29: Improvement of Danfang

It was already late when Xu Qi'an returned to his cave dwelling.

The cave dwelling was still as he had left it, the ling stones embedded in the stone walls emitted a soft light, and a faint scent of Spirit Medicine permeated the air.

He stood in the center of the cave dwelling, took a deep breath, as if to exhale all his fatigue.

"Finally back."

Xu Qi'an murmured softly to himself, then took out the Jade Slip and scroll he had obtained from Water Lingmiao from his storage bag.

What interested him most at the moment was the Tier 2 Pill Formula recorded in the Jade Slip - the Sheng Yuan Pill.

"The Sheng Yuan Pill is one of the pills used by Foundation Establishment cultivator Cultivators to improve their cultivation, and needs to be combined with the main ingredient, a thousand-year-old Heavenly Spirit Flower, and an eight-hundred-year-old Earth Spirit Fruit..."

Xu Qi'an read the description on the Pill Formula softly, a hint of excitement flashing in his eyes.

However, as he carefully examined the spirit herbs and Spirit Medicine required for the Pill Formula, his brows gradually furrowed.

"A thousand-year-old Heavenly Spirit Flower, an eight-hundred-year-old Earth Spirit Fruit... These spirit herbs and Spirit Medicine are simply difficult to buy in the Qingzhu Market, and some have even become extinct."

Xu Qi'an murmured softly to himself, sighing inwardly.

"Water Lingmiao was right, these Spirit Medicine can probably only be found in Mystic Realms with abundant spiritual energy."

The more abundant the spiritual energy, the faster the Spirit Medicine grows, and the higher the year of its medicinal properties.

"Xiao Langlang Mountain Foundation Establishment Secret Realm..." Xu Qi'an shook his head, not wanting to go to that dangerous place for the time being.

Even an experienced Foundation Establishment cultivator Cultivator like Water Lingmiao needed help, so that Foundation Establishment Secret Realm must not be simple.

Although he had now reached the third layer of Foundation Establishment, he did not have a Foundation Establishment Spiritual Artifact, so it was not safe.

However, the insights on refining Foundation Establishment Spiritual Artifacts and the Tier 2 mid-grade spiritual talisman Water Lingmiao gave him were a pleasant surprise.

Xu Qi'an carefully examined this Hanhai Talisman and found that it was not simple; it was a Foundation Establishment spiritual talisman that combined offense and defense.

This spiritual talisman could only unleash its maximum power when activated by a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but it could also be activated by a Cultivator of the Qi Refining Stage, though it would only have the power of the Qi Refining Peak.

"In this way, I also have the combat power of the Foundation Establishment Stage."

Xu Qi'an nodded secretly.

Now, he still needed to improve his combat power. One was to improve his cultivation, and the other was to obtain a Foundation Establishment Spiritual Artifact.

"It's a pity that my refining experience is almost zero. I don't know when I will be able to refine a Foundation Establishment Spiritual Artifact."

"And places like the Qingzhu Market basically don't sell Foundation Establishment Spiritual Artifacts."

"As for exchanging..."

Xu Qi'an shook his head. He currently had nothing that could make a Foundation Establishment cultivator Cultivator's heart flutter.

Well, maybe, like the Nine-Pattern Foundation Establishment Pill, many Foundation Establishment cultivator Cultivators would be interested.

But this was tantamount to pushing himself onto the tip of a knife, which Xu Qi'an would never do.

Xu Qi'an temporarily stopped considering Foundation Establishment Spiritual Artifacts.

Ultimately, Xu Qi'an still focused on improving his cultivation. Anyway, with the Tier 2 mid-grade Hanhai Talisman, he didn't need to worry too much about his combat power.

Xu Qi'an then settled down to study the Pill Formula and refining insights to see if he could find other substitute spirit herbs and Spirit Medicine.

Thus, Xu Qi'an spent a month, with little progress.

However, the thousand-year-old Spirit Medicine gathered by Xu Qi'an through the Omnipotent Treasure Basin increased.

Xu Qi'an carefully studied the Sheng Yuan Pill and found that except for the main ingredient requiring a thousand years of medicinal properties, the medicinal properties of other auxiliary ingredients generally required years within five hundred.

"Pill refining emphasizes the neutralization of Spirit Medicine, highlighting medicinal properties, and appropriate heat, so that each type of Spirit Medicine can play its most crucial role."

"But can't we pursue the full prominence of medicinal properties? Can't all Spirit Medicine have a thousand years of age?"

The deeper Xu Qi'an delved into pill refining, the more doubts he had.

He felt that the medicinal effects of many Spirit Medicine were quite similar, and the core lay in the spiritual energy level of the Spirit Medicine.

He also suspected that the growth years of some Spirit Medicine simply could not reach a thousand years, which was why they were used as auxiliary ingredients, while some Spirit Medicine reached a thousand years because of their good medicinal quality.

