Chapter 71: Chapter 69: The Second-order Alchemist Nourished by Spiritual dicine
A year later, Ning Daoran was forty years old.
“Erging from seclusion!”
The one who walked out of the secret chamber still looked like a young man, and by now his mana had reached its peak within the Qi Refinent Realm—totally saturated, he could advance no further!
“It’s about ti…”
Ning Daoran was a bit excited. At noon, he personally cooked a few dishes and had a good al with Big Stupid Deer and Chen Weimo, then decided to start alchemy in the afternoon. Moreover, he was going to refine the legendary Foundation Establishnt Pill!
In the spiritual dicine garden on the first underground layer, batches of Purple Blood Ginseng, Heart-focusing Grass, and Earth Ganoderma had all matured, possessing a hundred years of dicinal properties, eting the standard for being ingredients in the Foundation Establishnt Pill.
In addition, all the auxiliary dicines had also matured. The ti was ripe to refine the Foundation Establishnt Pill!
…
Twenty zhang deep underground, in the alchemy room.
Ning Daoran took out the specialized bronze alchemy furnace he had exchanged for with 500 contribution points, exhaled a breath of Samadhi True Fire, adjusted the heat, and began to put in the spiritual dicines one by one, comncing the refining process.
The recipe for the Foundation Establishnt Pill had never been a secret; it was widely circulated in the Cultivation World, and this recipe had been revised and improved by generations of Pill Masters, resulting in various versions.
Among them, the most famous was the “Zhang’s Foundation Establishnt Pill” that Ning Daoran now held, which he had purchased from Qingfu Square for five spirit stones. It was said that the creator of this recipe was a legendary fifth-rank Alchemist who awed an entire era with his prowess!
“Sizzle~~”
Samadhi True Fire swirled around, sounds ca from within the pill furnace as various spiritual dicines coalesced into dicinal liquid, undergoing all sorts of chemical reactions in the pill furnace, about to condense into elixir pills.
Ning Daoran’s clear eyes shone brightly, his achievents in the Array Path had sowhat inflated his ego, making him believe that he should be able to rapidly advance and make great strides in the Alchemy Dao.
“Are the pills still not forming for ?”
A hint of disdain flashed across his lips, “I’d advise against defiance!”
“Bang—”
The pill furnace opened, the dicinal liquid had completely burned to ash, and no pills had ford.
“As expected.”
After cleaning the pill furnace, Ning Daoran, with a resolute expression, began alchemy again, his eyes still bright, “If the heavens have spirit, do not play tricks, swiftly form the pills for , do not be defiant!”
“Bang—”
Another furnace was ruined.
This cycle repeated, and after ruining more than thirty furnaces of elixir pills,
Sweat poured down Ning Daoran’s forehead.
The path of alchemy was indeed elusive.
His mindset underwent a profound change, feeling that even with an ample supply of spiritual dicines, he couldn’t continue to squander them this way.
In the afternoon, Ning Daoran underwent purification and prepared for another session of pill refining.
He piously knelt three tis and kowtowed nine tis before the alchemy furnace with Big Stupid Deer—
“Disciple Ning Daoran today beseeches the heavens:
Grateful to the heavens for bestowing a Spirit Root, allowing this opportunity in the art of alchemy.
To honor the Alchemy Dao’s legacy, to achieve the Foundation Establishnt.
Should this furnace again fail, it shall be due to my lack of sufficiency in the Alchemy Dao, unrelated to the heavens, with not half a word of complaint!
The Alchemy Dao is illustrious, the Immortal Path splendid.
Respectfully acknowledging the mystery of the heavens’ Alchemy Dao, bestow upon the opportunity for Foundation Establishnt!”
…
“Bang!”
Another furnace entirely spoiled.
Ning Daoran began to sweat profusely, quickly picking up a notebook to ticulously record the reasons for the failure, then pushing on with renewed effort.
Bloodshot filled his eyes, and he entered into a state of frenzy.
For a re first-tier top-quality alchemist to strong-arm refining a second-order Great Pill for Foundation Establishnt was quite outrageous within the whole Cultivation World.
Ning Daoran refused to relent, continuing to refine pill after pill.
Big Stupid Deer trembled and shivered at his side. His master seed terribly fearso now, his eyes glowing with all sorts of danger.
