Cultivating Immortality in Two Realms

Chapter 84 Refining the Foundation Establishment Pill (Bonus Chapter, Please Subscribe)

Xuanbi Cave.

Fang Qing looked at the communication talismans flying around outside the cave and couldn't help but laugh and cry: "Since advancing to the True Disciple level—this scene has become quite rare. These are troubled times."

The moment the news of Linghu Jin's failed attempt to break through to the Core Formation stage spread, undercurrents immediately surged within the Bihai Sect.

Countless cultivators are secretly gathering and making connections.

But he doesn't need to consult the oracle to know how to respond.

"No matter how the winds and rains blow from all directions, I remain steadfast and unmoved."

"The specific reason is that I have no desires—without weaknesses, I am not easily manipulated, and I am less likely to act impulsively."

The current leader's faction seems to have fallen into disarray, but what is the reality?

Linghu Jin is only rumored to be dead; after all, he's not dead yet.

Moreover, Master Ruan's attitude was quite ambiguous.

Fang Qing has always had a good relationship with the cultivators of the sect leader's faction, and he would never do anything to kick someone when they are down.

He stayed in his cave, practicing his cultivation and reading alchemical texts.

Occasionally, he would go out for leisure, listen to music in brothels, play chess with someone, browse auctions and markets, or go to Taibai Island to find Qin Ruxue. Before he knew it, several years had passed.

For Foundation Establishment cultivators, a single seclusion can last for several years, which may become the norm.

Inside the cave dwelling, in the flower hall.

Qin Ruxue poured tea for Fang Qing and said with a smile, "The chaos in this sect is finally coming to an end. In recent months, Hall Master Cui Zhe, leading the Hall of Punishment, has arrested a number of disciples, including several Foundation Establishment elders—all on charges of colluding with the Sea Extinction Alliance. The atmosphere within the sect has been cleansed as a result."

"The most crucial point is that Linghu Jin kept saying he was going to die, but he never did—it's clearly a setup."

Fang Qing took a sip of tea and smiled knowingly: "It seems that the sect is also taking this opportunity to sweep away the arrogance of the previous great victory—it's a win-win situation. Sect Leader Linghu is indeed Sect Leader Linghu; he's almost old and still working tirelessly for the sect."

"Sect Leader Linghu—is he about to pass away?"

Qin Ruxue was shocked. The Destroying Sea Alliance had suffered a huge blow, and she almost thought that her failure to form the Golden Core back then was a hoax.

"What is false can be made real, and what is real can be made false—Sect Leader Linghu is already quite old, and he failed to break through to the Core Formation stage before, how could he not suffer a backlash?"

Fang Qing shook his head: "However, with a Core Formation Ancestor still in charge, the position of my Azure Sea Sect is as stable as Mount Tai, so there's no need to worry about it—besides delivering that True Qi, did you return this time with a decree from the sect?"

Qin Ruxue's main purpose in returning this time, besides giving Fang Qing the [Lou Jin] True Essence, was to be recalled by the sect.

"That's right—Senior Brother Wanbao has summoned the island lord of Array Island and many array masters, preparing to transfer us all to Tianxin Island under the pretext of building a third-order grand array."

There is a third-order spiritual vein on Tianxin Island, which was also the main island of Tianxin Linked Islands in the past.

"So it seems—the secret realm is now confirmed to be near Tianxin Island?"

Fang Qing paid even more attention to this news: "Go ahead—report back immediately if you find anything."

In fact, he didn't need Qin Ruxue to report; he could observe at any time with the help of the Dao Sheng Pearl.

The reason for this is to give the concubines under his command a sense of privacy, even if it's just a fantasy.

But for many things, the effect is completely different whether or not this outer layer is present.

After seeing Qin Ruxue off, Fang Qing went to the alchemy room.

He activated his divine sense, examining the second-tier cold spring inch by inch, and then looked inward at himself.

Since breaking through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, the shackles on his magical power have disappeared. He has been consuming genuine Water Essence Pills to cultivate, and his progress has been rapid.

Basically, it takes about a year to condense one drop of liquid mana.

"Under the best circumstances, one can cultivate to the peak of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage in about twenty years and then try to break through to the late stage—of course, due to drug resistance and various other factors, this is almost impossible."

Putting aside other factors, accumulating mana in the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment is inherently more difficult than in the early stage.

If we were to use a second-grade low-level Water Essence Pill, it would probably take several of them to condense a single drop of liquid mana.

"Hmm, your swimming skills have recovered well—we can begin alchemy now."

Fang Qing patted his storage bag, and jade boxes flew out one after another, opening in turn.

Inside one of them was a jet-black second-tier water-attribute demon core.

He was preparing to refine a second-grade, high-quality Foundation Establishment Pill!

Over the years, Fang Qing has been constantly studying "Notes on the Origin of the Divine Origin" and even tried to refine the Foundation Establishment Pill in his hand into a Dao Foundation Pill, but unfortunately he failed.

This is quite normal, after all, the alchemy practices of the two worlds are somewhat different.

He planned to refine more Foundation Establishment Pills for experimentation, just in case.

These second-tier demon cores have many uses, and Fang Qing did not use them all to refine genuine Water Essence Pills before.

"We've managed to gather several sets of the auxiliary materials for the Foundation Establishment Pill from the Zhong family."

"However, when Elder Tianding was refining the Foundation Establishment Pill, he needed the help of all the disciples of Pill Island—I didn't have that convenience, so I could only work harder myself."

Fang Qing activated the "Water and Fire Elixir Technique," transforming the low-grade second-tier cold spring in this cave into a mid-grade second-tier dual spring of cold and heat, and began processing the various materials for the Foundation Establishment Pill.

