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

An hour later, Zhang Li walked out of the Pill Cauldron Tower, but did not go directly to Kaiyun Yu Immortal City.

The main reason was that he still had a few magical artifacts to deal with. In addition, he wanted to purchase some spirit rice and beast meat. The fifty catties of Golden Cloud Spirit Rice he had obtained earlier had been eaten up, and the Ink Blood Spirit Rice planted in the spirit field was not yet ripe.

He can't keep eating the blue carp from the lake; the number he's eaten these days has already exceeded the normal death rate.

Even with his thick skin, he knew that one should leave room for maneuver in everything, otherwise his subordinates would follow suit and he would be in trouble if he couldn't deliver on his promises.

After wandering around the city for a while, Zhang Li's appearance changed at some point.

At this moment, his face looks square, unremarkable, and an ordinary, common face.

Because he has to deal with some unclean things next.

Turning into a secluded alley, at the end of the alley were several shops with very ordinary decorations.

This alley is vastly different from the bustling streets before it. Few people come and go, and when a cultivator is seen, he is always in a hurry and rarely shows his face.

Zhang Li walked into a small shop called a general store.

The shop was small, containing only an old wooden counter, with miscellaneous items piled on wooden shelves on either side. The lighting was dim.

Behind the counter sat a hunched old man in a black robe, his eyelids drooping, not even lifting his head.

Zhang Li didn't say much. He took out all the magical artifacts bearing the family mark and placed them on the counter.

The old man in black robes then glanced at it, before taking a cloth bag from the counter and tossing it over.

Zhang Li took the cloth bag, which contained more than four hundred low-grade spirit stones.

He naturally had no objection; it was rare to be able to sell such secondhand ritual objects bearing the owner's mark for cash.

After putting away the spirit stones, Zhang Li walked out of the general store and quickly left the alley.

The shops in this area all do the same thing: helping cultivators deal with shady things, including some evil magical artifacts.

Except for items bearing the Qingxuan Sect's insignia, everything else can be processed here.

These seemingly ordinary shops actually possess strength no less than those large shops that are openly displayed, and in fact, they are two sides of the same coin.

After all, without a strong background or resources, they were not qualified to dispose of stolen goods.

With quickened pace, Zhang Li arrived at the spirit rice shop and, without any further ado, purchased fifty catties of Golden Cloud Spirit Rice and fifty catties of Ink Blood Spirit Rice.

Then he went into a butcher shop and bought some of all kinds of dried meat.

With all the supplies and unused magical artifacts completely disposed of, Zhang Li decisively headed out of Yunyu Immortal City, preparing to return to Crescent Lake Spiritual Ground.

……

They traveled in silence, and in less than an hour, Zhang Li had returned to the courtyard in the middle of the lake.

In the few hours that Zhang Li was away, the main house, which had been leaking air due to the furnace explosion, had been repaired by Wang Mu and his companion, along with several farmers.

Hearing the commotion outside the courtyard, Wang Mu and Li He hurried out to greet Zhang Li. Upon seeing that it was Zhang Li returning, they quickly bowed and paid their respects.

"Senior brother."

Zhang Li nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over the entire courtyard, quite satisfied.

He had previously damaged his house by an explosion in the stove, and thought it would take a long time to repair it. However, the people there were so efficient that they had fixed it in the few hours he was away, saving him a lot of trouble.

"Thank you for your hard work."

He casually offered a word of comfort, then took out some of the newly purchased spirit rice and dried meat, giving a small portion to the two as payment for their house repairs.

Wang Mu and his companion were both surprised and delighted, and quickly expressed their gratitude.

Sect servants rarely get to eat pure spiritual food, so this reward is a real benefit.

After dismissing the two men, Zhang Li went into the house alone, closed the doors and windows, took out the Crimson Flame Furnace he had just bought, and placed it on the fire control array plate.

The crimson furnace body felt heavy, with clear and regular fire-gathering patterns all over it. With this new alchemy furnace, he could start refining Qi Condensation Pills again.

Zhang Li sat cross-legged in front of the furnace, activating the fire control array. Spiritual fire rose up, and the crimson furnace body slowly heated up. The runes on the furnace body lit up one by one, emitting a warm spiritual light.

He first took out a set of materials needed to refine the Qi-Nourishing Pill and threw them into the alchemy furnace one by one.

He was extremely familiar with every step of the process, from preheating and adding materials to refining the essence and blending the medicinal liquid.

The Crimson Flame Furnace truly lives up to its reputation as a top-grade first-tier alchemy furnace. It is far more effective than the basic Spirit Gathering Furnace, and its inherent fire-gathering power greatly accelerates the process of refining essence.

To refine the same batch of Qi-Nourishing Pills, using the Crimson Flame Furnace can save at least one-tenth of the time.

"good."

Zhang Li put away the eight freshly made Qi-Nourishing Pills and stored them all in his personal jade bottle, feeling increasingly satisfied with the Crimson Flame Furnace.

After refining two more batches of Qi-Nourishing Pills and becoming sufficiently familiar with the furnace, Zhang Li couldn't wait to take out a set of materials needed to refine Qi-Condensing Pills and resume his arduous training.

……

This training lasted for half a year.

"Another batch has been produced, yielding seven pills. Not bad."

Zhang Li stopped activating the fire control array and took out seven round and plump Qi Condensation Pills from the alchemy furnace.

This is the ninety-second batch of Qi Condensation Pills that he has successfully refined.

Zhang Li put away the Qi Condensation Pill in a jade bottle, pushed open the door to the courtyard, climbed onto the roof, and sat down.

The sky was already dotted with stars, and a crescent moon hung above the courtyard, its clear light spilling onto the entire Crescent Lake, making it shimmer. The evening breeze carried the faint fragrance of grain from the spiritual fields.

For six months straight, he guarded the alchemy furnace day and night, and rarely had the chance to calmly appreciate the night view.

Now that the success rate of the Qi Condensation Pill has finally reached 30%, Zhang Li no longer needs to work as hard as before.

Ninety-two batches of Qi Condensation Pills, each batch containing at least five or six pills. Subtracting the inferior pills, the accumulated high-quality Qi Condensation Pills amounted to more than four hundred pills.

According to the market purchase price, a bottle of Qi Condensation Pill is worth about fifty spirit stones, and these Qi Condensation Pills can be sold for about two thousand low-grade spirit stones.

Two thousand low-grade spirit stones. After deducting the spirit stones consumed to restore the Black Field Spiritual Essence, there are still more than 1,500 spirit stones left. An ordinary Qi Refining cultivator might not be able to save up 1,500 spirit stones even after five years.

The night breeze grew cooler, but Zhang Li was oblivious, his eyes reflecting the moonlight, his thoughts already drifting far away.

Fifteen hundred spirit stones were nothing to him; they were merely the starting point for his alchemy journey.

Zhang Li took a deep breath and sorted out the thoughts surging in his mind one by one.

He has already achieved a balance between income and expenditure with the Qi Condensation Pill, and now he only needs to gradually improve. His next step is to consider breaking through to the late stage of Qi Refining.

After seven years of service, with just over five years left, Zhang Li hopes to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining before returning to the sect, so time is extremely tight.

"Man proposes, God disposes; let's do our best."

He muttered something to himself, a hint of determination appearing in his eyes.

The moonlight slowly moved westward, and the moisture grew heavier, clinging to his clothes with a faint damp chill. Zhang Li calmed his chaotic thoughts, stopped thinking about future plans, got up, jumped off the roof, returned to the house, and fell into a deep sleep.