The pill production line in the laboratory, which had been humming away, fell silent for the time being.
A faint medicinal fragrance still lingered in the air, mingling with the smell of metal and machine oil.
Lin Fan sat cross-legged in a corner, the silver-gray Z-1 alloy flying sword prototype resting across his knees. His eyes were slightly closed, and his fingertips lightly touched the blade as barely perceptible wisps of True Qi slowly flowed into it. He was carrying out his daily, unwavering tempering routine.
Beside him, Bulma was sketching on a holographic screen, excitedly designing a concept for her "Super-Cool, Smart, Multifunctional Flying Sword 2.0." She muttered under her breath, "...Add a plasma thruster here... A shockwave generator built into the hilt... And we can't leave out an energy shield projector..."
Time slipped by amid this somewhat bizarre harmony.
Suddenly, the energy around Lin Fan faltered slightly.
He slowly opened his eyes, his brows drawing together almost imperceptibly.
The True Qi at the middle stage of Qi Refining within him had, with the aid of pills and his tireless cultivation over the past days, reached a state of near-perfect fullness. He could advance no further. He had reached the limit of the middle stage of Qi Refining and hit a bottleneck.
It was as if a stream had filled to the brim; without expanding its banks, it could not grow by even a fraction.
The following chapters of the Great Dao Source Scripture seemed to sense his condition and naturally surfaced in his mind. To break through Qi Refining and establish a Dao foundation, he needed to gather a more powerful force to wash through and widen his meridians, reshaping his foundation. The process was fraught with difficulty, but with a Foundation Establishment Pill to assist him, he could protect his meridians and purge impurities, greatly increasing his chances of success—and even affecting how far he could travel on the Dao in the future.
But the recipe for this Foundation Establishment Pill...
Lin Fan studied it carefully, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
Main ingredients: three drops of Earth Core Jade Essence—born of the earth's essence, supremely pure and substantial, the foundation for consolidating one's constitution and strengthening one's vitality. One ounce of Extraterrestrial Star Iron—containing the power of the stars, peerlessly sharp, and capable of breaking through barriers and opening meridians.
One Millennium Snow Lotus Heart—supremely cold and pure, able to cleanse the meridians and clarify the soul.
One Phoenix Feather—containing the vitality of rebirth, able to protect the heart meridian and ward off inner demons.
Half a cup of Dragon Blood Essence—the dragon's essence was domineering, able to unleash one's potential and strengthen the body.
The auxiliary ingredients were no ordinary materials, either.
Lin Fan: "..."
He silently went over the recipe in his mind, then thought about the prevailing themes of this world—muscles, energy blasts, aliens, and high technology...
Earth Core Jade Essence? Where was he supposed to dig that up?
Could a drilling rig even reach the Earth's core? Extraterrestrial Star Iron? Could it be extracted from meteorites?
A thousand-year-old snow lotus? Did anything like that even exist on Earth? Would a lotus frozen in a fridge for a thousand years count?
A phoenix? A dragon? Did mythical creatures like those exist in this world? He had just killed a dinosaur, at least...
The ingredients in this recipe sounded completely out of place in this world, with its strange blend of technology and martial arts!
It was even more ridiculous than using a Hoi-Poi Capsule to produce an immortal pill!
"Ugh..."
Lin Fan couldn't help sighing softly as he rubbed his brow.
The cultivation bottleneck was right before him, and he had a way to break through, but he was stuck on the damn ingredients.
Even the cleverest housewife couldn't cook without rice.
His quiet sigh was immediately caught by the sharp-eared Bulma.
"Hm? What's wrong, Lin Fan?"
She looked up from her flashy flying sword design and glanced over curiously. "Are you having trouble tempering it? Is the energy resonance frequency off? I knew we needed to add a harmonic generator..."
"It has nothing to do with the flying sword."
Lin Fan shook his head and pondered for a moment. In the end, he figured this matter would have to rest with Bulma, his "local expert" and "big sponsor."
He chose his words carefully, doing his best to "translate" the ingredients in the recipe into concepts Bulma could understand.
"My cultivation has reached a critical point, and I need a special... energy catalyst to help me break through."
