Chapter 277: Iron Floating

As Elder Changchun sat down, he took the apprenticeship applications Sun Jian handed him, feeling how thick they were, and asked suspiciously: "Why are there so many apprenticeship applications?"

Sun Jian laughed: "I imagine it’s because Master’s alchemy skills are profound, and many people want to apprentice under you. The Peak Master and the other Elders don't even have half as many applications as you do."

"Stop the flattery."

Elder Changchun pondered slightly and soon understood why he had so many applications this year: "The Peak Master only accepts one disciple, so ordinary people don't dare to submit applications. That old rabbit Liyang has a rotten reputation, and male disciples avoid him like snakes and scorpions.

Chisong is in seclusion, and Danyang is from the aristocratic faction, so everyone can only choose me."

While speaking, he opened the first apprenticeship application.

"Disciple Zhao Chunhe, twenty-one years old, has studied alchemy since childhood, and can now refine Qi-Blood Powder, brew Body-Tempering Soup..."

Studying alchemy since childhood, and at twenty-one, only knowing how to refine Qi-Blood Powder and brew Body-Tempering Soup? Is such a shameful thing worth showing off as capital?

Elder Changchun immediately labeled this person a waste and threw his application aside.

In his view, such a person was even worse than those who had never come into contact with alchemy; those who hadn't could at least gamble on their talent.

Someone who was twenty-one and only knew how to brew Body-Tempering Soup was undoubtedly a total waste.

"You’ve looked through these applications, right? Are there any promising seeds?" Elder Changchun asked.

"Yes!"

Sun Jian stepped forward and pulled out a few applications: "This one called Jiang Yuan can already stably refine Qi-Gathering Pills; his alchemy can be considered to have entered the threshold.

This one called Han Feng is the fourth of this year’s Ten Talents. He reached Marrow Cleansing as soon as his three-year outer sect term expired and won first place in this year’s outer sect competition.

He was recruited by the Ding family and studied alchemy with a Ding family alchemist for a year. Now, his success rate for Qi-Gathering Pills has reached nearly eighty percent; his alchemy talent is not bad.

This one called Zhang Jing, his father is an alchemist, and now, in refining Qi-Gathering Pills, he can already produce four pills per furnace."

Elder Changchun listened, very satisfied with these few people.

Especially that Han Feng, whose martial arts talent was not bad, and he hadn't expected his alchemy talent to be good as well. After only studying for a year, his success rate for Qi-Gathering Pills had actually reached eighty percent.

With a little guidance, he would be a true alchemist, with better talent than the other two.

"Why isn't this Xu Yang a promising seed?"

Elder Changchun suddenly asked: "He reached Marrow Cleansing as soon as his three-year term expired; his martial arts talent is not bad, and he has studied pharmacology. With some cultivation, he might achieve something."

Sun Jian hurriedly said: "Master, you may not know, but this Xu Yang is from a farming background and hasn't been recruited by a major family like Han Feng.

His so-called study of pharmacology is just buying some pill formulas at the Myriad Treasures Pavilion to ponder on his own."

Hearing this, Elder Changchun frowned.

Although he wasn't an old stubborn person like Danyang from the aristocratic faction and didn't discriminate against disciples based on their background, he also knew that it was almost impossible for someone from a farming background to become an alchemist.

Medicine King Peak offered some discounts on medicinal materials used by alchemists for practice, but the bulk of the cost still had to be paid by the disciples themselves; the sect didn't provide them for free.

So, people without a background didn't even have the money to buy medicinal materials for practice, so how could they become alchemists?

"With such talent, focusing on martial arts might lead to higher achievements; alchemy is putting the cart before the horse."

Splitting the already limited money for alchemy would only delay the progress of his cultivation.

Alchemy was not only money-burning but also time-consuming.

Gathering herbs, cultivating spiritual herbs—these were all very time-consuming. Without a force to provide support, it was almost impossible to achieve anything.

With almost no hesitation, he threw Xu Yang’s application aside.

It wasn't that he didn't look down on Xu Yang’s talent, but he felt that he shouldn't be distracted by learning alchemy.

After looking through all the applications, he screened out one more person and, together with the four people Sun Jian had introduced earlier, decided to accept these four as disciples.

……

Time flowed slowly, and three days passed quickly.

Early in the morning, everyone who had submitted an apprenticeship application gathered at the foot of the four peaks. Most of them looked anxious, with only a small portion feeling confident.

Soon, a disciple came down from Beast King Peak first, holding a booklet and starting to call names: "Chen Yu!"

The first one called was Chen Yu, the ninth of the Ten Talents.

Chen Yu ran out from the crowd with a face full of smiles and walked behind this inner sect disciple.

He called more than a dozen people in a row, including Zhang Yong, but until the end, he didn't call Sun Tao’s name.

"Junior Brother Xu, am I really that bad?" Sun Tao was dejected, his tone full of unwillingness.

Even if he had the courage to risk his life at Beast King Peak, they didn't want him.

Even if he went to other peaks to submit his application, the result wouldn't change, and waiting a few years would yield the same result.

Unless he reached Marrow Cleansing or spent money to pull strings, it was impossible for him to join the inner sect.

His martial arts path could almost be said to have reached its end.

At twenty-two or twenty-three, the age that should have been full of hope, he was dealt a heavy blow.

