Ye Ming walked away from the Contribution Hall. Jiang Zi Yan wondered why this place. Shouldn’t he make pills in a proper environment? Like the safety of his house?
Yet... in an alleyway? Between houses of Outer Sect Disciples... seriously?
Then, she saw him pull out a dusty old cauldron and place it on a bench.
’Is he serious? Is he making pills with that? Is he making fun of me!?’
He then motioned to give her the herbs, but then he saw reluctance in her actions.
The Alchemist sighed, pulled out a Qi Gathering herb of his own, summoned Alchemy flames, and with one hand refined the herb and turned it into a pill.
Moments later, the pill floated out of the cauldron and into his hand.
*Gasp*
"With one hand!?"
"So quickly!?"
"What kind of talent is this!?"
The Jiang girl’s followers finally lost their cool after seeing this.
"Here, this one is on me, if you don’t believe it." Ye Ming motioned for the pill to fly into Jiang Zi Yan’s hands.
The ponytail girl caught it and then inspected it.
Her eyes widened; as someone who got a few pills from the alchemist herself, she could tell.
’N-No impurities! H-H-How is he that good!?’
"I-I am impressed. Very well. If you can do it in a place like that." The girl was very impressed; if he could do it here, it was fine with her!
The black-haired Jiang girl then motioned for her followers.
"Cover for us, don’t let anyone near here." She instructed her people, who scrambled to set up a perimeter.
"Understood!"
"Oh? Sure, I guess. I don’t mind if people watch it." The Alchemist shrugged.
"Apologies, but this is a personal request from me; I do want this to be between you and me." Jiang Zi Yan looked at him and then at Liu Li.
"As long as you don’t get in the way of Mistress Mengxue, I do not care." The Fallen Princess commented from the side.
"I doubt I can compete with her. I won’t be in the tournament." The ponytail girl shook her head.
"I simply desire pills that were not given to me by my brother’s charity."
"Brother?" Ye Ming is not very familiar with Jiang’s younger generation. He knew some names like Jiang Mengxue, as she is literally the Sect Master’s daughter... but the other people? Hell, there are close to a hundred of the younger generation of Jiangs...
"My older brother is Jiang Longtian, the current number one." The way she said... made Ye Ming question the whole good-and-bad trope thing. She doesn’t look like one.
’Villain’s younger sister. She doesn’t look evil-ish.’
"Indeed, as you can imagine, Master Ming, she is from Mistress Mengxue’s opposition." Liu Li said to him.
*Snort*
"If you haven’t noticed, I am an Inner Sect Disciple... nowhere near strong enough to be of use to my brother." Jiang Zi Yan sighed at Liu Li and how she worded it.
"I do believe you." Ye Ming replied, causing the Jiang girl to look at him with wide eyes.
"Your type of brother is very focused on his goals, and he doesn’t care about anyone else but his goal. I am right?" He asked, looking for confirmation.
"...Yes, my father calls him a real cultivator." Jiang Zi Yan said with a bitter tone, revealing something to the Alchemist.
’Oh, so that’s how it is.’
Ye Ming immediately got some idea of what was going on. It was typical: a jealous father, most likely jealous of the Sect Master, who got the title and now he is pushing his children to take over where he failed.
"I see. Well, don’t worry, just focus on yourself." He smiled at her, causing her to nod back at him with a dumbfounded expression.
"Well, then give your herbs."
Jiang Zi Yan pulled out a huge batch of herbs, causing Ye Ming to look at her in shock at the amount of ingredients she brought.
Liu Li massaged her forehead when she saw this.
"You are really pushing it, Jiang Zi Yan." The Fallen Princess complained.
"I will give you four Iron Thorn Flowers." She showed them four fingers.
"Fine..." Ye Ming sighed. He got played by a scheming girl. That is fine; he will get back at her at some point.
He grabbed a stack and placed it into the cauldron.
"You will help me by giving me the ingredients." He told the ponytail girl sharply.
"As you wish."
Soon enough, he began to refine in batches.
And this is where Jiang Zi Yan realised how absurd his Alchemy talent was.
He would refine from five to seven at once, and the whole small hill of herbs she brought became a small hill of pills.
"Incredible..."
"I do hope I earned those four flowers you have." Ye Ming pulled his Cauldron back into the Storage Ring.
"...Yes... Here you go."
She summoned a slender wooden box that looked like a briefcase from his old world, and she opened it gently.
Inside it were four grey, steel-like roses with a metallic lustre. These flowers didn’t look like some simple ingredients he had played with before.
"That lustre... these are at least Foundation Realm ingredients." Liu Li whispered next to him.
"Precisely. While these flowers are useless to me, I earned these." She gave the box to him.
"Useless? You could have gained a considerable amount of Contribution points and Qi Stones from them." The Fallen Princess commented with a small frown.
"That would be a waste of a resource. I knew I could have gained something better." Jiang Zi Yan flicked her hair and replied confidently.
And she was right; she gained far more Qi Gathering pills than she could possibly use. In fact, she would sell a decent amount and get some Qi Stones and Contribution points.
"But that is beside my point. You have proved to me that you are one of the kind Alchemists; even the one hired by my brother is pathetic in comparison."
She said that with a disguised look when she mentioned the Alchemist her brother hired.
