Qin Sang handed over Senior Brother Wen's waist token and offered a brief explanation.
"I would like to consult the sect's preserved alchemy texts and any ancient records concerning spiritual herbs. I hope Senior Brother Zhang can accommodate me."
"Of course, of course..."
Senior Brother Zhang readily agreed. He personally led Qin Sang toward the great hall in the rear. The hall was divided into several side chambers sealed by restrictions, with characters such as Artifact, Talisman, Formation, and Pill inscribed above the arched doorways. Each chamber was filled with rows of wooden shelves, giving Qin Sang the fleeting sensation of stepping into a library in his past life.
Walking all the way to the deepest part, Senior Brother Zhang undid the restriction on the Pill Chamber, pointed to the rows of wooden shelves inside, and said, "Junior Brother Qin, these ancient books are mostly related to spiritual herbs and alchemy, though the majority are mythical tales and legends. You may browse them as you please. Among the jade slips, some contain pill formulas, and others hold alchemy insights gathered by the sect. You can only view portions of them; if you wish to study them in full, you will need to pay some spirit stones..."
Qin Sang stepped forward and found that most of the ancient texts were severely tattered, preserved from destruction by the passage of time only through faint coats of spiritual light. The jade slips, however, were few.
Nowadays, spiritual herbs were scarce in the cultivation world and the alchemical arts had fallen into decline. Aside from the Taiyi Dan Sect, which had founded its sect upon alchemy, other sects lacked the resources to cultivate the craft even if they wished to.
After Qin Sang willingly handed over the required spirit stones, Senior Brother Zhang nodded in satisfaction. "Take your time and look through them, Junior Brother Qin. If you need anything, simply call for me. I shall not disturb you further."
Once Senior Brother Zhang had left, Qin Sang walked over to the jade slips, picking them up to examine them one by one.
The pill formulas in the jade slips contained only descriptions of the pills' effects, the required spiritual herbs and their characteristics, and medicinal properties. The fine details of the concoction process were sealed and required spirit stones to view, but he had no spare energy to dabble in alchemy and had no need for those parts.
He had come here with two purposes.
One was to trace the origins of the mysterious orchid.
The other was to see if there were any spirit pills or spiritual herbs capable of repairing a damaged foundation, lest he encounter one during his future travels and pass up the opportunity simply because he failed to recognize a treasure.
Before long, Qin Sang had skimmed through the jade slips, after which he gingerly picked up the ancient texts to read.
Although the ancient books were filled with absurd myths and legends, they also contained many wondrous accounts that broadened Qin Sang's horizons. It took him a good half of the day to finish going through every ancient volume.
Replacing the final book on its shelf, Qin Sang furrowed his brow, sinking into thought.
From all these ancient texts and jade slips, he had indeed learned of two spiritual herbs capable of restoring a damaged foundation to its pristine state. One was called Dao Scripture Grass, and the other Crimson Cloud Purple Fruit. Both had appeared in ancient texts, mentioned only in passing within legendary tales.
What these two herbs looked like, what environments they grew in, and whether there were any taboos when consuming them were entirely absent from the records. Qin Sang remained completely in the dark.
Nor had any herb mentioned in these books matched the mysterious orchid.
Qin Sang stood up, committing the names of the two herbs and their associated stories to memory. He turned and walked out of the Pill Chamber, exchanging a word of greeting with Senior Brother Zhang. Just as he was about to leave Pagoda Peak, a thought struck him. He halted, turned around, and asked, "Senior Brother Zhang, are all of the sect's alchemy texts kept in the Pill Chamber?"
Senior Brother Zhang replied, "The vast majority are kept here. However, a few rare pill formulas and vital ancient texts are stored in the inner hall. It is just that the inner hall involves sect secrets, so ordinary disciples are not permitted to enter at will..."
Qin Sang suspected that what he sought might well be inside. Seeing the man's evasive, hesitant demeanor, Qin Sang guessed he was angling for a bribe.
Unfortunately, Qin Sang was in no mood to play along. His expression tightened slightly, and he asked in a low voice, "Senior Brother Zhang, what are the requirements to enter the inner hall? Does one truly require a decree from a Golden Core Master to enter?"
