuing up to register for tasks and collect their monthly salaries, creating a noisy atmosphere.

He queued for a moment, then stepped forward and handed the guard token for the Ding Sixteen Medicinal Garden to Pei Yiming, who was on duty.

Pei Yiming looked up and saw it was him. He familiarly took the token and checked it against the register, saying, "Junior Brother Zhang Li, Ding Shiliu's month-long duty at the herb garden has been completed without any damage to the spirit herbs. This is your reward for the task: ten low-grade spirit stones."

As he spoke, he pushed a bag of spirit stones over the counter. Pei Yiming lowered his voice and quickly added when no one was looking, "I have quite a few good missions here, you know what I mean."

Zhang Li smiled and nodded, saying, "Understood, I will definitely come to see my senior brother next time."

After putting away the spirit stones, Zhang Li turned and walked out of the incense hall.

No sooner had he stepped out of the incense hall than he heard a familiar voice come from beside him: "Is that Junior Brother Zhang Li?"

Zhang Li paused, turned around, and saw Lu Ying, dressed in the robes of an inner disciple, walking towards him.

"Senior Brother Lu." Zhang Li quickly cupped his hands in greeting.

"It really is Junior Brother Zhang." Lu Ying's tone suddenly turned somewhat surprised. "You've already broken through to the second level of Qi Refining?"

Zhang Li already had a reason for his rapid progress in cultivation in mind, and just as he was about to speak, an idea suddenly came to him:

"Junior brother is also lucky. He bought a few bottles of Qi-Nourishing Pills from a fellow disciple. Not only were they cheap, but their effects were also exactly the same as those bought in the market, so his cultivation progressed faster."

"Cheap Qi-Nourishing Pills?" Lu Ying frowned upon hearing this, her tone suddenly turning serious. "The low-priced pills you mentioned, didn't the seller also mention that if you brought other fellow disciples to buy them, they would give you extra pills as a reward?"