Cultivation is just so scientific!

The elixir recipe is not needed, as Master Jiang Hong's alchemy legacy already contains the corresponding elixir recipe.

"Not bad, finally a master alchemist willing to undertake the sect's alchemy mission!" Sect Master Ji of the Ten Thousand Beast Sect glanced at the information and smiled to herself.

Most of the sect's alchemy tasks were forcibly assigned by her. This matter has caused her a headache and the assigned master alchemists would complain incessantly, dragging the mission for as long as possible.

This resulted in an increasing backlog of the sect's alchemy missions. A portion of the fourth-grade spiritual medicine produced by the sect is distributed to the sect's Nascent Soul cultivators, while the rest needs to be refined into fourth-grade spirit pills as part of the sect's strategic reserves.

The strategic reserves are a primary source of sect rewards. Many of the tasks released by the sect include fourth-grade spirit pills as rewards, which are taken from these strategic reserves.

Moreover, should the sect encounter a Nascent Soul level war, the strategic reserves ensure the conflict's sustainability.

Sect Master Ji, despite her Dragon lineage origin, has broadened her horizons beyond the sect factions at this level.

Li Shiming's courage to take on the sect's alchemy mission, coupled with Master Jiang Hong's praise, drew her significant interest in Li Shiming.

A day later, Junior Master Song arrived as expected to meet Li Shiming, still in the pavilion, and accepted the jade vial Li Shiming handed over.

Seeing the two mid-level fourth-grade spirit pills in the jade vial and sensing that their quality was just shy of reaching high-grade, he couldn't contain his smile.

It was truly a bargain. Although a portion of fourth-grade 'Ten-thousand-year-old Thunderstruck Wood Juice' is precious, it is merely a resource used by Golden Core cultivators. For Golden Core cultivators, it is indeed invaluable, but Nascent Soul cultivators can fully afford it.

In exchange for such quality fourth-grade spirit pills, Junior Master Song saw Li Shiming in a different light.

This is a treasure. Although the requested remuneration is somewhat limited and finding it might be troublesome, it's not unusual for an alchemy master of such skill to have special conditions, is it?

In his excitement, Junior Master Song offered two more pieces of fourth-grade spiritual medicine, regretting only that he didn't have sufficient resources for Nascent Soul advancement to gain more furnace openings from Li Shiming.

He planned to spend the forthcoming time obtaining Nascent Soul resources through exchange or purchase as much as possible.

"Junior Master Song, after completing these alchemy commissions, I will refrain from taking on further alchemy tasks for four months!" Li Shiming said, accepting two sets of fourth-grade alchemy materials from Junior Master Song.

"Is something the matter? If there's anything you need my help with, just say so!" Junior Master Song hastily inquired upon hearing this.

Given his capability, he could quickly acquire several sets of Nascent Soul advancement resources. He had been planning to have all the remaining fourth-grade spiritual medicine refined into fourth-grade spirit pills, but upon hearing Li Shiming's words, he grew somewhat anxious.

He worried that if Li Shiming were to stop practicing alchemy, where could he find another alchemy master of such caliber?

"It's nothing. I've accepted the sect's alchemy mission. After completing Junior Master Song's two batches of spirit pills, I will commence with the sect alchemy mission!" Li Shiming explained.

Junior Master Song wanted to say the sect alchemy missions weren't worthwhile, but he restrained himself.

Although many Nascent Soul cultivators knew the sect alchemy missions weren't profitable, openly stating so would bring trouble if the sect were to find out.

He would simply have to wait a while longer, using this opportunity to search for Nascent Soul advancement resources.

In the days that followed, while outsiders perceived Li Shiming as exceptionally busy, in reality, he was conducting his cultivation normally, undisturbed by the alchemy matters.

First, he completed two batches of fourth-grade spirit pills for Junior Master Song, ensuring their quality met the mid-level fourth-grade standard.

Then he commenced the sect's alchemy task, closing his mountain peak for four months.

The four-month period, accounting for a furnace of fourth-grade spirit pills taking seven days to produce, meant completing nine batches would take nearly two months. Including rest periods, four months was the limit for a master alchemist working at full capacity.

