Under Han Li’s control, the purple flames spewed by the eight dragon heads thickened from the size of a finger, while the silver cauldron’s rotation gradually slowed and began to tremble faintly within the flames.
As time passed, a faint medicinal aroma wafted from the small cauldron, refreshing anyone who caught its scent. However, Han Li knew it was still far from forming pills. At the very least, a more intense earthfire was needed for instantaneous condensation to form the pills.
With this thought, the purple flames under Han Li’s control grew increasingly dazzling, even reaching the thickness of a bowl’s mouth, enveloping the entire silver cauldron. From a distance, the small cauldron appeared as a massive fireball, and the medicinal fragrance grew even richer.
Without guessing, Han Li knew that the medicinal powder was beginning to condense into pills, so he focused even more intently.
But just then, a muffled cracking sound came from the cauldron. Though not loud, it made Han Li’s heart sink, and his expression turned grim.
Hesitating for a moment, Han Li sighed and cut off the earthfire. With a wave of his hand, he opened the lid of the still-scorching cauldron and peered inside.
Inside were several shattered pale blue solids—clearly, these were the failed pills that had not properly condensed.
Shaking his head, Han Li took out a jade box and placed it on the ground. He then tipped the silver cauldron, pouring the failed pills into the box before storing it away. Even though they were failed pills, they were still condensed from various spiritual medicinal powders. Han Li couldn’t bear to discard them, as they might still serve another purpose in the future.
After finishing this task, Han Li returned to his meditation mat and sat in meditation until the silver cauldron had completely cooled. Only then did he begin alchemy again.
The same steps, the same raw material powder, the same flame control technique. Unfortunately, he failed again at the condensation stage.
This time, Han Li’s face remained expressionless. After adjusting his state, he silently began the next round…
…
A month passed, and the ugly man was surprised to see that Han Li had yet to emerge from the earthfire room. However, he felt more excitement than surprise, as this meant he could extract more fees.
Two months later, the stone door of room eighteen remained closed. While the ugly man was delighted, he was also greatly astonished.
Three months…
Six months later, there was still no sign of Han Li emerging. By this time, the ugly man’s joy had completely vanished, replaced only by a face full of worry and a belly full of unease.
Spending nearly half a year in alchemy or artifact refining was not uncommon. The ugly man had even seen longer durations. However, those who spent such extended periods in the earthfire rooms were at least Foundation Establishment disciples! For a Qi Condensation disciple like Han Li to stay inside refining pills for so long was truly the first time he had encountered such a thing.
Moreover, Qi Condensation disciples could only sustain themselves without food for a month at most. Could it be that this disciple of Elder Li had brought food and drink with him, allowing him to persist until now? The ugly man was filled with doubt.
Inside the earthfire room, Han Li sat cross-legged on his meditation mat, staring at the more than twenty sparkling blue Foundation Establishment Pills floating before him, lost in thought.
These pills were the result of half a year of painstaking effort. Obtaining them had been incredibly difficult!
In the first twenty or so attempts, Han Li couldn’t even pass the condensation stage. Watching the failed pills pile up, his heart ached immensely. He nearly gave up, planning to return and learn proper alchemy from other alchemists before attempting to refine Foundation Establishment Pills again. Although this would undoubtedly take a long time, it was better than wasting spiritual medicines outright.
But just before leaving, as if guided by fate, he lit the cauldron for one more attempt. This time, as if divinely aided, the pills condensed successfully. When he opened the cauldron to retrieve the pills, he miraculously succeeded on the first try, obtaining the first Foundation Establishment Pill he had ever refined himself.
Aside from being slightly smaller, this pill was identical to the original three. This greatly boosted Han Li’s spirits!
Encouraged by this success, Han Li gritted his teeth, dismissed thoughts of returning, and calmly continued his work.
Surprisingly, after this success, Han Li’s rate of successful condensation skyrocketed. He succeeded once every three attempts. As for retrieving the pills, Han Li showed an astonishing talent, successfully retrieving over half of the pills on the first try—something he had never expected!
During this time, whenever Han Li felt hunger or thirst, he would take one of the Fasting Pills he had obtained from the old man, allowing him to persist for another month! This bottle of Fasting Pills had been exchanged for a few hundred-year herbs he claimed to have acquired from outside. Now, they had finally come in handy.
