DamnPlotArmor
I mean it is a great cultivation resource, so if he can stomach it he will advance in cultivation at a decent rate, and it will be relatively useful to help him cover the Gap in cultivation speed between him and Xie Tian. His extreme hard work can help him gain skills and overcome the plot armor, but this will help boost his cultivation speed which can't easily match a protagonist even with hard work.
Oh yeah, I just want to point out something: Doesn't the tattooed guy basically fit the description of a slave? He has no hair despite not being a monk, and despite most cultivation methods improving your looks and the paleness of the skin, he was very tanned or darkened. Along with his other traits, the Essence Foundation cultivator was probably a former slave or a foreigner. I think Xu Mao could take advantage of his own looks to better connect with him. Plus, with such a savage impression, most customers are probably very wary when making transactions with him, so Xu Mao could be a bit of fresh air or change for him.
On another note, I am assuming that Jian Shan's brother must have revealed information about gods and vessels to his sect, but it is interesting that this Goddess Yuan Hua managed to find an othordox sect who would bother associating with her. I would think most people would go for an Alchemy god or other powerful gods. Instead, at the cost of their sanity and dignity, someone intentionally made a perverse goddess assist those without talent. I can appreciate a good plan even if it costs some drop in reputation, but the good side is that no one will fall for honey traps. Nevertheless, I would still suggest not to spread the information about godhood and vessels throughout the whole continent. After all, if the Xianxia novels have the gods in higher worlds, then they are unlikely to overturn the balance of mortals worlds by interfering with mortals too much. At the least, things can get hairy if gods start getting involved in too much mortal stuff before the MC even gets strong to fight against Immortals or go to another continent. Inheritance sites are one thing, but Divine intervention happens more often in Eastern Fantasy and normal Fantasy worlds than they do in Xianxia worlds. Then again, I am still waiting a scene in which a leader of a top sect is shown talking to an Immortal in the higher worlds via a dimensional communication mirror (or something).
Thanks for the chapter!!!!.....It was.... interesting at least. Assuming that past otherworlders created art books along with the love of 2D characters, I still wonder how they all end up thinking Goddess Yuan Hua is a fictional goddess. Or do they believe she is the goddess over artwork and fictional characters? If so, they should realize the contradiction if they know that she is the origin of Magical Wet Bananas. Furthermore, based on the description of bananas, there is a very high chance that she is an unscrupulous s*x goddess. ....... Wow, I am worried and wondering how the outer disciples of sect devolved into this, but from what was seem so far, it looks like someone or some people took advantage of the useless outer disciples' trauma to increase the productivity of the sect....That is really methodical yet so very cold-blooded. Nonetheless, I guess it is a cruel way to nurture alchemists with low potential, but if certain disciples have no chance to advance into inner court disciples, the higher ups might decide to allow this method even if most disciples don't know about the ingredients of some pills in their sect allowance and about various other truths.