Chapter 115 The years are long and the stars are round
As soon as he entered the store, Song Jie saw a young man standing in front of the counter selling elixirs, looking at the various elixirs on the counter.
The young man was about 1.75 meters tall. He was in adolescence and his figure looked a little thin.
His black hair was smooth and shiny, and was tied back casually, leaving a strand of hair blowing in the wind.
His clothes are simple and neat. He is dressed in green clothes, with a white ribbon tied around his waist, and a pair of green cloth shoes.
The young man heard the sound of someone entering the store behind him and quickly turned around to look.
There was a little light of expectation in those bright eyes.
“Senior, is Master Song Alchemy?”
The young man bowed to Song Jie.
Song Jie took a look at the other person and found that he was a handsome and polite young man.
He has a delicate face, fair skin, straight nose bridge, thin lips, and a sense of stubbornness and unyieldingness between his brows.
Although the other party hasn’t said anything yet, Song Jie has already guessed that this person is probably today’s applicant.
He immediately smiled and said: “Exactly. Are you here to buy elixirs, fellow Taoist? Or are you here to apply for an apprenticeship in alchemy?”
Hearing this, the young man quickly saluted Song Jie and said, “Junior Liu Zhicheng has met Master Song.
“This junior is here to apply for an apprenticeship in alchemy.”
Song Jie nodded slightly and said, “Then come with me…”
With that said, Song Jie took the young man named Liu Zhicheng to a small tea room in the back hall.
After both of them sat down, Song Jie asked: “How did you know that I am Master Song?”
“Senior Li just informed this junior about when Alchemist Song will come to the store.
“In addition, the first time Alchemist Song entered the store was not to look at the elixirs, weapons and other items on the shelves.
“But they are looking at the younger generation, which is different from the behavior of customers who come into the store to make purchases.
“Therefore, I would venture to guess that the senior is Alchemist Song.”
Song Jie nodded and said with a smile: “You have a very bright mind. Please briefly introduce yourself.”
“OK.”
Liu Zhicheng adjusted his sitting posture to make himself look more upright and energetic.
After pondering for a while, he said: “Junior Liu Zhiqiang, from Qinghefang City, age 19.
“I have been studying alchemy since I was a child, and I am familiar with the knowledge of various plants, trees, monsters and beasts.
“A few days ago, I heard from a friend that Alchemist Song was recruiting alchemy apprentices here, so I came here to seek a position as an alchemy apprentice.
“This junior’s friend must have told Master Song that although this junior has a single fire attribute spiritual root, he has no meridians in his body.
“There is a method of cultivation, but it is impossible to practice it. I am still a mortal to this day.
“If Alchemist Song does not dislike you and is willing to take him in, I will definitely be grateful and learn from you with an open mind.
“If I have any achievements in the future, I will repay Master Song tenfold and a hundredfold.”
At the end of the speech, Liu Zhicheng stood up and bowed deeply to Song Jie.
Looking at the sincerity of the other party, Song Jie could feel that the other party really wanted this opportunity.
Looking at Liu Zhicheng, Song Jie seemed to see his former self.
Of course, this self refers to the original owner, not the person he was before time travel.
From the memory of the original owner, Song Jie also saw a similar scene.
Back then, when the original owner first arrived in Xinyuefang City and went to Baodan Tower to apply for a job, he, like Liu Zhicheng, was very eager to have a position as an alchemy apprentice.
On the surface, this is just an ordinary alchemy apprentice job, but for ordinary people like the original owner and Liu Zhicheng, it is an opportunity to seek immortality.
Song Jie couldn’t help but feel emotional when he thought about this.
Of course, he would not take Liu Zhicheng in just because he felt sorry for him.
After thinking for a while, Song Jie asked again: “Qinghefang City is not close to here. You don’t have any cultivation skills. You must have suffered a lot along the way.”
“I did encounter some twists and turns on the road, but fortunately I was accompanied by my friends, and I was able to reach Xinyuefang City safely.”
“Is it the friend who came to my store last time?”
Liu Zhicheng’s cheeks turned slightly red and he said, “Exactly, we are two childhood sweethearts who grew up together.”
“Then you must cherish that girl and don’t let her down.”
Song Jie could tell from Liu Zhicheng’s performance that their relationship was not as simple as ordinary childhood sweethearts.
