"Miao Yin City is safe for now, but conflict and battle are bound to occur in the future. Perhaps, I should familiarize myself and adapt to the battles between cultivators."
Lu Qingfeng silently contemplated, a thought arising in his heart.
Stepping onto the path of cultivation, to believe that one could rely solely on alchemy, artifact refining and such for a smooth ascendancy to immortality and ancestry is no doubt a deception, both to oneself and others.
Cultivation requires competition!
And where there's competition, there are unavoidable battles!
The various techniques, Divine Skills, and Magic Artifacts are the methods to protect one's Dao.
Fight to determine victory or defeat, life or death.
In the game, one can revive or reincarnate after death. In reality, if one dies at the hands of an enemy due to an inability to contend, then all would be over.
"However, before that, I must master alchemy to ensure smooth cultivation."
"The craftsman must first sharpen his tools if he wishes to do his work well!"
"Artifact refining must also precede actual combat. As for Puppet Technique—"
Lu Qingfeng silently pondered, recalling the ten puppets he had seen earlier that still left him astonished when suddenly a system notification popped up before his eyes—
[Congratulations to the player for joining the Yuan Yi Guild, with the current guild permission: Elder]
Lu Qingfeng looked up at Mu Yuanyi, just as Mu Yuanyi also turned to look at him. He immediately knew that Mu Yuanyi, exercising the privileges of the guild leader, had formally integrated him into the Yuan Yi Guild and appointed him as an Elder.
An additional section for the guild also appeared on his attribute list.
Affiliated Guild: Yuan Yi Guild
Guild Ranking: 112 (Bingling Realm regional ranking)
Guild Leader: Mu Yuan
Deputy Guild Leaders: Zhang Zong, Yu Bufan
Elders: Wang Tao, Lu Hongwen, Yue Ran…
Hall Masters: Ma Chang, Zhou Huan…
Deacons: Song Yun, Xiang Tianqiong…
The guild information was incredibly detailed, perhaps also related to Lu Qingfeng's high permissions. The Yuan Yi Guild had a total of one guild leader, two deputy guild leaders, and including Lu Qingfeng, five elders, with the rest being minor cultivators below the Foundation Establishment Stage, at most at the Hall Master level.
What surprised Lu Qingfeng was that the guild actually had levels and rankings. Out of curiosity, he clicked to view the details.
After a moment, Lu Qingfeng's face revealed a look of enlightenment.
"The guild level is related to the number and cultivation level of the guild members, as well as the tasks completed by the guild and its reputation within the region. Only by raising the guild to Level 10, and having a Fetal Breathing Realm Practitioner to lead, can the guild establish a sect and transform from a guild into a school!"
"As for the guild ranking, it is only arranged within One Realm. Bingling Realm has just started development, with less than three thousand players and fewer than two hundred guilds; Yuan Yi Guild being ranked 112 is mediocre."
With this information, Lu Qingfeng felt the game atmosphere of 'Primordial' becoming a bit more profound.
With the return of Mu Yuan and others, Yuan Yi Mountain became lively.
For Lu Qingfeng, the change was not significant; it was still daily cultivation.
The construction of his Alchemy Room had begun.
Half a month later, the Alchemy Room was completed.
Lu Qingfeng became the third Alchemy Apprentice in the Yuan Yi Guild who independently mastered an Alchemy Room. He named this Alchemy Room 'Black Sand Alchemy Room' to commemorate the decades of hard practice in alchemy while in Black Sand Town.
The Black Sand Alchemy Room was modeled on the standards of Wang Tao's 'Purple Smoke Alchemy Room' and Yue Ran's 'Immortal Spirit Alchemy Room'—
Covering an area of fifteen acres, it housed nine alchemy furnaces, including one Fourth-rank Talisman, two Third-rank Talismans, three Second-rank Talismans, and three First-rank Talismans!
Just nine alchemy furnaces cost nearly five low-grade spirit stones! That's equivalent to five hundred portions of spirit stone fragments or, a frightening fifty thousand Yellow Dragon Pills!