It hid in a corner, not making a sound, just hoping his master would successfully form a pill soon!
In the secret chamber, the stockpile of Foundation Establishnt pill materials was diminishing.
Moreover, these spiritual dicines were not renewable, because although the three main herbs planted on Qiongbi Peak had matured, they had not produced seeds.
There were many reasons for not bearing seeds, mostly likely due to an incorrect environnt – these main herbs only bore seeds in the Cangnan Secret Realm; otherwise, they would have probably overrun the Cultivation World by now.
Late at night, the alchemy room was still bustling with activity.
“Pop!”
A slight sound rang out, the alchemy furnace opened on its own and out of a wisp of five-colored spiritual mist popped a pill.
One of them was covered with pitch-black cracks—a waste pill, heavily toxic and not fit for consumption.
The other pill, surprisingly, was a deep blue color and it possessed a faint pill pattern.
A standard Foundation Establishnt Pill!
“Is it a success?!”
Ning Daoran cradled the Foundation Establishnt Pill, ecstatic in his heart.
Not in a rush, after refining a few more furnaces, once the success rate increased, he would formally advance to a second-order alchemist!
Calm and composed, he thoroughly recorded the changes in the fla control, herb ratios, etc., from this successful refining, filling more than three pages before starting another furnace for refining.
The next furnace failed.
But the one after that was successful, even producing a top-grade Foundation Establishnt Pill.
With this, Ning Daoran’s understanding of the Foundation Establishnt Pill deepened. By the ti he nearly ran out of spiritual dicines, he was able to ensure that out of every three furnaces of pills, two would surely be successful!
He had beco a second-order lower-grade alchemist!
“`
…
Early morning.
“Exiting seclusion!”
Ning Daoran walked out of the alchemy room, feeling divine and refreshed, and stepped into the sunlight. Bathed in the morning light, he held his head high with chest out; it was the mont when he, Ning Daoran, could finally raise his eyebrows in triumph.
Second Order Array Master, Second-order Alchemist!
With just these two titles alone, he was already guaranteed a secure position in the Cultivation World, one any sect or Immortal City would scramble to recruit.
However…
Becoming a Second Order Array Master indeed depended on talent and aptitude.
As for being a Second-order Alchemist, it truly depended on the abundance of spiritual dicine. Over the past half a month, he produced batch after batch of waste elixir pills; if other alchemists knew how he refined Foundation Establishnt Pills, they would probably die of heartache.
In the Loose Cultivation World, many loose cultivators would pool materials together for a Foundation Establishnt Pill and then invite a well-known Second-order Alchemist to start the furnace, usually with the success rate above eighty percent.
Soone like Ning Daoran, who used Foundation Establishnt materials as expendables to force his way to becoming a Second-order Alchemist, was absolutely unparalleled.
At this mont, his jade bottle contained two top-quality Foundation Establishnt Pills with golden pill patterns, three top-grade Foundation Establishnt Pills, eight standard Foundation Establishnt Pills, and five inferior Foundation Establishnt Pills!
With such resources at hand, establishing his foundation was basically a sure thing!
…
Just then, bad news ca from the Inner Sect.
Senior Brother Lin Sheng had failed his Foundation Establishnt, and his Daoist heart was greatly damaged!
During the Cangnan Secret Realm expedition, Lin Sheng had also ranked in the top ten in the sect with the spiritual dicines he had obtained, earning one Foundation Establishnt Pill.
Not long ago, Lin Sheng had requested a Cave Mansion from the sect, deciding to attempt Foundation Establishnt.
But after several days, he had already failed, falling a bit short in ntal fortitude.
“Old Lu, shall we go see Senior Brother Lin?”
“Ao!”
Together, man and deer headed towards the middle of True Yang Peak in the Inner Sect.
The little house with the tile roof stood solitary, appearing even lonelier now. At the age of fifty, Lin Sheng’s failure in Foundation Establishnt likely ant that he had no more opportunities for advancent.
For one, he cultivated the True Yang Furnace Technique; at this age, his Blood Qi had begun to wane, which was not conducive to Foundation Establishnt.
Secondly, the reward from the Cangnan Secret Realm expedition was Lin Sheng’s biggest chance. Going forward, it would be very difficult for him to obtain another Foundation Establishnt Pill. How difficult would it be for a Qi Refinent Realm cultivator to assemble enough spirit stones to purchase a Foundation Establishnt Pill?
