A cool breeze swept through the mountain ravine, stirring troubled thoughts.
The roar of the silver dragon—the cascading waterfall—thundered in the ears.
Luo Chen stood by the cliff edge, his eyes heavy with sorrow.
Suddenly, an exclamation of surprise came from the side.
“Fellow Daoist Luo, you’re here again? Don’t tell me another member of your Luotian Association is attempting Foundation Establishment!”
Turning his head, Luo Chen saw Nangong Jin wearing an astonished expression.
He still lived right next door.
Luo Chen managed a strained smile. “Someone did attempt it. Unfortunately... they failed.”
Hearing this, before Nangong Jin could express his condolences, an instinctive sense of relief flashed through him.
This awkward clash of impulses left him with an odd look on his face.
Luo Chen furrowed his brow and stared at him.
Nangong Jin coughed dryly. “Foundation Establishment failure is only natural. So long as one isn't a Heavenly Spirit Root cultivator, no matter how outstanding one’s aptitudes or how thorough one’s preparations, there will always be that slim chance of failure. Fellow Daoist, don't take it to heart.”
Luo Chen frowned in puzzlement.
“Why do Heavenly Spirit Root cultivators face no bottleneck whatsoever, while other aptitudes cannot? What about Dual Spirit Roots? What about Variant Spirit Roots?”
Nangong Jin gave a faint smile.
“Why is a Heavenly Spirit Root not simply called a Single Spirit Root, but rather a Heavenly Spirit Root? Isn't it precisely because they are singularly blessed, cherished by the Heavenly Dao itself?”
“As for other aptitudes...”
Nangong Jin paused, then asked offhandedly, “Let me ask you: how much does a low-grade Foundation Establishment Pill increase one's chances of success?”
“Thirty percent!”
“Then for such Qi Refinement cultivators, even if they make ten thousand preparations to absolute perfection, can they really scrape together the remaining seventy percent?”
Luo Chen parted his lips, momentarily at a loss for words.
Back then, even though his physique had reached the Diamond Realm perfection, his divine soul rivaled that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and his delicate control of spiritual power was unmatched among his peers...
Even with such flawless preparation, he had endured four outright failures.
Only on his fifth attempt did he barely succeed!
Had his dantian not possessed the resilient, expansive capacity afforded by his Five Spirit Roots aptitude, the immense medicinal potency of five portions of Foundation Establishment spiritual medicine would have surged backward into his meridians, inflicting catastrophic injuries.
In fact, he had felt back then that his cultivation was no longer merely the 9th Layer Great Perfection of Qi Refinement.
Swollen by those five portions of Foundation Establishment medicine, it had momentarily surged into the tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth layers!
Seeing Luo Chen struck dumb, Nangong Jin could not help but chuckle.
“Don't worry yourself so much.”
“Did the person survive?”
Luo Chen nodded. “Though heavily injured, after treatment, her life is no longer in danger.”
“Surviving is all that matters. Once she recovers properly, there will still be opportunities in the future... How old is the one who attempted the breakthrough?” Nangong Jin asked casually.
Luo Chen pondered for a moment and gave an approximate figure.
“Around fifty-two!”
“Then she's still quite young!” Nangong Jin said breezily. “Nurse her wounds for a few years, and she can try for Foundation Establishment again!”
Indeed!
Still young!
Snapping back to his senses, Luo Chen solemnly thanked Nangong Jin.
Nangong Jin waved his hand dismissively, made small talk for another moment, and then took his leave from Tianlan Peak.
Turning back, Luo Chen looked toward the cave entrance.
“Big Brother Qin, you heard that as well, didn't you?”
From within the cave abode, a weary, weathered Qin Liangchen stepped outside.
After three days of treatment, Murong Qinglian had finally awakened from her coma.
Her current condition was far from good.
Luo Chen's Healing Art, powered by his exceptionally pure spiritual power, was remarkably effective.
However, injuries could not simply vanish into thin air through spiritual energy alone.
Throughout the healing process, what had actually been depleted was the vitality Murong Qinglian had accumulated over many years.
This vitality, by Luo Chen's understanding, could be summed up as cellular vigor, latent vitality and blood power forged through years of physical cultivation, dispersed spiritual power, and the like.
Only by working on both fronts had he managed to restore most of her severely damaged meridians.
The rest, however, had to depend on quiet recuperation by her own efforts.
