Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Natural Cave Mansion and Public Lecture
The moment the storage room door opened, Zhang Chi saw a pile of assorted discarded pills reeking of a burnt smell.
He couldn’t help but feel a surge of joy.
After all this time, the discarded pills he’d bought previously were almost gone, and he had been worrying about where to buy another batch.
The Sect strictly prohibited the trade of discarded pills, so they were definitely not for sale internally.
Therefore, his only option was to go to the Marketplace outside the Sect’s gates.
But the Xie Family was likely keeping an eye on him, making it very inconvenient for him to leave the Sect.
He could have someone else buy them on his behalf, but that was ultimately a poor solution and risked exposing his secrets.
Besides, even if he could go out himself, doing so too often would pose a huge risk.
But now, that problem had been solved instantly.
Not only were the discarded pills here free, but there was also an inexhaustible supply!
In fact, this had been one of the factors he’d considered when choosing the Earth Fire Hall.
It now seemed he hadn’t made the wrong choice; things were even smoother than he had anticipated.
’I’m in charge of destroying these pills, so can’t I dispose of them however I please?’
As long as they didn’t circulate outside, there would be no problem.
"Hm? Why are they all Tier One Discarded Pills?"
Taking a closer look, Zhang Chi was puzzled to find no Tier Two or higher-level discarded pills among the pile.
But after a moment’s thought, he no longer found it strange.
After all, there were many Tier One Alchemists, but far fewer Tier Two Alchemists or higher. High Tier Elixirs were also extremely precious, and likely not many people came to Earth Fire Hall Number Three to refine them in a whole month.
Some High Tier Alchemists were even said to be more accustomed to performing Alchemy in their own cave mansions, having no need or desire to come to the Earth Fire Hall.
Furthermore, even discarded High Tier Elixirs were quite valuable and could be used for things like feeding Tier One Spirit Beasts. The Alchemists would naturally not hand over such valuable discarded pills to the Earth Fire Hall for disposal.
Even the upper echelons of the Cangwu Sect likely turned a blind eye to the use of high-tier discarded pills.
"Haha, Junior Brother, could it be you’re looking for High Tier discarded pills? There certainly aren’t any here. You should be able to guess the reason. However, if you want some, you could spend some Spirit Stones or Contribution Points to buy them. And it just so happens that I, your Senior Brother, have a source. So, need me to make a purchase for you?"
Zhao Zijian had guessed Zhang Chi’s thoughts at a glance and immediately spoke with a laugh.
"Thank you for the kind offer, Senior Brother, but you’re overthinking it. There’s no need to buy any on my behalf. I’m not yet so desperate as to resort to eating Tier Two discarded pills."
Zhang Chi refused without a moment’s hesitation.
Having Tier One discarded pills was enough for him now; there was no need to go out of his way to buy Tier Two.
Not only would that be too expensive, but it would also add unnecessary risk.
He did have a Spirit Beast, but he had kept the Spirit Beast Bag hidden on his person from the very beginning, so absolutely no one knew about it.
He couldn’t bear to feed discarded pills to his Four-legged Spirit Snake, not even High Tier ones.
’Looks like I need to practice Alchemy,’ he thought. ’Not only can it earn me Spirit Stones, but I’ll also be able to refine High Tier Elixirs for myself in the future.’
’After all, while High Tier discarded pills can be bought, purchasing them in large quantities is quite difficult, and the risk is just too great!’
’Besides, I need the status of an Alchemy Master to justify the abnormality of me being stationed here long-term.’
Zhang Chi thought to himself.
Next, Zhao Zijian gave a few more instructions and then left, unable to wait a moment longer.
However, Zhang Chi did not move into Zhao Zijian’s old room—not because he found it wanting, but because the Spiritual Qi there wasn’t abundant enough.
For Zhao Zijian, that area’s lower Spiritual Qi also meant less fire poison, but Zhang Chi’s requirements were the precise opposite.
And in the volcanic crater beneath the Earth Fire Hall, not only was the area enveloped by a Grand Array, but there were also many natural caves.
From these locations, one could directly see the surging magma of the Earth Fire below, making them incredibly hot. The fire poison was at its most potent here, but so was the Spiritual Qi.
This was Zhang Chi’s ideal location.
Zhang Chi circled the crater and quickly found a cave located on the main artery of a Tier One Peak Spiritual Vein. After a quick tidying up, he had himself a Natural Cave Mansion.
He then deployed the Four-direction Spirit Gathering Array. Combined with the Earth Fire Hall’s auxiliary Grand Array, his cave mansion became utterly impregnable.
