Volume 2: Phantom Traces

Volume 2: Phantom Tracks, Chapter 9: The Master Surpassed by His Disciple

"Lost..." In two days, Bai Qiuran quickly refined a pill for Tang Ruowei that was identical in medicinal properties and quality to the Foundation Establishment Pill he had taken back in the day.

Jueyunzi begged for mercy.

Jueyunzi was startled.

"Ruowei is about to break through, so I'm preparing to refine a Foundation Establishment Pill for her." Bai Qiuran replied while directing the Fifth Elder to select medicinal herbs for him.

"On one hand, as her master, I truly hope Ruowei can shatter my hypothesis and go further in the future. But on the other hand, I can't suppress the dark thoughts in my heart. Tell me, if someone could keep me company so that we both fail to reach the Foundation Establishment Stage, wouldn't I be so happy?"

"Then you are..."

"I plan to use the pill formula my master used to refine for me back then."

The girl looked at her master, then suddenly smiled, raised her hand, and struck the ground with her palm.

The Foundation Establishment Pill formulas currently used by the five major sects within the Righteous Path Alliance were basically all written at his request. Over the past three thousand years, he had saved countless disciples and rescued the sect several times from catastrophes that could be called apocalyptic.

"Sigh, my mood is very complicated right now."

The Sixth Elder replied: "In short... let everything follow fate."

Regarding the refining method of the Foundation Establishment Pill, I am afraid that in this world, or even within the Immortal World, no one can be found who is more familiar with it than Bai Qiuran.

Although Bai Qiuran did not hold any position in the sect and his cultivation had always been stuck at the Qi Refining Stage, his sect contribution points had always been the highest in the entire Azure Nether Sword Sect.

However, for Tang Ruowei, the Foundation Establishment Pill Bai Qiuran wanted to refine was not some improved formula with miraculous effects.

And the youngest, the Seventh Elder, shouted directly at Bai Qiuran: "Martial Ancestor Uncle, can you stop pacing back and forth? It's just a foundation establishment, why are you so anxious? Besides, even if you lose the bet, it's not much of a loss for you, right?"

"Dragging people into a pit is human nature."

"Hmm?"

And today, for Tang Ruowei's foundation establishment, Bai Qiuran brought his three-thousand-year-old jade pendant to the Azure Nether Sect and went to various storehouses to exchange for medicinal herbs.

Bai Qiuran wore a long face and sat down opposite his juniors.

"What? Ruowei is about to break through?"

Just as he said, some of Tang Ruowei's conditions were very similar to his, so Bai Qiuran wanted to try his best to imitate the scene of his own failure when he first attempted the Foundation Establishment Pill.

The Qi Cultivation Method he gave Tang Ruowei was the one Daoist Qingming gave him on the eve of his own foundation establishment, and the Foundation Establishment Pill he prepared to refine was, of course, the one Daoist Qingming had personally refined for him after coming out of seclusion.

The power of Primordial Magnetism surged out of her body, and with the bonus of the Fortune Body Forging Technique, it left a clear palm print on the stone slab of the courtyard.

His identity was known only to the Sect Master, the elders, and a few personal disciples, so soon, news spread across Qingming Mountain about a wandering hero with a huge allocation quota who was exchanging for supplies everywhere.

In three thousand years, he had studied the Foundation Establishment Pill formulas of countless sects and had lost count of how many pills he had taken himself. Let alone the medicinal effects, even just seeing the shape and quality of a Foundation Establishment Pill, Bai Qiuran could instantly know what it tasted and felt like.

Jueyunzi had an expression of deep understanding and chimed in.

The girl who had been in seclusion for three days pushed open the door of the cultivation room. Seeing this, Bai Qiuran hurried up to her and asked with a nervous heart: "Ruowei, how is it? Did you break through?"

Watching his Martial Ancestor Uncle pacing back and forth at the disciple's door, burning with anxiety, the talkative Sect Master whispered to his junior brothers and sisters: "Look, how long has it been since we've seen such an expression on Martial Ancestor Uncle? He looks like a husband waiting for his wife to give birth. This shows that our plan is working; at the very least, he has started to care about Ruowei."