Song Jie still had some impressions of the woman from last time. Although she didn’t have the beautiful appearance, she still looked pretty.
It is indeed not easy for these two people, one is a monk and the other is a mortal, to still maintain their childhood friendship.
When Liu Zhicheng heard the words cherish and let down, a flash of loneliness suddenly flashed in his eyes, and he quickly returned to normal.
“Thank you, Alchemist Song, for the tip.”
Song Jie nodded and said: “I will test you on some pharmacological knowledge next. If you can answer the questions, you can stay with me to make alchemy.”
When Liu Zhicheng heard this, his eyes immediately lit up and he said excitedly, “Please ask Alchemist Song to come up with the question.”
“Quite confident, not bad.
“Listen up, this first question is…”
In this way, Song Jie presented several questions about pharmacology-related knowledge, and Liu Zhicheng gave correct answers to all of them.
Although Song Jingjie’s questions were all about common pharmacological knowledge and did not involve first-grade elixirs.
But it also requires a certain amount of study and accumulation before you can answer it.
Liu Zhicheng’s ability to give answers one by one is enough to show that he really likes alchemy and usually spends time studying it.
Song Jie is quite satisfied with this.
Coupled with Liu Zhicheng’s sincere attitude, it also met Song Jie’s requirements for alchemy apprentices.
So, after asking a few questions, Song Jie gave answers on the spot.
“I have to say that you have the most complete knowledge of pharmacology among the candidates I have interviewed during this period.
“It can be seen that you do have a strong interest in alchemy.
“But you have spiritual roots but no meridians, which makes me feel a bit regretful.”
When Liu Zhicheng heard Song Jie’s words, his originally bright eyes dimmed instantly.
My heart seemed to have sunk into the sea.
Come with high hopes, but still come back with regrets? Liu Zhicheng sighed in his heart.
Then he immediately felt relieved again.
This is not the first time he has experienced this situation.
The experience of countless failures has already honed his indomitable heart towards the Tao.
Just when he was about to say thank you to Song Jie and say goodbye.
Song Jie continued to speak: “However, I believe that there are thousands of cultivation methods in this world, and there will always be a cultivation method that is suitable for you.
“So I here sincerely invite you to join the Alchemy Pavilion. I wonder if Fellow Daoist Liu is willing?”
Although Liu Zhicheng is still a mortal, his firm determination to follow the Tao won Song Jie’s recognition.
Song Jie is willing to call him Taoist friend.
Liu Zhicheng, who had originally planned to say goodbye and leave, immediately turned red when he heard Song Jie’s words.
But he still resisted the tears from falling.
“Thank you, Alchemist Song. I am willing to join the Alchemy Pavilion.”
Liu Zhicheng’s mood at this time was difficult to describe in words. He felt at a loss for a moment and could only bow deeply to Song Jie again.
At the same time, he kept thanking Song Jie for giving him this opportunity.
In this way, Song Jie successfully recruited his first employee.
A “genius” employee with a single fire attribute.
Song Jie doesn’t know whether Liu Zhicheng will be able to find a cultivation method suitable for him in the future, and he doesn’t have too many expectations.
But he felt that for talents like Liu Zhicheng, he should still be given a chance and a stage to pursue his dreams.
Anyway, for Song Jie, he just had one more alchemy apprentice, which was hardly a burden.
Moreover, with Liu Zhicheng’s mastery of pharmacological knowledge, refining those elixirs would not be a problem, and it would not take long before they would bring benefits to Song Jie.
After confirming that Liu Zhicheng was going to join Danqi Pavilion, Song Jie discussed the issue of salary and benefits with him.
Because Liu Zhicheng is still just a mortal, Song Jie can only give him a salary of five spiritual stones per month.
Of course, if Liu Zhicheng can bring certain benefits to Danqi Pavilion in the future, Song Jie will also give him a salary increase.
Regarding this treatment, Liu Zhicheng agreed without any hesitation.
He was extremely grateful to be able to get the job of this alchemy apprentice, so naturally he wouldn’t have too many demands.
Moreover, the wages given by Song Jie are relatively reasonable and in line with the market price.
Even in the Baodan Tower, a new alchemy apprentice only has five spiritual stones for a month’s wages.
After everything was settled, Liu Zhicheng respectfully said goodbye and left.
He is currently in Xinyuefang City and does not have a fixed residence yet.
