Qi Zhiheng carried the two children to Danfeng, attracting stares along the way. However, he didn't pay much attention; a cultivator carrying children usually drew attention.
The disciples in the hall who were identifying first-grade spiritual herbs saw the two children who had been brought in and their eyes showed curiosity.
Today, twelve people have memorized the medicinal herbs. Qi Zhiheng took them with him and then went to the alchemy room where Rong Gu and the others were.
Qi Zhiheng, holding a child in his beast form, said to the twelve people he had just brought in, "Go find a seat."
There were many alchemy furnaces in the alchemy room. One person found a furnace and sat down on the cushion behind it.
Qi Zhiheng said to the people from yesterday, "How is the pill refining going? Bring it up so I can take a look."
He sat in the chair in front, took out a soft couch, put the two children on it, and sat by the table, waiting for the disciple who had finished refining the pills to come up.
"Yes!" Upon hearing Qi Zhiheng's instructions, the dozen or so disciples brought up the pills they had refined, each labeling the jade bottle with their own name.
A dozen or so bottles were placed on the table. Qi Zhiheng picked up a jade bottle, opened the stopper, and the fragrance of the pills flowed out. Qi Zhiheng could tell the quality of the pills just by smelling them from a distance.
Just then, Da Bao, who had been quietly sitting on the couch, stood up. He gripped the table with his two little hands. The height of the couch, combined with his own height, was just enough for him to rest his head on the table. His big, dark eyes were wide open, and he tilted his head, watching Qi Zhiheng's actions with great curiosity.
The disciples below the stage were all charmed by his little gestures. Even Qi Zhiheng, a straight man with a strong sense of justice, was softened by his antics and reached out to pat his head.
“Father…” Da Bao suddenly called out, “Ah ah.”
"Huh? What?" Qi Zhiheng was also a little helpless, as he couldn't understand baby language.
Da Bao didn't say anything more and tried to reach for the books on the table.
Those below, intimidated by Qi Zhiheng's presence, dared not speak, but were also moved by his actions.
Seeing that he couldn't reach the book, Qi Zhiheng simply helped him pick it up. The book was a pharmacopoeia, the kind that had been distributed to all the disciples before.
Da Bao took the pharmacopoeia back to the couch, clearly very interested in the book.
Rong Gu said, "It seems that Junior Brother is very interested in the Pharmacopoeia. He will surely become an excellent alchemist in the future."
Qi Zhiheng looked at Da Bao, who had quieted down after receiving the pharmacopoeia, and nodded with a smile, saying, "Perhaps."
Sanbao glanced curiously at the pharmacopoeia that Dabao had opened in his hand, but quickly lost interest. He took out a small yellow flower from his pocket and started playing with it by himself.
Seeing that the two children had calmed down, Qi Zhiheng continued to examine the pills in his hand. Most of the children had refined low-grade pills, and none of them had a full set of pills. Most had three to five pills. Rong Gusheng had studied alchemy for a longer time and had one mid-grade pill, bringing his total number of pills to five.
Qi Zhiheng was very dissatisfied with the results of these disciples. There were so many low-grade pills, and he couldn't help but say with a disdainful tone, "How come there isn't a single high-grade pill? Your technique is too poor." It seems that geniuses are not so easy to find.
The disciples, who had been somewhat excited, suddenly felt ashamed. Qi Zhiheng knew that this was too discouraging, so he comforted them by saying, "Remember what you're saying now. Under my guidance, you will soon surpass your current level."
The disheartened disciples felt a renewed sense of hope, and immediately remembered Qi Zhiheng's ten top-grade pills.
Following the rules established last time, Qi Zhiheng rewarded the top three winners with the same top-grade pills from the previous competition.
Rong Gu came in first place and received six top-grade pills, enough to advance him to the ninth level of Qi Refining. He was overjoyed after receiving the pills.
Qi Zhiheng took out some common herbs and distributed them: "Starting today, you will first refine these common medicinal materials, removing all impurities. You should also practice the cultivation method I gave you yesterday."
Then he said to the newcomers, "You all will also participate in the refining process."
Controlling soul power is extremely important, and these disciples' control of soul power is really too poor. Qi Zhiheng has to train them more in this area, otherwise all the herbs will be wasted.
"Yes, Master!" The disciples present did not dare to object and did whatever Qi Zhiheng said.
Qi Zhiheng was ultimately satisfied with their translations; they were quite obedient.
These common herbs have far more impurities than spiritual herbs, making them much more difficult to cultivate. However, since there's no need to worry about spiritual energy, one can focus more on developing soul power.
After a day of practice, Qi Zhiheng refined a batch of pills on the spot, explaining the steps again. He refined ten top-grade pills, and then had those present refine another batch of pills.
