Chapter 110: Chapter 110: Chen Ling’Er Asks for Help
HISS!
However, during their breakthrough, these Four-legged Spirit Snakes had absorbed some of the Demonic Qi here and all showed signs of Demonization.
Now that they had completed their breakthrough, they actually bared their fangs at Zhang Chi and let out a series of hisses!
"Insolent!"
But Zhang Chi wasn’t worried. He gave a cold smirk and simply walked up and kicked them a few times, knocking the Spirit Snakes unconscious on the spot.
After that, he placed his palm on their heads and connected with the Jade Pendant in his mind. He began to absorb the Demonic Qi contamination from their bodies, along with the Pill Poison that had accumulated from all the Spirit Awakening Pills they had consumed.
This was the first time he had used this function, and it worked as expected. The negative afflictions were quickly and completely purged.
With this, the Spirit Snakes were successfully cleansed of the Demonic Qi contamination and Pill Poison. From now on, he would only need to purify them once every year or two.
As their Level increased, their resistance would improve, and the interval between purifications would grow longer.
Freed from these negative effects, they could continue using the Demonized Spring Water and Elixirs to advance rapidly.
He had knocked them out to maintain his secret.
That’s right—Zhang Chi wasn’t willing to be completely defenseless, not even around his own Spirit Snakes. After all, they possessed a degree of intelligence and could potentially leak his secrets.
Next, Zhang Chi took out his Beast Soul Banner and released the three strongest Beast Souls to inspect them.
ROAR!
These three Beast Souls had awakened long ago. They had originally been at the Tier One Peak, but now they all exuded the powerful pressure of Tier Two Early Stage Demon Beasts. They had clearly succeeded in advancing on their own.
Even their intelligence had slightly increased. Upon seeing Zhang Chi, they immediately let out ingratiating roars and circled around him amidst a swirl of black mist and sinister wind.
Zhang Chi recalled the Beast Souls and kicked the Four-legged Spirit Snakes awake. Seeing that they had all returned to normal, he nodded in satisfaction, a renewed sense of security washing over him.
’With my current strength, plus the Spirit Snakes, Corpse Puppet, and Beast Souls, I even have a chance of killing a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator! And that’s not even counting the Little Mountain Talisman Treasure and the Celestial Thunder Pearl!’
Zhang Chi couldn’t help but feel full of anticipation for the future.
If he’d had the help of these Spirit Snakes and Beast Souls back when he ambushed Patriarch Xie, he might have killed him in a single exchange. The man might not have even had time to use his Celestial Thunder Pearl in a final, suicidal attack.
After that, Zhang Chi officially began his life of Cultivation in Seclusion within the Medicinal Garden.
Whether he was using the Corpse Evil Demonic Qi for Body Refining, taking out the Demon Snake Spine, or feeding the Spirit Snakes with the Demonized Spiritual Spring, he didn’t have to worry about being discovered. The Demonized Spiritual Vein itself was the perfect cover.
In addition, he was also tending to the Tier Two Spirit Medicines, a task he found effortless.
Of course, this wasn’t because his skill with Spirit Plants was high. In fact, although he had comprehended the Spirit Plant inheritance, started cultivating Spirit Medicines, and officially become a Spirit Plant Master, he was still only at Tier One.
The reason he could tend to the Spirit Medicines without any pressure was entirely because the water from the Eye of the Spirit Spring was inherently beneficial to their growth.
Before, even amateurs like Hong Hu and the others could barely complete the task. With the help of the Eye of the Spirit Spring, it was even less of a challenge for him.
In the outer garden, Hong Hu and the others were also making good progress cultivating the Tier One Spirit Medicines.
After all, cultivating Tier One Spirit Medicines wasn’t difficult to begin with, not to mention they already had some experience and had received the Spirit Plant Master’s inheritance.
Even when a Spirit Medicine occasionally had a serious problem, Zhang Chi would step in, sometimes secretly adding a bit of water from the Eye of the Spirit Spring.
As time went on, Hong Hu and the others became more and more proficient, and problems arose less frequently.
Eventually, they hardly needed any of Zhang Chi’s attention at all.
Every month, Zhang Chi would also offer some guidance to Hong Hu.
However, Hong Hu was hardworking and knew his place. He would always think and research a problem first before asking for help.