Taking spiritual herbs, eating foods rich in innate qi and spiritual energy.
Such a process could not be accomplished overnight.
Therefore, she would need to spend the next year or two meticulously nursing her health.
This was why it was often said that cultivators had best attempt Foundation Establishment before the age of sixty.
If one failed a breakthrough after turning sixty, even if one did not perish on the spot, the time required to nurse the body back to health would take five or six years, or even more than a decade.
The older one grew, the more one's physical functions deteriorated.
The decay of vitality and blood was no mere figure of speech.
Fortunately!
Murong Qinglian was still relatively young. After spending a year or two recovering her physical constitution to its former state, she would still have a chance to attempt Foundation Establishment again.
Yet, when that time came...
Qin Liangchen wore a deeply troubled expression.
Within the Luotian Association, the two of them were not the only ones with hopes of achieving Foundation Establishment!
Yet the Foundation Establishment Pills they could procure were few and far between.
In a year or two, Murong Qinglian would be nowhere near the front of the line.
Seeing his tongue-tied, crestfallen demeanor, Luo Chen furrowed his brow.
He could roughly guess what was weighing on the man's mind.
Yet he could not make promises directly to his face.
Patting Qin Liangchen on the shoulder, Luo Chen consoled him, “At least she survived.”
Qin Liangchen nodded. “I'm thinking too much. Her still being alive is already an incredible stroke of fortune. Luo Chen, I've taken up far too much of your time these past few days. Go attend to your business; having me here is enough.”
Luo Chen acknowledged with an affirmative sound and departed.
***
Returning to Cave Abode B-17, Luo Chen sighed and dwelled no further on the matter.
In certain things, he had already done everything within his power.
Success or failure ultimately came down to individual fortune and destiny.
Murong Qinglian had clearly made every preparation imaginable.
She had not even suffered from the weakness of an unsteady Dao heart like Min Longyu.
Even so, she had still failed.
“Success rate...”
Luo Chen murmured the words. Whenever breaking through a major realm, success and failure walked hand in hand.
To raise the chances of success, besides marvelous spirit pills, there was actually another way.
Namely, increasing the number of attempts!
However, attempting breakthroughs multiple times came at a far steeper price.
Sufficient quantities of Foundation Establishment spiritual medicine, paired with a physique capable of withstanding the backlash of every failure.
Neither could be spared!
“When I form my Core in the future, can I still apply the same logic I used for Foundation Establishment?”
“With my aptitudes, a single portion of Core Formation spiritual medicine will surely be insufficient.”
“It seems that at every major auction in the future, I must keep an eye out for Core Formation spiritual medicines.”
“Still, the most pressing matter is to raise my cultivation realm first. Before reaching the late stage of Foundation Establishment, it will be hard to even take part in the struggle for Core Formation spiritual medicine!”
Taking a deep breath, Luo Chen settled his mindset, cleared his mind, and entered a meditative state of cultivation.
***
After Sima Huiniang established the new merit policy, the Luotian Association once again embarked on a path of full-speed development.
This time, because of the new merit policy, the drive of the Luotian Association's cultivators surged within a short period.
Whether in the Biyou Valley market or across the spiritual fields of the Medicine Hall, cultivators bustled about daily.
The other halls were equally unwilling to fall behind.
The earliest good news came from the Pill Hall.
Visitors had arrived from Peach Mountain!
As an enterprise belonging to Hundred Blossoms Palace's Old Ancestor Peach Blossom, Peach Mountain's business had always flourished.
As its practical manager, Xuan Yu, who was in the late stage of Foundation Establishment, had profited considerably from it, which had provided immense assistance in his bid for Ice Fort's Core Formation spiritual medicine.
Evidently, however, they were not content with just that.
Consequently, Peach Mountain set its sights on the Myriad Wonders Pills sold by the Luotian Association.
A Foundation Establishment cultivator from Peach Mountain personally ascended Danxia Peak to sign a contract with Sima Huiniang.
Priced at ten spirit stones per pill, they directly bought up all the Myriad Wonders Pills Mi Li refined each month!
In this way, this single order alone generated a monthly profit of nearly a thousand spirit stones.
Over the course of a year, that totaled over ten thousand!
This revenue naturally could not compare to what Luo Chen had achieved refining Jade Marrow Pills back in the day.
To the Luotian Association as a whole, it was hardly staggering.
Yet it served as an excellent start!
