Mortal Alchemy

Chen Ping looked at his entire net worth of eight spirit stones and felt utterly poor.

After entering the eighth level of Qi Refining, Chen Ping originally needed three days to refine one Yuanqi Pill, but now it only takes two.

To ensure that his cultivation speed doesn't fall behind, the supply of Yuanqi Pills cannot be interrupted.

As such, the demand for resources is even greater, and his monthly production of one bottle of Spiritual Sense Pills is insufficient.

Moreover, he is now encountering the bottleneck period of the second spiritual power transformation, and he himself will soon need to start taking Spiritual Sense Pills.

He has fallen into a predicament of resource scarcity.

How to relieve his worries? Only by increasing the production of Spiritual Sense Pills.

However, after refining Spiritual Sense Pills so many times, he can be said to be extremely proficient in their refinement, but the success rate just won't increase.

He is now in the same predicament as other alchemist disciples, with a sharp increase in the demand for resources, but the supply of resources cannot keep up.

If this continues, he will miss the golden time for Foundation Establishment, and he will have no hope of Foundation Establishment in this life.

Solving the problem of Spiritual Sense Pill production is now a matter of urgency.

A few days later, Chen Ping ran into Xu Fengshan in the Spirit Cuisine Hall.

Chen Ping now realized that almost everyone in the Pill Hall was eating in the Spirit Cuisine Hall, for no other reason than they felt they had no hope of Foundation Establishment and wanted to save as many resources as possible for their children and grandchildren.

Even a single grain of Body Cleansing Pill or Qi Replenishing Pill was saved if possible. Currently, the alchemist disciples of the Pill Hall had reached a private agreement with Mu Lu妃, and they needed to refine more Essence Qi Pills to earn money.

Therefore, they didn't refine Body Cleansing Pills and Qi Replenishing Pills, and their meals were all settled in the Spirit Cuisine Hall.

In the past, most people would go home to visit their families and descendants every month during their rest days.

But now, they can't wait to soak in the alchemy room at all times.

Xu Fengshan's eyes widened when he saw Chen Ping: "Chen Brother, you've already reached the eighth level of Qi Refining?"

Is there any sense to this? This is too incredible.

Chen Ping smiled: "A lucky breakthrough, a lucky breakthrough."

It took Xu Fengshan a while to recover before he smiled and said:

"Congratulations, Chen Brother. After reaching the eighth level of Qi Refining, you can apply to the Left Hall Master for a monthly stipend of three spirit stones. I'll take you to see the Left Hall Master later."

Chen Ping secretly groaned, knowing that this was the rule of the Pill Hall and could not be avoided.

Each month, he would have to spend more time completing Pill Hall tasks.

"You're almost seventeen years old now, hey, three spirit stones a month, that's thirty-six a year, three hundred and sixty in ten years, and three thousand six hundred in a hundred years, enough to buy a Foundation Establishment Pill."

A Foundation Establishment Pill costs about three thousand five hundred spirit stones, but it's expensive and hard to find on the market.

But how can Qi Refining disciples have the lifespan to refine pills for a hundred years?

Ninety years old is almost the limit. The previous Senior Brother Liu passed away only a few months after leaving the Mu family. If he didn't refine pills, he might have lived to ninety years old in this life.

Chen Ping took this opportunity to ask:

"Senior Brother Xu, I was just about to ask you about this. My pill refining technique is already extremely proficient, but the pill formation rate just won't increase. I always fail easily. Do you know what's going on?"

Xu Fengshan smiled dumbly: "Chen Brother, you're not a newcomer to the Pill Hall. You've been in the Pill Hall for several years. How can you not even understand this?"

"Junior Brother is dull," Chen Ping cupped his fist and said: "Please teach me, Senior Brother."

Xu Fengshan explained: "It's very simple, the problem lies with the pill furnace and the spirit fire."

"There are three main points for us alchemists to refine good pills: the quality of the medicinal materials, the quality of the pill furnace, and the quality of the spirit fire."

"Even if the alchemy room is cleaned spotlessly, the pill furnaces we use are all old goods that have been used for one or two hundred years and should have been eliminated long ago."