"Senior Brother Sun, man proposes, God disposes. You are still young, there is still a chance," Xu Yang could only comfort him like this.

Without an unexpected opportunity, Sun Tao’s martial arts path in this life was basically like this. With his talent, it was almost impossible for him to reach Marrow Cleansing on his own.

Beast King Peak rejecting him was not without basis.

Once martial arts reached this realm, one could no longer look purely at resources; one also needed talent.

It wasn't just Sun Tao who was in despair, but many others who had submitted applications to Beast King Peak but hadn't had their names called.

That Beast King Peak disciple finished calling names and didn't leave, waiting on the spot.

He still had to wait for people from the other peaks to appear and for those who failed their apprenticeship to submit applications to Beast King Peak.

After another while, a disciple from Heavenly Authority Peak appeared and began to call names.

Du Chuan, Xie Zhan, and Qin Ze all successfully joined Heavenly Authority Peak.

"Why was Qin Ze able to join Heavenly Authority Peak?"

Qin Ze’s result in the outer sect competition was only in the top thirty; he hadn't made it into the top twenty. Seeing that he had successfully joined Heavenly Authority Peak, many people immediately became dissatisfied.

"Qin Ze’s result in the Qingyuan County martial arts examination was third place," Sun Tao said softly.

His current strength was not much weaker than Qin Ze’s.

But because Qin Ze was third in the martial arts examination, he could directly join Heavenly Authority Peak, while he couldn't even enter Beast King Peak.

Soon, Sun Jian appeared and began to call names.

Li Chuyang and Han Feng both successfully joined Medicine King Peak.

Xu Yang and Xiong Kun, the two geniuses from the Ten Talents list, were not called, and everyone looked at the two of them in surprise.

Medicine King Peak’s conditions were truly harsh; the two people in the top three of the outer sect competition had actually failed to be selected, while some people with no reputation were favored by the Medicine King Peak Elders.

Although Xu Yang was also somewhat unwilling, his heart was calm. At worst, he would spend more to find pill formulas in the future. It wasn't that he absolutely had to apprentice under an alchemist to learn alchemy.

"Brother Xu, if you really want to learn alchemy, there is still a chance at Blazing Fire Peak. It’s not just Medicine King Peak that has alchemists," Jiang Fan said.

Xu Yang asked suspiciously: "How can one learn alchemy at Blazing Fire Peak?"

Jiang Fan laughed: "The inheritance of the Profound Heaven Sect’s four peaks is not something that only disciples of the four peaks can learn. The difference is just whether you have a master’s guidance or have to ponder it yourself.

Whether it is the art of forging weapons or the path of alchemy, they are all recorded in the Profound Heaven Sect’s Inheritance Tower. As long as you make contributions to the sect, you can go to the Inheritance Tower to learn what you want to learn."

Hearing this, Xu Yang became completely calm.

All he wanted were pill formulas, so this was actually better for him; he could learn both the art of forging weapons and the path of alchemy.

Inner sect disciples from Blazing Fire Peak also appeared, and Jiang Fan, Lu Ren, and others walked up to hand in their applications. There were three or four others who were also called.

Of course, except for Jiang Fan, everyone else had to complete an assessment task to truly join Blazing Fire Peak.

The disciples dispersed.

"Junior Brother Xu, have you thought about what to do if you cannot join Medicine King Peak?" Sun Tao reminded him.

Although Medicine King Peak had a Peak Master and four Elders, for Xu Yang, there was actually only Elder Changchun.

If even Elder Changchun wouldn't accept him, the Peak Master certainly wouldn't either.

"If I cannot join Medicine King Peak, I will go to Blazing Fire Peak to forge iron with Brother Jiang."

Xu Yang had naturally thought of a backup plan.

If one learned the art of forging weapons well, one’s status and position would be no lower than an alchemist’s.

Moreover, he felt that the inheritance of weapon forging seemed even rarer than the inheritance of alchemy. He had seen auctions at the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, but he had never seen anything related to weapon forging auctioned.

In fact, he had deliberated for a long time before deciding to learn alchemy. What he hoped for most was to learn both.

"If you come to Blazing Fire Peak, I will help you find the Blazing Fire Peak Master and have him accept you as a disciple."

Jiang Fan laughed: "My family has a good private relationship with the Blazing Fire Peak Master; I should be able to put in a good word for you."

Xu Yang shook his head: "No need to trouble Brother Jiang; I don't necessarily have to apprentice under the Peak Master."

He didn't intend to owe Jiang Fan this favor, and he didn't really want to apprentice under the Blazing Fire Peak Master; he had too many secrets, and it would be easy for them to be discovered.

Returning to the courtyard, Xu Yang thought for a moment. In case he really failed in three days, he simply wrote another apprenticeship application and put it away, so that if he failed, he would have an application to submit to Blazing Fire Peak.

……

Medicine King Peak!

In a herb garden, a middle-aged man in a plain robe was wandering among the spiritual herbs. Every time he walked up to a spiritual herb, he would raise his hand and cast a patch of green light.

After this green light fell onto the spiritual herb, it was absorbed completely in an instant.

After absorbing this light, the spiritual herb actually looked a bit more spirited.

This person was none other than Elder Changchun of Medicine King Peak.

After about an hour, Elder Changchun had walked in front of all the spiritual herbs, and his ruddy face showed a hint of paleness.