Just as he arrived at the servant Hall’s canteen.
A burst of discussion arose around him...
“Have you heard? Steward Li seems to have gone missing.”
“Huh? What happened?”
“I heard she offended some ruthless person and was killed without anyone noticing.”
“That’s great! You’re not pulling my leg, are you?”
Everyone discussed it openly, and Gu Changsheng heard them too. He sighed inwardly. Steward Li’s death had spread so quickly. It seemed the Servant Quarters was not as peaceful as he had imagined.
By rights, Luo Qingge had handled things cleanly and swiftly last night. Not only had she killed Steward Li without a sound, she had also reduced her to ashes. They should not have discovered Steward Li’s death for several days.
Yet the news had spread by the very next day.
Gu Changsheng could not help suspecting that Luo Qingge had deliberately let the news out.
Remembering Luo Qingge’s threat from the day before, Gu Changsheng felt a chill in his heart.
If Luo Qingge found out that he had seen her turn Steward Li into a Human Pill with his own eyes, he would surely be killed.
“Junior Brother Gu, what do you think? Steward Li squeezed you harder than anyone else and even beat you up. If anyone was going to kill her, it should have been you...”
A servant disciple looked at Gu Changsheng teasingly.
At that, Gu Changsheng’s heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly waved his hands and said, “I have a Chaos Spiritual Root. If I really had that kind of ability, why would I be working as a servant disciple here?”
“Maybe Steward Li just went away on some business for a few days. We should talk about it less, or she might blame us when she comes back.”
“That’s true. If you had that kind of ability, why would Steward Li have assigned you so much work?”
The others soon stopped teasing Gu Changsheng.
“Exactly! I only found out today that servant disciples don’t have to work so much... I was such a fool, thinking the more I did, the better.”
Gu Changsheng grumbled a little, then hurried to get food. Soon, his plate was piled high.
Gu Changsheng wolfed down his meal. Then a freckled servant disciple named Liu Hu sidled over. “Did you bring the spirit rice? Don’t forget what you promised me yesterday.”
At that, the other servant disciples perked up too.
“Is this guy really going to trade those Defective Spirit Pills Steward Li left behind for Gu Changsheng’s spirit rice?”
Hearing their talk, Liu Hu glared at them. “Eat your food. Why do you have so much to say?”
Seeing Gu Changsheng continue eating, Liu Hu slapped twenty spirit pills down on his table.
“Junior Brother Gu, a promise is a promise. If you’re thinking of backing out, it’s too late now.”
His manner made it seem like he was forcing Gu Changsheng into the deal.
“Don’t worry, Senior Brother Liu. I brought the spirit rice.”
Gu Changsheng finally finished his last bite. He tucked the twenty Defective Spirit Pills into his robe, then pointed to the bag beside him.
“Senior Brother Liu, please check it.”
Liu Hu opened the bag. Seeing it filled to the brim with spirit rice—about ten jin’s worth—his eyes lit up.
“Good, good! Junior Brother Gu, you’re straightforward. If anyone bullies you in the future, come to me. And if you want to trade next month’s spirit rice for Defective Spirit Pills, come see me anytime. I’ll give you a discount.”
Thinking of how his twenty useless Defective Spirit Pills, which he had saved for ages, had now gotten him ten jin of spirit rice, Liu Hu found Gu Changsheng more and more agreeable.
It was hard to find a fool this gullible these days.
If he didn’t take this chance to fleece him, he probably wouldn’t get another once the guy came to his senses.
“Thank you, Senior Brother Liu. I’ll remember that.” Gu Changsheng cupped his hands.
After putting the twenty spirit pills into his pocket, he picked up his plate and turned to leave.
The other servant disciples could not help sighing at how foolish Gu Changsheng was.
“You can’t save someone who’s determined to die! Steward Li just squeezed him dry, and now Liu Hu’s done it again.”
“Looks like this guy’s headed for the same fate as Luo Qing.”
Gu Changsheng ignored their discussion and strode out of the canteen. What surprised him was...
After getting the ten jin of spirit rice, Liu Hu seemed to feel a little guilty. He was actually waiting for Gu Changsheng at the canteen entrance.
When Gu Changsheng came out, Liu Hu went up to him with an awkward grin. “Brother Changsheng, I heard Steward Li also assigned you a task collecting pill residue. I came all the way here to offer you a word of advice.”
“When collecting pill residue, you should do more and talk less. Especially when those Elders’ Disciples are practicing alchemy—better to collect nothing than to go bother them. Otherwise, they’ll blame you if their alchemy fails, and you won’t even know what hit you.”
Gu Changsheng’s heart tightened. He cupped his hands and thanked him. “Thanks for the warning. I’ll remember.”
From Gu Changsheng’s perspective, Liu Hu had cheated him out of his spirit rice, which was hardly honorable. But this warning from Liu Hu was genuinely useful.
Collecting pill residue was a thankless task. He would have to deal with all kinds of Outer and Inner Sect Disciples, and making enemies of them could have even more terrifying consequences than offending Steward Li.
Gu Changsheng memorized each of these precautions, then went to the Servant Quarters to get a small cart. He pushed it off to collect pill residue.
