Chapter 3: Purity is Astonishing

  A 4,000-word long chapter, and there's still another one tonight, please collect it ~ thank you.

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  Fú Líng Elder, everyone privately calls her Fú Líng Immortal Maiden.

  Although she was revered as an elder, she was only in her early twenties. She was the daughter of the previous sect master and had already reached the second layer of foundation building, which is why she was revered as an elder. Her talent was high, and her alchemy skills were excellent. Not to mention Qiyun Sect, but even within the Qiyun mountain range with a radius of over a thousand miles, she was one of the top figures among the younger generation. Also, because of her elegant appearance and unparalleled beauty, she was often referred to as "Fairy" in private.

  However, Fuling was extremely popular among the outer sect disciples, but it wasn't just because of this.

  Like Ling Xiao, an outer disciple of the Qiyun Sect, they usually only get to hear about the theoretical aspects of alchemy and rarely have the opportunity to practice it themselves. After all, materials are precious and can't be wasted on them. Only inner disciples of the Qiyun Sect and some top-notch outer disciples have the chance to actually practice alchemy.

  But Fú Líng didn't care about these things. She always thought that listening to more alchemy techniques was far inferior to personally refining once; therefore, whenever she came to teach a class, she would take everyone to refine alchemy. Also because of this, although Fú Líng was too wasteful in the eyes of the other elders, among the outer sect disciples, especially low-ranking disciples like Líng Xiāo, she was very popular.

  Unfortunately, Fuling's natural talent was outstanding, and her cultivation was still growing rapidly, so she naturally focused on her own practice. In the four years that Ling Xiao had been at Qiyun Sect, he had only heard her lecture three times, and had only had the opportunity to personally refine a pill with her once. Therefore, Ling Xiao racked his brains, wanting to attend this grand lecture...

  The morning sunlight pours down, the lush green clouds and pines sway gently, casting dappled shadows on the ground. The mountain breeze stirs softly, causing the shadows to flutter and dance, filled with vibrant energy.

  Even in a place where outer disciples of the Qiyun Sect live, it is picturesque and full of spiritual energy, far surpassing the mundane world.

  It was already mid-month, Ling Xiao and Feng Yi accompanied each other, walking together towards the Purple Clouds Hall. The Purple Clouds Hall was where outer sect disciples received and evaluated tasks from the sect.

  All along the way, I saw disciples of the outer sect, either excited or worried.

  Ling Xiao couldn't help but feel a sense of silence in his heart. Although they were disciples of the Xianmen sect, these outer door disciples barely qualified as cultivators, and their circumstances and treatment were truly too difficult.

  The sect's tasks are actually quite varied: capturing and raising beasts, planting spiritual herbs, refining low-grade elixirs, creating low-grade talismans, etc. But for someone like Ling Xiao who has only just entered the sect and has shallow cultivation, without any obvious talent in alchemy or talisman creation, he can only accept tasks like picking spiritual herbs, such menial and scattered chores.

  The sect's task is evaluated once a month, in the middle of each month. Calculating from the middle of last month to the middle of this month, the sect disciples' contribution points are calculated.

  Those skilled in alchemy and talisman-making, they're doing well. They can accept some tasks related to alchemy and talisman-making from the sect, which is much easier and more valued by the sect. For example, the most basic Yuan Cultivation Pill requires one material and 20 contribution points, but refining one pill, even if it's of low quality, will yield 50 contribution points. A mid-quality pill can yield 100 contribution points.

  In other words, as long as the success rate of alchemy can guarantee three or four materials, it will be successful once, and then enough contribution points can be earned easily every month. This is easy to do.

  But picking spiritual herbs like Ling Xiao would be much more difficult and dangerous.

  To exchange for the required Cultivation Pill, at least 100 contribution points are needed. However, even main herbs like Peiyuan Grass and Tongling Branch only yield six or seven contribution points per plant. If luck is not on one's side, and auxiliary herbs like Ganning Flower and Binglu Lan are picked instead, each plant would only yield one or two contribution points. At least 50-60 plants need to be collected every month just to accumulate 100 contribution points!

  But these spiritual herbs require extremely dense spiritual energy, and it's rare to find them growing together; Moreover, one has to climb steep peaks and traverse deep valleys, and being able to pick three or four stalks in a day is already extremely fortunate. Thinking of picking enough for fifty or sixty stalks, I'm afraid one would have to spend every day roaming the depths of the mountains! Not to mention that there are many ferocious beasts lurking in the depths of the mountains, requiring constant vigilance, and if one's not careful, their life will be at risk...