Lin Fan spoke slowly. "But making it requires several key ingredients... that are rather rare and difficult to find."
"An energy catalyst? For a breakthrough?"
Bulma's eyes lit up at once. She was now extremely sensitive to any words Lin Fan said involving "energy" or "cultivation." "Is it even more powerful than the Body Strengthening Pill? What materials do you need? Just tell me! Even if they aren't on Earth, I'll launch a spaceship and dig them up on another planet!"
Seeing how eager she was, Lin Fan felt a little more at ease. Relying on his intuition, he vaguely described the characteristics of the main ingredients:
"One kind is a liquid mineral... containing extremely pure, profound earth energy. It may lie buried deep beneath the ground."
"One kind is a special metal from an extraterrestrial meteor, containing an unusual stellar radiation."
"One kind is the core of an ancient plant, growing in an extremely cold place and containing pure life energy."
"One kind is... a feather from a birdlike creature containing powerful life force and fire energy."
"And another kind is... the blood essence of a dragon-shaped creature, brimming with life energy and bearing the traits of an exceptionally powerful dragon."
As he named each ingredient, Bulma hurriedly recorded it on her computer, searching and cross-checking the database.
"Liquid containing earth energy? Samples from ultra-deep drilling? Magma extracts?"
"Extraterrestrial radiation metal? That's easy! We've got tons of meteorite slices in the warehouse at home! I'll test them one by one later!"
"Ancient plants from extremely cold regions? Samples beneath the Antarctic ice sheet? Or seeds of prehistoric plants in the West City gene bank?"
"Powerful fire birds? Special creatures in volcanic regions? Could it be a phoenix? Wait, aren't those mythical?!"
"Blood from a dragon-shaped creature?! Would dinosaur blood work? Does it have to be fresh? I'll ask Dad to contact the Paleontology Research Institute!"
Bulma searched and muttered to herself, her brows furrowing more and more.
The first few ingredients were manageable. They would be hard to find, but at least she had some leads. The last two were getting more and more ridiculous!
"Lin Fan... Are you sure this recipe is right?"
Bulma looked up, her expression strange. "These last few ingredients sound like they came straight out of a myth... Just what kind of ancient, sinister cultivation method are you practicing?"
Lin Fan's expression remained unchanged. "The Great Dao is mysterious and profound, beyond the measure of the mortal world. Perhaps these things go by different names, but materials containing similar energies may exist."
It was the only way he could explain it.
Bulma stared at him for a few seconds, then slapped the table. "Whatever! It sounds super interesting! Way more exciting than looking for Dragon Balls!"
She immediately sprang into action, fingers flying over the keyboard. "I'll start by mobilizing the global geological satellites and the Mineral Exploration Database to search for underground mineral veins with high-energy readings! Then I'll have Dad's Aerospace Company pull the orbital data and composition reports for every Near-Earth Meteorite! I'll check with the Polar Expedition Team, too! And as for the last two..."
She rubbed her chin, her eyes darting about. "Flame birds... dragon blood... Maybe they're on another planet? I'll have Dad increase investment in deep-space exploration! And I'll hack into the databases of every Mysterious Creature Research Organization in the world while I'm at it!"
Watching her come up with more than a dozen search plans in an instant, even considering extraterrestrial mining and hacking, Lin Fan was once again struck by the power of money and technology.
"Then I'll trouble you to look into it, Miss Bulma."
Lin Fan cupped his hands in thanks. Although he felt their chances were slim, at least he had something to hope for.
"Leave it to me!"
Bulma thumped her chest in a pledge, then sidled up to him with a mischievous grin. "But speaking of which, Lin Fan, if you manage to make that Foundation Establishment Pill... could you give me one to study? Just one! I promise I won't take it apart... Well, I'll try not to break it!"
Seeing the scientific longing in her eyes, Lin Fan smiled helplessly.
"If I really manage to make it... there's no reason I couldn't."
First, they had to find the ingredients.
Looking out at the sky above West City, Lin Fan felt that his path of cultivation was destined to become entangled with this world's technology and adventures.
It seemed the Path to Foundation Establishment would be anything but smooth.
Before you continue