The Undying Immortal System

Earning my keep meant producing pills.

I spent a year doing nothing but constantly making as many pills as I could, doing my best to concoct at least a dozen pills every single day. Not all of them were high-quality. In fact, many of them were far below my personal standard, but Deacon Liu's rules were simple. I only needed to make a profit. As long as my alchemy was profitable, I would be provided an endless stream of ingredients to work with.

For this reason, I focused on using lower-quality herbs. The final result I could achieve with them was nothing amazing, but it was far easier to turn a profit with low-cost herbs. Another benefit was that they were available in much greater supply. I might only be able to get a couple of sets of high-quality herbs a day, but Deacon Liu was able to provide me with limitless low-quality ones.

Using this strategy, the number of Meridian Builder Pills I was making each month was more than some alchemists would make over the course of multiple years. There were a few reasons for this, but the most important one was my seed of the Cold Mountain Fire.

One of the biggest limitations to an alchemist's ability to produce pills was the amount of energy it required. While I was able to make over a dozen pills a day, a normal Martial Master 3 would only be able to make two or three. This was because they needed to use a large amount of energy to empower and control their spirit fire. In contrast, my fire seed only cost me the mental strain of manipulating it through my affinities. I still needed to use fire qi in some places, but the amount I used per pill was far less than other alchemists.

That said, while my production capacity was far above normal, there was another reason the number of Meridian Builders was greater than most alchemists. It was because most alchemists didn't focus so much on a single pill type like this.

Most of the alchemists in the sect would move on after being able to concoct a pill at High-Purity. While they could spend time perfecting a pill to improve its efficacy as high as possible, there wasn't much of a reason to.

For example, let's say that with a given set of herbs, I could create a pill with 86% of standard efficacy. If I made that pill a hundred times, I may be able to improve that number to 87%. If I made it a thousand times, I might be able to get it to 88%. It may take the experience gained from making a pill a million times to improve the pill to 90%.

Was it worth spending the time to make one pill thousands of times to improve the efficacy by 1%? How much does an extra 1% improve the value of a pill? Not much. If someone needed a pill of higher efficacy, they could also just use higher-quality herbs to begin with. There were few economic incentives to encourage such focused improvements.

If these improvements led them to being able to concoct Perfect pills, that calculus would shift dramatically, but Perfect pills were considered more rumor than fact by most disciples.

So, while they would still concoct a few Meridian Builder Pills to earn contribution points, their main focus would shift to new types of pills. This was because it was commonly believed that the fastest way to become an Alchemy Grandmaster was by mastering as many different pills as possible. It was a quick path to advancement, and for young cultivators fighting a futile war against stagnation and eventual calcification, speed was vital.

Elder Mu had made it clear that I would need to ascend to both Martial and Alchemy Grandmaster before stagnation hit at 40 to even be considered by a sect outside the Wastes. Even then, the odds would be low. The most promising disciples were those who reached Grandmaster before 30. That didn't leave time for a budding new alchemist to slowly perfect every single pill.

As for myself, quick advancement and being recruited by another sect didn't interest me too much. Advancing to a more powerful sect would be nice, but I didn't need to rush it.

The way Elder Mu talked, I got the strong impression that ascending to Martial Lord was no simple process. While I didn't know the details, I had to believe that a solid foundation in the Master realm would be necessary for long-term success.

While I could follow the normal route to Grandmaster and focus all my energy on reaching it within that thirty-year time limit, doing so would have little meaning. If I didn't establish a solid foundation, I would never reach Martial Lord anyway.

As long as I ascended to Grandmaster before 40, I shouldn't have any trouble reaching Peak Grandmaster in this life. That would be enough. I could take this time to firm up my foundation as an Alchemy Master to set myself up for even greater success in a future life.

With that being said, I didn't personally get to choose my path forward. Deacon Liu decided which pills I would concoct and only gave me the exact herbs I needed. In the end, I was only making what he told me to make. While I could have challenged his decisions, I didn't have enough experience to know how to set up a proper training regime for myself.

The deacon was acting as my teacher, so I let him do his job. Since my alchemy was improving, I was happy with his decisions.

During the first couple of months of my alchemy training, I only made Meridian Builder Pills. Typically, he would give me five sets of herbs at a time, one decent-quality set and four low-quality sets. I would make all five pills to the best of my ability and then return for a new batch of ingredients two or three times a day.

