105: Chapter 105 The Desolate Spirit Desert, Starting the Refining of Pills

Early the next morning, Qi Yang, leaning on a broken wooden stick, walked with unsteady steps to the Spirit Plant House of Baicao Peak.

The manager of the Spirit Plant House was sitting with one leg crossed over the other, drinking tea.

"Lord Manager, this old man's body is getting worse by the day. Recently, I've constantly been coughing up blood, and I would like to ask you for sick leave."

As Qi Yang spoke, he began to cough violently, as if his lungs were about to be coughed out.

The manager covered his nose in disgust. "Sick leave? You old bones shouldn't stay in the Nether Grass Field, why are you running over here to bring bad luck? I'll grant you a few days then."

Trembling, Qi Yang fished out ten Low-Grade Spirit Stone from his sleeve and stealthily shoved them into the manager's hand.

"Lord Manager, this old man wants to take half a year of leave to return to my hometown in the Mortal kingdom to take a look. Perhaps... perhaps I won't be able to come back."

Qi Yang's eye sockets were slightly red, his acting vivid and lifelike.

The manager squeezed the Spirit Stone in his hand, and his eyes lit up.

The Nether Grass Field was already remote to begin with, so it wouldn't matter if no one managed it for a few months.

Since this old fellow was about to die and could still squeeze out ten Spirit Stone, this deal was quite profitable.

"Fine, fine. Seeing that you're pathetic, I'll grant you half a year of sick leave. Hurry up and get lost, don't die inside the Sect!"

The manager waved his hand impatiently.

Qi Yang expressed his utmost gratitude before withdrawing from the Spirit Plant House.

Returning to the Nether Grass Field, Qi Yang immediately activated the sealing Formation on the outer perimeter of the grass field and hung up a wooden sign stating he was closed for recuperation.

Subsequently, he returned to the underground secret room, and following the underground passage that had long been dug out, he left the Xuantian Sect and headed straight for the Spirit-Deprived Desert tens of thousands of miles away!

...

Violent winds howled, and yellow sand filled the sky.

The environment of the Spirit-Deprived Desert was even harsher than recorded in ancient texts.

The sky here was shrouded in grayish-yellow sandstorms all year round. There was not a trace of Spiritual Qi in the air; instead, it was filled with a violent gale capable of tearing apart a Cultivator's Protective Aura.

Qi Yang, who had taken seven or eight days to rush here, was currently wearing a tattered gray robe, braving the all-encompassing sandstorm, and wading through the desert.

He did not use spiritual power to hurry on his way, because in such a spirit-deprived place, every fraction of spiritual power consumed was less, making it completely impossible to replenish from the outside world. He entirely relied on the formidable Physical Body of the Qi Condensation 12th Layer Peak to stubbornly endure.

A few days later, deep within the desert, Qi Yang finally found a dried-up underground canyon.

"This is the place."

Qi Yang drew his short sword and dug straight down along the rock wall of the canyon.

He dug a full hundred zhang deep, forcibly carving out a huge underground lava cave with a radius of ten zhang from the hard rock strata.

To ensure nothing went wrong, Qi Yang pulled out three sets of Grade Two Lower-tier concealment Formations and two sets of defense Formations obtained from corpse-looting in Qianji Valley from his Storage Pouch.

He carefully buried these Formation Plates around the lava cave, and even set up Restrictions to isolate auras on the rock layer overhead.

With the Formation activated, the entire underground lava cave was completely isolated from the outside world, and not even a trace of Spiritual Qi fluctuation could spread out.

Having finished all this, Qi Yang sat cross-legged in the center of the lava cave, took a deep breath, and adjusted his state.

The refinement of the foundation establishment pill was about to begin!

With a tap of his Storage Pouch, a purple copper alchemical furnace landed heavily on the ground.

Immediately following, Qi Yang carefully took out a few warm jade boxes.

The jade pith ganoderma radiating an aura of extreme cold.

The dragon blood fruit, crimson all over as if blood were flowing through it.

And that heavenly spirit fruit emitting a seven-colored rosy light.

These were the three major main ingredients for the foundation establishment pill!

Besides the main ingredients, seven or eight rare supplementary ingredients such as ice spirit flame grass and purple monkey flower were also placed nearby.

These supplementary ingredients were all top-grade ones forcibly ripened from seeds by Qi Yang using the green liquid of the black gourd!

"Without Sect elders to act as Protector, and without the guidance of predecessors' experiences, it's all up to me."

A trace of obsession flashed through Qi Yang's eyes.

His hands formed hand seals, and the liquid Poison Wood Spiritual Power within his Dantian erupted with a roar, transforming into a cluster of dark green pill fire that burned fiercely at the bottom of the purple copper alchemical furnace.

"Open the furnace!"

Qi Yang flicked his finger, and the first supplementary ingredient, the ice spirit flame grass, was thrown into the Pill Furnace.

