“Brother Chen!”
“Mm!”
As Chen Ping walked along the road, people passing by greeted him.
But no matter who it was, their faces were pale, their eyes dull, and their lips purplish-black.
The toxins had entered their organs.
Chen Ping was no exception; at fifteen years old, his face was pale, his eyes dull, and his lips purplish-black.
This was the Mu family of the Immortal Clan, the Dan Yao Hall.
He was an Immortal Seed with an external surname brought back by the Mu family, and he was still a servant, not yet at the Lianqi 5th Layer.
The duty of these servants was to test Medicinal Pills.
They had to pass an assessment to become an Alchemist apprentice.
Before that, they had to continuously test Medicinal Pills.
To put it nicely, the Mu family was cultivating him, allowing him to consume Medicinal Pills that enhanced his Cultivation for free.
Once he reached the Lianqi 5th Layer through testing Medicinal Pills, he could be promoted to an Alchemist apprentice.
However, many people would become crippled or even die before that due to testing Medicinal Pills…
Therefore, the Mu family had many Immortal Seeds with external surnames like him.
“Chen Ping, this is the Medicinal Pill you need to take today.” Tang Steward handed Chen Ping a somewhat dark Medicinal Pill.
“Yes, Tang Steward.” Chen Ping expressionlessly took the Medicinal Pill, then swallowed it in front of him, and sat down on a futon to refine it.
What he swallowed was an Essence Qi Pill, which could speed up Chen Ping’s absorption of Spiritual Qi.
But the quality of this Medicinal Pill was poor, and the Medicinal Poison was very heavy. If consumed for a long time, the Medicinal Poison would enter the body, blood, organs, and finally, the bone marrow, turning him into a medicinal dreg waste.
Each small room had five futon positions.
Chen Ping randomly picked a spot and sat down, beginning to refine the Medicinal Pill. A familiar sensation surged in his heart, followed by the intensified onset of Medicinal Poison, which distorted Chen Ping’s features and caused his body to twitch uncontrollably.
If he stopped Cultivating at this moment, it would feel much better.
But he came from a rural background as a cowherd, and becoming a Cultivator was not easy. Even though this Medicinal Pill’s Medicinal Poison was bad for his body, Chen Ping was unwilling to waste the medicinal power, seizing every opportunity to improve his Cultivation.
So that he could reach the Qi Refining 5th Layer as soon as possible and end this inhuman treatment.
The four people next to him also gritted their teeth and persisted, just like Chen Ping.
Chen Ping’s mother passed away when he was six, and his father left even earlier, making him an orphan.
Before his mother passed away, she gave him two things: a small token and an ancestral grayish-white small bead.
After his mother passed away, his second aunt’s family took over their home, treating him harshly and abusing him, only allowing him one meal a day.
This situation improved when he was nine, when a female Cultivator descended from the sky and told him that he had an immortal token, or perhaps an Immortal Seed, and could enter the Cultivation World.
Chen Ping seized the opportunity to change his fate. At the female Cultivator’s request, he Cultivated for a hundred days and became a Cultivator at the Qi Refining 1st Layer.
Afterward, he was taken to the Mu family of the Immortal Clan.
He thought his fate would improve, but he didn't realize that going from a cowherd to an Immortal Seed of the Mu family was just jumping from one pit into another dark abyss.
The Mu family is a large clan in the Cultivation World, backed by the East Xuan Sect, and their Old Ancestor is a Golden Core cultivator of the East Xuan Sect, capable of living for four hundred years!
The Cultivation World is dark, strict, and cruel. Methods of the Immortal Dao Hundred Arts, such as Alchemy, talisman crafting, and Cultivation Techniques, are heavily concealed, making it as difficult as ascending to the heavens for others to acquire knowledge about these arts.
Thus, Immortal Seeds like Chen Ping came into use. The Mu family recruited Cultivators with Spiritual Roots like Chen Ping at a very low cost, taught Chen Ping Cultivation Techniques, and made Chen Ping work for the Mu family like an ox or a horse.
Moreover, to gain freedom, one had to work for the Mu family like an ox or a horse for sixty years.
Many people don't even live to be sixty years old in their entire lives.
Chen Ping has been in the Mu family for six years now, with a Qi Refining 4th Layer Cultivation, and he is not yet qualified to work for the Mu family like an ox or a horse.
