There were no rats on Fragrant Cloud Mountain. In a place of cultivation like this, unless a rat was a spirit beast, it couldn't possibly survive. However, the mountain did have quite a number of ants.
These ants were natural creatures. They typically lived in crevices between rocks and never bothered anyone. In fact, they seemed to blend into the mountain itself, so no one paid them any attention.
But today, around the Pill Concocting Pavilion, the disciple on guard suddenly trembled and sprang to his feet in shock. In just an instant, **countless ants** appeared on the ground, swarming straight toward the pavilion.
**"What... what's going on?!"** The disciple guarding the pill house gasped as he watched the overwhelming tide of ants, a chill running down his spine.
At the same time, in many of the rooms inside the Pill Pavilion, the disciples who were refining pills all cried out in alarm. The sounds of pill furnaces exploding rumbled through the halls. Even more ants surged forth, and although the rooms were protected by arrays, the entire structure was built within the mountain. The ants simply crawled through every crack and crevice, all swarming in one direction.
That direction… was the room where **Bai Xiaochun** was located.
At that moment, Bai Xiaochun was curiously examining the strange black pill he had just refined. While puzzled, he heard muffled rumbles coming from outside. Then, to his astonishment, **countless ants** began pouring in through the cracks in the floor of his room.
The ants were crazed, all charging straight toward **Bai Xiaochun**.
**"An ant plague on Fragrant Cloud Mountain?!"** Bai Xiaochun leapt up in horror, goosebumps covering his whole body. Even more terrifying—some of the ants jumped into the air as well, heading straight for the **black pill** in his hand.
With his scalp tingling, Bai Xiaochun didn't hesitate. Regardless of whether it would work or not, he immediately hurled the pill away.
The moment it left his hand, the ants instantly changed direction and swarmed toward it.
As the pill hit the ground, it was instantly engulfed in a **massive swarm** of ants, forming a huge black ball. Bai Xiaochun watched in pale-faced terror as the ball of ants collapsed in on itself. Then, as if nothing had happened, the ants scattered into the cracks and disappeared.
The black pill was **completely gone**—not even a trace remained.
Just like that, **not a single ant** remained in the entire Pill Pavilion. They had come fast and vanished just as fast. Though the event left many alchemy disciples frustrated, there was little anyone could do. The disciple guarding the area, seeing that there had been no real damage, decided not to report it. After all, from everyone else's perspective, it had just looked like a large group of ants passing by.
Only **Bai Xiaochun** had seen the sheer madness in those ants.
Still shaken, Bai Xiaochun carefully examined the batch of pills he had just refined. Nothing seemed wrong, but he was so meticulous that even a successful pill needed to be scrutinized and improved. He vaguely remembered that during the final refining process, he had slightly altered the ingredient ratios.
**"Could it be that the pill I made… is a powerful tonic for ants too?"** Bai Xiaochun scratched his head. He felt oddly proud of himself. Not only could he make pills for humans—he could even create pills that drove ants wild with desire.
As he left the room, he heard the disgruntled muttering of the other disciples exiting their rooms. Feeling a bit guilty, Bai Xiaochun quickly lowered his head and hurried away.
A few days passed. Seeing that no rumors had spread about the incident at the Pill Pavilion, he returned again. After paying with contribution points, he chose a different room and began refining once more.
This time, he focused on **refining Longevity Incense**.
While incense and pills shared many similarities in the refining process, they also had some key differences. Pills were meant to be ingested, incense to be burned and inhaled. At the final stage, pills took solid form, while incense condensed into a block or stick.
Drawing from his previous experience, Bai Xiaochun remained cautious and meticulous throughout the process. After **two months**, using ten sets of ingredients, he successfully created **seven batches** of Longevity Incense.
Satisfied, he returned to his wooden hut. There, after three sessions of **spirit enhancement** on the incense, the originally ordinary sticks had turned a deep **purple**. Though the three spiritual patterns engraved on them were dim, they were still visible. The incense clearly felt **very different** from before.
Staring at the incense, Bai Xiaochun fell into deep thought. Unlike before, when he had been clueless about spiritual medicine, his understanding had grown substantially. He now knew that **most spiritual pills and incense contained impurities**—elements that could not be absorbed and were hard to remove. These impurities would accumulate in the body, forming what was known as **pill poison**.
This was why many elders in the sect discouraged their disciples from overusing pills. In theory, a small amount of pill poison would be expelled naturally. But with overuse, the impurities would build up and eventually **hinder cultivation**.