The process of refining the foundation establishment pill was tedious and dangerous. The melting point and medicinal properties of each herb were completely different; the slightest carelessness would lead to a conflict of medicinal properties, causing the furnace to explode and destroying the Medicinal Pill.

Qi Yang concentrated with all his might, beads of fine sweat seeping out from his forehead, carefully controlling the heat.

Three days later.

When Qi Yang threw the dragon blood fruit into the Pill Furnace, preparing to fuse it with the medicinal liquid of the jade pith ganoderma, the violent fire-attribute blood-qi power of the dragon blood fruit and the extreme cold power of the jade pith ganoderma experienced a fierce repulsion, and a friction sound issued from within the Pill Furnace.

"Not good!"

Qi Yang's expression changed drastically.

Boom!

The purple copper alchemical furnace trembled violently, and the furnace lid was directly blown off.

A stream of charred thick smoke mixed with violent Spiritual Qi gushed out from the furnace opening, shocking Qi Yang back three steps, a trace of blood overflowing from the corner of his mouth.

The first refinement, furnace explosion!

The precious jade pith ganoderma and dragon blood fruit turned into a pile of foul-smelling medicinal dregs.

If it were an ordinary Cultivator, this blow would probably make them despair to the point of suicide; after all, which of these main ingredients wasn't fought for with their life?

Yet Qi Yang merely wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and sneered.

"Fortunately, this old man plays it safe and leaves a backup plan for everything."

He tapped his Storage Pouch, and the mysterious black gourd appeared in his palm.

Long before refining Alchemy, Qi Yang had cut off a bit of the roots of the main ingredients, using green liquid to re-ripen brand-new jade pith ganoderma and dragon blood fruit!

As long as the black gourd was in hand, he had countless opportunities for trial and error!

Qi Yang cleaned the Pill Furnace, closed his eyes, and frantically reviewed the reasons for the failure just now in his mind.

"The heat was too fierce, and during the ice-fire conflict, Poison Wood Spiritual Power wasn't used as a buffer..."

One day later, Qi Yang opened the furnace once again.

This time, he was even more cautious.

When the dragon blood fruit and jade pith ganoderma fused, he unhesitatingly drew a wisp of liquid Poison Wood Spiritual Power, transforming it into a thin film to forcibly establish a balance point between the two.

Fusion successful!

Yet right at the final step, when throwing in the heavenly spirit fruit to prepare for pill Formation, the immense vitality contained within the heavenly spirit fruit broke the balance inside the Pill Furnace.

Bang!

The second furnace explosion!

Qi Yang was blasted until he was covered in dirt and soot, and his clothes were shattered into strips of cloth, but the light in his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

"I understand! The vitality of the heavenly spirit fruit is too strong; one must use extreme cold qi to suppress its activity in order to perfectly form the pill!"

Qi Yang did not show the slightest discouragement, once again taking out the backup herbs and beginning the third refinement.

This time, Qi Yang entered an ethereal Realm.

His hands danced in front of the Pill Furnace like butterflies flitting through flowers, and the Five Elements Grindstone inside his Dantian rotated at high speed, helping him precisely control the output of every wisp of Poison Wood Spiritual Power.

Medicinal liquid purification, Fusion, suppression, pill Formation!

Every step was smooth and flowing, without the slightest stagnation.

A full seven days and seven nights passed.

Inside the purple copper alchemical furnace, a strange humming sound suddenly emitted.

Immediately after, a rich exotic fragrance—one that made a person feel their cultivation loosen just by taking a single sniff—drifted out from the gaps of the Pill Furnace!

The air in the entire underground lava cave grew viscous because of this exotic fragrance.

"It's done!"

Qi Yang fiercely slapped the Pill Furnace.

The furnace lid soared into the sky, and three dazzling streams of light flew out from the Pill Furnace, wanting to escape the lava cave.

Qi Yang had long been prepared. With a wave of his large hand, the liquid Poison Wood Spiritual Power transformed into a large net, directly trapping those three streams of light tightly and pulling them back into his palm.

Spreading open his palm, three round, plump Medicinal Pills with a pale golden body lay quietly in the center of his palm.

What was even more shocking was that the surface of these three Medicinal Pills was actually intertwined with a faint layer of cloud phantom shadows!

Pill Cloud!

Top-Grade foundation establishment pill!

Looking at the three Top-Grade foundation establishment pills in his hand, Qi Yang raised his head and laughed wildly without sound.

From a hundred-year-old waste whose Lifespan was coming to an end and could only wait to die in the Outer Sect Herb Garden, he had forcibly relied on the path of playing it safe and the mysterious black gourd to reach this step today!

Qi Yang properly stored the foundation establishment pill into a jade bottle, and then turned to look at the five warm jade boxes placed nearby containing the Five Elements extreme spiritual materials.

"The foundation establishment pill is done, the Five Elements spiritual materials are in place... I can prepare for Foundation Establishment!"

Qi Yang took a deep breath, his gaze turning sharp and crazed.