Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

Chapter 259 Recruitment
The Wuchen Mountains are about ten miles long. They are insignificant on the continent of Jiuxianzhou, but on the Yuqing Sea, they are considered medium-sized mountains.

In the middle of the mountain range, there is an extremely steep peak over 300 feet high. The mountain is covered with green pines and ancient cypresses. A waterfall hangs down like a white silk ribbon, pouring into a deep pool, stirring up bursts of water mist.

A beam of light flew in from afar, landed on the top of the mountain, and a human figure appeared.

This man was dressed in silk and looked to be only about twenty years old. He was extremely handsome, with a surge of spiritual energy and the cultivation level of the late foundation building stage.

His name was Lu Yuan, the eldest son of the Lu family and the grandson of the head of the family, Lu Gui. He had a graceful temperament, but now he looked respectful and restrained his energy. He walked quickly to a mountain wall and said respectfully, "Fifth uncle, I am here to pay my respects to you."

There are two stone doors on the mountain wall. Outside the door is a bluestone shaped like a lying cow with a smooth and flat back. On it are a chessboard and two chess pots. The chess pieces are scattered on the chessboard, as if they were casually brushed away by someone, but one can still vaguely see the strict and tight formation.

As the young monk finished speaking, the stone door slowly opened, and a figure walked out of the cave, sat on one end of the Lying Cow Stone, and said with a smile: "Come, play a game of hand with Uncle Wu."

This was a middle-aged man, about forty years old, dressed in white and wearing a pair of hemp shoes. He was extremely simple and had an elegant appearance. He did not exude any spiritual energy and seemed like an ordinary person.

But the young monk did not dare to be presumptuous in front of the middle-aged man. He sat at the other end of the Lying Cow Stone with his body straight and his expression solemn.

The middle-aged man is named Lu Qing, and he is one of the three Jindan Zhenren of the Lu family. Because the head of the family, Lu Gui, has a profound cultivation and is in seclusion all year round, and the other elder is old and does not care about external affairs, he is in charge of the Lu family's mundane affairs and has great power.

Lu Qing raised his hand and flicked it, and the scattered flags on the chessboard flew into the chess pot by themselves.

Lu Yuan knew the rules of playing chess with the middle-aged man, so he was not restrained. He picked up a white piece and placed it on the board. The next moment, Lu Qing picked up a black piece and followed closely behind.

The monks were quick-witted and both sides placed their pieces at an extremely fast speed. After dozens of breaths, half of the board was filled with pieces and the pace of placement slowed down.

Lu Qing put down another black piece and suddenly asked, "Have you been to Lingdan Hall?"

"My nephew went to Lingdan Hall half a month ago and got the elixir today. Please take a look, uncle." Lu Yuan put down a white piece, then flicked his storage bag, took out a jade bottle, and handed it over with both hands.

Lu Qing thought for a moment, placed a black dot, then raised his hand, took the jade bottle into his hand, opened the stopper, and four pills flew out.

The pill is the size of a longan, bright yellow in color, with a hint of mist wrapped around its surface, as if covered by a layer of gauze, emitting a rich spiritual energy.

Lu Qing lowered his head and stared at the pill. The young cultivator gently placed a white piece and looked at the middle-aged man, not daring to speak.

After a while, Lu Qing smiled slightly: "Yes, these four Muyun Pills are rich in spiritual energy and of excellent quality."

"The Taoist Zi Yang is only at the middle stage of foundation building, but he was able to refine four Muyun Pills with one furnace of spiritual herbs. This is quite rare even among weapon refining masters."

"If he can break through the bottleneck in the late stage, his alchemy skills should be able to improve a lot, and the success rate of alchemy may reach 60%."

He raised his hand and waved it. The four Muyun Pills returned to the jade bottle, which was stoppered and slowly fell to the side of the chessboard.

A hint of joy flashed in Lu Yuan's eyes: "Fifth Uncle, this Taoist Zi Yang is so skilled in alchemy, and my Lu family just happens to be in need of an alchemist, why not recruit him as a guest official?"

Lu Qing picked up a black piece, thought for a moment, put it on the chessboard, and said slowly: "There is no rush for this matter, let's finish this game first."

"Yes." Lu Yuan didn't dare to mention the guest official matter again. He picked up a white piece and focused all his attention on the game in front of him.

The game of chess was quickly finished, and Lu Qing won a great victory. He raised his hand and casually flicked the chess pieces, and said, "Tomorrow I will go to Lingdan Hall in person to meet the Taoist Ziyang, and then we will make a decision."

Lu Yuan showed a happy expression: "Thank you for the trip, Uncle Wu."

Lu Qing nodded slightly, stood up and left the Woniu Stone, walked into the cave, and the stone door slowly closed behind him.

With a smile on his face, Lu Yuan rode on a beam of light and flew towards his own cave.

