Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 59: Elixir Research
"Senior Brother Wenyuan, please take a seat." Song Xian invited him to take a seat.

"This is the sect's rules and regulations drafted by Yang'er. I have read it. Master, please take a look at it. If there is no problem, it will be regarded as the new rules and regulations of our sect." Zhong Wenyuan took out a thick stack of paper rolls from his sleeves.

Song Xian then remembered that he had given Zhong Yang a task to draft the rules of the Hunyuan Sect. He took the paper and flipped through it for a while.

Its content is almost the same as the Qingyun Sect's rules, except that the parts concerning inner and outer disciples have been slightly modified.

"It's generally good, but the details need to be revised. For example, the rule about embezzling sect property needs to be broken down into specific categories. The punishment should be determined based on the amount of spirit stones embezzled, rather than just a single statement. Other rules, such as the extent of fighting between fellow disciples and the corresponding punishment, also need to be more detailed."

"Okay, I'll discuss this with Yang'er later." Zhong Wenyuan took the paper back and put it away. "Master, what exactly do you think about the shop restructuring you just proposed during the meeting?"

Song Xian said, "Brother Wenyuan, no one knows the situation of Qingyun Sect better than you. To prevent outside merchants from enriching themselves, the sect has established a strict inspection system, set price limits on all items, and pays monthly salaries to store managers. But what are the consequences?"

"The shop's profit margins are slim, and the managers are just trying to get by without paying any attention to the business."

"That time, I went home for a funeral and went to the Qingyun Sect shop in the market. Do you know what I saw? The people in the shop were gathered together playing cards. In broad daylight, the shop manager was flirting with a woman in the room. How could a shop like that have a good reputation? Why would anyone patronize it?"

"If we still adopt the same management style as Qingyun Sect, our shops will surely follow suit."

"We need to give up some of the profits to the shop managers so that they will be motivated and will be more proactive and enthusiastic in the shop buying and selling transactions."

"As long as it brings profit to the sect, why not give some to the store managers? Isn't that what many large stores and lofts do?"

Zhong Wenyuan frowned and said, "But this would be a bit unfair to the disciples guarding the sect. What we sell in our shop now are all magical instruments, talismans, and elixirs brought from Qingyun Sect. These are originally the sect's property and belong to everyone. But now, Junior Brother Zhang Ningyuan is the only one in charge of the shop."

"If we follow this method, it means that a portion of the sect's property will have to be solely assigned to Junior Brother Zhang. This will probably cause dissatisfaction among the other brothers."

"I hope the Master can make a careful decision."

Song Xian had anticipated that he would raise objections, so he brought it up directly in front of everyone at the meeting without discussing it with him beforehand. Zhong Wenyuan was extremely conservative in his heart and belonged to the traditional conservative faction, so he naturally would not favor such innovation.

"I've already considered this. All the items you brought here before are invalid. Once the spices start selling, we'll proceed as I say. I'll also ask for everyone's opinion then. Anyone who wants to go to the shop can go and help."

"Then how much profit does the Master intend to leave for the shop?"

"My plan is halfway complete. For every hundred spirit stones sold, five will belong to the shop and can be used by the shop manager at his discretion."

Zhong Wenyuan wanted to say something else, but Song Xian interrupted him with a wave of his hand, not wanting to dwell on this matter any longer. "Brother Wenyuan, I know what you're going to say. Let's give it a try first. If it doesn't work, we can cancel it. No matter what, as long as there's change, it's better than the current stagnant state."

Zhong Wenyuan sighed helplessly, "Since the Sect Master has made up his mind, then so be it. I still have something to discuss with the Sect Master. We've been here for three months, and some of the brothers and sisters who followed us still have family members in Pingyuan County. Should we find a chance to bring them here?"

"Let's wait a little longer! This is a critical period for the sect's development, and there are still too many unknowns. It'll only take a year or two anyway. If the spices sell well and the sect stabilizes, it won't be too late to find a way to bring people here."

Zhong Wenyuan nodded, knowing the meaning of the second half of Song Xian's sentence. If the spices could not be sold, the sect's finances would be unsustainable and they would naturally be unable to survive.

"Our pass only has six months left. It would be a shame to waste it. We need to hurry up and make one or two more trips."

"Right now, we must focus on spices. This is the long-term strategy for the sect's development. Relying on the small profits earned from trading on the Muhe Grassland won't last long. Let me be honest with you! Senior Brother Wenyuan, actually, this time I went to the Muhe Grassland mainly to buy Panlong Incense to refine pills. I've already bought 200 kilograms, which is more than enough. From now on, we must concentrate on completing the spice business."

"As for the spices, whether they can be sold at a high price is still unknown. Trading on the Muhe Grassland is a sure-win business. This pass cost three hundred spirit stones, and it would be a waste to only use it once. How about this! The Sect Leader will stay here to oversee the spice matters, and I will take the people to the Muhe Grassland."

"The problem is that we don't have that many spirit stones. If Senior Brother Wenyuan takes all the spirit stones to the Muhe Grassland to trade, what will I use to sell our spices?"

Zhong Wenyuan was puzzled. "I don't understand. Didn't the Sect Master say that since the Panlong Incense has already been purchased, wouldn't it be fine to just refine it directly? What's the point of promoting spices? Why does it cost so much money?"

