At those words, the stone that had been halfway lowered in Lin Changheng's heart finally settled firmly into place.
As for the "access to mid-grade items" Xu Qianyan had mentioned, that meant exchanging the contribution points accumulated through completing tasks for the Xu Family and the like.
In essence, the Lineage's internal merit system had granted him a higher level of access.
Previously, immortal seedlings could only exchange their points for various first-tier low-grade items.
"Thank you, Chief."
Xu Qianyan glanced at him and shook his head, his expression earnest. "You earned this through your own abilities. There's no need to thank me."
"As for your duties, they're simply to refine pills. When the Lineage issues tasks, you can go to the General Affairs Hall and claim them yourself."
"As for compensation, aside from the usual full supply of quality spirit tea, spirit rice, spirit wine, and so forth, as well as a spirit vein for cultivation, the remainder can be paid as a fixed allotment of spirit stones, or through a profit-sharing arrangement. The more you refine, the more you earn."
"You can consider which you prefer and report your decision later."
Seeing Lin Changheng nod in understanding, a Pill Master handed him a jade slip, and the group departed in a grand procession.
Watching their figures disappear, Lin Changheng did not follow them. Instead, he turned and headed to the Hundred Treasures Hall on another peak.
Here, contribution points and spirit stones could be exchanged for goods, and items could also be sold back.
A short while later, Lin Che emerged from the hall.
Nothing unusual showed on his face.
But the pills and Storage Bag he had seized had all been sold.
The three low-grade pills of average quality fetched three spirit stones, half their original value.
The Storage Bag sold for only fifty spirit stones.
That was acceptable enough.
He had gained fifty-three spirit stones in total.
The bottle of poison had also been appraised free of charge. It was a first-tier mid-grade poison, made from a mixture of venom glands and sacs from various demonic beasts. Dispersed into the air, it could paralyze the body and dull the five senses.
The Hundred Treasures Hall offered two spirit stones for it, but Lin Changheng politely declined.
What frustrated him somewhat, however, was that the low-grade hammer Magic Artifact had been deemed too badly damaged. Repairs would cost too much, and it posed risks in use, so they refused to buy it.
Perhaps I can try the Lineage's exchange gathering when the time comes.
When he returned to the Tide Listening Dojo,
Lin Changheng again saw a dense crowd blocking the dojo entrance.
And amid them stood Tantai Feiyue, surrounded like the moon amid a host of stars.
After a brief glance, Lin Changheng walked straight past along the side.
Clearly, the Xu Family disciples had noticed him too, and all turned to look.
Yet they no longer cast hostile, confrontational looks at him as though he were a sworn enemy. Instead, their gazes held a complicated, searching quality, mingling resentful envy with a reluctant awe.
One Xu Family disciple instinctively touched the newly acquired low-grade pill at his waist. It was a Cultivation Pill his parents had scrimped and saved to buy from the Hundred Treasures Hall.
Then he thought of how Lin Changheng was now a Pill Master, capable of easily refining pills of this quality, and his eyes dimmed.
"Excuse me." The calm voice reached them.
"Yes, of course."
Their replies came instinctively. As though compelled by some unseen force, the Xu Family disciples blocking the entrance stepped aside at his words. The crowd surged outward like a wave, opening a path.
It also revealed Tantai Feiyue's graceful figure.
"Thank you."
Lin Changheng thanked them and walked through, giving Tantai Feiyue a slight nod as he passed her.
Tantai Feiyue had intended to greet him and exchange a few words, but seeing that Lin Changheng had no intention of stopping, the smile at the corners of her lips stiffened slightly.
Her gaze rested on Lin Changheng's retreating back. She pressed her red lips together, her thoughts unknown.
As for Lin Changheng, he never once looked back, as though utterly unaware of everything behind him-or perhaps he simply deemed it beneath his notice.
He returned to his courtyard.
Lin Changheng recalled the two options Xu Qianyan had given him: a fixed allotment of spirit stones, or profit sharing?
He took out the jade slip, pressed it to his forehead, and examined it carefully.
After reading it, Lin Changheng immediately made his choice-
The second option!
According to the jade slip, if he chose the "fixed allotment of spirit stones," every pill he refined would belong to the Xu Family, whether successful pills, Inferior Pills, or ruined pills!
Everything had to be handed over in full, with the number of "pills" corresponding to the number of "sets of ingredients."
With Lin Changheng's perfect success rate, where was he supposed to find so many ruined pills and Inferior Pills?
The first option was out.
By elimination, only the second remained.
The profit-sharing arrangement described in the second option was stricter. For every ten sets of pill ingredients the Xu Family supplied, he had to provide seven Standard Pills.
No matter how many pills he produced in a batch, he had to hand over seventy percent.
That was twenty percentage points more than the initial fifty percent. Lin Changheng could accept this. After all, his supplies of spirit rice, spirit tea, access to the spirit vein, and so forth had all improved. Exemption from frontier reclamation and similar duties was also an intangible resource that could not be measured in spirit stones.
Moreover, this was a requirement for one's alchemy skills, an artificially imposed threshold.
It made guest retainers with poor alchemy skills recognize the difficulty and withdraw.
After all, under this arrangement, there was no limit on pill refining. If one was willing to work desperately hard, one could keep the fire burning every day, all twelve months of the year.
Inadequate alchemy skills would mean enormous waste.
Even the Xu Family could not sustain that.
But at seventy percent, the Xu Family would turn a profit. What did it matter if they let him use medicinal herbs to his heart's content?
As a vast Lineage with extensive holdings, where one tug could set the whole body in motion, the Xu Family naturally had to calculate this carefully.
No matter how I look at it, I should choose the second option. Although my share has dropped by twenty percentage points, Premium Pills will raise the underlying value. Proportionally, it won't feel like I'm losing that much.
And I should increase the basic requirement of ten batches a month to around fifteen, without affecting my cultivation, to build up my initial reserves as much as possible.
Right, I need to keep up with refining [Wood Origin Pills], too.
Having worked out his pill-refining plans, Lin Changheng began considering the matter of essence blood.
This was crucial!
It concerned the very foundation of Lin Changheng's abilities!
Logically, the Xu Family has over ten Pill Masters, and they produce quite a few ruined pills and Inferior Pills each month. Could I find some way to pass those through my hands?
Low-grade pills are one thing, but what about mid-grade and high-grade pills? The demonic beast essence blood involved must be even more powerful!
Hmm, I'll be visiting the General Affairs Hall tomorrow anyway to submit my choice. I can see whether there are any good tasks involving essence blood...
With these thoughts in mind, Lin Changheng took out a Premium [Crimson Flame Pill], swallowed it, and began calming his mind and breath as he sat down to cultivate.
He now had thirteen Premium Pills left in his Storage Bag!
His Standard Pills, however, were all gone. Before leaving, he had sold the entire lot to Su Shuangjiang,
Exchanging them for spirit stones and keeping not a single pill.
He had also told her that if she needed any in the future, she could come find him at the Blackwater River Xu Family.
That had merely been a courtesy... After all, the distance was too great. With the cultivation world now in turmoil, even a cultivator at mid-Qi Refining could not necessarily ensure their safety over those few days of travel.
At this moment, the spirit stones in his Storage Bag had once again reached more than a hundred and eighty.
"Whew..."
The pill slowly dissolved within him. The medicinal power of the Premium Pill immediately flowed through his meridians and qi channels as his cultivation method circulated, spreading throughout his limbs and bones before finally being refined into magical power and returning to his dantian...
He continued to advance.