Chapter 177 - 176: Natal

The city gate was gateless.

Stepping inside, Chen Qingyang followed close behind Ji Rang. He saw numerous residences and palaces lining the path, with people of all ages—men and women, young and old—milling about.

The sight reminded him of his first visit to the Separation Dragon Pill Institute.

Even the architecture seemed to be modeled after it.

After a series of winding twists and turns, they arrived at a palace. Chen Qingyang looked up at the plaque above the entrance, which bore the three words "Commander's Lower Palace."

They passed through the palace into a small courtyard behind it. There, in the main hall, they finally met the Senior Brother Liu in question. Chen Qingyang studied him closely. In addition to his Vermilion and Purple Attire, he wore a fire-colored badge on his chest that looked like a deer's head.

Senior Brother Liu's temples were streaked with white, and his long beard was a mix of gray and black. He had a dark, thin face and a humorless expression that made him look somewhat grim.

Ji Rang bowed with clasped hands, Chen Qingyang following suit to his left. "Greetings, Senior Brother Liu."

The man's gaze fell upon Chen Qingyang. "Your Cultivation is passable at best, but you must have some ability to have obtained the Separation Huo Dragon Pearl. Could I see that pearl?"

Chen Qingyang wouldn't have agreed to such a request from anyone. Instead, he took out a Tier Four Elixir and presented it.

Senior Brother Liu seemed to understand the gesture. He took the Elixir and identified it carefully. "An Earth Root Biochemical Pill, and a Tier Four at that! As far as the Elixir is concerned, this is perfectly sufficient!"

Ji Rang had already explained that the Command Palace was in charge of the Fulu Workshop, and the Commander's Lower Palace was responsible for vetting new recruits.

Hearing this, Ji Rang visibly relaxed. "Does that mean you see no problem, Senior Brother Liu? This matter was entrusted to me by my master, so I would ask you to please make things convenient for us."

Fearing it wasn't enough, he also brought up Master Jing Yuan for added weight.

Senior Brother Liu said, "Given this junior brother's talent, there shouldn't be a problem. It's just that with your Cultivation being so low, I wonder how many of the Fulu Workshop's assignments you'll be able to complete."

He shared the same concern as Ji Rang.

Chen Qingyang asked, "May I ask what kind of assignments you're referring to, Senior Brother Liu?"

Now that he acknowledged Chen Qingyang's ability, the senior brother's expression softened. As a smile touched his face, his previous grimness vanished.

"You must understand, the Tai Xu Sect has four hundred and twenty peaks. A rough estimate puts the number of Outer Disciples alone at three hundred thousand. Add the fifty to sixty thousand from the Inner Sect, and all of them need elixirs to support their Cultivation."

"To ordinary folk, it might seem that those who practice Cultivation should be indifferent to fame and fortune. In reality, we become even more focused on personal gain. Therefore, the supply of elixirs is an enormous business. The struggle between the Fulu Workshop and the Separation Dragon Pill Institute is a fight over this very business—a fight for control over the Sect's supply of elixirs."

"So... the assignments we hand out generally fall into two categories. The first is to provide us with a large quantity of elixirs, like the Tier Four Yang Replacement Powder. The second is to search for unique Spirit Plants. Almost everyone is sent on an assignment once a month. Do you understand?"

'It seems that in the Fulu Workshop, your Alchemy skills are all that matter.' After Chen Qingyang produced the Elixir, Senior Brother Liu's attitude had completely changed, and he suddenly became much more talkative.

"The two types of tasks you mentioned, Senior Brother Liu, are no problem for me. I just want to use this opportunity to properly hone my Alchemy Dao and master more Pill Formulas."

Senior Brother Liu said, "That's not an issue either. The Fulu Workshop has its own Dao Transmission Palace. As long as you can accumulate merit, you can exchange it for anything."

At this point, Chen Qingyang thought of Xu Wuji again. "Senior Brother Liu, I'd like to ask about a certain matter, if I may?"

"Speak. Let's hear it."

Chen Qingyang said, "I was wondering if there is a Recruitment Envoy in the Fulu Workshop named Xu Wuji?"

'I just want to know what his intentions toward me are, and how much influence he can still exert.'

The senior brother replied, "Recruitment Envoys fall under the jurisdiction of my Commander's Lower Palace. Each year, they are required to recruit four disciples for the Fulu Workshop. In return, we give them certain benefits when we use the elixirs they provide. Junior Brother Xu is indeed one of the twenty-four Recruitment Envoys. Why do you ask?"

Chen Qingyang said, "I am acquainted with him, that is all. Thank you for the clarification, Senior Brother Liu."

'The internal politics are complex. All I could glean is that Recruitment Envoys have some status. It's too difficult to ask for more. But now that I'm far away from him, he shouldn't be a problem anymore.'

'Once I can refine some more advanced elixirs, perhaps I'll 'gift' a few to this Senior Brother Wuji.'

Senior Brother Liu glanced at Ji Rang. "Even with Master Life Light's backing, now that he has joined the Fulu Workshop, the rules must be followed. Starting today, he must begin this month's assignment."

Ji Rang said, "It's no trouble. I will help my little junior brother for the first three months and will absolutely not cause any delays for you, Senior Brother Liu. Once he gets the hang of things, my help will no longer be needed."

'We've only met twice, yet he's so invested in my affairs. He's so much like Kong Yuan, who serves under Master Liu Pei. It seems not everyone in the Tai Xu Sect is caught up in petty schemes and machinations.'

Chen Qingyang held his tongue, waiting for Senior Brother Liu to speak first. Liu said, "Very well. Let's make this assignment a simple one. Take a trip to the Jin Kingdom, find the National Preceptor there, and retrieve something for me. I located that Spirit Grass a long time ago, and it should be mature by now. It won't be a difficult trip for Junior Brother Chen. Consider it a personal favor."

