Chapter 315 - 287: Qingxu Guiyuan Pill, Success

Chapter 315: Chapter 287: Qingxu Guiyuan Pill, Success

It seemed the matters of the "Evil Cultivator Xiao Chan" and the "Ye Family’s beast tide" were far removed from their lives. The low-level Loose Cultivators remained muddle-headed, or perhaps just confined to their own little corners of the world.

They worked and practiced their Cultivation day after day.

In their spare time, friends would gather to drink and chat, or to vent about the hardships of Cultivation.

No one could have imagined that a great war, poised to sweep across Yunzhou, would just quietly fizzle out.

And so, gazing at the bustling crowds in the Market, even Chen Che couldn’t help but feel a sense of wonder.

’Sometimes, ignorance isn’t necessarily a bad thing.’

...

Not only did both sides tacitly cease hostilities...

Even their higher-ups went into hiding, afraid of dying a silent, unnoticed death.

After all...

From the Ye Race’s perspective, Ye Leyou had vanished right under their noses in less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea.

Chen Che, for his part, no longer left the valley rashly. The Ye Family’s foundation was deep, and their true strength certainly surpassed what was visible on the surface. If he fell into some bizarre ambush, he feared his fate would be no better than Ye Jiuming’s.

The following days were spent on nothing but Cultivation and Alchemy.

In his spare time, he also tended to a certain tree.

By constantly watering it with his Essence Blood, the Earth Store Profound Tree had now grown to over a meter tall. With it as the center, the surrounding vegetation grew exceptionally lush, and even the entire Locust Tree Forest had become more vibrant.

But it would likely still take some time for its Spiritual Qi to cover the entire Jinyun Valley, let alone the Market.

However...

The disciples in the valley had already discovered the strange phenomenon in the forest and even began to secretly practice their Cultivation there.

Chen Che had no intention of driving them away.

This was because fortuitous encounters always revolved around the strong, and most cultivators couldn’t grasp them. The fastest way for an ordinary cultivator to get ahead was, in fact, to pick up scraps. And for these disciples, a casual action from their Valley Master, Chen Che, was already a decent opportunity in itself.

Beyond that, good news arrived one after another.

The next day, while Chen Che was refining the Yang God Pill as usual, he actually succeeded in one go.

He initially thought it was a coincidence, so he started the furnace and refined it again. Not only did he succeed a second time, but the process was even smoother and more practiced than before. This was perhaps the result of a solid foundation; without any cognitive gaps, there would be no so-called bottlenecks.

With the Yang God Pill successfully created, it meant he could finally deliver on his promise to Thousand Eyes.

’Just these three Yang God Pills have cost me nearly a hundred batches of Materials...’

The thought alone made Chen Che wince at the cost.

Although the Materials for the Yang God Pill were not as expensive as those for the Qingxu Guiyuan Pill, it was a Tier Three Middle Grade pill after all, so how could it possibly be cheap? More importantly, each batch required the Divine Souls of at least three Foundation Establishment Cultivators as supplementary ingredients.

Even a Golden Core Influence would find it a strain to produce.

’It seems Thousand Eyes isn’t just attacking Hunzhou for the Power of Faith, but very likely for the materials for this Yang God Pill as well.’

Thinking of this, Chen Che secretly clicked his tongue in amazement.

This showed...

...just how difficult it was to support one’s own High Tier Alchemist. The higher the Pill Grade, the more was consumed in each batch. If Pill Formation failed, all preparations would be for naught. That was why even a power like the Primordial Sect only had two Tier Three Alchemists.

As the saying goes, when your time comes, heaven and earth work in your favor; when your luck turns, all things align.

Mastering the Yang God Pill...

...also led Chen Che to try refining the Qingxu Guiyuan Pill. He keenly grasped the changes inside the Pill Furnace and succeeded in Solidifying the Pill in one go.

"Success!"

Since he hadn’t held out much hope beforehand, this success thrilled him. In his courtyard, he examined the Qingxu Guiyuan Pill he had finally managed to refine. The Pill was golden all over, slightly flat, and resembled a grain of rice.

Most cultivators’ Golden Cores looked like this.

Ideally, a perfect Golden Core should not only be perfectly round but also uniformly golden.

But reality was always harsh.

Many cultivators would usually make various mistakes during their Cultivation. Either their True Essence wasn’t condensed enough, their Divine Sense wasn’t strong enough, or they barely managed Core Formation, all of which led to a variety of flaws.

Even on Earth Element Star, where Immortal Sect courses repeatedly emphasized, ’Only by building a good foundation can one forge a supreme Dao Foundation,’ there were still many students who, in their pursuit of higher Realms, advanced too aggressively.

This resulted in their Golden Cores having all sorts of problems.

He decided to strike while the iron was hot and continue with his Alchemy.

He focused with all his might.

True Essence churned within the Chixia Tripod. Toward the end, the medicinal power roiling inside the furnace grew more violent, and the window of opportunity for Solidifying the Pill flashed by in an instant...

Sweat beaded on Chen Che’s forehead, and his face was pale.

PFFT—

A muffled sound echoed as the Furnace Cauldron was blasted open by the medicinal energy.

’What a pity. Just a little off.’

Chen Che’s heart ached at the loss.

One batch of materials, worth over 700,000 Spirit Stones and all provided by himself, had just been burned to ashes.

However, Chen Che was not discouraged.

After resting for three days, he tried again.

There was an element of luck this time; he succeeded again, and this batch produced two Qingxu Guiyuan Pills.

「Three more days passed.」

His fourth attempt at refining ended in failure.

With that, all four sets of materials were used up.

’With my current Alchemy Skill, I have less than a fifty percent chance of successfully refining a Qingxu Guiyuan Pill.’

