"How is it? This medicinal dish isn't bad, right?" Dai Yuzhu's lips curled slightly into a playful smile as she saw the surprised look on Chen Jinshu's face.
"It's really not bad at all! Your master must be an incredibly skilled alchemist!"
Chen Jinshu's brows lifted in enjoyment as she picked up another piece of green deer meat. The meat melted in her mouth, infused with potent vitality.
"My master is indeed amazing! She's the only female elder on Medicine King Peak and is about to break through to the Nascent Soul stage."
Hearing this, Chen Jinshu immediately realized the identity of Dai Yuzhu's master. If she wasn't mistaken, it must be the renowned female cultivator, Shui Huanmeng.
It was said that Shui Huanmeng's alchemy was unrivaled below the Nascent Soul realm. She had reached the peak of the Golden Core stage within a hundred years, and a breakthrough was only a matter of time.
After joining Medicine King Peak, Chen Jinshu had studied many records and had a good understanding of the high-ranking elders. She had always hoped that during the next sect-wide competition, she might be noticed and accepted as a disciple by one of them.
With a powerful backer, no one would dare to bully her again.
Unfortunately, it wasn't easy to catch their eye—especially Shui Huanmeng Zhēnrén, who was notoriously strict in choosing disciples. Beyond talent, one needed significant aptitude in both alchemy and herbology.
Moreover, it was rumored that Shui Zhēnrén hadn't taken in a new disciple for many years.
"By the way! Junior Sister, you're at the fifth layer of Qi Refining now. Have you taken the certification test to become an official alchemist yet?" Dai Yuzhu asked, as something occurred to her.
"That alchemist certification is extremely hard to obtain. It's not something easily passed," Chen Jinshu shook her head slightly, unwilling to reveal too much about herself.
Though she didn't believe this Inner Sect Senior Sister would harm her, who could ever be certain?
"Then you need to hurry! The next Blind Box Alchemy Competition is about to begin! Many elders of Medicine King Peak take that chance to recruit new disciples! If you don't want to waste years in the Outer Sect, you need to start improving your alchemy now!" Dai Yuzhu sighed softly, clearly disappointed—she had hoped to find a Junior Sister for her master.
Though she was the senior-most Inner Sect disciple, she was the youngest under Shui Huanmeng. After playing the role of junior for so long, she really wanted to finally be the senior for once. But over the years, her master had refused every candidate she had proposed.
"Senior Sister, do you know when it will be held?"
Hearing about the Blind Box Alchemy Competition, Chen Jinshu paused, her hand mid-motion as she ladled more soup. A flood of information surfaced in her mind.
This competition was a unique tradition of Medicine King Peak—an annual grand event. It was designed to motivate disciples and encourage rapid improvement in alchemical skills. There were various prizes awarded, with the top twenty all receiving rewards. Naturally, the higher the ranking, the better the reward.
When elders selected disciples, they often chose from among those top twenty participants. Even those who didn't place would receive a consolation prize: a bottle of Qi Condensation Pills.
Simply put, no one walked away empty-handed.
"I'm not sure about the exact time, but my master already received word from the Peak Lord. They want to make this year's competition particularly grand to ease the unrest caused by demonic qi disrupting the spirit fields."
"If you hear anything else, please let me know!"
"Of course! You've helped me recover so many lost items. You've saved me from a lot of losses."
Lately, for some unknown reason, she'd been constantly losing things. It seemed like ever since she dropped that Luck Fruit, her luck had taken a turn for the worse. Every time she was frantically searching for something, she always happened to run into Chen Jinshu, who would help her locate it.
Altogether, those recovered items were worth more than a thousand spirit stones. Moments later, Chen Jinshu finished the medicinal dish and thanked Dai Yuzhu again before excusing herself. If she didn't return soon, the spiritual power within her might become impossible to suppress.
From the very first sip of medicinal broth, the vast energy within had been absorbed by the birthmark on her forehead. It immediately responded by surging powerful spiritual force back into her—just a single wisp of it equaled nearly a month of cultivation.
That refined spiritual energy pooled in her dantian, almost to the point of bursting. She was sure that if she fully absorbed it, she could reach the sixth level of Qi Refining within half a year.
Half a moment later, she used Rainbow Steps, becoming a streak of red light as she rushed back to Ink Plum Courtyard—arriving just before her dantian's spiritual power exploded. Back in her room, she sat down and immediately began refining the medicinal power. Before joining Xuanming Sect, she had already purged all pill toxins from her body, allowing her cultivation speed to return to normal.
Even so, refining the potent medicinal energy still pushed out many impurities from her meridians. She suspected those impurities had been there since birth, clogging some of her energy pathways, which may have limited her cultivation speed.
Those with dual or single spirit roots had fewer blockages, so their progress was faster. In the blink of an eye, half an hour passed. The sun had already begun to set. Chen Jinshu was nearing the final phase of refining the medicinal energy.
As she completed the final cycle of her cultivation method, her skin glowed with a greenish hue, and a new strand of Wood-type spiritual power appeared in her dantian.
"One medicinal meal brought me over a dozen strands of new spiritual power. No wonder it was created by a Golden Core cultivator—the effect is truly remarkable."
She even began to consider crafting her own medicinal meals. But that thought was quickly shattered by the sheer cost of the ingredients. The one she had just consumed was no simple dish—the core ingredient, green deer heart meat, alone cost over a hundred spirit stones. Add in the other rare supplementary herbs, and it was far beyond what a regular disciple could afford.
She estimated she could only identify about 80% of the ingredients, most of which were first-grade high-level herbs, with a few rare second-grade ones mixed in. This, no doubt, was why ordinary disciples progressed more slowly than Inner Sect or Core disciples. She decided she'd be better off focusing on refining Qi Condensation Pills. The ingredients cost only a tenth of those for a medicinal meal and were far easier to acquire.
"If I can improve the quality and potency of my Qi Condensation Pills and refine one each day, in the long run, the difference won't be too great."
Plus, she never had to worry about pill toxins.
"My dantian is brimming with spiritual power. I might as well refine a few batches of pills now."
Though she didn't aim to win first place at the Blind Box Alchemy Competition, she at least wanted to place in the top twenty and earn a reward—that would make all her years of alchemy training worth it.
Just as she summoned her Genesis Alchemy Furnace from her spiritual sea, she saw it tremble slightly and begin absorbing the Wood-type spiritual power from her dantian. Before she could even react, the cauldron had absorbed a third of it.
"What's going on?"
Golden characters of spiritual energy began to float out from the cauldron, eventually forming a golden pill recipe in her spiritual sea. As soon as Chen Jinshu read the first few words, her heart skipped a beat.
"This… this is an improved recipe for the Qi Condensation Pill!"
She never expected that her cauldron, normally used for refining pills, would have the ability to generate improved recipes. Perhaps it had been influenced by her earlier thoughts.
"Well, it's no ordinary cauldron. It would be a waste if it were only capable of pill refining and spirit herb storage."