But now, Xu Qi'an had changed this reality by using the Omnipotent Treasure Basin. Some Spirit Medicine whose medicinal power was limited to a hundred years were turned into thousand-year-old medicinal power by him.

Xu Qi'an then thought about whether it was feasible to replace the main ingredient in the Sheng Yuan Pill with Spirit Medicine that had equivalent medicinal effects.

"With these high-year spirit herbs, perhaps I can replace some of the Spirit Medicine in the Sheng Yuan Pill and achieve the same medicinal power."

Xu Qi'an murmured softly to himself, a hint of determination flashing in his eyes.

In the following days, Xu Qi'an began a long period of pill refining experiments.

He tried and replaced the thousand-year-old spirit herbs and Spirit Medicine he had obtained one by one according to the Sheng Yuan Pill's formula.

However, pill refining was not easy.

High-year spirit herbs had powerful medicinal properties, and a slight mistake would cause the furnace to explode.

Xu Qi'an experienced countless failures, and the cave dwelling was filled with discarded pill dregs and shattered Pill Furnaces.

His face was covered in soot, but his eyes always shone with an unyielding light.

Xu Qi'an's pill refining Realm constantly improved in these failures.

Such failures continued for over a thousand times!

Just like that, another two years passed!

"One more time!"

Xu Qi'an murmured softly to himself, and once again threw a thousand-year-old Nine-Spirit Leaf into the Pill Furnace.

His fingers quickly formed hand seals, and spiritual energy wrapped around the Pill Furnace like silk, controlling the temperature of the flame.

Time passed by minute by minute, and a low buzzing sound came from the Pill Furnace.

Xu Qi'an's Divine Sense was tightly locked onto the inside of the Pill Furnace, feeling the medicinal power of the spirit herbs gradually merge.

"Success!"

A hint of ecstasy flashed in Xu Qi'an's eyes, and he suddenly opened the Pill Furnace.

A crystal clear pill lay quietly at the bottom of the furnace. The surface of the pill was covered with complex patterns, emitting rich spiritual energy fluctuations.

After thousands of failures and explorations, Xu Qi'an finally found a new path for pill refining!

He looked at the crystal clear pill with rich spiritual light in front of him and murmured to himself.

"Ordinary Alchemists would never have as many opportunities for trial and error as I do."

"What's more, I'm as extravagant as this, actually using all thousand-year-old spirit herbs and Spirit Medicine for this batch of pills!"

What Xu Qi'an said was indeed true. If a thousand-year-old Spirit Medicine appeared in the Qingzhu Market, it would be frantically snatched up by Foundation Establishment cultivator Cultivators, let alone Xu Qi'an's method of spending money like water.

And such an investment of thousand-year-old Spirit Medicine was just to refine a pill to improve the cultivation of the Foundation Establishment Stage!

If Cultivator of the Dan Formation Stage, or even Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators saw Xu Qi'an's actions, they would probably curse him for being a spendthrift and then grind every single one of his hundred and eight bones into dust.

"This kind of pill refining method is probably only something I can do!"

Xu Qi'an shook his head, then carefully evaluated the pill.

"Since it can improve the cultivation of the Foundation Establishment Stage like the Sheng Yuan Pill, let's call it the Perfected Ascension Pill!"

Xu Qi'an murmured softly to himself, holding the pill in his palm, his eyes full of joy.

Although this pill had a different formula from the Sheng Yuan Pill, its medicinal power was not inferior at all, and even surpassed it.

A month later.

Xu Qi'an sat cross-legged on the meditation mat, cultivating.

The cave dwelling was filled with jade bottles, each containing several Perfected Ascension Pills.

"It's time to break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage."

Xu Qi'an sat cross-legged on the meditation mat, took out a Perfected Ascension Pill, and swallowed it without hesitation.

The pill melted instantly upon entering his mouth, turning into a vast spiritual energy that surged into his spiritual sea.

Xu Qi'an closed his eyes and began to circulate his Cultivation Technique.

His Divine Sense looked inward, clearly feeling the spiritual energy in his body surging like a tide, impacting the Bottleneck of the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Each impact caused a faint pain in his Meridians, but he gritted his teeth and did not retreat.

"Boom!"

After an unknown amount of time, a low roar came from within Xu Qi'an's body.

In his spiritual sea, the originally calm spiritual energy gradually boiled, turning into a vast spiritual sea.

In the center of the spiritual sea, the Foundation Establishment foundation emitted a dazzling light, like a brilliant star.

"Foundation Establishment Stage, it's done just like that!"

Xu Qi'an suddenly opened his eyes, a hint of ecstasy flashing in them.

He felt the surging spiritual energy within his body, his heart filled with a sense of accomplishment.