  But once the sect's mission is not completed, the cultivation resources obtained will be reduced, and it will be even more difficult to catch up with others... Such a cycle, the gap will only get bigger and bigger!

  Moreover, outer sect disciples of the Qiyun Sect, if they receive too few contribution points within a year, will also be punished. The first time is a warning, and the second time is being sent down the mountain! Except for the first year after entering the sect which is relatively relaxed, requiring only 500 contribution points; every subsequent year requires at least 1000 contribution points! That means if there are two or three months where they can't even complete the basic 100 contribution points, it's going to be a worry later on...

  Every year, there are outer sect disciples who fail to complete the sect's tasks and are sent down the mountain. It is also a way of cutting off their path to immortality...

  Ling Xiao's harvest of spiritual medicine this month is not much, at most only forty or fifty contribution points! If he relies solely on the spiritual medicine he harvested, it will be far from enough. He can't help but reach into his pocket to touch them, wondering if these will be enough for him to pass?

  Even if he was prepared, when it came down to it, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

  All the way, Fengyi glanced at Ling Xiao several times, wanting to speak but stopping herself. It wasn't until they reached this place that she finally gathered her courage and said softly: "Ling Xiao, I saw you didn't pick much spiritual medicine last time. How about... how about I lend you some?"

  Ling Xiao understood her kindness, but they had been gathering herbs together for a long time. He was also aware that the spiritual medicine she had collected this month was not much, and because of taking care of herself, she had delayed for several days. Moreover, in order to take care of herself, she had spent some money brewing medicine... Now, even if she could contribute 100 points, there might not be much left. Who could help her?

  Moreover, cultivating immortality is already a difficult task, and everyone can barely take care of themselves, how can they always think about relying on others?

  "Don't worry, I have a way," he comforted her with a smile and led the way into the Purple Cloud Hall.

  Feng Yi was stunned, just two days ago she saw with her own eyes that Ling Xiao only had a few spiritual herbs, definitely less than 100 contribution points. These past two days he didn't even go out to pick herbs when called, what could he have been busy doing in his room? Where did he get enough spiritual herbs from? But seeing him already enter the hall, she could only reluctantly follow up.

  As they entered the grand hall, Ling Xiao took a glance and recognized the senior brother who was in charge of verifying their mission. His name was Huang Jian, and he had already been an inner disciple of Qiyun Sect ten years before Ling Xiao joined. His cultivation was extremely profound, and even among the inner disciples, he held great prestige.

  And by his side, there were also outer door disciples who came to verify tasks from time to time.

  No matter how many tasks are completed, Huang Jian will take out a jade pendant and swipe it on the jade pendant of the disciple who is going to verify the task, entering the corresponding contribution points.

  That jade pendant is the identity token of the Qi Yun Sect. Inside, it records one's sect identity, time of entry, cultivation progress and other basic information; as well as accumulated contribution points, task completion status and so on.

  The outer disciples who completed the task were naturally overjoyed; while those who failed to complete it, although worried and frustrated, could do nothing about it.

  No one was around, so Ling Xiao walked forward and paid his respects before handing over the spiritual medicine he had picked.

  "Is that all?" Huang Jian's eyebrows furrowed involuntarily.

  Ling Xiao has been using most of the spiritual medicine for experimentation on that flame, and now only seven or eight stalks are left, mostly low-value auxiliary medicines like Gan Ning Hua. This level is far surpassed even by outer sect disciples who have not yet reached a year of training.

  Ling Xiao had long been prepared and hastily said with respect: "Huang Shixiong, I didn't pick much of the spiritual medicine, but can this be used as a substitute?"

  As she spoke, she took out the powder of Jiuzhi grass that she had refined yesterday from her bosom and carefully handed it over to him.

  He only took out one copy, which also meant to be careful. An outer door disciple who had never shown any talent in his daily life, the more pure powder he handed over, the easier it was to arouse suspicion.

  Huang Jian's eyebrows slightly furrowed, but seeing the other person's respectful attitude, he still patiently accepted it. Opening the package, inside was a small pinch of pale green powder, plump grains, pure color, and as soon as it was opened, there was a faint scent of medicine wafting up.

  "Jiuzhicao powder? Purity of 75% or higher?" Huang Jian's face changed in shock, and he stared at Ling Xiao in surprise, "This... is this something you refined yourself, brother?"

