I Can Upgrade My Talent Infinitely

Chapter 323 - 268: Rate of Progress (2)

Alchemy Masters were generally flexible with their two payment methods; there was no single, fixed fee structure.

If it was their first time refining a certain pill and they were still unskilled, they would use the first payment method. Once they became proficient, they’d switch to the second.

"We provide one set of Spirit Medicine for a Five Qi Chao Ling Pill, and the Purple Mist Sect gives us three Lower Grade Five Qi Chao Ling Pills. Sometimes, the pills they give us aren’t even refined from the Spirit Medicine we provided."

Fang Yun nodded. This was a common practice.

"Now, by refining just two batches of Five Qi Chao Ling Pills, you’ve already matched the results we get from commissioning the Purple Mist Sect’s Elder of Alchemy."

"That’s not right." Fang Yun shook his head gently. "I also get Sect Contribution Points as a reward."

Refining a single Lower Grade Five Qi Chao Ling Pill was rewarded with five hundred Sect Contribution Points, so he had already earned three thousand Contribution Points.

"Sect Contribution Points are for internal use, so it’s different. Besides, it’s not like you’re short on them," Bai Heyan chuckled.

He knew Fang Yun wasn’t short on Sect Contribution Points at all. Not even counting the points earned from Alchemy and Artifact Refining, the Contribution Points he’d gained just from slaying Demons were more than he could use.

He refined his own pills and his own Spiritual Artifacts.

Currently, the only thing Fang Yun used his Sect Contribution Points on was collecting Spiritual Materials.

There was another thing: even though Fang Yun’s personal Sect Contribution Points were constantly increasing, the total number of Contribution Points held by the Elders was steadily decreasing.

A major reason for this was Fang Yun himself.

The Upper Grade pills he refined were the main culprit behind the drop in the Elders’ total Contribution Points.

Before, the sect didn’t have enough pills. Now, the Elders didn’t have enough Spirit Stones and Contribution Points.

For the long-term development of the sect, the latter situation was preferable, but it couldn’t be allowed to go too far.

If it went too far, it meant resources weren’t being effectively converted into the sect’s overall strength. At that point, the price of pills would need to be adjusted.

Bai Heyan didn’t disturb Fang Yun for much longer.

After making a quick record, he took the six Lower Grade Five Qi Chao Ling Pills Fang Yun had refined.

He would place these Five Qi Chao Ling Pills on the highest level of the Dan Cloud Pavilion.

Even the Sect Leader and Supreme Elders had to go through the proper procedures, using Contribution Points or Spirit Stones to purchase or exchange for the pills they needed to aid their cultivation.

For the Core Formation Stage experts, who were the sect’s upper echelon, this was more about adhering to pre-established rules.

In reality, it was just a formality.

Neither the Sect Leader nor the Supreme Elders were ever short of Sect Contribution Points. Every year, even if they did nothing but cultivate in peace, they would still receive a large amount.

Disciples had their benefits, Elders had theirs, and naturally, the Supreme Elders and Sect Leader also received their own annual sect benefits.

Bai Heyan was also just following the rules.

After storing the Lower Grade Five Qi Chao Ling Pills, he went to the Main Peak, Cloud Summit, to find the Sect Leader, Duan Qingyun.

The Sect Leader was in the middle of his daily cultivation, but he quickly allowed him to enter his abode.

"Sect Leader," Bai Heyan said with a bow.

"Elder Bai, if you have something to say, say it."

"Reporting to the Sect Leader, Elder Fang has now refined two batches of Five Qi Chao Ling Pills."

"And the result?"

"The first batch of Five Qi Chao Ling Pills yielded two Lower Grade pills. The second batch yielded four Lower Grade pills. That’s a total of six Lower Grade pills from two batches."

"Excellent! Excellent!" Duan Qingyun was all smiles upon hearing the news. This was very good news indeed. "Elder Fang is only at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, yet he can produce six Five Qi Chao Ling Pills from his first two batches of refining. I can’t even imagine what will happen if he refines them when he reaches the Late-stage Foundation Establishment!"

Putting aside alchemy experience, a Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator’s Spiritual Power and Divine Sense are both much stronger than a mid-stage cultivator’s. These are all advantageous factors in pill refining, especially the strength of one’s Divine Sense.

"By the time Elder Fang cultivates and breaks through to the Late-stage Foundation Establishment, the Spirit Medicine we have for refining the Five Qi Chao Ling Pills won’t last that long." As an Alchemy Master, Bai Heyan felt he had to point this out.

Spirit Medicine can’t be preserved forever.

Generally speaking, the higher the grade of the Spirit Medicine, the longer it can be preserved.

