Rainbow Cloud Pharmaceutical

Back home,

Jiang Ding checked the time. It was nine o'clock, still fairly early.

There were many delivery services within the Immortal Sect—Cloud Courier, Speedy Delivery, Banyan Express, and so on—each with its own strengths and weaknesses.

Without question, Banyan Express was the most reliable. Its prices were affordable and its security was high; even official Immortal Sect documents were sent through it.

Jiang Ding opened the Spirit Group app, selected Hehe Great Pharmacy, which had the highest star rating, chose anonymous pill refinement—Bone Forging and Inner Qi Realm replenishing and nourishing pills—selected partial payment in medicinal ingredients, and chose Banyan Express for delivery.

With anonymous pill refinement, even the merchant did not know the customer's information. Still, no one should think of doing anything bad—the Central Array Spirit Computer could inspect it at will.

Moreover, Immortal Sect Immortal Path Industry was highly developed and competition was fierce. Even pills used by mortals could easily be commissioned from alchemists, at low cost and with guaranteed quality.

"Chirp chirp!"

More than twenty minutes later, a kingfisher slightly larger than the previous one flew to the window. It glanced at the wooden box in Jiang Ding's hands, somehow produced a thumb-sized plastic bag, blew it up to the size of a computer screen, and nudged its pointed beak.

Jiang Ding understood. He opened the wooden box so it could clearly see what was inside, then turned over every compartment—

This was a security inspection. The kingfisher carried inspection spells, and the inspection process would also be uploaded to the Central Array Spirit Computer as evidence in case of future disputes.

"Chirp chirp!"

The kingfisher flapped its wings, indicating that he should place the wooden box inside the plastic bag. It then hooked the bag with its claws and flew away.

Jiang Ding finally felt at ease.

Very, very few people dared to rob or steal from Banyan Express. Even if something was stolen or robbed, compensation could be obtained afterward.

According to Hehe Great Pharmacy's customer service, the pills would be refined and delivered back within three days.

"What's this?"

Jiang Ding was about to close his phone and practice swordsmanship when he noticed an unread message on the library icon.

'Shao Chengkang, a Level One Researcher at Rainbow Cloud Pharmaceutical Group, has viewed the information on the plant specimen "Purple Spirit Grass" that you submitted and wishes to communicate with you.'

Rainbow Cloud Pharmaceutical!

Jiang Ding's heart leapt with joy.

This was a major company from neighboring Rainbow Cloud Province. It was famous even throughout the entire Immortal Sect. One of the Foundation Establishment Spirit Medicines, the White Cloud Marrow Nourishing Pill, had been invented and brought into prominence by this company, which possessed patents for every version of the White Cloud Marrow Nourishing Pill throughout the generations.

Purple Spirit Grass was a new plant discovered by Jiang Ding. Its patent term was automatically three times its lifespan at discovery. For mortals, that was generally calculated as one hundred years, meaning he possessed a three-hundred-year patent.

That was substantial.

Mortals were one thing, but for Golden Core and Nascent Soul Cultivators, patent terms lasted over a thousand years—enough to support several generations.

Therefore, whether Lineages or companies, all were fanatical about every sort of patented invention.

During that time, any person or organization using Purple Spirit Grass or its unique active ingredients had to pay Jiang Ding the corresponding patent fees.

There were already established conventions for the fees. For mortal-grade medicinal ingredients, 0.1 mortal currency, or 0.001 spirit currency, had to be paid for each unit. The exact amount depended on whether the product using the patent was a spiritual object or a mortal object.

"Not easy. I've uploaded nearly five hundred new plants, and finally one of them is useful." Jiang Ding sighed.

He tapped to agree to communicate—anonymously.

A reply came quickly. Major companies like this had people on duty around the clock.

"Hello, sir. I am Guan Xin, a Level One Researcher at Rainbow Cloud Pharmaceutical. Our company needs some living Purple Spirit Grass plants. May I ask whether you can provide them? Our company will pay the appropriate fee."

Jiang Ding was slightly disappointed. He had thought they were here to discuss patent licensing.

Such major companies often bought out a product's patent rights. Though it would be somewhat less profitable in the long run, it would bring in a large sum of money in the short term.

"Yes. How much can you offer?"

There was no need to hesitate over something like this.

If it were elsewhere, Jiang Ding would not have dared agree. Once he sent it over, they would definitely take it for free and never return anything. But within the Immortal Sect, there was no need to worry about that.

"Thirty plants for three thousand yuan. How does that sound?"

