The Patent Belongs to the Company
[You followed an Internal Affairs Office disciple to a side hall.]
[Alchemy Hall Elder Qi Cangshu sat at the head of the hall. Si Wangshu was there too.]
[Five jade bottles sat before her, with a pill-testing formation plate beside them.]
[You entered the hall and bowed.]
["Disciple Lu Ping greets Elder and Senior Sister."]
[When Si Wangshu heard the words "Senior Sister," the jade bottle in her hand paused for a breath.]
[Qi Cangshu glanced at you, his expression shifting, and spoke.]
["Lu Ping, I didn't expect you to have reached the Qi Refining Ninth Layer already."]
[Hearing this, Si Wangshu also looked at you for a moment, then shook her head.]
["Your cultivation has risen, but your Qi is somewhat weak."]
[You lowered your head.]
["While searching for herbs in the mountains, this disciple stumbled into the remains of a fire-vein cavern and was fortunate enough to obtain some Spiritual Qi."]
["After breaking through in such haste, my foundation is indeed unstable and still needs to be tempered."]
[Qi Cangshu and Si Wangshu exchanged a glance. Though they said nothing, there was still a hint of surprise in their eyes.]
[Before leaving the sect, you had disguised your cultivation as the Qi Refining Fifth Layer. To break through several layers in a single trip was no small matter for anyone.]
[Workwear Thug activated.]
[Flattery activated.]
[Workplace People-Pleaser activated.]
[In a sect like the Greenwood Sect, life and death were left to fate, and fortuitous opportunities were there for the taking.]
[By offering a couple of words of explanation, you had already given the two of them a way to save face. Naturally, they had no reason to press the matter.]
[Si Wangshu spoke.]
["I had thought that although your alchemy was strong, your cultivation was somewhat lacking. Now the Qi Refining Ninth Layer is just right."]
[She pushed a jade bottle toward you.]
["We've tested it. This Spirit-Urging Pill still needs some changes."]
[You took the jade bottle and tipped out a pill. Its surface was grayish green, and its medicinal fragrance was stable.]
[This was the fifteenth version of the Spirit-Urging Pill.]
[Si Wangshu handed you a stack of feedback from the Ascension Hall.]
["Thirty-seven people took the pill in all. Twenty-one broke through, twelve suffered damaged meridians, and four exploded."]
[After each name were notes on age, strength of Qi and Blood, time the pill was taken, prayer mat area, and the infusion intensity at the formation's core.]
[After reading it, you put the Jade Slip back on the table and said,]
["The problem doesn't lie entirely with the Spirit-Urging Pill. In the Ascension Hall, the Spiritual Qi infusion is too intense at midnight."]
["The pill stimulates Spiritual Qi, and then the formation pushes it further. Under that double impact, those with poor Root Bones are certain to die."]
[Qi Cangshu's fingers came to rest on the armrest. He shook his head and said,]
["Lu Ping, we can't alter the Ascension Hall's formation. We can only find a solution through the pill."]
[You lowered your head, your eyes darkening.]
["This disciple will do his best."]
[You could not save the people sent into the Ascension Hall.]
[Or rather, for those who entered the Ascension Hall, this truly was an opportunity to cross the divide between immortals and mortals.]
[It was just that the price was far too tragic.]
[Si Wangshu glanced at you and said,]
["Lu Ping, this matter is of great importance to me. Merely doing your best won't be enough."]
[You heard a trace of chill in her voice and bowed to Si Wangshu.]
["This disciple will give it his all."]
[For the next four months, you scarcely left the Alchemy Chamber.]
[You refined pills with Si Wangshu, while Qi Cangshu came by once every three days.]
[In the first month, you ruined forty-six batches.]
[In the second month, you began producing Spirit-Urging Pills consistently.]
[In the third month, feedback came back from the Ascension Hall.]
[The breakthrough rate among those who took the pills continued to rise, while the number who exploded fell sharply.]
[In the fourth month, the stable version of the Spirit-Urging Pill was finally complete.]
[You refined a total of three hundred and twenty-seven Spirit-Urging Pills, every one of consistent quality.]
[Artisan Spirit activated.]
