A fourth-grade alchemist, preparing to establish his foundation.

The consecutive battles and constant running over the past few days, coupled with the recent grueling Cultivation, had truly pushed his old bones to the limit.

With his body decaying, he had to achieve Foundation Establishment as soon as possible to restore his youth and increase his Lifespan.

He returned to his bedroom and fell straight onto the bed, asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

He slept soundly for two full days and nights, sweeping away all his fatigue, and woke up feeling fully refreshed.

Lin Yuan sat up cross-legged and flipped his palm.

A crystal-clear lotus seed, emitting a faint, refreshing fragrance, appeared in his palm.

In his mind, the figures of two women surfaced alternately.

Qing Tan wanted this yang returning lotus seed.

Mu Wanqing wanted to refine a soul nurturing pill, and the main ingredient for the soul nurturing pill was precisely the yang returning lotus seed.

Was there some unknown connection between these two?

He pointed his fingers like a sword, condensing a trace of imperceptible Spiritual Qi at his fingertips, and carved an extremely subtle, special mark at the bottom of the lotus seed.

"Give this lotus seed to Qing Tan."

"If, when Mu Wanqing seeks me out to refine the soul nurturing pill, the lotus seed she gives me is this very one..."

Then, the answer would be self-evident.

Lin Yuan's mouth curled into a smile; he put the lotus seed away, stood up, and steered his Escape Light to fly towards the Pill Treasure Pavilion at the peak of Hundred Herbs Peak.

Today, Qing Tan was wearing a simple, elegant white dress, shedding her usual coldness and gaining a touch of mature, dignified charm.

She was bowing her head, organizing Medicinal Pills, and subconsciously looked up when she heard footsteps.

When she saw that the person who arrived was Lin Yuan, an uncontrollable surge of ecstasy instantly erupted in her calm, beautiful eyes.

"You've returned!"

There was even a tremor in her voice that she herself hadn't noticed.

Lin Yuan had known her for decades, and this was the first time he had ever seen her lose her composure like this.

"Come upstairs with me!" Qing Tan's smile bloomed like a flower, her face full of happiness.

In the private room on the second floor, the spiritual tea emitted curling wisps of steam.

Qing Tan stared fixedly at Lin Yuan with her beautiful eyes, filled with hope and nervousness.

Lin Yuan did not keep her in suspense; he tapped the Storage Pouch at his waist and gently pushed a Jade Bottle across the table.

"I have fulfilled my mission."

Qing Tan reached out to take the Jade Bottle.

Her hands were trembling.

When her fingertips touched the cold surface of the Jade Bottle, her eyes grew hot, and tears actually shimmered within them.

To her, this lotus seed seemed more important than her own life.

She pulled out the bottle stopper and saw the vibrant lotus seed inside; she let out a long sigh of relief, her voice thick with a nasal tone.

"Truly... thank you so much!"

She took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing her surging emotions, and solemnly handed over a Jade Slip and a Storage Pouch.

"This is what I promised you: the Pill Formula for the foundation establishment pill, as well as all the auxiliary Materials needed for refinement."

Lin Yuan received them calmly, his Divine Sense sinking into the Jade Slip.

The next moment, a vast ocean of information flowed into his mind.

It really was the Pill Formula for the foundation establishment pill!

To refine a batch of foundation establishment pills, only half a stalk of the main ingredients, the purple firmament ape heart flower and the netherworld grass, was needed.

However, the amount of dragon blood vine required was more than he had estimated.

Lin Yuan's brain began to calculate frantically in an instant.

He had six stalks of purple firmament ape heart flower, eight stalks of netherworld grass, and more than enough dragon blood vine!

This meant he could open the furnace up to twelve times!

With his level as a Fifth-Grade Alchemist, combined with the Earth Core Nether Fire, he could produce at least nine Medicinal Pills per batch, of which at least four would be of supreme grade!

Twelve batches later...

That would be nearly fifty supreme grade foundation establishment pills!

Plus dozens of High Grade and Medium Grade ones!

What's more, he still had a piece of heavenly heart jade marrow, which could significantly increase the success rate of Foundation Establishment.

Lin Yuan's heart had long been in turmoil, but on the surface, he remained his usual ancient, aged self.

He put away the Jade Slip and the Storage Pouch, and asked as if casually.

