Quote of the Day: "If you can't produce the supply, franchise the demand. Let others build your empire for you, and take a royalty for the privilege."
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The logs from the three disciples were a treasure trove of mediocre data. Meticulously recorded sensations of "a slight warming," "a faint cracking feeling," and "minor Qi dispersal" confirmed what Lin Feng already knew: the diluted solution was safe, slow, and utterly unremarkable. It was a product for the patient and poor, not a catalyst for rapid capital accumulation. It wouldn't save him.
The original, potent formula remained his only viable weapon, but its Karmic tax made it a suicide pill to sell in volume. He was trapped between the rock of debt and the hard place of his own soul's depreciation.
Chu Yue's offer hung in the air, a slick, professional noose. Every cultivator who walked in now seemed to glance at the clay jar with a new, calculating look. The Void-Severing Pavilion's shadow had lengthened, making the teahouse feel smaller, more fragile.
It was during another of these tense, quiet moments that the three disciples returned, not with more data, but with a problem. They looked even more dejected than before.
"Senior Brother Lin," the bold one, Kang, said, wringing his hands. "The... the effects have plateaued. Our blockages are softer, but they persist. We need the real dose. But we have no more stones."
Elder Bai looked at them with pity. Lin Feng looked at them with impatience. They were a failing subsidiary, coming to headquarters for a bailout.
"Then your contract is concluded," Lin Feng stated. "The data has been delivered."
"But... what do we do now?" another disciple, Wei, pleaded. "We are worse off than before! We spent our stones and are only half-healed! We can't even gather herbs effectively to earn more."
The word "herbs" snagged in Lin Feng's mind like a fishhook. His [Proactive Intelligence] and [Resourcefulness] traits, forced into existence by the System, suddenly synthesized two disparate problems into a single, elegant solution.
He couldn't scale the production of the catalyst. But he could scale the acquisition of the raw materials. And he could do it without spending a single Spirit Stone of his own capital.
"You lack capital," Lin Feng said, his voice losing its impatience, gaining a predatory focus. "I lack a reliable, scalable supply chain for high-quality spiritual herbs. Your problem and my problem are the same problem. Therefore, we shall merge our operations."
The disciples stared, uncomprehending.
"I am not offering you employment. I am offering you a franchise," Lin Feng declared, a new, cold fire in his eyes. "You will become the first official herb-gathering team of the Serene Heart Conglomerate."
Elder Bai's jaw dropped. "Conglomerate?"
Lin Feng ignored him, his mind building the structure in real-time. "You will be equipped with a specialized tool." He gestured to the jar. "A single, shared dose of the standard catalytic solution, diluted not for consumption, but for application. You will use it not on yourselves, but on the land."
The disciples looked utterly lost. "On... the land?"
"To find rich spiritual soil, one must often dig near stubborn, dense rock formations or ancient, blocked spirit veins," Lin Feng explained, the plan crystallizing with terrifying clarity. "A single drop of this solution, applied to such a formation, will cause a temporary, minor fracture in the spiritual geology. It will release a burst of concentrated Qi and make deeply buried herbs easier to locate and extract. You will find better herbs, faster."
He was weaponizing his product for resource extraction. He wasn't just selling medicine; he was selling industrial mining equipment.
"In return," Lin Feng continued, his tone leaving no room for negotiation, "you will sign a binding Dao Contract. Seventy percent of all herbs you gather, assessed by me at fair market value, will be applied to your collective debt for this dose. The remaining thirty percent you may keep or sell to me at a ten percent premium over the Pavilion's rate. Once your debt is cleared, the terms shift to a sixty-forty split in your favor."
It was a brutal deal. They were indentured servants, using a dangerous tool he provided to dig themselves out of a hole he had, in part, created. But it was also a lifeline. It gave them a path to healing, a stable income, and a purpose. It was exploitation wrapped in opportunity.
The [Exploitative Mindset] and [Sustainable Benevolence] traits warred within him, and the System judged the balance.
[Karma Score Increased!]
[Trait 'Business Management' has been acknowledged.]
[Trait 'Pact-Binder' has been successfully utilized for scalable growth.]
[Dao Heart Stability: 30/100.]
The System was rewarding the structure, the long-term vision, even if the short-term terms were harsh. It valued sustainable systems over one-time acts of charity.
The disciples, after a frantic, whispered conference, agreed. The alternative was destitution and stalled cultivation. They saw the grim logic. They signed the Dao Contract, a scroll that glowed with spiritual power as they infused it with their intent, binding their souls to the terms.
Lin Feng gave them a single drop of the potent solution, carefully sealed in a tiny jade vial. "Do not waste it. Report back in two days with your yield."
They left, transformed from desperate customers into the first branch of his fledgling empire.
Elder Bai was silent for a long time after they left. "Feng'er... this 'Conglomerate.' This 'franchise.' You are binding them to you with chains of debt and necessity."
"They were already in chains," Lin Feng replied, not looking up from the Dao Contract, which now pulsed with a faint connection to the three disciples. "I have merely given them the key, and shown them that the lock is of their own making. Their productivity is now my productivity. This is how you scale."
Two days later, Kang, Wei, and the third disciple, Fen, returned. They were filthy, exhausted, but their eyes shone with a fervent, almost religious light. They laid their harvest on the counter.
It was not the paltry, wilted herbs Su Ling brought. This was a haul. Several robust Silverleaf Grasses, their veins shimmering. Two mature Sun-Kissed Roots, radiating a gentle warmth. Even a single, rare Ghost Cap mushroom, pulsing with shadowy energy.
"The solution... it worked!" Kang exclaimed, his voice trembling with awe. "We found a fissure in a hillside the Pavilion's scouts had marked as barren. After the application, the Qi... it bloomed! These herbs were just beneath the surface!"
Lin Feng assessed the haul. The market value was close to eighty Spirit Stones. By the terms of their contract, sixty stones' worth was now his. He had effectively multiplied his initial "investment" of a single drop several times over, without incurring any Karmic Burden, as the solution was used on the land, not a person.
He took his share, and paid them for their thirty percent in the promised premium. They now had actual capital.
"You have proven the model," Lin Feng said, a rare, genuine flicker of satisfaction in his eyes. "You are now Team Alpha. Your debt for the catalytic dose is cleared. The next dose will be provided on the standard sixty-forty terms."
He had created a self-perpetuating cycle. He sold them the tool, they used it to gather resources that paid him back and profited them, which in turn funded the purchase of the next tool. It was a closed-loop economy with him at the center.
As Team Alpha left, already planning their next expedition, Lin Feng looked at the new herbs, then at the ledger.
[Capital Score: 158/1000.]
[New System Function Unlocked: 'Franchise Management Console'.]
[Allows Host to track contracted agents, resource yields, and automatic Karma/Capital calculations from franchise operations.]
A new interface unfolded in his mind, showing Kang, Wei, and Fen as three glowing nodes, their status, yield, and loyalty metrics faintly visible. It was a CEO's dashboard for spiritual ascension.
He had not just made a sale. He had built a system. A scalable, sustainable system that generated both Capital and Karma. The Void-Severing Pavilion could threaten a single teahouse. But how did one threaten a concept? How did one acquire a franchise that existed primarily in the binding power of Dao Oaths and the desperate ambition of the masses?
For the first time since his transmigration, Lin Feng felt the ground firm beneath his feet. He had found his competitive edge. He wasn't just a better alchemist. He was a better capitalist.
And he was just getting started.