I rely on learning to achieve immortality.

"It's been a long time since I've seen you; you've really impressed me."

"We've only been doing this for a few years, not even ten years."

"As the senior disciple, I'm still working as a miner, just a nobody in the sect. My junior brother, on the other hand, is getting more and more influential at the Hundred Herbs Hall; he can even produce spiritual herbs like Qi-Inducing Dew now!"

Li Zelei held the porcelain bottle containing the Qi-Inducing Dew in his hand, looking at Xu Zhou with continuous sighs.

Xu Zhou smiled and shook his head: "Senior brother, don't tease me. This Qi-inducing Dew was obtained by chance, and it may not be available often in the future."

"I see," Li Zelei said, his face showing gratitude. "Thank you for the gift, Junior Brother!"

He put the jade bottle into his storage bag, then suddenly looked worried.

Xu Zhou asked in confusion, and after a long while, Li Zelei sighed and smiled:

"I just remembered that I casually mentioned wanting to break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining before, and this time my junior brother brought me Qi-Inducing Dew. If I take this from you for nothing, I won't be able to get past this hurdle myself."

After thinking for a long time, I really couldn't come up with anything suitable, so I'm ashamed.

Xu Zhou smiled slightly: "Senior brother, there's no need to worry. The Qi-Inducing Dew isn't of much use to me. Giving it to you is just doing you a favor. You can just give me some contribution points."

"That won't do."

Li Zelei shook his head repeatedly: "The path of cultivation also emphasizes the clarity of thought. You're asking me to accept this generous gift for nothing, wouldn't that just cause me to develop inner demons later?"

Xu Zhou tentatively asked, "Then, senior brother, why don't you thank me later?"

Li Zelei hesitated for a long time, then shook his head repeatedly: "That won't do. If we don't repay this kindness now, who knows what we'll have to repay in the future."

He pondered for a moment, then suddenly a slight smile appeared on his lips: "I've got it."

He patted his storage bag, and in the next moment, a palm-sized white lotus flower landed in his hand, emitting a faint fragrance that invigorated the spirit.

Li Zelei said somewhat smugly, "Junior brother, this is what I obtained in the secluded valley. How about I give it to you to exchange for Qi-Inducing Dew?"

Xu Zhou, however, looked grave: "The Snow Lotus? This thing is too precious; I can't accept it."

He read through the medicine classics and instantly recognized the origin of this item. He knew that the Snow Lotus was the main ingredient of a high-grade elixir, and could even be added to second-tier elixirs as an auxiliary ingredient. It was extremely rare and its value far exceeded that of the Qi-Inducing Dew.

It's truly unexpected that Li Zelei's adventure would yield such a rich harvest, even including the Snow Lotus.

He only wanted to sell the Qi-Inducing Dew for a good price, but he never expected to accept something so valuable yet useless to him.

Li Zelei smiled but did not retract his words: "Junior brother, look carefully, this Snow Lotus is not a complete specimen."

He sighed and said, "I stumbled upon this thing in the secluded valley that day, with a toad-like monster beside it. I devised a plan to lure it away, but the monster saw through my plan and returned while I was picking it, and in my haste, I damaged the lotus root."

When I returned and inquired with the sect, I learned that the Nether Snow Lotus had suffered root damage, immediately reducing its value several times over; it could no longer be considered a treasure.

He shook his head regretfully, "This stuff isn't very valuable nowadays, barely enough to qualify as Qi-Inducing Dew. It just so happens that my junior brother is an alchemist at Hundred Herbs Hall; perhaps he can make use of it?"

Xu Zhou observed carefully and indeed saw a clearly damaged root beneath the white lotus.

Li Zelei is right. With its roots damaged, the snow lotus has lost its medicinal properties and is now worth less than 20% of its original value.

In summary, the value of the Snow Lotus is still above that of the Qi-Inducing Dew, but the difference is only slight.

He was still hesitating, but Li Zelei looked angry, so he had no choice but to accept it.

"Then I thank you in advance, Senior Brother."

After bidding farewell to Senior Brother Li, Xu Zhou returned to Baicaotang and went straight to the pharmacy to exchange for several Yin-type medicinal herbs.

Afterwards, taking advantage of the fact that no one was in the alchemy room today, I found some medicine-making tools inside and processed the medicinal materials I had one by one, refining them into liquid.

What he made was just ordinary yin-type spiritual water, which had many uses. He was very skilled at making it and quickly finished making it, accumulating a full basin of it.

After bringing the basin of spiritual water back to his residence, he took out a white lotus from his storage bag and placed it inside.

When the snow lotus fell into the spiritual water, it initially showed no change.

Xu Zhou frowned slightly, almost thinking he had made a mistake.

