You Want to Keep Me?

Late at night, all was still and silent. In the room that once belonged to Qin Liangchen's son, Xiaohu, Luo Chen was still awake. With his hands pillowed behind his head, thoughts churned through his mind. Everything he pondered revolved around what had happened tonight. *Perhaps if I hadn't attended the banquet, none of this would have happened.* Luo Chen felt a twinge of vexation. Yet before long, he dismissed the thought. Mi Shuhua clearly hadn't acted on a whim, nor had he conceived the idea merely upon laying eyes on Luo Chen. He had made inquiries about him, learned many details regarding his circumstances, and even possessed a mid-grade Myriad Wonders Pill. His Myriad Wonders Pill had only reached mid-grade in the last two months. Given the particular nature of such a pill, cultivators usually consumed them quickly once they acquired them. For Mi Shuhua to specifically procure one demonstrated deliberate effort. *So even without tonight's banquet, he definitely would have sought me out alone.* *If anything, with Qin Liangchen present, he was actually quite polite to me, even assuming the demeanor of a benevolent elder and offering earnest guidance.* Once he reasoned this out, Luo Chen stopped wasting time on futile regrets. Instead, he began contemplating where he should go from here. Flee? Fleeing was out of the question. Although he possessed a certain degree of combat strength, his cultivation realm was simply too low. Nor did he know much about the world outside. In the year and a half since transmigrating, he had spent nearly all of it struggling to survive in Dahe Market; moving to an unfamiliar place would entail exorbitant expenses. Moreover, who could say whether a rogue cultivator like him, frequently selling pills in a new place, wouldn't catch the eye of some other faction? If that happened, history would simply repeat itself. Staying in the Mountain Breaker Gang might offer less freedom than before. Yet within this gang were many people he knew well, most of whom held high positions. Wang Yuan would certainly back him, the couple Qin Liangchen and Murong Qinglian took good care of him, and there were other acquaintances, like Zeng Wen. *Sacrificing the freedom of a rogue cultivator to become master of the Pill Hall might not be such a bad thing after all.* With the situation unavoidable, Luo Chen analyzed what his position would be like if he truly became the Pill Hall Master. *First of all, my status definitely won't be low!* On this point, Luo Chen was quite confident. In the cultivation world, there were the four mainstream arts as well as various other professions, flourishing in full bloom. And among those who mastered these arts, alchemists faced the greatest difficulty achieving success—yet once they attained even modest accomplishment, they became the most sought-after figures. For no other reason than pills directly affected a cultivator's progression. No one would offend an alchemist for no good reason. This held true across the board, from massive Nascent Soul sects down to humble rogue cultivator factions. Everyone implicitly sought good relations with alchemists; even if it bore no immediate fruit, it established good karma for the future. In all the time Luo Chen had spent making his way here, many had extended goodwill to him, and his identity as an alchemist was certainly a factor. Even though he had been drawn into fights twice, both incidents had been unintended disasters rather than attacks specifically targeted at him. *Once status is secured, the next consideration is benefits!* *And that will depend on how well I can negotiate with Mi Shuhua and the Mountain Breaker Gang.* Luo Chen felt a touch of heaviness in his chest. One could easily imagine that in the face of the immense profits generated by pills, the upcoming negotiations would be exceedingly difficult. Yet he had to see it through. No one wanted to be a mere tool. Even if in his past life he had been a textbook corporate drudge, accustomed to exploitation... ...he had transmigrated now. If he still worked for others for nothing, what was the point? *Working for someone before transmigrating, and still working for someone after transmigrating—wouldn't that make transmigrating completely pointless?* *Finally, there are the extra perks I can reap through my role as Hall Master of the Pill Hall.* Luo Chen immediately thought of his system. That proficiency panel was where his hope of longevity lay. Once the Pill Hall was established, his alchemy enterprise would no longer be the petty, small-scale affair of the past, where he had to pinch pennies over every single pinch of raw ingredients. Backed by the entire gang, he would surely expand the scale. That way, his alchemy proficiency would soar through the roof! *Mi Shuhua mentioned having some alchemy-related texts in hand, and even one or two pill recipes.* *That's another benefit I can gain.* Luo Chen's eyes flickered, an excitement hidden from the outside world welling within him. Both Mi Shuhua and Qin Liangchen merely assumed he possessed monstrous alchemy talent. Yet a man knows his own affairs best. Luo Chen's alchemy talent was by no means outstanding. He had exchanged pointers once or twice with Lady Xiangxiang of Tianxiang Pavilion, and memories of those encounters were honestly not pleasant. Whenever Xiangxiang casually raised a question or two, he had been utterly unable to follow or answer. Back then, Xiangxiang was puzzled: these were merely the most basic common knowledge of alchemy, so why did Luo Chen look as if he had never even encountered them? In reality, that was only natural. Luo Chen's alchemy was merely following templates and imitating steps to the letter. He had never undergone systematic alchemical training, and he knew nothing of foundational common knowledge. Even the knowledge he possessed now had been pieced together through repeated failures and successes by feeling his way in the dark. As for the supplementary insights the system imparted with each proficiency level increase, they were strictly confined to Fasting Powder and Myriad Wonders Pill themselves. *If I can get my hands on the alchemy texts collected by Mi Shuhua, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, it will surely give me a tremendous boost.* *In the long run, if a day comes when I break free of the Mountain Breaker Gang's hold, that gain will be all the more precious.