Foundation Establishment Secrets, Pill Harvest

It was only at this moment that Li Ye truly realized just how powerful his Golden Finger was—based on what he had learned from reading over this period, it was not difficult for cultivators to raise spirit plants and spirit beasts.

But cases like his, where both sides did so willingly and even helped one another achieve greater things, were indeed exceedingly rare. Coercion and willingness naturally led to worlds-apart results.

Yet he did not become arrogant because of it.

"You flatter me, Fellow Daoist. I merely possess a few modest skills. The path of cultivating spirit plants and spirit beasts is complex and profound; I only hope that I may enter the Four Seasons High Sect in the future and witness the abilities of our senior cultivators."

"I too look forward to the day Fellow Daoist enters the sect."

Su Ya's impression of Li Ye improved further. If he possessed such abilities, he would certainly be somewhat proud. He had not expected this fellow daoist to remain neither arrogant nor impetuous. It was truly rare.

The two exchanged smiles.

The auction outside for the Crimson-Gold Beauty Pills had also ended—one sold for twelve hundred Spirit Stones, the other for fifteen hundred. This price was not merely due to the Beauty Pills' special properties; the reputations of the Four Seasons Sect and Su Ya were part of it as well.

"You and I split it fifty-fifty. What do you think?" Su Ya took a sip of tea and looked at Li Ye.

"Of course." Li Ye nodded.

Pill refinement required not only materials, but skill and a pill formula as well. It was not as though either side was taking particular advantage of the other, so a fifty-fifty split was the most appropriate arrangement.

These two pills alone had already brought him an income of a full nineteen hundred and fifty Spirit Stones. There were still the pills from their partnership waiting to be sold.

It seemed that partnering with Su Ya had indeed been a wise move.

The two medicines auctioned one after another had not only avoided going unsold, but had fetched high prices. This came as quite a shock to the other cultivators who had originally only intended to watch the excitement.

Perhaps they had only planned to take a look at first, but now their interest had been stirred. The atmosphere in the auction hall grew ever more fervent, while Li Ye and Su Ya remained tranquil amid the motion behind the screen.

They drank tea and chatted, thoroughly at ease.

Taking advantage of the moment, he asked his question.

"Speaking of which, I'll soon be reaching Foundation Establishment. Fellow Daoist Su, is a Foundation Establishment Pill easy to buy?"

"A Foundation Establishment Pill?" Su Ya laughed. "That thing helps cultivators break through the Foundation Establishment bottleneck. Fellow Daoist only needs to improve the purity of your spiritual power; the bottleneck itself will not be much of a problem."

"Still, if Fellow Daoist prepares some Spirit Stones and performs well in the upcoming solar-term missions, along with those Hungry Bones... it is not impossible for you to obtain certain benefits from an opportunity that comes only once in a lifetime."

As he spoke, obvious regret appeared on his face, as though he deeply regretted missing the "benefit" he mentioned.

Something that could make an alchemist of the Four Seasons Sect regretful... Li Ye's heart stirred. He picked up the teapot and refilled Su Ya's cup, saying solemnly, "I ask Fellow Daoist for your guidance!"

Anything involving his Dao Path had to be treated with utmost seriousness.

"Ah." Su Ya lifted his cup and downed the scalding tea in one gulp. His face reddened at a visible speed, and even his expression cracked a little.

Li Ye had no time to stop him at all. Who would have thought he would drink that boiling tea just like that?!

But Su Ya still pretended nothing had happened. "Hiss... both of those missions are considered selections for qualified disciples of our Four Seasons Sect."

"If you can take first place in both missions, then with the Autumn Harvest Token given by Uncle Spirit Vine, and by spending roughly ten thousand Spirit Stones, you can obtain one chance to enter the Myriad Mountains God Temple of the Four Seasons Sect.

"Within it are all the gods accumulated through the ten-thousand-year foundation of our Four Seasons Sect's predecessors through the generations. This is an opportunity that can only be entered before Foundation Establishment, and you may even receive the blessing of a mountain god senior at the Spirit Transformation level.

"At worst, you can obtain a divine ability that belongs to you.

"You should know that divine abilities are like the Peach Blossom Mountain God Jade Reward you received back then—special spells that can only be bestowed by mountain gods after they have been formally invested. They are godlike in their mastery, beyond all imagining.

"I had an opportunity to enter back then too. Unfortunately, I failed to achieve it."

After rapidly finishing his explanation, he let out a long sigh. Then he pulled out a bottle from his storage ring, gulped it down, and breathed out in satisfaction.

Li Ye fell silent at this.

Ten thousand Spirit Stones were not much of a difficulty. If he truly had the ability to take first place in both missions, he could certainly afford it. Rather than a necessary price, these Spirit Stones gave more of an impression of being a mere procedural formality.

The blessing of the Four Seasons Sect's mountain gods—he only had to look at the jade peach branch he had received back then to understand. It was a steady, inexhaustible source of Spirit Stones every year.

He already had the ten thousand Spirit Stones and the Autumn Harvest Token. All he lacked was first place. It would be too regrettable not to give it a try.

Thus, after only a few breaths of thought, he said with a calm expression, "I will certainly do my utmost."

From their conversation just now, he had already learned where his advantage lay. All his materials were very "natural." The Dao of Heaven followed nature—though he did not think he could achieve anything so exaggerated, this was indeed where his advantage lay.

He could not rush, nor could he pass his anxiety and urgency on to the wheat and the beavers. He would do all that man could do; what followed would be left to Heaven's will.

Once he made his decision, he swiftly calmed down.

He continued chatting and laughing with Su Ya as before, while also watching the developments of the auction that followed.

Su Ya also felt that Li Ye's state of mind was truly excellent.

When he had first heard this news, he too had been excited for a long time. Was it because Fellow Daoist Li truly had the ability, or because he was so confident that he knew he could accomplish it?

Or perhaps both?

As he looked at Li Ye, curiosity grew in his eyes. Li Ye found his stare somewhat strange.

Time slowly passed.

The other two types of pills Li Ye had partnered with Su Ya to produce were also put up for sale one after another.

The Lotus Calming Pills did not sell for a particularly high price. They could even be said to form a stark contrast with the Crimson Radiance Beauty Pills from earlier, with each pill selling for only one hundred Spirit Stones.

There was nothing to be done about that. Their effects were to detoxify and clear turbid qi from the body. To mortals, they might be miraculous elixirs, but to cultivators, they were simply niche pills.

Fortunately, there were plenty of them—fifteen in all.

The last items sold were the Gourd Body Tempering Pills. Unexpectedly, there were only three of them, yet their starting bid was five hundred Spirit Stones. The highest-selling one even fetched two thousand Spirit Stones!

Su Ya merely smiled and said, "I have the pill formula and the skill to refine them, not to mention the excellent materials you provided, Fellow Daoist. At any lower price, I'd rather they failed to sell!

"Besides, body tempering is inherently a complicated matter. If these pills could be bought so casually, heh~"

"..."

Li Ye could only marvel at it.

So this was an alchemist?

After doing a quick calculation, he found that these pills had sold for a total of eight thousand four hundred Spirit Stones. With a fifty-fifty split, he would receive a full four thousand two hundred Spirit Stones—and this was only from the materials he had accumulated during this period.

There would be an endless stream of profits in the future!

It seemed farming truly had a great future in making money. He absolutely had to keep this Fellow Daoist Su tied to his side—good for you, good for me!