Enlightenment: Beginning as a Disposable Warrior

The old man, with an excited expression, rose from the bamboo chair and stepped outside the small courtyard of the herb cottage.

"Lead the way."

"Yes."

Sun Li responded swiftly, stepping forward to lead Master Cang to find the person, but before stepping out of the courtyard, he noticed from the corner of his eye that Master Cang’s figure suddenly froze.

Perplexed, he turned to look back, seeing an unusual glint flash in the old man’s eyes, as if he had suddenly remembered something important, stopping in his tracks.

"Sun Li, go invite the person here, I won’t be going... go swiftly now."

"Alright! Master Cang, please rest first."

Master Cang’s drastically different reactions before and after perplexed Sun Li’s heart, clearly eager but why did he suddenly give up, he did not overthink, immediately taking leave as he planned to depart.

"Hold on... Go tomorrow, bring him alone, the matter of me accepting a disciple must not be revealed, otherwise I will hold you accountable!"

"Understood."

Sun Li hurriedly left the small courtyard of the herb cottage.

Watching Sun Li’s figure disappear completely, Master Cang seemed a bit lost in his thoughts, mumbling to himself, "If he really is just a casual alchemist, reaching such skill without guidance, this person is undoubtedly a genius in the Alchemy Dao, I just hope this youngster can progress a bit faster..."

A year ago, Master Cang had a "serious illness," since then he voluntarily resigned as the Alchemy Hall Master within the gang, beginning to move into the small courtyard of the herb cottage to recuperate.

In his lifetime, he had taken three disciples. The eldest disciple died young, the remaining two disciples, the second disciple had mediocre talent, but was nimble-minded, skilled in dealing with interpersonal relationships.

The youngest disciple had decent talent, but was obstinate in character; years ago, after a debate with his master, he left the gang, now his whereabouts unknown.

Currently, the one who succeeded as Alchemy Hall Master in the gang was his second disciple. Thinking of his second disciple, the old man’s eyes flickered, with a complex look flashing deep in his gaze.

Nowadays, Zhou Cang had already stepped back, no longer holding power, an idle person within the gang now, but only a very few people knew all this was just on the surface.

"Qing Lin once said I was not good at recognizing people... perhaps it is true."

The old man lay back onto the bamboo chair, letting out a long sigh.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

Early the next morning, before the autumn day fully brightened, the door of the guest room where Su Mu was staying was knocked from the outside. The person inside had opened his eyes as soon as he heard footsteps approaching.

"It’s Sun Li, seems like the assessment has been passed."

Su Mu took a light breath, coming out of cultivation state, feeling a bit surprised, originally thinking he would have to wait several days, but he quickly sensed something seemed off about Sun Li outside the door.

He got up to open the door.

Sun Li was casting a vigilant look at his surroundings, as if confirming there was no tail following him.

"Sun the Alchemist, may I have a word."

"Alright."

Su Mu stepped aside, Sun Li walked into the room.

"Sun the Alchemist, you have passed the assessment, Master Cang sees potential in you regarding the Alchemy Dao, taking quite a liking to you..." Sun Li paused slightly, changing the topic.

"Sun the Alchemist, I won’t beat around the bush here, have you ever heard of the Cyan Fish Gang?"

"Cyan Fish Gang?"

Su Mu anticipated somewhat but feigned surprise.

"That’s right, this time it was my Cyan Fish Gang commissioning the Pill Cauldron Pavilion to assess a batch of freelance Alchemists without family backgrounds... To be honest, our Cyan Fish Gang’s Alchemy Hall Master, Master Cang, is getting old, thus wants to cultivate a batch of new Alchemists for the gang, adding fresh blood to the Alchemy Hall."

Upon hearing this, Su Mu roughly understood the Cyan Fish Gang’s intentions, that Master Cang planned to cultivate newcomers before retiring.

The Cyan Fish Gang was a major force in Donglai County, rivaling the four Great Noble Families, originally known as the Cao Bang of Donglai, with its developed waterways, the Cyan Fish Gang and the White Whale Gang controlled nearly seventy percent of Donglai’s water transport.

Merchants coming and going through Donglai County almost all had to pay tribute to the two gangs to do business within the county!

Such a major force planning to cultivate new Alchemists certainly wouldn’t be stingy with resources.

"Right now... I just need an identity to heal, joining the Cyan Fish Gang as an Alchemist is indeed a good option and won’t attract attention!"

Su Mu’s mind rapidly turned, finding the matter viable.

The improvement in Alchemy Skill not only required the Alchemist themselves to have talent but also needed a large accumulation of resources, previously, Su Mu spent nearly twenty thousand taels of silver in just a month, this was just for refining Bone Strengthening Pills and Qi and Blood Pills of the Lower Three Grades.

To build an Alchemist capable of refining Middle Third Grade or even higher grade pills, it inevitably required several times, even tens of times more vast resources.

And the Cyan Fish Gang undoubtedly was a wealthy and solid backing, joining the Cyan Fish Gang as an Alchemist—besides other treatments, as long as the Cyan Fish Gang could continuously provide herbs and a place to make pills.

Su Mu could use the resources from the Cyan Fish Gang to rapidly advance in Alchemy Skill, aiding in refining medicinal pills for healing and impacting Secret Realm’s ’Profound Pattern Pill.’

At the same time, joining the Cyan Fish Gang could conveniently give Su Mu a brand new identity.

It truly was a mutually beneficial situation!

"What does Sun the Alchemist think?" Sun Li asked, feeling somewhat nervous inside, as this was the person Master Cang specifically wanted to be brought back, best if done willingly.

Though bringing back Sun Li, who had Seventh Grade Cultivation, to the gang wasn’t difficult, Sun Li being valued by Master Cang meant boundless future potential, avoiding offense if possible was naturally preferred.

"Being valued by the Cyan Fish Gang... is an honor for someone like me."

Su Mu’s expression remained unchanged, feigning a pleased look.

Seeing this, Sun Li felt a surge of joy within, secretly relieved, he immediately stood up, "Sun the Alchemist, is it convenient for you now? Could you come with me to the gang?"

"I can, let me pack my belongings."

After casually packing a few outfits, Su Mu stood up, the two walked out of the inn, the morning streets shrouded in mist, but there were already many pedestrians, vendors had also set up their stalls early, a few cries echoing in the air.