Chapter 196: Position

Hua Changxi did not like to interfere excessively in others' affairs, but thinking of her long-standing friendship with Apothecary Xu, she still asked about Xu Ling's situation: "Uncle Xu, is Lingling still helping you manage the medicine shop?"

Apothecary Xu's eyes flickered slightly; he smiled and nodded without saying anything more.

Seeing this, Hua Changxi试探 ed, "I haven't seen Lingling in a long time; I'll find a time to visit your shop and have a chat with her."

Apothecary Xu let out an "Ah," then laughed awkwardly: "Lingling goes out for training almost daily; I'm afraid she won't be there when you come."

Hearing this, Hua Changxi showed surprise: "Going out for training?! Where does Lingling go to train? I want to go out for training myself but can't find anywhere to go."

Nowadays, the revival of spiritual energy had only entered public awareness for less than two years; before that, all exposed ruins, secret realms, and mountains rich in spiritual energy had been seized by the imperial family, the powerful nobles, and the great clans, leaving ordinary people unable to approach them.

After stepping onto the path of cultivation, her practical experience was severely lacking; apart from her reluctance to go out and her tendency to work in isolation, there was also the reason that she simply did not know where to go for training.

Apothecary Xu hesitated for a moment before saying: "Most of the time, she goes to Mount Wuzhi in Qingzhou. Do you know Mount Wuzhi? That place is open to cultivators; even ordinary people can enter to seek opportunities. Lingling loves going there."

Hua Changxi said: "Mount Wuzhi, yes, I know it; it is indeed an excellent place for training. In the future, if Lingling goes to Mount Wuzhi again, I can accompany her."

Apothecary Xu chuckled but did not respond, instead changing the subject: "By the way, Ninth Lady, besides bringing you tea, I also came to discuss matters concerning the Qihuang Hall."

Seeing Apothecary Xu deflect the topic of Xu Ling once again, Hua Changxi felt too lazy to press further: "What is the matter with Qihuang Hall?"

Apothecary Xu said: "Doesn't every hall have to submit thirty bottles of first-grade spirit pills each month? Since you were absent in November and the hall could not produce the pills, I took the spiritual herbs and spirit plants allocated to our hall to Zhou, an alchemist I knew from before, and exchanged them for thirty bottles of first-grade spirit pills to submit first."

Hua Changxi nodded: "You did very well."

Apothecary Xu said: "Ninth Lady, the spiritual herbs and spirit plants allocated to each hall by headquarters are only enough to refine sixty furnaces of first-grade pills." In other words, headquarters required each Qihuang Hall to achieve an alchemy success rate of over fifty percent; if the failure rate exceeded half, they would have to supply additional spiritual herbs from their own resources.

"According to the regulations of the Medical and Pharmaceutical Bureau, hiring an alchemist to refine pills requires extra payment. Generally, three portions of spiritual herbs are given to refine one furnace of pills. Therefore, our hall now owes Alchemist Zhou thirty portions of spiritual herbs."

Hearing this, Hua Changxi asked curiously: "Have all the other Qihuang Halls submitted their spirit pills in full?"

Apothecary Xu nodded: "They have all been submitted."

Hua Changxi fell silent; after taking over Hall Number Thirteen, she had only met the allocated medicine boys and knew nothing else, so she couldn't help but ask: "Do you know the hall master of each of the eighteen Qihuang Halls, and how many alchemists each hall has?"

Apothecary Xu smiled: "Since you trust me enough to entrust Hall Number Thirteen to my management, I certainly made it my business to find out these details."

"The hall master of Hall Number One is Mu Qingying, a disciple of Director Gu; all eight of her medicine boys are apothecaries from the Medical and Pharmaceutical Bureau, and it is said that two of them can already handle alchemy, though they have not yet successfully refined any spirit pills."

"The hall master of Hall Number Two is Xie An, Director Gu's eldest disciple; all eight medicine boys can refine pills."

"The hall master of Hall Number Three is Huo Yunxiao, sent by the Minister of the Heaven Department; all eight medicine boys can refine pills."

"The hall master of Hall Number Four is Wen Lanzhou, a disciple of Celestial Master Zhang from the Celestial Master Prefecture; all eight medicine boys can also refine pills."

"The hall master of Hall Number Five is Yan Qianying, the third young master of the Dong'an Prince's Manor; among the eight medicine boys, four can refine pills and four are apothecaries."