“Senior Brother, Old Lu and I have co to see you.”
“Junior Brother…”
Lin Sheng erged, his face now carrying a few more marks of hardship and frost, with a hint of guilt: “Junior Brother, I’ve embarrassed you. I failed in Foundation Establishnt, and I fear for this life…”
“What nonsense is Senior Brother talking about?”
Ning Daoran said, “I just want to ask one thing. Did Senior Brother really fail Foundation Establishnt because of a ntal barrier?”
“A little…”
Lin Sheng slowly sat down, appearing very tired: “Right at the mont of Foundation Establishnt, I suddenly felt hesitant and didn’t have a strong enough resolve to go through with it. I don’t know why that happened.”
It was a crisis of confidence.
“I know Lin Sheng to be courageous and diligent; he would never have a problem with insufficient resolve.”
Ning Daoran’s eyebrow lifted lightly as he said, “Senior Brother, since we’ve embarked on the Immortal Path, we should be clear in our hearts that although heaven and earth are vast, the Immortal Path is the greatest. Bound by a woman, would you still be the Lin Sheng I know?”
“Junior Brother…”
Lin Sheng gave a wry smile: “Do you also think I’m useless?”
“I never consider Senior Brother useless.”
Ning Daoran raised his eyebrows and said, “The Senior Brother Lin Sheng I knew, who didn’t hesitate to take on the most dangerous Inner Sect tasks, who spent a great deal of contribution points to exchange for the Evergreen Technique for , is like a hero in my eyes, not the frustrated figure you are now!
Senior Brother, why not think about what’s holding you back? I think… it’s ti you found the part of yourself before you knew Liu Ruyan.”
“Junior Brother Ning…”
“Forget it.”
Ning Daoran’s gaze was cold: “Just one Foundation Establishnt failure is enough to bring down the Senior Brother Lin Sheng I knew?”
With that, Ning Daoran laid a jade bottle gently on the table and said, “Old Lu and I will wait for Senior Brother Lin’s second Foundation Establishnt attempt. After all, it’s just starting over. I refuse to believe that the sa Lin Sheng who fought his way into the top ten of the Inner Sect with a low-grade spirit root can be stopped by a re Foundation Establishnt!”
“Junior Brother…”
By the ti Lin Sheng looked up again, Ning Daoran and Big Stupid Deer had already walked far away.
He slowly stood up, picked up the jade bottle, and poured out a Foundation Establishnt Pill with five golden patterns.
Top-quality Foundation Establishnt Pill!
Lin Sheng trembled, and his eyes instantly reddened.
…
Several days later.
Ning Daoran began to prepare for his Foundation Establishnt. He first went to Qingfu Square to purchase a mid-grade spirit stone. Although it seed superfluous, having a mid-grade spirit stone on-hand to draw spiritual energy from could serve as a backup in case of insufficient spiritual energy during Foundation Establishnt.
Afterward, Ning Daoran headed to the Inner Sect to apply for the Cave Mansion he needed for Foundation Establishnt.
“What?”
An Inner Sect Deacon exclaid, “Master Ning intends to establish his foundation? Have you already reached the peak of Qi Refinent? This Foundation Establishnt matter is no trivial thing; it cannot be rushed. Doing so would only create endless problems.”
“Uncle-Master, rest assured, I have indeed attained perfect Qi Refining.”
He stopped concealing it, laying all cards on the table.
Releasing his Concealing Breath Technique, the aura of perfect Qi Refining surged out, even stronger than the usual perfect Qi Refining state!
“So it’s true…”
An Outer Elder said, “Master Ning, which grade of Cave Mansion would you like to apply for Foundation Establishnt? Currently… our sect has third-tier mid-grade, third-tier low-grade, and second-tier high-grade Cave Mansions with various levels of spiritual energy available for Foundation Establishnt. Outer Disciples may apply for second-tier high-grade…”
“Wait a mont.”
A familiar voice suddenly interrupted, and Jiang Yu, dressed in a flowing cloud dress, appeared in the Inner Sect Hall. She calmly said, “Grant a third-tier mid-grade Cave Mansion to Junior Brother Ning for his Foundation Establishnt.”
“`
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