There is a reason why the foundation of sects is the control they have on the only five secret realms. In summary, the advantage that sects have is that they have access to an environment with a high concentration of mana.
There is mana in the world. But in this region of the world, it has reached at most rank 2 in concentration. That means, it can only support those who are in the second mortal coil to cultivate.
With this kind of concentration, valuable plants and materials that are rank 3 can't grow outside secret realms. Energy stone mines also are very scarce.
So the current environment is not enough to support cultivators at the third mortal coil. The only option is to gain control of a secret realm or move closer to the Ethera tree.
For families with weak strength like theirs, they can't gain control of secret realms, so they would likely be destroyed if they moved closer to the Ethera tree.
After all, if they are struggling to survive in an area with a poor concentration of mana, then surviving in an area with a higher concentration of mana and stronger beings will become far-fetched.
This is the situation for the third mortal coil. It is why it is nearly impossible for cultivators at the fourth mortal coil to appear in families.
Sects are willing to share crumbs from the rank 3 secret realms to families by giving them 40 slots each. But they will never allow anyone that is not from their sect to enjoy the things from their rank 4 secret realm.
So even if the family wants to keep Arthur and Arthur is willing to suffer, it is unlikely to lead to anything good. Only people with resources like the Blood Skull sect can help Arthur achieve his maximum potential.
He understands this, but he still didn't like it. He could only say to himself, "I hope the mana tide brings some favorable changes."
He can't hope for much because the mana tide is unpredictable. Sects can disappear in the mana tide, and so can families. So he has to concentrate on keeping the family intact for the next period of time.
While he was in thought, they finally reached the Dyson family. He left his room to finalize the arrangements for this trip.
The main arrangement was to try and convince the loose cultivators to sell what they got to the family. He can't force them and has to ensure that they leave safely because he swore to do so when he sold the slot to the secret realm to them.
One of the two loose cultivators didn't want to sell to them, but the other one was willing to come to an arrangement with them. This arrangement is a cooperation for pills.
What they got from the secret realm are still raw materials. Some of them can be eaten raw, like the precious plants and fruits. That's what the guardian beasts in the secret realm do. But it is best if the raw materials are processed into pills before they are ingested.
This is because pills can enhance certain aspects of the raw materials. This enhancement will come at the cost of other aspects, but this is usually a good exchange because the aspects that are given up are not important.
For example, a plant material that can enhance cultivation of internal energy but has violent properties that can injure people if used directly can be processed to make it more digestible at the cost of its power.
This way it won't improve cultivation as much as the original plant, but at least the user won't experience the feeling of their life seed exploding. This is better because no amount of cultivation will be worth it when the life seed begins to leak out internal energy, endangering the life of the user.
Or a plant material that can enhance both cultivation and increase lifespan can be processed into a pill that only increases lifespan.
This way the benefit of lifespan will be at the maximum. The extra lifespan can be used to make up for the lost cultivation from the pill or more.
These two scenarios are just a few of the reasons why alchemists are important. But only one of the loose cultivators was interested in the deal that the Dyson family offered. The other one had alternatives outside of the Dyson family.
The offer was that the Dyson family would provide an alchemist, while he would provide the raw materials. The loose cultivator will take 70% of the pills produced. The alchemist will get 10%, while the family will get 20%.
After the loose cultivators were dealt with, it became the turn of the family members. Every family member had to give up every valuable thing they got to the family.
There was no such thing as an oath to make them prioritize themselves. The only oath they swore was that they offered everything that they earned from the secret realm.
Everything had to be handed over to the family to deal with. In exchange, they were given contribution points, which they could use to exchange for the things that they needed in the future.
In essence, in this arrangement, the Survivors will gain 80% of whatever their raw materials were used to produce. The alchemist will earn 10%. The family will earn the remaining 10%.
So this deal is better than what loose cultivators got. The family will also use the proceeds of this deal to take care of the needs of the family and the descendants of the family members that died in the secret realm.
No matter how the Survivors felt about their things being taken, no one complained about it. They didn't complain because they cared for their family and because they respected their elders.
Even if they didn't love their family or respect their elders, the request of the family is understandable. If the sects are unwilling to let the produce of the secret realm leak out, then families who barely got crumbs from the secret realm should hold onto what they got more tightly.