Certain storage methods can also extend the preservation time.

Take the main Spirit Medicine for refining the Five Qi Chao Ling Pill, the Spirit-towarding Root. With the preservation methods of our Celestial Cloud Sect, preserving it for fifty years without any loss of medicinal efficacy is already the absolute limit.

"We still have eight sets of Spirit Medicine for the Five Qi Chao Ling Pills. Elder Bai, do you think Elder Fang will be able to refine Middle Grade Five Qi Chao Ling Pills?"

The Sect Leader, Duan Qingyun, was already looking forward to Fang Yun’s future refining results.

"I trust Elder Fang’s skill and his Alchemy Talent. I’m certain that within the next eight batches, he’ll be able to produce Middle Grade Five Qi Chao Ling Pills."

"Mm," Duan Qingyun nodded. For Bai Heyan to speak with such certainty was enough to show his confidence in Fang Yun.

As the Sect Leader of the Celestial Cloud Sect, he too had a lot of confidence in Fang Yun.

「It was now mid-June.」

Inside Fang Yun’s abode on Artifact Casting Peak.

At this moment, Fang Yun was refining a Five Qi Chao Ling Pill.

This was his tenth batch of Five Qi Chao Ling Pills.

By the fifth batch, he was no longer producing any Wasted Pills, getting six Lower Grade Five Qi Chao Ling Pills. By the seventh batch, he had refined a Middle Grade Five Qi Chao Ling Pill, though only one.

The results of the eighth and ninth batches were the same as the seventh.

The results were the same, but his progress was still evident; the quality of the Spirit Medicine used for both the eighth and ninth batches was inferior to that of the seventh.

All the Spirit Medicine was in Fang Yun’s possession, and he had a clear plan for which batch to use each set of Spirit Medicine in.

At the beginning of the month after he first refined a Middle Grade Five Qi Chao Ling Pill.

When the Middle Grade Five Qi Chao Ling Pill was tallied, it gave him 4,500 base Talent Points.

Compared to a Lower Grade Five Qi Chao Ling Pill, this was one and a half times more base Talent Points.

Fifty percent, eighty percent, one and a half times.

This was the difference between Lower Grade and Middle Grade Spirit Medicine for the first three tiers.

Fang Yun, unable to discern a pattern for now, couldn’t predict what the situation would be for Tier Four pills. The only thing he knew for sure was that the increase was continuous.

The margins of increase were thirty percent and seventy percent.

The larger the increase, the better it was for Fang Yun.

Currently, if he could refine six Middle Grade Five Qi Chao Ling Pills from a single batch, it would provide 27,000 base Talent Points.

With the multiplier, the Talent Points provided would exceed 130,000.

And this was just for Middle Grade; the increase for Upper Grade would surely be even greater.

As time passed, Fang Yun’s tenth batch of Five Qi Chao Ling Pills was officially complete.

With a wave of his hand, six scorching hot pills flew into his palm.

’Two Middle Grade Five Qi Chao Ling Pills, and no Wasted Pills.’

’Two Middle Grade and four Lower Grade pills. A new record.’

’The quality of the Spirit Medicine for this last batch of Five Qi Chao Ling Pills was quite good, similar to the seventh batch.’

"My progress in refining Third Tier Spirit Medicine is too slow now."

Having grown accustomed to the rapid progress he made when refining Second Tier pills, Fang Yun found the pace of refining Third Tier pills a bit jarring.

He had achieved perfect refinement of the Primordial Spirit Pill by the twenty-fourth batch, but he had already refined ten batches of the Five Qi Chao Ling Pill and was still far from perfection.

That being said...

Fang Yun knew that if any other Elder of Alchemy heard him say that, they would definitely give him strange looks.

’You’ve only been in the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment for a few years, yet you can refine the Five Qi Chao Ling Pill to this level. You should be content with that.’

’If he wasn’t content with this, then what about other Late-stage Foundation Establishment Alchemy Masters? Take Bai Heyan, for example—it was still a question whether he could even guarantee a single Lower Grade Five Qi Chao Ling Pill by his tenth batch.’

He tidied up the Alchemy Room briefly.

After leaving his abode, Fang Yun went to find Bai Heyan to report his results.

From ten batches of Five Qi Chao Ling Pills, the grand total was five Middle Grade and forty-seven Lower Grade pills.

Bai Heyan had long known that Fang Yun had successfully refined a Middle Grade Five Qi Chao Ling Pill on his seventh batch.

While Fang Yun was refining the Five Qi Chao Ling Pills, he had gone to disturb him a total of three times, simply unable to restrain himself.

Each time he did, he reported the news to the Sect Leader, Duan Qingyun.