Mortal Alchemy

Four months later, Chen Ping turned twenty.

Inside the alchemy room.

Chen Ping sat cross-legged, attempting to break through to the ninth level of Qi Refining.

However, his situation wasn't ideal.

At this moment, his eyes were tightly closed, his brow furrowed, and his forehead was covered in cold sweat.

His aptitude was too poor; now, merely breaking through to the ninth level of Qi Refining, the bottleneck was already barring his way.

The thick spiritual energy within his body continuously bombarded the bottleneck of the ninth level of Qi Refining.

That was a point in his sea of consciousness.

This attempt to break through to the ninth level of Qi Refining had already lasted for seven days.

As Chen Ping continuously strove to erode the ninth level bottleneck, the barrier finally began to crumble bit by bit under the massive influx of spiritual energy.

"Boom!!!"

Spiritual energy surged like a tide, opening the aperture in his sea of consciousness, and then external spiritual energy frantically entered Chen Ping's body.

The massive spiritual energy coursed through various meridians and apertures, finally returning to his dantian, transforming into a purple vortex.

He finally broke through to the ninth level of Qi Refining!

Chen Ping's face was pale and bloodless, nearly drained of strength, and he quickly stuffed a Qi Replenishing Pill and a Restoration Pill into his mouth.

Half a day later, his condition improved significantly.

Only then did Chen Ping slowly open his eyes, without any joy in them:

"The bottleneck of the ninth level of Qi Refining is already this difficult; I wonder how hard the bottleneck of the second qualitative change of spiritual energy will be."

"I myself must consume some Spirit Enlightenment Pills."

This breakthrough of his was purely brute force, not a natural progression.

He was only relying on the power of the 'Great Purple Immortal Pill Scripture' to remove the Dan toxins within his body, which allowed him to support such a brute force breakthrough.

If it were anyone else, they would have suffered a Dan toxin backlash, failed the breakthrough, and died from Qi deviation and demonic influence.

But if Chen Ping consumed Spirit Enlightenment Pills himself, his current resources would be insufficient again.

After all, producing two bottles of Spirit Enlightenment Pills a month, the money from selling them was just enough to satisfy his daily cultivation resources.

"I'm afraid that after the tenth level of Qi Refining, I'll be able to refine a Yuan Qi Pill every day."

One Yuan Qi Pill was equivalent to a month of his hard cultivation and meditation.

Refining one Yuan Qi Pill a day was a good thing, as his cultivation could grow faster, but correspondingly, his demand for resources would increase again.

He couldn't help but feel a bit bitter. Back then, Tang Sheng, Xu Fengshan, Hall Master Zuo, Luo Chongzhi, and others all persuaded him to become the son-in-law of the Mu family.

Firstly, there would be fewer tasks, and secondly, the Mu family could provide more resources.

"To solve this predicament, I must obtain the hundred-year-old Azure Lotus Root and unlock the Rootless Azure Lotus Fire!"

Chen Ping's desire for Foundation Establishment was burning fiercely.

"First, maintain the supply of Yuan Qi Pills and continue cultivating. It would be best to consume some Spirit Enlightenment Pills before reaching the tenth level of Qi Refining."

Unlocking the Rootless Azure Lotus Fire before reaching the tenth level of Qi Refining would be the best.

He could vaguely see his path to Foundation Establishment.

Once he entered the tenth level of Qi Refining, he would not only have to collect resources for daily cultivation but also collect Foundation Establishment spiritual objects. As an alchemist, it would be best to collect Foundation Establishment Pill materials and refine the Foundation Establishment Pill himself.

Chen Ping walked out of the alchemy room and went to the spirit kitchen to eat.

Xu Fengshan saw Chen Ping, his eyes widening: "Junior Brother Chen, you've broken through to the ninth level of Qi Refining? Congratulations!"

Calculating the time, Chen Ping had stayed at the eighth level of Qi Refining for more than two years. Now that he had broken through to the ninth level of Qi Refining, it wasn't considered fast; this time was average.

Chen Ping revealed a smile: "Thank you, Senior Brother."

Xu Fengshan sighed: "It seems that it won't be long before you can break through to the late stage of Qi Refining and attempt Foundation Establishment."

