Qi Zhiheng did not enter the space this time. Since Tong Zixing was watching from the city, he couldn't explain how he could refine the pills in one day, so he decided to finish refining the pills outside.

The pill refining process took more than two months. When he emerged, he was in high spirits; the batch contained ten pills. Eight of them were top-grade pills, and two were high-grade pills.

Qi Zhiheng had no use for the high-grade pills, so he decided to give them to Tong Zixing as well.

Tong Zixing stayed in Ascension City for two months. During that time, another cultivator broke through to the Mahayana stage. He felt somewhat numb to it all; the cultivators in this city were all breaking through recently. This trend even attracted the attention of some second-tier cities.

When Qi Zhiheng met Tong Zixing again, Tong Zixing excitedly stepped forward and asked, "City Lord Qi, how is the pill refining going?"

As Qi Zhiheng walked, he said, "Let's talk inside."

The two went into the house, and Qi Zhiheng took out a medicine bottle and handed it to Tong Zixing.

As soon as Tong Zixing saw the medicine bottle, she knew that the pill refining had gone smoothly. She eagerly took the bottle, opened it, and was somewhat surprised.

He hadn't expected to get three pills. He picked up a high-grade, level nine pill and teased with a smile, "I didn't expect you to still have high-grade pills. I've heard rumors that you destroy any pills you refine that aren't top-grade."

Qi Zhiheng accepted the challenge: "If you help me eat these two high-grade pills, wouldn't that destroy them? I'll thank you in advance."

Tong Zixing knew he was joking, so he took out another top-grade pill. When he saw this top-grade pill, his breathing became a little heavy. Such a top-grade pill would definitely increase the chances of breaking through.

Without saying a word, Tong Zixing swallowed the pill.

A surge of heat coursed through his body. Then, his aura erupted, and Qi Zhiheng subconsciously took two steps back: "Fellow Daoist Tong, you're about to break through."

This is no joke. The tribulation that led to his breakthrough to the Mahayana stage was already quite a spectacle. Now, the tribulation that led to his Tribulation Transcending stage will likely attract even more attention from various forces.

Tong Zixing did not choose to undergo her tribulation in the city, but instead went to a desolate mountain outside the city. After checking that no one was coming, she underwent her tribulation on that desolate mountain.

Qi Zhiheng did not comment on his actions, which was for the best.

Although it was located on a desolate mountain, it was very close to the Immortal Ascension City, attracting a small number of cultivators.

Qi Zhiheng also took a rare look at it before returning to the city. He said to Yang Yitian, "You'll need to keep an eye on it during this time and strengthen the formation again."

Yang Yitian knew that the cultivators who had recently entered the city were a mixed bag, so it was indeed necessary to make the formation more stable, so that it wouldn't be unable to withstand even a single blow when invaded by external enemies.

Qi Zhiheng kept several disciples by his side, not only to observe their character but also to supervise their alchemy.

He wanted to see if his disciples were completely loyal to him before considering whether or not to let them enter the space to cultivate.

A few months later, Tong Zixing, who had successfully broken through to the Tribulation Transcending stage, did not immediately inform her own faction, but went directly to Ascension City to find Qi Zhiheng.

Qi Zhiheng cupped his hands and said, "Congratulations, Senior Tong, on advancing to the Tribulation Transcending stage."

Tong Zixing's attitude did not change despite her breakthrough in cultivation; she still treated Qi Zhiheng the same way she had before. This made Qi Zhiheng feel much better, and he waved his hand, saying, "Don't worry about these formalities. Your pills played a crucial role in my breakthrough this time!"

He only consumed one of the three pills, a top-grade one. He kept the other two, intending to give them away to others on the island when they needed to break through to the next level.

Qi Zhiheng said, "You flatter me. This is mainly due to your accumulated knowledge and experience. Otherwise, no matter how many pills you take, it won't be of any use."

Tong Zixing smiled; he felt that Qi Zhiheng's pills were of great help to him.

Qi Zhiheng said, "I wonder if Senior still needs any pills? I have some left." As he spoke, he took out the earliest level nine pills he had ever refined, which were just right for Tong Zixing to take at this moment.

Tong Zixing was surprised by this unexpected joy and immediately took out a large sum of spirit stones to buy the pills.

Tong Zixing's breakthrough to the Tribulation Transcending stage caused quite a stir in the Central Continent. In no time, Qi Zhiheng's reputation spread among the various Mahayana cultivators.

Qi Zhiheng's status also rose accordingly, and he was regarded by many Mahayana cultivators as someone they needed to befriend.

During this period, Qi Zhiheng received so many gifts that he was overwhelmed, and he also sold quite a few level-eight pills.

Even a few cultivators at the Tribulation Transcending stage came, mainly seeking elixirs.

In Zhongzhou, obtaining a level nine pill is somewhat difficult, but not impossible. However, a top-grade level nine pill is not something that can be obtained casually.

The reason these Transcending Tribulation stage cultivators value Qi Zhiheng so much is because he has the ability to refine top-grade ninth-level pills.