Senior Brother Zhang's expression shifted. He gave a dry laugh and hastened to say, "You make it sound too serious, Junior Brother Qin! How could I dare disturb Martial Uncle Mawu over such a trifling matter? It merely costs a few more spirit stones than the outer chamber. If Junior Brother Qin is interested, I shall open the inner hall for you at once."
The jade slips and ancient texts in the inner hall were far fewer than those outside, and Qin Sang finished reviewing them all before long. As he departed Pagoda Peak, his expression was complicated. In one of the inner hall's jade slips, he had indeed found an entry concerning the mysterious orchid.
This jade slip was the relic of a master alchemist, containing his alchemy insights as well as observations from throughout his life, mostly related to the alchemical path.
Among them was a record of an orchid known as the Nine-Illusion Heavenly Orchid.
Above the stamen of the Nine-Illusion Heavenly Orchid drifted a wisp of vapor, which gave rise to the sun, moon, and stars, mountains, rivers, and lakes, exotic beasts and celestial herbs, carriages, horses, and pedestrians—as though an entire miniature world resided within the blossom. It matched the characteristics of that mysterious orchid completely.
Beyond that, what was even more miraculous was that prior to reaching maturity, the Nine-Illusion Heavenly Orchid would cycle through nine distinct orchid forms, a process the master alchemist referred to as a metamorphosis.
Only an orchid that had undergone nine metamorphoses was a true Nine-Illusion Heavenly Orchid, and each metamorphosis required five hundred years.
Before its first metamorphosis, the Nine-Illusion Heavenly Orchid merely took the form of an ordinary spiritual herb.
After undergoing its first metamorphosis, a single blossom would bloom in the likeness of the mortal world's common sword orchid. It appeared lush and clustered, but all its petals were actually formed as one piece.
Only upon the second metamorphosis would a second petal grow.
By the ninth metamorphosis, the orchid would possess nine petals opening in a circle. Its appearance would seem exceedingly ordinary, yet it was called the Heavenly Orchid.
The orchid in his possession had only seven petals and resembled a Snow-Covered Ink Orchid. Even if it were on the verge of beginning its eighth metamorphosis, it would still take five hundred years before it fully matured.
Reading to this point, Qin Sang felt an almost immediate urge to sell the Nine-Illusion Heavenly Orchid in exchange for items he could actually use.
Having just broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage, he had just over two hundred years of lifespan remaining. Even if he were lucky enough to form a core, he could live to five hundred years at most unless he found miraculous herbs or pills capable of extending his lifespan.
In other words, he might never live to see the day the Nine-Illusion Heavenly Orchid matured, leaving it as nothing more than a family heirloom.
Yet a single sentence written below by the master alchemist caused Qin Sang's eyes to widen in shock.
'Such a heavenly treasure is exceedingly rare in this world. It serves as the primary ingredient for the miraculous Du'e Pill. A person on the verge of forming a nascent soul who ingests the Du'e Pill can increase their chances of success by twenty percent!'
Reading this line sent a profound shock through Qin Sang's heart and mind.
When cultivators broke through bottlenecks, what they fought for was that slim sliver of opportunity.
He had already tasted firsthand how difficult Foundation Establishment was.
As one's cultivation rose, the difficulty of breaking through bottlenecks grew ever steeper. Even a favored darling of heaven with a heavenly spiritual root like Fairy Chenyan had failed in her attempt to form a nascent soul and had been driven to cultivate an evil plucking and replenishing technique.
What did an additional twenty percent chance of forming a nascent soul mean?
If a Core Formation cultivator possessed even a ten or twenty percent chance when attempting to form a nascent soul, they would be overjoyed. Many Golden Core cultivators dared not gamble on such slim odds, spending their lives roaming the realm in search of miraculous herbs, only to die without ever finding a single one.
In the vast Lesser Cold Domain, cultivators were as numerous as carp crossing a river, yet only eight righteous sects possessed Nascent Soul Patriarchs overseeing them. It was said that the Heavenly Demon Mound and the demonic sects had even fewer.
Chapter 133