After flying out of Elder Tianding's cave residence, Fang Qing did not return directly to the Mystic Jade Cave. Instead, he headed toward the Pill Hall to take a look.
'That old Tianding still clings stubbornly to the idea of passing his mantle to .'
Fang Qing inwardly cursed with a laugh, then fell into thoughtful silence.
'The Long-Awaited Sweet Rain infused with Dao Foundation mysteries has only average healing effects, yet it seems to possess the quality of nourishing without sound or trace. It is remarkably beneficial for hidden injuries to a cultivator's foundation.'
Hidden foundation injuries!
These were far more terrifying than losing limbs. When a cultivator failed a bottleneck breakthrough, overstimulated their body's potential, or used certain forbidden techniques, backlash could occur. The foundation would suffer severe damage, leading to a drop in realm with little chance of further progress. In worse cases, it resulted in death and the Dao's dissipation.
Even with healing pills, such damage could rarely be fully repaired. Hidden flaws often remained, unnoticeable at first yet capable of blocking breakthroughs to major realms later!
For instance, injuries from failed Foundation Establishnt or Core Formation attempts were all foundation wounds, extrely difficult to heal completely.
Take Qin Ruxue: she had barely succeeded after three attempts at Foundation Establishnt and was now seen as having exhausted her potential. In terms of prior sect treatnt, she fell far short of soone like Fang Qing, who succeeded on his first try.
'In such situations, perhaps my Long-Awaited Sweet Rain could prove useful? At the very least, it could protect a cultivator from suffering too severely, preventing a major realm drop.'
'Whether it helps with Core Formation remains unknown—the Long-Awaited Sweet Rain is too low in grade. But for a ninth-layer Qi Refining cultivator, its effect seems comparable to a Foundation Establishnt Pill?'
'As expected, Ancient Shu's Dao arts are profoundly mysterious, opening up an entirely new world. Their combat power is no weaker either.'
He was now an early Dao Foundation sword cultivator, yet he felt capable of fighting late Foundation Establishnt cultivators from this side!
This ant that an early Dao Foundation cultivator from Ancient Shu's dominant lineage was roughly equivalent to a late Foundation Establishnt cultivator in the Qi Refining system!
'Then wouldn't a late [Lou tal] Dao Foundation sword cultivator be able to fight an early Core Formation ancestor?'
Fang Qing felt no confusion about mismatched realms. Instead, it seed entirely natural.
The Qi Refining path and the Qi Ingestion path were fundantally different systems. How could they correspond strictly one-to-one?
By the ti one reached Purple Mansion in the Qi Ingestion path, the disparity would surely grow even larger.
'Could it be that a late Purple Mansion great cultivator is comparable to a Nascent Soul monster?'
He suddenly realized he needed to reassess the true weight of Ancient Shu's Purple Mansion cultivators.
Take that Purple Mansion sword cultivator great cultivator—Spiritual Master Yanbo!
He had always been extraordinary. Within his Blessed Land, he had even collected a strand of [Stomach Earth] divinity. Perhaps that was precisely why he perished!
'But I have not yet cultivated to such a realm. Right now I can only view things from a lower perspective. These speculations are like blind n groping an elephant—utterly laughable!'
Whoosh!
Fang Qing descended from his escape light and arrived at the Pill Hall entrance.
"Greetings, Martial Uncle!"
The two Qi Refining disciples guarding the doors did not dare slack off. They quickly bowed in respect.
"No need. Take to the dicinal herb storehouse!"
Fang Qing spoke directly. The two disciples exchanged a glance, both feeling their scalps go numb. They wanted to refuse but did not know how to phrase it.
Although this person was a Foundation Establishnt cultivator from Pill Island, he held no official position in the Pill Hall and carried no token from Elder Tianding. If he entered the storehouse and took precious herbs, the worst that might happen to him was a light punishnt. But they, the guarding disciples, would surely suffer severe consequences.
Fang Qing naturally saw their hesitation. He smiled faintly, nodded, and produced the bronze token Elder Tianding had given him. "What about now?"