Qi Zhiheng did not hesitate to show off his abilities. He quickly accumulated a batch of spirit stones and continued to enter the space to cultivate and improve his strength.

He has family to protect, and he doesn't want his family to be oppressed if he's not strong enough.

Of course, there were also those who came looking for trouble. At that time, a cultivator in the Tribulation Transcending stage learned of Qi Zhiheng's alchemy skills and wanted to kidnap him to refine pills for himself.

Qi Zhiheng came out to meet the challenge, directly tearing open a spatial rift and pulling the person in for a fight.

No one knows the specific details of the battle within the spatial rift. All that is known is that Qi Zhiheng severely injured this rogue cultivator in the Tribulation Transcending stage, and also established a master-servant contract with him, imprisoning him in the city to guard it.

When news of Qi Zhiheng's victory over a Tribulation Transcending cultivator spread, the previously restless demons and monsters all immediately kept their tails between their legs. They were not confident of surviving against a Tribulation Transcending cultivator, let alone defeating Qi Zhiheng, who could defeat a Tribulation Transcending cultivator.

This incident served as a great deterrent to the villains, further enhancing Qi Zhiheng's reputation.

After Shi Qingyun and Qi Zhiheng returned to Shengxian City, they stayed by Qi Dong's side, allowing Qi Dong to help them recuperate. After some time, their injuries had fully healed, and they had been cultivating the basic mental techniques for some time. Wuwei had also stabilized at the third level of Qi Refining.

After Qi Zhiheng killed the python king, he summoned people to inquire about the situation.

"How have you been lately?" Qi Zhiheng asked casually.

Shi Qingyun: "Reporting to the city lord, my injuries have fully healed."

"What are your plans next? Tell me." Qi Zhiheng couldn't just leave him like this and ignore him forever.

After hesitating for a moment, Shi Qingyun expressed his thoughts: "Lord City, may I ask to become your disciple?"

Qi Zhiheng was stunned. He hadn't expected this person to have such thoughts. Shi Qingyun's talent was indeed extraordinary. If he could cultivate the technique he had given him again, he would definitely achieve great things in the future.

But...

He has over a hundred disciples. If he were to take on more disciples now, where would his seniority be? He was pondering this matter.

Having received no reply, Shi Qingyun assumed that Qi Zhiheng was unwilling and said with some disappointment, "It was my presumption. Please do not take this matter to heart, City Lord."

"Hmm?" Qi Zhiheng looked at Shi Qingyun: "What? You don't want to become an apprentice again?"

Shi Qingyun said, "The city lord is such a powerful figure, how could a cultivator like me possibly be worthy of his name? I will never mention this matter again, please don't take it to heart, city lord."

Qi Zhiheng said, "I never said I wouldn't accept disciples, why are you in such a hurry to distance yourself?"

Shi Qingyun looked up in surprise: "Then... you didn't reply just now, I thought you were unwilling."

"It's not that I'm unwilling." Qi Zhiheng had no choice but to tell the truth: "I have more than a hundred disciples. I was just thinking about which disciple you would be if you became my disciple."

Shi Qingyun was momentarily stunned: "More than a hundred disciples? Registered disciples?"

Qi Zhiheng shook his head: "No, they are all formal disciples."

"This, so many disciples?" Shi Qingyun had seen cultivators who took on many disciples before, but most cultivators would just leave Er Gou's name as a nominal disciple and leave it there. He had never heard of anyone like Qi Zhiheng, who had more than a hundred disciples who were all formal disciples.

“Although they are all my disciples, you are different from them,” Qi Zhiheng said.

Shi Qingyun wondered if she had the best aptitude.

Qi Zhiheng continued, "They are all alchemists, but you are not, so in essence, we should be different."

Shi Qingyun swallowed hard. Over a hundred alchemist disciples. When he first heard that Qi Zhiheng was an alchemist, he was somewhat skeptical. But everyone said that Qi Zhiheng could refine many top-grade pills, and he had indeed accepted many pills. He never expected that Qi Zhiheng would have so many alchemist disciples.

He stammered, "Your subordinate... Your subordinate doesn't know how to refine pills."

Qi Zhiheng found his words somewhat puzzling: "What do you want to do with refining pills?"

Shi Qingyun remained silent. Wasn't Qi Zhiheng supposed to be taking alchemist disciples?

Qi Zhiheng said, "I will accept you as my disciple. You were able to become a Nascent Soul cultivator based on your strength, which shows your talent. I will make this clear today: I will accept you as my formal disciple. Please pay your respects and keep things simple."

Shi Qingyun immediately poured a cup of tea, placed it in front of Qi Zhiheng, and knelt down, saying, "Disciple greets Master."

Qi Zhiheng drank the apprenticeship tea and made a Heavenly Oath, binding the two of them together. After that, he was accepted as a disciple.

Afterwards, he took Shi Qingyun to meet his five disciples in Zhongzhou.

Qi Zhiheng introduced Rong Gu and the others one by one, and then hesitated for a moment before introducing Shi Qingyun, saying, "This is your junior brother, Shi Qingyun."

Qi Zhiheng used to accept formal disciples in groups, so there were no junior disciples. But now there are.