64: Chapter 64 Resource Planning

Lin Xuan steadied his mind and crawled through the hole into the Stone Chamber.

His feet touched solid ground, and he looked around.

An Illumination Pearl hovered above his head, illuminating the room brightly.

He first walked toward the Pill Furnace in the center.

The surface of the furnace felt warm and smooth to the touch; even in such a cold underground environment, it retained a faint trace of residual warmth—a unique spirituality characteristic of the Materials used in top-tier Pill Furnaces.

He slowly lifted the lid.

There was no expected radiance of Medicinal Pills, nor was there any pungent smell of dregs.

Inside the furnace, there was only a layer of fine, grayish-white ash about an inch thick, quietly covering the bottom.

Lin Xuan probed with his Divine Sense; there was no trace of Spiritual Qi fluctuation left in the ash—no matter how good the Medicinal Pill was, after the passage of long years, it ultimately could not withstand the power of time, its Spiritual Qi dissipated, returning to dust.

"What a pity." He sighed softly and closed the lid.

He turned and walked to the stone platform, picking up the thick animal-hide book.

The book felt heavy in his hand, the animal hide durable and resilient, surviving the passage of time without decay.

Opening the cover, the handwriting on the inner pages was neat and elegant, written in the common script of the cultivation world.

The opening was a self-introduction:

"I, Loose Cultivator of the Flaming Valley, a mere Loose Cultivator, have been obsessed with the Dao of Alchemy for ninety years.

Alas, my talent is mediocre, and resources are scarce; I have wasted my years, stopping at a High Grade Tier 1 Alchemist, with no hope of Foundation Establishment.

In my later years, I chiseled this stone room in this secluded place, drawing upon earth fire as a source, wishing to exhaust all my life's learning to refine a furnace of 'Foundation Establishment Pills' for one final attempt.

Success or failure rests on this, so I specially record my insights here.

If a later comer has the fate to see this, I hope the Dao of Alchemy will not be cut off."

Lin Xuan flipped through page by page.

The first half of the book detailed the lifelong Alchemy insights of the "Loose Cultivator of the Flaming Valley": how to identify medicinal herbs, how to control heat, how to deal with various accidents during the Alchemy process, and how to improve the success rate of pill formation...

Interspersed were a large number of summaries of his personal failures, revealing the blood, tears, and persistence of an old alchemist between the lines.

The latter half contained transcripts of complete Pill Formulas for over a dozen common Tier 1 Medicinal Pills, ranging from the most basic "qi gathering pill", "Rejuvenation Powder", and "Bigu Pill", to the more complex "Cleansing Heart Pill" and "Antidote Pill", and even the Pill Formulas for two High Grade Tier 1 Medicinal Pills: "qi nourishing pill" and "Meridian Expanding Pill".

Each Pill Formula was accompanied by detailed refinement steps, precautions, and the annotations of the Loose Cultivator of the Flaming Valley from his own attempts.

The last few pages, with slightly hurried handwriting, recorded the entire process of refining the "Foundation Establishment Pill".

"...The earth fire is steady, the medicinal Materials are added in sequence, and the Fusion is smooth."

"...The key to forming the pill is that the Divine Sense must be steady, and the heat must be even; there cannot be the slightest mistake."

"...The pill is formed!

Although there are only three pills in one furnace, and the quality is Medium to Low Grade, it is finally done!

One only needs to nourish it with a gentle fire in the furnace for three days to stabilize the medicinal properties before harvesting the pills.

My Dao has hope!"

The records stopped abruptly here.

There was no follow-up, no record of harvesting the pills, and no result of consuming the Foundation Establishment Pill.

It was as if the writer had been waiting joyfully for the pills to form, only to be suddenly interrupted by something and never returned.

Lin Xuan closed the book, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

A Top Grade Tier 1 Pill Furnace, a notebook condensing the lifelong efforts of an old alchemist, over a dozen precious Tier 1 Pill Formulas, and even the refining method for the Foundation Establishment Pill...

What an Opportunity this was!

If any Cultivator just starting in the Dao of Alchemy were to obtain it, they would likely be ecstatic and immediately pour everything they had into this money-burning path, known as the "first of all arts of cultivation".

Lin Xuan gently stroked the rough surface of the animal-hide book, while his mind calculated rapidly.

Alchemy requires a huge initial investment.

Not to mention the Pill Furnace (which he now had), the medicinal Materials needed just for practice alone would be an astronomical figure.

According to the notes, for a moderately talented alchemist to stably refine Low Grade Tier 1 Medicinal Pills, they would need to spend at least a thousand contribution points worth of medicinal Materials just to practice.

To refine Medium or High Grade Tier 1 Medicinal Pills, the investment would multiply.

And what about him, Lin Xuan?

At Qi Refining Level 3, he needed cultivation resources for the Purple Heaven Divine Thunder Art, medicinal bath Materials for the Thunder Body Refining Technique, Talisman paper and cinnabar for drawing Talismans, and resources to support three Spirit Beasts (especially since the Pangolin had just finished using the Earth Vein Spiritual Milk).

