Afterwards, Gu Changqing was in a great mood. With a thought, he instantly traveled 108,000 miles and returned to the sect in no time.

When he returned to the sect, he was surprised to find that there were only a few disciples left.

"Where has everyone gone? I've been walking around for ages and haven't seen a single person. Usually at this time, the sect is bustling with people, which is a stark contrast to today. Could something big have happened today? How come I didn't hear a thing before?" Gu Changqing muttered to himself, a little suspicious.

"Could it be that a beautiful sect member has emerged from seclusion, and all the disciples have gone to greet her?"

Gu Changqing guessed to himself and quickened his pace.

There is no better explanation than this.

If the beautiful sect leader were to emerge from seclusion, all the sect disciples would surely be waiting in the sect's main hall.

Without saying a word, Gu Changqing headed straight for the main hall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As he expected, all the sect disciples were gathered in the main hall of the sect, and he could see them from a great distance.

"It must be because the beautiful sect leader has come out of seclusion, otherwise why would there be such a big commotion?" Gu Changqing said with great excitement and certainty.

To Gu Changqing's surprise, when he got closer, he found that there was no beautiful sect leader in the main hall, but Elder Liu and another person he did not recognize.

From a distance, one could see that the man was dressed in a white robe, with a full head of white hair, but his face was ruddy and he had an extraordinary temperament. There wasn't a single wrinkle on his face, and he looked like a middle-aged man in his thirties or forties.

"Who is this person? I've never seen him before. What's his background? Why is he making such a big fuss? Could he be some important guest of the sect?" Gu Changqing asked the sect disciple beside him, his face full of questions.

Because he had never seen this person in his past life's memories, he was very curious about this person's identity.

“Chief Gu, you’ve just returned and may not know this, but this person is a wandering alchemist who happened to be passing through our area today. He was a bit tired and wanted to stay at the sect for the night to rest.” A disciple explained politely.

"Since he's here to stay at our sect, just let him stay one night and leave. Why make such a big fuss, bringing the whole sect? I thought the beautiful sect leader had come out of seclusion, but I got excited for nothing," Gu Changqing said with some disappointment and dissatisfaction.

Why does he, a mere guest, have to make such a big fuss? Who does he think he is?

"Chief Gu, you may not know this, but I've heard that this person's alchemy skills are exceptionally high. After Elder Liu learned that he was an alchemist, he treated him as an honored guest, and even humbled himself before him, trying his best to get him to help the sect refine pills. The other party only reluctantly agreed because he saw how sincere Elder Liu's attitude was." The sect disciple explained the whole story in detail.

"What, is this person still unwilling? It's only right that he stays at my Qingyun Sect and helps us refine pills. Besides, Elder Liu has gone to so much trouble to do this, giving him plenty of face. Why does he still look so unwilling?" Gu Changqing sneered and said in a deep voice.

He hadn't expected this alchemist to be so arrogant, acting superior and looking down on everyone as if they owed him something. Was it really necessary to go to such lengths?

"Who says otherwise? Because of his arrival, all of us disciples from the sect were temporarily gathered here. I heard that this was required by the alchemist; if he wanted to refine pills, all the disciples from the sect had to be present before he would agree to do so. So we all put down what we were doing and were called here." The sect disciple frowned slightly and said with some dissatisfaction.

Gu Changqing learned the general outline of the matter from his disciple and was quite dissatisfied with the alchemist.

Without saying a word, he headed straight for Elder Liu.

"Chief Gu is back. Please have a seat. You've come at just the right time. Let me introduce you. This is an alchemist who's staying at our sect. He's about to begin refining pills," Elder Liu said calmly with a slight smile.

"So this is the chief disciple of the inner sect that Elder Liu mentioned?" the white-robed alchemist said very politely.

"It is indeed me, Gu. I heard that you are going to refine pills for our sect. Is that true?" Gu Changqing smiled faintly and said casually.

"Yes, at Elder Liu's request, I'm helping the sect refine some pills as a small token of my appreciation," the alchemist said politely.

"Then I, Gu, will express our gratitude on behalf of everyone in our sect," Gu Changqing said with a forced smile.

"Everyone from the sect has arrived, so let's begin," Elder Liu said with a smile.

"Very well, today I will show you the pills I have refined." The white-robed alchemist said confidently.

It should be noted that this person looks to be in his thirties or forties because of his good maintenance, but he is actually sixty years old.

"Elder Liu is so eager to curry favor with this person, could it be that he sees that this person's youthful appearance and wants to possess the secret formula or elixir for maintaining youthful looks?" Gu Changqing wondered to himself.

If that's the case, it has to be said that the temptation is indeed very strong, and almost no one can resist it. After all, who doesn't want a perfect, youthful appearance, even men are no exception.

At this moment, the white-robed alchemist waved his hand, and a tall and imposing alchemy furnace, along with various exotic flowers, rare herbs, and precious medicinal materials, appeared before everyone, dazzling their eyes.

It must be said that their equipment and materials are very complete, including things that fly in the sky, run on the ground, swim in the water, and all kinds of herbs, including ginseng, lingzhi and other precious medicinal materials, making it comparable to a mobile herbal medicine shop.

Everyone's eyes lit up, and they looked very curious.

They had never seen an alchemist refine pills before. Generally, alchemists would not easily let others see them refining pills. Firstly, the presence of outsiders would prevent them from concentrating on refining pills and could easily distract them. Secondly, they were afraid that unscrupulous people would covet the formulas and methods for refining pills.

After everything was prepared, the alchemist immediately began refining the pills.

The alchemy process consists of the following steps: 1. Self-cultivation, 2. Preparation of medicine, 3. Production of medicine, 4. Gathering of medicine, 5. Sealing the furnace, 6. Refining medicine.

What appears to be extremely complex to ordinary people becomes remarkably simple in the hands of an alchemist, especially since this is a high-level alchemist who is highly skilled and adept at refining pills.

In no time at all, a kind of elixir was refined.

This elixir is a small red pill, about the size of a fingernail, looking like a round lollipop. It emits a sweet, rich, and refreshing aroma, and smelling it is very pleasant and extremely sweet.