Treasure Gathering Immortal Furnace

"Foundation Establishment Pills are not easy to obtain. Within the sect, Foundation Establishment Pills are given priority to the elders' closed-door disciples, and secondly to the inner sect elites."

"After that, you can become an ordinary inner disciple. If you want to obtain Foundation Establishment Pills, then you should work hard to cultivate and advance to the inner sect."

The old man spoke first.

Lu Fan was well aware of this, but the key was that it was not easy to do. Even if he entered the inner sect now, he would have to wait for at least several decades, by which time he would have already passed away.

"Are there any other ways?" Lu Fan continued to ask.

"Also, you can exchange 100,000 contribution points for a Foundation Establishment Pill, or you can collect the materials yourself, find an alchemist, and offer them a certain amount of benefits to help you refine it," the old man said.

Lu Fan shook his head and sighed inwardly; how could it be easy to earn 100,000 contribution points?

He almost lost his life trying to earn that thousand contribution points, and finding the materials wasn't easy either. The materials needed for the Foundation Establishment Pill were numerous and time-consuming.

Moreover, even if you manage to gather all the necessary materials, not only is there no guarantee that the alchemist will be willing to refine them, but even if they are, the success rate is only 30% to 40%.

"Anything else?" Lu Fan continued to ask.

"Yes, can you kill someone to steal their treasure, or sneak into the inner sect elders' secret chambers to steal it?" The old man was clearly annoyed by Lu Fan's questions.

Upon hearing this, Lu Fan was also embarrassed. Doing this was simply asking for trouble.

"Disciple understands," Lu Fan said awkwardly, cupping his hands in greeting before preparing to leave.

However, the old man seemed to have thought of something and said, "But there is another way. Every twenty years there will be a demon-slaying conference. At that time, the four major sects of the Great Yan will send disciples into the mortal world to exorcise demons and bring peace to the world. If you perform well and come back alive, there is a great chance that you will receive a Foundation Establishment Pill as a reward."

Hearing this, Lu Fan was somewhat helpless. These opportunities wouldn't wait for him, since only two months had passed since the last Demon Extermination Conference.

For example, two months ago, Yan Ruyu went out with the elder to participate in the demon-slaying conference and killed a demonic cultivator.

Based on this calculation, I would have to wait at least twenty years to encounter a demon-slaying event.

"This disciple has remembered it. Thank you, Uncle-Master," Lu Fan said, and then left the Scripture Pavilion.

On the way back, Lu Fan was also pondering which path to take to obtain the Foundation Establishment Pill.

Because he hasn't reached the Foundation Establishment stage, he's not qualified to leave the sect without permission, and leaving to accept a mission would be too risky.

Forget about joining the inner sect; if he had three or two spiritual roots, he might be willing to take the risk.

However, he happens to have a mutated mixed spiritual root. Anyone with eyes can see that someone with a mutated mixed spiritual root entering the inner sect has an opportunity, which could easily lead to their death.

So after much thought, Lu Fan realized he only had one path to take: to wait twenty years and participate in the demon-slaying conference.

This is the simplest one.

To be precise, he has a maximum lifespan of 22 years.

In other words, if you obtain the Foundation Establishment Pill after twenty years, you must successfully establish your foundation within two years, otherwise you will definitely die.

Lu Fan's main concern was whether he could get the Foundation Establishment Pill with a 100% success rate, because with the existence of the miraculous pill furnace, as long as there was one Foundation Establishment Pill, there would be countless others.

Why do many disciples who have reached the peak of Qi cultivation fail to establish their foundation and pass away?

That's because they went through great lengths to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill. Once they failed their first attempt at Foundation Establishment, they had no pills left to continue and had no choice but to grit their teeth and try again.

Such a consequence is often death.

Those closed-door disciples are different; they may obtain multiple Foundation Establishment Pills, which is why their success rate is so high.

As long as Lu Fan has one, he can conjure dozens or even hundreds of them, so he's not worried about failing at all.

"It seems there's no shortcut. Let's just wait. Since we still have twenty years, let's work hard to increase our Qi Refining level."

