Mo Qi hesitated whether to give it another pill, but the trial pill spirit beast's body began to change.
Under everyone's astonished gazes, the trial pill spirit beast's body rapidly expanded, growing taller and wider.
The crowd instinctively retreated! Several people, terrified, had already fled the room.
With a crack, the table, unable to bear the weight, collapsed, scattering debris everywhere.
People quickly moved back, retreating as if being pushed or fleeing, exiting the room for fear of being stepped on by the growing spirit beast.
"Is this the effect of the pill? This pill is too powerful," someone exclaimed sincerely.
Watching the spirit beast's continuously growing body, Mo Qi was stunned, fearing it would never stop growing. How… exhilarating that would be!
However, the spirit beast eventually stopped expanding. Its back was about to touch the roof, and its head was about to touch the wall when it ceased growing.
Fortunately, the spirit beast showed no signs of frenzy or unease. It simply stayed obediently in the room, still gazing expectantly at Mo Qi.
A commotion erupted around them. Those who were refining pills and those in line all crowded over, curiosity driving them.
Seeing the spirit beast gazing at him, Mo Qi felt a surge of pity but dared not give it more pills. If it continued to grow, what if it became uncontrollable?
Steward Huang sighed and said, "If you feed it more pills, its size won't increase further, but its spiritual energy will continue to grow. For our trial pill purposes, it has little value and can only be released back into the wild. This is why I am reluctant to use them for pill appraisal easily."
Mo Qi nodded in agreement, "I understand, I understand!"
Steward Huang's old face flushed slightly, "However, regarding the quality of your pills, my judgment was indeed poor…"
The crowd also asked eagerly, "Steward Huang, could this be a special grade pill?"
Steward Huang waved his hand, "How can it be described as special grade? To be precise, it's a quality never seen before!"
"Wow!" A burst of admiration erupted from the surroundings.
Wei San and Chu Daozhi were so ashamed they wanted to disappear. It was truly like a speck of dust daring to compete with the sun and moon!
The two then dejectedly bowed to Mo Qi, "Vice Sect Master Mo, I concede. I will keep my promise and never step into this alchemy room again."
With that, the two slunk away.
Mo Qi watched their retreating backs, "Hey, I didn't mean it that way…"
At this moment, Steward Huang also said, "I will also keep my promise…" As he spoke, he was about to kneel.
Mo Qi quickly extended his hands to support him, "Steward Huang, please don't belittle me, and there's no need to be so serious. The most important thing now is that I have finally gained your recognition. I am content with that, let the past be the past."
Steward Huang wiped the sweat from his face, relieved.
Mo Qi knew he had been cornered and forced to jump off a cliff, but he had to follow the script and catch him, otherwise, he would watch him shatter into pieces.
People in the world, bound by the script of human relationships, generally acted according to it.
Mo Qi pondered for a moment and said, "Steward Huang, since you are going to release this trial pill spirit beast back into the wild anyway, why not give it to me?"
He thought that if it could continuously increase its spiritual energy by consuming pills, it could definitely be cultivated into a good helper in the future if utilized properly.
Moreover, during this process, he could try to refine pills that restore body size. If successful, it would be perfect.
Steward Huang readily agreed, "Yes, no problem."
Then, Mo Qi borrowed a storage bag from Steward Huang to contain the spirit beast and packed it away.
From then on, Mo Qi refined pills in the alchemy room every day. He was the only one in the special grade quality room, with no need to queue or wait.
He first refined a batch of spiritual energy pills, earning tens of millions in contribution points, which he exchanged for several storage bags at the trading hall, returning one to Steward Huang.
Besides that, the trading hall only had low-grade magical artifacts that didn't catch his eye.
He then refined several more batches of stimulant pills, longevity pills, divine promotion pills, and life-extending pills. After refining each batch, he secretly stashed a portion in his own storage bag. Later, he went to the trading hall again to exchange for some spirit herbs and refined a batch of pills with special effects for himself.