A moment later, the snow lotus's fragrance faded, as if it had lost all its special qualities and turned into an ordinary lotus flower.

Upon seeing this, Xu Zhou was secretly delighted.

"As expected, the Yin-Yang spiritual water worked!"

"If I remember correctly, if the roots of the Snow Lotus are damaged, it can be placed in Yin-Yang spiritual water, and there is a chance that its medicinal properties will be slowly restored."

"Although it can never be fully restored, with long-term care, it can still recover to 30-40% of its original level."

Xu Zhou was initially worried that the knowledge he had memorized might be useless.

In retrospect, it seems that reading this medical text was not in vain.

Even if the Snow Lotus can only recover to a little over 30% of its medicinal properties, its value has almost doubled. Crafting Yin-Yang spiritual water is hardly a cost to him; the investment is small, but the return is large.

It's unclear why the person Li Zelei asked didn't tell him this. Perhaps they hadn't fully grasped the knowledge, or perhaps they saw that Li Zelei didn't understand and wanted to take advantage of the situation to lower the price, but ended up benefiting themselves instead.

Overjoyed, Xu Zhou looked at the lotus flowers in the pot, and his mood gradually calmed down.

It will probably take quite some time for the Snow Lotus to regain its medicinal properties.

Fortunately, I can afford to wait.

...

Time flies, and two years have passed in the blink of an eye.

In the past two years, several significant events have occurred at the Golden Flame Sect.

The main event was a grand competition held within the inner sect, with the winner receiving a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Within the inner sect, all disciples below the Qi Refining stage were going crazy for this. Their daily conversations almost always revolved around who would receive the Foundation Establishment Pill, constantly debating who would ultimately claim this reward.

Xu Zhou stayed at Baicaotang all day and didn't care about this at all, but he couldn't help but hear people discussing it everywhere he went.

The inner disciples fought fiercely for the Foundation Establishment Pill, even leading to several feuds. Fortunately, the sect maintained strict control, preventing a major incident.

Finally, the Foundation Establishment Pill found its home.

To Xu Zhou's surprise, the cultivator who obtained the Foundation Establishment Pill was actually Xiao Bing's uncle.

It is said that this person kept a low profile in the early stages of the inner sect competition, and almost no one regarded him as a champion candidate. However, things took an unexpected turn, and in the end, he was the one who won the Foundation Establishment Pill.

Two months later, news came that Xiao Bing's uncle had successfully broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage after taking the Foundation Establishment Pill, and had actually become a Foundation Establishment cultivator. He thus crossed the level and became a new Foundation Establishment elder in the sect.

After the news spread, Xiao Bing immediately resigned from his apprenticeship. No one at Baicaotang dared to keep him, and they all smiled and respectfully saw him off.

Xu Zhou didn't pay much attention to this, after all, he and Xiao Bing were very distant, and they didn't interact much.

Unexpectedly, just half a day later, when he saw Ke Yanfeng again, he found that the other party was full of vigor and had actually changed into a butler's uniform!

"Don't panic."

Ke Yanfeng snorted coldly, but couldn't help smiling: "Making a fuss over nothing, what kind of behavior is this?"

"I have been with Baicaotang for over twenty years, working hard until now. It is only natural that I have been appointed as a steward."

Over the next two weeks, Senior Brother Ke gradually couldn't hold back any longer and revealed some details in his words. Xu Zhou pieced these details together, thus reconstructing the general process of the sect's turmoil.

It turns out that the sect's Foundation Establishment Pill comes from an elder within the sect who is skilled in alchemy, and the moment the elder refines the pill, the inner sect competition will enter its final stage.

Whoever gets this information will gain the upper hand in the final stage.

Although Ke Yanfeng was young in Baicaotang, he was quite talented and had good luck in his early years, having some interactions with this elder in the sect.

This time, he actually learned about the Foundation Establishment Pill before anyone else, and eventually let Xiao Bing's uncle know, thus gaining the upper hand.

The position of steward is just a side benefit; the future benefits will be endless. No wonder even Senior Brother Ke, who is usually aloof, couldn't help but laugh.

Upon learning of this, Xu Zhou simply shook his head and chuckled to himself, not taking it seriously.

With the turmoil subsided, the Golden Flame Sect should also return to its former tranquility.

Xu Zhou is also planning to take his own step.

He has been a disciple for nearly ten years, and now that he is trying to become an alchemist, it will no longer attract attention.

Moreover, he only needs to contact Senior Brother Ke to submit his application. Although this seemingly cold-faced senior brother is strict in his daily life, he is actually generous and kind at heart, and he probably won't make things difficult for him.

Of course, he also knew the rules of Baicaotang, and he had to prepare a gift.

Xu Zhou's gaze fell on the snow lotus in the corner of the wall.

I've raised it for two years; it should come in handy soon.