Cultivation, Inc.I Use Capitalism to Fix a Dying Sect

Chapter 206: Inspecting the Alchemy Hall

Hearing Sun Yi’s pragmatic assessment of the labor shortage, Xu Fang could only let out a heavy sigh. The senior alchemists flanking him mirrored his frustration. They were intimately aware of the Qingyun Sect’s demographic reality.

The entire Sect currently boasted a total population of just over 4,000 personnel. Historically, the Alchemy Hall had been operating with a skeleton crew. It was only after Sun Yi aggressively subsidized their department that their headcount had grown to its current, somewhat functional state.

But Xu Fang was ambitious. He wanted to scale the Alchemy Hall into an industrial powerhouse, and scaling required an aggressive influx of specialized talent. Right now, the talent pool was bone-dry.

Seeing the collective gloom settling over his executive alchemists, Sun Yi chuckled and waved his hand dismissively. “Wipe those expressions off your faces. The Sect’s labor deficit—and by extension, the Alchemy Hall’s—is a temporary bottleneck. It will be resolved shortly.”

“As of this quarter, the Qingyun Sect has successfully recruited over 2,500 high-potential candidates from the mortal populace,” Sun Yi revealed, his tone carrying the weight of a CEO outlining a five-year plan. “They are currently centralized at the Black Wind Mountain facility undergoing an intensive onboarding program. We aren’t just teaching them baseline Cultivation; we are enforcing a mandatory foundational curriculum across all Miscellaneous Arts—alchemy, artifact forging, talismans, and Formations. Furthermore, our recruitment funnels are still active. The acquisition rate is only going to accelerate.”

“Once they complete their probationary training cycles, they will be drafted into the operational workforce. You simply need to hold the line until the reinforcements arrive.”

“What?! We’ve already recruited that many?!”

“Headmaster, are you serious? In such a short fiscal quarter?”

“Two and a half thousand recruits… if we just secure a fraction of them, our cauldrons will be fully manned!”

The oppressive gloom in the courtyard instantly vanished, replaced by a feverish, corporate excitement. The labor drought was ending.

“Headmaster,” Xu Fang spoke up, his eyes gleaming with opportunistic calculation. “Could the Alchemy Hall dispatch senior personnel to Black Wind Mountain to… guide their alchemy curriculum?”

Sun Yi shot Xu Fang a deeply appreciative look. Now that is a proactive middle manager. Xu Fang was already plotting to establish brand loyalty and poach the best talent before they even graduated.

“Approved,” Sun Yi nodded without hesitation. “Draft a detail of ten senior alchemists. Deploy them to Black Wind Mountain as specialized adjunct instructors.”

“Thank you, Headmaster!” Xu Fang was ecstatic. Getting his people on the ground floor guaranteed the Alchemy Hall the first pick of the litter.

What Xu Fang didn’t know was that Sun Yi fully intended to authorize the exact same embedded recruitment tactics for the Refining Hall, the Talisman Hall, and the Formation Hall. A true visionary leader didn’t play favorites; he cultivated internal competition. If the Alchemy Hall wanted the best recruits, their instructors would have to prove their syllabus was the most lucrative. The free market would decide where the disciples landed.

“Alright, Xu Fang, walk me through the facility. Give me a macro-level brief on your current operational metrics,” Sun Yi ordered.

“Understood, Headmaster. Right this way.”

Xu Fang quickly assumed the role of a tour guide, leading Sun Yi through the sprawling, heavily ventilated compounds of the Alchemy Hall.

“Headmaster, our current personnel roster consists of seven third-tier alchemists and 345 second-tier alchemists. We have completely phased out first-tier personnel; everyone has upskilled.”

Sun Yi nodded in approval. The Alchemy Hall’s rapid upskilling was a direct ROI from his policies—specifically, subsidizing Heavenly Soul Liquid and mandating the opening of the five intrinsic bodily gates.

“Give me the data on product variety and gross output,” Sun Yi prompted.

“Reporting to the Headmaster: we have successfully standardized the runic formulas for twenty-seven variants of first-tier Spirit Pills. All twenty-seven lines have been fully integrated into your assembly-line production model. Because we are utilizing overqualified second-tier alchemists to mass-produce first-tier products, our failure rate is practically zero. The output volume is staggering, and the quality control is absolute. Currently, our entire first-tier catalog is dominating the regional market.”

“In fact,” Xu Fang continued, his chest puffing with pride, “according to the latest financial audit from Deputy Headmaster Er Gouzi, the volume of external Rogue Cultivators exchanging raw capital for our Spirit Pills at the mountain gates has been compounding exponentially month over month.”