Since his entry into alchemy, the businesses of the pill shops within the Lingxiao Sect's jurisdiction had become increasingly popular. Many pills had immediate effects, such as the divine promotion pills, stimulant pills, and life-extending pills. Some people, who were terminally ill and had made their final arrangements, were able to get out of bed that very night and were full of vigor after taking the Lingxiao Sect's life-extending pills. Others, whose spiritual consciousness had been unable to awaken, succeeded in concentrating their minds an hour after taking the Lingxiao Sect's divine promotion pills…
The miraculous effects of the Lingxiao Sect's pills spread like wildfire, from one to ten, then to a hundred… Soon, people flocked to the Lingxiao Sect's pill shops. Many traveled thousands of miles to purchase only Mo Qi's pills, ignoring all others. The Lingxiao Sect's pill shops were small, and their thresholds were broken several times, with door panels being pushed off their hinges. They had to implement queuing, and many people, after waiting for half a day, still hadn't reached the front before Mo Qi's pills were sold out! Later, they implemented reservations, with many people already booked three years in advance, and many others unable to even make a reservation.
During this period, the Lingxiao Sect's income doubled and redoubled! Wu Fan was so excited that he even laughed in his sleep.
The Lingxiao Sect was flourishing, and Wu Fan was in high spirits. He distributed a spiritual energy pill to every disciple of the sect. Such excellent pills, if only sold to others and not enjoyed by their own disciples, the sect would soon fall behind!
Inside the alchemy room, only Mo Qi was refining pills daily. The pills refined by others could no longer be sold. What was once considered medium-grade was now deemed the lowest quality after the baptism of sales, earning no contribution points.
However, after some time, Mo Qi stopped.
He calculated that he had to refine hundreds of spiritual energy pills to earn enough contribution points to exchange for one spiritual energy pill. Who would engage in such a losing business?
Not long after, all the Mo Qi pills in the Lingxiao Sect's pill shops were sold out, causing public outrage. The buyers were no longer customers but had turned into bandits, robbers, and hooligans… They resorted to all means of fighting, smashing, looting, and burning.
The shopkeepers, helpless, appealed to the Lingxiao Sect for help.
Meanwhile, Mo Qi was sound asleep in his bed!
The six peak masters took turns to persuade Mo Qi, but he remained unmoved.
Finally, Wu Fan arrived!
Wu Fan stood by the window, gazing outside, and after a long period of contemplation, he spoke, "How about you get a share of the income from all the Lingxiao Sect's pill shops?"
Mo Qi shot up, "I only want thirty percent."
"Deal!" Mo Qi agreed almost without hesitation.
Given that the alchemy furnaces belonged to the Lingxiao Sect, the alchemy rooms were Lingxiao Sect's, and the refining materials were Lingxiao Sect's, Mo Qi directly sharing thirty percent of the income was already incredibly generous.
These two old and young rogues thus struck a dirty deal.
Mo Qi then resumed mass refining of pills, but all the shops were still in short supply. They had to adjust prices repeatedly, increasing them tenfold. At this price, the flow of people slightly decreased, and reservations were no longer needed. When the price was increased fiftyfold, there was no need to queue, but people still came one after another without interruption.
Mo Qi, having to supply so many shops alone, was still struggling to cope, so he increased the price to one hundred times the original.
As a result, very few people came to buy pills. Sometimes one or two people would come, and sometimes no one would.
However, even so, the income remained almost the same as before. More importantly, everyone enjoyed their leisure.
Time passed quickly. In this year, the peak masters took turns imparting divine abilities to the newly recruited disciples. With the assistance of Mo Qi's pills, all the new disciples kept pace and passed all the tests set by Han Yang and the other peak masters. The devilish training seemed to be a misnomer!
The disciples who joined the previous year did not die during the past year's training, which was a first since the founding of the Lingxiao Sect. Previously, one or two people would die in training each year. This change was attributed to one person, the future Vice Sect Master, Mo Qi.