"So it is under Elder Tianding's command. Martial Uncle Fang, please!"
The two disciples let out sighs of relief and hurriedly led Fang Qing behind the bronze hall to a massive storehouse. "Martial Uncle, the restrictions here cannot be opened by us. You will need to handle it personally."
"Mm."
Fang Qing swept his divine sense outward and noticed that one of the disciples guarding outside the pharmacy was soone he recognized: Hua Lingsu.
The woman bowed with utmost respect. Fang Qing rely gave a slight nod, then took out the bronze token, ford hand seals with both hands, and poured in his mana.
Sizzle!
A streak of rosy light appeared on the bronze token and swept across the storehouse doors.
Crackle!
Multicolored restrictions shimred into view before quickly fading away. The massive doors slowly opened, revealing the vast interior of the storehouse.
Layers of light screens floated up, guarding every dicinal shelf with impenetrable security.
Many of the arrays possessed temperature and humidity control effects, preserving the spiritual herbs' properties far more effectively.
Of course, certain materials required high heat or extre cold for storage, so the storehouse contained dedicated special zones for them.
Fang Qing strolled through the aisles, glancing casually around. "Second-rank mid-grade Nine Serpent Stan Heart?"
"Second-rank superior spiritual herb—Purple Gleam Spirit Flower?"
"Third-rank turtle blood? Such a large jar. Could this be from that Overturning Sea Turtle? Mm, and so fragnts of third-rank turtle shell here as well—excellent dicinal materials in their own right."
After making a full circuit, Fang Qing felt a slight disappointnt.
Most of the storehouse's contents consisted of first and second-rank materials. The third-rank items were limited to the Overturning Sea Turtle's blood and shell fragnts—clearly just scraps and leftovers.
Clearly, the true third-rank spiritual herbs, along with the core materials from the Overturning Sea Turtle and Chaos-Sea Flood Serpent, must all be kept on Ancestor Ruan Zhixuan herself.
"Fortunately, the materials for second-rank superior Barrier-Breaking Pills do not require third-rank ingredients. I can gather at least a small portion right here."
Fang Qing showed no courtesy whatsoever. He repeatedly waved the token to open the light screens and took away every precious herb he needed.
Since Pill Island now fell under his authority, he naturally intended to secure his own salary first. This was basic professional managerial conduct.
He did not stop at just the Barrier-Breaking Pill ingredients. He also took small amounts of several other healing and recovery pills.
Of course, he exercised restraint and did not strip the shelves completely bare.
Later, if the sect summoned Pill Island to refine a batch of Barrier-Breaking Pills, he could still withhold a portion of the materials as "normal pill-refining loss." After all, his pill-refining skill fell short of Elder Tianding's—who could argue?
After exiting the storehouse and resealing the restrictions, Fang Qing's mood soared.
Hua Lingsu, the one responsible for guarding the pharmacy, looked on the verge of tears.
Fang Qing paid no attention to a subordinate's feelings. He proceeded to a hall at the rear of the Pill Hall.
This was the place where Elder Tianding usually handled daily affairs.
Fang Qing glanced left and right, then sat directly in Tianding's seat.
"Junior Brother Fang, you..."
A Foundation Establishnt alchemist walked in. Upon seeing Fang Qing's action, he froze in shock.
"Senior Brother Han."
Fang Qing gave a slight smile. He recognized this man as the second-rank alchemist surnad Han who had once examined him.
He produced the bronze token and cleared his throat. "Sigh. I had no wish to take on such burdens, but Senior Brother Tianding insisted on entrusting this great responsibility to ."
Elder Han's face imdiately cycled through every shade of color, turning red then white. In the end, he obediently bowed. "This old man Han Qingfeng pays respects to the Acting Hall Master!"
"Mm. What major matters have occurred on Pill Island recently?"
Fang Qing flipped through several jade slips on the desk and asked casually.
"The daily pill-refining tasks on Pill Island were already arranged by Hall Master Tianding long ago. We only need to follow the established procedures."
