The Problem with the Foundation Establishment Pill Lay at Its Source!

[Looking at the four Foundation Establishment Pills in your hand, you beamed with delight and immediately chose to enter seclusion for a breakthrough.]

[Three months later, after swallowing two Foundation Establishment Pills in a row, you vaguely touched upon the threshold of Foundation Establishment.]

[But at that moment, the scenes from the previous two simulations suddenly surfaced in your mind, and you became deeply ensnared by a burgeoning Inner Demon.]

[You chose to interrupt your breakthrough and left your Cave Mansion to clear your head.]

[When you arrived at Qingyun Sect's Back Mountain, you inadvertently spotted a lovely figure beneath the moonlight.]

[As you secretly drew closer, you suddenly realized that the figure looked somewhat familiar.]

[You saw her jet-black hair dancing through the night sky. Her eyes were tightly shut, and sweat covered her face, as though she were enduring immense pain.]

[Just then, the mysterious woman opened her eyes and shouted in your direction, "Who goes there!"]

[At that moment, you happened to meet the mysterious woman's gaze.]

[You had no time to be shocked before turning and sprinting madly toward your Cave Mansion. Behind you, the mysterious woman rose to her feet and watched your retreating figure without giving chase.]

[After returning to your Cave Mansion, you panted heavily.]

[You knew that look all too well. It belonged to the Devilish Dao woman you had encountered in your previous simulation.]

[You had never expected to meet her ahead of time in this simulation, and from the looks of it, she even seemed to be a disciple of Qingyun Sect.]

[You were utterly baffled. Why would a Demonic Cultivator appear in Qingyun Sect?]

[Or perhaps, at this point in time, she had not yet joined the Demonic Dao? Then why would she join it later?]

[You had clearly sensed that the woman's cultivation had only just broken through to Foundation Establishment, and she seemed to have suffered serious injuries.]

[Why had she been gravely injured within the sect? And why was she alone at night, healing in such a remote place?]

[Everything seemed shrouded in mystery, leaving you thoroughly perplexed.]

[The next day, you no longer dwelled on what you had seen yesterday. You planned to press on in one burst and break through to Foundation Establishment.]

[You took out the last two Foundation Establishment Pills and swallowed them directly. A powerful force flooded your entire body as you began drawing in the medicinal power!]

[Two and a half months later, while in seclusion, you suddenly opened your eyes. In one burst of effort, you shattered your shackles and successfully broke through to the Foundation Establishment Realm.]

[Just as you were about to experience the power of the Foundation Establishment Realm, that familiar sense of danger struck.]

[You fell unconscious...]

[You died...]

[This simulation has ended. Please choose one of the following rewards!]

[Orange Talent: Alchemy Prodigy!]

[This simulation's cultivation!]

[Foundation Establishment Pill Recipe!]

[All alchemy insights from this simulation!]

After glancing at the rewards, he ultimately chose Alchemy Prodigy.

After choosing his reward, Su Ming silently left the Cave Mansion.

Standing outside and gazing at the star-filled sky overhead, he sank into thought.

"Dead again..."

"What exactly went wrong? Could it be that Foundation Establishment truly cannot be achieved? That breaking through Foundation Establishment means death?"

No!

Something must have gone wrong somewhere. It was impossible that Foundation Establishment could not be achieved.

There had to be some flaw in this.

Su Ming furrowed his brow, recalling what had happened in the simulation.

This time, he had refined the Foundation Establishment Pills himself, personally gathering the herbs and refining them by hand.

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By all rights, it should have been foolproof. But why had he still died?

After remaining silent for a long time, he could think of only one possibility.

"Could it be... the reason the Foundation Establishment Pills have a problem is that the herbs at their source have a problem?"

Comparing the two cases, Su Ming realized that whether they were the sect's Foundation Establishment Pills or pills he had refined himself, taking them after breaking through led to death.

If that was truly the case, then the problem was enormous.

Ever since ancient times, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in the Canglan Realm had undergone certain changes.

Since then, all cultivators had needed to rely on Foundation Establishment Pills to break through Foundation Establishment. They could no longer rely on their own talent to break through as they had in ancient times.

"But... how did the Inner Sect Disciples break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm?"

This question followed immediately after, and Su Ming felt as though his head was no longer enough to process it all.

Too many things made no sense. If the Foundation Establishment Pills were flawed, and breaking through after taking one meant death, then how had everyone else reached the Foundation Establishment Realm without dying?

An hour soon passed, and Su Ming returned to his Cave Mansion.

[Simulation begins!]

[Drawing a random talent!]

[Congratulations, you have obtained the White Talent: Soul Return!]

[Soul Return: On the seventh day after your death, your soul will return to the place where you died and remain there briefly.]

[On the first day, after learning that breaking through by taking a Foundation Establishment Pill would lead to death, you temporarily gave up on breaking through to Foundation Establishment. You needed to find the source of the problem.]

[On the second day, seeing that you had not gone to work, Wang Hao stormed furiously to your Cave Mansion, intending to settle the score with you.]

[Already in an irritable mood, you struck directly, killing Wang Hao and taking all the spirit stones on him.]

[Having no intention of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, you devoted all your energy to alchemy.]

[In the first year, you completely immersed yourself in alchemy.]

[In the second year, you became a Pill Boy of the Alchemy Hall. In your spare time, you began studying the Pill Recipes within the Alchemy Hall.]

[In the fourth year, Elder discovered that you had been secretly studying Pill Recipes. Just as Elder was about to kill you with a single palm strike, you revealed that you were now a First-grade Alchemist.]

[Upon hearing this, Elder halted his hand. Staring at you in astonishment, he said, "How could a mere Qi Refining Stage cultivator like you possibly become a First-grade Alchemist?"]

[Faced with Elder's doubts, you offered no further explanation. You directly took out your Alchemy Furnace and asked Elder for a set of ingredients for a Foundation Establishment Pill.]

[Elder had not wanted to give them to you, but after hearing you say that you would take your own life if you failed to refine a Foundation Establishment Pill, he decisively flung a set of ingredients at you.]

["I'd like to see what tricks you can pull!"]

[Thus, beneath Elder's watchful gaze, you quickly completed the refinement. A batch of Foundation Establishment Pills was finished, containing two High-grade Foundation Establishment Pills.]

[At this moment, Elder's gaze toward you changed from doubt to the look one gave a priceless treasure.]

[He said that he wished to take you as his disciple and hoped that you understood how to cherish this opportunity!]

[You detected the threat hidden in his words. Not daring to refuse, you could only nod in agreement.]

[Seeing you nod, Elder directly made an exception and brought you into the inner sect ahead of schedule.]

[The Alchemy Hall held a lofty position within Qingyun Sect, and Qingyun Sect also placed great importance on alchemists.]

[And so, with only Qi Refining Stage cultivation, you inexplicably joined the inner sect.]

[Your master, Mo Chen, told you to go straight to the Academy the next day and learn more alchemy knowledge.]

[You had no objections to this and went directly to the Academy to study the next day.]

[After you entered, everyone's gaze turned toward you. They were all curious how someone at only the Qi Refining Stage had joined the Alchemy Hall.]

[You paid no attention to the others' stares. As you swept your gaze across the Inner Sect Disciples in the Academy, your eyes suddenly stopped on a figure.]

["Why is it her?"]