Wang Yourong began to count the Qi Nourishing Pills in the small porcelain vials.
The pills were all in small porcelain vials, so she could count them quickly.
"Junior Brother, with your Alchemy Talent, you could get better rewards if you took on Alchemy missions," Song Qiaoqiao said to Fang Yun while Wang Yourong counted the Qi Nourishing Pills.
Alchemy missions were different from planting missions.
For every planting mission, the amount of Spirit Medicine and the weight of Spirit Rice the sect collected were fixed. Any surplus belonged to the disciple.
Alchemy missions, on the other hand, awarded different levels of rewards based on the final results of the pill refining.
However, all the pills refined this way belonged to the sect.
The similarity between Alchemy missions and planting missions was that you couldn't just take them whenever you wanted; you needed a certain degree of Alchemy Talent. They also came with a guaranteed minimum reward, which was the sect's way of cultivating Alchemy Masters.
"Senior Sister." Fang Yun shook his head at Song Qiaoqiao. "The sect's Alchemy missions aren't for me. I need the pills themselves, and besides, I already have a planting mission."
To prevent disciples from becoming distracted, the Celestial Cloud Sect stipulated that a disciple could not actively take on another mission while they already had one.
Without the mission rewards, most disciples who tried to juggle tasks would pay a heavy price.
If Fang Yun didn't have any Alchemy Talent, the one hundred Lower Grade Spirit Stones Song Qiaoqiao lent him would have been wasted, and he would have ended up in debt.
Besides, Fang Yun desperately needed Upper Grade pills.
For example, if he handed over an Upper Grade Qi Nourishing Pill he refined to the sect, he would have to spend four Lower Grade Spirit Stones to buy it back.
"With your Alchemy Talent, Junior Brother, perhaps you could make some requests to the higher-ups."
"Senior Sister, I have Five Spirit Roots," Fang Yun emphasized.
If he had Three Spirit Roots, the situation would be completely different.
If he really had Three Spirit Roots, he wouldn't have to work so desperately hard in the early stages of Qi Refining. He could have quickly cultivated to the peak of the third layer and broken through to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer with relative ease.
"What's wrong with Five Spirit Roots?"
'Senior Sister Song seems to know even less about some aspects of the sect than I do, and I've only been a disciple for less than three months.'
Every sect has its own rules, both explicit and implicit. These rules create a balance, and without any backing, it would be impossible for someone like Fang Yun to disrupt it.
Five Spirit Roots meant poor talent. It would be difficult enough just to break through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining, let alone the late stage. As for the Foundation Establishment Stage, that was completely out of the question.
No matter how great an Alchemy Master's talent was, if they couldn't break through to a higher Realm, they couldn't refine higher-level pills. Refining pills consumed mental energy and Spiritual Power; before reaching a certain Realm, some pills were simply impossible to create.
Every Alchemy mission Fang Yun took meant one less mission available for others. He had learned from Steward Zhou that there were Alchemy Masters on Dan Cloud Peak with only average talent.
And what were the backgrounds of these Alchemy Masters?
Heh...
If Fang Yun took an Alchemy mission, these other Alchemy Masters would have one less chance to practice.
Alchemy missions were prioritized for Alchemy Masters with good Alchemy Talent. That was an explicit rule.
Fang Yun didn't want to be sabotaged. If they wanted to target him, his Five Spirit Roots talent was the easiest thing to attack.
As Fang Yun was wondering how to explain this to the confused Song Qiaoqiao, Wang Yourong, having finished counting the Qi Nourishing Pills, answered for him.
"Senior Sister Song, his Five Spirit Roots talent limits Junior Brother Fang. The rules for Alchemy missions aren't going to change just for him."
"But Junior Brother's Alchemy Talent is excellent. I can go talk to my great-grandfather."
"Don't, Senior Sister!"
Fang Yun's heart skipped a beat when he heard that, and he quickly refused Song Qiaoqiao's kind offer.