We need to find a place to live as soon as possible and settle down here.
As for his residence in Qinghefang City, he had already canceled the rent before coming to Xinyuefang City.
This time he came to Xinyuefang City with the idea that he would settle down in Xinyuefang City no matter whether he succeeded or not.
For ordinary people like Liu Zhicheng, who are at a lower level than the lower-level monks, it makes no difference which city they live in.
As long as you can get a bite of food, that’s all.
After watching Liu Zhicheng walk out of the store, Song Jie chatted with Li Caiwei for a few more words.
He also told Li Caiwei about recruiting Liu Zhicheng as an alchemy apprentice.
Not staying in the store for too long, Song Jie quickly returned home with Jin Jiao.
Now that he has recruited an alchemy apprentice, he also needs to make plans and move to the back hall of the Alchemy Pavilion to refine alchemy.
Just recently, Shi Lei was gradually moving the weapon refining room to the back hall of the Alchemy Pavilion.
After everyone moves there, the Alchemy Pavilion will slowly become lively.
In addition, Song Jie also wants to make a training plan for alchemy apprentices.
On the one hand, recruiting alchemy apprentices is to increase the production of elixirs.
On the other hand, it is natural to increase one’s spiritual stone income.
If you want to achieve the above two points, you must train alchemy apprentices well so that they can grow up quickly and help you earn spiritual stones as soon as possible.
……
Under Song Jie’s planning, everything that follows is proceeding in an orderly manner.
In just two days, Song Jie moved to the back hall of the Alchemy Pavilion to make alchemy.
From then on, I lived a life of two points and one line.
During the day, he refines elixirs in the Alchemy Pavilion, and at night he goes home to practice.
Liu Zhicheng also began to refine Bigu Pill under Song Jie’s guidance.
Although the refining of Bigu Pill is relatively simple, Liu Zhicheng has mastered the refining of Bigu Pill before.
When he was in Qinghefang City, he relied on refining Bigu Pill to make a living.
Therefore, Liu Zhicheng himself also has certain confidence and experience in refining Bigu Pill.
But when Song Jie taught him how to refine the Bigu Pill, he still followed it very seriously.
After a few days of guidance, Liu Zhicheng discovered that he could refine Bigu Pill according to the method taught by Song Jie.
The refined Bigu Pill not only tastes better, but is also better able to cope with hunger.
It was countless times better than the Bigu Pill he had figured out by himself before.
Therefore, every time Song Jie took the time to guide him in alchemy skills, Liu Zhicheng studied very seriously.
……
In about a week, the Bigu Pill refined by Liu Zhicheng was approved by Song Jie and allowed to be put on the shelves for sale.
I have to say that Liu Zhicheng’s comprehension ability is indeed very strong when it comes to alchemy.
On the one hand, this is related to his own talent for alchemy, and on the other hand, it is also related to the pharmacological knowledge he has accumulated.
Song Jie also marked Liu Zhicheng’s name on the elixir bottles that Liu Zhicheng refined.
As for the first-grade elixirs he refined himself, they were marked with Song Jie’s name.
This can also be regarded as some preparations he has made in advance for the future.
When there are more alchemists in the Alchemy Pavilion in the future, the quality of the elixirs produced by different alchemists will definitely be different.
Marking the alchemist’s name on the elixir bottle allows customers to choose the elixir refined by their favorite alchemist when purchasing elixirs.
In addition, Song Jie can also set up some reward mechanisms based on the elixir sales of different alchemists.
A ranking will be made every month according to sales volume, and the one with the highest sales volume will be given a certain amount of spiritual stones as a reward.
In this way, it can also encourage them to work hard to refine elixirs and earn more spiritual stones for themselves.
Of course, these are just Song Jie’s plans for the future.
Currently, he only has one alchemy apprentice, so naturally he doesn’t need any reward mechanism.
The second alchemy apprentice he originally planned to recruit also found a suitable candidate two weeks later.
This second alchemy apprentice, named Wang Ping, is a local monk in Xinyuefang City. He is seventeen years old, two years younger than Liu Zhicheng.
He is a young man who has just entered the ranks of monks.
Song Jie accepted him not because of Wang Ping’s aptitude for cultivating immortals.
Under normal circumstances, a small shop like his would not be able to recruit monks with good qualifications in cultivating immortals.
