"What is it you'd like help with, Junior Sister?"
"I was wondering, Senior Brother, if you could keep an eye out for three plots of spiritual farmland in Green Pine Herb Garden? You already know that my current plots are quite barren. It's only been a few months since they were planted, and last time, they even erupted with demonic energy…" Chen Jinshu sighed, her expression falling.
"I'll help!"
Before she could finish, Qian Yifan interrupted with a quick and decisive reply.
"Thank you, Senior Brother!" Chen Jinshu smiled joyfully, offering a soft word of gratitude.
"Those three plots were partly my fault to begin with. It's only right I take responsibility for them," Qian Yifan said sincerely.
"However, Green Pine Herb Garden is one of Medicine King Peak's better-quality gardens. Many disciples are still waiting in line for a spot. Even among the inner sect's Foundation Establishment disciples, there is fierce competition."
"You'll have to wait for a while. I'll let you know when I hear something."
"Thank you, Senior Brother! The spot doesn't need to be excellent—just a few usable plots will do." Chen Jinshu thanked him once again.
With his promise, Chen Jinshu felt that it wouldn't be long before she secured some land in the Green Pine Herb Garden. It was rumored that Qian Yifan always fulfilled his promises. This time, she had taken advantage of a small loss from her early days in the sect.
"Although this may seem like a small favor, I must still thank you properly. I may not be skilled at much else, but I am fairly good at alchemy. These are some Qi Condensation Pills I recently refined—please accept them as a token of gratitude."
"You're too polite."
Qian Yifan accepted the gift without refusal.
Chen Jinshu was quite satisfied with this. Now their debts to each other were settled.
She couldn't discern Qian Yifan's cultivation level, but based on his age, he should be at the eighth or ninth level of Qi Refining. If his talent was exceptional, he might've already reached Foundation Establishment.
This bottle of Qi Condensation Pills likely didn't hold much value for him, but for Chen Jinshu, it was a way to tie off the karmic thread.
That day, Chen Jinshu was in the alchemy room at Ink Plum Courtyard, working on the final batch of Lingyuan Pills for her alchemy task. Her pill refinement success rate had now reached 80%, meaning each batch would yield at least eight pills, with nine being the maximum—and she had achieved that more than once.
"Only 40% of the pills are required to fulfill the task, yet I've made so many extras. I might as well trade them all for contribution points."
A few days ago, she had run into Senior Sister Dai from the inner sect, who had casually mentioned that Medicine King Peak's alchemy competition would be held before the outer sect grand tournament.
Any disciple who placed in the top twenty of the alchemy competition—provided they weren't already in the Foundation Establishment stage—could apply to enter the Xuanming cave heaven. This was great news. If she placed in the top twenty, she could enter the cave directly, regardless of her performance in the outer sect tournament.
The outer sect tournament had far too many participants, and many of the low-profile disciples who focused solely on cultivation were powerful contenders. If she encountered such opponents, she might not even make it to the top two hundred—much less qualify for the cave heaven.
So she would aim for both opportunities.
This meant she wouldn't have time to continue taking alchemy assignments. Instead, she would devote herself to improving her alchemist rank and refining skills. The alchemy competition relied heavily on the grade and quality of the pills. If her grades were lacking, reaching the top twenty would be a pipe dream.
Refining Lingyuan Pills wouldn't help her much anymore and would take up too much time—it just wasn't worth it. Contribution points, however, could be used to redeem musical scores from the sect's library—she was preparing for the outer sect tournament.
"I should reserve some points to exchange for herbs as well!"
A moment later, Chen Jinshu had sorted her pills—some to be submitted, and others set aside to trade for spirit stones and medicinal ingredients.
She prioritized contribution points since she wouldn't be taking on more tasks for a while. Still, she carefully limited how much she revealed, not wanting others to guess her true pill success rate. Trying to earn points through farming spiritual fields would take over half a year—much too long.
Half an hour later, after recovering her spiritual energy, Chen Jinshu arrived at the Alchemy Hall in the Pill King Palace. After queuing for several minutes, it was finally her turn.
"Senior Brother, I'm here to submit my alchemy assignment," she said, presenting her assignment slip and storage pouch in one hand, and her disciple token in the other.
"Oh, it's you! I didn't expect you to finish your task so fast—it's only been about a month, yet you've completed two months' worth of work. Doesn't seem like you're a new disciple at all."
The registrar smiled as he carefully verified her information.
After a moment, he said, "The quality of your pills is classified as high-grade—you can exchange them for three contribution points each. Would you like to redeem them all?"
"Yes, please!"
She had taken on a task involving sixty sets of materials and refined over five hundred pills. This batch would net her 350+ pills for contribution point exchange, with another 150+ saved to trade for spirit stones.
At three contribution points per pill, she was earning over 1,000 contribution points—a massive gain in her eyes. She had only revealed a 60–70% pill success rate to avoid suspicion. A moment later, Chen Jinshu left the Pill King Palace and headed straight for the Scripture Pavilion.
She quickly found herself in the section dedicated to music-based techniques.
There weren't many disciples in Xuanming Sect who cultivated musical arts—each peak had maybe three to five—but the library had still thoughtfully categorized the musical techniques, making it easy to find suitable scores. After a bit of searching, Chen Jinshu found three offensive music scores and one illusion-type score.
"There aren't many music scores, but they all cost a lot of contribution points."
The four scrolls she picked out would cost her nearly 500 contribution points, each around 100+ points.
Given their rarity, ancient origin, and difficulty in mastering, musical scores naturally cost more than ordinary techniques. She had anticipated this and had submitted extra pills accordingly.
"'Hymn of the Earth Vein's Rebirth'—resonates with the earth's spiritual energy and has healing properties."
In a corner, she also found an extremely fitting score: "Hymn of the Earth Vein's Rebirth". It might work synergistically with her Wood Spirit power and produce remarkable effects.
"I can only afford four scrolls this time. I'll need to give one up."
With musical arts, quality mattered more than quantity. Four scrolls, plus the two she already had, were more than enough.
Realistically, she would only be able to use two or three.
"'Five Mountains Demon Sealing Sound' and 'Chapter of Souls Along the Forgotten River'—the former is more suitable."
In the end, she discarded 'Chapter of Souls Along the Forgotten River', which could summon vengeful spirits and disrupt the enemy's mind, albeit at the cost of a small amount of blood essence.
She had originally intended it as a trump card, but 'Hymn of the Earth Vein's Rebirth' changed her mind. Continuous healing was far more practical than dangerous consumption.
The illusion-type scroll she selected was called "Butterfly Dream of Zhuangzi"—its ethereal sound created shared dreams and could confuse multiple enemies at once, a powerful tool in battle.
"These four will do."