Thus, when Han Li exhausted his ingredients, he obtained this astonishing number of Foundation Establishment Pills, far exceeding his initial expectations.
Initially, hearing about the difficulties of alchemy, he thought obtaining seven or eight pills would be quite an achievement! But now, it seemed that opening the cauldron for alchemy wasn’t as exaggeratedly difficult as rumored in the cultivation world. Were alchemists misleading other cultivators? Or did he truly have a talent for alchemy?
Han Li was slightly puzzled!
In reality, Han Li had it wrong. Alchemy was actually three times more difficult than the rumors suggested. An alchemist of average skill required twenty to thirty years and a nearly astronomical amount of wealth to cultivate.
Han Li’s current skill in refining Foundation Establishment Pills already ranked among the upper echelons of ordinary alchemists! The reason for this unbelievable outcome was entirely due to Han Li’s nearly half-year of uninterrupted refinement of the same pill.
After all, even the wealthiest sects couldn’t afford to let an alchemist practice with ample rare materials daily for half a year.
Such a thing was only possible with the lowest-grade pills. But if they were low-grade pills, why bother cultivating to accumulate experience? The ingredients were cheap, so if one failed, they could simply try again.
Unaware of this, Han Li didn’t dwell on it. After a brief consideration, he moved on. Suddenly, the idea of immediately taking a Foundation Establishment Pill to attempt a breakthrough arose in his mind.
This urge was so strong that Han Li seriously considered the possibility of secluding himself in the earthfire room for closed-door cultivation.
…
Eleven months later, the stone door of Han Li’s earthfire room remained tightly shut, showing no signs of opening.
On this day, the ugly man stared blankly at the door of room eighteen, his face full of worry! By now, he was certain something had happened to Han Li inside. Otherwise, even a Foundation Establishment cultivator should have emerged by then.
It wasn’t that he was worried about Han Li himself, but he was truly afraid that Elder Li would blame him if his disciple met with an accident. Although he was a close relative of Sect Leader Zhong and managed this place by virtue of that connection, the ugly man knew full well that if Elder Li were to become angry, his backer would never stand up for him.
Just as the ugly man was consumed with worry, the stone door before him suddenly flashed with white light and opened silently. A man walked out, beaming with joy—it was Han Li, who had been inside for nearly a year.
It took the ugly man a long moment to react. Overcome with shock and joy, he hurried forward and complained, “Junior Brother, why did it take so long? If you hadn’t come out soon, I would have… Huh! You…!”
Mid-sentence, the ugly man’s eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost. He pointed at Han Li, stammering incoherently.
“What’s wrong? Is there something off about me?” Han Li glanced at the ugly man, a faint glow flashing across his face as he smiled.
“Your… your cultivation! How… could it be…? Are you… at the Foundation Establishment stage?” The ugly man finally regained his composure after a long while, his face a mix of confusion and fear as he stammered the question.
“Mm! After refining the pills, I thought the environment here was quite suitable, so I took a Foundation Establishment Pill and went into seclusion. As it turned out, I succeeded in breaking through. I am indeed a Foundation Establishment cultivator now!” Han Li stretched lazily and replied nonchalantly.
“You achieved Foundation Establishment here?” The ugly man glanced at the earthfire room behind Han Li, then turned his gaze back to Han Li, still unable to believe it. He had never heard of anyone achieving Foundation Establishment in a room specifically designed for alchemy and artifact refining!
But after moving his lips a few times, he held back the questions on the tip of his tongue. Not only was the other party Elder Li’s disciple, but his status as a Foundation Establishment cultivator alone was something he, a mere Qi Condensation disciple, couldn’t afford to provoke.
“What? Is it not allowed?” Han Li glanced at him lightly and spoke bluntly. Immediately, the unique pressure of a Foundation Establishment cultivator emanated from him, forcing the ugly man, who was standing mere inches away, to retreat several steps, sweating profusely.
“Of course not! There’s no such unreasonable rule above. Congratulations, Uncle, on your successful seclusion!” The ugly man was quick to please, immediately bowing and scraping with a flattering smile. His address changed from “Junior Brother” to “Uncle” in an instant.
Now that the other party had successfully reached Foundation Establishment, he would henceforth be his elder. Showing respect was only appropriate.
The ugly man was very pragmatic, thoroughly understanding the cultivation world’s principle of strength supremacy.
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