Song Qiaoqiao's intentions were good, but this was not a good idea.
"I know you mean well, but we can't do it like this," Fang Yun said, looking at Song Qiaoqiao with a pleading gaze.
'If Song Qiaoqiao told her great-grandfather about this...'
'What would the Supreme Elder think?'
'Someone is using my great-granddaughter!'
That was a situation Fang Yun desperately wanted to avoid. With Song Qiaoqiao speaking up for him, the matter would most likely succeed. But it would also leave the Supreme Elder with that impression of him. For an Outer Sect disciple still in the early stages of Qi Refining, his future would become very difficult.
"Junior Brother, you don't have to look at me like that. I won't say anything," Song Qiaoqiao said. She didn't quite understand all the twists and turns involved; her way of thinking was very simple.
Since Fang Yun had made his position so clear, she wouldn't go out of her way to do it, even if she didn't understand why.
"See, Senior Sister Song?" At this, Wang Yourong laughed out loud. "I told you not to be so kind-hearted. Your good intentions aren't always seen as a good thing by others."
"Junior Brother Fang's situation is up to him. If he can become an Inner Sect Disciple on his own, things will be different. And besides, look at his talent." As she spoke, Wang Yourong fiddled with the small porcelain vials on the table. "Not having Alchemy missions isn't a huge deal for him. It's not like he has nowhere to buy Spirit Medicine."
Disciples with no background and poor Spirit Root Talent but who were gifted in other areas were not without a chance to get ahead.
The Disciple Marketplace established by the Celestial Cloud Sect allowed disciples to conduct all sorts of trade and transactions among themselves. This was the opportunity for disciples like him.
"But the Spirit Medicine you can buy in the Disciple Marketplace is almost all inferior grade, isn't it?" Reminded by Wang Yourong, Song Qiaoqiao thought of the Disciple Marketplace and looked at Fang Yun with even greater disbelief.
The Spirit Medicine the sect collected from completed planting missions couldn't be bought with Spirit Stones; much of it was used to issue Alchemy missions.
Therefore, the Spirit Medicine used for Alchemy missions was almost all good or excellent grade.
Contribution Points could be used to buy this Spirit Medicine, but a disciple like Fang Yun probably didn't have a single Contribution Point to his name right now.
Besides, buying Spirit Medicine with Contribution Points wouldn't create a sustainable loop. The pills Fang Yun refined could still only be converted into Spirit Stones, whereas taking on Alchemy missions was how one earned Contribution Points.
For most disciples, sect missions were the main way to obtain Contribution Points.
"Inferior Spirit Medicine is still Spirit Medicine," Fang Yun said with a relaxed smile, as if he wasn't bothered by it at all.
"Then I can't really help you with anything, Junior Brother."
"Senior Sister, you've already helped me a lot." The one hundred and eighty Lower Grade Spirit Stones were now in Fang Yun's hands.
Fang Yun held up the Lower Grade Spirit Stones for Song Qiaoqiao to see for a moment, then put them into his Storage Pouch.
"I'll pay you back when the time comes."
"Mhm, in a year at the latest," Song Qiaoqiao stressed.
"Well then, goodbye, Senior Sister."
"Okay."
Fang Yun still had to go to the Spirit Fields to tend to his three acres of Purple Corn.
Wang Yourong, who was in the middle of recording the transaction, looked up at Fang Yun, who had already turned to leave.
"Junior Brother Fang, you didn't even say goodbye to me. Why are you leaving already?"
"You're both my Senior Sisters," Fang Yun replied without turning around. 'I didn't specify *Senior Sister Song* just now.'
"Fine, I guess."
Wang Yourong rolled her eyes at Fang Yun's back and lowered her head to continue recording the transaction.
'When Fang Yun said 'Senior Sister' earlier, I certainly didn't feel his gaze on me. That guy was clearly only looking at Senior Sister Song when he said it.'