"May I ask what kind of Medicinal Pill Senior Sister intends to refine with this yang returning lotus seed?"

"To tell you the truth, it is for refining a batch of soul nurturing pills."

Qing Tan sighed, her expression instantly dimming.

"It's just that refining this pill is extremely difficult; even if a Sixth-Grade Alchemist were to take action, the success rate would not be high."

Lin Yuan's heart stirred; he could almost conclude that she and Mu Wanqing were definitely working together.

Naturally, he would not point it out, nor would he admit that he could refine it.

"So it is a soul nurturing pill; has Senior Sister's Divine Soul been damaged?"

Qing Tan shook her head and sighed: "This matter... is a long story, better not mentioned."

Seeing that she was unwilling to say more, Lin Yuan stopped asking.

Prying into others' privacy was a major taboo in the Cultivation world.

"Have you gathered the spiritual Materials for your foundation establishment pill?" Qing Tan changed the subject.

Lin Yuan nodded, a perfectly appropriate look of bitterness and helplessness appearing on his face.

"I was lucky this time and managed to gather enough. It's just that... with my Aptitude, sigh, even with the Medicinal Pill, the hope of achieving Foundation Establishment is probably slim."

Afterward, the two chatted for a few more sentences, and Lin Yuan stood up to take his leave.

Watching Lin Yuan's departing back, a flash of doubt flitted across Qing Tan's eyes.

"This old ghost, I really can't see through him more and more. Two months ago, he was only at the third layer of Qi Refining, but now the feeling he gives me... is far beyond the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining!"

"I was hoping that if he could achieve Foundation Establishment and advance his Alchemy, perhaps he could help me refine the soul nurturing pill."

She then laughed and shook her head.

"But, I won't need him anymore; news has already come from my little sister that a more suitable alchemist has been found."

...

On the other side, Lin Yuan returned to his small courtyard.

He directly told Han Shuang that he was going into seclusion and that no one was to disturb him.

Then he entered his bedroom and pasted several Talismans of Restriction to isolate the area.

Lin Yuan did not start Alchemy immediately.

He first frantically deduced the Pill Formula for the foundation establishment pill in his Sea of Consciousness over and over again.

The order of inputting the spiritual Materials!

The subtle changes in heat!

The precise grasp of the timing to condense the pill!

He deduced it dozens of times until the entire process was no longer obstructed, as if it were an innate instinct.

Only then did he open his eyes and neatly arrange the Materials, glowing with spiritual light, in front of him.

purple firmament ape heart flower, netherworld grass, dragon blood vine...

Lin Yuan's gaze swept over these Heaven And Earth Treasures, but the fanaticism in his heart gradually cooled, turning into an icy cold solemnity.

Not enough!

"What I want to pursue is the Divine Dao Foundation Establishment, which is even harder than the Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment!"

"And I have the worst Low-Grade Spiritual Root!"

"To ensure nothing goes wrong, I must raise my Alchemy level another notch!"

Lin Yuan's gaze became resolute.

He sank his consciousness into the small golden characters at the bottom of his vision.

With a slight thought, the golden characters refreshed.

[Cultivation: Twelfth Layer of Qi Refining: 900/900 (Perfection)]

[Fourth-Grade Alchemist: 0/600 (addable points)]

[Fourth-Level Fire Control Art: 0/400; Illusion Transformation Art (Perfection)]

[Available attribute points: 1321]

[Special attribute points: 1]

Following the promotion to Fourth-Grade Alchemist.

A torrent of indescribable, vast information instantly rushed into his mind.

That was not a simple infusion of knowledge, but the experience and insights of tens of thousands of Alchemy sessions.

The principles of Alchemy flowed in his heart.

The medicinal properties of herbs, the spiritual rhyme of flames, the harmony of Yin and Yang... everything became incomparably clear.

He seemed to have transformed into an Alchemy Grandmaster who had been immersed in the Dao of Alchemy for thousands of years; every movement carried the demeanor of a Grandmaster.

"Fourth-Grade Alchemist..."

Lin Yuan whispered; in the entire six countries of the Eastern Region, the number of known Fourth-Grade Alchemists could be counted on one hand.

Each one was a giant of Alchemy treated as an honored guest by the major Sects.

Further up were the Third-Grade Alchemy Saints; in the entire Eastern Region, perhaps only one remained.

As for Second-Grade and First-Grade, those were already legendary Realms.