txolops Chapter 217 A Master Alchemist Arrives in the City
Chapter 217 A Master Alchemist Arrives in the City
Welcome to the fantastical world of Xianxia novels! The entrance is here:
After breaking through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment, he began preparing for breaking through to Core Formation.
Because of the characteristics of the "Ze Shui Yang Sheng Jue" (a martial arts manual), if he wants to break through the bottleneck of Core Formation, he must absorb enough innate Qi from second-grade high-quality pills.
Therefore, in the years to come, he would spend more time on alchemy.
Based on past experience, the spiritual herbs he has collected over the years for refining second-grade high-quality pills are not enough, and he needs to collect more.
However, the far north is barren and its resources are not as abundant as those in the western wilderness.
Collecting spiritual herbs is destined to be a long process. Fortunately, it will take him at least thirty years to cultivate to the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage.
Thirty years is enough time for him to refine a sufficient number of second-grade high-quality pills.
Secondly, there is the spiritual environment required for the breakthrough to the Core Formation stage.
Considering the vast area of Flying Snow Immortal City, with only one third-tier spiritual vein in the city center, this is probably Li Ping's only option for breaking through to the Core Formation stage.
Therefore, he needs to find a way to establish a relationship with the higher-ups of the Flying Snow Sect as soon as possible so that he can borrow spiritual veins in the future.
As for the other puppets, and obtaining the complete version of the "Myriad Spirits Divine Technique," a divine sense cultivation method, those can be put on hold for now.
……
Not long after, as Li Ping successively produced second-grade high-quality pills in Flying Snow City, he inadvertently revealed his alchemy skills.
The Foundation Establishment cultivators in the city quickly learned from various sources that a high-level alchemist had arrived in Flying Snow City.
Under the rule of the Flying Snow Sect.
Although there are many cultivators, most of them are low-level cultivators.
Apart from the two elders, there were no other Core Formation cultivators, and fewer than a hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Neither local resource output nor frequent exchanges with the outside world can compare to Fenglan Immortal City, nestled between the Western Wilderness and the Cloud Mist Mountains.
Naturally, there are very few high-level craftsmen in the city.
Especially for high-end professions like alchemy, which require a huge amount of resources and talent, the Flying Snow Sect simply doesn't have enough resources to cultivate them.
The most skilled alchemist in the Flying Snow Sect is only at the second level.
The alchemists trained by other affiliated families are mostly only at the first-tier level.
As for rogue cultivators, would they dare to learn alchemy?
Independent cultivators should honestly learn the art of cultivating spiritual plants and focus on farming; that is the right path.
Under such circumstances, the arrival of a second-tier high-grade alchemist was undoubtedly a sensation for the various forces and cultivation families in the city that had Foundation Establishment cultivators stationed there.
The city center of Flying Snow City, including the city lord's mansion and the sect's residence, was completely enveloped by a third-order formation.
In a silver-white hall, two figures sat cross-legged.
Although the decorations inside the main hall were simple, the concentration of spiritual energy was extremely high. Clearly, this place was the spiritual eye where the spiritual energy of the third-order spiritual vein beneath Flying Snow City gathered.
The fact that these two are qualified to cultivate in the Spirit Eye Land means that they are undoubtedly the two famous Core Formation elders of the Flying Snow Sect.
Mu Yun Zhenren and Qian Xue Zhenren.
Suddenly, the faint figure sitting cross-legged in a corner of the hall opened his eyes, then made a grasping motion with one hand, and a sound transmission talisman fell into his palm.
The figure listened silently to the voice coming from the communication talisman, a thoughtful look appearing in his eyes.
"Brother Yun, what's wrong? We arranged everything before we went into seclusion. Given Tong'er's personality, she wouldn't bother us with telepathic messages unless she encountered something she couldn't handle. Has she run into some trouble?" Just as he was pondering this, a clear, cold voice came from another corner of the hall. Its tone was melodious, like snow melting and dripping gently from a snow-capped mountain.
The figure shook his head and said calmly, "Tong'er didn't encounter any problems. She just learned that a second-tier high-grade alchemist had come to the city, so she specially contacted us, intending to offer a high price to bring him into the sect as a guest elder."
As they spoke, the figure raised his head, revealing himself to be a handsome middle-aged man with three tufts of beard.
Anyone familiar with the sect would immediately recognize him as Elder Mu Yun, the Supreme Elder of the Flying Snow Sect, and the woman speaking to him is obviously another Supreme Elder, his wife, True Person Qianxue.
Upon hearing Mu Yun Zhenren's words, Qianxue Zhenren's heart stirred. She looked up, revealing a pair of eyes as bright as stars and slender eyebrows. Anyone who saw her would have to praise her stunning beauty.
She said with some surprise, "A master alchemist has actually come to the city... a second-tier high-grade alchemist? With such skills, he is indeed worth recruiting."
Master Muyun nodded, agreeing with her opinion.
In order to cultivate future generations of cultivators, the Flying Snow Sect specially planted a batch of Golden Marrow Jade Fungus for refining Foundation Establishment Pills.
However, because the Golden Marrow Jade Fungus has a harsh growing environment and will damage the spiritual vein environment during its growth, the Flying Snow Sect does not dare to plant too many of them.
Considering sustainable development, they can only harvest a maximum of two thousand-year-old golden marrow jade fungus every hundred years.
Logically speaking, with these two thousand-year-old Golden Marrow Jade Mushrooms in hand, the Flying Snow Sect can theoretically refine two batches of pills every hundred years, and can obtain a maximum of twenty Foundation Establishment Pills.