A few weeks into this process, he started including ingredients for a new pill. After three or four batches with ingredients for this pill, he would change the additional ingredients to a different type of pill. After that, he might switch back to only giving me herbs for Meridian Builders. By doing this, I was able to apply what I learned from the other pills to improve the Meridian Builder Pills even further.

At the end of my first year following this schedule, I was able to create many different Rank 2 pills at High-Purity. I wasn't sure how my efficacy compared to other Alchemy Masters in the sect, but I was happy with the progress I had made.

A little over a year after my training began, my life took a sudden turn when I brought my most recent concoctions for Deacon Liu's inspection.

"Little Fang, is the new batch already done?"

"Yes, deacon. I came to get the next set of ingredients."

"Good, good, but before that, let's have a little talk. You've been an outer sect disciple for six years now, but you haven't competed with your fellow disciples yet. You've made great progress in your alchemy, but if you want to make a name for yourself in the sect, if you want any hope of being recruited by the Flowing Mountain Sect and leaving the Wastes, you need to compete against and defeat your fellow disciples."

I grimaced slightly. "I understand, deacon. I know the elder considers this important, but I don't know if I'm ready yet."

He smiled and patted me on the shoulder. "I know, but Elder Mu is interested in seeing how you fare. He wants to know if you will be able to rise to the challenge. Go down the mountain, go to the sect's pill hall in the village, and spend some time looking at the various bounties available. Try to find a competitive mission that you feel is suitable, but only select one if you are certain you can win. If you aren't sure, just complete a normal bounty."

I frowned at that. "I have a decent understanding of the quality of my pills, but I don't know how good the other disciples are. How can I be certain of success?"

"Just do your best. This is also a test of your judgment and discrimination."

I nodded in agreement, but it lacked conviction. If I had my choice, I'd rather not compete at all and just return to my alchemy workshop. I wanted to find a way out of this situation.

"Alright, but is this really okay? You and Elder Mu have helped me a lot these past years. It doesn't feel right to be making pills to assist the other factions."

"When you make pills here, you are turning inexpensive ingredients into expensive pills, improving our enclave's total wealth. When you make pills out there, you are bringing resources into the enclave and denying them to the other elders. We profit either way, so don't feel guilty. It will be good for you to go and experience something new."

Giving up, I gave a slight bow. "Yes, deacon."

The streets of the sect's village were veritably bustling compared to what I had become accustomed to. I encountered no less than six people on the streets while walking from the village's entrance to the pill hall. That was six more than the zero I had encountered on the mountain paths of the elder's enclave during the last few years.

The pill hall didn't stand out amongst the other buildings in the village, so it took me some time to find it. It was made of the same gray brick as every other building and also had the same yellow-tiled roof. The only distinguishing feature was a wooden sign above its entrance with the characters 丹堂, meaning Pill Hall.

The inside of the hall was far more chaotic than I had expected. The walls were lined with several bulletin boards, and numerous paper notices were pinned to each of them. At each board, several disciples were examining the various pieces of paper.

Unsure of what to do, I approached a receptionist at an open counter. She was an older woman dressed in the robes of a servant disciple.

"Hello, this is my first time here. Can you please explain how everything works?"

She smiled and responded in an old but powerful voice. "Of course, it's all very simple."

She waved at the bullion boards around the room. "You just need to search through the boards and find a mission you like. When you do, pull it down and bring it back here. If only one person is allowed to take the mission, bring me the entire notice. If the mission allows for multiple parties to accept it, there will be tabs on the bottom with numbers. Tear one off and bring it over."

"Are there any rules about which missions I am allowed to accept?"

"No, but you need to pay contribution points to accept a mission. So long as you pay the cost, you can accept anything. However, missions that involve rare ingredients may also have a large failure penalty, and you'll need to have enough points to cover any fees before you are allowed to accept one of those." She pointed to the right side of the room. "The easiest missions are there, and they get harder as you move around the room.

"Thank you, but… I don't know how many points I have. Is there a way to check?"

She just smiled. "Give me your identity jade."

I handed it over and she placed it onto a stone block. "You have one thousand points."

"Thanks."

I turned and headed toward the board with the easiest missions. After scanning several of them, I soon lost interest. They were all for extremely high-purity versions of various Rank 1 pills. I could easily make points by completing them, but I wouldn't learn anything in the process. I wanted to find something that would stretch my abilities.