“The Deputy Headmaster also tracked the supply chain. He discovered that third-party Cultivators are buying our product in bulk and acting as unauthorized distributors, reselling our Spirit Pills in neighboring commanderies at a massive markup.”

Sun Yi nodded, entirely unsurprised. Overqualified alchemists, the systemic buffs from the opened Fire Gate, and rigorous, standardized quality control meant the Qingyun Sect’s baseline product was fundamentally superior to the artisanal, inconsistent garbage peddled by independent alchemists.

“Did Er Gouzi attempt to embargo these unauthorized distributors?” Sun Yi asked, testing his deputy’s economic acumen.

“No, sir. The Deputy Headmaster explicitly mandated that we encourage the bulk buyouts. He stated that these smugglers are effectively acting as a free marketing division, aggressively expanding the Qingyun Sect’s brand recognition into foreign territories, which perfectly aligns with our long-term market penetration strategy.”

“Heh. Er Gouzi is really starting to understand macroeconomics,” Sun Yi smiled, highly satisfied.

“And your second-tier product lines?”

“We have standardized twenty-one second-tier formulas. They are also fully integrated into the assembly lines. Quality and yield have stabilized. Our current second-tier gross output not only fully covers the Sect’s internal burn rate, but we have enough surplus to open it up for external market exchange.”

“Third-tier?”

“Our third-tier catalog is significantly smaller,” Xu Fang admitted. “We only possess eight viable formulas. Furthermore, the raw materials required for third-tier Cultivation are incredibly capital-intensive to source, so we run limited production batches. However, our current stockpile is sufficient to meet the operational demands of the Sect’s Golden Core executives.”

Sun Yi’s brow furrowed slightly. “Twenty-one second-tier and eight third-tier Cultivation-enhancing pills. That catalog is far too narrow. We need to aggressively fund R&D to expand those numbers.”

“With the entire Sect utilizing the five-gate system, our internal pill consumption is going to skyrocket. And with high consumption comes the inevitable accumulation of pill toxins within the body. Expanding our pill variety is a stopgap measure to cycle the toxic load, but it’s just treating the symptom.”

Sun Yi stopped walking and looked sharply at Xu Fang. “Long-term, we need a cure. I need your R&D division to formulate a dedicated, broad-spectrum detoxifier that fundamentally flushes pill toxins from the Cultivator’s system. This is a top-priority mandate.”

“Understood, Headmaster. We recognized the looming toxicity crisis early. I have already spun up a specialized task force dedicated solely to formulating a systemic detoxifier. They are working around the clock, though clinical trials will take significant time.”

“You have the time, and you have a blank check for resources. Just get me a working prototype,” Sun Yi ordered. “Now, what about your supply chain? Are you experiencing any bottlenecks sourcing raw medicinal herbs?”

With the assembly lines running hot, their burn rate for raw materials had to be astronomical.

“Our logistics are solid, Headmaster,” Xu Fang reported confidently. “The initial massive haul Patriarch Qingxuan secured from the Myriad Demon Forest provided a massive buffer. We also liquidated the entire botanical reserves of the Zhou Family and the Xuanyin Sect. Furthermore, the newly acquired agricultural zones in the Black Wind Stockade and Evil Spirit Valley are producing steady yields. Couple that with the aggressive purchasing outposts the Deputy Headmaster set up outside our borders, and our supply chain is highly redundant.”

“Currently, our limiting factor isn’t raw materials; it’s manpower. Even running the assembly lines at maximum RPM, we are redlining our production capacity. We have more herbs than we can physically refine.”

“Good. Cultivation resources are the absolute bedrock of our economy. You know the stakes,” Sun Yi stated. “Prioritize R&D, expand the catalog, and finalize your onboarding curriculum for the new recruits. Once our export markets truly open up and demand goes vertical, I cannot afford for the Alchemy Hall to bottleneck our GDP.”

Sun Yi paused, his tactical mind shifting gears. “Additionally, I am officially redirecting a portion of your production capacity. I want you to heavily research and aggressively mass-produce trauma-care, rapid-detoxification, and True Qi-replenishing Spirit Pills.”

Xu Fang blinked, his face twisting into an expression of genuine corporate confusion. “But… Headmaster? Trauma, detox, and Qi-replenishment? Those are highly niche, reactive consumables. While necessary for emergencies, the baseline market demand for them is incredibly low compared to Cultivation-enhancing pills. Are you certain we should divert precious R&D budget and assembly-line bandwidth to scale up production for low-margin combat stims?”