However, since the Flying Snow Sect did not have any second-tier high-grade alchemists, they had to send the materials to other main cities with second-tier high-grade alchemists and pay a high price to have them refine the materials.
As a result, the number of Foundation Establishment Pills obtained is usually only between twelve and fourteen, which greatly affects the Flying Snow Sect's ability to cultivate next-generation cultivators and indirectly affects the sect's development and growth.
If we can recruit a second-tier high-grade alchemist into the sect, aside from anything else, the fact that they can refine pills and obtain more Foundation Establishment Pills will greatly enhance the sect's strength.
Thinking of this, Master Muyun smiled and said, "If he really is a second-tier high-grade alchemist, then of course he is worth winning over. But I'm afraid it's just a rumor. How about this... let Tong'er investigate his background and true skill level first. If his background and skill level are all fine, then three years from now, I won't need to make a special trip to Blue Rainbow City to ask Fellow Daoist Xingyun to refine Foundation Establishment Pills."
Master Qianxue nodded, approving of Master Muyun's solution.
However, she then reminded him, "By the way, Brother Yun, Tong'er has already reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment. She might be able to attempt Core Formation in twenty or thirty years. We need to find a way to prepare the resources she needs to break through to Core Formation."
"Don't worry, I've already planned for this. Tong'er possesses an ice spirit root, and I intend to travel to the Ice Sea in a while to collect a piece of thousand-year-old ice jade for her. With this item as an aid, along with other spiritual materials, Tong'er's success rate in forming her core can reach over 30%..."
As the two talked, the noise in the hall gradually subsided.
……
Changpingfang Cave.
In the courtyard, Li Ping was meeting with a gaunt old man dressed in a gray-white robe.
This gaunt old man came to our door through Ji Shuxuan's connections. He may look unremarkable, but he is actually a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
According to his self-introduction, his name is Mei Hao, and his identity is the logistics steward of the Flying Snow Sect.
The reason I came here to see Li Ping is mainly to ask him to refine a batch of pills.
After listening to his introduction, Li Ping nodded calmly: "What kind of pill does Fellow Daoist Mei wish to refine?"
Before Mei Hao could speak, he added calmly, "My rules for alchemy are: if the pill you wish to refine is one that I have the knowledge to use, then you only need to provide the alchemy ingredients and pay the corresponding fee. If the pill you wish to refine is too obscure, then please provide the formula yourself."
This is also the rule for most alchemists to refine pills for outsiders. As for the pill formulas provided by the other party being learned by the alchemist without compensation, causing losses to the person who made the request?
The alchemist said: "Take it or leave it. If you're not going to make pills, don't block other people's way."
"It's only proper etiquette." Mei Hao quickly nodded with a smile, a hint of ingratiation in his expression.
As he spoke, he quickly stated his alchemy requirements: he wanted to refine a second-tier, mid-grade pill called the "Golden Crane Pill."
This pill can be taken by cultivators in the early and middle stages of Foundation Establishment to enhance their cultivation.
The Golden Crane Pill is a pill-making method controlled by Li Ping, so there is no need for Mei Hao to provide the formula.
In fact, Li Ping was not very willing to refine mid-grade second-tier pills.
However, since Mei Hao was the logistics steward of the Flying Snow Sect, and considering that he could use Mei Hao to fight GG, Li Ping reluctantly agreed to his request for alchemy.
The two parties agreed that Mei Hao would first pay half of the deposit, and then pay the other half after the alchemy was successfully completed.
If the alchemy fails, the deposit will not be refunded; it will be considered as compensation for Li Ping's hard work.
As a high-level alchemist, when facing cultivators seeking pills, one enjoys many privileges due to the disparity in their status, one of which is the non-refundable deposit.
Accept the deposit.
Li Ping then led Mei Hao to his alchemy room. He coughed lightly, and Mei Hao understood. He quickly took out the spiritual herbs needed to refine the Golden Crane Pill from his storage bag. Among them, a particularly special one was a fist-sized, mid-grade second-tier demon core.
After inspecting the herbs, Li Ping put them away and said calmly, "The materials are fine. I will now begin refining the pills. Fellow Daoist Mei may observe from the side, but you must not disturb me. Otherwise, any losses will be borne by Fellow Daoist Mei himself, and I will not be responsible."
Mei Hao nodded with a smile, then took out a futon from his storage bag and sat down about ten feet away from the alchemy furnace, patiently watching Li Ping start the alchemy process.
Li Ping exhaled a mouthful of innate true fire, raising the temperature of the alchemy furnace.
When he felt it was about time, he took out the materials provided by Mei Hao from his storage bag and quickly threw them into the alchemy furnace one by one.
Mei Hao was terrified by his casual demeanor.
Although he was sent by the sect leader to ask Li Ping to refine pills to test the other party's pill refining skills, these materials did not belong to him, so it didn't matter if they were lost.
But which other alchemist doesn't proceed with extreme caution when refining pills?
But this alchemist's movements were so casual, it didn't look like he was refining pills at all, but rather like he was feeding pigs.
Mei Hao secretly shook his head: "This person is probably a fraud."
Two days passed in the blink of an eye, amidst Mei Hao's worries.
"rise!"
Li Ping suddenly shouted, and the lid of the alchemy furnace was directly lifted, with a wave of heat sweeping around.
Ten pills flew out of the furnace and landed in the jade bottle that Li Ping had prepared beforehand.
He then tossed the jade bottle directly to Mei Hao: "Alright, Fellow Daoist Mei, please check it out."
Mei Hao was slightly taken aback: "That's it?"