Han Qingfeng was an honest man. "The only significant upcoming matter is that in a little over a year, the true disciple selection will arrive again. We may need to prepare a batch of Foundation Establishnt Pills. We must notify the Transforming Dragon Pool to slaughter second-rank flood serpents and extract their demon cores. If the cores fall short, as in past years, we would normally request the sect to conduct a deep-sea grand harvest. But given the current circumstances, that is clearly unsuitable. In my humble opinion, we should simply submit a report to the sect leader stating that we will refine as many Foundation Establishnt Pills as we have cores available."
He glanced at Fang Qing, inwardly grumbling: Even with Junior Brother Fang's pill-refining skill, plus our support and that third-rank spiritual spring, we may not produce many genuine pills. After all, Foundation Establishnt Pills rank as second-rank superior. In the past, only Senior Brother Tianding had a high success rate. We cannot possibly pass off inferior products, can we?
The sect required at least twenty-five genuine Foundation Establishnt Pills for its twenty-five true disciples. In previous years, this had always been Pill Island's top priority.
"Besides that, with the great war approaching our sect, we face an urgent shortage of all kinds of healing and recovery pills. I have heard that the demonic cultivators in the Sea-Destroying Alliance excel at fire thods, so we will also need spiritual pills to cure fire poison."
One had to admit that Han Qingfeng was truly an old hand in the Pill Hall. He handled every matter in an orderly and thorough manner.
"Good!"
Fang Qing clapped his hands in praise. "Senior Brother Han truly handles affairs with seasoned maturity."
"Not at all, not at all." Han Qingfeng waved his hands repeatedly, too embarrassed to admit that he had long coveted the position of Pill Hall Master and understood its operations quite well.
"I will sign the decree right now, appointing Senior Brother Han as Vice Hall Master, effective imdiately."
Fang Qing was delighted. It was rare to find soone who could both do the work and take the bla. Why hesitate?
"Ah?"
Han Qingfeng stood frozen in place, unable for a mont to sort out his own feelings.
At the summit of Cold Spring Peak.
After settling matters in the Pill Hall, Fang Qing ca here first and used the token to open the outer array.
What t his eyes was a scene of birdsong and fragrant flowers.
The surrounding rocks glead with a warm, jade-like luster. At the peak stood a jade pool containing the Blue Sea Sect's sole third-rank spiritual spring.
This third-rank spiritual spring had always belonged to Tianding. Now, naturally, it was relinquished.
"What fine spring water. Judging by its water vein, this should be a third-rank cold spring."
Fang Qing converted his mana to the [Ji Water] thod, reached out, and lifted a thread of spring water. Yet he felt no chill at all—on the contrary, it carried a faint warmth.
"A third-rank spiritual spring with its chill restrained inwardly. Tianding must have regularly nourished it with all sorts of spiritual water and herbs. The water is rich in dicinal properties; to a Qi Refining cultivator, it would already count as a rare divine elixir."
"With Tianding out of the picture for now, this spiritual spring is temporarily mine. I can refine quite a few pills with it."
For a water-thod alchemist, possessing a good spring was akin to a mortal martial artist obtaining a divine weapon—its power more than doubled.
"With my pill-refining skill and mastery of the Water Control Technique, refining Foundation Establishnt Pills using this third-rank lower-grade spiritual spring might stably produce three genuine pills!"
"Moreover, this spring's water properties are abundant. It even has potential to advance to third-rank mid-grade. The Water-Fire Pill Formula..."
After all, the Water-Fire Pill Formula only had so effect on second-rank lower-grade cold springs. Applying it to a third-rank lower-grade spiritual spring would be forcing things.
Still, Fang Qing felt that with his own water-thod attainnt, if he studied it carefully, he might be able to use the Water-Fire Pill Formula's principles to elevate this third-rank spiritual spring by a minor grade.
There were many difficulties, of course. The first and foremost was that he would need to refine sothing approaching third-rank fire liquid to have even a chance of success.
Fang Qing did not expect certain victory. He simply treated it as a research topic—one that could improve his own [Ji Water] attainnt.
"Such a rare opportunity. First, let refine a batch of pills."
User Comments
0 comments from readers