Plus, Zhang Chi’s Body Refining level was far superior to his, so guiding him was easy, never taking more than half an hour each time.
「Three months later.」
Having been in the Sect for exactly four years, Zhang Chi made a trip to the Sect Hall in Azure Dragon City to collect his Sect stipend and the reward for guarding the Medicinal Garden for the past three months.
The reward for a Qi Cultivation Cultivator guarding the Medicinal Garden was quite good: one hundred Spirit Stones or Contribution Points per month.
However, this wasn’t the main source of income from guarding the Medicinal Garden.
The real windfall came from two sources: the surplus Tier Two Spirit Medicines left after making the regular deliveries to the Sect, and the portion of the Sect stipend saved by deactivating the Purification Array.
Those two were the real windfall.
As for the one hundred Contribution Points a month, Zhang Chi couldn’t care less.
After all, he could earn far more than that from a single session of Talisman Making.
Moreover, after half a year of hard work, his Talisman Making skill had recently reached Tier Two Low Grade.
His progress in Alchemy and Artifact Refining was slightly slower, but he was on the verge of a breakthrough in those as well.
However, Zhang Chi was a little puzzled when he received the Sect’s stipend for being stationed at the Demon Abyss.
Logically, the annual stipend was one thousand Contribution Points, meaning he should have received five hundred for half a year. But after only six months, he had received a full one thousand.
He thought the staff member had made a mistake, but the person told him it was correct, explaining that it was a special bonus from the Sect just for him.
The reason given was that he had placed first in the Heart assessment four years ago and had shown great initiative by coming to the Demon Abyss.
’Did I attract the attention of the Sect’s upper echelons because I came to the Demon Abyss with a Qi Cultivation Middle Stage cultivation and demonstrated decent Alchemy skills?’
Zhang Chi immediately guessed the reason, but he didn’t give it much thought, nor did he feel any significant emotional stir.
After all, this small amount of Contribution Points was nothing to him.
He was also confident that he hadn’t left behind too many clues. Even if he had, his trail would go cold now that he was at the Demon Abyss.
Still, a bonus was better than nothing.
Besides, he knew he could finally start revealing a bit more of his true strength.
He had already revealed his Bright Jade Body Refining Technique cultivation, his status as an Alchemy Master, and the fact that he had received Sect funding and the post at the Medicinal Garden. It was only reasonable for his cultivation to progress quickly.
A year had also passed since the last Sect assessment.
So, the next day, he "broke through" to the Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer. Two days after that, he "broke through" in his Alchemy, reaching Tier One Upper Grade. He even went to the Pill Hall in Azure Dragon City to have his new rank officially assessed and registered.
That very day, the news spread like wildfire.
First, a Foundation Establishment Steward from Azure Dragon City’s Pill Hall invited him to join them, but he politely refused on the spot.
The steward only stopped persuading him after he promised to frequently accept Alchemy tasks from the Pill Hall.
Afterward, many of his fellow disciples came to visit, including disciples from both the Lower Sect and the Upper Sect.
At first, he patiently received a few of them, but he soon pretended to be in Cultivation in Seclusion and had Hong Hu and the others turn everyone away.
Of course, Hong Hu and the others were shocked and thrilled when they heard the news. They once again prepared a special meal and drinks to celebrate with Zhang Chi. Even Junior Martial Uncle Hong rushed over upon hearing the news to share a couple of drinks with Zhang Chi before leaving.
Junior Martial Uncle Hong was tactful enough not to enter the Inner Garden to look around. He knew that the Inner Garden had now become Zhang Chi’s private domain.
"Zhang Chi, can you hear me? It’s Chen Ling’Er. I heard you broke through and became a Tier One Upper Grade Alchemist? Can you do me a favor?"
The next day, even Chen Ling’Er had gotten the news and came to visit in person.
Hong Hu and the others didn’t dare stop her, so Chen Ling’Er went straight to the edge of the Inner Garden, only to be blocked by the Array, forcing her to shout in frustration.
"What is it?"
Seeing this, Zhang Chi had no choice but to come out.
Out of respect for Chen Bufan and for the Jade Scroll she had given him last time, he didn’t get angry at her for shouting.
On the contrary, he was a little curious.
After all, she had always been a very proud person.
Besides, she shouldn’t be short on channels to purchase Elixirs, so it was unlikely she had come to him just to save a few Spirit Stones.
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