Cultivation begins with alchemy and collecting runes.

The hall where Li Xiuyuan was located was quite peculiar.

It was a huge octagonal room, five or six zhang high and twenty or thirty zhang wide.

The surrounding white rock walls are inlaid with many luminous minerals.

It makes the whole room bright and cheerful.

When he looked up, he saw that the ceiling of the hall was covered with countless luminous pearls hanging upside down, illuminating the entire room.

Three passageways are distributed around the hall. Two of them are inscribed with the ancient characters "Dan" and "Qi" respectively, while the last one is empty.

The hall was empty at the moment. Li Xiuyuan glanced around briefly and then walked toward the passage inscribed with the character "Dan".

The passage is short, only a dozen or so steps away.

At the exit of the passage, there was a long, narrow table.

An elderly man with a ruddy complexion stood by the table, smiling at Li Xiuyuan.

On the table were various cauldrons, raw materials, and a variety of other items that Li Xiuyuan had never seen before.

The old man spoke first, "Young friend, you look unfamiliar. Are you new here? There are fewer and fewer newcomers in this godforsaken place."

The old man shook his head as he spoke, his tone tinged with regret and frustration.

Li Xiuyuan couldn't determine the man's true strength, but he was clearly another Foundation Establishment cultivator, so he naturally dared not be negligent.

He hurriedly bowed and said, "This junior greets my senior uncle. This is my first time visiting the Dan Ding Pavilion. I would appreciate your guidance."

Li Xiuyuan adopted an extremely humble posture, appearing eager to learn.

"If there's anything you don't understand, just ask. Also, my surname is Zhou, you can just call me Old Zhou."

The old man hurriedly corrected Li Xiuyuan's address, seemingly quite concerned about it.

"Then, this junior will obey."

Li Xiuyuan hesitated slightly, then readily agreed.

After all, he had been a rogue cultivator for decades and had seen all sorts of strange people.

"This junior wishes to find some recipes and books related to elixirs, and to study the art of alchemy."

"The recipes and books for alchemy are just up this floor."

The old man did not question Li Xiuyuan's actions. He casually took out a cyan token and cast a spell, which created a passage leading to the rooftop.

Li Xiuyuan was overjoyed and quickly walked up the stairs, about to set off.

Old Zhou grinned mischievously. "Reading on the second floor costs one spirit stone per hour. You are not allowed to take the originals. Making a copy will cost an additional fifty spirit stones."

Li Xiuyuan froze, inwardly cursing.

The price is too high. Not to mention the 50 spirit stones for copying, the browsing fee of 1 spirit stone per hour is outrageous.

It should be noted that a low-level disciple can only accumulate twenty or thirty spirit stones a year by completing various tasks and chores.

After deducting daily expenses and cultivation costs, there are hardly any spirit stones left.

That kind of charging is absolutely outrageous!

This caused Li Xiuyuan's goodwill towards the old man to plummet; cunning, utterly cunning.

Li Xiuyuan looked rather embarrassed, but he didn't stop walking.

Without turning his head, he tossed a spirit stone to the old man and walked upstairs.

"Interesting. You weren't scared off by my fees. Looks like you're quite wealthy. Wow, looks like I'll make a small fortune again."

The cultivator who called himself Old Zhou couldn't help but laugh heartily when he saw Li Xiuyuan so generously throwing spirit stones upstairs.

He put the spirit stone in his mouth and bit it to confirm it was genuine, then examined it carefully under the light before putting it in his bag.

He now resembled a miser, a far cry from his previous amiable demeanor.

At this moment, Li Xiuyuan suppressed his inner frustration and dissatisfaction, roused his spirits, and carefully examined the second floor.

Under the illumination of the huge luminous pearl on the roof, Li Xiuyuan's expression gradually turned gloomy as he flipped through the bamboo slips on the table.

He flipped through all the jade slips, put them back in their original places, and let out a long sigh.

The elixir formula recorded on the jade slip here is no different from the one he saw in the library, and its effects are similar to those of Qi-awakening Pill, Qi-nourishing Pill, and Qi-gathering Pill.

However, it would not be of much benefit to Li Xiuyuan, who was about to reach the pinnacle of Qi cultivation.

Li Xiuyuan then looked to the side at the fist-sized jade slip, hoping that the contents inside would be of some benefit to him.

