System, Thanks for Taking Time Out of Your Busy Schedule to Fob Me Off
Lu Ping selected [Yes].
[Simulation started.]
[You are Lu Ping, eighteen years old, a Greenwood Sect Outer Sect Disciple at the fifth layer of Qi Refining.]
[KPI reward received. Drawing KPI reward...]
[Generating KPI reward...]
[Congratulations! You have obtained the Trait: Coffee Keeps You Going (Grade D)—you can drink coffee in place of sleep. However, drink too much and you will enter a state of "heart palpitations and shortness of breath, feeling like you can see your boss ascending."]
[Currently equipped Traits (6/6): Heavy Tomato User (Grade S)/Salty Fish (Grade S)/Bully at Home (Grade A)/Friend of Women (Grade A)/Artisan Spirit (Grade A)/Cost Reduction and Efficiency Improvement (Grade A)]
[Replace a Trait?]
Coffee Keeps You Going?
System, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to fob me off!
Lu Ping ignored the reward outright and turned his attention to Friend of Women.
Strong as the Trait was, its side effects were just too bizarre.
On the path of cultivation, the most frightening thing wasn't facing naked blades and leveled spears. It was being inexplicably dragged into romantic entanglements and ending up dead without even knowing how.
He replaced it with [Workplace People-Pleaser].
[Workplace People-Pleaser: The favorability of all cultivators in your organization toward you will never fall below the passing mark. No one will deliberately make trouble for you, and when disputes arise, everyone will subconsciously take your side.]
[You chose to replace a Trait.]
[Currently equipped Traits (6/6): Heavy Tomato User (Grade S)/Salty Fish (Grade S)/Bully at Home (Grade A)/Artisan Spirit (Grade A)/Cost Reduction and Efficiency Improvement (Grade A)/Workplace People-Pleaser (Grade C)]
[Trait replacement complete.]
[You began refining pills in the Ding Character No. 13 Cave Abode.]
[You refined Qi-Replenishing Pills first, then Poison Essence Pills.]
[You carefully cleaned the Pill Furnace and the cave abode.]
[You sealed all the poisonous dregs in the Waste Jar, preventing the poisonous gas from spreading.]
[You disguised yourself as an "ordinary but hardworking" newcomer to the Alchemy Hall.]
[You kept your success rate for Qi-Replenishing Pills and Grain Avoidance Pills between seventy and eighty percent.]
[Those results were neither mediocre nor earth-shattering.]
[More importantly, you used cheaper substitute herbs.]
[Your costs were only one-tenth those of an ordinary person.]
[You went to the lecture hall during the day and returned to your cave abode at night.]
[You paid your rent, bought herbs, and handed in your assignments on time.]
[You even signed up for the Advanced Class.]
[You could now spend ten Spirit Stones without batting an eye.]
[The Alchemy Hall's deacon, Zhao Li, had a good impression of you.]
[You would offer small, inexpensive favors.]
[A packet of sorted herbs, a batch of Hemostatic Powder refined in passing, a greeting you took the initiative to offer after a lecture.]
[Workplace People-Pleaser activated.]
[Your presence became less conspicuous.]
[You no longer stood out, nor did you draw dislike.]
[In this simulation, everything you did made you look like an ordinary disciple who was a little talented, hardworking, and friendly.]
[Once again, you brought Deacon Zhao Li some Hemostatic Powder.]
["I refined another batch of Hemostatic Powder last night. I wonder how effective it is? Please offer me your guidance, Senior Brother."]
[Zhao Li put the Hemostatic Powder away as a matter of course.]
["Mm, you've mastered the basics of Hemostatic Powder. It's time to start practicing Qi-Replenishing Pills."]
[You bowed again.]
["Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother."]
[Zhao Li watched you turn away and said to the disciples beside him,]
["That kid Lu Ping is pretty good. His cultivation is average, and so is his talent, but he handles things well. You should all learn from him!"]
[The First-Rank Registered Alchemist examination began.]
[The herbs were distributed. As usual, their quality was average.]
[You kept your performance in check.]
[First batch: Grain Avoidance Pills, passed.]
[Second batch: Qi-Replenishing Pills, passed.]
[You passed the First-Rank Registered Alchemist examination and received your First-Grade Alchemist Certificate.]
[At the examination site, an Alchemy Hall elder, who was as unruffled as ever, gave you an indifferent glance.]
[You noticed the Alchemy Hall elder looking at you, but pretended not to.]
[In the last simulation, it was this alchemy elder's silence that had kept the deacon from using the matter as a pretext to cause trouble. Only then had you finally received your First-Grade Alchemist Certificate.]
[And then, the simulation results began...]
[The next day, Deacon Zhao Li summoned all certified disciples to the Internal Affairs Office for a meeting.]
[The Internal Affairs Office wasn't large, but quite a few people came.]
[They all wore wooden alchemist plaques at their waists.]
[Most of them were First-Rank Alchemists.]
[Two or three had steadier presences and stood at the front of the crowd, their expressions indifferent.]
[They were Second-Grade Alchemists.]
[Zhao Li stood behind the counter, a ledger in his hand.]
[His gaze swept over the crowd.]
["As is customary in the Greenwood Sect, all certified alchemists are assigned sect quotas according to their rank."]
["First-Rank Alchemists must hand in twenty mortal-grade pills each month."]
["Grain Avoidance Pills, Hemostatic Powder, Body-Tempering Powder, or Qi-Replenishing Pills are all acceptable."]
["Their medicinal properties need only meet the standard."]
["Second-Grade Alchemists must hand in ten low-grade pills each month."]
["Qi-Congealing Pills, Detoxification Pills, Spirit-Eroding Powder, and the like will be accounted for according to the Internal Affairs Office's register."]
[The newly certified First-Rank Alchemists in the crowd began drawing quiet breaths.]
[Twenty mortal-grade pills.]
[For First-Rank Alchemists who had truly mastered the basics, that wasn't too difficult.]
[But the problem was, they had to provide the herbs themselves.]
[Once the pills were made, however, the Alchemy Hall would buy them all back.]
[As though he knew what they were thinking, Zhao Li added mildly,]
["The sect won't take your pills for nothing."]
["All quota pills will be purchased at eighty percent of market price."]
[At those words, the expressions of quite a few disciples eased.]
[Eighty percent didn't sound too exploitative.]
[Before newcomers obtained their certificates, the Alchemy Hall bought all the pills they refined at twenty percent of market price.]
[Zhao Li continued.]
["As for pills beyond your quota, if any of you have a surplus, the sect will buy them all at market price."]
["If you exceed your quota for three consecutive months, the Internal Affairs Office will put it on record."]
["You will receive priority when applying for Pill Formulas, Pill Furnaces, and Earthfire Chambers in the future."]
[At this point, Zhao Li paused.]
["But if you fail to meet your quota for three consecutive months..."]
["You will be registered with the Alchemy Hall in name only and will not be permitted to sell pills within the sect's territory."]
["During that period, your pills will be purchased at twenty percent of market price."]
["If you fail to meet your quota for a cumulative total of one year, the sect will no longer allow you to take alchemist rank examinations."]