"Of course we have to spend spirit stones. Our first priority is to spread the fame of the spices so that others will come to buy them."

"Spread? How?"

"This is where the money is spent. I already have a plan, but I'll keep it a secret for now and wait until Junior Brother Qi refines the elixir."

.........

In the next few days, Song Xian stayed at the mountain gate to handle various trivial matters. He first distributed the salaries of the sect disciples, and together with Zhong Yang, he drafted new rules and regulations for the sect. In his spare time, he summoned each person individually to understand their true thoughts and have long talks with them.

After doing all this, he left the mountain gate and went to the Nanyuan Valley Market, taking Jiang Zichen with him.

Because he felt that the mountain gate was too boring and wanted to do something practical, he begged to go with him to the market to help Zhang Ningyuan manage the shop.

It was already night when the two arrived at the market. Song Xian came to his own shop, but did not see Qi Xiaobai, so he went straight to the alchemy hall.

"Master, why are you here?" Qi Xiaobai was preparing elixirs in front of the chopping board in the room. There were more than a dozen different kinds of herbs on the chopping board, packed in boxes.

Carissa helped him knead the powder into pill shapes.

Song Xian pushed open the stone door and entered. The two turned around, surprised to see him. "I just arrived at the market and didn't see you guys at the shop, so I came to see you. How's it going, Junior Brother Qi, how's the development of our Jade Fragrance Pill going?"

"Not quite there yet. The various herbs conflict with each other and cannot be neutralized. I'm trying to find a way to introduce other benign spiritual medicines to maintain the balance of yin and yang between their medicinal properties."

Hearing this, Song Xian was not worried but happy. He thought that he was almost there, which meant that he had already succeeded for the most part. This was much better than he expected.

"Junior Brother Qi is truly a genius at alchemy. He mastered the method so quickly. I originally thought it would take at least several months to complete, but I didn't expect such great progress."

Qi Xiaobai smiled and said, "This isn't some kind of panacea. It's just a different form of the spices."

"Thank you for your hard work. You are still staying in the alchemy room so late to develop the elixir. I heard from Senior Brother Ning Yuan that you have rarely been to the shop these days. You always go around midnight and leave early in the morning."

Carissa said, "Master, don't worry. Once he gets absorbed in studying a certain elixir, he'll forget to eat or sleep. Once, he even stayed awake for three days and three nights. If you don't let him work so hard, he'll get angry with you!"

"Junior Brother Qi, in your opinion, when will our Jade Fragrance Pill be successful?"

"It's almost done. I'm adjusting the neutralization of various medicinal properties. I estimate it will be almost done in a few days."

"Can we make the appearance of this pill a little more colorful and a little brighter?"

"no problem."

"Don't overwork yourself, both of you. It's important to take care of your health and rest when you need to. Do you have enough spirit stones on you?"

"It's enough. We didn't spend many spirit stones. These are the lowest-level spirit medicines and are not worth much."

Song Xian chatted with the two for a while and then left the Alchemy Hall.

The next day, he summoned Zhang Ningyuan and Jiang Zichen into the house.

"Brother Ning Yuan, did you instruct the women we recruited from the shop to follow the suggestions I gave you last time?"

"We've already spoken to them, but due to a shortage of staff, some of the actions haven't been implemented yet. Currently, we only have one person standing at the door every day to greet people."

"Didn't you say you were going to recruit five more people? Haven't they arrived yet?"

"Not that fast."

"Let's put it this way! Our shop will be closed for the day, and I will personally teach them the shop rules."

Zhang Ningyuan nodded and said, "Okay. Do you want me to call them over now?"

Song Xian said, "Wait, I have something to tell you first. I went to the Alchemy Hall last night, and Junior Brother Qi's progress is going very smoothly. Our Jade Fragrance Pill will be released soon. I have already mentioned in the sect meeting that we will restructure the shop. From now on, a portion of the profits from the sale of Jade Fragrance Pill will be controlled by the shop itself."

"My plan is to give half of every 100 spirit stones I sell to the shop for its own use."

"Of course, if the store is doing better and better and needs to recruit more staff, the commission rate may also increase accordingly."

Zhang Ningyuan's eyes lit up and he said happily, "Don't worry, Master. We will do our best."

"Okay, go close the shop door and call those recruiting women over."

Zhang Ningyuan responded and left. Soon, the five women recruited by the shop came into the house.

Song Xian taught them how to entertain customers in shops.

"The person standing at the entrance of a shop should greet customers with a smile, bow, and say welcome when they enter."

"Then, the person who receives the customer should immediately approach them and politely ask them what they need. Regardless of whether the customer makes a request or not, they should stay with the customer and take the initiative to introduce the store to them."

"If the customer has not yet decided to buy, we will first make tea and serve some snacks to the customer."

“Never rush the guests and always smile.”

.........

After explaining the process, Song Xian asked Jiang Zichen to pretend to be a customer entering the store and come in through the door, and then corrected their mistakes over and over again.

He also personally appointed a smart, sensible and well-educated woman as the supervisor and raised her monthly salary to ten taels of silver a month.

(End of this chapter)