Chapter 147: Chapter 147: Preparations for the Talisman Project
 

I must say, a daughter really is a father’s intimate little cotton-padded jacket.

Yue Linger not only guessed Jiang Cheng’s “evil plan” right away, but also had to solve a problem for Jiang Cheng—finding an experienced alchemist.

At Lotus University, finding an alchemist is an easy task.

The alchemists at the Alchemy and Spiritual Planting Institute, if not in abundance, certainly ensure that you’ll find one among any three people you happen to knock over with a stick.

The problem isn’t finding an alchemist, but finding “an experienced alchemist.”

What defines “an experienced alchemist”?

Is it having great talent?

Or having a high rank?

Or having participated in many competitions?

Or having a wealth of alchemy experience?

Yue Linger, though young and yet to enter society, had already prematurely experienced the difficulties of being someone’s worker through dealing with Jiang Cheng.

Daddy gives the orders, and the daughter runs her legs off.

“Bingxin?” Yue Linger called out.

Cheng Bingxin was reading a magazine, that kind of ordinary youth campus magazine. But from just a few pictures in the magazine, Cheng Bingxin always managed to concoct some bizarre CPs and then ship them incessantly.

Like senior-junior romances, upperclassmen and underclassmen, willow trees near benches, or the teaching building and the stone seats below it.

What’s called the cutest height difference? (Tactically leans back)

“Cheng Bingxin!” Yue Linger called out again.

“What is it?” Cheng Bingxin turned over.

“Do you know the alchemists at our school?”

“You don’t know an alchemist? Just go outside now, grab any random person, repeat it ten times, and you’re sure to catch an alchemist.”

“Come on, be serious!”

“I am serious.”

“I really have something important.”

“Hah, what could you possibly have…”

Cheng Bingxin’s CP radar immediately detected a trace of a romantic pairing.

Based on her understanding of Yue Linger, there’s an eighty percent chance that she wouldn’t look for an alchemist herself, and she’s likely helping someone else.

Who is she helping?

Is that even a question!

Who else could it be that she cares so much about, other than Jiang Cheng!

“Are you really looking for an alchemist?”

“Really am!”

“Do you want a male or a female?”

“Male…”

Yue Linger subconsciously wanted to find a male cultivator for Jiang Cheng who could make elixirs.

But she immediately realized, would bringing a male cultivator to Jiang Cheng give him the wrong impression about her relationship with that male cultivator?

For instance, that aside from Jiang Cheng, she has other male cultivator friends she fancied… and so on.

No, no! That absolutely won’t do!

“Female! Female! It has to be a female!” Yue Linger told Cheng Bingxin.

Although introducing a female alchemist to Jiang Cheng might pose a certain risk to her own status,

But compared to losing all her status after losing her innocence, a female alchemist is definitely better.

“Female? Besides being female, any other requirements?” Cheng Bingxin asked.

“It would be best if she has a boyfriend.”

That way she won’t have any designs on Jiang Cheng. Yue Linger thought.

“A female alchemist needs to have a boyfriend too, oh, wasn’t it your department head?”

“Department head?”

“Ah yes, the head of the Publicity Department of the Lotus University Student Union, I forgot her name, it’s just, she’s a third-year student, an alchemist, female, and allegedly has a boyfriend now. All the conditions fit perfectly.”

The Student Union is actually not very useful.

But freshmen always overestimate their diligence, ambition, and initiative. For the sake of trying something new, they join the Student Union.

Yue Linger was like this in her first year.

And because of her appearance, she joined the Publicity Department without any pressure.

The person who recruited her at that time is now the head of the Publicity Department, a second-tier alchemist from the Alchemy Department of the Alchemy and Spiritual Planting Institute, Shen Menghan.

Immortal Sect Tea House.

Jiang Cheng picked up the communication talisman.

“Hello?”

“Jiang Cheng, have you arrived? We’ll be there soon.”

Jiang Cheng replied with a reassuring smile, “I’ve already arrived, but don’t rush, just take your time.”

Five minutes later, the elegantly decorated Immortal Sect Tea House suddenly burst into a riot of colors.

Three stunningly beautiful female cultivators entered the shop one after the other.

The one at the forefront was naturally Yue Linger, the one Jiang Cheng was most familiar with.

Her light pink top paired with a cinched waist pleated skirt complemented her delicate and fair skin, and the twin ponytails swinging with each step perfectly encapsulated the essence of youthful beauty.

