Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object

Qi Yuan's eyes could see hidden information.

In an instant, the flaws in this pill formula were laid bare before him.

Moreover, the method to improve the formula appeared in that same moment.

Of course, this improvement wasn't the optimal solution.

If he looked at the formula again tomorrow, a new refinement method would emerge.

And the effect of that improvement would be even better.

But for the same item, he could only see its hidden information once per day.

The Seven Colors Flame Refining Art he cultivated had been revised repeatedly through this process.

Yet even so, the Seven Colors Flame Refining Art still had major issues.

"The Nourishing Essence Pill formula has quite a few problems," Qi Yuan replied directly.

Zhuge Miao's eyes lit up with anticipation. "Please enlighten me, Junior Brother."

"Replace Zhu Huang with Ligustrum."

"Ligustrum?" Zhuge Miao was puzzled.

Because what he most wanted to ask was where the shortcomings lay, yet Junior Brother Qi Yuan had gone straight to altering the formula.

Still, recalling his last exchange with Junior Brother Qi Yuan, he remained amazed by the wild, unconstrained thinking Qi Yuan had shown.

That time, Qi Yuan had helped him a great deal.

Besides, he was the one who had sought Qi Yuan's help, so even if he had objections, he had to swallow them.

Just then, Zhuge Miao sensed something and spoke up. "Junior Brother Qi Yuan, hold on a moment—I have a message coming through."

"A phone call?" Qi Yuan said casually. "Go ahead and take it."

In the Immortal Realm, telephones hadn't been invented, but messaging existed.

Cultivators could contact each other through messaging.

However, this kind of messaging had distance limits—the farther the message, the higher the cost.

And once inside certain Secret Realms, it lost all effectiveness.

So not every cultivator could afford to use it.

"What's wrong, Junior Brother?" Zhuge Miao lowered his voice as he received the message.

"The formula... the complete one... found it?"

"No need. Don't get involved in this."

After the message, Zhuge Miao's face had briefly shown some delight, but then hearing his junior brother's dissuasion, a flicker of anger rose.

He cut off the message, turned to Qi Yuan, and calmed his mood. "Please continue, Junior Brother."

"The missing ingredient is Yang Gu.

But Yang Gu is inherently yang-natured, which creates some conflict. It can be replaced with Xiao Tai Hua for a better effect." Qi Yuan finished and extended his hand. "What about the Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object?"

Zhuge Miao was still digesting Qi Yuan's words. Hearing the request for the Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object, he quickly took out a jade bamboo.

The bamboo was purple, like amethyst jade, with only a hint of translucent white at the joints.

"This is Amethyst Jade Bamboo, an eighth-grade Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object."

Foundation Establishment Spiritual Objects had grades.

They were divided into lower three grades, middle three grades, and upper three grades.

Beyond the upper three grades, there were legendary higher grades.

The higher the grade of the Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object, the better the foundation-building effect and the greater the potential.

Of course, the Immortal Realm was a place full of miracles and opportunities everywhere.

Nothing was set in stone.

It wasn't the case that using a lower-grade Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object meant one could only stay at a certain level for life.

Every Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object was valuable.

Eighth grade was among the lower three grades.

Yet even so, most ordinary Qi Refining disciples of the Shinguang Sect couldn't afford Amethyst Jade Bamboo even if they emptied their entire savings.

That Zhuge Miao could offer Amethyst Jade Bamboo as compensation showed his wealth.

Such was the gap between the chief senior disciple and ordinary disciples.

Of course, even for Zhuge Miao, giving up Amethyst Jade Bamboo stung a bit.

Zhuge Miao continued, "The grade of Amethyst Jade Bamboo is indeed a bit low. If Junior Brother Qi Yuan isn't in a hurry, you could pool more Spirit Stones and trade it, along with the Amethyst Jade Bamboo, for a higher-grade Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object."

Amethyst Jade Bamboo, while priceless among other disciples.

An ordinary disciple who obtained it would cultivate their mana to Qi Refining Completion and use it to establish their foundation.

But for the chief disciples of each peak, using a low-grade Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object to build their foundation would be somewhat unimpressive.

Take Zhuge Miao, for example—he built his foundation using a mid-third-grade, fifth-rank Dragon Seeking Ruler as his Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object.

Qi Yuan took the Amethyst Jade Bamboo and nodded. "Mm."

The Amethyst Jade Bamboo wasn't his first choice for a Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object.

Even if he couldn't use it later, he could still trade it for Spirit Stones.

