The man's condition improved rapidly. The regular use of penicillin exceeded even May's expectations.

  “Thank you, Great Cultivator!” The man, who was still lying down due to his condition, bowed deeply to her. “A little more and I'll be able to return to work!”

  His condition had improved greatly and he had regained his clarity of mind. May feared that due to the late stage of his illness, he would not be able to recover, but he seemed to have a strong will to survive.

  “Back to work? Shiv, you should rest and not overexert yourself for the time being,” May replied. “You are still far from a full recovery.”

  He had been ill for months, and his body was on the verge of collapse. Although she had managed to solve the source of the problem, the man would certainly need months of rehabilitation.

  Shiv scratched his head. “My children... They must be starving because of me. Ah! My wife is surely doing her best, but she can't feed five children on her own! Ah, I'm afraid some of them may have already starved to death! The very thought brings tears to my eyes.”

  May frowned. Despite his poverty, he had five children. It was difficult for her to understand this in this world, but it was something that was common here. Having five children was nothing unusual in the poorer parts of the city.

  “I hope they're doing well...” May tried to comfort him.

  He had no contact with anyone. Being infected, the hospital had isolated him from the rest of society. He didn't even know if his children were alive.

  “But soon... Everything will be fine... I just have to get back to work.”

  May shook her head gently before leaving him. Although she felt a slight urge to verify the condition of his family, she decided she shouldn't do it. She only had limited time outside the academy with Hua Tang's permission, not to mention that walking around the slums would be dangerous.

  She also didn’t want to risk being the one to bring him bad news.

  She returned to the academy.

  It happened to be the time for her penultimate consultation with Hua Tang. She went straight to him to report.

  “The man's condition improved dramatically within a few days,” May explained, handing Hua Tang the report she had written. “This confirms the effectiveness of penicillin against Hellish Coal Fever. Of course, more research is needed, but I think it's promising.”

  One recovery on Earth would not be enough to prove the drug's effectiveness, but here it was sufficient.

  Hua Tang turned the pages, reading about the results of her research. He was very impressed and even shocked that she had succeeded. He swallowed hard.

  “Outstanding. Truly excellent,” he said quietly. He had certainly already verified the accuracy of her report with the hospital staff. He knew May wasn't lying about its effectiveness.

  Hua Tang was a businessman by nature. He had a nose for good business, which is why he brought fame and good money to his clan. In this case, he also knew that penicillin would bring him great financial benefits.

  Subconsciously, he already knew who he would choose as his disciple.

  “Thank you, Senior, for your kind words.” May nodded. “So, am I to assume that there are no issues with penicillin?”

  He shook his head. “Apart from the strange name, I have confirmed that the mold you discovered has never been used by anyone. So you are indeed a discoverer.”

  May smiled at these words. It meant she would have a monopoly. This type of business was always the most profitable.

  However, I will have to make sure that the secrets of production are not revealed. That's normal in this world. This seems like a good time to ask Hua Tang about it... With the support of such an influential person, protecting my intellectual property would be much easier.

  “Senior... I have a question. Regardless of the test results, I intend to sell penicillin. As you can see from the findings, it can be used to treat dozens of different diseases.” She spoke calmly, and Hua Tang listened attentively. “In addition, production will be much cheaper than typical alchemical drugs used in such cases.”

  Hua Tang smiled, even without her words, he was still going to address the subject.

  “It's very logical considering the circumstances. However, I think that instead of dealing with it yourself, you should sell me the rights to this whole penicillin thing! You're still attending the academy, so you won't have time to deal with something so tedious.”

  May frowned. Theoretically, he already knew the production method; she had revealed it to him during their consultation. Theoretically, with his influence, he could steal her discovery, and May would be powerless to do anything about it. However, he wasn't that kind of person and wanted to do the right thing.

  But... That's not possible. It's my discovery, and I'm going to make money from it! What a waste it would be to sell this one!

  “Senior, I appreciate the offer, but I'm afraid I don't plan to give up selling it myself, regardless of the price you offer.” She said professionally.

  Despite her words, Hua Tang was not offended; on the contrary, he looked cheerful. He chuckled lightly.

  “Really? Because I was going to offer you this for your discovery...” He said, reaching for something. May watched closely as he took something out of the cupboard.

  He handed her a gold bar. May's eyes widened, and she quickly grabbed it with her other hand to be able to hold it. She swallowed hard. It was a one-kilogram gold bar.

  “It's for the rights alone. In addition, I will provide you with a steady income of 5% of the revenue. You will be able to earn money without doing anything.”

  A whole kilogram of gold… How much would that even be worth?

  In this world, just like on Earth, gold was one of the most important resources. However, it was more useful here, as it was an important ingredient in both formations and alchemy.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  She wondered why something so valuable was kept in a simple cupboard.

  But never mind, what's more important is that, if I'm not mistaken, such a bar would be worth about... Half a million!?

  After a moment, however, she quickly calmed down, quickly beginning to calculate in her mind whether it was profitable.

  Hmm... I definitely won't earn anything close to that amount in the first year... Wait... Let's take the capital city alone... If I manage to lower the production price, then theoretically I will be able to produce penicillin on a massive scale, so that I can earn a net profit of about 150 [mu] per dose... Let's assume that there are 10,000 patients in the capital alone who can afford it... Ha! The demand in the capital alone will significantly exceed the value of this bar! And that's my worst-case scenario!

  “Senior, your offer is certainly tempting, but I think you should listen to me, because I think it would be more profitable for me to run the company, which will bring you even greater profits…”

  The man was surprised by her words. Although he had to admit that she had exceeded his expectations by creating a new, extremely effective drug, he did not entirely believe that she had any reason to think she would be able to run the company better.

  “Oh, really? And why would that be?” he asked with a hint of curiosity.