He picked up a jade slip, blew away the dust, and revealed its crystal-clear original appearance.

He pressed the jade slip tightly against his forehead and probed it with his divine sense.

"Foundation Pill!"

This was actually the method for refining the Foundation Establishment Pill that Li Xiuyuan had been dreaming of.

He was both surprised and delighted that the entire process of refining medicine from raw materials to pills was exactly as described.

He was so engrossed in browsing the other jade slip that he didn't even notice its contents.

When the mind passes through the words "It must be tempered by innate true fire or heaven and earth spiritual fire to form the elixir".

Li Xiuyuan was completely stunned, feeling as if a cooked duck had flown away.

The Primordial True Fire is the original fiery that only Foundation Establishment cultivators can possess.

It is the external manifestation of the innate magical power that cultivators are born with after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage.

Its power increases as the cultivator's Qi cultivation improves. When the cultivator reaches the Core Formation stage, the True Fire will undergo a transformation and is said to be able to burn all things in heaven and earth!

But how could Li Xiuyuan, who was only at the Qi Refining stage, possibly unleash this innate true fire?

Only those at the Foundation Establishment stage can obtain it, so why would he bother refining Foundation Establishment Pills?

Asking other Foundation Establishment cultivators to help with alchemy is even less feasible.

Firstly, he needed someone's help, putting him at a disadvantage from the start; secondly, a disciple whose cultivation had not yet reached the Qi Refining Perfection stage was attempting to refine a Foundation Establishment Pill, which inevitably attracted the covetousness of others.

The helpers he invites will not only fail to help him, but may even cost him his life.

Even if it were Du Wuxin, Li Xiuyuan did not intend to ask him for help.

Human relationships, once used too much, will gradually diminish.

The war between the two countries could break out again, so he has to save his connections for when they are most needed.

"Heavenly Spiritual Fire?"

Li Xiuyuan focused his attention on this, thinking, "If we can find a celestial fire, then Foundation Establishment will be nothing to worry about."

He had made up his mind that neither of these two paths would work.

Then, absentmindedly, he picked up another jade slip, wiped it briefly, and revealed its deep blue color.

"We'll consider the Foundation Establishment Pill later. Let's see if there's anything suitable in this jade slip first."

Li Xiuyuan was a decisive person, and then began to examine the jade slip in his hand.

I hope this will bring him a surprise.

The words "Refining Divine Pill" immediately delighted Li Xiuyuan.

He murmured, "This name has a certain mystique; perhaps it will work quite well."

But the next line of text completely stunned him.

"It can stabilize a cultivator's soul, rapidly increase the power of the soul, stabilize the cultivator's primordial spirit, and increase the chances of forming a core by 20%."

Li Xiuyuan felt as if he had drunk a sip of cool water on a summer day, feeling incredibly refreshed.

He looked down, only to be met with a bucket of cold water that extinguished his expectations.

"To refine this pill, one needs a spiritual object that is over five hundred years old to enhance the power of the soul and consciousness, along with the essence blood of a demon beast containing the bloodline of a demon king, and various other rare spiritual objects to complete the pill."

After reading the last word in the jade slip, Li Xiuyuan felt extremely uneasy.

"The essence blood of a descendant of the Demon King! The Demon King is comparable to a Nascent Soul cultivator in the human race. If I could obtain such a treasure, why would I need to worry about Core Formation materials?"

Li Xiuyuan felt bitter inside, believing that this trip had been in vain.

Just as I was about to leave, a voice came from downstairs: "Time's up. If you want..."

"I'm coming down now."

Li Xiuyuan had no intention of giving away a spirit stone for nothing, so he picked up the jade slip containing the Foundation Establishment Pill recipe and prepared to leave.

But as he reached the top of the stairs, he hesitated for a moment.

He felt that it was not impossible to refine this "Divine Refining Pill".

It can increase the chance of forming a core by at least 20%, so it's worth selling to independent cultivators.

At least it doesn't require innate true fire.

As for the Demon King's bloodline, he can collect it slowly later.

We can't leave empty-handed.

Thinking of this, Li Xiuyuan turned around, grabbed the blue jade slip on the table, and strode quickly to the stairwell, then stomped downstairs.

"How was it, young friend? Did you gain anything?"