He also needed to reserve contribution points for the Concealment Qi Art, buying Magical Artifacts, and handling unforeseen needs...

His stable monthly income of over a thousand contribution points (from thunder-patterned soil trades, herb garden missions, and occasional side missions) was already stretched thin supporting these, and he often had to dip into his savings.

How could he have any spare energy to start "Alchemy", a side profession known as the most money-burning one?

"The time is not yet right." Lin Xuan sighed deeply and stored the notebook and Pill Furnace into his Beast Taming Space.

He re-examined the Stone Chamber to ensure there were no other omissions, then crawled out from the hole.

The Pangolin had long since backfilled the debris of the melted stone wall and used its innate ability to restore the surface to its original state, leaving no trace behind.

One man and one beast returned to the surface along the original path.

When Lin Xuan emerged from the ground in the courtyard, the eastern horizon was already tinged with the white of dawn.

The light screen of the concealment formation quietly dissipated, and he retrieved the four Formation Flags.

Everything seemed as if it had never happened.

Returning to the Quiet Room, Lin Xuan did not rest but instead entered the Spirit-Taming Tower Space directly.

He needed to do something to calm the complex emotions of discovering a great Opportunity but being unable to utilize it immediately.

The space was full of vitality.

The pale golden flower bud at the top of the thunder-attracting vine was bright in color, as if it might bloom at any moment.

The Thunder-Light Bug perched on the highest leaf, its wings slowly opening and closing, scattering specks of purple light dust.

The batch of "electric glow grass" planted earlier was now half a foot tall, with slender leaves standing upright and tiny silver electric sparks dancing on the edges, adding much vitality and lively Spiritual Qi of thunder to this space.

In contrast, the few ordinary Spiritual Plants like "cloud mist grass" and "soul-calming flower" that had been transplanted in earlier, while still growing slowly, were significantly slower and appeared somewhat dim.

The Pangolin lay at the base of the thunder-attracting vine, snoring contentedly as it digested the residual medicinal power of the Earth Vein Spiritual Milk.

The Herb-Seeking Mouse was at the edge of the thunder-patterned soil cultivation area not far away, curiously poking at a newly sprouted seedling of electric glow grass.

Lin Xuan's gaze slowly swept across the many still-empty plots of land in the space.

A plan gradually became clear in his mind.

He walked to the northwest corner of the space, where the terrain was relatively flat and the soil quality, having been long soaked by the Spiritual Qi of thunder, was already much more fertile than ordinary land.

"Half a mu... that should be enough."

He estimated the current output and consumption of Spiritual Qi in the space.

The thunder-attracting vine and the Thunder-Light Bug were the main sources of thunder Spiritual Qi, supporting the existing Spiritual Plants, nourishing the space, and feeding back into his cultivation, which was basically balanced.

If he were to open up more spiritual fields, he must be cautious and not drain the pond to catch the fish.

Half a mu of land was his preliminary plan.

Next, he intended to use some contribution points to buy or trade for some thunder-attribute Spiritual Plant seeds or seedlings that were easy to grow, had short growth cycles, and held decent value.

For example, "thunder-pattern grass" (he already had experience planting it) and "Thunder-Flash Flower" (Low Grade Tier 1, short flowering period, flowers can be used for medicine or making Talismans), among others.

Systematically cultivating in this half mu of spiritual field could not only further improve the space environment and form a virtuous cycle, but also help him accumulate richer experience in Spiritual Plant cultivation.

If successful in the future, he might be able to produce some Spiritual Plants on a small scale; whether used for trading for contribution points or kept for personal use, it would be a sustainable resource point.

This was much more realistic and reliable than aiming too high and trying to touch Alchemy.

Lin Xuan squatted down and grabbed a handful of soil.

The soil particles rolled in his palm, carrying a faint sense of static electricity and vigorous vitality.

He stood up, walked to the "Loose Cultivator of the Flaming Valley" Alchemy notebook he had just put away, picked it up again, and stroked the rough cover.

The discovery of the underground Alchemy room was like a door in the dark that had been accidentally pushed open a crack, giving him a glimpse of the broader, more dazzling path behind the door—the Dao of Alchemy.

But for him at this moment, that door was still too heavy to push open.

He gently placed the notebook back into the corner of his Storage Pouch.

"First, stay grounded and strengthen the Foundation." Lin Xuan whispered to himself, his gaze becoming firm and clear again.

Talisman making, Body Refining, Beast Taming, space management, Spiritual Plant cultivation... every step in front of him must be taken steadily and solidly.

He would build his Foundation to be unbreakable.

As for Alchemy, as for that Pill Furnace, as for that more distant Dao of Foundation Establishment...

Leave them for the future.

Leave them for the version of himself with higher cultivation, more resources, and fuller wings.

He turned and walked toward the planned half mu of spiritual field.

Thunder light condensed at his fingertips, turning into an invisible spiritual power plow, which he inserted deeply into the soil.

The night faded, and the morning light was faint.

Inside the Spirit-Taming Tower Space, the youth silently tilled the land, with thunder light leaping and flickering among the overturned soil, like sparks of the future being sown.