Senior Brother Lu Doesn't Look Like He'll Die Young
[Once the Alchemy Hall deacon finished explaining the quota, the crowd fell completely silent.]
[Each First-Rank Alchemist had to provide twenty Mortal-Grade Pills a month.]
[At a normal pill success rate, that required enough medicinal ingredients for at least seven or eight batches.]
[For someone less skilled, thirteen or fourteen batches might not be enough.]
[The profit on Mortal-Grade Pills was low.]
[A few failed batches, and you would have worked for practically nothing.]
[Add in cave abode rent, Pill Furnace maintenance, Spirit Stones for cultivation, and daily expenses.]
[An ordinary First-Rank Alchemist could hardly save any Spirit Stones at all.]
[This was the Alchemy Hall's gentlest knife.]
[It didn't kill you; it just kept you barely alive from month to month.]
[In your heart, you silently gave the Greenwood Sect the middle finger.]
[So this was where the Greenwood Sect had been waiting for you after you passed the First-Rank Alchemist examination.]
[In the previous simulation, you hadn't even lived to see this episode.]
[It was the same old routine as the Ascension Hall: talent and loyalty didn't matter. As long as you could rise through the ranks, you were a top-quality workhorse.]
[As for Second-Grade Alchemists, their quota was ten Low-Grade Pills a month.]
[The number was smaller, but the pressure was greater.]
[The ingredients for Low-Grade Pills were expensive. A single failure hurt.]
[However, real Second-Grade Alchemists didn't have to crowd in here with First-Rank Alchemists like you to attend the regular meeting.]
[They only needed to send someone to collect the ledger, or have the Internal Affairs Office deliver it to them separately.]
[The few Second-Grade Alchemists standing here were probably just passing by, or had come to see whether any of this year's newly certified alchemists were worth getting to know early.]
[The Greenwood Sect had no Third-Grade Alchemists.]
[Five days later, at the Alchemy Hall's Internal Affairs Office.]
[You submitted twenty Qi-Replenishing Pills.]
[The disciple in charge checked their medicinal potency. All of them passed.]
[You received 160 Low-Grade Spirit Stones.]
[At the same time, another Outer Sect Disciple had three batches of ruined pills rejected on the spot because his pill success rate was too low.]
[He stood before the counter, sweat beading on his forehead.]
["Senior Brother, please give me another chance."]
[The disciple responsible for the inspection didn't even raise his head.]
["Next."]
[As that disciple stepped aside, he happened to see you putting your Spirit Stones into a bag.]
[His throat worked twice, and he finally left in embarrassment.]
[You had your eye on the Qi-Congealing Pill Formula.]
[Price: 100 Low-Grade Spirit Stones.]
[You stood before the counter for three breaths.]
[Options appeared.]
[A: Buy it. Qi-Congealing Pills are an absolute necessity from the Qi Refining Middle Stage onward.]
[B: Don't buy it. Continue slowly grinding away with Qi-Replenishing Pills and Spirit Stones.]
[C: You suspect this Pill Formula is fake and shout, "I want to check the cards!" Then, while you're at it, complain that the Pill Formula is overpriced.]
Lu Ping barely hesitated.
Qi-Replenishing Pills had already begun to lose their effectiveness after he reached Qi Refining Fifth Layer.
With his Low-Grade Spirit Root, he was a bottomless pit for resources.
If talent fell short, resources would make up the difference.
Sigh...
Lu Ping sighed and chose A.
[You chose A.]
[You bought the Qi-Congealing Pill Formula. Of the 160 Spirit Stones you had just received, only sixty remained.]
[You returned to your cave abode and made your first attempt at refining Qi-Congealing Pills.]
[Most of the medicines you had refined before were Mortal Grade, such as Grain Avoidance Pills, Hemostatic Powder, and Qi-Replenishing Pills.]
[Above Mortal Grade, medicines were considered graded.]
[Graded medicines were divided into low, middle, high, and peak grades. You weren't qualified to come into contact with anything above peak grade.]
[Qi-Congealing Pills were Low-Grade Pills. Their medicinal potency was much stronger than that of Qi-Replenishing Pills, and they were considerably more difficult to refine.]
[Artisan Spirit activated.]
[Cost Reduction and Efficiency Improvement activated.]
[The first batch failed, but you preserved forty percent of its medicinal potency.]
[The second batch failed again, but you preserved sixty percent of its medicinal potency.]
[The third batch produced two pills, both with acceptable medicinal potency.]
[You tested the effects of the Qi-Congealing Pills.]
[One Qi-Congealing Pill was roughly equivalent to twenty Low-Grade Spirit Stone Equivalents.]
[Your current realm was Qi Refining Fifth Layer.]
[Breaking through from Qi Refining Fifth Layer to Qi Refining Sixth Layer required roughly 1,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stone Equivalents.]
[You could now absorb two Qi-Congealing Pills a day.]
[Cultivating by absorbing Spirit Stones could no longer meet your needs.]
[You began cultivating exclusively with Qi-Congealing Pills.]
[You took internal orders during the day, refined pills for yourself in the evening, and swallowed Qi-Congealing Pills to cultivate in the latter half of the night.]
[Your cultivation steadily improved.]
[You didn't go out looking for trouble or take part in any conflicts. You paid no attention even to the sect's major and minor competitions.]
[On paper, your daily income and expenses just about balanced out.]
[To others, you didn't earn much, and money was tight.]
[In reality, Cost Reduction and Efficiency Improvement concealed your greatest profit.]
[All the medicinal ingredients you saved went into your own Pill Furnace.]
[The disciple who had seen you sell twenty Qi-Replenishing Pills was named Qian Dafu. He had come to see you several times since that day.]
[Workplace People-Pleaser activated.]
[Qian Dafu thought you were a good person.]
[He never came empty-handed, bringing a packet of fine tea, a piece of spirit beast meat, or the latest news from the sect.]
[After you became acquainted, he asked you for guidance on controlling the fire when refining Qi-Replenishing Pills.]
[Each time, you gave him just one sentence of advice. That one sentence alone won his admiration, yet left him completely unable to gauge your depth.]
[After that, others came to ask for guidance as well.]
[Workplace People-Pleaser activated.]
[You still gave each of them only one sentence. How much they understood was up to them.]
[Your standing within the Alchemy Hall steadily rose.]
[At last, you had taken a path completely opposite to the one in the previous simulation.]
[You hadn't used poison gas again to generate income for the sect.]
[No one speculated anymore about when you would poison yourself to death.]
[Your reputation became: "Senior Brother Lu is steady. He doesn't look like he'll die young."]
["He doesn't look like he'll die young." In the world of cultivation, that counted as high praise.]
[After all, you had already died twice on your way from a mortal to the Qi Refining Stage.]
[A month later, you had swallowed nearly fifty Qi-Congealing Pills.]
[You had exchanged almost all the Spirit Stones earned from selling pills for medicinal ingredients.]
[Your Low-Grade Spirit Root was like a funnel, swallowing however much you fed it.]
[Fortunately, you had finally piled up those 1,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stone Equivalents through sheer effort.]
[You advanced to Qi Refining Sixth Layer.]
[You used Spirit-Eroding Powder to keep your presence stable at Qi Refining, Second Layer.]