Upon seeing Li Xiuyuan come down, Old Man Zhou greeted him with a broad smile.

But no matter how Li Xiuyuan looked at him, he felt that this person was extremely hypocritical.

"Elder Zhou, are the elixir recipes upstairs truly the secrets of our sect? Why are they no different from those in the outer library? Could there be other collection rooms?"

Li Xiuyuan ignored the old man's teasing and instead asked him the questions he was concerned about.

"Ever since I took over this place, every disciple who has come up to the second floor has had the same questioning look on their face as you. But..."

Old Zhou drawled out his words, his meaning all too clear: he wanted something in return!

Looking at the Foundation Establishment cultivator, who should have been dignified and otherworldly, but now had a vulgar expression, Li Xiuyuan was speechless.

Li Xiuyuan finally understood why the other party had initially prevented the two from addressing each other as "senior brother and junior brother."

He also knew that as a senior member of the sect, it wouldn't be appropriate for him to so openly ask for benefits.

Li Xiuyuan raised an eyebrow, and without saying a word, took out two jade slips, one red and one blue, and slapped them on the table.

"I originally planned to make copies of these two jade slips, but after thinking about it, I realized I don't have enough spirit stones on me, so I'll do it another time."

Li Xiuyuan hadn't been wasting his decades among the rogue cultivators; feeling slightly frustrated, he decided to retaliate in a small way to prevent the other party from thinking he was easy to bully.

"Did you make two copies, young friend?"

Old Zhou was overjoyed, his eyes widening in surprise.

"That's right, but I do know some answers to questions, and now that I've come, I'm afraid I don't have enough spirit stones."

"Hehe, since you're so generous, my question will be free of charge. I'll copy it for you first."

Old Zhou hurriedly took the two jade slips into his hands, and then took out two white jade slips from the shelf behind him and quickly began to copy them, fearing that Li Xiuyuan would change his mind.

"It's copied now, young friend, please take a look."

Old Zhou moved with incredible speed, and before Li Xiuyuan could even react, he had already copied the two jade slips perfectly.

Then he tossed the replica into Li Xiuyuan's hands, as if to say, "What are you still looking at? Go get your spirit stones!"

Li Xiuyuan's lips twitched, as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself.

After a brief silence, he took out one hundred low-grade spirit stones from his storage bag and handed them to the old man with a slightly annoyed expression.

The old man happily accepted the spirit stones, and excitedly checked their number three times.

After confirming that there were no mistakes, he noticed Li Xiuyuan waiting for him to reply.

He cleared his throat and looked Li Xiuyuan up and down with the expression one would give a big spender.

"You're quite the catch, young man. I never would have guessed you were so wealthy. It's truly unexpected. However, though I may be greedy, I am a man of my word. I will answer any questions you may have today."

The old man put away his playful expression and said with a serious face.

Li Xiuyuan was somewhat unaccustomed to this person's sudden change in demeanor, but he still asked the question he had just asked without hesitation.

"Actually, the answer is very simple. Most of the pill formulas have been lost over the long history. This is not only the case for our Blazing Fire Sect, but also for the other sects, and even the entire cultivation world."

The old man spoke slowly.

Li Xiuyuan was taken aback upon hearing this, and looked at him with a hint of confusion.

"Actually, if you think about it carefully, you'll understand. What is the value of a pill formula? It is, of course, its ability to transform various rare and precious natural materials into pills for us cultivators to consume."

"But think about it, the spiritual objects in the world that can be used by humans are limited, and each kind of one takes hundreds or even thousands of years to mature. Not to mention that since the 'Celestial Change,' the environment of the cultivation world has changed drastically, and all kinds of rare and precious materials have become increasingly scarce. Yet, the number of cultivators in the cultivation world is increasing."

"Many of the spiritual creatures recorded in the pill formulas have slowly become extinct. Even if some remain in some secret realms or ancient caves, they are all called 'deadly places' or 'dangerous places.' Even people with advanced cultivation would face nine deaths and one life if they went there."

"In this way, a recipe for an elixir becomes worthless if its source of raw materials is completely cut off. Who would still treasure it?"

"After experiencing several great calamities in the cultivation world, these pill formulas gradually disappeared into history, leaving only a handful of them."

"And the Foundation Building Pill is one of the few surviving pill formulas."