Treasure Gathering Immortal Furnace

Because Lu Fan was seriously injured and unable to move while lying in bed, Li Niu diligently took care of him as instructed by Steward Ma.

Fortunately, Lu Fan had the cultivation level of the tenth level of Qi Refining, and with the help of the hemostatic powder, his injuries had healed to about 70-80% in just five days.

Lu Fan was finally able to get out of bed and walk with a limp.

"Senior brother, be careful. Your injuries have just healed. Don't let them reopen," Li Niu said as he helped Lu Fan out of the thatched hut.

"Junior Brother Li, thank you so much for taking care of me these past five days. Otherwise, I would have suffered terribly," Lu Fan said, looking at his junior brother whom he had spent a few days with.

Li Niu smiled憨厚ly: "Senior brother, what are you saying? This is all my duty."

"Junior Brother Li, you have mixed spiritual roots of the five elements. Logically, after the detection, you should have had one chance to voluntarily leave the sect. Why didn't you leave?"

"With your talent, you'll probably never be able to reach the Foundation stage in your entire life."

Lu Fan looked at Li Niu and asked slowly.

This wasn't Lu Fan looking down on Li Niu—after all, what right did he have to look down on him? He was just curious because most cultivators with mixed spiritual roots wouldn't stay in the sect after being detected.

Rather than to toil away your whole life, it's better to leave, have children, and live a carefree life.

Lu Fan didn't leave because he was tested at age three, and if he left, he wouldn't survive.

"I can't leave. My home is in Qingniu Town, 200 miles away. We come from a poor family, and my parents are often oppressed by the government."

"I finally got noticed by the seniors of the Dao Sect and came to test my spiritual roots. If I go back like this, my parents will still be bullied by the government."

"As long as I stay in the Dao Sect, whether I live or die, the government will know that my family has produced a celestial master, and they will no longer make things difficult for my parents."

Li Niu said slowly.

Lu Fan nodded slightly; Li Niu was indeed a filial and kind person.

"Senior brother, how did you come to the Dao Sect?" Li Niu asked.

Lu Fan slowly raised his hand: "It's a long story, let's not talk about it."

After all, Lu Fan had never known what parents were since he was a child, so there really wasn't much to say about him.

After walking around for a while, Lu Fan felt that he had recovered enough and decided not to lie down any longer.

Li Niu also received a task from Steward Ma to continue collecting the corpses.

Taking advantage of this break, Lu Fan returned to the forest where he had hidden his storage bag, took out the alchemy furnace, and prepared to replicate another batch of Qi-stabilizing pills.

This time, Lu Fan didn't plan to be stingy and copy hundreds of copies at a time.

If one wants to continue breaking through levels in the Qi Refining stage, the number of Solidifying Essence Pills will be astronomical.

So Lu Fan cut the Peiyuan Pill into countless small pieces and threw them all into the pill furnace.

In the end, Lu Fan acquired more than two thousand Qi-stabilizing pills, which was almost equivalent to the stock of low-grade pills in a sect.

There's no way around it; the resource consumption of this mutated hybrid spiritual root is simply too terrifying.

Moreover, Lu Fan also discovered that after his tinkering, the auspicious cloud pattern on the alchemy furnace had dimmed considerably.

I estimate that I won't be able to replicate so many Qi-strengthening Pills next time.

Lu Fan didn't know how to nurture the alchemy furnace, so he could only wait for it to slowly recover before using these two thousand Qi-stabilizing pills to break through the layer.

Regardless of how many levels he could reach after using up these two thousand Qi-stabilizing pills, once he ran out, Lu Fan was ready to look for Foundation Establishment pills.

...

And so, spring turned to winter, and aside from collecting corpses with Li Niu, Lu Fan spent all his remaining time in seclusion cultivating.

His life basically consisted of collecting corpses and cultivating. Apart from Li Niu, Lu Fan never had any contact with his other senior and junior brothers, continuing to remain a nobody.

Because Lu Fan understood that he, this "crippled bastard," was not well-liked in the outer sect, and going out would easily attract unnecessary trouble.

Moreover, if he were to run into Yan Ruyu, she might just kill him on a whim.

