Alchemy Hall

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Organization and facilities

The Alchemy Hall recruits Outer Sect disciples, trains alchemists and purchases pills. Its Internal Affairs Office administers certified alchemists’ quotas, while its accounting office handles transactions and debts 24 29 38.

• Elder Qi Cangshu oversees work including the Spirit-Urging Pill trials 42 43 50.
• Deacon Zhao Li instructs disciples and manages quota submissions through the Internal Affairs Office 38 43.
• Cave abodes provide living and refining space. A low-grade abode costs two Low-Grade Spirit Stones per month and includes a battered Pill Furnace 24.
• Alchemy Chambers and earthfire can be made available for assigned pill trials 42 43.
• Lecture rooms host alchemy instruction and paid advanced classes 25 28 38.
• Poison refining is permitted. When fumes from Lu Ping’s cave drove neighbors away, a deacon offered them more expensive accommodations; vacated caves were later rented as isolation abodes 25 26.

Fees and certification

In one simulation, new recruits were charged a ten-stone entry deposit and offered an Alchemy Student Loan at two percent monthly interest. Lu Ping borrowed fifty Low-Grade Spirit Stones but received sixteen after the deposit, six months’ rent, training and advance exam registration were deducted 24.

The hall also lists separate charges for earthfire, waste-pill disposal, medicinal-dregs disposal and instructor consultations 24.

The Heavenly Certification Alliance conducts the registered Alchemist examination. The first-level assessment tests Grain Avoidance Pills and Qi-Replenishing Pills using supplied herbs 24 25. Unlicensed refiners may use their own pills but cannot sell them privately without risking confiscation and a fine of ten times their value. The hall buys uncertified disciples’ pills at twenty percent of market price 24 27 38.

Production quotas

Certified alchemists must provide their own ingredients. The hall purchases quota products at 80% of market price and surplus at market price 38.

• Exceeding the quota for three consecutive months gives an alchemist priority when applying for formulas, furnaces and Earthfire Chambers 38.
• Missing it for three consecutive months results in nominal registration, a ban on selling pills within sect territory and a reduction in the hall’s purchase price to twenty percent 38.
• Missing quotas for a cumulative year bars the alchemist from further rank examinations 38.
• Zhao Li later allows Lu Ping to submit quotas every six months or yearly after Lu Ping delivers six months’ supply at once 43.

Story role

Lu Ping’s first Alchemy Hall simulation

Lu Ping chooses the hall over the Miscellaneous Affairs and Mining Halls, finances his entry with a student loan and moves into cave abode Ding Thirteen. The next registered Alchemist examination is five years away 24.

His poison-pill refining contaminates nearby caves and earns him a dangerous reputation. Although he eventually produces effective Qi-Replenishing Pills, a deacon classifies them as defective and offers only twenty percent of their price because Lu Ping is unlicensed 25 27.

Lu Ping refuses a costly crash course and passes the examination despite poor-quality ingredients. He sells his accumulated pills to the hall and settles his debts and fees, leaving seven Low-Grade Spirit Stones 28 29.

Later simulation and the Spirit-Urging Pill

After returning to the sect, Lu Ping registers with the hall and is again assigned D-13. In a later simulation, he earns certification, meets his quotas and builds a reputation as a reliable alchemist 37 38 39 44.

Qi Cangshu and Si Wangshu recruit him to improve the Spirit-Urging Pill. Their fifteenth version retains its effects while reducing the chance of the user’s body bursting apart by ninety percent. Qi rewards Lu Ping with 300 Low-Grade Spirit Stones and a three-month quota exemption, and orders him to keep the trial secret 42 43.

After four more months of work, Lu Ping and Si Wangshu produce a stable version. Qi and Si claim the completed formula for the Si Clan and compensate Lu Ping with spirit stones, pills and an incomplete formula. The Ascension Hall subsequently reports 108 breakthroughs among 371 probationary disciples, and Sect Master Han Changqing praises the Alchemy Hall’s recruitment results 50.

Notable members and associates

• Qi Cangshu — Alchemy Hall elder who supervises the Spirit-Urging Pill project 42 43 50.
• Zhao Li — Deacon responsible for instructing disciples and administering certified alchemists’ quotas 38 43.
• Lu Ping — Outer Sect disciple and First-Rank Alchemist who contributes to the Spirit-Urging Pill project 38 43 50.
• Qian Dafu — Fellow disciple who seeks Lu Ping’s alchemy advice and helps obtain herbs 39 41.
• Si Wangshu — Collaborates with Qi Cangshu and Lu Ping on the Spirit-Urging Pill; the completed formula is claimed for the Si Clan 43 50.