Chapter 4: The Green Cloud Sect Quota!

“Alchemy, money!”

With the system bringing him renewed hope, Ye Chen was full of energy and no longer slacked off.

Having lived two lives, Ye Chen knew one thing very well: Money was a man’s courage. No matter which world you lived in, this truth remained the same. On Earth, with money, you could hit the gym, buy a house, buy a car, travel the world, and never be controlled by anyone.

In the cultivation world, it was no different. Without spirit stones, one could only live like Lin Ke’er, acting like a “green tea” to get a little resource. But with spirit stones, you didn’t have to waste time working every day. You could rent a better residence, use better pills, and eat better spiritual rice. Once your strength grew, it was others who would try to please you.

And with Ye Chen having the simp system at his disposal, the stronger his power became, the higher the level of female cultivators he could encounter. The feedback multiplier would only increase.

So, Ye Chen’s drive was fully ignited. He was eager to experience the full comprehension of First-Grade Alchemy and see just how effective it was.

However, when Ye Chen took the herbs from his storage box, carefully counting and checking them, his brows furrowed. There was a problem with the materials. To refine Qi Gathering Pills, the main herbs needed were withered yellow grass and red rose. But the red rose had some issues.

A few of the plants were clearly not stored properly, and their petals had faintly turned white, though the change wasn’t too obvious. Such slightly faded red rose, having lost some of its medicinal properties, could no longer serve as the main ingredient. Using them would only result in waste.

Ye Chen’s predecessor, being a novice, had failed to notice this issue. But now, with his full understanding and comprehension of First-Grade Alchemy, Ye Chen was well-versed in the herbs used for this stage and could spot these issues easily.

Ye Chen pulled out all the red rose herbs and found that at least a third of them had this issue. His expression immediately darkened. No wonder his predecessor’s failure rate was so high. Back in the family, his success rate was at least around 20%.

For every five batches of pills, at least one would succeed. But after coming here, he succeeded only once out of seven or eight attempts. Now it made sense. Someone had been sabotaging behind the scenes.

Ye Chen’s eyes narrowed as this realization dawned on him. The herbs were provided by the shop. And this was Ye Family’s own business. An increase in his failure rate certainly didn’t benefit the family. So, who could be behind this?

…

Knock, knock, knock…

A gentle voice called from outside the door: “Nephew Ye, are you doing well?”

Upon hearing the voice, Ye Chen’s lips curled into a cold smile. Speak of the devil, and the devil appears!

Ye Chen tossed the red rose back into the storage box, quickly put on a warm smile, and politely opened the door to greet the visitor. “Manager Zhang, what brings you here? Please, come in.”

Having worked in a government office for ten years, Ye Chen had learned a few things.

The person entering was Manager Zhang, a plump man with a friendly smile on his face. “I just wanted to check in and ask how your pill refining is going. Did I disturb you?”

If you come across this story on Amazon, it’s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Ye Chen immediately shook his head. “No, not at all. The pills are coming along fine. It’s just that I’m still getting used to things, so the progress is a bit slower than expected. I’m afraid I won’t be able to hand in the pills until the deadline.”