Chapter 45: Foundation Establishment Failure

“Mm… seasoned technique. The Water-Control Technique has been cultivated quite well—he actually shattered the Qi Refining Flower in an instant… He has already completely mastered this second-tier spiritual spring.”

At the side, Elder Han watched Fang Qing make his move, his pill-refining technique incomparably smooth, and could not help but nod inwardly.

Several days later, Fang Qing formed hand seals with both hands, and a batch of Qi Refining Powder rose directly out of the pool.

“Not bad, not bad…”

Elder Han accepted it and sniffed lightly. “The various main ingredients have fused quite perfectly. Undoubtedly a standard product…”

“Many thanks for Elder’s appraisal.”

Fang Qing adjusted his breathing for a while, then began refining the ‘Qi-Replenishing Pill’.

He had already pondered this pill formula and even practiced it several times; he was fairly confident.

Even so, under the condition of deliberately concealing his Divine Sense and not using it, his first pool still ended in failure.

‘Having Divine Sense in the Qi Refining stage is a mark of genius, but the tallest tree in the forest is battered by the wind… I have no backing of my own, so it is better to keep a hidden card.’

‘In front of a Foundation Establishment Elder, as long as I do not use Divine Sense, he will not proactively intrude with his own Divine Sense into my Sea of Consciousness to discover this secret…’

‘Precisely because of that, I can also mask my pill-refining skill a little—downgrading it from outstanding to merely passable…’

Fang Qing, neither arrogant nor impatient, drained away a pool of waste water and continued adding the main ingredients.

“Mm?”

Seeing this scene, Elder Han felt a trace of cherishing talent arise in his heart.

He had seen many pill-refining geniuses. When things went smoothly, everything might proceed without hindrance—but how one performed in adversity was another matter.

This disciple named Fang Qing, even after ruining a pool, remained unhurried and unflustered. At the very least, his mental composure alone was comparable to that of a low-grade first-tier pill master.

Fang Qing had no idea about Elder Han’s many thoughts and successfully refined the Qi-Replenishing Pill.

Afterward, he began refining the ‘Return-to-Origin Pill’. This pill was a top-grade first-tier healing pill. Although it did not possess the life-restoring, bone-regenerating effects of the second-tier Flesh-Regrowing Bone-Renewing Pill, a severely injured Qi Refining cultivator who swallowed one could still greatly alleviate their wounds.

However, the difficulty of refining this pill was clearly much higher.

Fang Qing barely ruined two pools of spiritual materials before finally forming hand seals with both hands, causing a crimson pill to fly out from the spiritual pool.

“Not bad, not bad… You are called Fang Qing, yes? Your Water-Control Technique, at your age, can already be considered outstanding.”

Elder Han accepted the pill and appraised it. “It is just a pity… many of your pill-refining techniques are clearly learned from books. You do not know how to apply them flexibly… Sometimes, a single pointer from a master can save a disciple who knows how much bitter toil.”

After praising him for quite some time, he waited for Fang Qing to request apprenticeship.

Unexpectedly, Fang Qing seemed not to understand his hint—or even his overt suggestion—at all, merely listening respectfully.

‘So be it… In the end, there is no fate between master and disciple.’

Elder Han sighed and waved his hand to open the formation. “Go to the Pill Hall. You have now advanced to a top-grade first-tier pill master and can be considered a core disciple of the sect… You may consult certain second-tier pill formulas, pill scriptures, and even rent a second-tier spiritual pool…”

“Many thanks for Elder’s guidance.”

Fang Qing revealed a grateful expression and followed Elder Han to the Pill Hall to update his identity token.

“Congratulations, Junior Brother… on advancing to top-grade first-tier pill master.”

Hua Lingsu congratulated him with a radiant smile. “With Junior Brother’s aptitude, you will surely soon be able to refine a second-tier pill, advance to a quasi–second-tier pill master, and then become a true second-tier pill master.”

To become a second-tier pill master, one needed to refine at least three different second-tier spirit pills!

If one could only refine one or two kinds, within the sect one would merely be called ‘quasi–second-tier’!

Of course, among Loose Cultivators outside, that would already be a bona fide second-tier pill-refining grandmaster!

