He can also continuously take on the alchemy tasks of a Great Cultivator, completing many years' worth of Great Cultivator alchemy tasks all at once is not a problem.

There are quite a few Nascent Soul level fourth-grade pill tasks on the Dongqi Continent; as many as fourteen, with the rewards clearly stated, provided by the Great Cultivators who posted the alchemy tasks.

Li Shiming not only gains the rewards offered by the Great Cultivators for completing these alchemy tasks but also earns contribution points from the Central State Commerce.

This is far more beneficial than taking on alchemy assignments by himself, and the extra contribution points can be exchanged for resources and cultivation techniques.

He chose five tasks with rewards he was satisfied with to take on, which effectively equates to his compulsory task quota for five years.

With his actions, he accepted all five of the Great Cultivator alchemy tasks.

What he does not know is that his status as a Guest Elder is extremely special.

The Central State Commerce has many Alchemy Masters, but being able to directly accept Great Cultivator alchemy tasks without needing confirmation from the Great Cultivator for whom the task is posted is rare.

At the level of a Great Cultivator, the fourth-grade alchemy materials of a Great Cultivator are extremely precious, and a Great Cultivator would not allow such precious alchemy materials to be refined by an Alchemy Master without assurance.

Ordinary Alchemy Masters need to receive approval from a Great Cultivator to complete the task acceptance of the Great Cultivator alchemy task.

But an Alchemy Master like Li Shiming, who has special permissions, does not need to obtain confirmation from the Great Cultivator who posted the task when accepting it.

This is because the Central State Commerce has already certified Li Shiming's alchemy level and has guaranteed his credibility to other Great Cultivators.

Li Shiming does not know how the Central State Commerce sends the alchemy materials; he sees nothing unusual on the Guest Official Jade Plate and can only wait.

On the other side, Li Shiming's agent, Cultivator Xin Jingyun, started her busy work upon seeing the five Great Cultivator alchemy tasks Li Shiming had accepted.

Because Li Shiming accepted the alchemy tasks of five Great Cultivators, Xin Jingyun needed to find the five Great Cultivators and retrieve the alchemy materials.

It took her a full day to collect all five sets of alchemy materials.

Xin Jingyun flew to the Ten Thousand Beast Sect, presented a piece of Jade Dishware, and thus obtained permission to enter the Ten Thousand Beast Sect.

She arrived outside Li Shiming's mountain peak and sent out a communication technique spell.

She was very curious about what kind of Alchemy Master could receive the highest permissions among the Nascent Soul-level Alchemy Masters just after joining the Central State Commerce.

Li Shiming activated the formation of the mountain peak, allowing Xin Jingyun to enter the mountaintop.

He did not let Xin Jingyun enter his cave abode, as he was not familiar with her.

When he met his agent from Central State Commerce, Xin Jingyun unexpectedly was a Nascent Soul Middle Stage female cultivator.

"Senior, I did not expect the alchemy materials to be delivered personally by you!" Li Shiming said with a smile and a bow.

"Master Li, you can just call me fellow. With your status as a Guest Elder, I dare not be called senior!" Xin Jingyun replied with a smile, then continued, "For the next hundred years, I will be your agent, responsible for delivering resources and retrieving the spirit pills. After a hundred years, I will notify you when a new agent takes over."

"Mr. Xin, if I want to purchase some miscellaneous items, can the commerce help?" Li Shiming was very concerned about this question.

His research was ongoing, but as it continued, it consumed more and more materials. Most of his previous inventory was depleted, and he needed to replenish it.

Among the materials he needed, there were many mundane items.

"As long as you provide a list, even spiritual objects from other continents can be obtained for you, though it may take some time!" Xin Jingyun confidently replied.

Li Shiming did not hesitate and handed a Jade Scroll to Xin Jingyun.

Xin Jingyun took it and checked with Divine Sense. Upon seeing the densely packed list of items, many of which were mundane, she couldn't help being a little taken aback.

"Master Li, I need some time to prepare!" Xin Jingyun quickly replied.

She was not worried that the Central State Commerce could not gather these items. The spiritual objects were easier to manage as most of them were in the warehouse. Even those that were not could be transferred from other places.

