The single Contribution Point felt like a physical weight in Mingyue’s pocket. One measly point for an entire afternoon, a point that bought her… well, nothing she actually needed. The mental image of that price list in the mission hall, mocking her with its impossible figures, festered. Fifty points for a basic cultivation manual, ten for a low-grade pill. This wasn’t a grind; it was a punishment for being a novice.

“Sell items you craft—pills, spirit weapons, refined herbs—back to the sect’s Treasure Pavilion,” the tired elder’s voice had droned. “If they find value in your wares.” The dismissive wave of his hand had said it all. Fine, Mingyue had thought, you want value? I’ll give you value.

That night, the communal dorm’s cacophony faded to snores, but Mingyue’s mind churned. She retrieved the introductory alchemy and forging manuals from her meager belongings. Her Flame root hummed in recognition as she thumbed through the alchemy techniques, her medical mind immediately seeing the parallels between chemical compounds and spiritual essences. Forging felt less intuitive, more brute force, but her curiosity about Jiang Feng’s ancient crest and her desire for superior needles spurred her on. And always, the quiet thrum of Xiao Zhu’s egg, reminding her of Jiang Feng’s odd advice: “A furnace would provide both.”

The very word, ‘furnace,’ had seemed like a pipe dream. Outer disciples didn’t just have pill furnaces.

Later that evening, after her mandatory qi cultivation, Mingyue presented herself at Jiang Feng’s secluded pavilion, a small, elegant oasis in the otherwise sprawling, functional sect. She carried a carefully prepared meal—a bland but nutritious stew she’d coaxed from the refectory cooks—hoping to soothe his distinguished palate. After setting down the meal, she flopped onto the chair.

“Rough day?” he murmured, without opening his eyes, a faint, almost imperceptible tremor of amusement in his voice. He was meditating, surrounded by an aura of calm power that made her own qi feel like a flickering candle.

“You have no idea,” Mingyue sighed, collapsing onto a cushion. “Apparently, a full afternoon of honest labor is worth one single, solitary point. One! Do you know how many herb missions I’d have to do to get a room upgrade? Or even a decent cultivation manual? It’s daylight robbery!” She nudged the stew closer. “I figured you’d be tired of the infirmary sludge. I’ll make you something better tomorrow, just because you’re a god doesn’t mean you have to suffer through tasteless sludge.”

Jiang Feng finally opened his eyes, his midnight blue gaze, flecked with gold, locking onto hers. A flicker of something—was it pity? amusement? reverence?—crossed his face. “Indeed. Resources are vital for cultivation. And for… personal projects. Consider this a continuation of your medical fee.”

Before Mingyue could retort, he held out a hand. Nestled in his palm was a simple, unadorned spatial ring, an unassuming jade band. Her breath caught. Jiang Feng directed her to drop her blood onto it so it would work for her. He then handed her what looked like nothing more than a dull, unassuming grey stone furnace, no bigger than a small melon. It radiated a faint, comforting warmth. It had a nest shaped bowl surface on top, as if designed for something small and round to sit in it.

“This,” Jiang Feng stated, his voice soft but firm, “is currently a Low-Grade Spirit Furnace. It possesses an… adaptable core. It will evolve with your skill. And within the ring, you will find practice materials.”

Mingyue stared, speechless. A spatial ring? A furnace? Her mind, trained in logic and practicality, struggled to process the sheer magnitude of the gift. She’d been agonizing over how to earn enough points for a single, basic piece of equipment, and he’d just… handed her an entire workshop. “You… you didn’t have to,” she finally stammered, a wide, slightly incredulous grin spreading across her face. She lept over to hug him. “This… this changes everything!”

Unseen by her, Jiang Feng’s face registered shock, but then lightly wrapped his arms to return the hug. Mingyue quickly lept off as she started energetically pacing. A subtle, gentle smile played on Jiang Feng’s lips. “Good. Now, discretion, Shen Mingyue. This is not for public knowledge.”

Mingyue nodded, put on the ring, placing the furnace inside as well. “Top secret. My lips are sealed.” She paused. “You know, for a man who claims to be recovering, you’re making me do all the legwork.”

He merely raised an eyebrow, a flicker of amusement in his eyes.

Mingyue practically floated back to her dorm. The usual chaos of her bunk room felt miles away. Under the cover of darkness, she retrieved the unassuming grey stone furnace. Its plainness was a blessing, allowing it to blend in. She carefully placed Xiao Zhu, the egg, on its flat top surface. The egg pulsed, soaking in the gentle warmth, and a faint, comforting hum emanated from both the egg and the furnace, a quiet symphony of nascent life and potential. This was it. Her own little portable alchemical lab.

The communal washroom, poorly lit and rarely visited after lights out, became her secret sanctuary. She set up the furnace, the subtle spiritual array Jiang Feng hinted at doing an admirable job of containing the inevitable smoke and volatile qi fluctuations from her early experiments.

Her first attempts were… enthusiastic. Burnt herbs, foul-smelling smoke mostly contained by the array, but some escaped to waft through the thin walls, making Li Mei stir in her sleep next door with a mumbled complaint. There were small, startling explosions, accompanied by Mingyue’s frustrated curses. This wasn’t some precise chemistry lab; it was raw, uncontrolled qi and volatile ingredients.

But Mingyue was a doctor. And a scientist. Failure was just data. She meticulously adjusted qi flow, flame intensity, and herb combinations, guided by the jade slip’s deep principles. And slowly, magically, things started to work. She quickly discovered that Xiao Zhu’s innate warmth and unique fire essence subtly enhanced the refinement process, making her pills purer or more potent than expected for a beginner.

Soon, she produced her first successful batch of refined herbal essences, their colors vibrant, their spiritual energy palpable. Then came a low-grade Qi-recovery pill that was noticeably superior to the standard sect-issued ones.

Her trip to the Treasure Pavilion was discreet. The clerk, initially dismissive, raised an eyebrow at the quality of her wares. “Refined yourself, did you, little one?” he grunted, but still offered a standard, maddeningly undervalued rate.

“3 points,” the clerk offered.

Mingyue bit back a sigh. “A point is a point,” she muttered, glancing at the updated point total on her token. “Still a long way to a room upgrade, but at least we’re moving.”

While alchemy became her primary focus for points, Mingyue also dedicated stolen hours to forging. Using the low-grade ores from Jiang Feng’s spatial ring, her first goal was a better set of acupuncture needles. Forging was tough, demanding both power and an unfamiliar qi control. Her initial attempts produced warped, useless scrap. But through sheer stubbornness, applying the metallurgical principles she knew and learning to imbue qi through her dual roots, she eventually forged a set of durable, sharp, and qi-responsive needles. They were simple, unadorned, but far superior to anything an outer disciple could typically acquire. It was a quiet, personal victory, enhancing her medical skills and subtly, her combat capabilities.

The gifts from Jiang Feng didn’t make her lazy; they fueled her ambition. She saw the path to earning points more clearly now, a hidden shortcut through the sect’s rigid bureaucracy. Her strategic mind immediately began planning how to leverage her unique talents and newly acquired tools to produce higher-quality goods and complete more lucrative missions.

She was acutely aware of Jiang Feng’s warning. Her new tools and skills were powerful assets, but they must be kept secret to avoid attracting unwanted attention, especially from those who might envy or exploit her. This secret life, balancing her public outer disciple duties with her hidden training and growing power, was becoming her new normal.