Before leaving, Qi Zhiheng made sure to take his disciple with him to register as a Level 2 Alchemist. After registering, Yu Xi Du Jia went to the Tang Clan and asked them for her spiritual vein.

Only after receiving their reward did they return home.

Good evening. The thirty-six disciples who had become formal disciples were quite excited.

Think about those senior disciples who became formal disciples before. They all received individual guidance, and their alchemy skills improved a lot. Not to mention, their ability to become second-level alchemists is also inseparable from Qi Zhiheng's early teaching.

The next day, Qi Zhiheng went to instruct his newly accepted disciples.

Two days later, he announced that the alchemy room would be closed. He then instructed his disciples to prepare items for their upcoming trip over the remaining days.

Qi Zhiheng also went back to prepare his own things; he planned to refine some spirit beast pills.

Qi Zhiheng and Yang Yitian had already reached the Nascent Soul stage and were ready to establish their own sects. However, Qi Zhiheng had to postpone this matter due to his preparations for leaving the area.

In the few days since Qi Zhiheng arrived at Danfeng, news of him accepting thirty formal disciples has spread throughout the peak.

There was no other way. These disciples had always been told by the Danfeng people that they had been abandoned by Qi Zhiheng. Now that they had been accepted as formal disciples, they couldn't wait for everyone to know that they had been accepted as formal disciples! In this way, they would tell the disciples they knew that they had not been abandoned by their master.

Zhang Ruosheng was one of those who became formal disciples this time. He had lost the opportunity to become a formal disciple last time Qi Zhiheng was selecting disciples because of his slow cultivation.

Zhang Ruosheng could have used elixirs to accelerate his cultivation, but he was just beginning to experience romantic feelings and developed a crush on a young girl, so he eagerly gave all the elixirs he had obtained to her.

Without the aid of elixirs, his cultivation level fell behind most of his fellow disciples. Qi Zhiheng distributed top-grade elixirs that had no side effects and would not leave any poison. Without these elixirs, the gap between the two sides was significant.

Later, Qi Zhiheng gave up on taking him as a disciple because his cultivation progress was too slow. Then, his third senior brother Feng Yuanyi talked to him again and persuaded him not to give all his resources unconditionally anymore.

Zhang Ruosheng agreed at the time, and afterwards, whenever he received a pill, he would keep half of it, otherwise he would find it difficult to improve his cultivation level in the future.

Zhang Ruosheng was in the sect's trading market, preparing the things he would need for his trip.

"Ruosheng." A smiling young girl walked towards Zhang Ruosheng. This was the person Zhang Ruosheng had been longing for but had not yet obtained.

The young woman's name was Bai Yilian. Over two years ago, she became quite distant from Zhang Ruosheng because he had given her half the number of pills he was supposed to. However, she still maintained a somewhat distant relationship with him. The reason was simple: the pills Zhang Ruosheng possessed were top-grade; even with the quantity halved, they were still invaluable resources!

Zhang Ruosheng was quite devoted, diligently cultivating while also showering the girl with attention. Later, he became a second-level alchemist, refining numerous pills, including some top-grade ones. He was reluctant to use these pills to exchange for contribution points, and they all ended up in Bai Yilian's hands. This led to Bai Yilian maintaining a distant yet affectionate relationship with him.

"Eleanor, you're here too! What a coincidence!" Zhang Ruosheng was overjoyed to see Bai Eleanor, completely forgetting what he had been planning to do earlier.

Bai Yilian also heard about Qi Zhiheng taking on thirty-six disciples, and immediately said to the person in front of her, "Congratulations on becoming Qi Danshi's formal disciple."

Praised by his sweetheart, Zhang Ruosheng scratched the back of his head shyly: "Thank you for still caring about me."

"Where are you going? Let's go together." Bai Yilian pulled his arm and walked in one direction.

With his beloved holding his arm, Zhang Ruosheng was momentarily distracted and forgot what he was supposed to be doing, letting Bai Yilian lead him away.

"I heard that you are highly regarded by Master Qi, and Master Qi even praised you separately. You are really amazing." Seeing that the person in front of her was like a block of wood, Bai Yilian could only find topics to talk about and gradually lead the other party into the trap she had dug.

Zhang Ruosheng was somewhat flattered by the praise, and did not completely deny what the other party said: "Master did praise me once, but I am not as good as you say." Qi Zhiheng did praise him, but Qi Zhiheng would praise and criticize each formal disciple, and would point out their shortcomings. However, at this moment, in front of his beloved, he always wanted to show himself more, so he did not refute.

Bai Yilian's expression was filled with admiration: "You're too modest. With your abilities, Master Qi Dan must value you highly. I've heard that Senior Brothers Rong Gu and Ye Hanyuan are helping Master Qi Dan manage affairs. You must be able to secure a place for yourself in his eyes, right?"