Several months later —

With a blank expression, he made hand seals, causing the pool of spiritual liquid to drain away rapidly.

Clearly, refining a second-grade high-quality pill for the first time is quite difficult. If a crucial step is not handled properly during the final pill-combining, the entire batch will be ruined immediately.

"Fortunately, I'm different from Tian Ding; I only refine one second-tier demon core each time, so the losses aren't significant."

Fang Qing rested for a few days before reopening the pool.

This time, he was in even better shape, handling several crises as if divinely inspired.

finally----

Six months later.

Fang Qing cast a spell, and three water dragons appeared, each holding a blue light in its mouth.

He remained expressionless and continued to perform his water control technique.

The three water dragons meandered and swam, one of them suddenly let out a mournful cry and turned into a large amount of water splashes, and the blue light in it suddenly collapsed.

Clearly, this Foundation Establishment Pill failed to be refined.

Fang Qing remained calm and controlled the hot and cold springs, which resembled a tai chi symbol, with two water dragons swirling in opposite directions. The remaining two Foundation Establishment Pills were positioned precisely at the eyes of the yin-yang fish.

This is an unorthodox technique he developed after years of studying alchemical texts. It can increase the success rate of another pill by reducing the probability or even the quality of another pill.

Several hours later, two Foundation Establishment Pills quietly surfaced, but one of them was not only smaller, but also covered with cracks.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, the Foundation Establishment Pill disintegrated, leaving only a genuine Foundation Establishment Pill.

"One genuine pill—not bad."

"Elder Tianding can consistently produce two good and one bad pills, and occasionally all three are good—his alchemy skills are indeed superior to mine."

Fang Qing knew that he ultimately lacked Elder Tianding's many years of experience in alchemy.

Moreover, although he has some talent in water-based alchemy, he mostly relies on the affinity of the [Ji Water] spring water to get by.

When it came to refining second-tier pills, even the [Ji Shui] mana at the Qi-absorbing level was insufficient.

In other words, once he has forged his Dao foundation with the [Ji Water], his alchemy skills may receive another significant boost.

"One Core Formation Pill—not enough!"

Fang Qing took out a jade box, carefully stored the Foundation Establishment Pill, and continued refining it.

Time flies like water.

Outside, after some handling by the Azure Sea Sect, the many cultivators calmed down and resumed their daily cultivation, visiting friends, and studying miscellaneous subjects.

The restless atmosphere that had gripped the entire sect since they became the overlords of the Lesser Universe was instantly quelled.

Linghu Jin, on the other hand, passed away peacefully, and it is said that his funeral arrangements were handled in a very low-key manner.

As for Tianxin Island? They've kept the news completely under wraps.

-

All the outside world knows is that the Azure Sea Sect is preparing to develop Tianxin Island into a giant market, and has even hired a large number of array masters to set up arrays.

Little did they know that the Azure Sea Sect was secretly plotting to conquer that secret realm.

"That entrance to the secret realm is protected by a powerful restriction—combining the power of heaven and earth, corresponding to the stars above and the earth's veins below—its power has surpassed the third rank. Even if the island master of the Azure Sea Sect were to intervene, he would find it difficult to truly break it—"

With Qin Ruxue as his spy, Fang Qing was naturally well aware of the progress of the Bihai Sect's exploration.

"According to Qin Ruxue's estimate, it might take several decades to slowly wear down the barrier—and only with favorable timing and location would it be possible to open a small gap in the restriction—"

"In that case, there's no need to spend too much time and effort paying attention to it."

He snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the hot and cold springs in front of him.

At the bottom of the spirit pool lay two blue pills.

"Two genuine items —"

"Right now, I'd say I can barely be considered a near-second-tier high-grade alchemist?"

Fang Qing made a hand seal and collected two Foundation Establishment Pills. Smelling their strange medicinal fragrance, he thought to himself, "I don't have many second-tier demon cores left. This time, refining Foundation Establishment Pills has almost exhausted my reserves of several years."

"However, the results are quite good."

Now, with these two added, he has a total of eight Foundation Establishment Pills in his hands!

This is a number that would make any power envious; with a bit of luck, it would be enough to cultivate several Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Of course, Fang Qing would not release a single one, but would instead prepare to refine them into Dao Foundation Pills to prepare for building his own Dao foundation.

Even after reading many books on alchemy and practicing it once, achieving a level refining technique is still quite difficult.

However, these second-tier demon cores are all water-attribute, belonging to the [Zhenshui] category according to the ancient Shu classification. Even if they themselves do not possess profound Dao foundations, they should be quite beneficial for [Zhenshui] cultivators who practice Qi cultivation to forge their Dao foundations.

If the leveling process proves difficult, it will be necessary to switch to the preparations for the [Zhen Water] route.

Thinking of this, Fang Qing couldn't help but feel heartbroken about the loss of the Heavenly Wind Spirit Spring in the Blessed Land of Misty Waves last time.

If he had succeeded back then, he could have tried to use the "Ji Water" to build his foundation for the Dao long ago.

Xu Hei is also a good-for-nothing—such a big event as the opening of the blessed land, with so many spiritual things circulating outside, yet he still couldn't get what I wanted—”

Of course, now that the Black Gate is dead and the Purple Mansion is gone—the Pu family immediately broke their previous agreement and began their conquest of Ba County, and things have descended into chaos again in just a few years.

Thinking of the situation in ancient Shu, Fang Qing couldn't help but shake his head.

Clearly, for those who are lower class or ordinary people, their life, death, rise and fall are not entirely in their own hands.

A single change in leadership can trigger countless wars and displace countless people.

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