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Qi Tian chose to open up his Ren Meridians from bottom to top. He transported the medicinal properties released by the Blood Essence Pill to the first acupoint of his Ren Meridians, the Chengjiang acupoint, where he painstakingly dug a starting point for his meridians, as if a mouse was digging a hole. This process was very slow, not only because opening up the meridians involved enduring a tremendous amount of pain but also because the amount of drug power he could move each time was very limited. He couldn't use even a tenth of the powerful medicinal properties released by the Blood Essence Pill. If he was a body cultivator, he could have channeled the remaining medicinal power into his bones and organs, but for now, he could only watch it waste away.
After cultivating for a while, Qi Tian opened his eyes in dissatisfaction. He had completely digested a middle-grade Blood Essence Pill, but he had not even opened the Chengjiang acupoint, let alone the entire Ren Meridians.
Qi Tian did not continue to take the second pill. He only had ten middle-grade Blood Essence Pills in total. According to the current efficiency, even if he consumed all ten, he might not be able to connect the five acupoints, and the Ren Meridians had twenty-four acupoints in total. He had to think carefully about how to improve efficiency.
Qi Tian immediately thought of the Heavenly Dao Engine. When he was fighting with others, the Heavenly Dao Engine could increase his strength, speed, and other parameters. During cultivation, if he turned on the Heavenly Dao Engine, could it improve the efficiency with which he transported the medicinal properties so that he could transport them faster and in greater quantities?
Qi Tian was a man of action. He immediately tossed another middle-grade Blood Essence Pill into his mouth and, once the medicinal properties had spread, he activated the Heavenly Dao Engine, then began to practice "Black Jade Skills".
To Qi Tian's delight, activating the Heavenly Dao Engine did indeed work. The overall efficiency increased by a full 100%, which is to say that taking one middle-grade Blood Essence Pill was equivalent to taking two. This increase was quite substantial.
Overjoyed, Qi Tian quickly increased the speed of opening up his meridians. By the time he had consumed all ten middle-grade Blood Essence Pills, he had cleared six of the acupoints in his Ren Meridians.
When Qi Tian reached for another Blood Essence Pill, he naturally found nothing. His face changed slightly. Without the Blood Essence Pills and relying only on the faint spirit Qi in the National Master Manor for cultivation, even with the help of the Heavenly Dao Engine, his cultivation speed would still be pitifully low. In order to raise his realm before the moon-duel in February, he would need to purchase a large number of pills. With the aid of the pills, he could make progress in his cultivation. However, he was now cash-strapped and had no money to buy pills.
At this point, going to the various counties below to find high rewards posted by the government was somewhat unrealistic. In order to raise the ten thousand tales registration fee, he had basically solved all the high rewards in the vicinity. Now, he could either accept smaller rewards, which didn't earn much money, or go to further counties, which was too much of a waste of time.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through Qi Tian's mind. He recalled that when he was traveling outside for training, he could only walk. He could entirely focus on transportation. Selling horses was certainly not realistic, but he did have the vast memories of his previous world. In his last life, he was a top student who had excellent academic grades, a wide range of reading interests, and great practical skills from an early age.
He had specifically studied the history of bicycles and had even handcrafted several typical bicycles representing different stages in the development of bicycles. He still remembered the blueprints for the first, second and third generation bicycles. And these generations of bicycles do not require high manufacturing processes, and can be made with all wood materials, which the National Master Manor should be able to manufacture.
Of course, it would be unrealistic for him to make primitive bicycles one by one and then sell them. He didn't have the time or the strength to prevent others from copying. He planned to sell the blueprints and manufacturing techniques for the original bicycle directly.
Qi Tian quickly found a pen and paper. The first and second generation bicycles could not be steered, so Qi Tian skipped them and drew the third generation instead. It had no chain or pedals, but it did have two wheels, a seat, and a steering device. To move, one had to straddle it and foot-pedal the ground. Compared with a modern bicycle, it required much more effort, but it was much more efficient than walking.
Qi Tian used to be a talented student who could design airplane engines in his previous life. Drawing a blueprint for a primitive bicycle was beyond easy for him. It didn't take long for him to finish the blueprint. After drying the ink, he rolled up the blueprint and put it into his chest, then left his room.
The National Master Manor had a Zhigeng Palace, which was a place where all disciples could trade. When the disciples of the National Master Manor went out for training and came across any strange items, they could take them to the Zhigeng Palace for appraisal, and if they were valuable but not needed, they could sell them to the National Master Manor. In the past, some disciples of the National Master Manor obtained pill formulas while training outside and turned them in at the Zhigeng Palace. The National Master Manor promised to protect them until they reached Foundation Establishment, and now that person is a senior elder of the National Master Manor.