"Spirit fire is even more important."

"But the Mu family only allows us to refine Essence Qi Pills, Qi Replenishing Pills, and Body Cleansing Pills. They simply don't want to bother. Anyway, we are just expendable materials for refining pills. Why would they let us live so comfortably?"

Chen Ping suddenly understood: "So the problem lies with the pill furnace and the spirit fire."

Xu Fengshan said: "We have been refining Essence Qi Pills for decades. Normally, we can refine them successfully with our eyes closed. It's just because the pill furnace is not good and the spirit fire is average that we have to stare at the pill furnace seriously at all times..."

In other words, this may be intentional by the Mu family, deliberately creating this kind of alchemy environment in order to exploit and squeeze them, so that these alchemist disciples can't have other thoughts and are exhausted from completing tasks.

Another pit discovered...

Chen Ping nodded: "Senior Brother Xu, where can I get a better pill furnace and spirit fire?"

Xu Fengshan said: "Chen Brother, it's too early for you to consider this issue. When we entered the Pill Hall, we swore a demonic oath that we would not leak the knowledge taught by the Mu family.

Wait until you marry and have children, establish a small immortal cultivation family, and then consider this matter. A good pill furnace that can be passed down for two hundred years costs five hundred spirit stones, and as for spirit fire, any first-order spirit fire costs thousands of spirit stones."

Chen Ping was dumbfounded: "So expensive?" Chen Ping would have to stop cultivating and save for ten years without eating or drinking to save up one thousand five hundred spirit stones.

Even if he saved up this money, he would have missed the best period for cultivation and Foundation Establishment in this life. He could only pass on the Foundation Establishment dream to his children and grandchildren.

A pit, too much of a pit!

"What did you think?" Xu Fengshan showed a playful smile: "Among the hundred arts of immortality, alchemists are the most money-burning."

"Even the wealthy Eastern Xuan Sect cultivates alchemists by having Foundation Establishment cultivators slowly practice from first-order pills."

"Pill formulas, medicinal materials, pill furnaces, spirit fire, which one doesn't cost money? Not to mention the requirements for alchemists, such as divine sense, talent, experience, and so on."

Xu Fengshan thought that Chen Ping had figured it out and wanted to marry and have children to establish a small immortal cultivation family.

Chen Ping cupped his fist and said: "Thank you for your explanation, Senior Brother Xu."

His heart was cold and heavy:

"It seems that in order to solve the problem of Spiritual Sense Pill production, I must first obtain a better pill furnace and spirit fire."

He once again experienced the darkness and cruelty of the immortal cultivation world, and his heart could not help but feel desperate and weak.

He also understood more clearly why Xu Fengshan and others were so enthusiastic about marrying and having children to establish a family after they had no hope of Foundation Establishment.

If we can't do it, then we will entrust the Foundation Establishment immortal dream to the next generation, until someone ascends to the immortal foundation and sings a song, continuing our immortal dream. Isn't this also a kind of immortal path?

After eating and drinking, Xu Fengshan took Chen Ping to the Left Hall Master's dojo.

......

The Left Hall Master, with a powerful aura like a high mountain facing an abyss, sat on a futon, looked at Chen Ping, and let out a chuckle:

"Eighth level of Qi Refining? Not bad, not bad. From now on, you will refine forty furnaces of pills and receive a monthly stipend of three spirit stones."

Chen Ping pretended to be excited: "Thank you, Hall Master!"

One more spirit stone a month in salary, but the working hours are doubled, and you still have to be grateful.

The Left Hall Master also has a beautiful appearance and an attractive figure, but no one dares to look at her with blasphemous eyes. Chen Ping and others don't even dare to look directly at her, they can only lower their heads and look at the ground.

The Left Hall Master looked at Chen Ping and said meaningfully:

"Do you regret the decision you made a few years ago now?"

"If you had agreed to be the Mu family's son-in-law, you might have had a chance to hope for Foundation Establishment in this life."

"However, even if you change your mind now, it's useless."

"One wrong step, and every step is wrong. Go down."