After a bit of searching, I finally found a notice that seemed well within my capabilities. If I couldn't complete this one successfully, sending me out to compete at all was a fool's errand.

Requestor: TianHuo, Martial Peak Outer Sect Disciple

Request: Meridian Builder Pills of the highest quality. Pills must be fire-aligned.

Specifics: Upon acceptance, each alchemist will be given five sets of ingredients. After all pills have been submitted by all alchemists who accept this mission, the Pill Hall will select the five highest quality pills for delivery.

Cost to Accept: 500 contribution points.

Mission Time: 3 days.

Compensation: 1,000 contribution points for each selected pill. Submitted pills that are not selected will be purchased by the Pill Hall at 60% of their normal value.

I could make meridian builder pills. I had done so countless times already. Creating them wouldn't stretch my abilities like I might have wanted, but Deacon Liu wanted me to compete, and the best place to start would be with the pills I knew the best.

While I had no idea what the normal value of a Meridian Builder Pill was, I wasn't too concerned about it. Even if I did win this one competition, mass producing the pills and selling them at their normal value would likely be more profitable than only selling five at a steep markup through this mission, but the point was to compete.

If I was going to compete, this had to be the mission I did it with.

However, when I reached up and tore off one of the tabs to claim the mission, a piercing voice rang out throughout the entire pill hall.

"What do you think you are doing!"

I looked over to see a young man and woman standing next to each other. Both were dressed in the robes of outer sect disciples. The man's face was expressionless, but the woman next to him was staring at me with a face filled with fury.

"How dare you accept a mission that Senior Brother Wen Hao has already claimed! Who do you think you are?!"

I blinked at her, confused. "What? I just picked a mission that looked interesting. Is something wrong?"

"Is something wrong?! You are challenging Senior Brother Wen Hao! How dare you do such a thing! Who do you think you are?"

The woman's yelling attracted the attention of everyone in the Pill Hall. They were all staring at us, and the commotion prompted a deacon to walk over and intervene.

She gave me a quick, dismissive look and then turned to the man and woman with an ingratiating smile.

"What is the problem here?"

"This… This bastard is causing trouble! He came in here just to insult Senior Brother Wen Hao. Deacon, I seek justice. Throw him out right now!"

"Oh?" The deacon turned and glared at me. "Is that true? Are you here to cause trouble?"

"No. No, deacon." Under her gaze, I couldn't help but stammer my reply. "I'm just here to accept a mission. I just pulled one down when that woman started yelling at me."

The 'woman' didn't like that answer. "How dare you! You tore off that mission just to insult Senior Brother Wen Hao. If that isn't causing trouble, what do you call it?"

I turned to the deacon to try and get a hold on the situation. "Deacon, I just wanted to complete a mission. If this one is a problem, then I'll choose something else."

The deacon sneered at me. "You want to just change your mind after having already torn off a mission slip? It looks like this young woman is right about you. If you want to change your mission, then change it. But first, you need to pay the 500-point acceptance fee."

The young woman began laughing at my misfortune.

I took a deep breath. Getting angry in this situation wouldn't help anything. "Deacon, you are saying that I must pay the acceptance fee no matter what, right? Then, can I please just accept the mission and complete it?"

This infuriated the female disciple. "You dare! You are just wasting the sect's herbs. Deacon, throw him out of here! Ban him from the pill hall."

The deacon gave me a death stare. "By the rules, I must allow you to accept the mission, but I will not allow anyone to come here to cause trouble. If you waste the sect's herbs you will be held accountable."

"I understand, deacon. I will do my best."

The young woman snorted at me derisively. "Do you want to make a bet? I doubt you can even make a single acceptable pill. If all your pills fail, I want you to kneel on the ground and bark like a dog!"

At this point, I was starting to have a hard time holding back my anger at this repeated provocation. "And what if I win that bet?"

"You won't win!"

I took a deep breath to stop me from snapping at her. "But what if I do?"

She only gave me a snuggly satisfied look. "You won't."

I looked at her like she was an idiot. "So, if I win, then nothing? I'm going to have to decline that bet."

"What are you, afraid?"

At this point, I just shook my head and ignored her. The conversation was going nowhere, and I had better things to do than talk down to an idiot.

I walked up to the counter, submitted the ticket for acceptance, paid my points, and collected the ingredients. After that, I walked out of the pill hall calmly. While I did this, the young woman continued her tirade against me.

During the entire exchange, the young man who was with her never said a word.