"Forgive me, Junior Brother Fang. I got a bit carried away." Tian Ruifeng had only managed to calm himself a little. "Junior Brother, you're my lucky star."
"You flatter me, Senior Brother Tian. It has little to do with me; it's all thanks to your own ability," Fang Yun replied with a smile, then offered his congratulations. "Let me be the first to congratulate you on growing a Mutated Purple Corn. I hope you'll soon become a Spirit Plant Master."
"Good, good, good!"
Tian Ruifeng said "good" three times in a row.
"I have some things to attend to, so I'll take my leave now."
"Mm."
After Fang Yun left, Tian Ruifeng's gaze remained fixed on the mutating Purple Corn stalk.
Once Fang Yun's figure had completely disappeared, he couldn't help but start dancing for joy on the Spirit Field, letting out all his pent-up excitement.
'That was so embarrassing in front of Junior Brother Fang. I didn't act like a senior brother at all.'
'How am I supposed to lecture Junior Brother Fang in the future?'
As time went on, Tian Ruifeng gradually calmed down.
Once he was calm, a question occurred to him.
'Wait, that's not right. This Purple Corn stalk showed no signs at all yesterday, so how did it start mutating today…' Most of the time, there were omens before a plant mutated, and these omens could appear in many forms.
Over the years, Tian Ruifeng had seen such omens no fewer than ten times, yet not once had a plant actually mutated.
'Maybe Junior Brother Fang really is my lucky star.'
Saying this in a state of excitement versus saying it in a state of calm carried two completely different meanings.
At that very moment,
Fang Yun, who had just returned to his residence, received a notification.
Sect Influence 1%↑
Ever since the Sect Influence bonus calculation had been enabled, there had been a separate interface for it.
Upon receiving the notification, Fang Yun hurriedly opened the light screen.
[Celestial Cloud Sect]
Sect Level: 3
Sect Position: Outer Sect Disciple
Sect Influence: 1%
The information regarding his Sect Influence on the light screen was no longer 0%.
Fang Yun had no trouble understanding this change.
The only thing that had happened so far today was Senior Brother Tian's Purple Corn stalk mutating under his care, after which the excited Senior Brother Tian had expressed his gratitude.
'Senior Brother Tian will most likely have no problem becoming a Spirit Plant Master for the Sect. It must be my relationship with him that allows me to indirectly influence the Sect, which is why my Sect Influence changed.'
Fang Yun couldn't help but think to himself.
'A Spirit Plant Master has a certain amount of influence in the Sect.'
Fang Yun categorized influence into two types: direct and indirect.
Based on his experience, whether it was direct or indirect, any action that affected the Sect would increase his influence within it.
Direct influence was affecting the Sect through one's own strength and abilities.
Indirect influence was when one's own strength and abilities were insufficient, and one affected the Sect through connections—also known as leveraging the influence of others.
'The first percentage point was probably the easiest to get. It's only going to get harder from here on out.'
From this change in influence, Fang Yun could easily deduce that Senior Brother Tian now held him in very high regard.
Fang Yun patted his face to calm himself down.
'This isn't the time to celebrate.'
'My first goal is to reach 10% Sect Influence before becoming an Inner Sect Disciple. I still have nine percentage points to go.'
'I'll celebrate after I reach my goal.'
Now, it was time to look at the Pill Formula for the Qi Nourishing Pill.
With this in mind, Fang Yun took the Qi Nourishing Pill Formula from his Storage Pouch and began to read it, word by word.
Qi Nourishing Pill.
Main Spirit Medicine: one stalk of Qi Nourishing Grass.
Auxiliary Spirit Medicines: three Wulong Beans, nine petals of a Little Pure Flower, half a stalk of Wind-facing Grass, and six ounces of Eight-corner Root.
This was one of the simplest pills, yet it still required five different ingredients.
Qi Nourishing Grass, Little Pure Flower, and Wind-facing Grass were all Tier One Lower Grade Spirit Medicines, while Wulong Bean and Eight-corner Root could only be considered Half-Spirit Medicines.