Accompanied by the various bigwigs of the sect, Tang Ruowei entered the cultivation room with a nervous heart to begin her seclusion and break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage, while Bai Qiuran kept pacing outside, waiting for the result of the bet between him and his disciple.

"What do you mean 'lost'?"

Therefore, Bai Qiuran's allocation quota had always been the largest in the sect, which indirectly facilitated Jueyunzi and the others. After all, Bai Qiuran's situation was special, and they really didn't know which realm sixty thousand layers of Qi Refining should be converted into.

"Ahem, it's nothing."

Jueyunzi pondered for a moment, then suddenly exclaimed: "Martial Ancestor Uncle, you actually used such a cute disciple as Ruowei as a test subject!"

Bai Qiuran immediately punched Jueyunzi under the terrified gazes of the disciples managing the storehouse, then grabbed his collar and threatened: "Don't talk nonsense. I am only doing this for Ruowei's future. A righteous cultivator must walk step by step on their own!"

Bai Qiuran asked.

Hearing this news, the Qingming Sect Master and the various elders also dropped their work and cultivation to run over and watch the excitement.

Inside the palm print, there was a clear residue of earth-attribute True Essence, which was a sign of a successful foundation establishment.

Bai Qiuran stared blankly at the palm print on the ground, lost in thought.

"I think if Ruowei heard you say these things, she certainly wouldn't be happy."

The news quickly reached the ears of Sect Master Jueyunzi and several elders. Unable to sit still, the Sect Master ran to the storehouse, blocked Bai Qiuran, and asked: "What is Martial Ancestor Uncle doing?"

Bang!

Jueyunzi asked curiously: "The pill formula used by the Qingming Ancestor must be miraculous, right?"

Bai Qiuran patted Jueyunzi on the shoulder and said: "Have you forgotten what I taught you? Techniques, divine abilities, cultivation methods, and realms—these things constantly improve with the accumulation of an era. Unless it is an ancient civilization that once flourished but was suddenly destroyed by a catastrophe, these things are definitely better the more modern they are."

Tang Ruowei's seclusion lasted for three days, just like Bai Qiuran's back then.

He knew the weight of every medicinal herb in that formula and the control of every bit of heat by heart; this was the taste of his master...

During this time, the Sect Master and the elders were driven away by Bai Qiuran to maintain the operation of the sect. However, when these idle fellows left, they used their Spiritual Sense to monitor the changes in Spirit Qi here. When Tang Ruowei was about to come out of seclusion, as if by appointment, these disrespectful old men came to Seven Star Peak together to watch the excitement.

The Sixth Elder commented with a complex expression.

And a disciple's contribution to the sect could also be counted into their allocation quota.

Bai Qiuran replied.

The changes in Spirit Qi had subsided, and Tang Ruowei's breakthrough had entered the final stage. Finally, everyone's Spiritual Sense captured the cessation of internal energy changes; Tang Ruowei had come out of seclusion.

It could be said that if Bai Qiuran were willing, he could instantly and legitimately become the Sect Master of the Azure Nether Sword Sect, while also holding all elder positions from Grand Elder to Executive Elder.

Ahem, this was definitely not him wanting to use Tang Ruowei as a test subject, absolutely not.

"No, the aftermath of the great catastrophe was still lingering at that time, and the Cultivation World was waiting to be rebuilt. Even for my master, the pill formula he used was just standard; there were no flaws, but nothing miraculous either."

The various facilities within the Azure Nether Sword Sect, besides the fact that disciples could use Spirit Stones, the basic currency of the Cultivation World, to buy materials, cultivation methods, and Magic Treasures, also had monthly allocation quotas based on level and cultivation.

And for more than a thousand years, Bai Qiuran had basically not used the Azure Nether Sword Sect's allocation quota. These quotas had accumulated over time, and by now, they had become a terrifying number.

"You, you are happy as long as you are happy."

"Caring is caring, but I don't think it's that kind of caring."

Jueyunzi brushed it off and asked: "Which pill formula does Martial Ancestor Uncle plan to use to refine the Foundation Establishment Pill for Ruowei?"

Bai Qiuran went down the mountain and headed to the pharmacy managed by the Fifth Elder of Qingming Mountain.