Chapter 252: Chapter 221 Three Choices_1
“Esteemed friend, with your age, you should return home,”
There are three Pill Masters presiding over the assessment, and the one speaking is a middle-aged man who has reached the initial stage of the Golden Pill.
A Golden Pill cultivator should refer to a Foundation Establishment cultivator as a friend. However, this indicates how old he appears, otherwise, the address would be different.
In fact, computed by ordinary people’s ages, he now feels like a ninety-year- old, hunch-backed elder.
In the eyes of ordinary people, he looks as if he is on the verge of death.
Although he still has over forty years left to live, based on his original age of over eight hundred, he is indeed extremely old, even older than Nangong Suyi used to be.
Ordinary people, when they grow old, emit a decaying aura in their twilight years. Xu Mu’s aura of decay is so intense it’s almost palpable.
The other three are all cultivators of considerable strength, clearly visible even to ordinary people.
Faced with their misunderstanding, Xu Mu feels helpless. He was thoroughly drained by that woman, having almost depleted his life source. If it weren’t for the system, he might not even be able to maintain this little lifespan.
Theoretically, at his age, he wouldn’t be able to cultivate body refinement skills again.
However, he has to join the Fairy Moon Palace!
“Doesn’t your sect have no age restrictions?” Xu Mu asked.
Upon hearing Xu Mu’s words, the other two couldn’t help but laugh.
To them, a man of Xu Mu’s age should really live out his twilight years peacefully.
Most cultivators join Fairy Moon Palace to leverage its resources to advance further, but Xu Mu, with his evident age, seemed to be merely wasting time by joining Fairy Moon Palace.
Fairy Moon Palace offers neither low-end guarantees nor death compensation.
If you join, you are expected to contribute to Fairy Moon Palace, but for Xu Mu, whether it’s alchemy or missions, it equates life in exchange, which simply isn’t worthwhile.
“Although there are no stipulations in the sect, we are thinking for your best. Why not wander down the mountain into the city to find something to do! Going to the Mortal Kingdom would also be a good choice!” the three urged him again.
Although the sect had no rules against recruiting old people, recruiting someone like Xu Mu would surely be laughed at.
“Since there are no restrictions, then it should be possible. Please proceed with the assessment,” Xu Mu spoke determinedly, undaunted despite their persuasion, causing the others to frown.
A wise man takes the advice to heart!
How is this old man still so stubborn?
They had no choice but to set the test.
“Under normal circumstances, as long as you can concoct a tier six pill you can join our sect. However, in your case, you must concoct a high-quality tier six pill, and you only have three attempts!” said the middle-aged Golden Pill.
This requirement is extremely harsh. To concoct a high-quality tier six pill within three attempts requires at least master-level alchemy skill.
Being able to concoct a tier six pill is quite remarkable. Even for Fairy Moon Palace, tier six pills aren’t common. A lot of effort is needed to concoct one.
For ordinary rogue cultivators, it’s even more challenging. They might not have many opportunities to concoct pills in their lifetime, making it difficult to elevate their alchemy skills to a master level.
The reason they set such stringent conditions is to discourage Xu Mu.
However, they have clearly underestimated his ability.
Forget about high-quality tier six, he could even concoct high-quality tier seven.
Of course, he wouldn’t be foolish enough to reveal his true skills openly.
Xu Mu’s eyes flickered, revealing a hint of hesitation before he reluctantly nodded agreement.
After seeing Xu Mu’s reaction, they became even more convinced that Xu Mu was a stubborn old mule.
But if he was adamant about his life choices, they were too lazy to interfere.
“You need to prepare your own medicinal materials. If you pass the test, we can purchase them back at market price.”
Although Fairy Moon Palace is very generous, they aren’t foolish enough to provide medicinal materials for the candidates to practice. Sixth tier medicinal materials are not cheap. What if someone takes advantage of it for nothing?
Xu Mu nodded. He had predicted this beforehand.
Afterward, under the escort of the examiner, Xu Mu entered the alchemy room of Fairy Moon Palace.
A sixth-tier pill is not something that can be crafted in a day or two. They gave him half a month to craft such a pill and only had to show the created pill at the end of this period.
There are many methods known to Pill Masters that can determine when a pill was crafted. Trying to cheat by preparing the pill in advance wouldn’t work.
After escorting Xu Mu inside, the examiner left.
Xu Mu had long decided on the type of pill to make. After acquainting himself with the environment, he took out the materials and began the alchemy process.
With Xu Mu’s alchemy skills, there were naturally no accidents.
Half a month later, the examiner came to fetch him.
Soon, Xu Mu met the three Pill Masters of the Pill Hall once again. Upon seeing the three bottles of pills handed over by Xu Mu, the three of them had some weird expressions on their faces.
On one hand, Xu Mu had completed the task over the requirement, with two of the three bottles being top-tier products. On the other hand, they were also frustrated because the pills Xu Mu produced were Blood Qi Pills.
As the name suggests, Blood Qi Pills are a type of pill that replenishes one’s blood qi.
The materials for these pills are simple to acquire, their function is straightforward, and their formula is among the simplest among sixth-tier pills. Some rare fifth-tier pills might even be harder to craft.
Just like the Blood Sun Pill Fairy You Lan crafted in Tianhe City before, they were of the lowest rank among their tiers.
Therefore, the three were frustrated, feeling like Xu Mu were exploiting a loophole.
They were never imagined that a rogue alchemist would delve into such a pill.
The Blood Qi Pill’s effects may be simple, but its market is limited. Despite being easy to craft, no one would be foolish enough to study it thoroughly, only using it for practice at most due to its low profits and hard sell.
So someone like Xu Mu, who mastered it to a grandmaster level, would indeed appear to be a back-of-the-class skin.
Fortunately, the three had some decency. Despite Xu Mu being crafty, they did decide to let him join the Fairy Moon Palace after some discussion. However, they seriously lowballed him in terms of benefits.
“According to your situation, there are three identities you can choose,
The first one is a guest elder. You could receive a top-tier spirit stone each year, select a free residence in Immortal Moon City, earn sect contribution points to exchange for sect treasures, and must undertake one sect duty every three years. When the sect issues orders, you are free to choose whether to execute them or not!”
The second one is an outer sect elder. Each year, you could receive five top-tier spirit stones and ten thousand sect contribution points, select a cave residence inside the sect, and must complete one sect task every three years. You need to sign a contract for at least twenty years and train at least one fourth-tier alchemist for the sect. If the sect issues commands, you have to execute them unless there are special circumstances!”
The third one is a specialized Pill Hall Elder. This requires signing a contract of at least a hundred years, completing one sect task every year, and cultivating at least one tier-five alchemist or three fourth-tier alchemists for the sect. If the sect gives an order, you must complete it unconditionally!”
The third one has the strictest requirements, but the benefits are also the best.
“Each year, you can receive ten top-tier spirit stones and a hundred thousand sect contribution points, exchange sect items at a low price, enter the Law Transmission Pavilion free of charge to learn all the foundation establishment stage martial methods and divine skills, listen to lectures by Golden Pill Elders for free, pick a high-tier cave residence within the sect as a dwelling, and gain eligibility to enter the sect’s secret territory for cultivation…”
Xu Mu was very tempted by the third option, but if he had selected that, he would be completely tied to the Fairy Moon Palace. He was unwilling to do that, considering he had too many secrets left to uncover.
The first option was quite free, but it didn’t allow him to live within the Fairy Moon Palace. That would be a wasted opportunity.
So the only option left was the second one.
Twenty years, it should go by quickly!