"Gift successfully given!"

  "The gift consists of ten Low Grade Qi Gathering Pills."

  "Returning the favor..."

  "One hundred Low Grade Qi Gathering Pills have been credited."

  "Detected that this is the host's first gift. Although it didn't bring much surprise to the recipient, it still triggered a critical reward!"

  "Reward: Complete Insight into First Rank Alchemy Techniques."

  "Complete Insight into First Rank Alchemy Techniques has been granted."

  "Detected that the host does not possess storage equipment. The physical return will be temporarily stored in the System Space and can be retrieved at any time..."

  Damn...

  Listening to the system's notification, Ye Chen's eyes widened.

  Not only did he receive a hundred Qi Gathering Pills, but he also triggered a critical reward?

  Did he just master First Rank Alchemy Techniques?

  This is amazing!

  Ye Chen had experienced how difficult alchemy was in the past few days.

  There were no formus to follow.

  You had to throw the herbs into the furnace and watch them intently, adjusting the heat based on the herbs' changing states, and use magic to continuously adjust.

  A slight mistake, and the fusion wouldn't be harmonious.

  The whole batch of pills would be ruined.

  His predecessor studied alchemy for four years and had just barely gotten started.

  He was still far from being a legitimate First Grade Alchemist.

  Now, with just one critical hit, he gained complete insight into being a First Grade Alchemist.

  It was like a pie falling from the sky.

  Ye Chen's gaze towards Lin Ke'er changed.

  This wasn't just a Clever bitch.

  This was clearly a treasure trove.

  Lick, lick, lick, I'll lick for a lifetime!

  ***

  Ye Chen's intense gaze made Lin Ke'er slightly uncomfortable.

  She couldn't help but worry.

  Could Ye Chen think that just because he gave a gift, she would become his Dao companion?

  How could that be possible?

  Ye Chen was being too naive, wasn't he?

  But every time he gave something before, Ye Chen would excitedly drag her along, talking about everything under the sun.

  Lin Ke'er could only listen and agree.

  After all, it wouldn't look good to leave right after receiving a gift, and she still wanted more pills in the future.

  But she had to maintain some distance.

  She couldn't let Ye Chen think that just because she accepted a gift, she belonged to him.

  Receiving gifts was one thing, being a Dao companion was another.

  But as Lin Ke'er was contempting how to speak to keep Ye Chen interested without letting him give up completely, Ye Chen spoke up directly: "Then Fairy Ye, you should go back and cultivate well. I need to go back and rest for a bit..."

  After saying this, Ye Chen turned and left.

  The door closed with a resounding thud.

  Lin Ke'er, who had been pnning various responses, was slightly stunned.

  Ye Chen just left?

  Why didn't he act like before, wanting to talk with her forever, unwilling to part?

  But the surprise was fleeting.

  Lin Ke'er didn't think much of it.

  After all, who cares about a lick spirit's thoughts?

  She was only interested in the pills in her hand.

  Qi Gathering Pills were the most suitable for cultivators in the early stage of Qi Refining, as they could accelerate cultivation.

  Taking one pill during each session of cultivation could increase the effect by about 1.5 times compared to normal cultivation.

  Lin Ke'er didn't want to spend her whole life working as a receptionist in this small shop.

  Once she broke through to the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining, she could find a better job.

  So, Lin Ke'er turned and left without any hesitation!

  ***

  With the reward already in hand, Ye Chen had to leave.

  What else could he do?

  Really act like a lick spirit?

  Giving gifts was just a task from the system.

  Ye Chen wouldn't actually get involved.

  "Retrieve Qi Gathering Pills!"

  Ye Chen silently commanded in his mind.

  Instantly, ten small bottles of Qi Gathering Pills appeared in Ye Chen's hand.

  Ye Chen opened one and took a light sniff of the pill's fragrance.

  It wasn't pure; he could vaguely smell a mix of herbs.

  Clearly, it was a product of imperfect fusion, barely forming a pill.