The disciples who entered the room immediately brightened up. Just like the previous batch of disciples, many of them had never seen a top-grade pill before. Qi Zhiheng used this as leverage to decide on the rewards for the top three.
This time, when refining pills, everyone discovered that the initial difficulty in refining impurities had become much smoother. However, there were still quite a few failures. Some people succeeded after several attempts, while others succeeded on their first try. Rong Gu was a prime example of success on the first try.
The quality of the pills submitted this time was much better than the previous round. The pills that were originally mainly low-grade pills were now mostly mid-grade pills.
Although Rong Gu didn't refine any top-grade pills, he had four mid-grade pills and only one low-grade pill. This was a huge improvement over his initial result of one mid-grade and four low-grade pills.
When Rong Gu achieved such results, he was completely stunned. He had originally believed that Qi Zhiheng could improve the pills they refined, but the rapid improvement was beyond his expectations.
Qi Zhiheng hadn't expected these people to be so incompetent! He had them practice for a whole day, and they still couldn't refine even a single high-grade pill.
"Rong Gu, step forward." Qi Zhiheng pointed to Rong Gu's name.
Rong Gu stepped forward and asked, "What are your instructions, Master?"
Qi Zhiheng first gave him the first prize, and then said, "You are the oldest here, and the pills you refined are the best here. I have decided that from today onwards you will be their senior brother, and everyone in this room will be under your command."
“Master, isn’t this too hasty? Although the pills I refined are of the best quality among those present, I am indeed getting on in years. Making such a hasty decision might not satisfy the other junior brothers and sisters who have better aptitude.” Rong Gu naturally wanted to be the senior brother, but what he said was indeed a potential problem. He didn’t want to become someone everyone wanted to get rid of in the future.
Qi Zhiheng said, "I won't give you any special treatment just because you're my eldest disciple. The reason I call you the eldest disciple is because you're the oldest here, and your thinking should be more mature than the others. You can help manage more disciples in the future. I have something to do in a few days."
Rong Gu said somewhat uncertainly, "This... there should be many more outstanding senior brothers and sisters on Danfeng. If I were to manage it, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to win their respect." He was a cultivator with three spiritual roots, and his aptitude wasn't considered good among the disciples. The quality of his soul power wasn't the best either. Qi Zhiheng had given him his full strength, wasn't that putting him on the hot seat?
Qi Zhiheng patted his shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I'm just going away for a while and I'll be back soon. Come with me for a walk in a bit, and I'll introduce you to your junior brothers and sisters."
He remembered that he still had to go out. The matters in Juxian City were not yet finished. After Rong Gu and the disciples here became more familiar with each other in a couple of days, he could leave without any further instructions. In any case, the cultivation level of these children was already at this level. No matter how they were trained, it was impossible for them to quickly become second-level alchemists. Since there was no need to rush it, he did not need to delay his original schedule for the sake of these disciples.
Rong Gu felt uneasy, not quite understanding Qi Zhiheng's meaning.
Qi Zhiheng first introduced Rong Gu to the group of people in front of him, saying, "From now on, when I'm not around, you should follow Rong Gu's instructions. If you encounter any problems that you can't solve, go to him first."
After speaking, he led Rong Gu to the outer hall, where everyone studied the pharmacopoeia to identify spiritual herbs. He solemnly introduced Rong Gu's identity to everyone and instructed them to follow Rong Gu's instructions during his absence.
After Qi Zhiheng finished speaking, he took Rong Gu back to the alchemy room.
Afterwards, Qi Zhiheng took the two children and went to climb Yunfeng.
After he left, the disciples began to discuss it.
"Master, you've decided on Senior Brother so quickly. Are you planning to accept Rong Gu as a formal disciple?"
"I think it's possible. With the title of senior brother, he'll probably become a personal disciple in the future. How enviable!"
"Yes, if even the eldest brother can't become a personal disciple, then it will be a huge embarrassment in the future."
"Even so, I still want to be the senior disciple. That way, at least it will prove that Master will accept him as a personal disciple."
"..."
After Rong Gu practiced the soul power training method given to him by Qi Zhiheng, his soul power did indeed steadily improve. The sensitivity of his soul power made it difficult for him not to hear the discussions of his junior brothers and sisters.
Rong Gu clenched his fist, not quite understanding his master's intentions, nor whether Qi Zhiheng liked him or not.
If he didn't like me, why did he accept me as his eldest disciple? If he liked me, wouldn't he have expected me to face this situation? Could it be that Master wanted to use this opportunity to hone my abilities?
He sighed. Now, all he could do was work even harder to break out of this awkward situation.
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