  It's actually 75% purity or higher of Nine-turning Grass powder!

  Generally speaking, the purity of the powder required for alchemy is 50% at the lowest. It's already extremely difficult to refine it to 60% or 70%. Even a skilled alchemist wouldn't dare guarantee that they can achieve a material purity of over 70% every time they work on refining materials. As for higher? Probably tens of times, you might get lucky once!

  If these powders were indeed refined by this outer sect disciple, then his potential would be far higher than that of an ordinary outer sect disciple! With Huang Jian's tone, he immediately became much more gentle.

  Of course, it's inevitable to have some doubts, are these powders really refined by him?

  Fengyi, who was standing beside him, also opened her small mouth in surprise, revealing an incredulous and naive expression. However, although she found it strange that Ling Xiao could produce such a shocking pure powder, due to her trust in him since childhood, she only felt happy for him and didn't suspect anything.

  Ling Xiao himself was stunned, actually more than 70% purity?

  Judging the purity of spiritual medicine powder often relies on experience, comparing the color, shape, and spiritual energy of the powder. Ling Xiao was only an outer sect disciple and had rarely seen high-purity powder, so it was inevitable that he would make mistakes in his judgment.

  However, the higher the purity of the refined material powder, the higher its value. With such high purity, the chance of success in this sect's mission will greatly increase, right?

  "Yes, Senior Huang." Ling Xiao explained calmly, "I saw that this month's sect mission couldn't be completed, and I remembered that the sect rewards high-purity spiritual medicine powder highly. So, in a moment of urgency, I tried to refine over ten portions, but only one succeeded... It was also luck, fortunately, the successful refinement was the Nine芝 grass powder..."

  Jiuzhicao is a second-grade spiritual medicine, and its powder value is naturally the highest.

  The yellow sword on the opposite side suddenly understood, but also secretly cursed, this junior brother really dared to gamble.

  Even if one has been practicing for many years and is a outer sect disciple at the fourth or fifth level of Qi Refining, they would still need three to four portions of materials to successfully refine one portion, and most of the time it's only around 50% purity. Calculating this way, handing in refined powder is not as cost-effective as handing in spiritual medicine. Therefore, only outer sect disciples who are famous for their elixir refining skills, or even inner sect disciples, would dare to do so.

  It seems that he was also forced to take risks. It's also his luck that he actually managed to extract the most valuable Jiu Zhi Cao.

  "After some thought, he said: 'Indeed, there is such a rule in the sect. The spiritual medicine powder handed over by my junior brother, although it's still a bit short, has a very high purity. Alright, you go in first, I'll go find Master Fu to ask for instructions. However, Junior Brother, don't be so reckless in the future.'"

  Handing over the spiritual medicine powder is also possible, and even the sect has an encouraging meaning. For example, Jiu Zhi Cao is a second-order spiritual medicine; the spiritual medicine itself is worth 15 contribution points, but refining it into powder, even if it's only 50% pure, is worth 30 contribution points! Sixty percent purity is worth 45 contribution points. Seventy percent purity or higher is worth at least 70 contribution points...

  However, refining the elixir is not easy, and it's even more difficult to refine high-purity powder. Once you fail, there will be no contribution at all.

  So generally, outer sect disciples still choose to hand over their spiritual medicine. And even if there is a surplus of spiritual medicine, they don't dare to do this easily.

  Of course, even if one or two succeeded, most of them would still end in failure...

  Although Ling Xiao was somewhat uneasy in his heart about sending these to Fu Changlao, being able to get through this current ordeal was also good. He then hastily thanked Huang Jian.

  Huang Jian smiled and said: "Younger brother, no need for too much courtesy, hurry up and go in." His attitude was much kinder.

  Outer sect disciples also have the opportunity to listen to the sect's grand lecture once a month, on the 15th of each month. Of course, although contribution points are not deducted, it is required that you accumulate at least 100 contribution points for the month.

  And each time a grand lecture is given, there are always Qi Yun Zong's elder foundation-building period who teach the disciples inside the sect about cultivating the Great Dao, as well as auxiliary Daos such as alchemy, refining equipment, making talismans, and array methods. Of course, Qi Yun Sect takes alchemy as its main focus, and teaching alchemy methods is also the most frequent.

  However, it's extremely rare for someone like Fuling Elder to let them refine the elixir themselves. Therefore, Ling Xiao is full of anticipation for this grand lecture.