There were many counters in the Zhigeng Palace, and an outer sect disciple was on duty at each one. Qi Tian specifically found an elder outer sect disciple and walked over.
"Greetings, senior brother." Qi Tian was the first to greet.
The outer sect disciple nodded in acknowledgement, returning the courtesy, and asked, "How may I help you, junior brother?"
Qi Tian smiled and said, "Senior brother, I found it incredibly tiring to travel on foot during my recent ventures outside. Upon return, I spent some time brainstorming and came up with a vehicle design. So, I made a drawing of it. I wonder if the Zhigeng Palace is interested?"
"Show it to me." The outer sect disciple said indifferently.
Qi Tian took out the drawing he had done, pointed at the bicycle on it, saying: "This is a bicycle, or you can call it a single-wheeler. Take a look. These are its two wheels, this is the handlebar, used to control the direction. To use it, just get on it and paddle with your feet. The wheels will rotate and start to move forward. When it's about to stop, you just continue to paddle forward."
The outer sect disciple's eyes brightened a bit, "Not bad, a quite interesting invention."
Qi Tian hastily said: "I wish to sell this invention to Zhigeng Palace, would it be interested in buying?"
The outer sect disciple replied: "I would need to have one made first to confirm whether it's as interesting and useful as you claim. If it is as you said, we at Zhigeng Palace might indeed be interested."
"Okay." Qi Tian wasn't worried that Zhigeng Palace would try to unjustly seize his so-called "invention". National Master Manor had always been cautious when dealing with such matters to avoid infringing the rights of its disciples, especially those like Qi Tian who was from the bottom ranks. If these disciples couldn't grow and flourish, then National Master Manor would not develop to its full potential. Of course, Qi Tian's assurance also came from the fact that inventing the bicycle wasn't really a big deal and not some exceedingly valuable treasure. The Palace would not have any genuine interest to forcefully seize it.
The outer sect disciple called a few carpenters and led them according to Qi Tian's design blueprint. In less than an hour, the first bicycle in Great Zhao's history was made. Then Qi Tian personally pedalled and demonstrated in front of Zhigeng Palace. This immediately grabbed the attention of many, drawing a crowd who pointed and marveled at the unusual device.
The outer sect disciple tried for himself and found that this bicycle was indeed much easier than walking, especially on flat terrain where its advantages clearly stood out. He quickly ordered his men to store the bicycle along with Qi Tian's blueprint, then invited Qi Tian into the guest room of Zhigeng Palace and called an inner sect disciple who served as an executive.
The inner sect disciple listened to the outer sect disciple's report, reviewed the blueprint, asked Qi Tian a few questions, and then nodded in satisfaction, saying: "Qi Tian, I'll give you two options. One is for us at the Zhigeng Palace to buy off your bicycle, giving you 6,000 taels of silver upfront, leaving you completely relieved of the bicycle afterwards. The other is that we at Zhigeng Palace give you a share of the sales, the ratio being 9:1, with you having the smaller share."
Qi Tian thought it over. He still needed at least 38 middle-grade Blood Essence Pills to open his Ren Meridians. Each pill cost 100 tales, so 6,000 tales should be enough. However, he instinctively tried to negotiate for a little more, saying: "Senior uncle, considering the millions of people in Great Zhao, even if only one-tenth of them buy bicycles, earning half a tael per bicycle, that would still be 50,000 tales. Only offering me 6,000 tales seems too little, right? I am not greedy, I am only asking for a slight increase."
The inner sect disciple thought for a moment and said, "Fine, seeing as you seem to be preparing for your breakthrough to the Qi Cultivation Second Level and therefore needing funds, I will grant you an additional 1,000 tales. This is the final offer. If you aren't satisfied, we can forget the entire negotiation."
"Alright, 6,000 it is." Qi Tian quickly agreed. Whether in his past life or this one, 6,000 tales was a hefty sum, more than enough to buy patents for an invention like a bicycle. As for the profits Zhigeng Palace and National Master Manor would rake in from the bicycle, it was a testament to their capability, having little to do with his invention.
"Good. Do you want the sum in silver, or in pills? If you prefer pills, I can have an Essence Qi Pill brought to you, we have all grades available." the inner sect disciple said.
"I'll take the middle-grade Essence Qi Pills." Qi Tian promptly replied.
The inner sect disciple nodded and took out a porcelain vial, handing it to Qi Tian, saying: "This contains the middle-grade Essence Qi Pills, sixty-three in total. Each middle-grade Essence Qi Pill sells for 100 tales, but as an outer sect disciple, you can get them at a discount of 95%, so 6,000 tales would be sixty-three pills. By the way, I will give you one additional low-grade Essence Qi Pill."