All Things Are Contracts

“A third-grade Alchemist certified by the Thousand Steeds Association? Zhanyue? Very good. Take this wooden token, it’s your identity pass. With this, you can move freely within the Pill Fire Courtyard, but your activity is restricted to that area only. Remember this well!” A kind-looking old man handed Zhanyue a wooden token.

Zhanyue nodded. He was curious about how a production line for pills worked. He hadn’t updated his information with the Thousand Steeds Association yet, so he was still officially a third-grade Alchemist.

“Understood, I’ll remember,” Zhanyue nodded, and was then led into the Bai family compound by an old woman.

The Bai family compound was vast, divided into the Pill Fire Courtyard for refining pills for the outside world, the Spirit Herb Courtyard for cultivating spirit plants, the Pill Study Academy for teaching Bai family disciples, the Inner Courtyard where the Bai family lived, and the Outer Courtyard for the servants. The temporarily recruited Alchemists were all housed in the Pill Fire Courtyard.

Zhanyue was now in his own room, given a set of gray clothes, similar to a uniform. These people were Alchemists after all, so the Bai family naturally treated them well. The food, clothing, and accommodation were quite good. They just weren’t allowed to wander around the Bai family compound, restricted to the Pill Fire Courtyard.

“You few, come with me,” a white-haired elder picked a few people and led them to his courtyard. He was a fifth-grade Alchemist of the Bai family.

“My task from above is to refine the fifth-grade Clear Eyes Pills. Taking this pill can improve one’s eyesight,” the elder told the three people he brought, including Zhanyue. Zhanyue had heard of Clear Eyes Pills before. They were for treating and preventing myopia, and quite troublesome to refine.

“The difficulty in refining Clear Eyes Pills lies in handling the Clear Eye Flowers. Each flower needs to be examined to determine if it’s male or female. Only the pistils of female flowers can be used. Then the pollen needs to be extracted from the pistil. Each flower provides very little pollen, and it’s extremely hard to collect. That’s why I needed to request a few assistants specifically for this task. This will be your job,” the Bai elder told the three.

The other two besides Zhanyue were very excited. They were only third-grade Alchemists but could participate in refining fifth-grade pills. How could they not be thrilled? Soon after, three baskets of Clear Eye Flowers were placed before the three. Clear Eye Flowers weren’t particularly rare herbs, but extracting the pollen from female pistils was laborious work. Without a Alchemist’s delicate technique, it could result in great waste.

The three immediately got to work, unanimously selecting the female flowers from the baskets first. Then they used silver needles to extract the pollen into jade vials. All three were Alchemists with exquisite techniques and strong soul power, so they were quite adept at this kind of work. If ordinary people were to do this, efficiency would drop dramatically after a while, and the extracted pollen might have too many impurities to be usable.

Soon, more and more porcelain vials filled up in front of the three. Zhanyue’s pile was notably larger, easily as much as the other two combined.

“Oh? You’re quite good, kid. Your technique is fast,” the Bai elder, who had been processing some herbs himself, came to check their work. Seeing the numerous porcelain vials, he was delighted. Opening the vials, he found that Zhanyue’s collected pollen was not only greater in quantity but also higher in purity.

“Are you really a third-grade Alchemist?” The Bai elder frowned.

“I’m a fourth-grade Alchemist, but I haven’t updated my information yet,” Zhanyue answered honestly.

The elder smiled, as expected. He truly had a discerning eye to discover such a gem. Having a fourth-grade Alchemist as an assistant would make his task much easier. Hearing this, the other two sighed in relief. If Zhanyue were truly a third-grade Alchemist, they would have doubted their own skills. Now knowing he was fourth-grade, they showed expressions of understanding, along with a hint of envy and confusion. Envy because breaking through to fourth-grade was difficult, and confusion as to why a fourth-grade Alchemist like him didn’t go to the better-treating Lan family.

“By the way, why didn’t you go to the Lan family?” The elder, without much reservation, asked directly.

“I have a friend in the Bai household, so naturally I should help the Bai family,” Zhanyue said.

“A friend? Male or female?” The elder asked curiously.

“Female,” Zhanyue answered honestly.

All three showed a look of understanding.

“The women in our Bai family all have sky-high ambitions. They’re not easy to pursue,” the elder chuckled, not pursuing the matter further. This kind of thing was normal, and he wasn’t a gossip. However, he didn’t know that the friend Zhanyue mentioned was the Bai family’s young miss, Baizhi.

“But being a fourth-grade Alchemist at such a young age, you’ll likely become fifth-grade in the future. Your chances of successfully proposing to our Bai family aren’t low. If you perform well in this family ranking, if I have the chance in the future, I might be able to put in a good word for you,” the Bai elder said, dangling a carrot to make him work harder.