"By then, as long as my strength far surpasses that of others at the same level, I will definitely be able to obtain the Foundation Establishment Pill!"

Lu Fan made up his mind and decided to go into seclusion and wait.

After returning to the thatched hut, Lu Fan went back to the woods, took out all the Qi-stabilizing pills he had hidden, put them into the storage bag given to him by Steward Ma, and plunged into the cave.

He began his seclusion.

...

Having gained experience from previous seclusion sessions, Lu Fan appeared quite calm during this one.

With the support of a large number of Qi-stabilizing pills, Lu Fan steadily improved, building an indestructible foundation.

This seclusion lasted for a full five years.

Five years may seem like a long time to an ordinary person, but for Lu Fan, it's just a matter of closing his eyes and opening them.

In the past five years, his cultivation level has increased to the twenty-fifth level of Qi Refining.

After all, it gets harder to advance to higher levels. In order to save on Qi-stabilizing pills, Lu Fan could only slow down his cultivation speed and focus on consolidating his cultivation and practicing basic spells.

So it's one floor per year.

Just as Lu Fan was about to continue his seclusion, he suddenly heard shouts outside the cave.

"Senior brother, have you finished your seclusion?"

It was Li Niu's voice. He probably didn't want to disturb Lu Fan, so he only called out once a day and left when he didn't get a response.

However, at this moment, the stone door of the cave slowly opened.

"Junior Brother Li, is there something you need?" Lu Fan asked as he stepped out of the cave.

"Senior brother, I've been calling you for a month now. You've finally come out of seclusion. It was Uncle Wang who came to the thatched hut a month ago. I told her you were in seclusion, and she said that if you came out, you should go to the Hall of Affairs," Li Niu said.

Upon hearing this, Lu Fan was taken aback and asked, "Uncle-Master Wang is looking for me? Is there something you need?"

"I don't know," Li Niu shook his head.

"Okay, I'll go right away," Lu Fan nodded slightly, then raised his hand to summon his flying sword and leaped onto it.

Seeing this, Li Niu was filled with envy: "Senior brother can actually fly on a sword! I'm so envious!"

At this moment, Lu Fan's apparent cultivation level has reached the seventh level of Qi Refining.

For a mutated hybrid spiritual root, this level seems both useless and requires a little perseverance, which is just right.

After leaving the cave, Lu Fan went straight to Wang Qingzhu's steward's hall.

Because Wang Qingzhu often went into seclusion or went out to seek opportunities, her title of steward was practically just for show.

There were no Qi Refining disciples under his tutelage; he had basically delegated the task to Steward Ma and that Steward Zhang.

Therefore, when Lu Fan arrived at Wang Qingzhu's Hall of Affairs, it was deserted and quiet. The only thing in the hall was the faint fragrance emanating from Wang Qingzhu, making it feel like a boudoir.

It is conceivable that Wang Qingzhu was also a solitary cultivator.

After entering the Hall of Affairs, Lu Fan was clearly captivated by the unique fragrance before looking around.

At this moment, Wang Qingzhu lay lazily on a couch on one side of the main hall, holding a martial arts manual in her hands, reading it carefully.

Upon arriving, Lu Fan hurriedly stepped forward, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Uncle-Master Wang, you were looking for me?"

When Wang Qingzhu saw Lu Fan arrive, she stood up and walked over with a fragrant breeze: "You've already reached the seventh level of Qi Refining. It seems that you haven't neglected your cultivation during the years I've been away."

"My aptitude is too poor. I've only advanced one level in five years. I'm sorry to have made you laugh, Uncle-Master," Lu Fan said awkwardly.

"Mutant spirits are not easy to come by, this is quite good," Wang Qingzhu said, not wanting to discourage Lu Fan.

After all, for a disciple with mixed spiritual roots who has no resources for cultivation and no expert to guide him, such a cultivation speed is already quite remarkable.

"Uncle Wang, is there something you need?" Lu Fan asked.

At this moment, Wang Qingzhu glanced at Lu Fan, looking somewhat hesitant, as if she had something to say but didn't know how to say it.