* All in all, embedding himself deeper in the Mountain Breaker Gang and becoming the head of the Pill Hall might not be a bad thing for him. At the very least, he would no longer truly be a solitary, lone wolf. There might be petty friction and internal struggles within the gang, but those were domestic matters. To the outside world, he would be one of the nine hall masters of the Mountain Breaker Gang, a cultivator who could openly display his identity as an alchemist! Tossing and turning in bed, Luo Chen turned the matter over and over. He weighed the pros and cons repeatedly until everything became clear. Gradually, his mindset improved, and he ceased fretting over potential gains and losses. Strong adaptability had always been a trait Luo Chen took pride in. Whether it was his miserable life as an overworked corporate wage slave in his previous life, or his penniless existence as a rogue cultivator after transmigrating... ...he could always adapt quickly, find joy amidst hardships, and believe in himself to persevere until the day he reaped rewards. *Now, it's just starting over once again!* Harboring bright hopes for the future, Luo Chen fell peacefully asleep. ... The establishment of the Pill Hall was certainly not something that could be finalized overnight. Over the next few days, Luo Chen did not go over to the Mountain Breaker Gang. Instead, he stayed in his courtyard, watching several underlings repair his house. Meanwhile, he took a few pieces of high-quality timber and tried his hand at woodworking. "What on earth are you tinkering with?" Sitting on the swing, Gu Caiyi watched Luo Chen's busy work with curiosity. *Whoosh!* With a flick of Luo Chen's wrist, a chair with wheels spun beneath his palm. Spinning chairs had been his signature trick back during his school days! "A wheelchair. For disabled people to sit in." Gu Caiyi was surprised. "You mean the kind of wheelchair that lets people with mobility issues move like the wind while sitting, or even fly in the sky?" Luo Chen plopped down onto it. Without even pushing with his hands, a wisp of spiritual power flowed forth, and the wheelchair beneath him began to move. It carried him around the courtyard, circling this way and that. "Pity I don't know the first thing about formations. Otherwise, if I inscribed a few formations and powered it with spirit stones, people would definitely buy it!" Wheelchairs had naturally been invented long ago in this world. It was said that the inventor was a Foundation Establishment cultivator from the era when Tianfan City was first founded. Over thousands of years, the wheelchair had become one of Tianfan City's signature artifacts. However, in Dahe Market, no one sold such things. Mainly because demand was low—a disabled cultivator was still a cultivator, with their own means to move freely. Furthermore, Dahe Market was too remote and situated far from the Tianfan Domain, so Wanbao Pavilion mostly sold artifacts that were convenient to transport and carry. Consequently, many cultivators knew the name "wheelchair" without ever having seen one in person. "Get off and let me have a try!" Gu Caiyi hopped up at once. Sitting on a stone bench, Luo Chen watched Gu Caiyi having a blast with the wheelchair and breathed a quiet sigh of relief. This meeting gift of his might not be valuable, but it showed ample sincerity. When he went to see Old Man Yuan, it would make broaching the subject much easier. "You seem to be spending quite a lot of time at home lately. Isn't Tianxiang Pavilion busy?" Riding the wheelchair around the courtyard like the wind, Gu Caiyi said nonchalantly, "I'm planning to quit that job!" Luo Chen paused, but soon found it completely understandable. The personnel changes at Tianxiang Pavilion had already been settled. The next one taking over was the Senior Brother Hua mentioned by Lady Xiangxiang, a temperamental Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Hehuan Sect who was fond of dual cultivation harvesting. Working under someone like that, someone with Gu Caiyi's personality would suffer a great loss sooner or later. It was far better to resign ahead of time before he arrived. "Then what do you plan to do afterwards?" "Haven't decided yet. I'll check which of the six major shops in the market are hiring and try my luck then." The Jade Cauldron Domain had been conquered by the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect in alliance with fifteen sects, among which five superior sects formed the main force; thus, properties belonging to those five superior sects were scattered throughout the domain. Dahe Market occupied a remote location, yet its scale was by no means small. Even now, with the cultivator population surging to twenty or thirty thousand, it did not feel cramped in the slightest. Moreover, bordering the Million Mountains of the Eastern Wilderness, it was undeniably the finest bridgehead whether for harvesting resources or continuing future Wars of Reclamation. Hence, the market hosted the most complete array of properties from the six superior sects, alongside shops belonging to various minor sects of the Jade Cauldron Domain. The six superior sects in particular would deliberately station Foundation Establishment cultivators here to oversee operations, unlike the establishments of minor sects, which were merely managed by Qi Refinement cultivators. Ten years was a sensitive threshold. Every ten years, the sect cultivators stationed here would gradually be rotated out. After all, no one was willing to remain indefinitely cultivating in a market with only a first-order spirit vein. They took turns! This time, aside from the Hehuan Sect's Tianxiang Pavilion, other establishments like the Divine Talisman Sect's Divine Talisman Pavilion and the Five Elements Divine Sect's Spirit Source Studio were undergoing minor personnel shifts. With so many personnel shifts underway, certain positions would naturally become vacant. Gu Caiyi was good-looking and had reached the ninth layer of Qi Refinement. Having spent years at Tianxiang Pavilion, she was naturally adept at greeting guests and socializing. If she wanted to find a new job, as long as her demands weren't unreasonable, it shouldn't be too hard. "Why are you asking?" "Can't a good brother show some concern?" "Tch. And here I thought you wanted to keep me." "Well, that's not out of the question." Abruptly, Gu Caiyi's wheelchair ground to a halt. Her eyes bore into Luo Chen, burning bright.