  May smiled. “Because it would mean tax exemption.”

  She began to explain the situation to him, and Hua Tang listened in amazement. If what she was saying was true, they could indeed save a huge amount of money! Taxes increased with income and reached a limit of almost 27% above a million [mu] of income.

  After a moment, Hua Tang fell into thought. However, according to her words, she must be the real owner, otherwise the sect would not recognize it.

  “I understand, it would certainly be a shame not to take advantage of such an opportunity...” He replied after a moment's thought. “But how do you imagine it working?” He asked, wanting to test her.

  “To move into mass production, I'll need huge funds, which I don't have.”

  “So I'm supposed to be an investor.”

  “That's right. But the return will be quick. Really quick.”

  “I don't doubt that...” He said thoughtfully.

  To be honest, he understood that the offer he made to her was a little unfair to her, but greed took over. Of course, it wasn't a bad or terrible offer, but he well understood what this discovery meant and couldn't help his typical desire for profit.

  “Ultimately, I plan to reduce the production cost to 50 [mu]. By selling it for 200, we could have a net profit of 150!” she said enthusiastically.

  “Those are quite optimistic assumptions... But even if we did manage to reduce the production cost to that level, the selling price would be too low! Even selling it for a thousand, we would be significantly more profitable!”

  May shook her head.

  “The prices of other medicines are based on the rarity of the ingredients needed to create them. I don’t want to profit from artificial scarcity. I want the product to be accessible to those who are less fortunate. Honestly, I think even 200 [mu] is too much.”

  “Artificial scarcity...? That's an interesting way to put it. At first, however, it would be better to keep the price slightly higher. Your medicine is too universal, so it's better to avoid upsetting every single alchemist in this city.”

  May nodded. She didn't intend to introduce such a low price right away anyway. It was only a target price she was aiming for. It would only be possible if she managed to reduce production costs.

  “Keeping prices low to help the poor is certainly the right thing to do, but don't forget that it shouldn't be at your expense.”

  “I'll remember your words, Senior.”

  “Getting back to business, what exactly do you expect from me and what will I get out of it?”

  “Financial support to start large-scale production. I'll also need to borrow your name, Senior.”

  “Borrow my name? What does that mean?” he asked in puzzlement.

  “I mean your reputation. If people know that this is a company protected by a famous alchemist, no one will cause trouble and it will make things easier for me, as people will trust me.”

  “I see... However, if you want to ‘borrow’ it, you will have to treat it with due respect and not use it for nefarious purposes.”

  “I wouldn't dare, Senior.”

  “Next, moving on to the matter of profits...”

  May wasn't sure about this. What was a fair split? After all, he would be financing basically everything. She felt she should have the majority, but he might take it the wrong way.

  Without him, I won't be able to get started... I'll need that gold bar to do anything… Fifty-fifty? Ugh! I have no idea. I want to have as large a share as possible, but that seems difficult.

  “You seem indecisive,” he said after a moment, seeing that she clearly had a problem with this.

  “That's right, I don't think there's just one solution here,” she said.

  “Being frazzled and indecisive in front of the person you're negotiating terms with is a sign of weakness,” he said sharply. “Another person would use that against you and force you into unfavorable terms.”

  May resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Hadn’t he himself offered her an unfair deal just moments earlier? He wanted to give her a measly gold bar and 5% of the revenue.

  “70 percent of the profits for me,” May said firmly, deciding to take the risk. Hua Tang didn't seem like the type of person who would be easily offended. Besides, he seemed to like her.

  “A measly thirty percent for me? For essentially financing your entire venture? For protecting your business? For the ingredients, equipment, and production space I'll have to provide? For developing a distribution network and using my years of experience and contacts with buyers?”

  May's mind began working at full speed to come up with a response.

  “Although I developed the production method and the medicine myself, I cannot ignore Senior's contribution. I am willing to increase Senior's share,” she said, quickly calculating in her head. “60% for me, but with the condition that it will only be the revenue from penicillin itself.”

  “From penicillin alone?”

  “Yes, if the company develops other drugs in the future, the current percentage agreement will not apply to them.”

  He frowned.

  “That would mean you could use the space and equipment I provided to manufacture other alchemical goods, but I wouldn’t get any profit from it?”

  “I won’t use the equipment designated for penicillin production to make other things, but if that were to happen, we could renegotiate the percentage.”

  Determining the distribution of the company's revenues could be disadvantageous for May, so she decided to only split this one specific source.

  “All right. However, I think it should be the other way around. Forty percent for you. After all, I'm the one taking all the risk with this investment.”

  May rolled her eyes. He was right in a way, but she still couldn't shake her irritation. Was she able to find an investor with a better offer?

  The only trustworthy person who comes to mind is Ze Yun, but would he be able to invest that much? Besides, he's not an alchemist. He doesn't have the influence or the knowledge. Hua Tang is really the best option.

  May couldn't agree to those terms. Forty percent wasn't enough for her.

  Finally, after a few minutes, she managed to negotiate 51%. Considering that she was contributing nothing to this investment, while Hua Tang was potentially contributing hundreds of thousands, that was enough for her.

  It's more than I need for now anyway... Plus, I have his support. It's worth it.

  “Okay, I'll prepare the contract.” He said.

  If these terms were written into the contract and recognized by the sect, breaking them would have serious consequences. Contracts were sacred, so they were a great safeguard.

  After finalizing the contract, May was supposed to receive the first installment of the money next week!

  Perfect... It's the last week... I've already spent all the project money to block those stupid nightmares... The block for a week costs over three thousand!

  May constantly used the system to block her dreams, but as a result, she ran out of all her money! She even had to use the money that was supposed to be allocated to the project at Hua Tang.

  However, with the first funding, she should be able to use small amounts, so that he doesn't notice...