So, if you can't beat your opponent, the best thing to do is to play it safe.

During this year, Lu Fan successfully broke through from the tenth level of Qi Refining to the twelfth level, and consumed nearly one hundred Qi Strengthening Pills.

However, it's not a big deal, since reaching the twelfth level of Qi Refining Foundation Establishment is already considered quite strong in some major sects.

However, Lu Fan still couldn't find any way to obtain Foundation Establishment Pills.

After all, Foundation Establishment Pills are much more difficult to refine than Qi Consolidation Pills, and they are extremely rare pills in any sect.

The refining process requires more than a dozen kinds of spiritual herbs, and also the assistance of the demon cores of second-tier demon beasts.

At this moment, Lu Fan has neither magical artifacts nor powerful backers, so even if the sect has a mission, it won't be his turn.

It can be said that obtaining the Foundation Establishment Pill is quite difficult.

However, Lu Fan is only eighteen years old at the moment. According to the lifespan of the Qi Refining stage, he still has a hundred years to live.

As long as you can persevere, you will eventually build a foundation.

someday.

Lu Fan and Li Niu entered the cave to collect the corpse as usual.

"Senior brother, why is cultivation so difficult? We've already lost more than twenty senior brothers this year. Foundation Establishment is just too hard," Li Niu said with a sigh, looking at his senior brother who had already lost all life in the cave.

"Foundation building is difficult, as difficult as ascending to heaven. We will probably face the same difficulties in the future," Lu Fan shook his head and said slowly.

Upon hearing this, Li Niu smiled and said, "I don't think I'll ever reach that point. I'll probably pass away before I even reach the Foundation Establishment stage."

Over the past ten years, Lu Fan has seen too many senior brothers pass away peacefully, most of whom were stuck before reaching the Foundation Establishment stage.

In reality, this is also the cruelty of the cultivation world; the Foundation Establishment stage is the first step into the threshold of cultivation.

But this first step is one that some cultivators lacking the necessary qualifications simply cannot take.

Many cultivators, after discovering they possess spiritual roots, go from ecstatic to utterly disappointed, wasting a hundred years of their lives on useless breakthroughs.

Out of ten thousand Qi Refining cultivators, probably only one or two can successfully establish their foundation.

It can be described as a process of natural selection.

hum!

Just as Lu Fan and Li Niu were marveling at the sight, a dazzling light suddenly shot out from above a cave in the distance. Golden and red spiritual energy intertwined, dyeing the sky a golden-red color!

"That's... a Core Formation phenomenon? The Dao Sect has a Foundation Establishment master uncle who has achieved Core Formation?" Li Niu was immediately shocked when he saw the extraordinary phenomenon.

Lu Fan looked over in astonishment, after all, he had been in the Dao Sect for more than ten years and this was the first time he had ever seen the phenomenon of Core Formation.

Just as Lu Fan was wondering what was going on, dozens of figures flew from the distant mountain peaks on swords and landed above Lu Fan and Li Niu in an instant.

Among them were Steward Ma and Yan Ruyu, as well as dozens of inner disciples who came to observe.

"Who is down there? Do not disturb the elders who are forming their cores! Retreat immediately!" Deacon Ma shouted as he looked down.

"Disciple Lu Fan, I will now withdraw."

"Disciple Li Niu, I shall now depart."

Lu Fan and Li Niu responded in unison, and then the two left.

Looking at the strange phenomenon in the sky, Steward Ma said, "Judging from the color of this spiritual energy, it should be Senior Sister Wang forming her core."

"Wang Qingzhu?" Yan Ruyu seemed to remember someone.

"That's right. Senior Sister Wang was already in the late stage of Foundation Establishment more than ten years ago. Now, after more than ten years of seclusion, she has probably reached perfection and is trying to form the Core Formation," Deacon Ma nodded.

"This talent isn't good either. It took more than ten years of seclusion to form the core," Yan Ruyu said with a soft sarcasm.

"We can't blame Senior Sister Wang. More than ten years ago, she competed with several geniuses from the inner sect for the Golden Marrow Pill. Although she won, she also damaged her foundation. She has probably spent most of the past ten years recuperating from her injuries," Deacon Ma said slowly.