[Cost Reduction and Efficiency Improvement activated.]
[With the same medicinal ingredients, an ordinary Alchemist produced two pills per batch. You could produce five.]
[At the end of the fourth month, Si Wangshu put away the last Jade Slip.]
[It contained the complete Pill Formula.]
[She placed the Jade Slip in a silver box and affixed the Si Clan's seal.]
["Lu Ping, you've done very well. I'll be taking this Pill Formula."]
[Qi Cangshu also spoke slowly.]
["The Spirit-Urging Pill Formula belongs to the Si Clan of the Azure Dragon Upper Domain."]
["If you want to refine it in the future, you must first buy the Pill Formula."]
[Options appeared.]
[A: Lower your head and accept, without contesting ownership of the Pill Formula.]
[B: Point out that you took part in modifying the pill and should be entitled to a copy.]
[C: Suggest on the spot that the Si Clan launch an exclusive Spirit-Urging Pill membership, with ten percent off the first purchase and compensation guaranteed for anyone who explodes.]
Lu Ping looked at the first two options, utterly calm.
A Pill Formula had never belonged to whoever refined the pill.
Especially not with Qi Cangshu and Si Wangshu both sitting there.
Lu Ping chose A.
[You chose A.]
[You lowered your head and said,]
["This disciple understands."]
[Si Wangshu glanced at Qi Cangshu.]
[Qi Cangshu took a Storage Bag from his sleeve and placed it before you.]
[You took the Storage Bag. Inside were eight hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones.]
[There were also three bottles of Qi-Gathering Pills, middle-grade pills.]
[One Qi-Gathering Pill contained the equivalent in Spiritual Qi of one hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones.]
[You put the Storage Bag away and bowed solemnly.]
["Thank you, Elder. Thank you, Senior Sister."]
[Si Wangshu left, returning to the Azure Dragon Upper Domain.]
[Before she left, she gave you an incomplete Pill Formula.]
[Just before departing, she said,]
["Junior Brother, I told you before that this matter was of great importance to me. This Spirit-Urging Pill is the project for my current Si Clan assessment, so I have to take it."]
["Consider this incomplete Pill Formula compensation from me to you."]
[The final results came from the Ascension Hall.]
[There were three hundred and seventy-one Probationary Disciples in this batch. One hundred and eight had successfully broken through.]
[The rest had little affinity with immortality.]
[A batch of new names was added to the personnel rosters of the various halls.]
[The Ascension Hall's formation had developed cracks in its formation patterns after continuous high-intensity operation and needed major repairs.]
[The number of disciples successfully recruited this time exceeded the total from the Greenwood Sect's past ten recruitment drives.]
[Sect Master Han Changqing was overjoyed.]
[In your cave abode, you listened to the news Qian Dafu brought back, your heart unruffled.]
[Three days later, an order from the sect master came from the main hall.]
[Alchemy Hall Elder Qi Cangshu was summoned.]
[Outer Sect Disciple Lu Ping was summoned.]
[You changed into clean Outer Sect Disciple robes.]
[Workwear Thug activated.]
[You followed Qi Cangshu into the main hall.]
[The main hall was much larger than the Alchemy Hall's side hall.]
[Elders and deacons from the various halls stood on either side.]
[The External Affairs Hall, Miscellaneous Affairs Hall, Mining Hall, and Law Enforcement Hall were all represented.]
[Han Changqing sat at the head of the hall, his Foundation Establishment Perfection presence weighing down on it. Several Qi Refining deacons did not even dare straighten their backs.]
[The elders, on the other hand, were all perfectly at ease, looking as though their minds were wandering beyond the heavens.]
[You suppressed your Qi to the Qi Refining Ninth Layer.]
[Han Changqing opened the roster, glanced over it, and said mildly,]
["The Alchemy Hall did well this time. It has brought our sect one hundred and eight new Outer Sect Disciples."]
[Alchemy Hall Elder Qi Cangshu cupped his hands.]
["You flatter me, Sect Master."]
[Han Changqing closed the roster.]
["Lu Ping."]
[You stepped half a pace forward.]
["This disciple is here."]