In the end, Chen Che could accept this result.

After all, his worst-case estimate was that it would take at least seven or eight sets of materials to refine a single pill.

But with three pills in hand...

...Chen Che was no longer as desperate as before. He planned to refine some Tier Three Low Grade pills next to practice and avoid being too wasteful. With his current assets, another four or five failures would send him right back to poverty.

’Next, I can inform Elder Meng to prepare for his Core Formation.’

Chen Che put away the pills, his mind already drifting toward the future.

...

After the pills were made, Meng Qianxun rushed over at the first opportunity.

He arrived with a grand entourage. Besides Meng Changtu, there were seventeen or eighteen Foundation Establishment Cultivators accompanying him.

"Such a large procession?" Chen Che glanced at them.

"The Ye Family is watching like a tiger. We can’t let our guard down. Caution is the parent of safety."

Meng Qianxun waved his hand, signaling for his clansmen to spread out. After all, the chance for Core Formation was right in front of them, which called for even greater caution.

"Four sets of materials, two successes, a total of three pills refined."

Chen Che took out two Jade Bottles.

The market price for a Qingxu Guiyuan Pill was about 400,000 to 500,000 Spirit Stones each. The key was that a single batch could produce several pills.

Otherwise, its price would likely soar into the millions.

The difficulty for a Foundation Establishment Cultivator to achieve Core Formation would increase many times over.

"A fifty percent success rate? That’s not low at all!"

Meng Qianxun was astonished.

Meng Changtu eagerly opened the bottle and tipped out a rice-grain-sized Pill. A look of confusion appeared on his face; he had clearly never seen this pill before.

"It is indeed. I saw one over a decade ago at an auction house in Primordial City."

Meng Qianxun nodded.

Back then, he had tried all sorts of methods to achieve Core Formation.

He had even considered the auction house, but unfortunately, that Qingxu Guiyuan Pill was bought out by someone with a single bid of 520,000 Spirit Stones. Short on funds and weaker than others, he could only sit in the auction house like a nobody, not daring to say a word.

"It’s not fifty percent. More like thirty to forty percent," Chen Che said truthfully.

"How much more do you want?! How long have you even been practicing Alchemy?"

Meng Changtu couldn’t help but interject, his voice a mix of joy and frustration:

"That Pill Master from the Primordial Sect supposedly only has a sixty percent success rate when refining the Qingxu Guiyuan Pill."

"Only sixty percent?"

"Sixty percent is a lot! How many Pill Masters have gambled everything on a single batch of Qingxu Guiyuan Pills only to lose it all, unable to recover for half their lives?"

Meng Changtu shot him a glare and carefully put away the pill. He had always believed Core Formation was far too distant for him, never imagining it would be within his grasp.

However...

...his Cultivation was not yet sufficient. It would be some time before he could use this pill.

"When does Elder Meng plan to attempt Core Formation?" Chen Che asked.

"This matter should be handled sooner rather than later. Only by achieving Core Formation as soon as possible can we completely escape the threat of the Ye Family."

Meng Qianxun clutched the jade bottle, his eyes blazing:

"This old man must stand at the forefront to hold up the sky for all of you."

Once he had a Golden Core...

...the Ye Family’s attention would be entirely focused on the Meng Family. At the same time, the pressure on Jinyun Valley would surely plummet.

The same day they received the pills, Meng Qianxun and Meng Changtu left Jinyun Valley.

...

After seeing off the Meng father and son, Chen Che summoned Chen Yin.

Just half a day later, this ancestor of the Great Chen Royal Family had already arrived. He also brought several types of materials for refining the Qingxu Guiyuan Pill. "I heard Tributor Chen was preparing for Core Formation, so I came to contribute what little I could. The environment in Hunzhou is quite good; I managed to collect several kinds of materials."

Before Chen Che could speak, the other party proactively presented several brocade boxes.

Low-level cultivators couldn’t see through the recent actions of the Ye Family and the Meng Family, but he could guess a thing or two.

It was likely the aftermath of the ambush that killed Ye Jiuming.

It’s easy to add flowers to brocade, but hard to send charcoal in a snowstorm.

Rather than trying to curry favor later when it was too late, it was better to lend a hand now. Moreover, the gratitude earned this way would naturally be much deeper than usual.

"Thank you."

Chen Che naturally understood the other party’s intentions.

However, his intention this time was not to ask Chen Yin for materials. Instead, he took out several bottles of pills. "The Yang God Pills are complete. I had quite a few extra, so I’ve set them all aside for Fellow Daoist Chen. The quality of these pills is excellent."

"Oh?"

Chen Yin was slightly shocked. He uncorked a bottle, took a look, and poured out several round, golden pills. The pills looked incredibly sacred; there was no sign at all that they were refined using materials like Divine Souls, bone ash, and Spirit Blood.

This was the principle of "when something reaches an extreme, it reverses."

This pill could solidify the Soul Body. In addition, it had a slight effect of enhancing one’s Divine Sense, equivalent to two sticks of Divine Court Incense.

He sighed inwardly.

’It seems the other party had long known I was secretly pilfering pills meant for Thousand Eyes and has now deliberately set a portion aside for me. This way, they could also avoid a situation where Thousand Eyes discovers the "thief in the house".’

"Tributor Chen’s skills are exquisite. I am truly in awe," Chen Yin praised him without reservation.

Although...

...Chen Che always politely refused his overtures of goodwill, these pills once again solidified his intention to befriend Chen Che.

For any given power...

...the value of a Pill Master with extraordinary Alchemy Skill was so great that it was no less than that of some high-tier combatants.

Especially one who could refine Realm-breaking Elixirs.