"Fine. Delivery within seven days. Leave an address."

Jiang Ding did not dare haggle. They were clearly still in the research stage and had yet to determine whether they would use Purple Spirit Grass. How could he create obstacles out of thin air at the very beginning?

The final class of the afternoon was mathematics.

"Students, the Sharp Gold Formation is one of the five great Basic Formations. It can gather Gold Attribute energy and increase sharpness. Its principle is actually quite simple, much like adding a metal blade to a wooden handle. The key lies in using formations to gather Gold Attribute spiritual power..."

"It is mostly applied to weapons through micro-engraving techniques..."

The final class of the afternoon was mathematics. Teacher Wang Lan was a stern middle-aged woman.

Below the podium, Jiang Ding barely managed to listen, feeling as though his head was about to explode. Then he suddenly froze and flipped through several pages of the book.

Why does this look so familiar? Divine Firmament Hundred Pace Flying Sword?!

He abruptly discovered that certain crucial points of the Sharp Gold Formation were astonishingly similar to the Hundred Pace Flying Sword technique. Once the two were combined, the mathematics problems that had once been difficult to understand and could only be memorized by rote suddenly made sense.

"Now we will begin practical work. Please draw a Sharp Gold Formation on talisman paper."

Hearing this, Jiang Ding and the others carefully opened their Spirit Ink, picked up their Talisman Brushes, and spread out their talisman paper—these were all spiritual materials. Each person was limited to three sheets of talisman paper, while the Spirit Ink and Talisman Brushes could only be used during class.

Even though Immortal Sect Immortal Path Industry was highly developed, and the required items could be made with only small amounts of spiritual materials, the combined daily consumption of high school students across all regions was still an enormous quantity.

Jiang Ding glanced to his left. Li Junhao wore a solemn expression, deliberately putting on a magnifying glass and first practicing with ordinary white paper and ink. Before long, he had drawn a densely packed Sharp Gold Formation diagram.

Do not be fooled by the fact that he was merely a mortal at the Flesh Refining Realm. If energy were fed into it, this formation diagram could truly emit a trace of golden light before destroying itself.

For that, Jiang Ding was impressed.

Most people, himself included—many Inner Qi Realm martial artists and even some Qi Refining immortal cultivators among them—drew formation diagrams that looked complete but were actually only decorative shells, utterly unusable.

On a ten-point question, getting two points already meant the teacher was being soft-hearted.

Jiang Ding had originally intended to follow Li Junhao's lead and practice on white paper first. But the more he looked, the more his hand itched. In the end, he raised his brush and began drawing, starting from the central formation base and extending in the form of the Eight Trigrams toward all directions.

Countless insights welled up within him: the scenes of his years of unceasing sword practice, the sight of him charging alone with a sword at the mountain bandits and scattering them after killing them, the technique core of the first layer's Talisman Sword in Divine Firmament Hundred Pace Flying Sword...

He drew faster and faster. Dense formation lines, as fine as ox hairs, were inscribed upon the paper one after another. Only the final stroke remained before the complete formation diagram could be drawn.

That final stroke involved the soul and one's aura. He had never learned it; even imitation was beyond him.

The hand holding the Talisman Brush stiffened and trembled for a long while, yet he still could not bring the brush down.

"Dry center, hooked talisman method."

Wang Lan's voice suddenly rang out, carrying an unfathomable force. Jiang Ding involuntarily followed her instruction and brought down a heavy stroke.

In an instant, the seemingly ordinary talisman paper before him generated an immense pulling force. Something within his mind seemed to surge wildly outward and pour into it.

"Pain..."

Jiang Ding's face turned deathly pale. His head felt as though it were splitting apart, the agonizing pain unceasing, as if an iron nail were being driven into his mind again and again. Only after a long time did he recover.

Looking closely, the talisman paper before him seemed to possess a faint, hazy glow, and it now had a slight connection to him.

"Where did you see this formation diagram?"

Teacher Wang Lan's face was filled with anger. "How many times have I told you? Don't look at things beyond the syllabus. Don't! If I had not been watching over you today, do you know that you might even have suffered brain death?"

Jiang Ding stood and lowered his head. "Teacher, I was wrong."

Yet he did not regret it much inside. His aptitude was poor and his family circumstances ordinary. If he wanted to step onto the immortal path, then where he needed to be aggressive, he had to be aggressive.

Wang Lan seemed to see something in him. The anger on her face deepened, and she swept her sleeve.

"I will truthfully inform your guardian."