Only a major guild like Yuan Yi could afford such an investment. Ordinary guilds would hardly dare, or even lack the resources, to build an alchemy room of this standard!
Such a large alchemy room was more than Lu Qingfeng alone could utilize, prompting him to recruit apprentices within the Yuan Yi Guild to staff it.
Firstly, they could assist him, reducing the time he spent handling materials.
Secondly, by training a few alchemy apprentices, he would be giving back to the Yuan Yi Guild. At the same time, he could earn a small commission from this endeavor.
Mu Yuanyi establishing such a grand alchemy room for Lu Qingfeng was likely with this intention in mind. Lu Qingfeng wasn't averse to this arrangement, seeing it as mutually beneficial and finding no reason to reject it.
Lu Qingfeng's rise was undoubtedly swifter.
In Black Sand Town, setting aside the sixteen years lost to unexpected deaths, from his second life, it took Lu Qingfeng almost ten years just to barely make a name for himself and to master the refined versions of low-level elixir pills such as the Fasting Pill and the Yellow Dragon Pill.
This time, Lu Qingfeng started with the mastery of ten different pill recipes.
With the Yuan Yi Guild handling the materials and sales, Lu Qingfeng could focus solely on alchemy.
Every morning he practiced cultivation.
In the afternoon, he refined pills.
In the evening, he would discuss and exchange alchemy insights with Wang Tao and Yue Ran, so time passed quickly.
Eight years had elapsed since Lu Qingfeng joined the Yuan Yi Guild.
Seven Mysterious Refining Room.
Lu Qingfeng stood in front of an alchemy furnace, his palms pressed tightly against the furnace wall.
"Wind Power Level 3, Fire Power Level 4!"
"Wind Power Level 6, Fire Power Level 9!"
"Wind Power Level 2, Fire Power Level 8!"
Lu Qingfeng's eyes were tightly shut, reciting numbers. Around him, circled by nine apprentices, each stood in front of a bellows.
Following Lu Qingfeng's instructions, the nine adjusted the bellows, controlling the wind force and temperature within the furnace.
Even though these apprentices were Fetal Breathing Realm practitioners, beads of sweat formed on their foreheads.
Such precise control lasted about half an hour.
"Now!" Lu Qingfeng suddenly opened his eyes and commanded all nine apprentices to stop. He pushed a lever to the side, and a series of bangs resounded from within the furnace, as if it was about to explode. A pipe on another side opened, and jets of high-temperature steam shot out like swords, dissipating outside the refining room.
After the shaking stopped and the steam had fully poured out.
With a wave of his hand, Lu Qingfeng opened the top of the furnace, releasing a billow of black smoke. As the smoke cleared, one could see a three-foot squared alchemy furnace lying quietly at the bottom, its appearance resembling ancient red copper, exuding an antique charm.
Lu Qingfeng's face was a bit pale from the excessive mental exertion. With a hand gesture, his Inner Breath surged, and the alchemy furnace landed in his hand. Closing his eyes, he infused Inner Breath into the furnace and, moments later, a smile crossed Lu Qingfeng's pale face. "Success!"
"Congratulations, Elder Lu."
The nine apprentices by the furnace showed surprised smiles on their faces.
Hearing their cheers, Lu Qingfeng took out three bottles of elixir pills from his storage bag and tossed them over, "Thank you, everyone. Share these between yourselves."
"Thank you, Elder Lu!"
The nine caught them and saw that they were actually three full bottles of thirty-six Yellow Dragon Pills, their joy unbounded.
Who in the Yuan Yi Guild didn't know? The low-level elixir pills refined by Elder Lu had astonishing efficacy. Apart from a portion supplied internally by the guild, the rest would be swept off the market immediately upon release, virtually priceless.
Each of these thirty-six Yellow Dragon Pills meant four pills for every person. Together with the elixir pills they had continuously received from Lu Qingfeng over these days, it was worth more than a year's income for them.