To mark the occasion, Sima Huiniang granted Mi Li a special reward.
Spurred on by this, the other three alchemists of the Pill Hall also redoubled their efforts, focusing on refining their respective varieties of pills.
The developments in the Pill Hall were merely the tip of the iceberg.
The Artifact Hall was where the truly earth-shaking transformation occurred!
Duan Feng's breakthrough to Foundation Establishment allowed him to handle artifact forging with far greater ease.
Min Longyu, a Foundation Establishment formation master, had also affiliated himself with the Artifact Hall in the capacity of an elder.
With his mastery of formations, he provided substantial assistance in crafting magical artifacts!
In a mere three months, he and Duan Feng had successfully forged superior-grade magical artifacts!
One had to understand that even the shoddiest superior-grade artifact could sell for a thousand spirit stones.
If its attributes were outstanding, fetching four to five thousand was by no means impossible.
It was clear that the two men's joint forging was preliminary preparation for repairing the Wandering Eighteen Array Disk and completing the two magic treasure embryos.
Yet this period of working together also indirectly bolstered the overall strength of the Artifact Hall.
The apprentice blacksmiths Duan Feng had trained over the years were now beginning to take on various demanding artifact-forging tasks as well.
It could be said that everything in the Luotian Association was heading in a positive direction.
Meanwhile, as the master of the Luotian Association...
Luo Chen made fewer and fewer public appearances, living in seclusion atop Tianlan Peak.
What he did every day would have seemed exceedingly monotonous to outsiders.
Reading, practicing spells, refining pills, and cultivating.
Restricted to just these four tasks in an endless cycle, he never grew tired of them.
Time slipped by.
Half a year passed in the blink of an eye.
On this day, Luo Chen sat cross-legged upon the Ice Silkworm Mat.
The cool, crisp chill kept his mind lucid and serene.
Before his eyes, an attribute panel visible only to him shone with bright brilliance.
[Lifespan: 40/190]
[Spirit Roots: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth]
[Cultivation Realm: Foundation Establishment Layer 3 (60/100), Blood River Realm (20/100)]
[Cultivation Methods: Yimu Medicine King Scripture (Grandmaster 840/1000), Bright Spirit Fiend Breaking (Grandmaster 700/1000), Myriad Beast Scripture (Entry 10/100)]
[Spells:
Tier 2: Landslide (Perfection 350/500), Glazed Canopy (Adept 200/300), Turtle Spirit Armor (Proficient 101/200)
Tier 1: Healing Art (Great Perfection), Earth Mountain Technique (Grandmaster 625/1000), Surging Waves Technique (Grandmaster 650/1000), Soundproof Art (Grandmaster 570/1000), Soul Intimidation Art (Perfection 310/500), Great Perfection Spells (Click to view details)]
[Alchemy Arts: Folding Jade Hand (Great Perfection), Pure Heart Hand (Great Perfection), Washing Brook Hand (Grandmaster 650/1000), Cloud Transformation Hand (Perfection 471/500), Clear Source Wondrous Elixir Method (Grandmaster 510/1000)]
[Martial Arts: Mountain-Cleaving Stele-Shattering Palm (Great Perfection), Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers (Grandmaster 501/1000), Wang Clan Secret Manual (Proficient 249/300)]
[Skills: Tier 2 Alchemist: Fasting Powder (Great Perfection), Myriad Wonders Pill (Great Perfection), Jade Marrow Pill (Great Perfection), Nether-Passage Pill (Great Perfection), Blood Burning Pill (Adept 204/300), Jade Dew Pill (Adept 201/300), Emperor's Flowing Syrup (Entry 3/100)]
[Achievement Points: 25]
Gazing blankly at the attribute panel with a lucid mind, Luo Chen fell into a momentary trance.
Were these the accomplishments he had achieved now that he had reached "middle age"?
A cultivation realm of the 3rd Layer of Foundation Establishment, and a body refinement realm of the Blood River Realm.
Even within a major sect, he would undoubtedly be counted as an absolute prodigy!
After sighing with emotion, he browsed through the attribute panel to take stock of his gains over the years.
The proficiency of his primary cultivation method, the *Yimu Medicine King Scripture*, had been ground up to 840, leaving only 160 points shy of Great Perfection.
Grinding it to Great Perfection would take about a year.
There was no rush.
As long as he cultivated daily and constantly circulated his natal cultivation method, he would inevitably reach the finish line.