The servant Hall’s pill residue collectors usually went to Pill Peak. The Servant Quarters where he grew spirit herbs was also under Pill Peak’s jurisdiction; most of those spirit herbs were supplied to Pill Peak, with only a small portion belonging to disciples from certain sects, such as Luo Qingge and Ye Ningshuang.
After asking where his task was, Gu Changsheng hurried toward Pill Peak.
As he climbed higher, Gu Changsheng finally got a real look at the world of cultivators beyond the servant disciples.
Flying swords zipped through the sky, and a few Disciples rode cranes up and down the mountain. Those who could control flying swords had generally reached Foundation Establishment, while some of those riding cranes had not yet reached Foundation Establishment but were still Outer Sect Disciples.
Gu Changsheng gazed enviously at the figures riding their swords through the air.
“If I trade for a few more spirit pills, I’ll be able to reach Qi Refining Peak. But Foundation Establishment is still a long way off...”
Thinking that, with his Chaos Spiritual Root, he needed dozens of times more resources than others to advance his cultivation, Gu Changsheng felt his scalp prickle.
By rights, an ordinary spirit pill could raise one’s Qi Refining cultivation by a level, but Gu Changsheng needed five Supreme-Grade Spirit Pills just to break through to Qi Refining, First Layer.
And that was only possible because Gu Changsheng had a gourd that could upgrade those poisonous spirit pills into Supreme-Grade Spirit Pills.
If they were ordinary spirit pills, Gu Changsheng would probably need at least fifty to break through by a single level.
A servant disciple received only three spirit pills a month.
And even those three were Defective Spirit Pills, substituted by Steward Li.
It was easy to imagine how difficult it was for a servant disciple to join the outer sect.
Even after Steward Li had skimmed so many genuine spirit pills and spirit rice, she had only reached the Fifth Level of Qi Refining after cultivating for so many years.
That showed just how difficult the path of cultivation was for servant disciples.
“Work, work. As long as I’m alive, there’s still a chance...”
After his sigh, Gu Changsheng kept pushing the cart and quickly climbed the mountain. The mid-slope was already dotted with countless Cave Abodes, arranged in orderly clusters. Each Cave Abode had a small Spirit Gathering Array that drew in the surrounding spiritual energy.
One day of cultivation here was worth a month in the Servant Quarters.
“Tsk, tsk. The outer sect really has it good...”
Nearly every Cave Abode had a small pile of pill residue outside.
Gu Changsheng knew that this pill residue was his task.
After clearing the area outside the first Outer Sect Disciple’s Cave Abode, shovelful by shovelful, Gu Changsheng moved on to the next one.
After half a day, Gu Changsheng had finally cleared the pill residue from all the Cave Abodes, and his little cart was piled high.
“By rights, those waste pills count as pill residue too, and they can be turned into Supreme-Grade Spirit Pills. So this residue should contain some medicinal power as well. Could it be transformed too?”
At the thought, Gu Changsheng quietly pushed the cart to a secluded spot, grabbed a handful of pill residue, and slipped it into the gourd.
Gu Changsheng nervously watched for a change in the Spirit Gourd.
Soon, Gu Changsheng began to tremble.
“It really works...”
The Spirit Gourd purified the pill residue, and pill poison seeped out, gathering to one side.
The medicinal power, meanwhile, slowly grew stronger, gradually gathering together and forming a small, radiant spirit pill.
Though this little spirit pill was only half the size of the ones made from waste pills, it was still a spirit pill.
Suppressing his excitement, Gu Changsheng treated the pill residue like a treasure and quickly hauled it down the mountain, then pushed it into the thatched hut where he lived.
No one noticed the whole time...
Once inside, Gu Changsheng immediately shut the door. Rubbing his hands excitedly, he began feeding handful after handful of pill residue into the gourd. After he had processed the over one hundred jin of pill residue piled high in the little cart...
Twenty Supreme-Grade Spirit Pills, each about the size of a normal pill, took shape.
“I’ve struck it rich... This is incredible.”
Overjoyed, Gu Changsheng hugged the gourd and kissed it repeatedly.
After the character picked up the gourd, Gu Changsheng was surprised to sense a message appear in his mind:
First-Rank Immortal Gourd...
Current Origin Soul Count: 1
Current merit points accumulated: 1
Gu Changsheng was shocked when he saw these two lines.
“What the heck?”
“Origin Soul? Merit points?”
First-Rank Immortal Gourd?
Gu Changsheng had been completely immersed in the joy of obtaining spirit pills, but now, seeing these words, he froze in place.
Gu Changsheng suddenly realized that the Origin Soul Count and merit points must be closely connected to the gourd.
And the information the Immortal Gourd had revealed called it a First-Rank Immortal Gourd, which meant it might later advance to the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, or ninth rank.
“Could the Origin Soul Count and merit points be the key to upgrading the gourd?”
Just as Gu Changsheng was about to investigate further, a knock came at the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Junior Brother Gu, are you there?”
Hearing the voice, Gu Changsheng’s heart lurched. He hurriedly put the Immortal Gourd away.
“...”