At the side, Elder Han’s lips curled slightly.

For a first-tier pill master, as long as one was willing to pour in resources, it was easy to advance to top grade.

But to break through to the second tier? Without the assistance of Divine Sense, how difficult was that? He knew clearly.

If Fang Qing were his disciple, he would certainly admonish him earnestly, telling him not to grow arrogant.

As things stood now? Better forget it…

‘It’s finally settled. I can first go check the pill formulas, then collect materials. At the same time, rent a second-tier spiritual pool…’

‘It just needs to take a bit longer, so that it appears I have accumulated for a long time and finally scraped together one batch of materials for a gamble… when in fact I will prepare ten or eight batches and break through to second-tier pill master in one stroke!’

Fang Qing accepted his identity token, a surge of bold ambition rising in his heart.

But in the next instant, a strange fluctuation of spiritual power spread out.

“Eh?”

Elder Han sensed it first, transforming into a streak of light and flying out of the Pill Hall.

Fang Qing and Hua Lingsu followed, and saw that above a cave dwelling on Pill Island, spiritual energy had suddenly gathered like clouds, forming an enormous vortex.

The vortex was like a funnel, frantically devouring the surrounding spiritual energy and plunging it into the cave dwelling.

What followed was a fluctuation of True Power far exceeding the Qi Refining stage!

“Foundation Establishment!”

“A disciple of this island is attempting Foundation Establishment?”

Elder Han was experienced and stroked his beard with a smile. “From the look of it, the Essence Gate and the Qi Gate have already been passed, thus forming such a celestial phenomenon… Next, as long as Divine Sense is generated and the Spirit Gate is crossed, this island will gain another fellow Daoist.”

“Judging by the cave dwelling’s location, it is Senior Brother Five Dragons Child’s.”

After observing for a moment, Hua Lingsu suddenly spoke, her gaze toward Fang Qing somewhat strange.

Fang Qing did not think much of it. He had never seen a cultivator attempt Foundation Establishment before and observed with great interest:

‘Mm, the breakthrough in the Qi Refining path is not small in scale… but it seems to lack the profundity of the Qi Ingestion Path…’

After all, he had witnessed the Mixed-Sea Flood Dragon Serpent undergo Tribulation Crossing. Its momentum had indeed been immense.

But to speak of affecting an entire commandery, manifesting phenomena, or hindering other fire-aspected cultivators from breaking through… that was entirely impossible!

Thus, it seemed that Core Formation cultivators of the Qi Refining path might well be inferior to the Purple Palace Realm of the Qi Ingestion Path!

At this time, outside Five Dragons Child’s cave dwelling, many disciples had already gathered, all pointing and discussing.

“I heard that Senior Uncle Cui Zhe had already successfully established his foundation, emerged from seclusion, and even received orders to go forth, slaying Hua Tianfeng, the Foundation Establishment Ancestor of the Hua Family, with a single sword before returning. He is truly a peerless sword-path genius…”

“By comparison, it seems another Senior Brother Ruan failed his breakthrough?”

“Now, it all depends on Five Dragons Child…”

Cultivators possessed great patience; everyone waited an entire day and night.

Suddenly!

The spiritual energy vortex trembled, and from within the cave dwelling came a long sigh.

The vortex in midair collapsed at once, dispersing into multicolored specks of light that scattered into the surrounding void and vanished…

“Five Dragons Child… failed Foundation Establishment?”

“Well, with one standard Foundation Establishment Pill, the success rate is only about thirty percent…”

The onlooking disciples were either regretful or gloating.

Fang Qing, however, looked solemn. He saw several Foundation Establishment Elders send out Sound-Transmitting Talismans; the cave dwelling opened, and a pale-faced Five Dragons Child, his robes stained with blood, walked out to receive treatment.

‘Very good… It seems the Foundation Establishment Pill ensures that one does not die even upon failure. Its effect is not bad.’

‘Five Dragons Child had already completed most of Foundation Establishment, yet fell at the Divine Sense gate?’

At this thought, Fang Qing understood even more clearly just how extraordinary his Horse-Headed Vajra Guardian Divine Art and Spirit-Consolidating Powder were.

…

Deep night.

