13: Chapter 13 Refusal to Recruit

Fang Yuan arrived at his workstation unhurriedly and began to drink tea in a leisurely manner.

Every ten minutes or so, he would secretly consume a Top-grade Qi-Nourishing Pill.

With the Bright Qi Technique and Cloud Body Art at Perfection, they could operate instinctively, so he could continue to Cultivate while at work, albeit at a slightly slower speed.

After working for two hours.

A head poked out from the back door of the Rear Hall; it was none other than Yu Jin.

Fang Yuan raised an eyebrow and asked, "Senior Brother Yu, how do you have time to come over?"

"Fang Yuan!" Yu Jin's eyes lit up, and he immediately walked in.

"How was it? Did you perform Alchemy yesterday?" Yu Jin asked, rubbing his hands together.

"I did!" Fang Yuan nodded.

"What were the results?" Yu Jin asked curiously.

"It was a success!" Fang Yuan nodded.

Yu Jin immediately asked, "How many did you make?"

"Well, 15 Qi-Nourishing Pills and 3 Qi-Condensing Pills!"

"Oh, not bad!" Yu Jin said in surprise, "You actually know how to perform Alchemy!"

Fang Yuan shrugged, "Why would I lie to you?"

"Can you sell them to me?"

"The Qi-Nourishing Pills are fine, but I need the Qi-Condensing Pills for myself!"

"Let me take a look!"

Fang Yuan took out three porcelain bottles and handed them to Yu Jin.

Yu Jin opened a bottle and took a look, his eyes widening slightly.

"This is... a High Grade Qi-Nourishing Pill?"

"Wait, this one is a Top-grade Qi-Nourishing Pill!"

Yu Jin gasped.

Fang Yuan was quite calm and said, "Fourteen High Grade and one top grade; according to market price, it would be 780 Low-Grade Spirit Stones. With a ten percent discount, 700 Spirit Stones will do! Calculating it this way, it's only a small profit."

"You are truly amazing!" Yu Jin gave a thumbs up, "I know that while Top-grade Qi-Nourishing Pills aren't rare, they are usually only produced by veteran alchemists with many years of experience. You are truly an Alchemy Genius! Many alchemists will pay a premium to buy top grade Medicinal Pills to study and comprehend them; your price is too low."

Hearing this, Fang Yuan was stunned. He suddenly realized why he could easily produce High Grade and Top-grade Qi-Nourishing Pills!

He had used Decompose on Top-grade Qi-Nourishing Pills and had even broken them down into powder. Because of this, he knew the perfect liquid medicinal ratio for the Top-grade Qi-Nourishing Pill. When he performed Alchemy again, he naturally followed this ratio!

He hadn't thought much about it before, but thinking about it now, he instantly understood another monstrous aspect of his Decomposition Talent!

As long as he was given a Medicinal Pill, he could decompose it to find the optimal ratio of Materials!

It was essentially reverse engineering.

"Hey, Brother Fang!"

Yu Jin called out twice.

Fang Yuan snapped back to reality and asked, "What did you just say?"

"I am willing to pay a total of 900 Spirit Stones!" Yu Jin said.

"No need. I will still sell them to you for 700 Spirit Stones, but you must agree to one condition."

"Oh? What condition?"

"You cannot tell anyone that I have this kind of Alchemy ability!" Fang Yuan said, "I'm afraid of trouble."

Yu Jin nodded, "Sure, I'm not foolish enough to tell others. Wouldn't that be exposing my source of supply?"

Fang Yuan nodded in satisfaction.

"In the future, I will sell you the herbs I prepare at the lowest price, a twenty percent discount, and you just keep selling me the Medicinal Pills at a ten percent discount!"

"Deal!"

This time, Yu Jin had actually brought quite a lot of herbs and handed them directly to Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan accepted them all.

Yu Jin took the Medicinal Pills and then said goodbye and left.

Fang Yuan watched Yu Jin's retreating figure, not caring about this small amount of money in his heart.

He was just doing this as a precaution, laying the groundwork.

