Sect Leader's Rise to the top!

Kai took some time to absorb the information. He figured that the pocket dimension would be dangerous, but he never expected a [Mortal-Grade 4] beast. This meant that the creature would have anywhere from 10,000 to 99,000 Qi, which was an absurd amount of Qi. If he encountered it in the dimension, he would have no other choice but to run away.

Mr. Song sat quietly while Kai was going through the possibilities. Kai turned back to look at the old man before he spoke.

"Mr. Song, you mentioned an item that can keep me safe from the beast's inside the dimension as well as a treasure map?". Kai asked with some expectation. He figured that he might as well get some guaranteed benefits since he was going there anyway.

"I'll take this as you accepting my proposal? fantastic!". Mr. Song said while flipping his hands as three small bottles of green liquid appeared in his hands. Kai analyzed one of the bottles curiously.

[Veil Elixir] [Grade-2] [Qi 478]

Kai picked up the bottle and looked up to Mr. Song.

"This will help completely mask your presence from beasts at or below [Grade-2] for 24 hours each. [Grade-3] beasts, they will still be able to find you if you get too close to them, so you'll have to be careful. As for the illusion demon, it will not be affected, so try to avoid running into it if you can..."

Kai asked how the liquid worked and learned that he only needed to pour it on his skin.

This would then mask his scent, making him virtually invisible from the beast's in the dimension that had terrible eyesight. As long as they couldn't sniff him out, then he would be safe from them.

After saying this, he handed Kai a small map with three locations marked on it.

"This is the map of the pocket dimension. The pocket dimension is massive, so you'll have to start moving as soon as you enter if you want to get the most benefits. The first location of interest is relatively safe, also known as the farm. Here there are different types of herbs that only grow in spatial dimensions. You'll be able to find an abundance of [Grade-2] herbs everywhere".

He then pointed to another part of the map. "The next location is inhabited by [LavaRock-Golems] that slow and easy to avoid. Here, you can collect an abundance of fire-element materials close to the magma stream". Mr. Song said as he finally moved his finger to the last marker.

"Lastly...I've marked a place that you must avoid. The only thing you will find there is death, so you must avoid it at all cost".

"What makes it so dangerous?. Is this where the Illusion Demon is?". Kai asked quickly. If this was the case, he wouldn't have to worry about running into it.

The old man shook his head while taking a sip of tea.

"I don't know where the illusion beast spawned, so I can't give you that information. This area is heavily infested with a swarm of dangerous [Grade-3] beasts. Unless you want to die at the hands of hundreds of [Grade-3] beasts, I would suggest that you steer clear of this place.

Kai nodded his head in understanding but was secretly excited about the news. He had finally found a place swimming with [Grade-3] beasts that were ripe for harvesting.

Kai quickly opened his status to check his body cultivation progress.

=[Body Cultivation Progress]: [Mortal Grade-5]

=[Life Essences required for next promotion]: 0 /100 [Grade-3 Essences].

"If I can use this opportunity to max out my body cultivation, this would be completely worth it.". Kai thought as he dismissed the status pages. Each grade of body cultivation gave him a noticeable boost to not only his physical attack but his defense as well. Kai had already noticed his martial art skills worked off his base defensive and offensive stats. This meant the higher his natural stats were, the more powerful his skills would become.

Kai thanked Mr.Song and was about to leave when he remembered his reason for visiting.

"Right, I almost forgot.", Kai said while putting a pill bottle on the table. This was the batch of High-Grade pills he had created. As per the Pill Association's rules, he had to make 1000 regular pills for the Association each year as part of his membership.

Mr. Song took the pills to inspect and was somewhat surprised when he popped the cork open. "These are High-Grade pills?", he asked, clearly surprised.

Kai nodded his head nonchalantly, waiting to see the old man's entire reaction.

"These are authentic and of high quality. You can meet your yearly quota with only 100, assuming you have more?". Mr. Song said with some excitement.

It was rare to find alchemists who could craft high-grade pills, so he was happy that Kai had joined the Pill Association. His presence would be a massive benefit for them.

"I do, but I also have this...". Kai said while he pulled out the superior pill bottle. He placed the bottle on top of the table and pushed it over to Mr. Song, who picked up the bottle and uncorked it. When the scent hit his nose, his eyes instantly widened.

"Superior Grade?!". He asked while carefully inspecting one of the pills. The pills were made from low-grade materials but clearly had Qi-veins. This was a telltale sign of a pill being superior grade.

"Did you truly make this?". He asked again seriously while starring at the young man in front of him. Kai had his features hidden behind a mask, but his youthful aura was impossible to hide.

"If this young man truly crafted these himself, then he is an alchemy genius!". Mr. Song thought as various other thoughts quickly flashed through his head.

Usually, it would take a combination of hard work and talent to reliably create high-grade pills. However, the superior grade pills could only be crafted by those blessed by the heavens in alchemy. One needed more than just hard work and talent to reach that level.

Kai nodded his head while keeping an eye on the old man's facial expressions.

"I see...well, this is truly incredible. Only those generational alchemy geniuses can create superior grade pills. I regret to say that even I have yet to create one myself. May I ask what method you used to make these?". Mr. Song asked hopefully.

"Well...I just used the basic method, and this one batch just came out better than expected...". Kai said carefully. He would keep the actual method secret.

"Spoken like a true genius!". Mr. Song said as if the answer had proven his suspicions. He quickly stood up from the chair and gave Kai a full 90-degree bow.

"Please allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Song Tai, and I am the head of the Pill Association of Huang City. It is my honor to host a Master-Alchemist. Please forgive my earlier rudeness!"

"..."

Kai couldn't understand how quickly the situation changed. It now felt as if he was the one in charge....