Whether it was due to Chen Ping’s thorough safety measures or because the small sect Marketplace inherently had decent security and fewer thieves, the journey back to the Hundred Herb Garden passed without the anticipated ambush or robbery he had feared.

The mountain wind whistled through gaps in the forest, rustling the coarse, old clothes he had deliberately changed into. Only the chirping of insects, the calls of birds, and the soft crunch of dry twigs underfoot accompanied him.

Chen Ping did not relax his guard in the slightest.

His nerves remained taut until he caught sight of the familiar outline of the Hundred Herb Garden’s fence in the distance. Only then did he allow himself to ease up a little.

He stopped, taking cover behind a large roadside boulder. After carefully confirming no one was watching from the surroundings and waiting for another half-stick of incense’s time, he swiftly slipped into the garden’s perimeter.

Pushing open the door to his small hut, he carefully slid the bolt into place and propped a thick wooden stick against it. Finally, Chen Ping let out a long breath he felt he had been holding forever.

The shirt on his back was soaked through with cold sweat, clinging to his skin and sending a chill through him.

He slid down to sit against the door, his heart still pounding like a drum in his chest.

Two safe round trips to the Marketplace were certainly due to his cautious, step-by-step planning and constant vigilance. Yet, Chen Ping was acutely aware that luck had played a part.

He was only human, after all. Being human meant it was possible to overlook something despite all precautions.

Just because he hadn’t encountered danger this time didn’t guarantee the same luck next time.

Luck was ethereal and fickle; it would inevitably run out someday.

When that day came, if he didn’t have sufficient strength of his own to rely on in this seemingly calm but actually turbulent world of Cultivation, ending up dead without a burial place would be no mere saying.

Every time he stepped into the Marketplace, it felt like a high-stakes gamble with his life on the line.

Fortunately, this time he had won the bet, and his gains far exceeded expectations.

Chen Ping began taking out the items purchased from the Marketplace from within his Jade Pendant space, placing them one by one on the crude wooden table.

A small jade vial containing ten precious Marrow Cleansing Pills.

The tattered animal-skin scroll Introduction to Alchemy Records, emitting a musty, old smell.

A heavy little bronze Alchemy Furnace bearing traces of smoke and fire.

A thick volume titled The Immortal Path…

And finally, three Talismans drawn with cinnabar on yellow paper.

Two Golden Arrow Talismans depicting sharp golden arrows, and one Earth Shield Talisman with patterns as thick and solid as a shield.

He picked up the three Talismans, studying the patterns on the paper.

It was truly marvelous.

Such a small piece of yellow paper, with some unknown red ink drawing patterns and characters he couldn’t recognize… could unleash Arts of astonishing power. It was truly baffling.

As they say, different trades are separated by mountains. Chen Ping stared for a long time but couldn’t grasp their underlying principle.

However, the terrifying aura contained within them confirmed they were functional.

These were his life-saving trump cards, bought with his last remaining Spirit Stones. If he had unfortunately encountered thieves on the road, he could have used these Talismans for self-defense.

Talismans didn’t require powerful Cultivation; they only needed a trace of external Qi to guide and activate them.

Two for attack, one for defense. Although they were of the lowest grade, at a critical moment, they might just mark the boundary between life and death.

He tucked one Golden Arrow Talisman into a hidden pocket in each sleeve for easy access. The Earth Shield Talisman was carefully folded and slipped into an inner pocket against his chest.

Only after doing all this did he feel a greater sense of security.

Finally, his gaze fell upon Introduction to Alchemy Records.

The greatest gain from this trip wasn’t the valuable Marrow Cleansing Pills or the Alchemy Furnace, but this inconspicuous tattered scroll—especially the “Spirit Nourishing Pill” formula recorded on its last few pages.

The Spirit Nourishing Pill had an ordinary name.

For Sect disciples or Cultivators with backing, the Qi it provided was far inferior to higher-grade Qi Gathering Pills. Its effect might even be less helpful for Cultivation than Marrow Cleansing Pills, making it seem rather useless.