A year ago, a Lingdan Hall suddenly appeared in the market of Wuchen Island. However, it did not sell elixirs. Instead, a young Taoist named "Zi Yang" sat in the hall, specializing in refining elixirs for people.

The news spread quickly, and three monks from the Lu family who were worried about the elixir came to ask the Taoist Zi Yang to help them make elixirs.

The cultivation base of these three people are all in the early stage of foundation building, and they are also the new foundation building cultivators after the Lu family destroyed the Haiyan Sect.

Taoist Zi Yang successively refined five bottles of early foundation-building pills for the three people, with a success rate of 60%, which soon caused a sensation in the Lu family.

Lu Dongji, the only alchemy master of the Lu family, had a success rate of only 40% in refining pills for the early stage of foundation building. Taoist Zi Yang was 20% higher than him, and the difference was obvious.

There are only two alchemy masters in the entire Qingliu Sea who have such attainments in alchemy.

Moreover, the reward for this Taoist Zi Yang for refining a furnace of pills was only one pill, unlike the other two alchemy masters who asked for a large amount of spirit stones. This immediately attracted more cultivators from the Lu family to come and ask Taoist Zi Yang to refine pills, including two cultivators in the middle stage of foundation building.

Lu Dongji gave priority to refining pills for cultivators in the late stage of foundation building. It would take him a lot of time to recover his spiritual consciousness, so he could refine even fewer pills. Many cultivators in the middle stage of foundation building had a lot of spiritual herbs in their hands, but they couldn't make pills. The appearance of Taoist Zi Yang just solved their urgent needs.

Taoist Zi Yang also accepted everyone who came to him, and refined all the spiritual herbs from them into pills, with a success rate of 60%, which made these people all smile.

As the eldest son of the Lu family and the one who holds the power of the eldest house, Lu Yuan naturally heard about Taoist Zi Yang.

He was not short of elixirs. Lu Dongji would never neglect anyone, and he had already refined all the spiritual herbs in his hands into elixirs. His cultivation had made rapid progress in the past ten years and was close to the peak of foundation building.

But he had long been dissatisfied with Lu Dongji's alchemy skills. The success rate of refining elixirs in the early and middle stages of foundation building was only 40%, and the success rate of refining elixirs in the late stage of foundation building was only 30%. A large number of spiritual herbs were wasted, and the efficiency of alchemy was still very low.

Before, the Lu family only had this one alchemy master and could only endure his poor alchemy skills. But the appearance of Taoist Zi Yang gave the Lu family monks a better choice. They were more willing to ask Taoist Zi Yang to make alchemy. Even Lu Yuan was tempted.

If we invite Taoist Zi Yang to be a guest official, wouldn't the alchemy problem that has troubled the Lu family for a long time be easily solved?

In fact, after destroying the Haiyan Sect, the Lu family had the idea of ​​inviting an alchemy master to serve as a guest official. However, most of the alchemy masters in the Qingliu Sea Area were like Lu Dongji, who were trained by other sects and families.

There were only two alchemy masters who were independent practitioners, but they were impatient with being constrained and had no shortage of spirit stones, so they were unwilling to serve as guests of the Lu family.

So even though Lu Yuan had this idea, he did not act rashly, but reported the matter to Lu Qing, who was in charge of the Lu family's secular affairs.

As a Jindan cultivator, although Lu Qing was nominally in charge of the Lu family's secular affairs, he was mainly in seclusion for cultivation, and most of the Lu family's secular affairs were handled by the foundation-building cultivators below. After he learned about the matter of Taoist Ziyang, he ordered Lu Yuan to take a furnace of spiritual herbs for Muyun Dan and ask Taoist Ziyang to make the elixir.

Muyun Pill is a late stage foundation building pill, and it is quite difficult to refine.

The cultivators of the Lu family who had previously asked Taoist Zi Yang to refine pills had only reached the middle stage of the foundation building stage at most, and the most they had asked him to refine were the middle stage foundation building pills. The Muyun Pill was the first type of late stage foundation building pill.

Lu Yuan knew that Lu Qing wanted to further investigate the alchemy skills of Taoist Zi Yang.

Taoist Zi Yang did not disappoint. His 50% pill success rate was 20% higher than Lu Dongji's, and was considered top-notch in the entire Qingliu Sea.

Tomorrow Lu Qing will personally take action. As long as he hires Taoist Zi Yang as a guest official, the Lu family's predicament of shortage of elixirs will be greatly alleviated. And Lu Yuan, who proposed this idea, can also win a considerable share for the eldest house.

……

The next day, at Wuchen Island Market, Lingdan Hall.

With a kind heart and skillful hands, he refines elixirs, and his magical powers are revealed with one furnace.

Lu Qing glanced at the couplet, nodded slightly, and walked into the hall.

The walls of Lingdan Hall were clean and smooth, without any furnishings except for a cushion on which sat a young Taoist priest with his eyes slightly closed and a calm expression.

