Cultivation is just so scientific!

The yield from crafting a furnace of Third-grade Spirit Pills was, in fact, even more abundant than that from crafting countless Second Grade Spirit Medicines.

While Second Grade Spirit Medicine could still be purchased with Spirit Stones, obtaining Third-grade Spirit Medicine almost exclusively required trading with Spiritual Objects, epitomizing the idea of 'available but not affordable,' unless one possesses Spiritual Objects that could allure cultivators who owned Third-grade Spiritual Medicines.

Third-grade Spirit Pills were naturally not on the same level as Second Grade Spirit Pills. Alchemy Masters rarely spend months crafting Second Grade Spirit Pills; instead, it made more sense to focus their efforts on crafting a batch of Third-grade Spirit Pills.

The Chief Manager Lai was facing a dilemma of fortune. He pondered for a long time and finally decided to discuss personally with Li Shiming during the congratulations before making a decision.

Meanwhile, his "Youthful Elixir" was still being promoted. But now, he could leverage Li Shiming becoming an Alchemy Master to further amplify the promotion of "Youthful Elixir" and let all the cultivators across the Beishu Continent know that Beishu Trading Company had gained an Alchemy Master as a Guest Elder.

At Thousand Illusion Sect, Yin Shilan received an invitation. Typically, her invitation would have included her master, Master Luo.

However, given her special status, her invitation was individual.

"Oh my God, Li Shiming has become an Alchemy Master and is even hosting a celebration. How come he didn't send me an invitation!" Liang Yexuan, who was at Yin Shilan's place, saw the invitation and spoke with a mix of excitement and lament.

She had thought that knowing Li Shiming and being a beautiful woman herself warranted an invitation from him.

"This invitation allows bringing someone along. If you want to go, you can just come with me!" Yin Shilan said with a smile, waving the invitation.

"Should I bring a gift, and if so, what would be a good gift?" Liang Yexuan quickly considered another matter, becoming distressed.

This was not simply a Foundation Establishment celebration. Although Li Shiming was a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, his status as an Alchemy Master granted him an equivalent standing to that of the Golden Core Stage, so the guests needed to consider gifts suitable for someone of the Golden Core Level.

Liang Yexuan's father was a Golden Core cultivator; naturally, she was aware of this.

Yin Shilan also showed a troubled expression. Despite being wealthy and both her parents being Golden Core cultivators and herself a true inheritor of the Thousand Illusion Sect, she had no Golden Core grade gifts.

Although she knew Li Shiming wouldn't mind, she represented Li Shiming's honor. At such a Golden Core Stage celebration, she didn't want to embarrass Li Shiming because of her own inadequacies.

"Master!" Just as Yin Shilan and Liang Yexuan were pondering over what gifts to bring, Master Luo arrived.

"Shilan, it seems you've also received Li Shiming's invitation. There's no need for me to accompany you, then. Here is a portion of Third Grade Spirit Tea, take it as your gift!" Master Luo said with a smile as he handed over a jade box to his disciple.

In fact, Master Luo had already guessed that Li Shiming would send Yin Shilan an individual invitation. The Third Grade Spirit Tea was specifically prepared for her.

This was a significant honor. Given the relationship between Yin Shilan and Li Shiming, their side would benefit substantially in the future. The Third Grade Spirit Tea could also resolve any minor disagreements between them and deepen their relationship further.

Master Luo's regret was now more intense than ever; he had let go of an Alchemy Master.

Originally, Li Shiming was supposed to join the Thousand Illusion Sect, but Master Luo had only offered him the status of an external disciple, prompting Li Shiming to consider joining the Shushan Sect.

This proved Li Shiming's worth; indeed, an external disciple's status was not worthy of his talents.

At this point, Master Luo offering Li Shiming the status of an external disciple was not a favor but seemed more like an insult.

Therefore, Master Luo had prepared a generous gift to resolve the earlier misunderstanding.

Although Li Shiming could only craft low-grade Third-grade Spirit Pills for now, he had become an Alchemy Master at such a young age.

After becoming an Alchemy Master, Li Shiming was almost destined to achieve the Golden Core.