If Zhang Ruosheng had any questions, he could indeed ask Qi Zhiheng, but to say that he had a place in the hierarchy would be a bit of an exaggeration. However, seeing the stars in Bai Yilian's eyes, he couldn't bring himself to refute her and could only compromise by saying, "Master often walks around the alchemy room, so I can indeed have some conversations with him if I have something to say."

At this moment, Bai Yilian had already led the person into a quiet alley: "Since that's the case, could you please put in a good word for me with your master and ask him to accept me as his disciple? With your high standing in your master's heart, this shouldn't be difficult, right?"

Zhang Ruosheng hesitated for a moment, "Well, I'm afraid my master has stopped accepting new disciples. Elaine, didn't you not learn alchemy?"

Bai Yilian still had that beautiful smile on her face: "I've recently become interested in alchemy, and I'm not that old, only eighteen. Didn't your senior brother also become a disciple of Master Qi at eighteen? I suppose it's not too late for me to start learning now. Could you please mention it to your master for me?"

"My master won't be coming to Danfeng for the next few days, so I'm afraid I won't be able to talk to him. What do you want to learn? I can teach you." Zhang Ruosheng wouldn't dare ask his master to accept his beloved as a disciple.

"It's alright," Bai Yilian said considerately. "It doesn't matter if we don't see each other for a while. We'll see each other again soon. You can ask your master to accept me as a disciple then. Anyway, your master has so many disciples, one more won't make a difference."

Bai Yilian was also among the disciples chosen by Qi Zhiheng, and that's when she met Zhang Ruosheng. However, when Qi Zhiheng asked if anyone wanted to quit, she felt that Qi Zhiheng was only a Golden Core cultivator, yet he had taken on so many disciples, so she quit on the spot. Later, when she saw how many resources Zhang Ruosheng obtained, she became insanely jealous.

Zhang Ruosheng wavered a bit after Bai Yilian's words. Indeed, his master had so many disciples, so one more shouldn't have been a problem. However, he knew that he had no say in front of his master and was looking for an excuse to refuse.

"I...I'm afraid Master won't listen to me." This time, Zhang Ruosheng was telling the truth.

Seeing his repeated refusals, Bai Yilian became somewhat impatient: "I only have this one small request, and you can't even grant it? I'm doing this for you. If I could become a disciple of Master Qi, I could learn alchemy with you in the future. Don't you want to practice alchemy with me?"

Zhang Ruosheng was speechless for a moment: "Of course I want to."

"Then please mention it to Master Qi. After I become Master Qi's disciple, I won't need to share your pills anymore. Your cultivation will definitely improve faster. I only wanted to become Master Qi's disciple because I felt sorry for you. You gave me most of your pills, but you couldn't break through yourself. I felt terrible about that. As long as I become Master Qi's disciple, I can receive pills from him. I won't need to use your pills for cultivation anymore. You can also advance by consuming pills. Then we can break through to the Foundation Establishment stage and then the Golden Core stage together." Bai Yilian painted a rosy picture for Zhang Ruosheng at the end.

Zhang Ruosheng's breathing became a little rapid. He was indeed moved by the scene Bai Yilian described, and Bai Yilian's words sounded like she was accepting his pursuit. Refining pills together and breaking through to the next level together—wasn't that something that Daoist couples do? In a moment of impulse, he agreed, "Okay, I'll go and talk to my master for you."

Bai Yilian was quite satisfied with the answer and became much more amiable: "Ruoshu, you are so kind. Once I become a disciple of Master Qi Dan, I will refine many pills for you to eat."

Zhang Ruosheng quickly waved his hand and said, "How can that be? I don't need to give you the pills you refined; you need to cultivate too."

Bai Yilian knew that Zhang Ruosheng wouldn't want her pills, but she still needed to say more to win people over.

Zhang Ruosheng spent half a day with Bai Yilian and returned to his residence feeling somewhat smug. When he realized what he had agreed to, he broke out in a cold sweat.

He actually agreed to let his master take Elaine as his disciple? But then he remembered his always kind master and thought to himself, perhaps nothing would happen even if he brought it up.

Qi Zhiheng was unaware of what had happened to his disciple. He spent the day refining spirit beast pills, which could increase the favorability of spirit beasts and allow them to sign contracts with him.

After refining enough pills, he went out to prepare food for his sons. Once he arrived at the Thousand Water Mountains, he feared his sons wouldn't be able to find anything to eat.

A delicious aroma wafted from the kitchen, and several children, drawn by the smell, peeked their heads in through the kitchen doorway.

The children hadn't tasted their father's cooking in a long time.

Qi Zhiheng naturally noticed the children. While processing the spiritual fruits in his hands, he said to them, "What are you peeking at? Come in."

Several young boys walked in one after another.

Erbao sniffed, his mouth watering, and asked impatiently, "Father, what delicious food are you making?"