Many disciples’ cave dwellings on Pill Island were still abuzz over Five Dragons Child’s failure in Foundation Establishment.

In comparison, Fang Qing’s advancement to top-grade first-tier pill master seemed completely unimportant.

After all, Five Dragons Child had long since been one.

Inside his cave dwelling.

Fang Qing was copying pill scriptures.

“As expected of a Foundation Establishment family, the Hua Family has collected quite a number of pill formulas. They even have the second-tier Flesh-Regrowing Bone-Renewing Pill… That saves me a sum of Contribution Points at the Heavenly Book Pavilion for copying pill formulas.”

Although after advancing to top-grade first-tier pill master he had the authority to consult pill scriptures and copy pill formulas… all of it required Contribution Points.

Fortunately, when Fang Qing had previously killed Hua Family cultivators, he had seized many Hua Family books.

“This Flesh-Regrowing Bone-Renewing Pill uses Flesh-Regrowing Flower and Bone-Renewing Grass as main ingredients… each worth about one hundred spirit stones. Adding the auxiliary ingredients, one batch costs several hundred spirit stones… If I ruin it a few times, losing over a thousand spirit stones—even a Foundation Establishment cultivator would feel the pain, right?”

Fang Qing secretly clicked his tongue.

After copying the pill formula, he took out a bottle of fruit wine, laid out several plates of fine dishes, and began satisfying his appetite.

While eating and drinking, he flipped through miscellaneous books obtained from the Hua Family.

“After Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment comes Core Formation, Nascent Soul, and Spirit Transformation… When Spirit Transformation is perfected, one can ascend to the Immortal Realm?”

In a cultivator’s personal notes, Fang Qing saw the major realms of the Qi Refining path and could not help but yearn for them.

“What kind of might do Nascent Soul and Spirit Transformation possess? Ascension? Could one truly go to the Immortal Realm?”

“However, it is written here with certainty that around ten thousand years ago in the Eastern Sea Cultivation World, there truly was a Spirit Transformation great power who ascended…”

He continued reading the next travelogue and discovered it was the diary of a certain Hua Family ancestor.

“A proper person… who keeps a diary?”

Fang Qing skimmed a few lines but grew interested.

After all, it involved the various forces of the Small Huan Sea and local customs.

Suddenly, his wine cup paused when he saw a sentence:

“…Heard that the Founding Ancestor of the Azure Sea Sect, Azure Sea True Person, possessed a supreme treasure, the Tide-Birth Pearl, which could allow a Foundation Establishment cultivator to immediately obtain Core Formation True Power… Later lost—fortunately so!”

The brushstrokes were filled with schadenfreude!

“Tide-Birth Pearl!”

Fang Qing’s expression darkened as he recalled the hint obtained from his divination: “External Pill Art… Tide-Birth Pearl? So that’s it. I understand now!”

“This so-called ‘Tide-Birth Pearl’ must require a third-tier Demon Pill and be refined through the External Pill Art?”

“It seems this Hua Family ancestor only knew of the existence of this supreme treasure, but did not know its origin or main refining materials… Otherwise, how could the Zhong Family of Taibai Island and the Heavenly Heart Linked Islands still sit calmly today?”

He remembered clearly that the Mixed-Sea Flood Dragon Serpent had definitely condensed a third-tier Demon Pill; otherwise, it could not have drawn heavenly tribulation!

And that serpent was water-aspected, perfectly compatible with the Azure Sea Art of the Azure Sea Sect!

“Core Formation cultivators can use magic treasures. In terms of combat finesse, they may even surpass third-tier demonic beasts by a notch… Before long, the sect will have two Core Formation combat powers. As long as they find an opportunity to ambush the Zhong Family ancestor or Jade Yao Daoist, the entire Small Huan Sea will immediately be settled!”

Fang Qing secretly grasped the trajectory of the Azure Sea Sect’s rise and was even more delighted that his cultivation in Plum Blossom Divination had advanced further.

“To interpret the hexagram in greater detail, I will need more clues…”

“However, would the Tide-Birth Pearl refined from a peak third-tier Demon Pill in the hands of the Azure Sea Founding Ancestor have the same effect as one refined from a newly entered third-tier Demon Pill?”