Fang Yun had learned from *Preliminary Understanding of Alchemy* that Half-Spirit Medicines could not be used as the main Spirit Medicine for refining a pill.
Both Little Pure Flower and Wind-facing Grass could potentially be main Spirit Medicines for other pills, but he didn't have the corresponding Pill Formulas at the moment.
Any plant classified as a Tier One Lower Grade Spirit Medicine had been validated by its use in a pill.
For example, Spirit Rice like Clear Water Rice and Purple Corn could be used to refine Grain Avoidance Pills. Although *Preliminary Understanding of Alchemy* didn't contain the Pill Formula for Grain Avoidance Pills, it did state that most Tier One Spirit Rice were good materials for refining them.
「Three days later.」
Fang Yun decided to try refining the Qi Nourishing Pill.
His brain might say "I get it," but his hands would probably just raise a big question mark.
Just looking at the Pill Formula definitely wouldn't be enough. *Preliminary Understanding of Alchemy* said that every successful Alchemy Master was built on a mountain of countless failures.
Even with his two-star Alchemy Talent, Fang Yun couldn't guarantee he would succeed in refining the Qi Nourishing Pill on his first try. However, if he couldn't succeed even once in three attempts, he would have to re-evaluate the difference each star of talent made.
Normally, a two-star Alchemy Talent should be more than enough to refine pills for the Qi Refining Stage.
"Senior Brother Tian, I'm heading out."
"See you tomorrow, Junior Brother Fang."
After discovering the Mutated Purple Corn stalk, Tian Ruifeng had become exceptionally warm towards him.
Every morning when he arrived, Tian Ruifeng would take the initiative to greet him; previously, as the junior brother, he had always been the one to do it.
Fang Yun observed that Tian Ruifeng would now tend to one plot of Purple Corn, immediately return to the Mutated Purple Corn stalk to check on it, and then move on to the next plot, repeating this cycle endlessly.
Watching Tian Ruifeng, Fang Yun suspected he probably didn't even go back at night, instead staying to guard the Spirit Field and watch over the Mutated Purple Corn stalk.
At Tian Ruifeng's age, there was basically no hope of reaching Foundation Establishment, so it seemed there wasn't much point in going back to cultivate anyway.
Today was the day he would refine the Qi Nourishing Pill.
After leaving the Spirit Field, Fang Yun didn't return to his residence but went to the Disciple Marketplace first.
After receiving one Lower Grade Spirit Stone and ten pounds of Clear Water Rice at the beginning of the month, he now had ten Lower Grade Spirit Stones on him.
Fang Yun had already inquired about renting a place for Alchemy on Dan Cloud Peak.
Even the lowest-grade Alchemy Room cost one Lower Grade Spirit Stone per day.
So, coming to the Disciple Marketplace, he couldn't spend all the Spirit Stones he had; he needed to save one or two to rent an Alchemy Room.
Fang Yun first spotted a stall selling Qi Nourishing Grass.
The senior brother at the stall was resting with his eyes closed. A sign next to him read:
Cheap Qi Nourishing Grass for Sale.
One stalk: 1 Lower Grade Spirit Stone, 4 pounds of Clear Water Rice.
There was no such thing as half a Spirit Stone, or a tenth of a Spirit Stone.
Grain, a hard currency in the mortal world, was also a hard currency for transactions between Low Tier Cultivators.
Clear Water Rice made up for the drawback of not having tenths of a Spirit Stone, and many transactions between Low Tier Cultivators were conducted using Clear Water Rice.
"Senior Brother, could I please see the Qi Nourishing Grass?"
"Of course, Junior Brother."
The stall-owning senior brother, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them. Upon seeing Fang Yun, he immediately put on a business-like expression.
Fang Yun glanced at the Qi Nourishing Grass the senior brother took out and couldn't help but comment.
"This is inferior-grade Qi Nourishing Grass."