"The hall master of Hall Number Six is Yuan Tianchou, a disciple of Director Gu; all eight medicine boys are apothecaries, and it is heard that four of them have already begun refining pills."

"The hall master of Hall Number Seven is Master Zhishen from Xiangguo Temple; three of the eight medicine boys can refine pills."

"The hall master of Hall Number Eight is Lin Ruohong, the eldest disciple of the Sect Master of the Three Pure Ones Palace; all eight medicine boys can refine pills."

"The hall master of Hall Number Nine is Tang Yufeng, the legitimate eldest grandson of the Tang family, the foremost clan in Jingcheng; all eight medicine boys can refine pills."

"The hall master of Hall Number Ten is Gu Jinfan, the seventh daughter of the Duke of Xin's Manor; among the eight medicine boys, four can refine pills and four are apothecaries."

"The hall master of Hall Number Eleven is Shen Qianfan from the Disciple Hall; among the eight medicine boys, six are from the Disciple Hall and two are apothecaries."

"The hall master of Hall Number Twelve is Zhu Qinghuan from the Apprentice Hall; all eight medicine boys are from the Disciple Hall."

"The hall master of Hall Number Fourteen is Chu Junhao, the Seventh Imperial Prince; all eight medicine boys can refine pills."

"The hall master of Hall Number Fifteen is Duan Yuyan; among the eight medicine boys, three can refine pills and five are apothecaries."

"The hall master of Hall Number Sixteen is the fifth young master of the Xiping Prince's Manor; all eight medicine boys can refine pills."

"The hall master of Hall Number Seventeen is the second young master of the Beizhen Prince's Manor; all eight medicine boys can refine pills."

"The hall master of Hall Number Eighteen is the ninth young master of the Nanding Prince's Manor; all eight medicine boys can refine pills."

After listening to Apothecary Xu's introduction, Hua Changxi took a deep breath; of the eighteen Qihuang Halls, apart from the nine individuals who had received wooden tokens, the other nine halls had been entirely carved up by powerful nobles and great clans.

The hall masters were undoubtedly the most powerful, and the medicine boys each had their own backgrounds; this was nothing less than a redistribution of power and resources.

She, a laborer from the Labor Hall, along with Shen Qianfan from the Disciple Hall and Zhu Qinghuan from the Apprentice Hall, stood out conspicuously amidst this uniform assembly of children from powerful nobles and great clans.

Seeing the small to understand the large, from the personnel arrangements of the eighteen Qihuang Halls under the Medical and Pharmaceutical Bureau, one could glimpse just how severe the monopoly over resources by the powerful nobles and great clans had become.

Hua Changxi thought of the Artifact Saint Palace; they preferred to hide in the shadows and develop slowly rather than reveal themselves to recruit and absorb outstanding talents. Previously, she had not quite agreed with this approach, but now she somewhat understood it.

The Medical and Pharmaceutical Bureau had been penetrated too severely by various factions!

Although the Medical and Pharmaceutical Bureau was not the Alchemy Saint Hall, if the Alchemy Saint Hall wished to develop and spread the art of alchemy, it would ultimately have to rely on alchemists, yet the most formidable batch of alchemists today was gathered within the Medical and Pharmaceutical Bureau.

When the Alchemy Saint Hall eventually revealed itself, could it possibly drive all these alchemists away?

To avoid being constrained by the Medical and Pharmaceutical Bureau, one would need to rapidly cultivate a large number of highly skilled alchemists, but how difficult that would be.

Thinking of the future Alchemy Saint Hall being mutually constrained by various factions, and further considering that the Alchemy Saint Hall also bore the responsibility of guarding the town eyes, the slight desire in Hua Changxi's heart to become the master of the Alchemy Saint Hall instantly vanished completely.

For a moment, she did not even want to get involved in the affairs of the Qihuang Halls anymore.

However, she currently needed the social identity of a Qihuang Hall master under the Medical and Pharmaceutical Bureau.

In the future, she would inevitably have to interact with other cultivators; with such an identity, it would be easier to demonstrate her value and facilitate forming connections with others.

Previously, Gu Xing had asked her whether she had found her position within the Medical and Pharmaceutical Bureau.

She now had her answer: within the Medical and Pharmaceutical Bureau, she was the master of Hall Number Thirteen.