A bottle of Gathering Qi Pills contains five pills, each of which has a three-day efficacy. This means that Steward Zhang's pills are enough for him to take continuously for forty-five days.

Alaric Ye sighed inwardly, "This is a genuine rich lady of the cultivation world."

At that moment, a groggy voice came through.

"Ah... my head hurts... where am I?"

The female cultivator at the sixth level of Qi Refining from the Inner Sect finally woke up.

As she regained her senses, she quickly got up to pay her respects to Steward Zhang.

Steward Zhang conducted her routine questioning.

Only then did she realize that the entire team had been poisoned by Zhou Yuan. When she had just landed, she saw endless fog. Realizing something was wrong, she felt dizzy and blacked out.

When she woke up again, she was already on the flying boat.

Upon learning that it was the youngest and least experienced Alaric Ye who had saved everyone, she was stunned and quickly expressed her gratitude, offering a bottle of Gathering Qi Pills as a token of sincerity.

Someone bringing gifts...

Such a good thing, Alaric Ye naturally did not refuse. After all, he had saved her life, so accepting some gifts was only right.

After the Inner Sect female disciple woke up, the others gradually regained consciousness. Steward Zhang questioned two more people and, seeing that everyone's statements were identical, lost interest in further questioning.

She instructed the Inner Sect female cultivator to explain the situation to those who had woken up.

"Junior Brother Ye, thank you for saving my life. Here is a three-hundred-year-old Sword Grass as a token of my gratitude!"

"Junior Brother Ye, truly a hero in his youth. I have three more Gathering Qi Pills here, please don't disdain them!"

"Junior Brother Ye, I never thought we would be saved by you. To be honest, I used to look down on your smelly fart worm, but now I realize I was narrow-minded. Here are two low-grade flying swords for you, please accept them!"

"Junior Brother Ye..."

Upon learning that Alaric Ye was their savior, everyone expressed their gratitude, and Alaric Ye accepted all the benefits with a smile.

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Alaric Ye estimated that he had received benefits worth two to three hundred Spirit Stones from over a dozen people.

Indeed, going out is the way to make big money, and it also allows him to earn merit and improve his status within the Top Xuan Sect.

Alaric Ye didn't care about fame, but he had to care about his status within the sect. Take the five Chosen, for example; whenever the Dragon-seeking Mountain Range secret realm opens or there are large sect competitions, they can easily secure a spot.

With status, the sect will remember him when there are benefits to be had. Without status, those benefits have nothing to do with him.

Each of Alaric Ye's Spirit Insects needs to consume Spirit Herbs cultivated with Spirit Stones every day, and he also needs them for his own cultivation. He was short on money.

So far, he had not escaped the cycle of poverty.

However, the huge investment had also yielded significant returns. From Little Blue at the sixth level of Qi Refining blasting the demonic Zhou Yuan at the seventh level, to Little Strong at the eighth level of Qi Refining easily defeating the demonic cultivator of the Abstruse Dark Sect at the same level, it was clear that the money was well spent.

The Spirit Insects might not show much growth from eating a little Spirit Herb, but over the years, their mutation rate had rapidly increased, and their physical strength, mana strength, and soul strength had all improved.

The reason Alaric Ye was able to instantly refine the artifact of the Abstruse Dark Sect demonic cultivator was that he could mobilize the soul power of all his Spirit Insects through the Ancient Ring of the Insect Emperor, effectively adding the soul power of five Spirit Insects to his own.

Moreover, Little White had also cultivated the secret technique [Soul Refining Art], making her soul strength extremely formidable.

Thus, with the soul power of many Spirit Insects augmenting his own, Alaric Ye's soul strength was even more formidable!

Steward Zhang's flying boat was extremely fast, reaching the skies above the Top Xuan Sect in less than an hour.

"I need to report the situation to the mission hall first. Alaric Ye, wait in the dormitory for a few days and don't leave Spirit Beast Peak until summoned. The rest of you are free to move about."

Everyone bowed to Steward Zhang.

"Understood!"

Then they rode their flying swords and left the boat. Alaric Ye, riding the enlarged smelly fart worm Little Blue, quickly flew towards Spirit Beast Peak.

Steward Zhang stood at the bow of the boat, gazing deeply in the direction where Alaric Ye had disappeared, "The Insect Control lineage of Spirit Beast Peak has been in decline for one hundred and fifty years without producing a super Chosen..."

"This kid, though his talent is average, has an excellent temperament and character, and he is also someone with great opportunities. In the future, he might become the sixth Chosen of the Top Xuan Sect!"

"I need to go back and ask for more rewards for him, and speak well of him to the Peak Master..."

"In future sect competitions, I should bring him along to broaden his horizons."

She put away the flying boat and flew towards the mission hall in a streak of light.

...

After returning to Spirit Beast Peak, Alaric Ye carefully reviewed the entire mission process to learn from it.

Undoubtedly, the cultivation world had once again shown him its cruel and grim side.

Before he was poisoned, he could never have imagined that Senior Brother Zhou Yuan, whom he had always admired, had long been colluding with the Abstruse Dark Sect, intending to trade all their lives for a Semicentury Pill.

"I was too careless. From now on, I must never casually consume pills given by others!"

Alaric Ye kept reminding himself to be extremely cautious in the future. If Zhou Yuan had given him a lethal poison pill, he would be dead by now.

In the cultivation world, a single misstep could lead to eternal damnation!

The little white snake, which had transformed from a bracelet, crawled onto Alaric Ye's fingertip. She whispered, "Master, Little White is quite sensitive to smells. In the future, you can visit more pill shops, and Little White will memorize the scent and properties of each pill so you won't have to worry about consuming disguised poison pills."

"If that doesn't work, we can taste them for you. As spirit beasts, our physical strength and poison resistance far exceed that of humans, so we won't be easily poisoned."

Alaric Ye patted Little White's head, "It's more reliable to remember the scent and properties of the pills. If you were poisoned to death, I would feel guilty for a lifetime."

Acting on his thoughts, Alaric Ye took out all the pills from the Universe Bag.

"They gave me quite a few Gathering Qi Pills earlier. Smell these first and see if there's anything wrong with them."

Alaric Ye opened each pill bottle and placed them in front of Little White's tongue.

A snake's organ for detecting taste is not its nostrils but its tongue.

Before long, Little White had finished distinguishing them.

"Master, these pills are all fine. There are only some differences in quality, but Little White can confirm that the materials used to make them are all the same."

Alaric Ye nodded.

He was indeed a bit paranoid now, but cultivating a habit of caution was not a bad thing.

Normally, he wouldn't assume the worst of those around him, but he also couldn't believe that everyone had no ill intentions towards him!

Humans are the best at hiding their thoughts!