Chapter 46: Foundation Establishment Failure
Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Foundation Establishment Failure
In the cultivation room, Li Ping sat cross-legged.
Before him were four items: a Cyan Jade Scroll recording the legacy of a Tier One Upper Grade Alchemist, three fifty-year-old Purple Essence Flowers exuding vibrant Spiritual Qi, a fist-sized Demon Core with a crimson flame burning inside, and a pile of 100 Lower Grade Spirit Stones.
The Tree of Inheritance only required a specific tier for the Spirit Medicine and Spiritual Fire, not a specific variety, so Li Ping had chosen the most common and inexpensive Spiritual Objects of the corresponding tier.
He had easily purchased the required Spiritual Fire and Spirit Medicine through the Meng family, spending less than a hundred Spirit Stones.
His gaze swept across the four Spiritual Objects on the table. He reached out his hands, and the transparent roots of the Tree of Inheritance spread out rapidly, tightly enveloping the four items.
Coiling, absorbing... The four Spiritual Objects slowly vanished...
Li Ping once again sank into an Illusion Realm. This was unlike the last time, when he learned the art of crafting talismans from the perspective of a Talisman Brush.
In this Illusion Realm, he became a child.
Though he only had a five-Spiritual Root aptitude, he was intelligent, studious, and showed a talent for Alchemy from a young age, learning the art from his clan’s elders.
Recognizing various Spirit Medicines, familiarizing himself with their properties, studying Alchemy Theory, practicing flame control... In the blink of an eye, he was nearly thirty, and he finally earned the right to perform Alchemy.
Every tiered Spirit Medicine was something the family had acquired through great hardship and could not be easily wasted. To ensure a high success rate, they certainly weren’t going to be used for his practice.
Therefore, he started by refining the un-tiered Body Tempering Pill.
After five years of painstaking study, once his success rate with un-tiered Pills reached ninety percent, the elders finally permitted him to attempt refining tiered Pills.
Ten years later, his success rate at refining Tier One Lower Grade Pills reached seventy percent, qualifying him to refine Tier One Middle Grade Pills.
Twenty years later, his success rate at refining Tier One Middle Grade Pills reached seventy percent, qualifying him to refine Tier One Upper Grade Pills.
Another forty years passed. When his success rate at refining Tier One Upper Grade Pills reached seventy percent, he became the most skilled Alchemist in his clan.
By then, he was over a hundred years old!
Realizing he was nearing the end of his life, he recorded all of his insights on the Dao of Alchemy, creating a Tier One Upper Grade Alchemist legacy to leave for his family’s descendants!
"Haha... I am Lv Caibai, and this book shall be called the White Pill Collection Scripture!"
...
Li Ping opened his eyes. Lv Caibai’s aged laughter seemed to still be ringing in his ears.
He roughly estimated the time. Less than two hours had passed in the Illusion Realm, a much shorter duration than his last inheritance of the Tier Two Middle Grade talisman-crafting technique.
But in those two short hours in the Illusion Realm, he had experienced the entire hundred-year life of the Alchemist, Lv Caibai!
’A hundred years to research Alchemy up to Tier One Upper Grade, even with the support of a family.’ Li Ping shook his head slightly as he processed the vast amount of Alchemy knowledge that had just appeared in his mind.
He wasn’t shaking his head because he thought Lv Caibai lacked talent; in fact, Lv Caibai’s aptitude for Alchemy was actually quite good.
It was simply that his family wasn’t very powerful. Their demand that his success rate reach seventy percent before allowing him to refine higher-tier Pills, all to minimize losses, undoubtedly held him back.
’Realistically, when considering the cost of Spirit Medicines, a success rate of thirty or forty percent is enough to justify attempting to refine pills of the next tier up.’
Li Ping’s consciousness turned to the Tree of Inheritance within his sea of consciousness. Just above the branch representing his talisman-crafting technique, a slightly thinner, shorter branch was now swaying gently, with a line of text floating above it: [Alchemist: Tier One Upper Grade].