Next was more leisurely tea time. To pass the time, he specifically found someone and asked for a history book of the Hongmeng Dynasty to read.

Just as he was reading with great interest, he sensed someone approaching.

He looked up.

He saw a familiar face.

"Li Mengyao?" Fang Yuan was stunned. What was this person doing here?

Li Mengyao looked around at the layout of the Rear Hall, then cupped her hands in a salute towards Fang Yuan: "Senior Brother Fang!"

At this moment, Fang Yuan sensed that her aura was no weaker than his; she had also already broken through to Qi Refining Level 4.

"Junior Sister Li, is there something you need?" Fang Yuan asked.

Since she called him Senior Brother, he didn't mind calling her Junior Sister.

Li Mengyao said softly, "Senior Brother, do you know what is the hardest part of Cultivation?"

"Breaking through a Bottleneck?" Fang Yuan replied casually.

"Yes and no!" Li Mengyao shook her head, "It is resources! Cultivation resources! Dao technique resources! Mentor resources! Without resources, it is impossible to move an inch! The biggest hurdle in the Qi Refining Realm, Foundation Establishment, requires the foundation establishment pill. The price is at least tens of thousands of Spirit Stones, and preparing one or two more only increases the price even further!"

Fang Yuan looked at her suspiciously, "So?"

Li Mengyao said, "I am a Princess, and I have certain assets under my name. I am not lacking in resources, but I lack talent and friends! I know Senior Brother Fang is short on resources but has outstanding natural talent. If you have a supply of resources, breaking through to Foundation Establishment in this lifetime would be a very easy matter, and you might even have a certain expectation of touching the edge of the Golden Core. But if there are no resources, Senior Brother Fang, I estimate that even Foundation Establishment will be difficult for you in this lifetime."

She pointedly said, "Do you know the Disciple who held this position before, Senior Brother Li Chenggong? He was once a member of the royal family with a Medium Grade Spiritual Root, but he was unwilling to participate in factional struggles, so he wasted over a hundred years here. Now, he hasn't even reached Qi Refining Level 9. This is the consequence of a lack of resources."

Fang Yuan finally understood, "You want to recruit me as a subordinate?"

Li Mengyao smiled, "I need some like-minded friends. I am willing to provide resources to help you; you only need to help me do some things, such as guarding some assets, or going out for training together. We are both of the same generation; we can just advance and retreat together!"

Fang Yuan sighed. If he didn't have his Golden Finger, he would really be tempted, but right now, the thing he lacked the least was resources. Since that was the case, why would he want to be someone's subordinate?

"I'm sorry, Junior Sister Li, I'm used to being alone and have no plans to join any other faction."

Fang Yuan shook his head.

Li Mengyao was stunned, seemingly caught off guard by Fang Yuan's blunt refusal.

She smoothed the hair on her forehead and said, "Senior Brother Fang doesn't need to respond so hastily; you can go back and consider it. If you are willing, I can promise you that I will definitely prepare a foundation establishment pill for you in the future! You might not know this, but the first Disciple in the same batch to reach Qi Refining Level 7 can obtain a foundation establishment pill. I am determined to get that foundation establishment pill, and I can reserve it for you!"

That was quite the empty promise!

Fang Yuan still shook his head, "No, thank you for your kindness, Junior Sister Li."

Li Mengyao sighed, seemingly feeling incredibly disappointed in Fang Yuan.

She pondered for a moment and asked, "I heard that Li Pingyuan came to find you and left on bad terms! That person is actually my older brother, the Third Prince! That person is not very broad-minded. If he does anything against you later, you can mention my name; it will make him wary. This is my communication mark. Wait until you have considered it clearly before sending me a message!"

She left behind a sound transmission mark and then simply said goodbye and left.

"What an ambitious woman!" Fang Yuan muttered to himself.

He hadn't done anything yet, but it felt like he was about to be dragged into the power struggle between the princes and princesses.

"You all fight your own battles; I'll just Cultivate on my own. Want me to go out? No way!" Fang Yuan thought disdainfully.