When Lu Qing walked in, the young Taoist opened his eyes and smiled gently: "Does this Taoist friend want to make an elixir?"

Lu Qing's eyes paused on the hideous scar on the young Taoist's left face, and he smiled and said, "I am not here to make pills."

As he spoke, he released his aura, and the pressure of a Jindan cultivator emanated from him, filling the Lingdan Hall, and the air seemed to become heavy.

The young Taoist priest showed a look of surprise, stood up from the mat, and saluted: "Zi Yang greets you, Senior. May I ask your name?"

"I'm Lu Qing." Lu Qing spread out his consciousness, and the young Taoist's restrained aura did not fool him. His cultivation in the middle stage of foundation building was the same as what Lu Yuan said, and he could not help but nodded secretly.

The young Taoist said respectfully, "So you are Master Lu Qing. I have long heard of your great name. I am glad to see you here. What can I do for you?"

Lu Qing did not speak. He looked at the simple furnishings in the hall and said apologetically, "This is a simple shop. I hope you will forgive me for the poor hospitality."

He flicked the storage bag at his waist, took out a cushion and placed it on the ground.

Lu Qing didn't care and sat down on the cushion directly. The young Taoist also sat down.

The two sat opposite each other, and Lu Qing said with a smile: "Daoyou Ziyang refined pills for several cultivators of my Lu family, and only took one pill as a reward. My Lu family has taken advantage of Daoyou a lot, so naturally we have to show our appreciation. Today, I am here for this reason."

After saying this, the mustard seed ring on his left wrist flashed slightly, and two high-quality spirit stones appeared out of thin air in front of him and flew towards the young Taoist.

The cultivators of the Lu family brought their own spiritual herbs when they asked Taoist Zi Yang to make the elixir. Two high-quality spiritual stones were definitely enough as a reward for his alchemy.

The young Taoist took the spiritual stone and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Senior. I would be honored to refuse it."

Lu Qing was startled. He did not expect the young Taoist to accept the spirit stone so readily. He could not say the prepared words anymore. After a moment, he said, "Fellow Taoist, you are not a cultivator from Qingliu Sea Area, right?"

The young Taoist put the two high-quality spirit stones into his storage bag and replied, "Yes, I came from Frost Star City."

Lu Qing frowned and looked at the young Taoist priest with a look of scrutiny in his eyes: "Your alchemy skills are so superb, you should be able to thrive in Hanxing City. Why did you come to Wuchen Island to open a spiritual alchemy hall and make alchemy for others?"

The young Taoist smiled bitterly and said, "I have offended an elder of the Righteous Alliance and cannot gain a foothold in Frost Star City. I had no choice but to leave Wentian Island and flee all the way here. I am short of spiritual stones and have no spiritual herbs in my hands."

"I learned by chance in Fengyun Tower that the Lu family lacked alchemists. The cultivators in the family had spiritual herbs but could not make elixirs, so I opened the Spiritual Alchemy Hall to specialize in making elixirs for people."

“However, I am not well-known in the Qingliu Sea Area, and I am afraid that there will be no business, so I dare not ask for more compensation. I just want to raise some spirit stones and elixirs, and then leave.”

Lu Qing nodded slightly, and his eyes towards the young Taoist became much gentler.

He originally had some doubts about Taoist Zi Yang. After all, an alchemy master would never be short of spiritual stones no matter where he was. Yet, he opened a spiritual pill hall on a small island and asked for such a low reward. However, it would make sense if he had offended the elders of the Righteous Alliance.

Wuchen Island is a certain distance away from the sea area under the jurisdiction of the Righteousness League, and the Lu family on the island is a subsidiary family of the Zhenhai Sect, so the Righteousness League cannot reach out.

Moreover, since Taoist Zi Yang had offended the elders of the Righteousness League, he certainly didn't dare to make pills for people on a large scale, for fear that his reputation would spread and attract the attention of the elders of the Righteousness League. It was reasonable for him to live in seclusion on the small island of Wuchen Island.

Lu Qing said: "So, 'Zi Yang' is not your Taoist name?"

The young Taoist looked embarrassed and said, "Please forgive me, I have changed my appearance and cannot tell you my previous name."

Lu Qing glanced at the hideous scar on his left cheek and said with a smile, "It's okay. I was rude."

"To be honest, I came here to invite you to be my guest at the Lu family. What do you think?"

The young Taoist seemed to have expected this. He remained calm and hesitated for a moment: "Thank you for your kindness, senior. It's just that I have offended the elder of the Righteous Alliance..."

Lu Qing smiled and said, "Has Taoist Zi Yang ever offended the elders of the Righteous Alliance?"

The young Taoist's eyes lit up and he shook his head: "That's not the case."

Lu Qing smiled and said, "If that's the case, what does my Lu family have to fear?"

The young Taoist laughed and said, "Senior, you are right. I will respectfully obey your command."

It was already very late when I finished writing it, so I decided to publish it in the morning.

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(End of this chapter)