12 Closing the contract

Gu Yan read the recipe on his hands. It did take a few times, but he was able to see the reason behind every step. He couldn't wait to try it out. In fact, he didn't mind Tian or the current negotiation and started the refining process. Tian didn't mind it or rather, he encouraged him to do so. That way, he could have more leverage.

Although it did take him a few tries, once he got used to the recipe his success rate did improve. If previously he managed to increase the rate up to 20% with this new recipe, he was able to success almost every 2 tries. With this, even apprentices would have the same success rate than he had.

This recipe was gold. The only reason that the Soul Assembling Pill was expensive, apart from the material was because of the success rate. Increasing the success rate means to decrease the waste of materials.

Gu Yan was excited, thinking about what Tian could provide to the association. Yang Xin didn't miss it. She also saw the potential this recipe could bring. – "What would that cut you are speaking about be?"

Tian stood in though. He didn't want it to be too high, as he wasn't the one doing the work. As he wanted to have a good relationship with the association, he could only give them face.

"Humm, how about I get 25% be it either in Demon Spirit Coins or materials? Of course, you can take the improved Soul Assembling Pill a gift from my part."

"Would you mind that we speak a bit in private about your offer?"

"I don't' mind." -Tian spoke. If one looked at the smile on his face, one would feel uneasy.

Gu Yan and Yang Xin went to the other side of the room. Yang Xin was the first to speak.

"What do you think about his offer?"

"It's quite tempting. If the rest of the recipes are on the same level, it's worth the loss. Moreover, we don't only gain the recipe but studying the recipe we can gain an understanding of the principle behind. Just reading this recipe made me want to jump and try to change a few other recipes."

"If the president is so certain, there's nothing I can say. Nevertheless, I also agree on the investment. Still, we must make sure that there will be more recipes. We still don't know how Tian managed to develop such recipe nor were he obtained his knowledge"

"I agree"

Gu Yan and Yang Xin returned to Tian, who had a few parchments on his hand. Seeing that, both were a bit excited. Did he really have more recipes for them? Where did Tian gain such knowledge? Did he have a master? They were curious.

Yang Xin looked at Tian and spoke- "Tian, I was wondering who you learned alchemy from?"

Tian realized the root of the question. On their eyes, there was no way that he had such deep knowledge of alchemy. Tian let out a small laugh- "Young lady if you are asking if I have a master. Then my answer is no. What I know is from my own hand."

Tian's words weren't exactly true. Although he never had a proper master to teach him alchemy, everything he knew wasn't discovered by himself. During his previous life, he spoke, exchanged ideas and learned from other alchemists. Like many, he could only develop and improve with the help of others. That's the reason of existence of the association.

At this point, there was little the association could teach him. As such, it was better to not be part of it. Even if Tian wanted to strengthen the city, he could do so with the recipes he's willing to give the association.

Even if many would just use it, without minding the reason behind the steps. There are others that would try to decipher and research how it worked. That way, the principles and fundamentals of alchemy in Glory City could improve. Although it was indirect, this could help Glory City almost the same as having better or more powerful pills. It was not something that could be seen in a short time but something that had to be developed and nurtured. Tian didn't want to interfere with Glory City but rather give it options and let it chose to use them.

If Glory City didn't want to improve by itself, it wasn't worth Tian attention. Tian didn't want to babysit the city and carry it under his shoulders. If they didn't seek or rather if they didn't make their own path, instead followed the easy path laid down by Tian. He would just leave them behind without a second thought. Tian wasn't going to be anchored in Glory City.

"Then, shall we make the contract?" -Tian spoke with an enticing voice.

"Yes, but we would want to add a clause." – Yang Xin spoke. She didn't want to be tied to a contract they weren't sure Tian could hold- "We would like to add a trial. If during the next few months, you are not able to produce a worthy recipe. The contract will be terminated. The rest, we agree on."

Hearing the terms, she spoke about, Tian decided to change the plan. They wanted to try him, poking to see his skills. He licked this better. He put the few parchments on his pocket and spoke- "Very well, but without money, there's little I can research about."

"Of course, we would give you a budget for this." -She looked at Gu Yan who nodded in acceptance- "How about 200.000 Demon Spirit Coins? There's no need to say that if you are unable to provide a recipe this must be returned on its entirety."

Tian smiled. In that smile, one could see that he wasn't afraid of the challenge. One must know that the process of researching a new recipe or improving an existing one is rather arduous. Even for Tian, if he had to come up with a new recipe or improve one, it will take him a few years. However, he didn't need to. There were many recipes that Glory City couldn't know about.

"Very well, shall we write down the contract and sign the contract?"