Shen Yuan Ring

Sun Shang said, "Ru Shuang, spread the word. From today onwards, Senior Brother will be the honorary steward of our Daoshu City Pill Hall branch."

Ji Daoyi did not resist, after all, his status as an honorary steward of the Pill Hall carried considerable weight among the major forces in Daoshu City.

Liu Rushuang stood up and bowed, saying, "Yes, Minister, I'll arrange it right away!"

Liu Rushuang was about to take this opportunity to leave, as she didn't want to hear too many of the minister's secrets!

Ji Daoyi quickly called out to Liu Rushuang, "Deacon Liu, wait a moment, Minister..."

Liu Rushuang "-.-..."

Sun Shang interrupted, feigning anger, "Senior brother, just call me Sun Shang or junior brother. Calling me Minister again shows you're looking down on me, so don't push me to my limit!"

"Ah...that's not what I meant, junior brother."

"That's right." Sun Shang chuckled.

(With this connection from my junior brother, he can put in a good word for me with Master, and then I can become his disciple!)

Ji Daoyi voiced his concerns: "Junior Brother, I think it's better not to reveal my identity for now. After all, I'm only ten years old, and I'm only at the Body Refinement Realm. I don't want to be targeted by people with ulterior motives so early."

Sun Shang slapped his forehead, feeling ashamed, and said, "It was my oversight, Junior Brother. How about this: we'll announce the addition of honorary deacons, but we won't reveal your identity information. You can contact Ru Shuang directly for any needs you may have in the future, and she will handle it."

"Then thank you very much, junior brother. I'll be troubling you with Steward Liu from now on."

Liu Rushuang, who was standing to the side, quickly responded!

"Junior brother, why did you ask me if I could refine high-grade pills? Besides, the Pill Hall shouldn't lack alchemists who can refine high-quality pills!"

Ji Daoyi voiced his doubts.

"Senior brother, you don't know this, although our branch has alchemists who can refine high-quality pills, they are not qualified to participate in the Youth Alchemy Exchange Conference to be held at the Southwest Pill Hall headquarters three years from now. Our branch has also trained many alchemists in the past few years, the strongest of whom has reached the low-level Pill Master level, but they can only refine medium-quality pills, and we can't even guarantee that they will succeed every time."

Sun Shang blamed himself, saying, "It's all my fault. After Master handed the branch over to me, I failed to cultivate any outstanding alchemy talents and let Master down!"

"This can't be blamed on the Minister. Daoshu City hasn't had any exceptionally talented alchemists join it for many years, which is why the Minister thought of taking the young genius from the Yao family as his apprentice this year," Liu Rushuang said helplessly.

"Is there some other explanation behind this?"

Although the Pill Palace is a top-tier power on the continent, it has always been a neutral force and never participates in the power struggles between different regions.

Furthermore, the alchemists trained by various major forces are all assessed and registered at the Pill Hall, so the Pill Hall itself has close ties with these major forces.

If the Pill Hall develops a close relationship with a certain force, that force will become stronger, which will also affect the Pill Hall's reputation for neutrality.

This is something the Pill Hall does not want to see, and it also goes against the original intention of the Pill Hall when it was first established.

The Pill Hall was originally established to provide a community for alchemists to support each other, to give all alchemists something to rely on, and to prevent them from becoming slaves of certain forces!

The reason why the Pill Hall was able to rise among the major powers, and why the major powers were able to tolerate the Pill Hall establishing branches and sub-branches in various parts of the continent, was because the Pill Hall never participated in the conflicts of other powers and maintained neutrality.

Ji Daoyi then realized that the seemingly unapproachable and colossal Pill Palace also had such an unknown side.

Sun Shang's acceptance of Yao Yuyao as his disciple made the Pill Hall branch of Daoshu City appear closer to the Yao family on the surface. Even if the Pill Hall was neutral and wouldn't secretly help the Yao family, in the eyes of others, the Pill Hall and the Yao family were in cahoots.

Decades later, when Yao Yuyao becomes the Pill King, which other force would dare not give her face? And who would dare to easily offend the Yao family?

Ji Daoyi asked in confusion, "Since Junior Brother has taken Yao Yuyao as his disciple, how can he not get a good ranking?"

"We wanted to be on the safe side, since she only managed to refine two high-grade pills in this assessment."

"Senior brother, I hope you can help me out. You have the master's true teachings, and you will definitely shine brightly in the future!"

Ji Daoyi looked helpless and had no choice but to agree to Sun Shang: "Okay~_~, I can only say I'll do my best!"

After discussing Sun Shang's matter, Ji Daoyi suddenly remembered that he had come to the Pill Hall to inquire about the alchemists dressed in black robes and veils. He had originally intended to assess a high-level alchemist to make it easier for him to gather information, but now his title as a high-level alchemist was no longer so important.

He recounted the mummified corpse incident in Shijiazhuang and the details of the investigation, hoping that Sun Shang could help him investigate whether any strange or suspicious alchemists had recently visited the Pill Hall.

Sun Shang's expression darkened slightly after hearing this, and he said, "Judging from what you've said, Senior Brother, I think it might be the work of an evil cultivator!"

"A heretical cultivator? Isn't that an alchemist?"

"These people are alchemists, but they violate the principles of alchemy. Evil cultivators attempt to use the essence and blood of living people to refine pills to break through their own limitations. Although such pills can change a person's cultivation talent and help them break through realms, they also have fatal side effects."

"What side effects?"

Long-term consumption of these pills will gradually transform them from humans into beings who are bloodthirsty and insane. Furthermore, these pills are highly addictive; stopping prematurely will result in a state that is neither human nor ghost. Therefore, they are known as heretical cultivators, and the Pill Hall absolutely forbids the existence of such alchemists.

"Then why doesn't it work when using the essence blood of demonic beasts?"

“Senior brother, you have also refined the Poria Beast Blood Pill, right? Then you should know that we only use the vitality factor in the essence blood of demon beasts and remove other components, while refining pills using the essence blood of living people does not remove any components.”

After Sun Shang's explanation, Ji Daoyi suddenly understood.

"Ru Shuang, you will be in charge of this matter personally. If necessary, assist your senior brother in eliminating such evil cultivators."

"Yes, Minister! I'll arrange it right away."

After arranging everything, Sun Shang asked, "Senior brother, what percentage of the pills you refine when you make a batch of Meridian Opening Pills are of high quality?"

"Absolutely!"

Upon hearing Ji Daoyi's nonchalant reply, Sun Shang felt as if all his strength had been drained, muttering to himself, "No wonder, no wonder!"

……

Half an hour later, Liu Rushuang returned and reported to Sun Shang: "Minister, there is indeed a rather strange alchemist in the Pill Hall recently. He always wears a black veiled hat when he comes to the Pill Hall. Since alchemists are known for their eccentricities, the receptionist is used to it and hasn't paid much attention to it."

Ji Daoyi asked, "Is he still in the Pill Hall?"