Following Yue Linger was a woman with a fairly serious demeanor and a beautiful melon-seed shaped face. She must be the Alchemist Shen Menghan that she had mentioned.

Shen Menghan was clad in a light blue short jacket and a dark knee-length dress. The mix of lengths and colors not only made her look pretty but also gave her the mature and intellectual vibe of a third-year senior.

And then there was Cheng Bingxin.

She was about to summon the Earth Tiger of Land…

Oh no, that’s not right.

She was also quite beautiful.

The three female cultivators found Jiang Cheng in the Immortal Sect Tea House.

With Liu Qing absent, Yue Linger naturally took the seat next to Jiang Cheng. Opposite them sat Shen Menghan and Cheng Bingxin respectively.

“Senior sister, this is Jiang Cheng, the freshman who wanted to meet you,” introduced Yue Linger.

“Hello.”

“Hello, senior sister.”

The two greeted each other politely.

Shen Menghan went straight to the point, “Junior brother Jiang Cheng, you wanted to inquire about Qi Blood Pills?”

“That’s right. I want to know how exactly to refine them, what the success rate is, and what the costs are.”

As a second-rank Pill Master, answering questions about basic first-rank elixirs posed no difficulty for Shen Menghan.

“If I remember correctly, there are about thirty-one formulas for Qi Blood Pill currently, but the mainstream formulas really only come down to two. The first formula requires Blood Orange Fruit, Dried Cinnamon… The second one needs Blood Orange Fruit, White Bamboo Leaves…”

Jiang Cheng listened and took notes like an extremely attentive student in class.

Finally, Shen Menghan finished explaining, and Jiang Cheng had taken all the notes.

After that, in front of the three female cultivators, Jiang Cheng took out the list of spiritual material prices he had prepared for today.

After checking against what Shen Menghan had said, Jiang Cheng finally drew his conclusion.

“Without considering the wages and commission income of the alchemist, the material cost of a Qi Blood Pill is around thirty-seven low-grade Spirit Stones. If we take into account the alchemist’s salary and the wear and tear on the pill furnace, then the production cost for each Qi Blood Pill comes to forty-eight low-grade Spirit Stones. Am I correct, Senior Shen?”

Shen Menghan was stunned by Jiang Cheng’s question.

She had been invited out by Yue Linger, thinking that Jiang Cheng had some question about the way of pills. But he didn’t ask about any techniques, just straight to the price?

Who would calculate the cost so meticulously?

“I suppose so, I’ve never really calculated it myself, so I’m not quite sure,” Shen Menghan replied.

To secure an order for He, it was essential to reduce the cost of a Qi Blood Pill to below forty Spirit Stones without compromising the quality of the elixirs.

To lower the price, the focus had to be on reducing either the material costs or labor.

Jiang Cheng was not willing to exploit the alchemists, so his only option was to try to bring down the cost of the spiritual materials.

After a moment’s reflection, Jiang Cheng asked a key question, “Senior Shen, is it possible to further optimize the formula of the Qi Blood Pill? For example, could we make a virtually identical pill using only half the materials?”

Shen Menghan: …

She glanced at Yue Linger and calmed herself before responding, “There’s basically no chance of that happening, as the current formulas are already the best.”

Jiang Cheng continued, “Then, about these spiritual materials, like the Blood Orange Fruit, can the price be reduced?”

The material cost of a Qi Blood Pill was thirty-seven low-grade Spirit Stones.

Just the Blood Orange Fruit alone accounted for twenty-five of those Spirit Stones.

If the price of the Blood Orange Fruit could be reduced, then wouldn’t the profit margin for the Qi Blood Pills appear?

Shen Menghan straightforwardly told Jiang Cheng, “It’s impossible. The Qi Blood Pill requires Blood Orange Fruits that are at least ten years old, and the Spirit Plant Garden of Liang Kingdom produces only so much every year. Unless you can conjure spiritual materials out of thin air, the price won’t change.”

Jiang Cheng earnestly asked, “Do you mean that if I just produce them, then naturally the price of the Qi Blood Pills will go down?”

If Yue Linger hadn’t been watching, Shen Menghan would have stood up and given this freshman named Jiang Cheng a good scolding!

What did he mean by “just produce them”?

Why could this man make something extremely difficult seem so easy?

If you really had the ability to increase production, it would be more fitting for you to become the dean of the Lotus University Spiritual Planting Department.