Li Shiming, holding a jade vial containing eighteen mid-level fourth-grade spirit pills, stored another jade vial in his storage space with thirty-five high-grade fourth-grade spirit pills and one top-grade fourth-grade spirit pill.

It was a rare achievement to produce a top-grade fourth-grade spirit pill, necessitating continuous refining of the same fourth-grade spirit pill in the Fire Phoenix Treasure Tripod, allowing the accumulation of the essence of the medicine to a certain degree before a top-grade pill could be produced.

This was achievable only in a sect like the Ten Thousand Beast Sect, which allowed continuous refining of the same fourth-grade spirit pill. Despite refining many fourth-grade spirit pills on the Beishu Continent, Li Shiming had never had the chance to refine a top-grade fourth-grade spirit pill before.

Li Shiming, with the jade vial containing eighteen mid-level fourth-grade spirit pills, left his abode for the first time since arriving at the Ten Thousand Beast Sect.

Delivering fourth-grade spirit pills involved going to the Sect Master's palace to present them. Primarily, it was necessary to clarify the quality of the fourth-grade spirit pills face-to-face with the alchemist to avoid future disputes.

Upon arrival at the palace, he was explaining the situation to a steward, intending to deliver the fourth-grade spirit pills at the designated handing-over place.

"Master Li, come here for a moment!" The voice of Sect Master Ji echoed in Li Shiming's ear.

The entire palace was Sect Master Ji's treasure, and she could clearly sense everything happening within it.

Having focused specially on Li Shiming, she noticed as soon as he arrived.

Li Shiming obeyed, making his way to the highest level, where he met Sect Master Ji once again.

Seeing the Dragon Clan bloodline spiritual pet beside Sect Master Ji, he worried whether she would give him a hard time.

"Master Li, I'll handle the task delivery for you; just give me the fourth-grade spirit pills!" Sect Master Ji, observing the slightly anxious Li Shiming, said with a smile.

Li Shiming dared not refuse, though he also didn't think Sect Master Ji would interfere with the mission's delivery.

Sect Master Ji accepted the jade vial, sensing the contents within, and a smile appeared on her face.

The eighteen fourth-grade spirit pills were just a sliver away from reaching high-grade quality.

Consider Li Shiming's time spent on the alchemy mission; such efficiency and alchemy proficiency couldn't please her more.

Even the sect's top alchemy master couldn't maintain such stable alchemy proficiency, with all eighteen spirit pills from nine alchemy sessions reaching mid-level fourth-grade quality.

Take Master Jiang Hong, for instance. When crafting this type of fourth-grade spirit pill, sometimes a high-grade pill might be produced. These occasions were rare, while most probability resulted in mid-level fourth-grade pills. However, there's still a portion of probability for producing low-level fourth-grade pills.

Sect Master Ji had never encountered an alchemy master as stable as Li Shiming before.

"Master Li, the reward for completing the nine rounds of alchemy tasks is two thousand contribution points. You are promoted by one level, granting you the freedom to access all the Nascent Soul Early Stage archives. Moreover, I heard you are collecting Nascent Soul advancement resources, and I personally reward you with a Supreme Profound Pill as an incentive for your active completion of the sect's alchemy tasks!" Sect Master Ji said with a smile.

She retrieved a jade vial from her person and tossed it casually to Li Shiming, then performed a few operations in front of her.

Li Shiming caught the vial and felt a gentle vibration from his Identity Jade Disc. Under his Divine Thought's perception, he noticed the Identity Jade Disc receiving notifications of two thousand contribution points being credited and notice of permission promotion.

He calculated; based on the base reward of one hundred contribution points per furnace of fourth-grade spirit pills, the mid-level fourth-grade spirit pills he produced increased his total reward by more than double.

Not to mention the promotion and the reward of a 'Supreme Profound Pill'.

Having obtained the alchemy heritage of the Phoenix lineage, he knew about the 'Supreme Profound Pill'.

The 'Supreme Profound Pill' is used in conjunction with the 'Supreme Sensing Pill', allowing Great Elders to preliminarily sense two critical processes of the Nascent Soul breakthrough, thereby increasing the breakthrough probability.