It had been two hundred years since anyone in the Pill Hall had reached the late stage of Qi Refining at such a young age. After thirty years old, there was no chance to attempt Foundation Establishment.

Every Qi Refining cultivator living in the Mu family worked hard to attempt Foundation Establishment when they were young.

But the Mu family only had three or four people who could establish their foundation every twenty years.

As for the Pill Hall, it hadn't produced a Foundation Establishment cultivator in about three hundred years.

Xu Fengshan wasn't very optimistic about Chen Ping's future.

In any case, his descendants must never enter the Pill Hall; at worst, they had to go to the Deacon Hall.

Chen Ping said, "Senior Brother Xu is too kind. It only gets harder as you go on."

Xu Fengshan laughed: "Who told you not to be the Mu family's son-in-law? Otherwise, now that you're at the ninth level of Qi Refining, you could leave the Pill Hall and attempt Foundation Establishment."

Chen Ping touched his nose and smiled bitterly: "I just want to rely on my own efforts."

Was it wrong to rely on one's own efforts instead of relying on others?

Xu Fengshan just patted Chen Ping's shoulder, leaving him with a meaningful look. Chen Ping hadn't experienced any setbacks yet.

After eating and drinking his fill, Chen Ping returned to the alchemy room to start refining pills.

Constantly refining pills was a very tedious thing.

But Chen Ping was already used to it.

"I also need to refine more Essence Qi Pills to store up when I have time."

…

"Now that I've broken through to the ninth level of Qi Refining, with a constant supply of Yuan Qi Pills, I should be able to break through to the tenth level of Qi Refining in two years."

If he could refine one Yuan Qi Pill a day, this time could be shortened to one year.

"Hmm?"

"The speed of refining Spirit Enlightenment Pills has increased?"

Chen Ping discovered that after breaking through to the ninth level of Qi Refining, the speed of refining Spirit Enlightenment Pills had increased, and he had a more detailed grasp of the refining process.

What was the reason for this?

He could only find Xu Fengshan to ask about this during mealtime.

Xu Fengshan answered with a smile: "This is normal. As your cultivation increases and your spiritual sense becomes stronger, we will definitely be more proficient in refining pills, improving the efficiency and success rate of refining pills."

"The reason why the quality of pills from the Eastern Xuan Sect is good is because these pills are all refined by Foundation Establishment cultivators."

"You will soon be in the late stage of Qi Refining, and you will come into contact with Spirit Enlightenment Pills. Take this Spirit Enlightenment Pill as an example; at least a cultivator in the late stage of Qi Refining can refine it."

"A cultivator in the middle stage of Qi Refining doesn't have enough spiritual sense and simply cannot refine it. Foundation Establishment cultivators have divine sense, which is stronger, to ensure the yield of first-order pills."

Chen Ping was stunned. His low success rate of Spirit Enlightenment Pills for so long was actually linked to his cultivation and spiritual sense.

The reason why he could refine Spirit Enlightenment Pills was purely because he had a refining technique provided by the alchemy inheritance.

This bypassed the limitation on spiritual sense.

Chen Ping took a deep breath: "I am grateful for your teaching, thank you, Senior Brother Xu."

At this moment, Chen Ping calmed down.

Returning to the alchemy room, Chen Ping continued to refine pills.

This time, Chen Ping began to slow down the speed of refining pills and carefully observe the process of pill refining.

With insufficient spiritual sense, he could observe very few details.

Improving his spiritual sense was an urgent matter, but it had to be slowed down compared to improving his cultivation.

There were so few resources at hand that they were not enough to be distributed.

On this day at the end of the month, after handing in the task, Mu Luofei came to visit.

Mu Luofei said with a smile: "Junior Brother Chen, I am at the tenth level of Qi Refining."

Chen Ping cupped his hands and said with a smile: "Congratulations, Senior Sister Luofei."

Mu Luofei, nineteen years old, at the tenth level of Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment was really promising.

"Then, Senior Sister Luofei can leave the Deacon Hall and take on some rewarding tasks."

Mu Luofei shook her head slightly:

"On the contrary, I want to cultivate deeply in the Deacon Hall so that I can collect more resources."