He needs to Cultivate to the Qi Refining 5th Layer, undergo the first qualitative change of spiritual power, produce magical power, and then enter the Dan Yao Hall to become an Alchemist apprentice, starting to refine Medicinal Pills to earn Spirit Stones for the Mu family. Only then will the sixty years begin to be counted.
Many people couldn't endure it before that.
The Servant Yard where Chen Ping lived initially had six Immortal Seeds, just like him.
The remaining five people quickly couldn’t bear the pain of testing Medicinal Pills and chose to use their family connections, bribing and smoothing things over, to be transferred to other departments in the Mu family to work.
But Chen Ping, a rural boy, had no connections. He could only be a Medicinal Pill testing boy under the Dan Yao Hall, enduring torment day and night!
After six years of Cultivation, he also understood the rules of the Cultivation World.
No background, no resources, no money, why Cultivate?
Just an ox or a horse consumable.
The money here refers to the Spirit Stones of the Cultivation World.
Chen Ping has Five Elements Mixed Spiritual Roots, which are very poor in Aptitude.
Normally, he would never be able to Cultivate to the Qi Refining 3rd Layer in his entire life, but with the Medicinal Pills provided by the Mu family, he entered the Qi Refining 4th Layer at the age of thirteen.
Tang Steward told him: “Chen Ping, you must be grateful, otherwise how could you, with Five Elements Mixed Spiritual Roots, Cultivate to the Qi Refining 4th Layer?”
Chen Ping suffered immensely, treated like an ox or a horse, yet the Mu family still demanded his gratitude.
This Tang Steward was merely an ox or a horse for the Mu family himself, yet he still spoke favorably on behalf of the Mu family.
Chen Ping, who had endured endless torment and pain, swore that once he Cultivated to the Qi Refining 5th Layer, he would diligently practice Alchemy to earn money. Once he Cultivated to the Lianqi 10th Layer, he could apply to leave the Mu family and seek Foundation Establishment resources outside.
Foundation Establishment, that is the dream of every Qi Refining Cultivator, to live for two hundred years, join the East Xuan Sect, and become a great figure!
His mouth was bitter: “…I might not even make it past the Qi Refining 5th Layer, and will die from the backlash of the Medicinal Poison.”
But even so, Chen Ping had no regrets.
At least it was much better than being harshly criticized by his second aunt at home; at least he could eat his fill and stay warm at the Mu family.
Perhaps the fate of a cowherd like him was meant to be this way.
The Medicinal Poison backlash not only harmed his body but also slowed down Chen Ping’s Cultivation speed, eroding and polluting his Spiritual Root.
This made things even worse for Chen Ping, who already had Five Elements Mixed Spiritual Roots.
As the last trace of medicinal power dissipated, Chen Ping’s Medicinal Pill testing session for the day ended.
Chen Ping’s features returned to normal; he gasped for air, like a drowning person who had finally reached shore and could breathe.
And Tang Steward at the door just looked at Chen Ping with an indifferent expression:
“Chen Ping, you can go back to eat and rest.”
Chen Ping’s lips seemed to have deepened in color. He stood up and walked, his legs weak, seemingly trembling.
He managed to cup his hands, his expression resolute:
“Yes, Tang Steward.”
“Alas.” Tang Steward sighed: “Chen Ping, you’re in this state, and you still won’t bow your head?”
“As long as you agree to become a live-in son-in-law for the Mu family, these hard days will be over.”
The Mu family is truly something, making people test Medicinal Pills to torment them completely, and when they can't endure it anymore, they find another way to torment them.
They make you marry a collateral branch woman of the Mu family and become a live-in son-in-law of the Mu family, with your children taking the Mu surname.
Not only do they make you work like an ox or a horse for the Mu family, but the Mu family also wants your descendants to work like an ox or a horse for them.
And once one reaches the Qi Refining 5th Layer, they no longer have to be a live-in son-in-law, but can marry a concubine branch woman of the Mu family as their wife.
However, many people die before they can even reach the Qi Refining 5th Layer.
A suffocating sensation enveloped Chen Ping, making it difficult for him to breathe.
He forced a smile:
“Tang Steward, I appreciate your kindness. I’ll hold on a little longer. If I truly can’t, then I’ll become a live-in son-in-law for the Mu family.”