Ji Rang immediately bowed in thanks. "Thank you for looking out for us, Senior Brother Liu."

"It's nothing. I've received my fair share of help from you in the past. This assignment is simple; let him use it to get acclimated."

But then, to everyone's surprise, Chen Qingyang asked, "Senior Brother Liu, are there any other assignments besides this one?"

Senior Brother Liu smiled and shook his head. "I can pull some strings for that first assignment, but I can't for the other. The second option is to provide forty-eight of the elixirs you showed me today within one month. Do you think you could manage that?"

Chen Qingyang instantly understood the "fortune" part of Fulu Workshop's name. It would require an average of nearly two elixirs a day. A typical Pill Master might get three of these from a single batch, but not consistently. This meant that even working for a month without a single day of rest, one might not be able to meet the quota.

Furthermore, one batch of this Elixir took five to six hours to refine. Where would he find the time to practice his Cultivation? In the long run, constant output without conditioning and replenishing his Qi Mechanism would be extremely detrimental to his progress.

"And after refining these elixirs..."

Senior Brother Liu understood what Chen Qingyang was asking. "This type of Elixir would sell for two thousand Spirit Stones at most in a place like Gentle Breeze. If you complete the assignment, the Fulu Workshop pays two thousand four hundred. You must understand, Junior Brother, the higher your Cultivation, the more resources you need. Take this Earth Root Biochemical Pill, for example. You can consume one every seven days. Because of this, you can never have enough Spirit Stones."

'At my current speed, assuming three elixirs a day, it would take sixteen days.'

'If I can later augment the process with the Li Yang Earth Fire and produce four elixirs per batch, it would only take twelve days.'

'Plus, the more I refine this Elixir, the higher its quality will become, which will create other opportunities. This is the perfect way to leverage my ability to never fail at Alchemy.'

"Senior Brother Liu, Senior Brother Ji, I'd like to attempt the assignment for forty-eight elixirs."

Ji Rang quickly interjected, "Senior Brother Liu has already made arrangements. We should just listen to him! Why take such a risk? Besides, with your current Cultivation, how could you possibly succeed?"

Showing a hint of surprise, Senior Brother Liu simply stood aside, watching the two of them with an amused smile.

"Senior Brother Ji, don't forget I have the Separation Huo Dragon Pearl to help me. It shouldn't be a problem."

Ji Rang still shook his head. "Even if you want to try, you should wait until after this first month. The Jin Kingdom is the greatest nation under our Daoist Sect's influence. Wouldn't it be good to go and broaden your horizons?"

Chen Qingyang bowed to Ji Rang. "Please, don't worry, Senior Brother. I wouldn't accept this assignment if I wasn't confident I could complete it."

Ji Rang was about to argue further, but Senior Brother Liu grabbed his arm. "I think our junior brother is in need of Spirit Stones. Why stand in his way? This one month's work could net him a hundred thousand Spirit Stones. With a million, he could certainly afford a top-quality Magical Artifact."

At this, Ji Rang came up with a compromise. "Since Senior Brother Liu is willing, then Junior Brother, you should accept both assignments. You only need to complete one of them within the month anyway!"

This made Senior Brother Liu hesitate. Not wanting to refuse Senior Brother Ji's well-intentioned compromise, Chen Qingyang quickly said, "Thank you, Senior Brother Liu."

The man had no choice but to agree. This way, Chen Qingyang also had a fallback plan.

...

After bidding farewell to Senior Brother Liu, Chen Qingyang and Ji Rang started on the road out of the city.

Senior Brother Ji no longer tried to dissuade him. After all, he had been given two options; how he chose to proceed was his own affair.

"Junior Brother, if you really do complete the task and end up with all those Spirit Stones, what do you plan to do with them?"

Chen Qingyang had thought about it, but only in terms of various odds and ends. "You must have some thoughts, Senior Brother?"

Ji Rang said, "In my opinion, you should save them. Save them all until the moment you break through to Essence Condensation and cultivate your Mingtang True Fire."

Chen Qingyang was confused. "Why do that?"

"You have to understand that the Spirit Stones you spend in the Qi Refining Realm are mostly for leaving the Sect or practicing the Seven Arts. These costs are trivial compared to refining a Lifebound Magical Artifact. By the time you save up enough, perhaps... hehe, you'll have a few million, and that's about enough to get started!"

Chen Qingyang had heard of Lifebound Magical Artifacts before, but he had never learned the specifics.

"Could you please explain in more detail, Senior Brother?"

Ji Rang suddenly had a thought. "Right, you've had very little contact with us, and you haven't had a breakthrough in your Cultivation yet, so of course you wouldn't be clear on the details."

"A Lifebound Magical Artifact is forged from your Mingtang True Fire and your own Essence Qi. The artifact itself is formless and intangible, residing within your Dantian. When you deploy it, it takes a Transformed Form from your Qi Mechanism, its power is immense, and it can even save your life in a critical moment."

"Cultivating a Lifebound Magical Artifact is incredibly expensive. You need materials like Gold Essence Qi, the Wood Spirit, the Pill Essence Swamp, and so on. These are all formless things, which is what's needed to refine a formless artifact. Each one of these components can cost hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of Spirit Stones."

"What I'm saying is, you should start preparing early. Save up every Spirit Stone you earn. Otherwise, you'll end up like me—reaching my current realm with a Lifebound Magical Artifact that has only just begun to take shape."

'He has a point. Senior Brother Ji's reminder makes perfect sense. I'll have to make a point of interacting more with Inner Sect Disciples from now on.'

After all, from a practical standpoint, Chen Qingyang was already a veteran Inner Sect Disciple and should be socializing more with his peers.