Though he was the senior disciple of Seven Colors Peak, he was... really poor.

Compared to the chief disciples of other peaks, he fell far short.

"Sigh." Remembering something, Zhuge Miao said, "Junior Brother Qi Yuan, if you hadn't offended your Master, you'd probably have a mid-grade spiritual object, or even a high-grade Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object, to step into the Foundation Establishment realm by now."

Zhuge Miao's words carried a hint of regret.

He felt that Qi Yuan was truly reckless, daring to provoke even the Seven Colors Peak Lord.

After all, even the Sect Leader of the Shinguang Sect held the Seven Colors Peak Lord in immense awe.

Zhuge Miao had once heard his Master say that the Shinguang Sect originally had only four peaks, but when Ruan Yixi arrived, a fifth peak was added, named Seven Colors Peak.

That peak had already stood for a thousand years.

This meant the Seven Colors Peak Lord had likely lived for a millennium.

A thousand-year lifespan—that required at least the Divine Infant Realm.

A powerhouse like that could walk sideways through the Great Shang.

Qi Yuan becoming Ruan Yixi's disciple—how thick of an elephant leg was that to cling to?

And yet, Qi Yuan, bold as could be, had angered Ruan Yixi.

All resources were cut off from Qi Yuan.

His situation was utterly miserable.

If it were Zhuge Miao, he'd have been crying and begging forgiveness before his Master long ago.

But Qi Yuan? He had no intention of apologizing at all.

Still, thinking that Qi Yuan was a cultivator of the Obsession Lineage made it easier to understand.

Cultivators of that lineage were unrestrained, their thought processes abnormal.

Hearing Zhuge Miao's words, Qi Yuan's eyes softened. "I didn't say anything wrong, so why should I apologize?"

Cold sweat trickled down Zhuge Miao's back.

"Junior Brother Qi Yuan, let's drop this!"

He feared that Junior Brother Qi Yuan would pull another absurd stunt and offend that lofty, cold fairy atop Seven Colors Peak.

If that dragged him into it, things would go badly.

Qi Yuan smiled. "You're all afraid of Ruan Yixi, but I'm not, because she's my..."

"Stop!" Zhuge Miao's heart raced as he quickly cut Qi Yuan off.

Otherwise, if that one on Seven Colors Peak got angry, there'd be no good outcome for him.

Qi Yuan said no more, took his leave of Zhuge Miao, and led his Kitchen Knife off for another stroll.

Zhuge Miao let out a sigh of relief.

Good, nothing happened.

Just then, an urgent voice rang out: "Senior Brother, did you make the trade?"

Xu Langhu, in a blue cloth robe with a gourd tied at his waist, walked briskly.

As he spoke, he pulled out a yellowed piece of paper.

"I found this pill formula today at the Market—a lucky find. It's the same as the Nourishing Essence Pill you got in the Secret Realm, so I contacted you right away, Senior Brother."

Xu Langhu handed the formula to Zhuge Miao. When he noticed the Amethyst Jade Bamboo missing from Zhuge Miao's waist, he spoke with pained regret.

"Senior Brother, we already have the formula here—why trade with Qi Yuan?

Qi Yuan isn't even from our Divine Medicine Peak. What ability does he have to help you review the formula?

He probably hasn't left yet. I'll chase him down and get the Amethyst Jade Bamboo back!"

Xu Langhu rattled on, completely unaware that Zhuge Miao's expression had darkened.

"My trade with Junior Brother Qi Yuan—what right do you have to judge it?

And even if Qi Yuan didn't help me, so what?

I'm willing to do him a favor."

Earlier, the message Zhuge Miao had received was sent by Xu Langhu.

At that time, Zhuge Miao already knew his junior brother had the complete formula and could have stopped the trade, but he didn't.

"Senior Brother..." Xu Langhu's voice turned hesitant. "I was just worried you'd come away empty-handed."

Fortunately, I obtained the complete pill formula.

Senior Brother saved my life, so I offer this formula to him."

He no longer mentioned Qi Yuan.

In his view, how could Qi Yuan possibly understand the pill formula?

He had studied medicine on Divine Medicine Peak for ten years and still couldn't complete the formula—could Qi Yuan?

Zhuge Miao took the formula: "Let me take a look, cross-reference it with what Junior Brother Qi Yuan said, and refine a few batches of Nourishing Essence Pills."

"That's a bit wasteful of the herbs," Xu Langhu muttered, clearly believing that Qi Yuan's method wouldn't yield any Nourishing Essence Pills.