Wang Ping is just a very ordinary monk with four spiritual roots. The attributes of his spiritual roots are wood, fire, earth, and metal.
In terms of appearance, he is also unremarkable, far less handsome than Liu Zhicheng.
Song Jie is willing to recruit him, as long as he still takes a fancy to the young man’s character.
After recruiting two alchemy apprentices, Song Jie immediately tore up the recruitment notice posted at the door of the Alchemy Pavilion.
With his current energy, he can only lead two alchemy apprentices.
Recruiting one more person would affect his own alchemy.
This second alchemy apprentice, Song Jie also asked him to learn to refine Bigu Pill first.
Compared with other low-grade elixirs, Bigu Pill can be said to be the simplest and most marketable elixir.
Almost every alchemy apprentice starts with Bigu Pill.
It’s a pity that Wang Ping didn’t show any extraordinary talent in alchemy.
Just like the word “ping” in his name, everything is ordinary and unremarkable.
Song Jie didn’t have any prejudice against Wang Ping because of his ordinaryness.
When instructing alchemy techniques, everyone is treated equally.
After getting the two alchemy apprentices on the right track, the demand for elixirs also increased greatly because the three of them were refining alchemy at the same time.
So Song Jie also went to Lingyao Zhai, found the owner of Lingyao Zhai, and signed a long-term supply agreement.
From now on, Song Jie won’t need to go to Ling Yao Zhai to buy medicinal materials. Ling Yao Zhai will arrange for people to regularly transport medicinal materials to the Alchemy Pavilion to meet the alchemy needs of the Alchemy Pavilion.
This is a treatment that Song Jie could not enjoy before when he was still self-employed.
As the store’s operations gradually got back on track, the Bigu Pills refined by Wang Ping were also put on the shelves for sale.
As for Liu Zhicheng, in the next two months, he mastered the refining methods of Fudao Pill and Diamond Dragon and Tiger Pill.
Not long after, the quality of the Fudao Pills and Diamond Dragon and Tiger Pills he refined were all recognized by Song Jie, and they were put on the shelves for sale.
This, to a certain extent, relieved Song Jie’s pressure on elixir production.
Therefore, after ensuring the supply of Xuanyin Pills from Tianxiang Tower, Song Jie took the time to refine an additional batch of Xuanyin Pills and promoted the official launch of Xuanyin Pills.
The launch of Xuanyin Pill, as expected, set off a wave of popularity and was deeply loved by many female monks.
This made Song Jie popular for a while, and the sales volume of Dan Weapon Pavilion also increased a lot during this period.
Relying on the Xuanyin Pill, Song Jie gained the support of many female monks and became the first first-level alchemist of both men and women in Xinyuefang City.
When everything was going well, Li Caiwei also successfully gave birth to a pair of twins.
It’s two big fat boys.
Shi Lei and his wife gave the two babies two related names.
The eldest child was named Shi An, and the second child was named Shi Ning.
The word “安” means peace and stability, and I hope that the children will have a safe and smooth life.
The word “Ning” means tranquility and peace, implying that the child has a gentle personality and can bring tranquility and comfort to those around him.
These two words combined mean peace.
Song Jie also didn’t expect that he would have two godsons all of a sudden.
As time goes by, Shi An and Shi Ning also grow up day by day.
The personalities of these two twins are just like their names.
Shi An’s character is resolute and steady, while Shi Ning’s character is quiet and gentle.
In terms of interests and hobbies, the two brothers are also completely different.
Shi An was interested in weapon refining, so he followed Shi Lei to learn weapon refining.
Shi Ning was keen on alchemy, so he naturally learned alchemy from his godfather, Song Jie.
In addition, Golden Horn also slowly grew up a little, but only a little.
Compared with ordinary monsters, Golden Horn grows much slower.
In this regard, Song Jie could only explain this situation by saying that the luck beast was special.
Although it is growing slowly, Golden Horn is still as healthy, lively, and cute as ever.
Especially after Shi An and Shi Ning ran away, Jin Jiao seemed to have found his playmate.
As long as Song Jie is not refining elixirs, he will take the time to play with Shi An and Shi Ning.
Shi An and Shi Ning also like golden horns very much. Basically no child can resist a cute little beast.
……
The years are long and the stars are turning.
In a daze, Song Jie traveled to the world of immortality for more than sixteen years.
(End of chapter)