The preparation time for mundane items was the longest, as they required ordinary forces to assist in the collection, and the collection speed of ordinary people could not be guaranteed.

"As long as it's ready before I finish refining the pills!" Li Shiming said.

"Then there is no problem; here are the five sets of Great Cultivator alchemy materials and the corresponding elixir recipes. Please have Master Li check them!" Xin Jingyun said as she placed a storage bag in front of Li Shiming.

Li Shiming checked them and found no problems.

"It should take about one hundred and twenty days; I'll notify you when it's done!"

"Master Li, it's not that I don't believe you, but did you get the time wrong? Even if it takes forty days to complete a single furnace of Nascent Soul-level fourth-grade spirit pills and you don't rest at all in between, it would still take at least two hundred days to finish refining all the pills!" This was Xin Jingyun's first time dealing with Li Shiming, and she voiced her doubts.

"There's no mistake, I have my secret alchemy technique which I'm not at liberty to disclose," Li Shiming replied calmly.

He would not reveal to Xin Jingyun that he was starting with two batches of fourth-grade spirit pills simultaneously and that having one hundred and ninety-one minds allowed him to refine continuously without any pressure.

"Master Li, I spoke out of turn!" Xin Jingyun said with a slight bow.

Inquiring about a cultivator's privacy is taboo, and having committed this faux pas, she took the initiative to acknowledge her mistake.

"By the way, these are the resources allocated to Master Li for these five years!" She recalled something and took out another storage bag to present.

At this point, her business was concluded, and she bowed to take her leave from Li Shiming.

Li Shiming took out the spiritual objects from the storage bag: ten Nascent Soul Early Stage fourth-grade spiritual medicines, one hundred fourth-grade spirit tea leaves, one hundred fourth-grade spirit fruits, ten fourth-grade low-level talismans, and two fourth-grade mid-stage talismans.

He was quite surprised at the five-year pay handed out by Central State Commerce; it was indeed a lot.

He knew that becoming a Guest Elder and accepting alchemy tasks warranted separate compensation and contribution points.

The ten fourth-grade spiritual medicines were not much to him, but for the average Nascent Soul Early Stage practitioner, they were additional fourth-grade resources, equivalent to the rewards of several dangerous missions.

One hundred fourth-grade spirit tea leaves and one hundred fourth-grade spirit fruits were for entertaining guests. The quality was mediocre, but the quantity more than made up for it.

So many entertaining spiritual objects in five years were definitely more than enough.

The power of a fourth-grade low-level talisman was equivalent to the spell power of a Nascent Soul Early Stage practitioner.

The key aspect of a fourth-grade low-level talisman was that it did not require spell preparation time and could be activated instantly, which was the crucial point of a talisman.

For ordinary Nascent Soul Early Stage practitioners, the fourth-grade mid-stage talisman was a life-saving talisman to a certain degree.

The fourth-grade mid-stage talisman was equivalent to the spell power of a Nascent Soul Middle Stage practitioner. The rarity of mid-stage talismans far exceeded that of low-level ones, even Li Shiming seldom saw them.

The Central State Commerce allocated two pieces to him every five years, making them the most precious spiritual objects in the storage bag.

What Li Shiming didn't know was that this allocation was unique to him; other Guest Elders did not receive such distributions.

This was thanks to Master Liu Ziyun's high appraisal of him, likening his alchemy skill to that of Grandmaster Hu, recognizing him as the top Alchemy Master on the Dongqi Continent.

Li Shiming's alchemy level had not been officially acknowledged as the top of Dongqi Continent, but anyone aware of his skill in refining Nascent Soul-Level fourth-grade spirit pills would confirm his preeminent status in Dongqi.

With his identity as Dongqi Continent's top Alchemy Master, Li Shiming naturally received special treatment from Central State Commerce.

But these matters were never made clear by Master Liu Ziyun to Li Shiming, and Xin Jingyun didn't elaborate on them either until she truly witnessed Li Shiming's alchemy prowess.

Xin Jingyun remained in observation mode, waiting until Li Shiming demonstrated alchemy skills that would convince her to change her attitude.

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