On the side of spells, the gains were considerable.
Thanks to grinding both the Earth Mountain Technique and the Surging Waves Technique to Grandmaster level, *Landslide*, on which he pinned high hopes, had finally reached the Perfection level.
At this tier, it could already be put to preliminary use in combat.
Its present power was roughly comparable to a fully stacked Blazing Sun Art.
However, casting this spell required fusing three Tier 1 spells, which was quite cumbersome.
Without having achieved instantaneous casting, employing it still required careful consideration and weighing the battlefield environment.
The advancement of *Glazed Canopy*, a Tier 2 defensive spell, was far slower.
After all, he had begun cultivating the former during his Qi Refinement days, whereas this one had only been picked up after achieving Foundation Establishment.
Nonetheless, the spell’s merits were quite prominent.
In close-quarters defense, its performance was exceptionally outstanding, and Luo Chen had now listed it among his regular combat techniques.
*Turtle Spirit Armor* was a spell he had picked up a year ago.
Cultivating it was somewhat tedious and divided into four stages.
Over the past year, whenever Luo Chen traveled, he had constantly adjusted the breathing rhythm throughout his body.
Now, he had finally mastered the "Turtle Breathing" portion.
“If I employ Turtle Breathing now, its effect would probably surpass that rogue cultivator on the Gaoling Plain battlefield by several notches!”
With a soft chuckle, Luo Chen skipped past the Tier 1 spells column.
The only noteworthy item among them was that the Soul Intimidation Art had arduously advanced to the Perfection level.
As for the rest, there was little to say.
What drew Luo Chen's closest attention was the Alchemy Arts column.
From his departure from Dahe Market to his arrival here in Tianlan Immortal City, a full five years or so had passed.
During these five years, he had personally refined hundreds of thousands of Jade Marrow Pills, over a thousand Nether-Passage Pills, and two hundred Jade Dew Pills!
Under such an immense volume of pill refinement, his alchemy arts had undergone an unimaginable leap.
Unimaginable, yet not impossible to quantify.
One could glean as much from the advancement of his alchemy arts.
The Great Perfection Folding Jade Hand went without saying.
The Pure Heart Hand, an alchemy technique dedicated to processing botanical ingredients, had also advanced to the Great Perfection level.
The Washing Brook Hand had reached Grandmaster, and the Cloud Transformation Hand had attained Perfection.
Such a swift rate of advancement in alchemy arts would leave anyone dumbfounded.
Among all his alchemy arts, the one Luo Chen cared about most was the *Clear Source Wondrous Elixir Method*, the technique he had acquired last for neutralizing pill toxins.
Over five full years, he had built it up from scratch all the way to Grandmaster level.
At this moment, within his sea of qi, a resilient, massive vortex was constantly spinning on its own.
Streams of spiritual energy entered it before being flung outward, washing against the shores of the qi sea.
Along the shoreline walls, the adhering pill toxins were rinsed loose by this refined spiritual energy, falling away in flakes to be expelled from Luo Chen's body.
A Grandmaster-level *Clear Source Wondrous Elixir Method* was already capable of thoroughly resolving the lingering peril of pill toxins!
Now, Luo Chen no longer had to worry about pill toxins impeding his future realm breakthroughs.
Even better, he could pop pills with complete peace of mind to accelerate his cultivation!
Such immense advancement in alchemy arts naturally translated to greater proficiency in his specialty pills.
Nether-Passage Pills reaching Great Perfection was his greatest harvest of these past years.
As for Tier 2 Jade Dew Pills, by occasionally refining a batch, he had also ground his proficiency to the Adept level.
Currently, his pill formation rate for Jade Dew Pills reached as high as thirty percent, and he could even produce medium-grade ones.
Supplying Fairy Jueqing was no longer a difficult task.
He merely kept this secret close to his chest.
The deadline she had given him was ten years.
Only a year and a half had passed so far; it was still early, and there was no need to rush at all!
As for martial arts, Luo Chen paid them little mind for now.
The advancement of the *Wang Clan Secret Manual* stemmed from his daily routine of running through the Five Viscera Health-Preserving Fist once and stepping out a few Soaring Dragon Steps.
Yet this manual covered far too much ground.
Fists, palms, fingers, leg techniques, lightness skills, footwork, concealed weapons, sabers, spears, staves, and cudgels—all-encompassing and thoroughly comprehensive.