  Definitely low grade.

  But low grade was enough.

  Ye Chen's task was to hand over five hundred Qi Gathering Pills to the shop.

  Now he had a hundred.

  Based on the remaining amount, he could gather it in at most four weeks.

  And the task deadline was actually two months away.

  The task that had once exhausted his predecessor was now easily manageable.

  As long as he completed the task, he wouldn't have to change jobs.

  He could comfortably stay in the shop.

  Relying on the Lick Spirit System, he could obtain countless resources and directly cultivate to immortality.

  Just thinking about it made Ye Chen feel exhirated.

  After counting, Ye Chen pced the pills into a box on the side.

  Looking at the box, Ye Chen couldn't help but compin.

  As a cultivator, he didn't even have a standard Storage Bag, let alone a Storage Ring.

  It was really inconvenient.

  But after searching his memory, Ye Chen realized that Storage Bags weren't considered low-end items in the cultivation world.

  The smallest Storage Bag, half a cubic meter, cost fifty Low Grade Spirit Stones.

  What did that mean?

  Lin Ke'er, a Third Layer Qi Refining servant, worked eight hours a day at the shop, with one day off per week.

  Her monthly sary was only three Low Grade Spirit Stones.

  Moreover, because the market had formations and strong protection, it was safer, and the spiritual energy concentration was slightly better than outside.

  So even a small courtyard required a rent of one Low Grade Spirit Stone.

  And there was still the need to eat.

  If a cultivator ate mundane food without spiritual energy, it would just fill the stomach and produce waste, slightly affecting cultivation.

  So they needed to eat Spirit Beast Meat or Spirit Valley, or take Inedia Pills.

  These were just the basic needs.

  To speed up cultivation, they needed pills and had to prepare Magic Artifacts for self-defense, right?

  And learn some attack spells, right?

  All of these required money.

  For a cultivator to cultivate properly, the expenses were really high.

  So basically, only cultivators in the mid-stage of Qi Refining, with more ways to earn money, could afford to buy Storage Bags.

  Most cultivators didn't have enough Spirit Stones for themselves.

  How could they spend on female cultivators?

  No wonder Lin Ke'er clung to a lick spirit like him!

  It was truly poverty!

  Everyone in the cultivation world was poor, and everyone only wanted Spirit Stones.

  Who had the mood for romance?

  But for Ye Chen, this wasn't a problem.

  Ten Low Grade Qi Gathering Pills were worth half a Spirit Stone.

  Giving a gift once and getting ten times the return meant five Spirit Stones.

  A monthly income of nearly twenty Low Grade Spirit Stones.

  And that's not counting the fact that he now had the insight of a First Grade Alchemist.

  Alchemy was also a very lucrative profession.

  It's not an exaggeration to say that alchemists were the high, rich, and handsome of the cultivation world.

  If one's skills were high, they could earn even more.

  For example, the task of refining Qi Gathering Pills this time.

  He had to hand over five hundred Qi Gathering Pills.

  But the shop provided materials enough to refine fifteen hundred pills.

  Mainly because alchemy had a failure rate.

  Ensuring a one-third success rate was considered a qualified alchemist.

  If one's skills were higher and the success rate was better, the extra pills would be the alchemist's profit.

  Ye Chen's sary at the pill shop was five Low Grade Spirit Stones.

  If his alchemy success rate was higher, refining seven hundred and fifty pills, the extra two hundred and fifty pills would be his.

  Selling them would bring in at least a dozen more Low Grade Spirit Stones.

  Adding it all up, that's easily forty to fifty Spirit Stones a month.

  Definitely a wealthy lifestyle.

  ***

  Thinking of the future's abundant income, Ye Chen, who had pnned to do nothing, felt rejuvenated.

  In his past life, he was a state-owned enterprise employee with stable benefits.

  In this life, he was an alchemist with a system.

  Refining pills occasionally, plus the system's tenfold feedback.

  It was like taking off instantly...

  His luck was indeed good.