The room was staffed by four exquisitely beautiful maidens, whose attire revealed them to be disciples of the Spiritual Medicine Heart Hall. After waiting anxiously for about a quarter of an hour, it was finally Nie Kong’s turn. He strode forward, presented his waist token, and urged impatiently, "One-two-two-four!"

On the counter rested a slab of white jade etched with dense Spiritual Runes, featuring a small indentation at the top, perfectly sized for the waist token. A beautiful maiden with large eyes took the token, inserted it into the groove, and offered Nie Kong a slightly apologetic smile on her delicate face: "Nie Kong? I sincerely apologize, but since your accumulation score at the Alchemist Hall is zero, and Mission Number One-Two-Two-Four is a fifth-rank task, you are temporarily unable to accept it."

Score, mission…

Nie Kong was instantly dumbfounded. Helping people was called a “mission,” and accepting a mission required a score? How was this any different from those demon-game scenarios where one needed to reach a specific level before receiving corresponding quests? Nie Kong frowned and asked, "How many points do I need to accept it?"

"One thousand!"

The large-eyed maiden smiled sweetly and explained to Nie Kong, "When your score is zero, you can only accept first-rank missions. For every mission you complete, you earn points, up to a maximum of five. However, too many people have been accepting first-rank missions recently, so I fear there are no suitable first-rank missions for you right now."

Nie Kong was startled. "Not a single first-rank mission available?"

The large-eyed maiden hesitated for a moment. "Well, there are some. Those tasks displayed on the Jade Tablet, identifying the properties of medicinal herbs, are all first-rank missions. But those tasks carry a relatively high degree of danger, and you have only just become a disciple of the Medicine Heart Hall, still only a second-rank Spiritual Pharmacist. I'm afraid…"

Hearing that the tasks involving identifying herb properties were first-rank missions, Nie Kong breathed a sigh of relief. Before she could finish, he placed the sheet of paper he held onto the desk: "No matter, I will accept all of these tasks."

"Uh?"

Seeing the densely packed sequence numbers on the paper, the maidens in front of the window were all stunned, surprise blooming across their delicate, pretty faces.

However, since these maidens were handling procedures at the "Alchemist Hall," they were naturally well-informed. The large-eyed maiden quickly recovered her composure and chuckled, "I truly apologize, but according to the Alchemist Hall rules, when the score is zero, you can only accept a maximum of three tasks at one time; if the score exceeds fifty, you can accept four tasks; if it exceeds two hundred, you can accept five tasks; if it exceeds five hundred, you can accept six…"

Seeing the maiden smiling pleasantly, though frustrated, Nie Kong found it inappropriate to flare up. He waved his hand helplessly, "Fine, fine, then just assign me the first three."

"Very well, please wait a moment!"

As the large-eyed maiden spoke, a faint blue glow emerged from her index fingertip, tracing directly over the white jade into which the waist token was inserted. Stimulated by the spiritual power, the spiritual runes on the jade surface moved ceaselessly, and the assembled sequence numbers finally transformed into a beam of white light that merged into Nie Kong’s waist token.

When the large-eyed maiden finished tracing all three sequence numbers, another maiden with a melon-seed shaped face retrieved three small jade boxes from the room. Seeing Nie Kong reach out to take them, she quickly smiled softly, "There are three types of herbs in total, one hundred Gold Coins per herb. Please pay the deposit of three hundred Gold Coins first."

"Damn it!"

Nie Kong finally couldn't restrain himself and cursed aloud. When Luo Ren mentioned the Alchemist Hall back in the Medicine Heart Hall, he had assumed accepting tasks would be straightforward. He hadn't expected it to be this troublesome, but for the sake of the "Jade Leaf Lapis Pill," no matter how complicated, Nie Kong was prepared to continue.

The four maidens blinked in confusion, clearly not understanding the meaning of Nie Kong's expletive. Nie Kong wasted no more time, swiftly pulling out his Spirit Card from his robes. After authorizing the melon-seed faced maiden to transfer three hundred Gold Coins, he immediately snatched the three jade boxes and his waist token and vanished.

Nie Kong did not leave the Alchemist Hall. In the blink of an eye, he looked around, found a relatively quiet corner, and sat down to open all the jade boxes. Inside lay three leaves of varied shapes. Fortunately, these jade boxes were inscribed with Spiritual Runes, imbued with abundant Earth Spiritual Energy, keeping the leaves lifelike.

Storing ordinary herbs in Spiritual Rune medicine boxes was indeed effective, but some herbs, when stored in such containers, could easily lose or even destabilize their medicinal properties. It was like the precious poisonous herbs that Long Xuechan collected; she preferred planting them in pots until they withered rather than storing them in Spiritual Rune medicine boxes.

Reaching into his robe, Nie Kong summoned a stack of papers from his Pet Backpack and placed them on the ground. Without hesitation, Nie Kong placed one of the leaves into his mouth, chewed it a few times, then closed his eyes to sense carefully. After only a dozen seconds, Nie Kong’s eyes snapped open, and he began scribbling furiously on the paper with his pencil…

…

Not far away, two eyes witnessed this scene, and surprise immediately flashed in their gaze.

The owner of those eyes was the disciple from the Azure Wind Hall who had kindly warned Nie Kong earlier. Having stayed in Spirit Imperial City for three full years, the name Chao Dong was known not only in the Azure Wind Hall but also by quite a few people in the Five Halls: Purple Thunder, Mountain Soul, Fire Cloud, Water Fairy, and Medicine Heart.

Chao Dong regularly interacted with many Medicine Heart Hall disciples, often partnering with their Spiritual Pharmacists during trials in the Heavenly Wolf Mountain Range. Yet, this was the first time he had encountered someone like Nie Kong.

Anyone who had heard Nie Kong’s earlier words would have assumed him to be arrogant and presumptuous, but his expression showed no hint of arrogance whatsoever. Chao Dong had met many truly arrogant and self-important Spiritual Pharmacists in the "Medicine Heart Hall"; those fellows always had their eyes pointing skyward, and even from dozens of meters away, Chao Dong could smell the constant aura of superiority emanating from them.

If Nie Kong were such a person, even if he did something curious, Chao Dong would not bother speaking to him.

It was only because Nie Kong gave him a decent first impression—lacking the lofty sense of superiority that clung to most Medicine Heart Hall disciples—that Chao Dong paid a few extra glances. He hadn't expected Nie Kong, after accepting three missions, to immediately start sampling herbs right there in the Alchemist Hall.

Moreover, judging by his actions, he seemed to have gained some insight after only a brief ten-plus seconds. Chao Dong grew intensely curious and subconsciously walked over.

Standing behind Nie Kong and looking over his shoulder, Chao Dong couldn't help but let out a soft "Hmph." The writing on the paper meticulously detailed the various reactions after ingesting the herb. Reading it gave one the feeling of having personally experienced the herb's flavor, and the analysis of its properties was logical and sound, with tight reasoning.

Chao Dong had witnessed Medicine Heart Hall disciples testing herbs before. They always meditated in a quiet place to calm their minds for a long time before cautiously placing a meager amount of the herb into their mouths to taste it. Often, after half a day, they couldn't identify any of the properties.

Yet, Nie Kong did the exact opposite: rapid ingestion, rapid tasting, and even faster deduction of the test results. If everything he wrote down was accurate, then this speed in testing herbs was terrifying! Subconsciously, Chao Dong felt a profound shock delivered by Nie Kong.

Nie Kong set down his pencil, turned his head, offered Chao Dong a slight smile, and then, under Chao Dong’s strange gaze, picked up the second leaf, placing it directly into his mouth and continuing to chew…