Moreover, as Li Ping watched, the Tree of Inheritance had also grown a little taller.
It had taken him only two hours to achieve what had taken another man a hundred years of effort, becoming a Tier One Upper Grade Alchemist with a one-hundred-percent success rate in a single stroke.
A smile couldn’t help but touch Li Ping’s lips. He was very pleased with his ’peerless talent.’
...
Inside a specially prepared Alchemy Room, Li Ping sat cross-legged.
He took out a Tier One Upper Grade Pill Furnace he had purchased earlier from his Storage Bag, along with a large quantity of Spirit Medicines for refining Tier One Lower Grade Pills.
Unlike a Talisman Brush, a Pill Furnace is large and intricately designed. As a result, a furnace of a given tier is more expensive than an offensive Dharma Artifact of the same tier, with a price comparable to a defensive one.
The Tier One Upper Grade Pill Furnace had cost Li Ping more than 100 Spirit Stones.
As for the Spirit Medicines for refining Tier One Lower Grade Pills, most were only between five and ten years old and thus weren’t worth many Spirit Stones.
Recalling the memories in his mind, Li Ping chose his first Alchemy project: the Qi-Replenishing Pill, which could improve the Cultivation of Early-stage Qi Refining Cultivators.
He picked up all six Spirit Medicines required for the Qi-Replenishing Pill at once and tossed them into the Pill Furnace. Opening his mouth, Li Ping spat out a stream of Innate True Flame and immediately began using its heat to purify the ingredients.
The temperature in the Alchemy Room began to rise rapidly.
An ordinary Tier One Lower Grade Alchemist would have to purify the ingredients carefully, one by one.
But Li Ping, having received Lv Caibai’s legacy, effectively possessed over a hundred years of Alchemy experience. Refining such a Low-Tier Pill was child’s play, so there was no need for such a tedious process.
A short while later, the lid of the Pill Furnace slowly lifted, and a fragrant medicinal aroma filled the air.
Wrapped in the Magical Power of Li Ping’s Wetland Water Nourishing Skill, an ethereal mass shot out of the Pill Furnace, split into twelve pieces, and landed in the Jade Bottle in his hand.
Li Ping had no time to inspect the Pills in the Jade Bottle, because his Nourishing Life Skill Power had already begun to slowly change after absorbing the Innate Vitality released at the moment the Qi-Replenishing Pills were formed.
His once-unremarkable Nourishing Life Skill Power was now brimming with vitality.
As the Nourishing Life Skill Power circulated through his meridians, the deficiencies from malnutrition during his time as a wandering beggar, the hidden injuries from duels when he roamed the world with his sword, and the damage to his Origin from engaging in Magical Combat for resources as a Loose Cultivator... all of it was being slowly repaired...
And during this process, that wisp of Innate Vitality was gradually consumed...
A long time later, Li Ping opened his eyes, a look of joy filling them.
He casually tossed the Jade Bottle of Qi-Replenishing Pills into his Storage Bag, then eagerly grabbed another six Spirit Medicines and threw them into the Pill Furnace!
...
「The Wang Family Ancestral Land.」
The Wang family’s ancestor, Wang Quyan, and the other Qi Refining Cultivators all had their eyes fixed on a small courtyard not far away.
Inside that courtyard, the Wang family’s genius Cultivator, Wang Xingwei, was using the Foundation Establishment Pill gifted by the ancestor to attempt his breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment realm.
Suddenly, everyone felt a fluctuation in the surrounding Spiritual Qi. Immediately after, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi above the courtyard began to gather rapidly, forming a vortex dozens of meters in diameter.
Seeing this, the members of the Wang family couldn’t help but reveal joyful expressions.
But before their expressions could even settle,
The vortex of Spiritual Qi suddenly trembled, let out a mournful hum, and then completely dissipated.
Everyone understood. In such a short amount of time, it was impossible for him to have gathered enough Spiritual Qi for a Foundation Establishment breakthrough.
Evidently, Wang Xingwei’s attempt to reach Foundation Establishment had failed.