Thus, the sect categorized spiritual medicine into **six grades**, depending on impurity levels:
**"Low, Medium, High, Fine, Superior, and Supreme..."** Bai Xiaochun muttered.
* If over **90%** of a pill was impurities, it was considered **toxic** and not even classified—only taken in emergencies.
* If impurities made up **80%**, it was **low grade**—the most common type.
* **60%** impurity pills were **medium grade**, already rare, and only true alchemists could make them.
* At **40%**, a pill was **high grade**, even rarer.
* **Fine grade** pills had only **20%** impurities, and **superior grade** only **10%**—these appeared only at large auctions on rare occasions.
* As for **supreme grade**, with **zero impurities**, they were the stuff of **legends**.
Staring at the incense in his hand, Bai Xiaochun was suddenly struck with realization. When he had previously enhanced spiritual medicines, he hadn't noticed it clearly—but now, upon closer inspection, he found that **spirit enhancement didn't increase power like it did for magical items**.
Instead, it **improved the quality** of the medicine!
The Longevity Incense in his hand now had only **40% impurities**—making it **high grade**!
This discovery thrilled him. After some thought, he went to **Violet Cauldron Mountain**, not to visit Fatty Zhang, but to go to the **Spirit Enhancement Hall**, which only existed on that mountain.
There, disciples could pay contribution points to have elders help them enhance their items. Though the success rate wasn't high, many disciples still pursued it.
Bai Xiaochun observed the process and asked around. Before long, he had confirmed that **spiritual medicine could indeed be enhanced to remove impurities**.
Returning to Fragrant Cloud Mountain, Bai Xiaochun happily lit a stick of Longevity Incense. Taking a deep breath, he immediately felt a **satisfying fullness** in his body. The warm aroma spread throughout his limbs. If life was like a flickering flame, then this incense had just added a small log to it—making it burn brighter.
So, he would practice his **Undying Live-Forever Technique** while inhaling the incense. Whenever he felt hungry or drained, a deep breath would make it all go away.
The **seven sticks of incense** supported him for **half a month**. During that time, he could clearly feel his **Undying Iron Skin** growing tougher and his body becoming stronger.
Brimming with enthusiasm, Bai Xiaochun organized his storage pouch and went down to the **marketplace**, where he sold off the belongings of Chen Fei and the others. With the earnings, he bought **dozens more batches** of materials for Longevity Incense and returned to his refining work.
His success rate kept climbing, thanks to his meticulous care. From **70%**, to **80%**, and eventually, he could maintain a **100% success rate**.
But Bai Xiaochun still wasn't satisfied. Despite the perfect success rate, his incense was always **low grade**. He couldn't improve the quality further just yet, so he continued using **spirit enhancement** to remove impurities.
As time passed, he would frequently pull out a stick of Longevity Incense during cultivation and take a deep breath. The resulting bliss made him feel like the **entire world was full of joy**.
With steady cultivation, his **Undying Live-Forever Technique** improved visibly. His cultivation base also advanced, gradually approaching the **peak of Qi Condensation level six**.
Most notably, his **Undying Iron Skin** was nearly complete. His entire body was now tougher than ever, and even the **blackness in his fingers** while performing the *Shatterthroat Lock* had darkened.
But by this point, the effects of the incense began to **diminish**. Eventually, the benefits faded entirely. Bai Xiaochun sighed. He understood why—his body had adapted after prolonged exposure to a single kind of spiritual medicine.
To continue cultivating effectively, he needed a **better spiritual medicine** than Longevity Incense. However, such recipes were **tightly restricted**—not available in the marketplace. The only way to obtain them was by **advancing to the rank of Alchemy Apprentice** and exchanging contribution points within the sect.
Alternatively, he could venture to larger marketplaces—but those were **far from the sect**, making the journey impractical.
After much deliberation, a determined look appeared in Bai Xiaochun's eyes.
**"I'll advance to Alchemy Apprentice!"**
Given his experience and deep knowledge of flora, he was confident he could pass. Still, to be safe, he bought several other pill recipes and practiced refining each two or three times, studying his failures carefully. Once he felt sure of himself, he **registered at the Alchemy Hall** to take the apprentice advancement test.
These tests weren't held individually—they only began once enough people had signed up.
A month later, just as Bai Xiaochun was contemplating a new refining technique, **his identity token vibrated inside his storage pouch**. He pulled it out, and a deep, aged voice echoed in his mind:
**"Tomorrow at dawn, in front of the Alchemy Hall, the test for apprentice advancement will begin."**