But for Chen Ping, this formula was a treasure beyond measure, worth far more than the six Spirit Stones he had paid.

The reason was simple.

The main ingredient required for the Spirit Nourishing Pill—”Dew Condensing Grass”—had already matured by over a hundred plants in his mysterious space and was still growing continuously.

As for the other two auxiliary herbs—”Red Ginseng” and “Crystal Flower”—they were practically as common as weeds in the outer medicinal fields of the Hundred Herb Garden. They were high-demand auxiliary materials used in refining various basic pills.

As a Manager, he had full authority to “reasonably consume” a portion without drawing attention or simply set aside space to cultivate them himself within his Pocket Dimension.

“If I take many Spirit Nourishing Pills… could quantity lead to a qualitative change?”

Chen Ping murmured to himself, a gleam shining in his eyes.

The effect of a single Spirit Nourishing Pill was limited?

No matter.

As long as materials were nearly infinite, he could refine pills.

Refine vast quantities of Spirit Nourishing Pills.

Take them One After Another.

If ten weren’t enough, then a hundred.

Accumulated day by day, the total amount of Qi provided might not be much worse than expensive Qi Gathering Pills.

This… this was truly the most suitable Cultivation path for a penniless, low-talent Five-Spirit Root rogue Cultivator like him.

He carefully opened the tattered scroll, his eyes landing on the Spirit Nourishing Pill formula and several familiar herb names.

[Dew Condensing Grass (Main), Red Ginseng (Auxiliary), Crystal Flower (Auxiliary)]

The refining steps were extremely brief, only mentioning vague stages like Fire Control, fusion, and pill condensation—lacking all detail.

Perhaps such Low-grade pills simply didn’t require such complicated refining steps.

The few basic Fire Control techniques and medicinal material processing diagrams beside it also appeared crude.

But Chen Ping didn’t care. This was his only stepping stone into the path of alchemy.

The next day, Chen Ping inspected the herb garden as usual.

A smile on his face, he wandered around.

He carefully checked growth conditions in several key medicinal fields, ensuring there were no pests or diseases and that the Qi supply was normal.

His gaze swept over patches of growing Red Ginseng and Crystal Flower as he silently made calculations in his heart.

Returning to his hut and locking the door, Chen Ping focused his spirit and entered the Black Earth space.

Inside the space, vitality flourished.

Of the two hundred Dew Condensing Grass plants first planted here, one hundred had fully matured. Their leaves shimmered with dewdrop-like essence at their tips, emitting pure plant-based Qi.

Moreover, due to their higher age, their medicinal potency was even stronger.

As for replacing those twenty Dew Condensing Grass plants sold earlier, that had long been completed.

Another sixty plants were also growing well, nearing maturity.

Chen Ping took out tools and carefully harvested the mature hundred Dew Condensing Grass plants, neatly stacking them in a corner of the space.

The space possessed preservation functions; there was no need to worry about losing medicinal potency.

The cleared plots and all remaining corners within were immediately occupied by new seeds and root segments.

Chen Ping took out the Red Ginseng root segments and Crystal Flower seeds he had prepared long ago.

The Red Ginseng root segments were cut into small pieces containing buds, while the Crystal Flower seeds were directly sown.

Guided by his will, he evenly planted these materials.

Fifty Red Ginseng plants and fifty Crystal Flower plants occupied all remaining land within the space.

Chen Ping wasn’t sure if more Crystal Flowers and Red Ginseng could be planted here yet.

For now, he stuck to planting according to what seemed like the space’s maximum capacity of four hundred spirit plants.

As for the Cold Star Grass, aside from selling twenty plants earlier, the rest remained planted here still since its value depended heavily on age—the older it got, the stronger its medicinal properties became.

One week passed quickly.

The newly planted Red Ginseng tubers broke through the soil One After Another, sprouting tender shoots that grew robustly at visible speeds.

The Crystal Flower seeds also germinated into tiny seedlings with emerald-green leaves.