The devilish training for new disciples of the Lingxiao Sect would last for two years, during which the peak masters would take turns imparting their specialized divine abilities. Two years later, all the essential divine abilities and techniques would have been taught. If any of them were fortunate enough to enter the inner sect, they would continue their cultivation under their master. The rest would become masterless and cultivate on their own, with opportunities to participate in annual competitions for a chance to enter the inner sect.
Wang Duanwu finally breathed a sigh of relief. The devilish training was over, and he no longer had to live in constant fear. He felt his breathing become much smoother every day. The feeling of breathing freely was wonderful!
Meanwhile, Mo Qi, through the proceeds from selling pills, had amassed a fortune and rapidly ascended to become a super-rich individual in the Nine Gods Realm.
At this point, if Chun Lan were to propose marriage to Lu Xiaoyue with the same conditions as back then, it would be effortless.
During this period, the Lingxiao Sect held its annual grand competition for outer disciples to be promoted to inner disciples. Originally, the top six were to be selected, with each peak receiving one disciple. However, by chance, during this period, there was only one outer female disciple, Baili Bing. Thus, Baili Bing naturally became the sole candidate for the Maiden Peak. Her cultivation was only at the second stage of spirit concentration, and she had no chance in the competition. Everyone lamented her good fortune.
The rest competed for the remaining five spots!
Among the newly recruited disciples, only Mo Qi and Leng Xiao registered for the competition. Mo Qi, having not made a move from beginning to end, was directly promoted to inner disciple. This was because everyone in the residential area had already competed with him, and even a group attack was no match for him. Who would dare to fight him one-on-one? Therefore, all his opponents directly forfeited. Leng Xiao, after several tough battles, also secured a spot!
The final results of the competition were that Mo Qi, Sima Shan, Leng Xiao, Sun Jian, and Zhang Shijie obtained the qualifications for promotion to inner disciples.
However, the next challenge was how to assign the five people to the five peaks.
All the peak masters turned their gaze to Mo Qi. Their attitudes were completely different from a year ago. Back then, except for Han Yang, everyone favored Leng Xiao more. But now, Leng Xiao was being neglected! He was filled with hatred. He, Leng Xiao, was a talented cultivator! When had he ever been neglected like this? Wherever he went before, he was showered with affection and the focus of all eager gazes. But what had happened now?
Of course, in choosing Mo Qi, each peak master had their own agenda. Some thought that in two years he would be the Vice Sect Master, allowing for closer ties. Others valued his alchemy talent, hoping to obtain some good pills through the master-disciple relationship to improve their own cultivation. Some truly cherished talent, such as Han Yang.
To recruit him, someone started calling out their advantages. Ren Kui of Shaoxia Peak said his peak was the main peak, with proximity to resources and abundant resources. Jin Hai of Shaoqing Peak said his cultivation was high, and he could quickly help Mo Qi break through. Geng Xu of Shaoyang Peak said he had many divine abilities and magical treasures, which could help Mo Qi arm himself comprehensively. Shao Ning of Shaolin Peak said he was an expert in romance and could help Mo Qi with women! Han Yang, however, was momentarily at a loss for his own advantages and didn't know what to say.
As the several people argued, Wu Fan stepped in to mediate, "You all want to choose Mo Qi, and I cannot possibly divide him into five pieces for you. How about this: according to Mo Qi's own wishes, he can choose who he wants to follow."
Finally, Mo Qi chose Han Yang, reasoning that Han Yang had brought him into the sect, and he must remain loyal!
Everyone marveled at his reasoning!
Finally, Leng Xiao went to Shaoqing Peak, Sima Shan went to Shaoyang Peak, Sun Jian went to Shaoxia Peak, and Zhang Shijie went to Shaolin Peak.
Upon arriving at Shaonian Peak, Mo Qi was given his own residence. The residence here was much larger than the one at Shaoxia Peak, and it was no longer a single room. It had a living room, a bedroom, and a study. The treatment was worlds apart from his cave dwelling period.