Zhanyue was secretly delighted, wondering if the elder would still dare to put in a good word for him if he knew he was talking about Baizhi.

“Since you’re a fourth-grade Alchemist, I have some more challenging tasks for you,” the elder, with the idea of making full use of talent, assigned Zhanyue new work.

…

“I’ve arrived in Alchemy Capital. Where are you?” Baizhi messaged.

“I’m… guess where. Let’s play a game. If you can find me, there’ll be a reward,” Zhanyue didn’t reveal he was in the Bai household, planning to give Baizhi a surprise.

Baizhi smiled bitterly. Having returned to the Bai household, how could she possibly come out to find him? But she was curious about the reward Zhanyue mentioned.

“Back at the Bai household, I’m afraid we’ll have fewer chances to communicate. Zhanyue, I miss you,” Baizhi messaged.

Reading her message, Zhanyue felt a warmth in his heart and replied, “Soon, we’ll see each other again very soon.”

Night fell, but they continued messaging, chatting about recent events and pill dao explorations for a long time.

The next day, Baizhi returned to the Bai household with an anxious heart. Bai Wu and Bai Liu escorted Baizhi to the clan leader and then withdrew, conflicted about whether to inform the clan leader about Zhanyue’s words.

The Bai family clan leader, Bai Yulou, was a dignified middle-aged man with an imposing appearance and fair skin. With profound eyebrows and sharp eyes, he was a genuine Spirit God Realm, seventh-grade Alchemist. The entire Bai family was known for their good looks, which is how they produced a beauty like Baizhi.

“Baizhi greets Second Granduncle,” Baizhi looked timidly at her second granduncle, the younger brother of her grandfather Bai Yucheng.

“Zhi’er, you’ve finally deigned to return. Since you left, I’ve been on pins and needles, deeply worried you might encounter some danger outside,” Bai Yulou said, looking at Baizhi.

“Second Granduncle… I… How’s Grandmother?” Baizhi was most concerned about her grandmother’s condition.

“Your grandmother is the same as always, as you know,” Bai Yulou didn’t hide the fact that he had lied.

“You… you lied to me!” Baizhi’s pretty face paled, but then she sighed in relief. At least her grandmother wasn’t really critically ill.

“Without this strategy, how could I get you to obediently return? Zhi’er, your future now concerns the fate of thousands in our Bai family. The family competition has begun. The Lan and Huang families have two seventh-grade Alchemists each, and even the Zhu family has one more sixth-grade Alchemist than us. Must our Bai family be at the bottom of the four great families again? If you just agree to the Golden Pill Cultivator’s proposal, he will not only hand over the eighth-grade pill formula but also fight for our Bai family. I’m confident I can lead the Bai family back to the position of the top family!” Bai Yulou spoke frankly, without restraint.

“Hmph! Second Granduncle, you keep talking about the Bai family, but aren’t you just thinking about advancing to eighth-grade Alchemist yourself?” Baizhi said indignantly.

Bai Yulou was stunned, then sneered, “After adventuring for over a year, your courage has grown. You even dare to talk back to me. So what if I am? If your father and grandfather hadn’t stubbornly insisted on exploring that secret realm back then, our Bai family would have one more sixth-grade and one more seventh-grade Alchemist now. How could we fall behind others? If I hadn’t broken through in time, our Bai family would have no seventh-grade Alchemist to lead, and I fear the people below would have scattered immediately. The legacy left by our ancestors would have been hard to protect. A great family without a seventh-grade Alchemist is a joke. Over these years, haven’t I given enough for the Bai family? Why is it not okay when it comes to you? Besides, if I can advance to eighth-grade Alchemist, the entire Bai family will benefit. How is that just thinking about myself? As long as you agree to marry the Golden Pill Cultivator, I can fulfill any of your requests.”

Baizhi couldn’t argue with him but firmly shook her head, gritting her teeth, “Second Granduncle, don’t laugh at me, but Baizhi already has someone in her heart. I can’t marry anyone else. You should give up on this idea.”

Hearing this, Bai Yulou’s face darkened, barely suppressing his temper. “Granny Jin, take this girl to see her grandmother. They haven’t seen each other for a long time. Keep a close eye on this girl, don’t let her escape again.”

An old woman walked out from the inner room. It was Bai Jinhua from the Enforcement Hall, a Bai elder and a super expert in the Sun Profound Realm, specifically responsible for monitoring Baizhi.

Baizhi naturally knew her, this indecisive old woman who always followed the family head’s words. With her watching, Baizhi had no chance of escape.

Seeing Baizhi leave, Bai Yulou revealed a terrible expression, “Have those two useless Bai Wu and Bai Liu come over. Someone in her heart? I want to see which family’s boy dares to block our Bai family’s glory and wealth!”

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