’Oh... so much hate.’ The Alchemist noticed the look she was giving after mentioning the other Alchemist.
"Regardless, you have my thanks for allowing me to borrow your skills." She nodded before leaving with a huge batch of pills.
Ye Ming nodded as he checked the flowers he got. He then closed the wooden container and stored it in the storage ring.
"Now that this is over, why don’t we get going?" He said to Liu Li.
"Master Ming, be careful of her." The Fallen Princess replied in a sharp tone.
"Oh, please, I quite liked her." The Alchemist said with a small smile, making her puff her cheeks.
"Hmph!"
"I can already tell that she doesn’t have a good relationship with her brother or father. I do believe she is the neglected one here."
"Oh? I never thought you were a genius at reading people." The beauty complained a bit.
’No, I am simply not biased about how everyone is treating this world in black and white.’
"Is my Liu Li getting jealous again?" He asked with narrowed eyes, making her squirm.
"N-No...I am simply worried that these people can trick you!" She replied while waving her hands.
"Hm... We shall see." He grabbed her waist as he pulled her closer and began to walk with her.
~~~
Ye Ming, with Liu Li in hand, arrived at the Inner Court gates. The beauty needed to pull out her Sect Token and show it to them.
The guards nodded and then looked at the Alchemist and his clothes. The guy was wearing Outer Sect Clothes.
"He is with me." The girl who hugged Ye Ming declared, leaning into him as if to tell them he would be going with her.
"I am sorry, Junior Apprentice Liu, but to allow an Outer Sect Disciple to enter Inner Grounds... you need a written permit from an Elder." The guys knew who she was, the girl who always walks around with the Sect Master’s daughter, but rules are rules, and only Elders can make exemptions.
"..." Liu Li began to get embarrassed, thinking that she could sneak through them. She was about to complain, but this is where Ye Ming pulled out two Qi Gathering Pills and showed them.
"I am The Alchemist Ye Ming. Yesterday, Jiang Mengxue told me that I could move into Core Grounds if I wanted. I want to speak with an Elder if one of them could promote me to Core Disciple on my merit as an Alchemist."
The moment he mentioned who he was, the two guards turned pale, and one of them, in a nervous, stuttering voice, began to speak.
"O-Of course, Senior Apprentice Brother Ming! I shall inform my Elder at once!" He used his Lightfoot, almost tripping midway, but he controlled himself in the end.
"Please follow me! I shall lead you to the waiting room." The other one motioned with his hands at the gatehouse.
Liu Li looked annoyed that she’d failed at this, and Ye Ming had to salvage the situation. It’s embarrassing for her.
But this is where he gently stroked her side and smiled at her.
"It’s okay. Don’t worry. I do want fancier robes." He chuckled when he mentioned the robes.
The Fallen Princess slightly giggled as she ended up leaning into his side once more.
The pair didn’t need to wait for long; in fact, it was extremely fast, as Liu Li had no chance to cuddle with her Master Ming, as the flustered elder was already there.
"J-Junior Apprentice Ming! It’s such an honour! T-This old man’s name is Jiang Kang! I am one of the Core Grounds Elders and am responsible for promoting disciples to Core Status."
As the Elder introduced himself, Ye Ming stood up, and so did dissapointed Liu Li, who tried to hide it.
It would seem they got an even greater Elder than they had hoped!
"Wonderful, I would like to get promoted and focus on my Alchemy instead of doing tasks for the Sect." The Outer Sect Disciple declared his intentions.
"That is what we would like you to do as well! It is wonderful that you came to us. As the Sect Master and the Elder Council didn’t want to disturb you and your cultivation."
The old man was pleased; he could tell that in a matter of a few short days, Ye Ming’s cultivation exploded in speed! The Alchemist was already halfway to Stage Seven of the Qi Gathering Stage.
It won’t take long for him to become a Foundation Realm Cultivator.
"I see. Then promote me to Core Status, though I won’t be moving to the Core Grounds; for my profession, I require a considerable amount of land. I will be growing herbs after all."
"Of course, of course."
There is no way in hell the Elder will tell this Alchemist what to do.
"Then follow this old man." Elder Jiang Kang motioned for them to follow.
"And Elder Kang, my Liu Li, wants to be promoted as well. She has the required cultivation." Ye Ming looked at the beauty next to him.
"It won’t be an issue. As you might know, Junior Apprentice Liu, once the Sect promotes a disciple, they will need to challenge one of the eighty disciples who hold a Core Disciple Position.
If you are successful, then I will promote you to Core Disciple status."
Ye Ming perked up when he heard that.
"I assume that doesn’t apply to me?" he asked, recalling that his cultivation was far below the requirement.
"Indeed, but we won’t be holding you, Junior Apprentice Ming. You can challenge them if you want, anytime."
Ye Ming realised the sheer nepotism going on when it came to him compared to Liu Li. Though he knew that if he asked, they would cave to his requests, he also knew Liu Li wanted to do things like this herself.
So he won’t request anything like that.
"I do have someone in mind, Elder Kang." The Fallen Princess slightly nodded at him.
"Wonderful, then let me get you your new Tokens and Robes."
With that said, the pair walked deeper into the Sect towards the mountain that was growing ever closer.
For the first time, Ye Ming was this deep in the Sect’s territory.
It’s a novel experience for the Alchemist.