Ascending from the mortal realm to become an immortal begins with taking charge of a grotto-heaven.

A moment later, Zhang Li returned to his small courtyard on Lingze Peak.

Seven years have passed in the blink of an eye. Because no one has taken care of it, weeds have grown in the cracks of the bluestone in the courtyard, and dust has settled in the two rooms.

Zhang Li made a hand seal, controlling the magical artifact to clear away all the weeds in the courtyard. Then, he flicked his finger and sent out a wisp of green flame to burn the grass roots in the cracks.

Then he carefully cleaned half of the house, inside and out, and the courtyard was finally restored to its state before he left.

Zhang Li breathed a long sigh of relief, which also improved his mood considerably.

I fetched some water to wash away the dust of the journey and finally got a good night's sleep in my long-missed bed.

The next morning, melodious bells rang out from the summit.

Zhang Li got up, tidied himself up, and headed towards the Dharma Practice Platform on the back mountain.

This time, unlike before when he could only meditate on the edge, he walked straight through the group of disciples and sat down in the very center.

The other disciples, who were also sitting cross-legged in the middle, glanced at the unfamiliar face and secretly sized up this fellow disciple who had suddenly appeared.

Within moments, they reached almost the same conclusion.

"This fellow disciple is young enough to be troublesome."

Despite the stares of the crowd, Zhang Li remained unmoved, sitting quietly cross-legged.

"Buzz-"

A buzzing sound rang out, and the Spirit Gathering Array slowly lit up, causing the surrounding spiritual energy to rapidly converge towards the Dharma Performance Platform.

The disciples also closed their eyes and began to cultivate.

This was Zhang Li's first time cultivating in the very center of the Dharma Hall during morning lessons, but the effect of the Spirit Gathering Array was not as good as he had imagined, and to be honest, he was somewhat disappointed.

This feeling is like that sugar figurine you longed for as a child, only to find it cloyingly sweet and sticky when you actually put it in your mouth.

When Zhang Li first entered the sect, he could only squeeze into the corner at the very edge of the Dharma Practice Platform, looking up at the central position through the shadows of many people. But when he finally had the strength to sit in this area, he found that it was no different from sitting on the edge before.

This might be Zhang Li's last time cultivating in the Dharma Platform. It no longer brings him any benefit, and coming here again would only be a waste of time.

After the morning class, Zhang Li left the Dharma Hall without looking back, much to the annoyance of some disciples who had hoped to make his acquaintance.

Just as Zhang Li was about to return to his courtyard, a young girl chased after him from behind.

"Senior Brother Zhang, please wait."

The female disciple was about fourteen or fifteen years old, wearing a light green dress, with her hair tied in two buns. She was running in a hurry, and her cheeks were slightly flushed.

"Huh! You are...?"

Zhang Li stopped and turned around to look at her. He felt that the woman looked familiar, especially her eyebrows and eyes. He felt that he had seen her somewhere before.

"Greetings, Senior Brother Zhang. My name is Lu Ning, and I am Lu Ran's younger sister."

The girl took two deep breaths to calm herself down and then spoke quickly.

"So she's Senior Sister Lu's younger sister. No wonder her features seemed somewhat familiar."

Hearing Lu Ning's words, Zhang Li finally understood where the familiarity in the girl's eyes came from, and said:

"I had heard Senior Sister Lu mention before that she has a younger sister who will be coming to Qingxuan Sect to cultivate in a while. Today I finally got to meet her."

After finishing his sentence, he turned and asked:

"What brings you here today?"

Zhang Li didn't expect Lu Ning to come looking for her for no reason; perhaps she was just relaying a message for Lu Ran.

At the trading meeting, besides Su Qinghe, the person he was most familiar with was Lu Ran. Lu Ran was a spirit talisman master, and he was an alchemist.

The talismans Lu Ran drew were of very high quality, and the pills he refined were also excellent. The two had traded privately several times, and as the transactions increased, they became acquainted.

"I heard from my sister that Senior Brother Zhang is a very skilled alchemist, so I would like to ask him to help me refine a kind of pill."

As he spoke, Lu Ning took out a pill formula and handed it over, then said:

"The pill I would like to ask you to refine is the one recorded in this pill formula, called the Beauty Pill. Consider the pill formula as part of your payment for refining it. In addition, could you please tell me how many spirit stones you would like to charge extra?"

Zhang Li took the pill formula and glanced at it. The Nourishing Beauty Pill was a mid-grade first-level pill, but it required more spiritual herbs, and the difficulty of refining it was naturally higher than that of the Qi Condensation Pill, but it was not difficult for him.

"Alright, I'll take this job. As for extra spirit stones, we don't need them; the value of this pill formula is already sufficient."

"Really? Thank you, Senior Brother Zhang."

Upon hearing this, Lu Ning's eyes lit up instantly. He bowed deeply, his gratitude almost overflowing.

"You're too kind. I'm just doing this for the money. You can come and pick up the pills in half a month."

Zhang Li said in a calm tone.

"Thank you very much, Senior Brother Zhang." Lu Ning thanked him again and then jogged away.

Just as Lu Ning's figure disappeared into the mountain path, a tall figure emerged from the other side.

"Senior Sister Lu, it's been a long time." Zhang Li clasped his hands in greeting to the newcomer.

The person who arrived was Lu Ran, still dressed in that familiar outfit, looking dashing and heroic.

"I'm sorry to have troubled you, junior brother," Lu Ran said. "My sister has only been cultivating for a few years, she's simple-minded, and doesn't quite understand the rules of the cultivation world."

As she spoke, Lu Ran took out a storage bag and handed it over.

"These are the medicinal herbs needed to refine the beauty-enhancing pill, and the spirit stones needed for my junior brother to refine the pill."

Zhang Li waved his hand and said, "There's no need for that. I don't do business at a loss. The formula for the Beauty Elixir is worth the price."

Seeing that Zhang Li was determined not to take it, Lu Ran had no choice but to put the storage bag away.

The two chatted for a few more minutes before Lu Ran said goodbye and left.

"These two sisters are quite interesting."

After saying that, he turned around and walked back to his own courtyard.

……

As Zhang Li said, he never does business at a loss, and the beauty-enhancing pill formula is indeed very valuable.

The beauty-enhancing pill only has the effect of improving appearance and nourishing the skin, but he was right about something he said in his previous life.

Women's money is the easiest to earn.

This statement also applies to the world of cultivation.

In fact, most female cultivators who have achieved success in their cultivation are not bad-looking. While not every one of them is stunningly beautiful, their skin and bones, nourished by spiritual energy, are mostly upright and have outstanding charm.

Any one of them could easily outshine any beautiful woman he had ever seen in his past life.

However, the love of beauty is a woman's nature, and this not only did not disappear in female cultivators, but was amplified even more.

The higher a female cultivator's cultivation level, the more she cares about her appearance.

This has led to the consistently high prices of elixirs that can improve appearance and nourish the skin, sometimes even exceeding those of elixirs of the same grade used to aid cultivation.

Among these pills, the one most sought after by female cultivators is called the Youth-Preserving Pill. It is said that once this pill is taken, one's appearance will remain unchanged at the moment the pill was taken, and will no longer be affected by lifespan.

With such an effect, even Zhang Li himself wanted to take one and try it.

Having experience in refining Qi Condensation Pills, Zhang Li successfully refined Beauty Pills after only a few attempts.

Finally, right on time, the agreed-upon finished product was handed over to Lu Ning.