Furthermore, the location was very secluded. Neither servant disciples nor the Disciples who came for Alchemy and Artifact Refining had the authority to approach, so he had no reason to worry about being disturbed.
Any Spiritual Power fluctuations caused by his Cultivation here would be masked by the surrounding environment, rendering them completely undetectable.
Of course, the Alchemy and Artifact Refining rooms within the Earth Fire Hall also had a decent concentration of Spiritual Qi.
It was at least sufficient for his use until he reached the Qi Cultivation Late Stage.
But he didn’t choose them.
The Sect had a rule that required a payment of Spirit Stones or Contribution Points to use the Earth Fire Hall for Alchemy or Artifact Refining.
As the disciple stationed at the Earth Fire Hall, he received a monthly allotment of free usage time, but it was only enough for regular Alchemy and Artifact Refining, not for long-term, continuous occupation.
Moreover, doing so would be highly suspicious; his current choice was far more covert and offered much greater freedom.
’Good, the Spiritual Qi here really is excellent, and the proportion of Fire Spiritual Qi is very high. Plus, there’s no shortage of discarded pills. At this rate, reaching the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer, which I originally expected to take a year, should now only take three months.’
’Factoring in the boosts to my cultivation speed from Body Refining and Refining God, as well as the lectures I can attend in the Sect, the actual time required should be even less! This speed is definitely comparable to someone with an Upper Grade, or even a Top Grade Spirit Root.’
Feeling the abundant Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, Zhang Chi was extremely satisfied.
As for the fire poison, it was actually much more potent than the Gold Fiend of the Cold Iron Mine, yet he felt nothing at all, as if it didn’t exist.
This was because the Jade Pendant directly absorbed any fire poison that entered his body.
Moreover, as his Cultivation improved, the Jade Pendant’s abilities had also strengthened to some degree. A negative influence of this level posed no strain on it at all.
Furthermore, his Nine Flames Spirit Devouring Technique, being a Top Grade Demon Technique, inherently possessed a degree of resistance and even a purifying ability against fire poison.
After that, Zhang Chi went to the room the Sect had assigned for the Earth Fire Hall station, dismantled the Array Deployment Tools for the cooling array, and after checking to ensure they hadn’t been tampered with, moved them to his new cave mansion.
Of course, he set this Array up outside the Four-direction Spirit Gathering Array. That way, even if there was a problem he failed to detect, the Spirit Gathering Array would act as a buffer and prevent it from affecting him.
Once this Array was deployed, the temperature inside his cave mansion instantly dropped by a fair amount. Although it was still hot, it was now completely bearable given a Cultivator’s resilience.
Next, Zhang Chi returned to the storeroom to retrieve some discarded pills, then officially began his Cultivation in Seclusion.
He had also sealed the entrance to his official station quarters and activated its auxiliary array.
This way, anyone who looked would subconsciously assume that he was living in that room, just like Zhao Zijian before him.
***
Zhang Chi first took out the Jade Scroll for the Three-Turns Fierce Sun Technique and began setting aside time each day to comprehend it.
At the same time, he didn’t neglect his other daily Cultivation routines.
During the day, he would also go out to listen to lectures given by the Sect’s Foundation Establishment Realm seniors.
This was one of the perks of being an Outer Disciple.
Within the Cangwu Sect, more than one Foundation Establishment Cultivator gave public lectures every day, which everyone was free to attend.
However, getting private instruction was impossible.
Whether a question asked on the spot would be answered depended on the mood of the Foundation Establishment senior.
Moreover, the Foundation Establishment seniors did not share their most precious insights, which were reserved for a True Inheritor.
To obtain that level of teaching, you would have to be accepted as a personal disciple, spend enough Spirit Stones or Contribution Points for a private consultation, or attend a paid course.
That’s right, there weren’t just free lectures, but also paid ones with more valuable content.
The free lectures were funded by the Sect, whereas the paid ones had to be covered by the disciples themselves.
Many of the paid courses also had certain prerequisites for attendance.
For new Entry Level disciples, however, the free public lectures were already incredibly beneficial, providing more than enough material for them to absorb over a long period.
Most new disciples hadn’t even finished reading through the basic Cultivation knowledge in the Jade Scroll the Sect provided.
Five days passed in a flash. With the foundation laid by his Nine Flames Spirit Devouring Technique and Red Flame Technique, Zhang Chi finally managed to thoroughly comprehend the Three-Turns Fierce Sun Technique and officially began his attempt to convert his cultivation to it.