It truly represented the life's blood of a martial grandmaster!
However, he only dabbled in it.
What caused his physical strength realm to rise was not cultivating this manual, but rather the subtle, passive enhancement brought on by spiritual energy soaking into his body over prolonged periods of cultivation.
One could easily imagine that without active cultivation, this automated growth would become increasingly sluggish the further along it went.
Luo Chen did not particularly mind this.
His achievement points, on the other hand, had accumulated to twenty-five, which was truly a pleasant surprise.
He had rarely paid attention to them normally.
A spell advancing, a pill variety rising in proficiency, or other minor breakthroughs—unbeknownst to him, he had stockpiled twenty-five achievement points.
The lion's share had come from alchemy-related accomplishments.
“Twenty-five achievement points are enough to pick up a new Tier 2 spell or Tier 2 pill formula.”
“Yet right now, I don't really have any need in that department.”
He already knew more than enough spells!
Among his peers, no one devoted a portion of their time to spells the way he did.
In the eyes of ordinary cultivators, this was a case of losing more than one gained.
Yet back in the day, Luo Chen had repeatedly slain opponents across realms relying on his consummate spells; how could he easily abandon this avenue of cultivation?
Pills required even less explanation.
Jade Marrow Pills provided a source of wealth, Jade Dew Pills served as a crucial link to maintain connections, and Nether-Passage Pills were used to cultivate the divine soul.
Unless someone handed him a pill formula comparable to Qi Harmonizing Pills or Soaring Dragon Pills right now, he probably wouldn't recklessly learn it and grind it to the point of producing superior-grade pills!
There was no helping it; Luo Chen had suffered from a lack of cultivation pills for far too long!
The reason he had been able to progress from [Foundation Establishment Layer 3 (10/100)] to [(60/100)] within a single year following the auction was not just due to a superior-grade cave abode, the Ice Silkworm Mat, and his divine soul advancing to the late Foundation Establishment stage—allowing him to circulate his natal cultivation method multiple times.
The greatest contributor was still those thirty bottles of medium-grade Qi Harmonizing Pills!
Those medium-grade Qi Harmonizing Pills had aided his cultivation immensely.
And now?
Gone!
Every last one had been consumed.
Otherwise, why would he have had the free time today to thoroughly browse his attribute panel?
“Without Tier 2 medium-grade pills, I'll have to return to cultivating with low-grade Soaring Dragon Pills.”
Luo Chen felt somewhat glum.
Having tasted better pills, who would want to return to that snail's-pace cultivation speed?
Yet certain matters did not bend to human will.
When it came to higher-grade orthodox cultivation pills, no major sect would release them lightly.
They kept them for internal use or traded them amongst fellow sects.
Even those medium-grade Qi Harmonizing Pills had only been released at the auction in small batches because the Medicine King Sect was immensely wealthy and sought to uphold its prestige as a premier alchemy sect.
“It’s a pity Jade Dew Pills are only suitable for female cultivators. Otherwise, if I refined them to superior or even supreme grade, wouldn't my cultivation speed take off like a rocket!”
Jade Dew Pills possessed unique efficacy, but only for female cultivators.
For male cultivators, they were actually flawed pills.
Once swallowed and refined, the residual yin-cold qi trapped inside the dantian would severely afflict a male cultivator.
The higher the grade of the pill, the heavier the yin-cold qi!
Female cultivators naturally loved it, but Luo Chen certainly did not.
To make matters worse, this "flaw" directed at male cultivators was not an innate defect like the dantian solidification caused by Jade Marrow Pills.
It was beneficial to female cultivators.
This was an intentionally designed, deliberate characteristic.
Consequently, even the panel system would not optimize such a "flaw" away.
“No, I have to find a way and work out a channel to acquire more medium-grade and superior-grade Qi Harmonizing Pills outside of auctions.”
“Soaring Dragon Pills would work too!”
“Counting the days, Li Jinhuang should be returning soon.”
“He’s old, well-connected, and has plenty of channels. Perhaps he knows of ways to procure higher-grade pills.”
His mind made up, Luo Chen was utterly unwilling to let the grade of his pills drag down his cultivation speed.
A few days later.
A voice-transmitting paper crane drifted through the Pure Heavenly Water Defensive Array, fluttering gracefully until it arrived before Luo Chen's cave abode.
Moments later, a figure departed Tianlan Peak.
Chapter 272