Even if the Shushan Sect didn't provide the resources for Li Shiming to form his Golden Core or if a single set of those resources failed to promote him to the Golden Core Stage, he still had enough Third-Grade Spirit Pills to repair his Taoist Body, taking Vessel Protecting Pills, Soul Stabilizing Pills, Resurrection Pills, and Mountain-Breaking Pills until he succeeded in advancing.

Because Li Shiming was now able to concoct the Spirit Pills necessary for Foundation Establishment, such as the Vessel Protecting Pill, Soul Stabilizing Pill, Resurrection Pill, and Mountain-Breaking Pill, each successful concoction would allow him to keep at least one of each type.

This is the advantage of being an Alchemy Master, even Master Luo believed that Li Shiming might end up with some extra Vessel Protecting Pills, Soul Stabilizing Pills, Resurrection Pills, and Mountain-Breaking Pills.

Furthermore, Master Luo knew something else: the Beishu Trading Company was currently contacting powerful cultivators, preparing to auction off a 'Youthful Elixir.'

Because of her status as both an Array Master and a female cultivator, Master Luo received an invitation offer from the Beishu Trading Company.

She knew the origin of the 'Youthful Elixir' and had prepared several highly valuable Spiritual Objects for her bid, but she still wanted to discuss with Li Shiming during the congratulation ceremony if she could pay some price to obtain a 'Youthful Elixir' from him.

"Thank you, Master!" Yin Shilan was worrying about the gift issue when the present from her master arrived just in time.

"I'll go find Father!" Liang Yexuan, seeing that Yin Shilan's gift dilemma was resolved, could only resort to her father, speaking as she soared into the sky.

Master Luo watched Liang Yexuan's departure and smiled, knowing that Elder Liang would certainly prepare gifts befitting Liang Yexuan's status.

You should know that there was hardly any chance for Elder Liang to attend Li Shiming's grand ceremony; the additional invite in Master Luo's hand was originally intended for another disciple to accompany Yin Shilan, had she possessed an invitation, but one of Master Luo's good friends came asking and went with her instead, in the case Yin Shilan didn't need it.

Now, the invitations for this grand ceremony were extremely sought after, with every Golden Core Cultivator eager to attend.

This was an opportunity to mingle with Li Shiming, not to mention Elder Ma would also be attending; a chance to connect closely with two Alchemy Masters, such an opportunity was rare.

By the Golden Core Stage, procuring a Third-Grade Spirit Pill became a major issue.

Golden Core cultivators who found Third-Grade Spirit Medicine would need to have it processed into Third-Grade Spirit Pills, but there were only a few Alchemy Masters in the entire Beishu Continent capable of this, and securing a session with one was not easy.

Moreover, there were differences among Alchemy Masters; although some had the capability to craft Third-Grade Spirit Pills, their failure rates were not low, often resulting in the ruin of cultivators who sought their pills.

Li Shiming's skill in crafting Third-Grade Spirit Pills had not yet been publicized, but given his youth and immense potential in alchemy, coupled with Elder Ma's fine reputation in alchemy, seeking relations with these two Alchemy Masters was too good an opportunity to miss.

Among all the issued invitations, the most troublesome was Qianye Temple.

Zhi Kong Arhat of Qianye Temple, upon receiving the invitation, convened with several Venerables of the temple to discuss.

Although they had previously made an understanding agreement with Li Shiming, using an opportunity for Divine Sight Transmission to persuade him to abandon a decision made in anger.

But now things were different; now that Li Shiming had become an Alchemy Master, even if he retained only half of his prior alchemy skills, he was still the most skilled Alchemy Master in the entire Beishu Continent.

Of course, this highest skill level referred only to the lowest class of Third-Grade Spirit Pills; Qianye Temple also knew that Li Shiming, not having reached the Golden Core Stage, was unable to concoct Spirit Pills from more than two types of Third-Grade Spirit Medicine.

Nevertheless, Qianye Temple had to completely resolve their past conflicts with Li Shiming. In the past, such resolutions usually meant eliminating the troublemaking cultivator.

Now, however, Qianye Temple could not take such actions and was considering a heavy gift, one significant enough to change Li Shiming's mind and reconcile with Qianye Temple.